Randy's Genealogy

[Brooklyn Roads]

Okay, so I am a bit of a nerd in this department. But, I was curious of what his family heritage was. It's a passion of mine!

I read somewhere online that he is of German/Russian heritage. When I read that, I wondered, maybe I am related to him in a very distant way.

My family came from the Black Sea area of the Ukraine, in which they have referred them as "German's from Russia" because a great deal of Germans settled here in the late 1700's under Catherine the Great's rule; however, they always maintained their German identity until a lot of these colonies phased out after WWII (many were sent to Siberia or some returned to Germany or were displaced due to poverty - and some have remained, just barely, in Russia)

I came across something online that Meisner (originally Meissner) was one of the family's that inhabited the region that the German's from Russia came from. When a lot of these German's left Russia, they primarily settled in the mid-West. My family settled mostly in Wisconsin and the Dakotas.

It appears Meisner's great grandfather, Christian Meissner, came from a region known as Grimm, Russia, which was a settlement of Germans from Russia near the Volga River. I found the Meissner name on this list:

http://www.angelfire.com/ca/GRIMM/Residents.html

His great grandmother's maiden name is also there (Zulauf). In 1908, byway of Glasgow, Scotland, his grandfather Alexander Meissner boarded the SS Columbia and landed in New York, most likely at Ellis Island. They lived in Colorado, but then moved to Nebraska to Scottsbluff. His son, Herman Miesner, lived and married there, and then had a son in 1946 named Randy Meisner.

I also found on Ancestry a few yearbook photos of Randy from 1961.

I swear, I am not a stalker!! I just love family history and I thought it would be cool to trace his, since I saw that we may have a connection with our family histories, in which we do! It's kinda neat!

Side Note: Meisner Name Meaning German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Meissner.

[zeldabjr]

wow BR this is all very cool...I would love to do some looking into my own family...where do I start?...and yeah it's very interesting to think you might be a far distant relative of Herman's son Randy!!

[Lamorna]

I love your post Brooklyn. One of my Grandfathers was born in the Ukraine and came to the UK when he was a boy. His name was also German in origin. As is my birth name. My other Grandparents were Polish and Russian. All escaped from persecution and settled here. Lots of my relations boarded ships to the USA. I have a copy of the passenger list with the names of my Grandparents' brothers and sisters who started life on Ellis Island. I know I should have been an American

So you do have a connection and so do I. I went to Ukraine last summer and found my Grandfather's village on the Black Sea on the Dnieper River near Kiev. I have been to Poland and found my Grandmother's birth place, near Krakow! I also went to Russia and found a village that one of my Grandparents came from. It had been drowned by Stalin to build a reservoir. The creepiest feeling cruising on a reservoir knowing a blood relation had been born there deep down under the surface.

Like you I love the heritage thing. As Randy got older you can see in photographs of him his Eastern European Slavic features are more pronounced. Perhaps this explains the tremendous appeal he has to many of us?

[Brooklyn Roads]

wow BR this is all very cool...I would love to do some looking into my own family...where do I start?...and yeah it's very interesting to think you might be a far distant relative of Herman's son Randy!!

No problem!! I just love history, and people and so when those two collide - family history comes very naturally to me.

Where do you start? Hmmm, I'd start on Ancestry.com. It used to be very limited on there, but over the last few years and many years of people making trees, you find connections very easily - at least going back several generations, thanks to US Census', Immigrant records and birth/death records, military records and marriage records, etc.

I guess I like the mystery of it and trying to solve it, too! Let me know if you need any help! I have a special knack for it and would love to help others find their history, too! Good Luck!

[zeldabjr]

thanks BR!!!

[Brooklyn Roads]

I love your post Brooklyn. One of my Grandfathers was born in the Ukraine and came to the UK when he was a boy. His name was also German in origin. As is my birth name. My other Grandparents were Polish and Russian. All escaped from persecution and settled here. Lots of my relations boarded ships to the USA. I have a copy of the passenger list with the names of my Grandparents' brothers and sisters who started life on Ellis Island. I know I should have been an American

So you do have a connection and so do I. I went to Ukraine last summer and found my Grandfather's village on the Black Sea on the Dnieper River near Kiev. I have been to Poland and found my Grandmother's birth place, near Krakow! I also went to Russia and found a village that one of my Grandparents came from. It had been drowned by Stalin to build a reservoir. The creepiest feeling cruising on a reservoir knowing a blood relation had been born there deep down under the surface.

Like you I love the heritage thing. As Randy got older you can see in photographs of him his Eastern European Slavic features are more pronounced. Perhaps this explains the tremendous appeal he has to many of us?

Seems like a small world when we get on these message boards and make these connections!!

It would be a dream for me to visit our ancestor's homeland. That had to be such an engrossing experience! It's so neat to know there are some "Germans from Russia" in England, too!! It seems we spread all over just to escape the terrible conditions our ancestors lived in. I noticed a map actually shows two different routes the Germans came through and one route actually went right through Krakow. I wonder if that's how you got your Polish in you!?

hehe, part of me feels very British, lol Maybe we should trade places, then you'd be only 400 miles from Randy if you did!! I actually was just in L.A. last October and drove not that far from where it appears he lives (Studio City). Just to think the number of times I've been down there and how close I was each time!! Argh! Anyway, that's a subject in itself!

