In the 1885 genealogy, Records of the Descendants of Nathaniel
Ely, the Emigrant, the forward states,
"It was found that the old story of three brothers coming
from England from whom all of the name had descended,
was one familiar to many of the Elys,
who supposed they were descendants
of one of the brothers."
But, "When the clans gathered at the time mentioned (July 1878),
it was found there were representatives
present from three distinct families, Nathaniel, Richard,
and Joshua Ely, but all effort to connect them
as brothers, cousins, or even cousins removed has failed."
If you listen to enough family stories,
you will hear the one about the three brothers
who came to America and each went in a different direction.
And there is usually one that is never heard from again.
Now, why would you want to have a healthy bit of skepticism
about this particular story?
Imagine it's the year 1850 or 1750.
You and two of your brothers sail from Ireland or Germany
with little money but lots of hope to the New World.
And you don't know anybody.
What are the chances that you and your brothers
get off the boat, shake hands and say,
"It's been good knowing you", and head off
in different directions?
Not likely, unless there was a pretty big fight on the journey
over.
People depended on each other for help and safety.
Splitting up, especially in a new environment,
was not that likely.
So where does this myth come from?
It usually starts when someone is
trying to explain a hoped-for connection.
Let's say you have a family in Georgia, one in Virginia,
and one in Boston, all with the same surname.
And someone researching your family
wanted them to be connected without doing enough research
to verify those connections.
Enter the "three brothers came to America
and went their different ways" story.
Want to learn more about how people moved around
and who they were likely moving with?
Then check out Mark Lowe's Ancestry Academy course,
Whiskey, Farming, and the Choices
to Move: Understanding Family Migration.