Family History Project Pt 3

1. Family History Project – Part 3: Links to the class
Jennifer St Firmin

2.  The Kelly’s were among the early settlers in the United States.

3.  They emigrated from Ireland in 1701 as part of the first wave of immigration to the
US.

4.  Their port of entry was Ellis Island.

5.  Working in the primary sector as tobacco farmers was tough, so they took
advantage of the common use of slaves.

6.  Lack of land acreage was the main push factor for the Kelly’s to leave
Virginia and settle in Kentucky.

7.  However, an even bigger push factor was the outlaw of slavery by the
American Civil War in the late 1800’s.

9.  Though it took them some time, in the early 1900’s the Kelly’s changed their name to
Kelley, moved to Racine, WI, and switched to the industrial secondary sector of
employment.

10.  Also on my mom’s side of the family, the Schneiders were affected by World War I,
moving to the United States from Russia for their lack of belief in the White or
Red Armies in Russia.

11.  On my dad’s side, the Vandever family used to own a farm in Iowa.

12.  After great great grandpa Vandever died in 1928, grandma moved herself and her
girls to another area of Iowa for better education for her girls at a Nazarene
school.

13.  In 1931 the Cook’s moved to Wisconsin, their pull factor being inexpensive
land to run their nursery.

14.  As an adult my grandpa Cook served in the US Army, fighting in the Korean War.

15.  Grandpa met grandma in Wisconsin in 1953 and fell in love.

17.  15 years later, when my dad, the oldest sibling, was 13 years old, grandpa and
grandma Cook moved themselves and their five kids to Alaska. It was there that
Grandpa continued his work in the tertiary sector, but this time as a police officer.

18.  At 17 my dad followed the family tradition and began his brief military service
in the US Navy.

19.  After leaving the Navy, dad met mom in Wisconsin and fell in love.

20.  Thankfully they had a couple of babies too 