Houston-Kubow Ancestry

My ancestry is one of the hardest things I've ever tried to find. With most of it being missing on both sides, it was difficult to track and piece together. However, the pieces that I found were interesting, to say the least. 

Uncle Sam Houston, as seen in
the "I Want You" posters

My father was adopted with my aunt by a Ukrainian family shortly after being born. However, to this day, my baba and dido (grandma and grandpa) are still debating their past. We recently found a polish ancestor named Karol, who stayed with us for a weekend before resuming his tour around the world, seeking out our ancestors. When he did this, my baba started to rethink her Ukrainian roots. Before, she assumed that her and her family were strictly Ukrainian, her family moving to Canada to seek out a better life. Karol changed a lot when he visited.

With my dad's side being complicated, it doesn’t help that my mothers is even more so. My family ancestry is only known back to my great great grandmother on my mum's side, who immigrated from Germany, and my great great grandfather who, as far as we know, was from Canada. From there, my great grandmother was born in Canada and had 6 boys and 8 girls. My grandmother Norma had two children, one who died almost immediately after birth, the other is my mother, Daphne. My mother had two children, myself and my half-brother Aaron. Before that, my history is lost, aside from a few fragments. My grandmother told me that one of my ancestors married a slave, and ran away with them, starting a family. It isn't known for sure, but she said that the slave might have belonged to Sam Houston. For those of you who don't know how slavery worked, when a slave was bought, they automatically changed their last name to their owner, hence my distant relations to "Uncle Sam" Houston. Another one of the fragments is that Colonel John Butler is another one of my distant relatives. You can read hore about him here.

My ancestry doesn’t really matter to me, as it is a growing world. New traditions can be made as well as new memories. However, it is nice to keep traditions that I know and pass them along to my brothers or my own children. There are some traditions, like christian holidays, that I want to pass down, but others, like some traditional Ukrainian foods, that I don’t want my descendants to see as tradition or normality. For future generations, I’m the only relative that can carry on the Kubow and Houston bloodline and traditions, as my brother is only Houston. With this weight on my shoulders, I hope to carry on traditions from both bloodlines.

Works Cited

Houston, Norma. Interview. 1 Dec. 2017.

Ann

Ancestry

My family heritage has shaped who I am in my personality, and beliefs. Both sides of my family have helped me find who I am.

On both sides of the family the Grandmothers are both French Canadian from northern Ontario, and the Grandfathers are both from England. My Grandpa, who grew up in England ended up carrying the Queen’s crown when a huge festival was happening. After the festival my Grandpa ended up being good friends with the Queen, and stays in touch with her till this day. My Grandpa moved to Canada at 17 years old with a friend, and started their own business as welders while on my Nana’s side my grand Pepere (Great Grandfather) was lumberjacks for his whole life and loves it so much.

Another crazy thing about my background is that my Great Grandparents had 13 kids, and on the other side they had 10. My Great Grandma was a wealthy women with royalty in her blood, but later on left all that behind to marry my Great Grandfather. She had to move away from her family because what she did was seen as a disgrace to the family and was not tolerated.  

There is actually a book because of all the crazy and interesting facts that are within my ancestry

My parents also have the same last name, and have never been married. They got tests done to see if they were anyway related to one another, but ended up with no connections.

My great grandpa fought in the war since he was 18 years old died when he was 64, and also suffered from loss of hearing because of the war.

Works Cited

Interview. By Leslie Burgess. 28 Nov. 2017.

I am Canadian and I truly appreciate that but I also appreciate the different countries and cultures my ancestors had that make me who I am today. I am Scottish and Ukrainian but a third generation Canadian on my dad's side and fifth generation Canadian on my mom's side.

My Grandma and Grandpa on my Dad's side actually didn't come to Canada very long ago, they immigrated in 1954. My Grandpa's sister and husband-in-law immigrated over to Canada in 1952 and encouraged my grandparents to join them in this new country. My grandpa and grandma didn’t have the money so fly the three of them over (my eldest aunt has just been born) so my grandpa went and worked for a little while and later had enough money to fly my grandma over. My grandma came over to Canada with less than $5.00 in her pocket, but my grandparents tried their hardest and made a life for themselves and their growing family, that was better than it would have been.

In terms of keeping the Scottish culture in our everyday lives, we don't really. We still eat some Scottish dishes including; Meat Pies, Fish and Chips, Shortbread, and Scones. Every time my Grandpa and Grandma come up to watch my brother, sister and I, we always go for Fish and Chips. I guess we created our own traditions with some things coming from their Scottish culture.

On my Mom's side we have the Ukrainians. My great grandmother, my Bobba, and her family immigrated from the Ukraine to Saskatchewan when my Bobba was just a young girl. As a teenager, her family moved to Ontario for job opportunities as most did. Then from there she met the love of her life and although I never knew my great-grandfather, I know he was a good man because he raised my Mom's father and he was amazing. Just like the Scottish side of my family, we still eat Ukrainian food but we don't celebrate much more from the culture which is disappointing. After all the years you lose the culture and once you lose that, it is very hard to get back.

