Immigration: The Greatest Genealogical Challenge, Part Three:

 

Vikings sailing to Iceland H. A. Guerber

Current scientific dating studies confirm that the Vikings settled on the coast of Newfoundland in a place called L'Anse aux Meadows in about 1021 A.D. See “First Viking Settlement in North America Dated to Exactly 1000 Years Ago.” n.d. Accessed December 20, 2022. https://www.science.org/content/article/first-viking-settlement-north-america-dated-exactly-1000-years-ago. Genealogically speaking, there are records of this earliest settlement and the first European baby born in North America is claimed to be Snorri Thorfinnsson, first child born on the North American continent, son of Thorfinnr karlsefni Thordarson and his wife, Gudridr, daughter of Thorbjörn; 1005–13 A.D. See “Biography – SNORRI THORFINNSSON – Volume I (1000-1700) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography.” n.d. Accessed December 20, 2022. http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/snorri_thorfinnsson_1E.html. However, this claim is based on Greenland not being a part of North America. Snorri Thorfinnsson's genealogy is given on this Wikipedia article. See “Snorri Thorfinnsson.” 2022. In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Snorri_Thorfinnsson&oldid=1126189339.

From a genealogical standpoint, researching back into these earliest records is non-productive. The records either exist or they do not exist, and anyone born in one of the earliest colonies was recorded or not. For each of the "first" settlements, there has been a consistent and ongoing effort to accurately trace the ancestors and descendants of the original inhabitants and those that came afterwards.  Here is the list of the first settlements ignoring, for the time being, the Vikings.

• Isabela, Hispaniola established 1493 (Republic of Haiti and the Dominican Republic) See Manteo, Mailing Address: Fort Raleigh National Historic Site 1401 National Park Drive, and NC 27954 Phone: 252 473-2111 Contact Us. n.d. “Unit 1 - Spain in the New World to 1600 - Fort Raleigh National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service).” https://www.nps.gov/fora/learn/education/unit-1-spain-in-the-new-world-to-1600.htm Accessed December 20, 2022. https://www.nps.gov/fora/learn/education/unit-1-spain-in-the-new-world-to-1600.htm.
• Fort Charlesbourg-Royal established in 1543. See “French Colonization of the Americas.” 2022. In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=French_colonization_of_the_Americas&oldid=1126607622. Accessed 20 December 2022. 
• St. Augustine, Florida established 8 September 1565. See “St. Augustine, Florida.” 2022. In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=St._Augustine,_Florida&oldid=1125903327. Accessed 20 December 2022. 
• Roanoke Colony established 1585 but abandoned and then deserted by 1590. See “Roanoke Colony.” 2022. In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Roanoke_Colony&oldid=1128391993. Accessed 20 December 2022. 
• Russian settlements in the Aleutian Islands in the late 1790s. See “Russian America.” 2022. In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Russian_America&oldid=1128200780. Accessed 20 December 2022.

Of course, there are other settlements that claim firsts. For example, Plymouth Colony established in 1620 (See “General Society of Mayflower Descendants.” n.d. Accessed December 20, 2022. https://themayflowersociety.org/.)

 and Santa Fe in what is now New Mexico established in 1610 (See “A Forgotten Kingdom: The Spanish Frontier in Colorado and New Mexico, 1540-1821 (Chapter 1).” n.d. Accessed December 20, 2022. https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/blm/ut/29/chap1.htm.) Interestingly, all of these locations claim the first settlement simply by ignoring the people that already lived where they were settling. But that is another story for another day. Oh, and we shouldn't forget Jamestown, Virginia established in 1607 See “Historic Jamestowne.” n.d. Accessed December 20, 2022. https://historicjamestowne.org/.

The point of listing all these first locations is that the people who came to North and South America from Europe created immigration areas and that some of us can trace our ancestors back to these original settlements. What is important to realize is that there is little or no additional research that will add to the lists of people who came to these early colonies. As this series continues, I will be looking at the original "seed" populations in each of these areas and the records that exist documenting the entire population for a number of years with some notable exceptions.