Roots: The Saga of an American Family is
a 1976 novel written
by Alex
Haley. It tells the story of Kunta
Kinte, an 18th-century African,
captured as an adolescent,
sold into slavery
in Africa, and transported to North America; it follows his life
and the lives of his descendants in the United States down to Haley. The
release of the novel, combined with its hugely popular television
adaptation, Roots (1977),
led to a cultural sensation in the United States. The novel spent forty-six
weeks on The New York Times Best
Seller List, including twenty-two weeks at
number one. The last seven chapters of the novel were later adapted in the form
of a second miniseries, Roots: The Next Generations (1979).
It stimulated interest in African American genealogy and
an appreciation for African American history.
The book was originally described as "fiction",
yet it sold in the non-fiction section of bookstores. Haley spent the last
chapter of the book describing his research in archives and libraries to
support his family's oral tradition with written records.
In recent years, there has been an effort made by certain
groups to either cover up or change our shared history. Critical Race Theory
has been a hot topic for the past couple of years, even though most people do
not know what it is. If you need help, the quiz below can help.
https://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2022/11/critical-race-theory-quiz.html
Florida seems to be the leader in the suppression of
accurate information about our past. African-American studies was recently
dropped as an AP because it was not considered to be a serious course of study.
Even
more recently, the state is cancelling all social studies courses at 12
universities. The
Republican governor’s hand-picked board of education voted in January, 2024 to replace the
established course on the principles of sociology at its 12 public universities
with its own US history curriculum, incorporating an “historically accurate
account of America’s founding [and] the horrors of slavery”.
The board faced a backlash last summer for
requiring public schools to teach that forced labor was beneficial to enslaved Black
people because it taught them useful skills.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/26/florida-sociology-classes-ron-desantis-condemned
Florida is also the home of Moms for Liberty, the group
that is behind the recent increase in book bans
Because our mutual heritage is under attack, it’s
important to know what are roots are.
I’m a descendent of both the Brennans and the Irish
clans in Ireland. Although I will eventually consolidate more information about
the Brennan side, this article will focus on the Stenson side, starting in the
1870’s. and continuing until today.
The records that all of us have of the Stenson lineage
go back to 11/24/1882, when Martin Stenson was born in County Sligo to Edward
Stenson. And Katherine Cavaghan. When Martin was 6 years old, both of his parents
died from the plague, and some of his siblings perished also. If you wanted to go back further, the Genealogy center in Ireland can help.
Times were tough for the Irish in the 19th century.
The Irish potato famine lasted from 1845 to 1852, and caused the death of one million
Irish, and the forced emigration of at least another more. Based on the information
I have, it appears that only Martin and an older sister were the only survivors
of the six children in the family.
https://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2022/12/god-bless-irish.html
If Martin could tell you his story today, it would sound a
lot like the story below:
https://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2009/10/voice-from-grave.html
After working in the coal mines in England, Martin later
joined a cousin in Minnesota, and started farming. In Minnesota, he met Amelia
Karnick, who was born on 9/16/1885.They married in the fall of 1911, and lived
long enough to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in 1961.
Martin passed away in 1964, and Emilia passed away in 1969.
Their marriage produced 6 children (Grace, Edward, Mae,
Fern, Mae and Bernard). Mae (my mother) was born on 10/23/13, and married her neighbor,
Larry Brennan, on 9/2/1946. Their marriage produced Tom (8/28/37) and Mary
(4/12/1950. Mary and Michael had 2 daughters (Alex and Lauren), who have three
children between them
Tom and Sharon had two children (Brian and Kelly, which
led to two grandchildren (Alexander and Saoirse)
As a young immigrant, Martin did not have a lot of money,
so his first home with Emilia (more frequently known as Milly) was a rented farm
just up the hill from the Mississippi river. The farm had no electricity or
running water, but they managed to live there until the fall of 1929, when they
borrowed some money from a relative so they would have room for their growing
family. That home also did not have electricity or running water, but they both
were added eventually.
You can view the larger house at the link below:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/7431976391999907996/2849788827767552372
Before her marriage to Norbert Schiltgen, Grace was a
school teacher. Eventually she saved up enough money to buy her parents a model
T Ford, which was their first car.
The first child of their marriage died in infancy, but
Grace and Norbie had 5 more children (Kathy, Jon, Jerome, Mary Jean, and
Elizabeth (Betty)
Kathy married Dr. Frank Ogle, Jon married Maxine, Mary Jean
married Jim Bobzien, and Betty married Mike Quayle.
Edward and Katy had no children, but I have two memories
of him:
(1)
He always smoked White Owl cigars
(2)
At some point in the early 1960’s he
took me and a few cousins to a Minnesota Twins game at original stadium, which is
now the site of the Mall of America
Jerry and Kari live in Mendota Heights, and have 3 children,
all boys, but no grandchildren. Although Jerry is now retired, he was one of
the thousands of air traffic controllers who were fired by Ronald Reagan in
1981. Mike Quayle helped him get his job back
Mary Jean is a nurse, and lives in St Paul
Harold was marred twice, and both of this wives were named Bernie. The marriage of Harold and the former Bernie St. Marie produce five children (Steve, Mary, Joni, Kay, and Patrick. Patrick, the younger, was only six months old when his mom died of a brain aneurysm in 1963. She was 27 years old.
Betty and Mike have 2 children, but no grandchildren.
Fern and George had three children (Jim, Bob and Ann)
Jim married Eileen white, and they had three children
Bob married Sang, but they had no children
Ann married Mark Meyer, who sells insurance for State
Farm.
Bernard married Loid Pribnow in 1955. Although they had no
children, they had a fairy tale romance until Lois passed in 2011. Their story
is posted below:
https://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2023/06/till-death-do-you-part.html
Until today, I was not aware that was such a thing as a Stenson family crest - but one exists. For some reason, the music to "Batman" comes to mind almost immediately.