Our Family Ancestry and History Interests.

Have your family heritage and ancestry records preserved on modern easy to view DVD and CD medium.

Discovering and subsequently documenting your family history can become challenging and stimulating pursuit.  Such pursuits often become more than just listing names and dates of birth, marriage and death.  The rediscover your ancestors and the life and times they lived in often revitalizes an interest in history by making history less lifeless.  The visual depictions of family history in charts, pictures, videos give the ability to tell a son and daughter, look your grandfather or great grandfather was there in that battle or participating in that civil rights demonstration.  Even if no ancestor was directly participating or contributing, more than one ancestor was living when the event happened and if they were living they were doing something.  The true joy of getting to know your family history is not how many famous ancestors you can find but rather the building a stronger perception of self and family in the circle of life.

As you discover the communities ancestors lived in, you begin to explore what influenced the prosperity needed to allow that community exist and then you find yourself trying to understand the economics of the time.  Thus genealogy is a hobby that may get you involved in learning more about the past than you ever considered.

Lack of written records of birth, marriage, and death make it difficult for most people to trace their ancestry much further back past the 16th century (1500-1600) unless they were related to royalty, land owners, or wealthy gentry.  Government required registration of births, marriages and deaths generally did not come about until the 19th century (1800 -1900) and church records of such events typically began to be kept circa 1530 although there are some exceptions dating back to the end of the 14th century.

My earliest known Cassidy ancestors came to America from Ireland in the mid-1800s.  However like everybody else my ancestor roots include my mothers parents that includes people other family names who came to America at other times from other geopolitical regions around the world.  My four grandparents, eight grandparents, sixteen great grandparents and before them ancestors link me to a variety of ethnic, geographical, historical, political, religious, economical backgrounds and cultures, so do your ancestors.  Perhaps as you explore my ancestry you will get an interest your family heritage and history.

Pertinent surnames and their associated geopolitical regions that I'm researching are: Amundsen--Oslo and Kongsvinger Norway; Archer--Westchester County NY; Bunke--Bokel Germany; Cassidy--New York City and Ireland; Castle--Bromley and Kent England; Collins--Jackson County AL; Ga--Coventry England and Newark NJ; Henshaw--Jackson County AL; Holledge-- Bromley and Kent England and the Bronx; Hoops--Moorausmoor Germany; Humberston--Bromley and Kent England; Hunt--Westchester County NY; Iversen--Oslo Norway; Kneer--NY and NJ; McDonnell--NYC and Ireland; Muller--Geestenseth Germany; Oakley--Westchester County NY; Odell--Westchester County NY; Olson--Norway, MN, ND, IA; O'Sullivan--NYC; Putman--Jackson County AL; Rooney--Newark NJ; Runge--area surrounding Bremerhaven and Geestenseth Germany Swaim--Jackson County AL; Tienken--area surrounding Geestenseth Germany; Torke--Vardal Parish Norway; and, Wintjen--Geestenseth Germany.

To the left is a picture the first connection of my Cassidy family ancestry in America.  These two individuals are my great grandparents John and Delia Cassidy.  The photograph was taken in or a year or two after 1910 at the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, Riverside Park, New York City.  This is the only picture I have of them.  Little else is known about them other than public records I have found over the years consistently indicate both were born someplace in Ireland and they were living in New York City prior to 1886.  Much about them remains unknown and any historical record of their immigration, birth, marriage, and death avoids my attempts to discover such records.

Any public records, if such records exist, regarding specifically where in Ireland John and Delia came from and when and where they got married are being elusive.  Their dates of birth are inconsistently recorded in the records I have found.  The records inconsistently records the spelling Delia's given name and in one record the name Bridget is used.  The most significant disconnect is the records indicate more than two children.  The only known siblings are my grandfather Bernard Cassidy and his brother Joseph Cassidy.  When and where John and Delia died and where they are buried is also a complete mystery.

WWI military service records and records  verify John and Delia having two children on19 June 1917, 16 December 1936.  One of these children was my grandfather and the other my great (grand) Uncle.  The obituaries for my grandfather and great Uncle also fail to mention any other siblings.

