# Your Heritage



## Raeven (Oct 11, 2011)

I posed a question recently in the Interview thread and it made me curiousâ¦ I know a lot of people are interested in their lineage, where their families come from. Do you know? How far back can you trace your ancestry? Have you found any surprises?

Me, Iâm just a mutt.

My fatherâs motherâs family is interested in genealogy, so I have a fairly complete record on that crowd. No impressive relatives, but interesting all the same. On my dadâs side, I inherited English, German, Irish (the red hair explained) and Cherokee Nation. On my motherâs side, Ukrainian and Czechoslovakian (when there was a Czechoslovakia). The records Iâve got are of the English and German rellies. 

No one remains alive that can help with the Irish and Cherokee bits, and the only one who could help with the Ukrainian and Czechoslovakian mobs is, sadly, stricken with dementia. Itâs probably best that it all remain a mystery.

But what about the rest of you?


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## arcticow (Oct 8, 2006)

Irish, English, Scots, German and an addition of Indian blood on both sides, mom and dad...


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## Guest (Feb 16, 2014)

Irish..Scottish..and a singular Cherokee ancestor named "Indiana" from northern Alabama..LOL..One of my father's sisters did a ton of work and has a complete family history including gravesites and all kinds of documents which stretch back to Virginia in the very late 1600's. Blacksmiths and tobacco farmers ...

I was able to document my mother's Irish ancestors back to 1785 Ireland..fishermen and sailors..the only surprise was to discover an ancestor who 
had worked in Boston at a factory with his father..left for California at age 17..did a stint at San Quentin ( uh oh)..and after released, was an actor in sillent films...


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## Guest (Feb 16, 2014)

A distant cousin who is a mormon did an exhaustive family research program, which took him a lifetime to compile, and posted it online. Until then, I knew who my mother and father were, both sets of grandparents, a maternal great-grandmother, and a paternal great-grandfather. Great grandpa was the one I touched after he was dead, when I was 4 or 5 years old, and I also got mud slung all over my little suit at his funeral, by a car stuck in the mud. Great grandma was a snuff drooling old woman in her 90's who was in the newspaper in 1957, being interviewed about her memory of the civil war and reconstruction. She used some colorful language describing certain incidences that actually happened, but people in this forum would pretend to be horrified if they read about it. And, it's quite mild, really nothing compared to the mormon cousin's written, recorded, and printed history. 

So, in the late 1400's apparently the entire family was evicted from Germany under threat of hanging, and also excommunicated from the Jewish religion, at the same time. A couple centuries later came to America. 

I liked it better when all I knew was that we were from South Carolina, and poor.


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## Raeven (Oct 11, 2011)

bostonlesley said:


> I was able to document my mother's Irish ancestors back to 1785 Ireland..fishermen and sailors..the only surprise was to discover an ancestor who had worked in Boston at a factory with his father..left for California at age 17..did a stint at San Quentin ( uh oh)..and after released, was an actor in sillent films...


LOL, I'd have liked to have met that guy!!! He sounds like a character. It would be interesting to have a conversation with someone like that.


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## Guest (Feb 16, 2014)

Raeven said:


> LOL, I'd have liked to have met that guy!!! He sounds like a character. It would be interesting to have a conversation with someone like that.


Both sides of my family are filled with "interesting" people..LOL..and the genes continue to march on..


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## Guest (Feb 16, 2014)

I think everybody has some very interesting people in their background. One day, people will be studying up on their ancestry and say "boy, that bostonlesley had a really wonderful life."


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## Ramblin Wreck (Jun 10, 2005)

I'm a mutt/Heinz 57. Some members of the family on my Dad's side have gotten our ancestry back to the mid 1700's to the Deep Creek/Deep River/Dan River area of the North Carolina/Virginia border. My paternal grandmother was a Hay and her clan is Scottish. My Mom's side is probably more diverse, but not as well researched. I keep threatening to do one of the human genome tests to see what my DNA says, but I haven't gotten around to it.


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## RubyRed (Sep 24, 2011)

With all of the Irish blood here, we need to party it up on St, Patty's Day!!  

Irish, (explains my red hair as well) French, Indian, German and Welch.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

I'm 2.7% Neanderthal.

