beginning

i'm on a quest. i'm preparing for a journey of 50 days to discover my roots.

ernst conrad wolffgramm with his wife, henrietta phal, left prussia right after the prussian franco war(1870-1871). upon arriving in america, one f and the last m was dropped from their last name. in saginaw michigan, the year 1873 he renounced his loyalties to prussia and gave them to the united states of america.

ernst was born november 1839, in a small town that was once called soldin in brandenburg, prussia. in 1918 the prussian empire was dissolved. the towns that lay east of the newly drawn boarder that now separate germany and poland, had their names changed. everything east is now slavic and west is germanic. the town soldin is now known as mysliborz.

i am leaving slc on the 4th of may. flying into copenhagen, i will work my way down into germany. i will stay close to the baltic sea, making my way over to poland. i am very excited to walk the lands my ancestors live on. to taste the salt from the baltic sea. to hear the languages stir memories that have laid hidden. to write about this experience and share emotion and depth for my children and their children. that they might have a peek of where they came from. to feel a real connection with humanity.