Although my great uncle Joseph married, he and his wife had no children.  Already married to my grandfather, my grandmother and her youngest sister was living in the same apartment building as Joseph and his wife while my grandfather was serving in the Army during WWI

My grandfather married Nellie Amundsen, my grandmother, and their only child is my father.  Bernard and Nellie were married for about a year when they posed for the picture to the right on March 28, 1920 in NYC.

Both my great uncle Joseph and grandfather Bernard died several years before I was born and my father was raised by his mother and a step father.  The lack of oral history about my grandfather and his parents and siblings contributes to the difficulty in researching my Cassidy ancestry.

The Amundsen family immigrated to the USA from Kongsvinger Norway.  Charles arrived 32 March 1907in NYC on the S.S. Carmania on and his wife and children arrived 9 October 1907in NYC on the S.S. C.F. Tietgen.

The portrait on the left was taken about 1899 and shows my great grandparents Charles Amundsen and Anna Iversen with the first two of their eventual seven children.  The little girl is my grandmother Nellie.

  Anna allegedly was a circus tight rope performer before she married Charles (a story I have not been able to verify).  Charles was accidentally killed in a railroad work accident on 14 September 1913. 

Anna lived to be 88 years old  I was ten years old when she died and I have vague memories of her telling me of her circus travels.

The couple on the right are my great great grand-parents, Lars Amundsen and Anne Marie Christoferson.  The pictures were taken in the mid 1800s in Oslo Norway.  I do not know much about them, but I am fortunate to have their pictures.

My maternal grandmother, Anna, was born in Geestenseth Germany.  The old Müller farm house and family is shown to the left in a picture taken in 1922.  The property is still owned by the Müller family.

My grandmother emigrated from Germany to America in April 1929.  Here is a picture of her at age 19 on the vessel S.S. Karlsrufie heading to America.

My grandmother immediately began working as a waitress and soon met my grandfather who was a regular customer at the place she worked at.   Below to the left is a picture of them taken in 1933. 

My grandfather's direct male ancestor line extends back to 1642 in the Bronx and Westchester County region of New York State.  The progenitor of this Archer family in America was John Archer, Founder and Lord of Fordham Manor.  Fordham Manor was a piece of real estate that included almost all of today's western Bronx.  Women who married into his paternal line brought with them family links to several other early colonial New York era families.

My maternal grandfather's parents were Eugene Archer and Minnie Holledge.  Eugene whose picture is to the right was a lawyer in Westchester County and the Bronx.  Minnie was Eugene's second wife.  They met and got married shortly after she immigrated to the USA from England.  She was born in Bromley, Kent, England.  While I have found her mother, her father and other family history about her remains elusive in the public records.  Minnie did correspond with her cousins in England until she died.  Those letters have provided what little I know about the Holledge family.

Both my grandfathers served in the American Armed Forces during World War I and my maternal great grandfather served in the German Army.

The picture to the left was taken sometime in 1917.  The soldier is my paternal grandfather.  He was a member of the Fighting 27th, Company D, 102nd Supply Train.  This unit was part of the expeditionary forces in France and Germany.

My maternal grandfather is pictured to the right.  He served as a machinist in the American Expeditionary Forces in France and Germany from 28 October 1918 to 18 September 1919.

My maternal great grandfather served in the German Army.  About all that is known about his military service history is that he served in Yugoslavia during the war.

Genealogy and family history can be a fascinating hobby especially if you focus beyond just collecting names and dates.  Regardless of why you are researching there are lots of new digital and computer technology to take advantage of.  Besides providing easy to use mediums to preserve family heritage and memories, these new technologies provide a means to present all this information to your children, siblings, and other relatives in an attractive easy to use digital format.  The added benefit is others in your family may become more interested in their family history.

Pleaseif you believe we have collateral genealogies.  I began searching for my ancestors in 1986 and I  still have lots of ancestors to find and histories to complete.