Works Cited

Conroy, Margaret. Interview. 27 Nov. 2017.

My Ancestry

My  family's coat of arms.

Throughout my life I have never really know about my past relatives and how they got to Canada but during my interview with my dad, I found out that my ancestors are British, Scottish, and Norwegian. While my ancestors were in Scotland, they had 2 hills named after them, “one in Annandale and one in Nithsdale” (Halliday). The reason behind the naming of the hills is because "they owned the land, they were one of the first settler in Annandale and [that fact they are] Scottish nobles" (Halliday). A pull factor that made my ancestors move to Canada would be a better quality of life, a fresh start, and an opportunity for new land.

My family is not sure when but they know that 4 brothers from the Halliday side of my family came across from Scotland by boat and settled in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. From there they have lived in Nova Scotia for multiple generations, with a few relatives moving around Canada to places like Newfoundland. Recently my dad’s generation was the first generation to have children outside of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.

What Jigg's Dinner typically looks like

I think the beliefs of my ancestor's does not matter to me, but their traditions do. I love the fact that we still celebrate all the big cultural events like praying to St. Anthony for lost items, Old Father Time, Jiggs dinner, and St. Patrick’s day. I like how my family has kept all of these traditions plus more in the family for such a long time, and how they have adapted them into our times. I intend to pass these traditions onto my children in hope they will enjoy them as much as I do!

Works Cited

Coles, Terri. “Why Newfoundland Needs to Be Your Next Culinary Travel Destination.” Serious Eats, 2017, www.seriouseats.com/2014/09/newfoundland-cuisine-best-food-canada-travel.html. Accessed 8 Dec. 2017.

Hallliday, Chris. “Halliday Hill.” Blogger, 28 May 2011, hallidayofscotland.blogspot.ca/2011/05/halliday-hill.html. Accessed 8 Dec. 2017.

Interview. By Mark Halliday. Nov. 2017.

Pinterest. “Halliday Coat of Arms.” Pinterest, www.pinterest.ca/pin/486248091000630489/. Accessed 8 Dec. 2017.

My Ancestry, English, Scottish, And Irish

When I was younger my grandma would always try to tell me about my ancestry, but being the inpatient little kid I was I didn't listen much.  As I got older I got more curious about where I come from.  I asked my grandma if she would go over my family tree with me.  She proceeded to track back from me all the way to when my ancestors came to Canada.  My grandfather’s grandfather immigrated from England in 1910 and later married to his grandma they later gave birth to his mom ,my great grandmother,  in 1928. I have no information due to the fact that he was never in the picture for my grandfather. My grandmothers grandparents met in an army tent during WW1 he was injured and she was a nurse (legit that actually happened). They later immigrated to Canada in 1919 in their early thirties.  They had kids late due to the war.  They gave birth to my great grandfather in 1922.  My great great  grandmother’s parents immigrated to canada in the mid 1800s as irish and english immigrants and and two generations later my great grandmother was born.  My grandmother’s parents got married and stayed together until my great grandfather, a man of English and Scottish descent,  died of cancer at the age of 34 when my grandma was only a little girl, her mother, a woman of Irish, Scottish, and English descent, never remarried and raised two daughters alone.  My grandpa’s mother got married at 17 and gave birth to him at 19 shortly after his birth my grandpa’s biological father left and my great grandma married the man my grandpa thought was his father until he was nearly 20.

So from that you should now know I am English, Scottish, and Irish (little bit of dutch on the other side). Yet all in all i am a canadian. Unfortunately as generations passed we don't keep any traditions of the countries we immigrated from.

Puzzle of Our Pasts

Ancestry is like a puzzle, made up of many different pieces of all shapes and sizes, coming from all different parts of the world. However, one piece that makes up who I am is American. My mom has a dual-citizenship. She was born in Canada as a product of a multinational love story.

My Papa Dude was a Canadian hockey player, given a scholarship to University of New Hampshire. My grandma was studying home economics at the University. As a way to make some money, he washed dishes for the sorority she happened to be living in. At risk of being drafted to the Vietnamese war, because he had been living in the US long enough to qualify, they fled to Canada to get married and start a family, leaving all of her family behind.

Even though I was born and raised Canadian, a portion of my identity is American. My mom’s entire family, less her two sisters, live in and around Pennsylvania. Since this, we do not get to see them often, but we continue the family’s ways with or without them. We celebrate American Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July, and we fly the flag.

People find it quite funny that I have two months of Thanksgiving festivities but to me it is normal. In the States, Thanksgiving is a time of gathering with all of your extended family and feasting together. But, since we do not have these family members to celebrate with, we decided to “just eat turkey and think of Grandma Sue” (Roud). She is long past, but the American identity was dear to her heart, so we continue these ways in honour of her. Even though I never met her, I truly love my Grandma, and I know that this is a tradition I will continue on for generations, because without her and her American identity, I would not be here today.

