# Do you know where your people are from?



## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

I've done fairly extensive research on my family tree, and my paternal line has been here since before the Revolutionary War. I'm a Daughter of the American Revolution many, many times over. 

My maternal line is mostly Irish and Scottish, and I can trace only one back to a place in Ireland. My gg grandmother was born on Spike Island, probably at the prison, but I can't find out if my ggg grandparents were guards, workers, or inmates. The family lore is that we're from County Cork. It's so hard to trace lines to Ireland and Scotland due to the overwhelming amount of "O'brien/Brien" "O'Malley" "Connors" "Allen" (although that could have been Welsh due to the original spelling) "Campbell" "Stewart" "Wallace" etc. And even here in the states, the NY railroads changed the names to what ever they felt like, and the census wasn't much better. 

Are any of you interested in genealogy?


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

Some of my ancestors came here on the mayflower, others were here to greet the boat. I've not done a lot of research at this point. Just am happy to be alive and a citizen of the greatest nation the world has ever seen!


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## D-BOONE (Feb 9, 2016)

My people was the ones shooting arrows at the boats as your people rowed in.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

D-BOONE said:


> My people was the ones shooting arrows at the boats as your people rowed in.


They should have built a wall!


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

My uncle has us traced back to the mid 1600's Texas. Traveled here from Spain. Surveyed Texas, got a land Grant, fought in the Alamo and now a carpenter super hero. 

Grandmother's side was Amish and Mexican. Fought outside the Alamo. I'm just glad they got together before Santa Anna decided to be a but hole.


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## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

D-BOONE said:


> My people was the ones shooting arrows at the boats as your people rowed in.


Actually, I have a g grandmother on my maternal side that was probably Seneca, I don't think she and my g grandfather were ever married. Scandalous! That was the g grandfather that was an alcoholic and ended up at Willard Asylum so... My maternal line was a bit wild, most of them lived in, or near, an Irish settlement in western New York.


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

D-BOONE said:


> My people was the ones shooting arrows at the boats as your people rowed in.


At least you didn't feed them turkey first then get double crossed. 

Wife is Choctaw.


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## Mish (Oct 15, 2015)

Sounds like we have a lot of similar ancestors, IP.

I haven't done my own genealogy, but have an uncle on my dad's side who did it for the family and my husband's mother decided to research my maternal line when my grandmother passed away last year, as a gift. I'm terrible remembering details, so all general gist of things:

Maternal grandmother is Irish, they've been here since before the Revolutionary War (according to MIL's research, in grandma's direct paternal line one of the grandfathers fought with Washington at Trenton, and she found his headstone that states it, which is pretty cool - Grandma was in DAR so it sounds accurate). Maternal grandfather is pretty solidly Welsh and Irish, and continued on with the Welsh coal mining tradition right up to Grandpa's childhood. I think they came over relatively early as well, but she complained how hard it was to figure out who was who (something about poor record keeping for poor people), and why do they all have to have at least 12 kids? 

Paternal grandmother was second generation, her father came from Scotland (Perth area I think) and her mother from up north around Inverness (or vice versa, it's been a few years since I've tried to remember). Paternal grandfather's family came quite early, I remember my uncle talking about participation in the French and Indian war (although that may have been some of the Irish/Scots marrying in to them later, I'll have to look at that again - dates and names, ugh, the worst). They're mostly Belgian mixed with Scot/Irish.

No Native American ancestor rumors, although there was a lot of whispering about a Jewish grandmother whose nose seems to appear quite regularly on my mother's side. And in one of my kids. MIL thinks she figured out who it was, would be a fascinating story if she were able to find more information. My mom said it was always very hush hush. Shows what a difference the time you live in makes.

It is really fascinating stuff, and kind of humbling when you see that long line of real people that led to you.


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## snowlady (Aug 1, 2011)

I joined ancestry and did the dna test. Very interesting. Thought we were German through and through. Apparently not. A newly updated one shows Great Britain which includes Belgium, the Netherlands,parts of France, Luxembourg and Germany. I made contact with my great great uncles daughter and sent her a pic of her mother. I also helped someone find their bio-dad thru my tree/ dna.


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## Cornhusker (Mar 20, 2003)

My pappy was a pistol and I'm the son of a gun. 

I did a lot of research several years ago, and it's fascinating what you find.
I have an ancestor who was something like 6'7" way back in the early 1700s who was a bodyguard for a king, and later a governor.
He made the king mad and was thrown in the slammer for 30 days, and when he got out, he said something that got him another few weeks.
After that, he took his wife, children and his parents and took a Palatine ship for the new world.
It's amazing how many people it took to make each of us.


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## montysky (Aug 21, 2006)

Irish, German, Swedish and English, My family is listed as a First Family of Montana (just lived here before statehood).


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## kalmara (Aug 21, 2011)

English/Australian/Hungarian/Delaware Indian


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## SLADE (Feb 20, 2004)

The SLADE DIARY gives a glimpse of life as a prisoner during the revolutionary war. He was my uncle. His brother my grandfather was at bunker hill and fort ticonderoga. Another brother was fighting in NY.


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## farmrbrown (Jun 25, 2012)

Yes I do.
Similar to yours and Shine's
Scotch Irish on the paternal side with a liberal amount (no pun intended) of NA on the maternal side.

The new genealogy sites are interesting, specially the ones using DNA but I haven't used any and probably won't.
I had an uncle that did our own family research when he retired using old church records. They are still some of the best for doing this kind of research. He was able to find written records back to 1,000 A.D. and continued to 1,000 B.C. which was mostly myths and legends.

