In this fair land,
I cannot stay,
Here labor is in vain
I'll leave the mountains of my birth
to seek the fertile plains,
I'm going to the West.
-Traditional folk song
The title of this site was inspired by Bill Staines' recording of the traditional folk song, Going to the West, on his album of the same name. Like most Americans, my German ancestors and my wife's Scotch-Irish ancestors came to the New World looking for opportunity, and over generations spread westward across the country. This site will try to provide some information on those early immigrants, the families they built in the New World, and the families they left behind.
- Velten, Ashe and Related Families - A combined genealogy of our two families
- Velten, Ashe und verwandte Familien - Eine kombinierte Genealogie unserer beiden Familien
- Velten Surname y-DNA Project - Invitation to join the Velten DNA Project
- Our DNA Testing Results - Our experiences with DNA testing for genealogy
- The Velten Surname - Meaning and origins
- The Thirty Years War - Its effect on Glan-Münchweiler and surrounding villages
- Velten and Related Families in the US - Where they settled
- Alsatian Emigrants to Ohio - Ethnic Germans from Alsace who settled in Huron and Seneca Counties
- Newly Discovered Utz Photo Album - Found in my grandmother's attic
- Presentations - Presentations on TMG and SS made to the Boston TUG