On father's side - British and German
On mother's side - French and Cajun


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## viggie (Jul 17, 2009)

I'm Polish on my Dad's side...plain old hardworking folks at foundries and railroads according to the census records. Gramps was the mechanic at the Milwaukee Zoo and most of his kids were mechanics or construction workers.

It's mostly German on me mums side. I know the grandparents were a nurse and engineer so a little more highbrow.



Ramblin Wreck said:


> I keep threatening to do one of the human genome tests to see what my DNA says, but I haven't gotten around to it.


23andme is down to $99...now I'm kinda tempted


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## Raeven (Oct 11, 2011)

zong said:


> I think everybody has some very interesting people in their background. One day, people will be studying up on their ancestry and say "boy, that bostonlesley had a really wonderful life."


Oh, I've no shortage of interesting people in my ancestry, but it's mostly known via family mythology rather than by genealogical fact. There are the Ukrainian/Czech relatives who fled the Bolsheviks ahead of the Revolution, settled in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada and ran liquor over the border into Montana during Prohibition; the Cherokee great grandfather who beat a hasty retreat from Oklahoma for stealing another man's wife (she's the Irish who eventually became my great grandmother); the German group who made their way west from Massachusetts through Kansas and eventually settled a small town in Idaho. 

One great uncle was a real character, a boxer who did fairly well in his division but was known as a bit of a dirty fighter: http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=34997&cat=boxer

He's mentioned also in the book, A Death in White Bear Lake, but just as a colorful background character -- not important to the story at all. I discovered that one purely by accident. A weird experience!

It's fun when you have the time, to learn about this stuff.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

I knew my grandparents, Grandad, Irish. Grandmother, Chief Joseph, Nez Perce. Dad English, both sides. Mayflower. There is a long family history already done on my family name. I run toward my Grandmothers heritage, that is all I know and care about. The rest does not interest me....James


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## Oxankle (Jun 20, 2003)

Mine is pretty short. Paternal side German, came over 1870's. I've found the old man's grave and everything since, but cannot find where the immigrant GGGGG Grandmother is buried. No record of them in Germany. About that time Germany had too many "freed" serfs and was exporting them to the US in large numbers.

Maternal side, G. Grandma had three sons; one conscripted by the Bohemian cavalry and never heard from again. One elected to stay (yes, there was once a place called Bohemia) and Grandfather came to the US with her in the late 1800's. All of them, including two of my brothers. are buried in one plot The church register that recorded G. Grandma's funeral carries the notation "Born in Bohemia". 

A cousin on Mama's side has gone back to the old country, the village where Grandpa was born, and has even found the house, still inhabited, where the family lived.


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## Tommyice (Dec 5, 2010)

Dad's side is all German except for that very wee part that is Irish.

Mom's side (which who I'm more familiar with and spent more time with) are all German and Alsatian (French or German depending on which year it was LOL). Great-great-great grandfather, a musician, brought them here in 1845 and died in 1850. Could never find anything about his wife or daughter after his death, although my grandmother remembered her great-aunt (mostly just a tea set she had). My great-great grandfather joined Mr. Lincoln's 14th Regiment (the Golden Dragons) when he was too young to serve. He drummed and later bugled for his light infrantry division. He spent some time down South and then went West to Fort Mojave in the Arizona territory where he was later honorably discharged. A part of a letter we have from him, stated it would be a while before he returned home--needed to take a steamship as the overland routes were too dangerous. I have his saber next to my bed. Anyone breaking into my place, if they make it past the pitbull, will see the same thing some Roman legionnaires saw when they followed Arminius into the Dark Forest--a naked German, running, screaming with a sword. LOL

There are no real "characters" that I've found. Mostly just a bunch of thick headed, hard working dutchmen who liked to party with their relatives--drinking and singing (usually way off key too.)


