Ancestry surprises

[Monello]

My sister's MIL did 1 of those ancestry tests. Turns out the man who raised her wasn't her father. All her life she believed he was. The folks that would know the real story have all passed on. She was born in England during WWII. So I guess a lot of people were indiscrete because you could be taken out by a V2.

I'm 1/4 Portuguese, that we weren't aware of.

So what surprises did you uncover?

 

[vraiblonde]

If it just sends back a bunch of bullshit results, how would you ever know?

 

[SamSpade]

If it just sends back a bunch of bullshit results, how would you ever know?

Confirm via stuff like 23andMe and other sites.

I found out a lot of things, and confirmed for me things I already knew - technically, my older sister is my half sister - my next to youngest uncle was not the son of my maternal grandfather - stuff like that. KNOWING stuff like that allowed me to pinpoint where I fit on other people's trees I was linked to - for example, if I shared an ancestor with my little sister but not my big sister, it meant it was my Dad's side.

From that, I was able to solve a major mystery in my family - who were my Dad's parents, since he was adopted, the orphanage is long closed, records sealed and very little information known.

From THAT - I found out that I am one quarter Polish - and my Dad is half. And I don't know yet - but he might have been Jewish.

 

[Tech]

So what surprises did you uncover?

No genetic trace of my German ancestry. Over 90% irish, a dab of English, some portagese and Welsh.
Fun is if you can find any an ancestors in old newspapers.

 

[ontheriver]

My daughter did the Ancestry thing and insisted I spit in the tube. Lol. No surprises. She really wanted her brother to do it because she says the male will give more results. He will not do it. Like I said, no surprises. My kids are so very different.

 

[Monello]

My mom has a cousin that is the Michael Jordan of genealogy. She was able to go back and document folks born over 400 years ago in Europe. She somehow found photocopies of ship manifests from before 1900. She documented just about everything she found. Including noting how someone isn't the father of a kid or when married people migrated solo, they often took up with someone in the new country. It's really amazing stuff. I appreciate all her hard work putting that together.

Hand written ship's passenger list

Some great, great, great, great distant relative that was born in 1716. Centuries ago growing up in the town where you were born, then raising a family there was the norm.

 

[Merlin99]

If it just sends back a bunch of bullshit results, how would you ever know?

I just hate to have personal info available to the government, I know it sounds paranoid, but I don’t have an Alexa for the same reason. If I could figure out how to live without my phone it would be the next thing gone.

 

[glhs837]

Nothing that shocking. A few things though that things I never knew growing up.

1. Really am descended from John Alden on the Mayflower.
2. Other parts of the family tree arrived in Mass early in the 1630s. Lots of references to them in town records, all prominent in various ways in their towns.
3. One of them was an early developer in Brookline, a neighborhood he built still stands as an entire historic district, White Place, his house still stands, his Dad served in the Revolutionary War.

Samuel Walker (1751-1818) - Find a Grave Memorial

Husband of Abigail (Badger) Walker died aged 67 yrs. Early Vital Records of Mass. (Haverhill Deaths) Samuel, was ensign of Captain Thomas Cogswell's company, drafted for Continental service in 1775. He also marched, September, 1777, with a volunteer detachment to reinforce the Northern army...

www.findagrave.com

4. Turns out one of the that family made a fortune in the early chalk and marking trade in the town I grew up in. One of his sons was even the Mayor of Waltham Ma in the early oughts. One of the gorgeous old homes I used to admire walking the streets was at one time a family home built in the mid 1800s. They lost most of in the 20s. And my great grandfather was the black sheep for taking up with one of the maids. See below

The census rolls from that time tell the tale. between the 1870s and the 20s, there was the family and the help, 2-3 servants. After the crash, there was no help anymore and the young men had regular jobs.

5. Had more English than I suspected since my great grandmother was descended from Loyalists who took amnesty and the Kings reward for faithful service of farmland in southern Nova Scotia

6. Cant trace my Dads direct line past about 1840 in TN. The rest of that part of the family almost all trace back to colonial Carolinas.

 

[GURPS]

I just hate to have personal info available to the government, I know it sounds paranoid, but I don’t have an Alexa for the same reason. If I could figure out how to live without my phone it would be the next thing gone.

I agree, I have been thinking about one of the European based ones with better privacy protections

 

[vraiblonde]

I just hate to have personal info available to the government, I know it sounds paranoid, but I don’t have an Alexa for the same reason. If I could figure out how to live without my phone it would be the next thing gone.

I'm not going to pay to give some tech company my DNA. I read Crichton's "Next". :snap:

 

[limblips]

Found this out while doing an ancestory history not DNA. Every family has their dark secrets!

Direct ancestor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Putnam

 

[Hessian]

Nothing that shocking. A few things though that things I never knew growing up.

