My Great-Great-Great-Grandfather was born in 1878, in Denmark at the height of an economic recession. When he turned ten, his father took him aside and passed onto him a pair of cufflinks that had been in the family for generations. Work was scarce in Denmark and when he was old enough, he signed on as a ship boy to help his family avoid starvation. It soon became evident that there was no future for him in Denmark and so Oscar Henry Hansen left Varde, Denmark to go to sea in 1892. In England, he jumped ship from the boat he had signed on and found work on a vessel bound for America. In Denmark, America was being hailed as the land of opportunity, and after the Treaty of Vienna had decimated the Danish economy, it seemed the only option. He arrived in Seattle in 1898 with nothing but the clothes on his back and the pair of cufflinks. To try and find wealth, he joined other immigrants and headed up north for the Yukon Gold Rush. His efforts failed and he instead became a member of the Northwest Mounted Police in Yukon Territory. He returned to America after serving for five years and returned to Seattle and became a Naturalized U.S. citizen.  He married and when his son turned thirty, passed his prized cufflinks down to his son, who passed it down to his son, who passed it down to his son, who passed it down to my father. They will one day be mine when I am older and wise enough to truly respect their heritage and what they represent. 

– Samuel

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more