It was all very interesting and explained a lot of why our family thinks and acts the way we do.
We like to be free, left alone and will fight for that, if someone decides to cross that line.


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

England, Whales, NW Europe, Ireland and Scotland. No idea how we got here and can trace my paternal side to my great grandfather only...

Funny Stuff. My grandfather's second wife (Mary) was the daughter of a farmer next door and my grandfather's oldest daughter (Annie) married that farmer. So, my grandmother's step mother was her own step daughter, my grandfather's step mother was his daughter, his son in law was his step father. My dad's half sister (Annie) was his step grandmother, his grandfather was his brother in law ..............


He called her Aunt Annie


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## gilberte (Sep 25, 2004)

I'm told I came from Adam and Eve (back along)


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

gilberte said:


> I'm told I came from Adam and Eve (back along)


A great many seem to share that ancestry. Others prefer to think they are monkeys.


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## mzgarden (Mar 16, 2012)

DH and I must be the only ones that have spent zero time investigating our genealogy. Just never had an interest. Seems like there are lots of tools now to help those that are interested, so that's good.


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## wraith (Jun 26, 2016)

My Father's side has been traced back to England around 1515. I'm 6th generation Vermonter on his side. My Mother's side to around 1582 in France. They landed in Quebec, raised about 5 generations there then changed their last name when the came down into VT. As far as I know none of then did/were anything exciting  They just worked hard and had a lot of kids!


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

2 brothers arrived from England settling in what is now Schoharie County, New York in 1792. History traces another relative of theirs settling in South Carolina. Consequently, I have ancestors that fought on both sides of the Revolutionary and Civil wars. My paternal grandfather completed a genealogy of his family tracing it up to 1950. Since then, I have no idea of distant relatives. I'm mostly English, on my father's side, and know little of my Mother's other than what I remember from my maternal grandfather mentioning there was some Scotch and Irish in my background.


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## hiddensprings (Aug 6, 2009)

On my dad's side, they are all from Germany. My Great Grandparents immigrated to the U.S. On my mother's side we are English and Scottish. My sister loves doing all of the research and has put together several nice books for our family complete with pictures, letters, and anything else she could find.


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## Oregon1986 (Apr 25, 2017)

I am a big ole mutt  I want to get a dna test done. I know i'm a lot Irish(no denying that with my natural red hair and freckles), native american(at least 4 tribes), german, norweigen, scottish, dutch, and french. How much of each, I do not know yet


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

Oregon1986 said:


> I am a big ole mutt  I want to get a dna test done. I know i'm a lot Irish(no denying that with my natural red hair and freckles), native american(at least 4 tribes), german, norweigen, scottish, dutch, and french. How much of each, I do not know yet


Mutts make the best companions. 

It's the thoroughbreds that give you all the problems.


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## Farmerga (May 6, 2010)

Mine are largely non-Anglicized Celts who came here from Ireland and Scotland, mostly in the 17th century. Mix in some Nordic, a little German, a little Jewish and some Sub-Saharan African and you get me.


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## Oregon1986 (Apr 25, 2017)

mreynolds said:


> Mutts make the best companions.
> 
> It's the thoroughbreds that give you all the problems.


This is true!!!


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## Oregon1986 (Apr 25, 2017)

Does anyone know what Black Irish means? I have been told that either Irish and spanish mixed or Irish and african american. Growing up I could never get an answer because well I was raised by racist parents(don't judge me as I am not) and they would not admit to any "color" being in us


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## no really (Aug 7, 2013)

My brothers and I did the DNA testing, it was interesting. Spanish, Portuguese, Native American and Scottish. The Scottish confirmed a family story of the Scotsman running from the English and landing in Mexico in the mid 1700's.


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## Mish (Oct 15, 2015)

Oregon1986 said:


> Does anyone know what Black Irish means? I have been told that either Irish and spanish mixed or Irish and african american. Growing up I could never get an answer because well I was raised by racist parents(don't judge me as I am not) and they would not admit to any "color" being in us


My mom told me years ago that the Black Irish were the original people of the British Isles - small and dark-haired - before the Scandinavians/Northern Europeans came in with all of their giant blonde/redheaded genes.

My Welsh Grandfather was only 5'1" tall and had dark, curly hair. She always said it was because he was out of that original stock with not much of the Celtic blood thrown in (or the genes just didn't show up).

How accurate she is, I don't know, that's just always what I've heard.


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## Oregon1986 (Apr 25, 2017)

Mish said:


> My mom told me years ago that the Black Irish were the original people of the British Isles - small and dark-haired - before the Scandinavians/Northern Europeans came in with all of their giant blonde/redheaded genes.
> 
> My Welsh Grandfather was only 5'1" tall and had dark, curly hair. She always said it was because he was out of that original stock with not much of the Celtic blood thrown in (or the genes just didn't show up).
> 
> How accurate she is, I don't know, that's just always what I've heard.


Very interesting, I have always been curious about it. I will have to do my research I suppose


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## The Paw (May 19, 2006)

Oregon1986 said:


> Very interesting, I have always been curious about it. I will have to do my research I suppose



The term refers to Irish people who have dark hair, dark eyes, and/or dark complexion. There was a commonly held belief that they were descended from survivors of the Spanish Armada, who were shipwrecked after Sir Francis Drake sunk them all. Based on a quick look, it appears that the Armada theory has been disproved, and that the term "black Irish" is primarily used outside Ireland (mostly in the US). There is some thought that it may actually have referred to social status rather than pigmentation, but its origins are unclear.


