*The British tabloids and TV continue to go on and on about how the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton’s great-grandfather was a coal miner, as if the fact that her ancestor worked hard in a dangerous, back-breaking profession is a bad thing. Yes, they are commoners, but Kate’s family had a work ethic that was passed down generation after generation, to where her parents are now self-made millionaires; and yet British society still makes snide comments on Kate’s family’s coal mining heritage.
In the U.S., Kate’s family’s pull-themselves-up-by-their-bootstraps, Horatio Alger story would be a publicist’s dream. Think Abraham Lincoln, who was born in a log cabin; Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish immigrant whose first job in America was a telegraph operator;1 Earl Bakken2 and Steve Jobs3, who began their behemoth corporations – Medtronic and Apple respectively – in their garages; or American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson4 and Oscar-winner Hilary Swank5, who were both living in their cars for a time before their big breaks.
No aristocracy in my family tree
My paternal great-grandparents were both dairy farmers in northern Minnesota.
One of my maternal great-grandfathers was an entrepreneur; he owned a bar, then a 3.2 bar during prohibition, and finally a gas station. My other great-grandfather on my mother’s side was a laborer, first in a lumber mill and then on the docks in Duluth.
My paternal great-grandparents were immigrants; my grandpa’s parents came from Sweden, my grandma’s parents from Finland. They came to America to own land, which was difficult to do in their homeland, and for a better life, one with more and expanding opportunities.
My maternal great-grandparents were born in the United States; their parents or grandparents were immigrants from Germany, France, England and Ireland; all of them started out in America as farmers.
Hard work vs. Gentry
While the British press obviously wouldn’t think much of my family either, I’m very proud and amazed by them: enduring lengthy, steerage-level ocean crossings; hand-clearing raw timberland in order to start farming; digging wells, building homes and barns, and basically starting their lives over from scratch.
Would the Queen invite your family to tea?
Discover your roots and watch the branches of your family tree begin to grow.
In the U.S., Kate’s family’s pull-themselves-up-by-their-bootstraps, Horatio Alger story would be a publicist’s dream. Think Abraham Lincoln, who was born in a log cabin; Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish immigrant whose first job in America was a telegraph operator;1 Earl Bakken2 and Steve Jobs3, who began their behemoth corporations – Medtronic and Apple respectively – in their garages; or American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson4 and Oscar-winner Hilary Swank5, who were both living in their cars for a time before their big breaks.
No aristocracy in my family tree
My paternal great-grandparents were both dairy farmers in northern Minnesota.
One of my maternal great-grandfathers was an entrepreneur; he owned a bar, then a 3.2 bar during prohibition, and finally a gas station. My other great-grandfather on my mother’s side was a laborer, first in a lumber mill and then on the docks in Duluth.
My paternal great-grandparents were immigrants; my grandpa’s parents came from Sweden, my grandma’s parents from Finland. They came to America to own land, which was difficult to do in their homeland, and for a better life, one with more and expanding opportunities.
My maternal great-grandparents were born in the United States; their parents or grandparents were immigrants from Germany, France, England and Ireland; all of them started out in America as farmers.
Hard work vs. Gentry
While the British press obviously wouldn’t think much of my family either, I’m very proud and amazed by them: enduring lengthy, steerage-level ocean crossings; hand-clearing raw timberland in order to start farming; digging wells, building homes and barns, and basically starting their lives over from scratch.
Would the Queen invite your family to tea?
Discover your roots and watch the branches of your family tree begin to grow.
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com
For more information on my Family History Research services, visit TheMemoryQuilt.com and click on Family History Research.
1 http://www.history.com/topics/andrew-carnegieFor more information on my Family History Research services, visit TheMemoryQuilt.com and click on Family History Research.
2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Bakken
3http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/fortune/0911/gallery.steve_jobs_rare_photos.fortune/index.html
4 http://voices.yahoo.com/famous-people-whove-been-homeless-2024993.html?cat=49
5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilary_Swank
*http://www.google.com/imgres?q=public+domain+images+of+queen+elizabeth+ii&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1166&bih=555&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=qz2FX8G8oixM8M:&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Elizabeth_II_greets_NASA_GSFC_employees,_May_8,_2007_edit.jpg&docid=cZKAPDQKCubOQM&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Elizabeth_II_greets_NASA_GSFC_employees,_May_8,_2007_edit.jpg&w=1488&h=2060&ei=n8cCULnTGKjm2gXAzumLCw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=94&vpy=105&dur=54&hovh=264&hovw=191&tx=109&ty=123&sig=106044584169635347659&page=1&tbnh=119&tbnw=103&start=0&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:75
