Brett Niessen
ban@udel.edu

I am of mixed descent, although I am primarily Irish. My paternal grandfather is German with a smidgen of Danish. His relatives (a monk, in fact) researched the family tree back to 1100 AD. There is evidence of Danish vikings in the family line, which I think is pretty funny. My paternal Grandmother was adopted by an English family, but her biological parents were both Irish. They died in an accident and she was adopted at a very early age. My maternal side is 100% Irish. My great aunt Molly came over in the early 1900's and worked to bring her other siblings, including my grandmother, over to the states. Not much is known about my mother's side, except that my maternal grandmother was also adopted by her grandmother and great aunt, who just happened to live in England. A strange coincidence.

I, oddly enough, have always associated myself more with the German side, even though I am less than 25% German. I speak a remedial amount of German after taking 5 years of it in high school. To celebrate my brother's graduation from Penn State, the entire family went to Germany for two weeks and saw the sights on a tour. Unfortunately, we did not get to visit any distant relatives, who live mostly around Cologne. Now I am looking more into my Irish heritage because I know so little about it. I am reading James Joyce and William Butler Yeats to get a feel for the literary traditions of Ireland. I hope to travel there with my family after my graduation from college.

As for famous relatives, they are mostly on my father's side. My great uncle and great grandfather made their money during the Depression. They ran a flower business and because so many people died due to lack of money or the War...well, you get the idea. I still think it's kind of sick, but I guess they were just trying to make a living. They went on to buy the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge, which links Pennsylvania and New Jersey over the Delaware River, just north of Philadelphia. They owned that for about 25 years and collected tolls until the state government forced them to sell it. My great uncle went on to the Board of Trustees at Holy Redeemer Hospital; there is now a Niessen wing in honor of him (or his donations). Despite the lack of fame on my mother's side, I like our family gatherings a great deal because the family is so large (about 50 people including aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, etc.) I think only recently have I become more proud of my background and I wish to continue that pride when I have children of my own.