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## The Paw (May 19, 2006)

My people are mostly Irish and Scottish. My dad's father came from Glasgow, his mother's people were from up around Aberdeen, where they tended cattle for the lairds. 

On my mother's side, several of the great great grandparents were Home Children. These were waifs and orphans who were apprehended by Victorian do-gooders. Many of them were then shipped overseas to the colonies (Canada, Australia, Rhodesia, South Africa) to "start a new life". In fact, there were usually a form of indentured servant to farmers or middle class families. If they stayed at their placement until age 21, they would get paid $200 and be on their way. The families were supposed to educate them. The actual experience of these children ranged from the horrible to an actual bona fide "new start".

Interestingly, I have lineage on both the Orange and Green side of the ledger, the Orange being Protestant relatives from Belfast, the Green being Catholic Irish from Manchester.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

D-BOONE said:


> My people was the ones shooting arrows at the boats as your people rowed in.


Are you sure ?


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## Oregon1986 (Apr 25, 2017)

The Paw said:


> The term refers to Irish people who have dark hair, dark eyes, and/or dark complexion. There was a commonly held belief that they were descended from survivors of the Spanish Armada, who were shipwrecked after Sir Francis Drake sunk them all. Based on a quick look, it appears that the Armada theory has been disproved, and that the term "black Irish" is primarily used outside Ireland (mostly in the US). There is some thought that it may actually have referred to social status rather than pigmentation, but its origins are unclear.


Great information, thank you


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Oregon1986 said:


> Does anyone know what Black Irish means? I have been told that either Irish and spanish mixed or Irish and african american. Growing up I could never get an answer because well I was raised by racist parents(don't judge me as I am not) and they would not admit to any "color" being in us


 Black Irish means I’m in love ...
Black hair black eyes they tend to be short and beautifully rounded and very light complected and I’ve loved everyone I’ve ever met!
And when one of the black Irish men has a daughter from a Alaska native they may be the most beautiful women in the world !
There was this girl in six grade .........


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## Oregon1986 (Apr 25, 2017)

AmericanStand said:


> Black Irish means I’m in love ...
> Black hair black eyes they tend to be short and beautifully rounded and very light complected and I’ve loved everyone I’ve ever met!
> And when one of the black Irish men has a daughter from a Alaska native they may be the most beautiful women in the world !
> There was this girl in six grade .........


Hmm well I do not have the black Irish traits. I am natural red head with hazel eyes and lots of freckles. I also burn just by looking at the sun


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Lol it’s OK I just married an Indian girl 
Indianapolis Indiana Girl !


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## Farmerjack41 (Jun 6, 2017)

Both grandparents on my dads side came from Ireland. They came here as children, but always carried the thick Irish brouge. In 1988 traveled there for the first time, finding a bus load of relatives. Have been quite close to some ever since. They were able to lead us to the original homestead. Found records at the local church that put more information together. In 1999, joined several other cousins and we purchased the original farm. My grandmother came from the next county over, but have not found too much information.
On my mothers family have not learned much. Their back ground is from Wales.


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## 101pigs (Sep 18, 2018)

Oregon1986 said:


> Does anyone know what Black Irish means? I have been told that either Irish and spanish mixed or Irish and african american. Growing up I could never get an answer because well I was raised by racist parents(don't judge me as I am not) and they would not admit to any "color" being in us


Black Irish. Black hair, black or dark blue eyes, and dark complexion. Most are a bit short. A lot of Mexican people claim to be Black Irish also. 

My family from way back England and Norway.


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## susieneddy (Sep 2, 2011)

I am 80% from England & Northwestern Europe and 20% from Ireland, Wales and Scotland. I have relatives from Switzerland and Germany. So far I am back to the 1400's on my relatives


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

My sister-in-law is directly related to Charlemagne once you get there your genealogy is easy to trace


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## crehberg (Mar 16, 2008)

Paternal side from Germany, Maternal side from Wales. Do have family history on the paternal side from about 1850 when they "came over"....not much on the maternal side is known....but I am told we are somehow related to Howard Eynon who was in Mad Max....so that's something I guess...


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## keenataz (Feb 17, 2009)

From the centre of the known universe. Southern Ontario and the edge of the universe the Michigan UP


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

England and Ireland


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## Grafton County Couple (Sep 20, 2018)

Canada & Portugal.


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## kinnb (Oct 23, 2011)

Naples on the paternal, Scandinavia mostly on the maternal side. Haven't done much with research, but I know some of the fam has traced a few things. So feed me some pasta with a side of Swedish meatballs


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## nchobbyfarm (Apr 10, 2011)

I was given up for adoption at birth. No idea. And I don't trust the DNA companies enough to try them.


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## altair (Jul 23, 2011)

I like genealogy but haven't had much to go on other than names. My mother is French-Canadian and her maiden name was Beaulac (French for "beautiful lake"). Her mother's maiden name was Vallee. My father is a James and there are also Bohannons, I learned was an Americanized name of Buchanan, an immigrant from Scotland. There are other last names too, paternal grandmother was a Lombard and I have no ideal what nationality that name is. Some day I would like to learn more.

There's an interesting woman, an uber great-grandmother I had, who was named Schoharzude/Schoharzade and was a Native American of an unknown tribe. Her name was Americanized (nicknamed?) to Minerva (or Moniva in another source).