1. Really am descended from John Alden on the Mayflower.
2. Other parts of the family tree arrived in Mass early in the 1630s. Lots of references to them in town records, all prominent in various ways in their towns.
3. One of them was an early developer in Brookline, a neighborhood he built still stands as an entire historic district, White Place, his house still stands, his Dad served in the Revolutionary War.

Samuel Walker (1751-1818) - Find a Grave Memorial

Husband of Abigail (Badger) Walker died aged 67 yrs. Early Vital Records of Mass. (Haverhill Deaths) Samuel, was ensign of Captain Thomas Cogswell's company, drafted for Continental service in 1775. He also marched, September, 1777, with a volunteer detachment to reinforce the Northern army...

www.findagrave.com

4. Turns out one of the that family made a fortune in the early chalk and marking trade in the town I grew up in. One of his sons was even the Mayor of Waltham Ma in the early oughts. One of the gorgeous old homes I used to admire walking the streets was at one time a family home built in the mid 1800s. They lost most of in the 20s. And my great grandfather was the black sheep for taking up with one of the maids. See below

The census rolls from that time tell the tale. between the 1870s and the 20s, there was the family and the help, 2-3 servants. After the crash, there was no help anymore and the young men had regular jobs.

5. Had more English than I suspected since my great grandmother was descended from Loyalists who took amnesty and the Kings reward for faithful service of farmland in southern Nova Scotia

6. Cant trace my Dads direct line past about 1840 in TN. The rest of that part of the family almost all trace back to colonial Carolinas.

Wife's line connects to at least TWO of the Mayflower including the Howlands & Chipman, etc I BET there is at least one connection between the families in the first two generations!

 

[glhs837]

Found this out while doing an ancestory history not DNA. Every family has their dark secrets!

Direct ancestor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Putnam

One of my great (a lot) uncles, Captain John Alden, was accused there.... My direct line is his brother Jonathan.

Wife's line connects to at least TWO of the Mayflower including the Howlands & Chipman, etc I BET there is at least one connection between the families in the first two generations!

Agreed. Things were pretty close back then. Theres a Wadsworth back in the tree as well.

 

[Hessian]

One of my great (a lot) uncles, Captain John Alden, was accused there.... My direct line is his brother Jonathan.


Agreed. Things were pretty close back then. Theres a Wadsworth back in the tree as well.

Mayo, Prence, Freeman, Brewster...associated wives too--It must have seemed like a curious small community, and without knowing it, their descendants number in the 10 Million + today. One kin stayed in the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow community during his emerging fame.--A neighbor!

 

[Gilligan]

My mother is the family historian and active on 23and Me as well as some other geneology sites. I sent in a DNA swab and the information that came back matched what I already knew. Mom has her side of the family traced all the way back to English roots.. Our earliest relative arrived in MD in 1634 but the stronger and most direct connection is to a bunch that arrived and set up in Calvert county sometime in 1650s.

On my father's side its a confusing mess...my grandmother's branch hailing from NW Alabama and grandfather's side from Mass....Brookline was where my grandfather was born. One version of the family tree that includes all the Alabama relatives connects me to Thomas J. Jackson.

 

[GregV814]

Things were different 80-100 years ago. Depression Era families, especially in the rural areas, merged families to SURVIVE. My sister did research with heirloom bibles, folklore from aunts etc.... Its a quiltwork of relatives and non-blood related, non-relatives. (Yeah, go ahead with inbred hillbilly sh!t) but it is real.
We had horse thieves, farmers and a Confererate Army Major who later made a name for himself with a railroad route to Norh Carolina.

I dont know if I'd give an unknown company DNA. Accuracy is questionable and scripts are already written for most. Besides, Fauci has enough Jekel and Hyde DNA

 

[glhs837]

Things were different 80-100 years ago. Depression Era families, especially in the rural areas, merged families to SURVIVE. My sister did research with heirloom bibles, folklore from aunts etc.... Its a quiltwork of relatives and non-blood related, non-relatives. (Yeah, go ahead with inbred hillbilly sh!t) but it is real.
We had horse thieves, farmers and a Confererate Army Major who later made a name for himself with a railroad route to Norh Carolina.

I dont know if I'd give an unknown company DNA. Accuracy is questionable and scripts are already written for most. Besides, Fauci has enough Jekel and Hyde DNA

Yep, that's how I "lost" the tree on my Dads side. My great great grandfather on his side died young, when my great grandfather was only a 3 years old. She never took his name that I see, but gave it to his son. She remarried but mt grandfather kept the family name. Trail gets cold there. Some suspicion that his grave might have been moved during the TVA building. They made a half assed effort to document all of the cemeteries they moved, but the records were not awesome.

 

[Monello]

One version of the family tree that includes all the Alabama relatives connects me to Thomas J. Jackson.

He was 1 heck of a linebacker. Won 2 Super Bowls also.

 

[Gilligan]

He was 1 heck of a linebacker. Won 2 Super Bowls also.

Groan