My mother’s side of the family has been in the New York area for centuries. A few years ago I found a letter from a distant family member about his great-great grandfather. This man, John Bayley, fought in the American Revolutionary War as a Second Lieutenant in Captain Daniel Mills Company of James Homes’ Fourth Regiment of New York Continentals during the year 1777. My family has joked that we came over on the “ship after the Mayflower.” This is inaccurate, but it gives a general description of how long we have been here. Family history has always been important to me, and it makes it much easier to find when it has been in the same state for over 200 years. The interesting thing about having found this letter is realizing how important remembrance is to my family. The name “Bayley” was floating around my family centuries ago, and today I have a great-uncle named Bailey. Although this story is the epitome of the opposite of an immigrant story, it has a special place in my heart. As I walk through the city, I sometimes think about the generations upon generations of my family that have walked through these same streets.

– ER

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