I work in a town clerks' office where we have easy access to my town's vital records. Helping other people with their genealogy questions is fun for me.


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## Teej (Jan 14, 2012)

My dad's sister was big into geneology and even went over to Germany to look at graves. As far as I know I'm pretty much all German, however my maternal grandmother's mother ran off when grandma was very young so we're not completely sure about that line.


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## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

My husband is black Irish, as well as our oldest daughter, both have dark hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. She has freckles, he does not. He will burn then tan, she will not. 

My youngest daughter and I are typical Irish, she has very pale blond hair (which is violet at the moment), and few freckles. She does tan. I'm so pale I'm clear, except for loads of freckles (everywhere). We both have blue eyes, and high Scandinavian cheekbones.


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## DisasterCupcake (Jan 3, 2015)

Interesting thread.

My paternal side is actually very well documented thanks to a very interested Aunt. They're also recent emigrants; as close as my paternal grandfather being born on the family land. He never spoke English that well. Although the area they came from changed hands many, many times, they're Germanic/Slavic in heritage, and his wife was Swedish- she was already here. 

Maternal side is a bit fuzzier. My only remaining grandparent doesn't exactly have a full deck of cards, and getting information out of her is difficult. I know that her grandmother was Cherokee Indian, but married an Englishman (which could mean any manner of Caucasian or European peoples). Maternal grandfather has a similar story to my paternal side; emigrated recently (post WWII) from Germany, and we've documented many of his relatives who now live next door in Minnesota.

It'd be interesting to get DNA confirmation. I know that there were name changes along the way for my maternal grandparents, after fleeing Germany.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

I am Heinz 57 blood intermingled from all the down troden from the world forced to seek a new life in the new world.

I used to really get my dad mad when he would tell us that and I would add, and I bet there is some African blood inter mingled too. Although to be hounest we were never from the south, Came to Michign thru Ont Canada. 4 genarations ago when grand parents got tired of paying a tax so high muckys could live and play not working at all.

 Al


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## Pig in a poke (Mar 27, 2013)

All of my grand-parents came from Poland, arriving to the U.S. between 1906 and 1910. At that time, however, Poland did not exist on the map, so they were from "Russian Poland" or "Austrian Poland" as the case was. I have successfully tracked two sets to their towns of departure and included stops to both on our trip to Poland last year. Another pair emigrated independently and met and married in the U.S.


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

Mish said:


> My mom told me years ago that the Black Irish were the original people of the British Isles - small and dark-haired - before the Scandinavians/Northern Europeans came in with all of their giant blonde/redheaded genes.
> 
> _*My Welsh Grandfather was only 5'1"*_ tall and had dark, curly hair. She always said it was because he was out of that original stock with not much of the Celtic blood thrown in (or the genes just didn't show up).
> 
> How accurate she is, I don't know, that's just always what I've heard.


Interesting. My father told me of a replica boat he helped build from an ancient set of drawings. The bunks were only 5'6" including the Captains bed. There would have been plenty of room to make it larger in his quarters too. This was a Spanish Galleon dating back to the 1400's. 

Went to an old Creole plantation and the beds there were small also as it was the original furniture. I try to imagine what it would have been like back then when everyone was around 5' tall or maybe even less.


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

Most families have stories about the family. We had a lot of history told on both sides of my family. I was thrilled to get my DNA done because it proved that the stories had a basis is fact. Some of the stories were previously supported by documents but the lineage from long ago was just oral history. The DNA showed that we definitely came from those regions and races so the stories may be true. Also found out that we had ancestry from two areas - Britain and Scandinavia - that were not part of the family lore.


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

Yvonne's hubby said:


> A great many seem to share that ancestry. Others prefer to think they are monkeys.


We all originate from the original single cell and we share DNA with all living things including monkeys. Chimpanzees are our closest genetic relation sharing 98.5% of our genes. We even share 60% DNA with a banana plant and 90% with cats. The world is much more complex than most people can understand. That is why simple stories are made up and turned into beliefs.


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## Mish (Oct 15, 2015)

mreynolds said:


> Interesting. My father told me of a replica boat he helped build from an ancient set of drawings. The bunks were only 5'6" including the Captains bed. There would have been plenty of room to make it larger in his quarters too. This was a Spanish Galleon dating back to the 1400's.
> 
> Went to an old Creole plantation and the beds there were small also as it was the original furniture. I try to imagine what it would have been like back then when everyone was around 5' tall or maybe even less.


That's fascinating. It doesn't seem unusual in the UK, either. My husband is addicted to this British show called "Escape to the Country" where city people look for rural properties. So they show a bunch of very old buildings that have been modernized, but because of the way they historically grade buildings, you often can't change original door or ceiling heights - many of those doors on the very old houses are TINY and the ceilings are so low. It's not uncommon to watch people have to bend almost in half to walk through the doors, or scrunch-walk through the original low-ceilinged parts of the houses. We often joke that my mom (who is also only 5'1") and grandpa could live in those no problem.

But yeah, Grandpa's whole family was very short and dark. I remember my great-aunt Mary-Ellen, his older sister, was only around 4'8". Of course my 5'1" mother had to marry my 6'4" Scot/Belgian father so we always looked like giants around my mom's family. I remember jokingly resting my elbow on top of Grandpa's head when I was around 11 or so  Very short family on my Welsh side - I guess that's why they make good miners.


