The C. A. McAdams Family

Our American Roots


by Charles G. Petersen

PREFACE

Previous work
In a previous genealogy book, "The Peter M Petersen Family, Our Danish Roots", I reported my findings about my paternal grandparents, both of whom had immigrated from Denmark, and their ancestors and descendants. In this book I am reporting my findings about my maternal grandparents and their ancestors and descendants. So far I have traced many of the family lines and have discovered that all of these people were here on the North American continent before the American Revolution. In other words, they were here in the American colonies before there was a United States of America. Thus this part of my family has seen the entire history of our great country. I'm sure that many others can make this same boast. I am very proud of my Danish heritage but I am equally proud of the fact my family helped shape this country from the very beginning.

As in the previous book, this book traces all lines back 4 generations starting with my maternal grandparents. The book then proceeds forward 4 generations.

Shortcoming
One of the shortcomings of the previous work was that I did not report much about my grandparent's siblings. As best I can this book will remedy that oversight.
Advandtage
One of the advantages I have in this book is that I knew my grandparents quite well because I was part of their lives from the time I was born until they died. My parents and my brother and I were in their home hundreds of times for Sunday dinner visits and Christmases and week long stays during the summer.
Disadvandtage
Although I knew or had at least met all of my maternal grandfather's siblings, I knew nothing about my maternal grandmother's siblings, except for the fact that her sister, Clara, had died as a teenage. To my knowledge, I had never met any of my maternal grandmother's siblings. I only remember her talking about relatives in Keane, New Hampshire.
Migration
I had previously traced my maternal grandfather's line starting in the Carolinas, then into Central Tennessee, Western Ohio, and Northern Iowa. My maternal grandmother's family came from Massachusetts, then into New Hamshire and Vermont, before moving west to Southern Minnesota and then into Northern Iowa.
Disclaimer
Genealogical research is not an exact science. Sometimes in order to piece together the story of a person's life, one has to attempt to read between the lines. In doing so I am sure that in my research or story telling I may have made some mistakes and/or jumped to a wrong conclusion about this or that or have simply commited typographical errors. If you, the reader, find errors in this text or have additional information you wish to share, please contact me directly or through P & M Publishing.