Every July my mom’s cousin comes up to Canada for a week with his family. This is the only time we get to see them, so it becomes a big party where we combine our cultures. They always bring mini American flags, party hats, and fireworks for the fourth, and we celebrate the American day as they would down South. In an attempt to share our Canadian culture with them, we break out all of the fun things we have here. We take them to Niagara Falls, and buy, as my aunt calls them “the best part of Canada,” all-dressed chips (Wilson).  In this week, I am very proud of my culture, it is a happy blend of both countries and all the great parts each part of my history has to offer.

Lastly, at all of our houses we have always flown two flags: Canadian and American. We do get a little criticism for this, as people believe that it is not truly Canadian to hang the flag of another country. However, we do not replace the Canadian one with the American, we just show our ties to each nation and the love we have for both. I would never choose the United States over Canada because “we are almost entirely Canadian, [I am] Canadian, but we cannot forget that a little piece of [me] is also Canadian” (Roud).

I have utmost respect for my Grandma Sue and the risks she had to take in order for our family to be what it is today, so I will never forget the place she came from, the traditions she brought us, or the piece of America that she gave me.

Works Cited

Dyck, Darryl. US and Canadian Flags Flying. CBC, www.cbc.ca/radio/the180/least-important-election-the-case-to-stop-changing-the-clocks-and-the-problem-of-dna-as-proof-of-culture-1.3834912/actually-america-moving-to-canada-is-a-lot-more-complicated-than-you-think-1.3835158. Accessed 7 Dec. 2017.

Klein, Allison. How Thanksgiving Works. Howstuffworks, people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/holidays-other/thanksgiving.htm. Accessed 7 Dec. 2017.

Roud, Amanda. Interview. 4 Dec. 2017.

Roud, Steven. Interview. 24 Nov. 2017.

Unknown. American Canadian Flag Combination. Amazon, www.amazon.ca/Canada-Friendship-COMBINATION-America-Canadian/dp/B00GFEC6KC. Accessed 7 Dec. 2017.

---. American Canadian Puzzle Pieces. JW Jeffery, www.jwjeffery.com/?p=662. Accessed 7 Dec. 2017.

---. Ruffles All Dressed Chips. Amazon, www.amazon.com/Ruffles-Dressed-Potato-Chips-7-75/dp/B018PQYSXK. Accessed 7 Dec. 2017.

Wilson, Heather. Interview. 4 July 2017.

My Ancestry

The recent generations of my family were born in Ontario, but once traced back six generations, I learned that the family on my father’s side descended from England and Ireland. My grandfather on my mom’s moved from Sri Lanka to Toronto; there he met my grandmother.
My ancestors on my father’s side from England and Ireland, though the majority of the recent ones were born in Ontario, Canada. After calling my grandparents, we were able to trace back our heritage about six generations, because our family tree had been recorded on ancestry.ca. Due to parts not being documented, there were some gaps in our family tree and ancestors who we were unable to trace back. As a young child, my great-great-great-great grandmother came from Canada with her parents. The reasons as to why she came here is unknown, but my grandmother hypothesizes: “it was for the land and opportunities available or to escape poverty and war” (Allen). Also on my grandmothers side, my great-great-great grandfather was born in Ireland, as were the generations before him. We weren't able to track my grandfather's relatives out of Canada, but the one's we did find were born in Ontario: Markhom, New Liskard, Stouffville, Scarborough, and Toronto. We do not maintain a direct connection to my Irish and English ancestors, because of all the generations between us, but we do continue to document our origins.

The family on my mother's side came to Canada more recently, though it was harder to date back because there's no written documentation and both my grandparents have passed. During his twenties, my grandfather was given the opportunity to move to a commonwealth country; with a brother already living in Halifax and another in Markham, my grandfather chose Canada. We do not maintain a connection to our Sri Lankan ancestry because my mom lived her mother when her parents divorce and she was never taught by her father. While being fluent in both English and Tamil from Sri Lanka, my grandfather only ever spoke English; he never felt the need to teach his children Tamil. He also never passed along any traditional cuisine or recipes; unable to say the ingredients in English, the language barrier prevented my grandfather from teaching his children about his culture (Allen). Over time, language and distance disconnected us from our roots.

Being seventh-generation Canadian on one side, my ancestors had all been assimilated into the Canadian culture; the connection to my original ethnic roots is very distant. I still highly value my roots because they are my history, I just do not partake in any traditions. Only visiting my grandparents around holidays, we do not get to frequently discuss our origins and their history; I had little prior knowledge of our family history. I hope one day have the opportunity to pass along my new knowledge of our ancestry to my own grandchildren.

Works Cited

Allen, Lesa. Interview. 2 Dec. 2017.

Allen, Nelda. Interview. 26 Nov. 2017.