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## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

Both sides half German and half Sottish with a wee bit of mutt thrown in. Family lore is paternal side was a Hessian soldier (German Mercenary) in the revolutionary war. Got drunk Christmas eve. Washington crossed the Delaware and captured him. At war's end he got the choice of a ticket home or land in Pennsylvania. Maternal side claims Captain George Duff, a British ship's captain. He was killed by a cannon ball at the battle of Trafalgar, the same battle Nelson died in.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

emdeengee said:


> That is why simple stories are made up and turned into beliefs.


Yes, many stories are really only beliefs or wishes.


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## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

Mish said:


> That's fascinating. It doesn't seem unusual in the UK, either. My husband is addicted to this British show called "Escape to the Country" where city people look for rural properties. So they show a bunch of very old buildings that have been modernized, but because of the way they historically grade buildings, you often can't change original door or ceiling heights - many of those doors on the very old houses are TINY and the ceilings are so low. It's not uncommon to watch people have to bend almost in half to walk through the doors, or scrunch-walk through the original low-ceilinged parts of the houses. We often joke that my mom (who is also only 5'1") and grandpa could live in those no problem.
> 
> But yeah, Grandpa's whole family was very short and dark. I remember my great-aunt Mary-Ellen, his older sister, was only around 4'8". Of course my 5'1" mother had to marry my 6'4" Scot/Belgian father so we always looked like giants around my mom's family. I remember jokingly resting my elbow on top of Grandpa's head when I was around 11 or so  Very short family on my Welsh side - I guess that's why they make good miners.


My probably Welsh (the spelling of her maiden name is common, but not usually spelled with a y) maternal grandmother was 4'9" and my uncle was the tallest on that side of the family at 5'9". Grandma wore a kids size 3 shoe. She wasn't dark tho, blonde hair when she was young, snow white at 30, with very light skin and freckles.


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## roadless (Sep 9, 2006)

I was told I'm German, Polish, Welsh and Indian. 
It would be interesting to have my DNA tested to know for sure.


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## Mish (Oct 15, 2015)

Irish Pixie said:


> My probably Welsh (the spelling of her maiden name is common, but not usually spelled with a y) maternal grandmother was 4'9" and my uncle was the tallest on that side of the family at 5'9". Grandma wore a kids size 3 shoe. She wasn't dark tho, blonde hair when she was young, snow white at 30, with very light skin and freckles.


Is it awful to say she sounds adorable? Your uncle must have been a giant in the family - that's about as tall I am, and I always felt like Godzilla walking around my tiny mom, grandpa and aunties.

My grandpa passed in 2010. He had left his WWII Navy uniform to my sister, who is the family history collector. One of her sons was around 7 years old at the time and she had him (carefully) try on the white uniform undershirt - it barely fit him. If I hadn't watched her take the uniform out of the closet, I would have been sure she was trying to pull a fast one on me. Oh, my gosh, it was so tiny.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

roadless said:


> I was told I'm German, Polish, Welsh and Indian.
> It would be interesting to have my DNA tested to know for sure.


You don't need a DNA test.
Just answer these questions:
1 Do you ever crave sausages and beer?
2 Does accordion music make you feel like dancing?
3 Do you like Rarebit?
4 Have you ever had an urge to hunt buffalo?


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## roadless (Sep 9, 2006)

1. Yes
2. No, but found myself tapping feet. 
3. Yes
4. No, but I do enjoy pow-wows,


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## whiterock (Mar 26, 2003)

adopted at birth, always thought I was Scottish, Irish and English. Had DNA done. England, Wales and Northwestern Europe 84%, Ireland and Scotland 8%, Germanic Europe 6% and Sweden 2%.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

roadless said:


> 1. Yes
> 2. No, but found myself tapping feet.
> 3. Yes
> 4. No, but I do enjoy pow-wows,


That conclusively proves your theory is correct.
I'll send a bill for the service.


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## roadless (Sep 9, 2006)

Bearfootfarm said:


> I'll send a bill for the service.


Get in line.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

roadless said:


> Get in line.


I'm old, remember?
I need to be near the front.


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## susieneddy (Sep 2, 2011)

roadless said:


> I was told I'm German, Polish, Welsh and Indian.
> It would be interesting to have my DNA tested to know for sure.


Don't totally believe what you were told. Susie had been told that she was German her entire life. We took the DNA test and she is more a lot Swedish than German. In fact she has very little German in her but her sister has more but no Swedish so it can vary between siblings.


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## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

I won't have my DNA tested by the ancestry testers . They are sharing the results with the FBI and others. I don't want my siblings or myself arrested for some cold case crime because the DNA matches. Also don't want to suddenly find out I have a family.


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## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

I'm a little leery about having a DNA test done because my father was a serial cheater and I already know I have two half siblings, and there are probably more. In one sense it would be nice to know, but on the other it could open a can of worms.


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## roadless (Sep 9, 2006)

Irish Pixie said:


> I'm a little leery about having a DNA test done because my father was a serial cheater and I already know I have two half siblings, and there are probably more. In one sense it would be nice to know, but on the other it could open a can of worms.


Same here Irish Pixie, at my father's funeral, it was found out I have a half sister 6 months older than me. 
Good grief.


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## Redlands Okie (Nov 28, 2017)

And people want to watch soap operas and reality stuff when we’re already living them


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## whiterock (Mar 26, 2003)

Yep, I ran across a couple of half sisters myself. One I've met, the other, not sure if I will. She doesn't like the idea of Daddy not being chivalrous. I figure what happened 70 years ago can be overlooked by now. Neither the daddy or the mother was married, not like they cheated.


