Their Last Name From Grenman To Grant example essay topic

Genetic Journey When I was fifteen, my mother hauled along two of my friends and I, to a reunion in Phillips, Wisconsin. The whole way to the reunion I was thinking about how thankful I was to have friends with me, to help me escape from the cheek pulling and "cutesy-woot sing", I would receive from the relatives. At the reunion the adults talked among themselves and the children played together. If at this time I would have realized how important my ancestors were, maybe I would have chose to listen in with the adults? I do not think so. After returning from the reunion my mother showed me an old picture of a man that she said was the Czar of Finland, and that I was in fact related to royalty.

After some research I figured out the facts for myself. My great great grandfather, John Fredrick Grenman, was born in Kuvlax, Finland in 1840. In 1864, at the age of 23, John was appointed Chief Magistrate of Jacodstad, Finland by the Czar of Russia, Alexander the 1st, after Russia took over Finland. At this time Jacob stad was the second largest city in Finland, and his appointment was made in order to keep the Russian's in line with the Finish people. A Chief Magistrate was essentially a police chief of the whole country. Also, somewhere around his appointment he married Maria Hudson, a graduate student from the Psalm University of Sweden.

John and Maria had four sons: Fred William, John, Paul, and Albin. All of the children remained in Finland until after their father's death when they were forced to leave the country due to poverty. John Fredrick Grenman held his position as Chief Magistrate until the day he died. The four children and their mother Maria immigrated form Finland to the United States on September 30th, 1908. Upon, arriving in the United States they changed their last name from Grenman to Grant.

The Family's traditional last name was Grant. However, in 1745, an ancestor, Von Grant from the Island of Skye, Scotland found himself in a predicament and had to flee to Finland. Von was sought after to be beheaded because he was part of the movement to throw King Charles the 2nd out of his reign. Upon fleeing to Finland to keep his family and himself safe, Von adopted his daughters name by marriage: Grenman. The Maria and the four children settled down in Wisconsin in a small town named Medford. To this day their house still stands and my great Aunt jokes", the house has not changed, just the paint has".

The children did all remained in Wisconsin. In fact my great-grandfather, Albin Grant (Grenman) lived most of his life in Phillips, Wisconsin, and married Marie McMullen. When I called my great Aunt Edith, she spoke of no real hardships for the Grenman-Grant family. Ironically however, the family was forced to change from their royal lifestyles to an average lifestyle.

She explained that the family was poverty-stricken but only for a short time. When the family arrived they worked hard at their shoe making business to keep the family going. My great-grandfather as he became older took on the job as a craftsman and retired late in his life to enjoy hunting. I met my great-grandfather once when I was very young and even though I do not remember him I regard him as a very important piece of my family history; he was significant in giving the family back their original name.