So cool to meet fellow Germans from Russia "cousins" We are a unique breed and it's so cool we have such a famous one to represent us! (a few other famous ones are Lawrence Welk, John Denver and Angie Dickinson)

[Lamorna]

Lamorna, seems like a small world when we get on these message boards and make these connections!!

It would be a dream for me to visit our ancestor's homeland. That had to be such an engrossing experience! It's so neat to know there are some "Germans from Russia" in England, too!! It seems we spread all over just to escape the terrible conditions our ancestors lived in. I noticed a map actually shows two different routes the Germans came through and one route actually went right through Krakow. I wonder if that's how you got your Polish in you!?

hehe, part of me feels very British, lol Maybe we should trade places, then you'd be only 400 miles from Randy if you did!! I actually was just in L.A. last October and drove not that far from where it appears he lives (Studio City). Just to think the number of times I've been down there and how close I was each time!! Argh! Anyway, that's a subject in itself!

So cool to meet fellow Germans from Russia "cousins" We are a unique breed and it's so cool we have such a famous one to represent us! (a few other famous ones are Lawrence Welk, John Denver and Angie Dickinson)

All my 'German' Grandparents from Russia, Poland and Ukraine never met and married each other until they settled in London as youngsters. Their families were all so brave to leave everything they had behind them. They arrived in America and the UK with no money, no belongings and no language. But they were safe! We have reason to be proud of them.

Hopefully, when Ukraine settles again from the terrible problems they are having at the moment, you will visit the Black Sea and find your 'Germans from Russia' roots. It is a beautiful country with so much history and culture. Good Strudel and good Vodka! Your heritage is everywhere.

I found out names of towns and villages where they were all born from my Aunties and Uncles and was able to combine my trips to include finding their birthplaces. Did you know that Randy's Mother was born on board the ship sailing from Germany to America in 1911? How amazing is that? To be born at sea!

Four hundred miles is too far away from Randy! Four hundred yards would do it for me!

Another is Jon Voight who had German and Hungarian Grandparents and if you look at a recent photo of Jon Voight he and Randy look very similar.

[Lamorna]

I am very partial to Leonardo DiCaprio as he gets older and extremely handsome. My sort of male face!

Anyway, his four Grandparents are German from Russia, German Bavarian, German and Italian. The Italian Grandfather is where he gets his name.

What a genetic combination. More good company for Randy's heritage.

If I was young and single I'd get myself to America and find myself a German from Russia!!!

[Brooklyn Roads]

All my 'German' Grandparents from Russia, Poland and Ukraine never met and married each other until they settled in London as youngsters. Their families were all so brave to leave everything they had behind them. They arrived in America and the UK with no money, no belongings and no language. But they were safe! We have reason to be proud of them.

Hopefully, when Ukraine settles again from the terrible problems they are having at the moment, you will visit the Black Sea and find your 'Germans from Russia' roots. It is a beautiful country with so much history and culture. Good Strudel and good Vodka! Your heritage is everywhere.

I found out names of towns and villages where they were all born from my Aunties and Uncles and was able to combine my trips to include finding their birthplaces. Did you know that Randy's Mother was born on board the ship sailing from Germany to America in 1911? How amazing is that? To be born at sea!

Four hundred miles is too far away from Randy! Four hundred yards would do it for me!

Another is Jon Voight who had German and Hungarian Grandparents and if you look at a recent photo of Jon Voight he and Randy look very similar.

You are very right!! I would love to write a book someday about this group of people as they are not known by many unless you're from that particular "tribe." My family did the same - left Russia with very little. One of my ancestors (my great, great, great grandfather left with his wife and son - my great, great grandfather - who was only 6 months old, on the Leipzig ship, leaving from Hamburg and arriving in Baltimore in 1874 - They later settled in the Dakotas)

I actually was heavily considering taking a trip with some fellow German from Russia group in North Dakota in May, however, I have a feeling they may cancel this trip due to the upheaval in the Ukraine at the moment. It just seems way too risky. But, such a shame!

I noticed that about Randy's mother being born on the ship!! What an amazing journey and thank God she made it alive and safe - the conditions on those ships were terrible, to say the least! She survived to give the world Randy

Hehe, I may have been within a few miles of Randy during my recent trips to LA. But, in LA, you're generally walking among celebrities! lol Heck when I was at Disneyland awhile back, supposedly Katy Perry was there at the same time. Small world!

Lamorna, you need to come to California

[Brooklyn Roads]

I am very partial to Leonardo DiCaprio as he gets older and extremely handsome. My sort of male face!

Anyway, his four Grandparents are German from Russia, German Bavarian, German and Italian. The Italian Grandfather is where he gets his name.

What a genetic combination. More good company for Randy's heritage.

If I was young and single I'd get myself to America and find myself a German from Russia!!!

Wow, I had no idea Leonardo was one of "us" That is SO cool!! I def. see more German influence in him than Italian. He looks a lot like my Grandma's siblings when they were young.

And, I do see the resemblance between Randy and Jon Voight - does this mean we're related to Angelina Jolie, lol Wow! We've got a good looking group here!