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## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

Redlands Okie said:


> And people want to watch soap operas and reality stuff when we’re already living them


True. There are more skeletons in the Pixie closet as well.


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## Billy Campbell (Feb 10, 2019)

Irish Pixie said:


> I've done fairly extensive research on my family tree, and my paternal line has been here since before the Revolutionary War. I'm a Daughter of the American Revolution many, many times over.
> 
> My maternal line is mostly Irish and Scottish, and I can trace only one back to a place in Ireland. My gg grandmother was born on Spike Island, probably at the prison, but I can't find out if my ggg grandparents were guards, workers, or inmates. The family lore is that we're from County Cork. It's so hard to trace lines to Ireland and Scotland due to the overwhelming amount of "O'brien/Brien" "O'Malley" "Connors" "Allen" (although that could have been Welsh due to the original spelling) "Campbell" "Stewart" "Wallace" etc. And even here in the states, the NY railroads changed the names to what ever they felt like, and the census wasn't much better.
> 
> Are any of you interested in genealogy?


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## Kiamichi Kid (Apr 9, 2009)

I've tested myself and several family members at more than one testing service. I've tested my Autosomal DNA,Y DNA and mt DNA.I uploaded the raw data to several genealogical databases and have found relatives all over the world. I've combined my genetic and traditional genealogical research efforts and have a pretty solid idea where the majority of my ancestors originate.I'll say that I come from an extremely genetically diverse background .If I listed everything I've found with the combined methods it would make your head spin...lol


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## whiterock (Mar 26, 2003)

Then don't. I hate being dizzy.


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## Number21 (May 28, 2017)

Nimrod said:


> I won't have my DNA tested by the ancestry testers . They are sharing the results with the FBI and others. I don't want my siblings or myself arrested for some cold case crime because the DNA matches. Also don't want to suddenly find out I have a family.


I agree with this. I'm not trying to hide anything but I see no good coming out of my DNA being stored on some list somewhere. No possible way that can benefit me.

With that said, my aunt recently got a test done. My grandpa thought his whole life that he was Irish, looked the part, and owned an irish bar. Turns out he was Scandinavian, never found out before he died. I have no idea how they got to America. The other side is from Germany around 1850. For some reason they settled in Aspen Colorado, must have been miserable back then. Don't think it had quite the fancy pants connotation it has today...

So basically I'm half viking and half german, only a matter of time before I try to take over the world!


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

I’m pretty sure I am native American I was born in the United States I wasnt around for anybody else so I can’t vouch for them .....


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

There's a lot of German in my ancestry. Also, once we got here there must have been lots of shotgun weddings as in the 1700's and 1800's the first child usually came way less than 9 months after the wedding.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Number21 said:


> I agree with this. I'm not trying to hide anything but I see no good coming out of my DNA being stored on some list somewhere. No possible way that can benefit me.
> 
> With that said, my aunt recently got a test done. My grandpa thought his whole life that he was Irish, looked the part, and owned an irish bar. Turns out he was Scandinavian, never found out before he died. I have no idea how they got to America. The other side is from Germany around 1850. For some reason they settled in Aspen Colorado, must have been miserable back then. Don't think it had quite the fancy pants connotation it has today...
> 
> So basically I'm half viking and half german, only a matter of time before I try to take over the world!


 Really you don’t see any way that having your DNA on a list could benefit you? Is that an honest answer? I can see about 50 million ways it could benefit you on the other hand to be honest I can see about 50 million what is it might come back to bite you in the butt


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

The height of men and women around the world has increased over generations. Mostly it was/is due to better food. In previous centuries 5'6" for a man and 5' for a woman was tall. My Dad was considered tall for his generation (1912) at 5"10". My maternal grandfather was 6"3" and considered a giant for his time. His wife was 4"6" tall. Of course there have always been groups of people who were taller - like the Watusi who were/are well over 7 feet. The Romans and Vikings were not tall as thought of today. Just 5'6 or 5'7 but many much smaller. Height does not mean everything.


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## TheMartianChick (May 26, 2009)

I'm interested in genealogy, but don't have much time for it right now. Perhaps someday... Several years ago, I had my uncle (mom's brother) do a DNA test. I wanted to preserve the patrilineal data from my grandfather's side of the family while I still had the opportunity. This was important because we don't know much of anything about him. He was literally found in an empty rain barrel as a baby, along with his twin brother. I assume that he appeared to be black or biracial because the babies were raised/informally adopted by a black family. During that time period, we also assume that babies that appeared white would have been sent to an orphanage or raised by a white family. Despite the lack of information about his parentage, he led a rather interesting life. As a boy, he ran errands for Harriet Tubman. As an adult, his pale skin allowed him to "pass" for white. He was able to rent homes in neighborhoods that were predominantly white for his wife and 13 children to live in. He never claimed to be white...People just assumed that he was and he reaped the benefit of that assumption.


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## Bret (Oct 3, 2003)

I've been biting my tongue in cheack and today I can't hold back.

Melmac I think. 

Probably Germany.

I'm satisfied that we may have all come from a small number of lines. My knuckles still curl close to the ground.


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

Anthropology has really advanced over the past decades. And with glaciers melting and perma-frost exposing new ground we may well find even more of our ancestors bones. We now know that there were many humanoid lines that developed most of which died out. The Neanderthals and Denisovians being two lines that lived for hundreds of thousands of years settling in Europe and Asia and eventually mixing and breeding with **** sapiens. **** Sapiens means wise human in Latin. Our powerful brains have kept us alive so far but we have not even been around for the same length of time as the Neanderthals. And our greed will probably contribute to our downfall.


