Family History

The Lehnerd-Etkins Family
As it is well known, during the nineteenth and twentieth century, many families came to the United States in hopes of finding a new job. They needed to make money and were told the streets were lined with gold. With this knowledge they had great dreams of what it would be like in the America. As I have heard from many people, the most famous migration port was Ellis Island on the East Coast. My father mentioned that his family had come through this port like thousands of others. They say that the conditions while waiting to get stateside were terrible. My mother’s family also came through Ellis Island but came a generation earlier. As family members have said, my relatives came to America in search of a better life and more money.
My father’s side of the family was originally from Italy. He said that they were from Palo del Colle and decided to come over because there was not enough work. My grandfather mentioned that they came over on a steamship called the Roussillon and had left from Marseilles, France. I heard that the living conditions on the ship were bad and that sanitary issues were a common problem. People say that if a person had a disease than they could not come into the country and were rejected at Ellis Island. My father heard from his grandfather that his relatives had come from Italy and found jobs as a stonemason making gravestone heads. He also said that they lived in Brooklyn for a long time. In fact some relatives still live there to this day. Somehow in Brooklyn, the great grandfather named Mario met his future wife and it is said they got married and had children. One of which was my father’s mother. She had a son named David whom is my father.
However, after talking to my mother, Susan, it became clear that her family was in the same position as my father’s. Her family was originally from Germany in a town called Dillingham and Wallenfungen. The Lehnerds were from Dillingham and the Simbollas were from Wallenfungen. Susan said that it was because they were both looking for jobs and needed to make more money. I believe this because millions of other families were in the same position. The Lehnerds arrived in the States and moved to Youngstown, Ohio where they lived for many years. After several generations, I heard that my grandfather’s father had to work in a clothing store and as a volunteer firefighter. He said that after working for a while, my great grandfather met his wife and got married who had children. My grandfather however did not have children. He adopted them all and one of which is my mother. So as history should have it, my mother and father met while in college and got married.
After many hours over the years of listening to the droning of family members talk I think I have gotten a good feel of how my relatives came to America. It seems that they all came over because of money issues and search of a better life. I am glad that fate went its way and history has turned out the way that it is.






The History of the Lehnerd-Etkins Family
Jay Etkins, an American, wrote the history of the Lehnerd-Etkins family. This family is one of the many millions of families moving to the United States of America during the early 1900’s. Like thousands of other families, documentation shows that the Etkins arrived at Ellis Island under the name Santamaria in 1912. The Lehnerds also migrated to America earlier in 1880, but went through Ellis Island as well. These same documents show much more information about that same person, for instance, where they came from, their marital status, the ship’s name, and the port from which they left.
The history does not go very far back, only to several generations. David Etkins had several members of his family come from Italy. They arrived by steamship called the Roussillon and departed from Marseilles, France. They eventually got to America and in October of 1912 moved to Brooklyn. Several letters back to Italy stated that David’s great grandfather had gotten work as a stone mason for making grave stone heads. This was good news, considering that this was the reason for the family to move to America. The other side of the family had also come to the United States in hopes for a job. Documentation shows that the Tironi’s were also in search of jobs, and once in America, they got jobs as a flesher in a fur business. On one fateful day, David’s grandparents met while in Brooklyn and marriage certificates prove that Theresa Tironi and Domenicao Santamaria married and eventually had children, one of which was David’s mother.
On the other side of the family history, the Lehnerds were also searching to come to America. They were in the same plight as the Etkins’ side of the family. They all were in search of jobs, hoping to make more money in the New Land. Birth certificates prove that Valentine Lehnerd was born in a little town called Dillingham, Germany on February 14. His family faced the same dilemma of getting a good job. With desperation in mind, Valentine moved his family to the United States and in 1880 arrived on Ellis Island. They moved to Youngstown, Ohio where he set up a clothing store. There he met his future wife whom he married and had ten children. Along the way one of the ten could not make school work out and so was forced to work in the clothing store and then eventually became a volunteer fireman. Alvin Valentine Lehnerd soon met his wife whom he married and had a son name Alvin Lehnerd. Alvin is the father of Susan Lehnerd and by documentation she is adopted. While going to college, Susan met David and they eventually got married as well and they had three children.
As history would have it, all these fateful decisions brought people closer together. Without certain decisions, my father or grandmother may not have been and history as it is known may be terribly different. Such were the events of the Lehnerd- Etkins family.