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## Mish (Oct 15, 2015)

emdeengee said:


> The height of men and women around the world has increased over generations. Mostly it was/is due to better food. In previous centuries 5'6" for a man and 5' for a woman was tall. My Dad was considered tall for his generation (1912) at 5"10". My maternal grandfather was 6"3" and considered a giant for his time. His wife was 4"6" tall. Of course there have always been groups of people who were taller - like the Watusi who were/are well over 7 feet.


I get what you're saying and agree, but there are definite differences among genetic groups. Nutrition can only get you so tall before your genes stop growth.

My dad's side is just filled with giants. My grandpa was 6'8" and my dad was the shortest boy at 6'4", his shortest sister is 5'11". I remember grandpa trying to make us feel better about feeling like giant dorks by talking about how tall his people have always been.

My mom's side goes the opposite direction, very, very short people for a long time back. 

Until my mom ruined it by marrying and procreating with someone from giant stock. My 5'1" (although she swears she's 5'2") mom and 6'4" dad both grew up in the same town, went to the same schools and ate the same food. My sister and I both fell right in the middle of our parents in height (one of us is 5'9", the other 5'10" - still kind of giants for girls). Makes sense genetically.

Anyway, all of the grands were born between 1914 and 1924, in roughly the same geographical region (dad's side was Michigan/northern Ohio, mom's side was southern Ohio/West Virgina) - not too different environmentally. 

I totally agree that we are larger, as a generic population, than our ancestors. But among specific genetic groups, there's a big difference in what average is, with good nutrition and without. I notice this a lot as I walk around southern California mostly able to easily see over the top of everyone else's genetically diverse heads without standing on my tippy toes.


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

Genes will always have a say in our physical and mental abilities and if you come from a family of tall or short people then you will probably end up following their line. Funny how we accept that but not thin or heavy people. But then you get a family of average height with one member either tall or short. Thankfully proper food for so many around the world has meant the end to rickets and other bone and growth diseases which led to so much physical suffering. I remember reading that in the 1930s the British Military and government started to provide nutritious food for children because they knew they were not physically tall or strong enough to serve in a war. Mostly due to the real hunger in the depression years. Many born and growing in that era never even reached average heights.


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## Mish (Oct 15, 2015)

emdeengee said:


> Genes will always have a say in our physical and mental abilities and if you come from a family of tall or short people then you will probably end up following their line. Funny how we accept that but not thin or heavy people. But then you get a family of average height with one member either tall or short. Thankfully proper food for so many around the world has meant the end to rickets and other bone and growth diseases which led to so much physical suffering. I remember reading that in the 1930s the British Military and government started to provide nutritious food for children because they knew they were not physically tall or strong enough to serve in a war. Mostly due to the real hunger in the depression years. Many born and growing in that era never even reached average heights.


I know you weren't talking about me specifically but I totally think the same thing applies to the tendency to be on the thin side or on the heavy side. Personally I think that is where historic nutrition has put its mark on our genetics - those descended from people who have had to scratch and scrape for every calorie have bodies that tend to hold on to those calories so when the starving time comes again they don't die. People from relatively "easy" calorie gathering areas tend to not hoard the calories as much and might tend toward the thinner side. It only becomes a problem when all of us have access to all of the calories we could want all of the time. Fascinating stuff and I don't think we've yet figured out how much genetics predispose us to.

Absolutely, malnutrition is a big issue in height, and you can push people to be a little taller with really high calories/good food than they would have been on just an average diet, but I think that only takes it so far. Maybe in a few thousand years of everyone eating the same things, our bodies will realize things have changed and we don't need to conserve, either in height or weight. But there is a definite geographical ancestry thing going on, IMHO.


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

As I said that there is a genetic reason some are tall, short, thin or heavy. Inuit have more body fat because of the cold. However the nutrition given to children in early childhood and the teen years makes a difference in their growth. You just have to look at war torn or environmentally destroyed areas to see the effect.


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## homesteadforty (Dec 4, 2007)

Something I find interesting about genealogy is that the number of g+-grandparents you have doubles with each generation that you go back. A generation is considered roughly 25 years so if you go back 10 generations, about the time of the American Revolution, you have 1024 8g-grandparents. Therefore, 500 years back (20 generations) you have a little over 1 million 18g-grandparents.

I'm Scottish, Swedish, English and Germanic. They all arrived in America during the early years of Jamestown (1610's) and in New Sweden (along the Delaware River) in the 1630's. Generations moved west with the frontier often being the first or among the first settlers in new areas until by the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars most finally stayed in the Appalachian Mountains (from western Md., through western Va. _now West Virginia,_ s.w. Virginia and into n.w. North Carolina). Along the way a number of lines picked up some American Indian blood.


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## vicki in NW OH (May 10, 2002)

On my dad's side, paternal is British and Irish. Maternal is German and Luxembourg. On mom's side, paternal is German (and whatever country the Robinson's are from, haven't traced them back to a particular country), and maternal is Swiss (Mennonite and Amish), French, Dutch (Mennonite), and an Irish orphan who married into a Mennonite family. Mom's side of the family is the most interesting, the Robinson circus owners, the first Mennonite bishop in the U.S., one of the signers of the first document in the U.S. that condemned slavery, a couple of Revolutionary War soldiers, a wealthy governor of the old French province of Dauphine (also on the Council of Paris), a great-great grandfather who was in Michigan's 7th calvary, an ancestor who died in Libby prison. 

My husband's side is almost all German except for a grandmother whose father was from Luxembourg.


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## Number21 (May 28, 2017)

AmericanStand said:


> Really you don’t see any way that having your DNA on a list could benefit you? Is that an honest answer? I can see about 50 million ways it could benefit you on the other hand to be honest I can see about 50 million what is it might come back to bite you in the butt


Yes, that's an honest answer, and I'm not the only one who thinks this. Kind of like my medical record being private, no reason I would ever allow that to be used by anybody without my direct consent. If you send away for some internet kit you're just making your DNA public domain.

I'm pretty sure you didn't think of "50 million ways" it could benefit you, so how about a list of just ten?


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## colourfastt (Nov 11, 2006)

No; and don't give a toss.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Number21 said:


> Yes, that's an honest answer, and I'm not the only one who thinks this. Kind of like my medical record being private, no reason I would ever allow that to be used by anybody without my direct consent. If you send away for some internet kit you're just making your DNA public domain.
> 
> I'm pretty sure you didn't think of "50 million ways" it could benefit you, so how about a list of just ten?


I suspect there are more than 10 diseases where knowing about them ahead of time can help you avoid the effects.
It might help The attorneys for an estate find you.
It might help to prove you’re not related to that cousin you don’t like.
It might help prove you are related to that cousin you do like.
It might help you prove that you are related to someone you’re trying to get a job with.
It might help you prove you are not related to someone you’re trying to get a job with.
It might show you genetics that you do not want to pass on.
It might show prospective spouses that you have genetics that they do want.
It might prove that you could not have committed a crime.
It might prove the identity of your last remains.


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## Alder (Aug 18, 2014)

My maternal grandmother was very "connected" although by the time of her generation, they were more or less West Virginia hillbillies that had moved west to ranch in Nebraska. Her line is very well documented because of her well known ancestry and quite easy to trace. She goes back to the Stewart Kings in Scotland, including Robert the Bruce, castle-borns like the Lords Lovet Frasers, and further back to English and Irish same. Also to prominent Viking invaders and even Roman Emperors. Lots of intermarriages I'm assuming for political reasons back in time with Romans, Germans, Russians and Norsemen. 

My 11th great grandfather was Miles Standish of Mayflower fame, and a lot of her side of the family made quite a name for themselves in the Revolution, and both sides of the Civil War. Fortunate to have very good records from the English especially, then once they came to America...most of them in the early 1600's.

The other grandparent lines were recent immigrants from Russia, Germany and Sweden and a LOT harder to document once you get back into records from the old country. Right now, I'm still trying to pin down the correct spelling of my German great grandma's maiden name...it seems to be all over the place. And my Russian/Polish grandfather...no trace except that he was once married to my Grandma and they divorced very quickly after my dad and his sister were born

Always mysteries to follow. Genealogy research is a lot of fun.


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## Number21 (May 28, 2017)

AmericanStand said:


> I suspect there are more than 10 diseases where knowing about them ahead of time can help you avoid the effects.
> It might help The attorneys for an estate find you.
> It might help to prove you’re not related to that cousin you don’t like.
> It might help prove you are related to that cousin you do like.
> ...


I suspect you don't understand how the cheap internet "who are you" kits work. They will not tell you any of this.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Oh I understand that , oh I understand And I even agree with you that they will not tell you those things. 
But that’s not what you said and it’s not the question that I answered


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## Jen_Jen (Jan 10, 2017)

Yvonne's hubby said:


> They should have built a wall!


ROFLMAO!

Jen M, MA


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## Jen_Jen (Jan 10, 2017)

I only have information from my biological father's side. My makeup is UK, Finnish, and Ashkenazi Jewish. That's the part I'm excited about! I've been interested in Judaism since before I knew any of this.

My mother was adopted in the 1940s, so her records are sealed, sadly. All I know is her biological family name was Brooks and they were located somewhere in the Midwest. She was adopted in the Chicago area.

Jen M., MA


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## Seth (Dec 3, 2012)

Eastern Kentucky, West Virginia, and NC. We are Americans.


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## dyrne (Feb 22, 2015)

Seth said:


> Eastern Kentucky, West Virginia, and NC. We are Americans.


If you're from that area likely you are around 3-5th cousin level DNA relationship with most folks in the UK and Denmark. Nation, tribe, kin they're all pretty much the same root words. My recent heritage is pretty boring and this isn't really super accurate because again, it's very difficult to distinguish anglo saxons from danes from many other germanic peoples:


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## Seth (Dec 3, 2012)

dyrne said:


> If you're from that area likely you are around 3-5th cousin level DNA relationship with most folks in the UK and Denmark. Nation, tribe, kin they're all pretty much the same root words. My recent heritage is pretty boring and this isn't really super accurate because again, it's very difficult to distinguish anglo saxons from danes from many other germanic peoples:





Well, don't tell them. I already have enough cousins wanting to borrow money.


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## barnbilder (Jul 1, 2005)

A close family member has spent a lifetime tracing everyone's family tree back to the boat and beyond. While letting her relationships with living family members fall into shambles. It all relies on truthfulness and honesty, things absent in her own life, so I don't understand why she thinks all of those people's kids came from the sire that is on their pedigree. In times of war, trading kids like cattle to do farm work, and no paternity tests, no surveillance cameras, I mean come on. People in the Appalachian area are probably far more inbred than people think. If the truth were known we probably all trace back to four or five baptist preachers.


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