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## Twp.Tom (Dec 29, 2010)

My Paternal Grandparents, immigrated to the U.S. In 1915, from Czechoslovakia, they were Croation, My Maternal Grandpa (Croation), and Grandma(German) arrived here at the same time. All of them fled Eastern Europe, it was their SHTF . The Communism was spreading at that time. They arrived through Ellis Island, and came to Youngstown, Ohio, to work in the steel mills, and raise their families. They must have been very brave people-taking the chances they did.* Thank You Grandma's, and Grandpa's******


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## Guest (Feb 16, 2014)

In the history that was written by the distant mormon cousin, many of the family were foremen on cotton plantations. As a result, they messed around with the slave women on a regular basis. One had a large family with a slave, and after the civil war, they stayed together. The other members of the family decided he was a disgrace, so, they packed him, the woman, and the kids, along with everything they owned across the county line. He changed his last name, but spelling only, it was pronounced the same. His children, some of whom were light-skinned, married other light skinned children of slaves, and "passed" for white. That branch changed their name, yet again, spelling only. So, in one county of SC there are 3 names, all pronounced the same, but spelled differently. All kin, but none will acknowledge their kinship to the other. 

Apparently, my personal ancestors were from another brother and include a woman who killed her husband, a woman who had her hand cut off for slapping a union soldier who raped her during a particularly evil time called "reconstruction". Several who refused to be drafted for the war because they had to work and support their family, and didn't have a dog in the fight. One woman whose husband hid in the well, and as the draft board members were questioning her, she turned around, hiked up her dress and said " Look in here, you done looked everywhere else" 
on down to a direct ancestor who killed a man about his bluetick hound getting pregnant by the other man's mongrel. Since he went **** hunting with the judge and the sheriff, nothing much happened about that.


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

My heritage is mostly Scot and Irish, with my maternal grandmother being PA Dutch. The Dutch side were here a hundred years before the Mayflower and were eventually kicked out of New Amsterdam by the english. Before coming to the New World they had some trouble in Holland, where one of them was torn to pieces by a mob, but now they have a statue there honoring him. I don't recall the entire story. The first one here sailed a trading vessel named "The Little Fox" on the hudson river in the 1500s.

The Scots were big in the church, hence the name, but fell from favor and were then in Ireland. two brothers fled Ireland ahead of being hanged as horse thieves and sailed as indentured servants for the sugar plantations on the Caribbean Islands, where they likely would have died. A storm blew them off course and they landed in PA. They moved west into the Alleghanies and settled there while it was a new frontier. Some were killed or kidnapped by indians and never seen again. Strangely enough, my mother's side is very similar and they were all likely neighbors, but her side continued west into OK and Texas. There are some interesting stories on all sides. I would love to know the whole story about the two brothers, as in those times you could be hanged for poaching game to feed your family. There is a good bit of indigenous blood in there too, mostly from my mother's side. Mostly they were all good people, but there were some troublemakers too.


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## whiterock (Mar 26, 2003)

Never could figure if I should hunt legal ancestors or biological, as I was adopted. I know the birth mother but have nothing on the bio dad. I'm thinkin my ancestry is mostly Scotch Irish and English judgin by the names I have heard. My legal name is Scottish, birth mothers was English.


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

White as Wonder bread. ound:


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## sherry in Maine (Nov 22, 2007)

I dont know that much about my family.
Dad's grandfather was from Scotland; he was a trapper/hunter, went to OK panhandle, married a cherokee woman. Somehow, over the years, they ended up in NY.
My Mom's father was from Wales. My brother did a geneology thing, and found out a whole lot from this line of the family. One was a governor in California during late 1800s. There were a lot of inspiring folks I heard about. 
My Mom's mother was, she thinks, of Dutch/German descent, but she was adopted from an orphanage. Grandma and her siblings were taken out of school at around 2nd grade so they could stay home, work on the farm. My grandmother had her own farm, since my Mom's dad died when grandma was 31 or 32 (with 5 kids) and she ran it on her own, with help from my mom and her siblings.
I visited her farm a few times when I was small; she kept bantys (she loved them) cows, bees, made butter, raised rabbits and other stuff. Of course, had a garden. She couldn't read, but could do well enough to check the seed packets to see when to plant. When I knew her, she didn't have electricity in that house. At least, I remember that she lit kerosene lamps at night, and during summer/fall, would make a point of putting in her false teeth to eat her radishes. That farm house was destroyed by fire. (she had a wood cookstove, which I wish I knew how to use.....here in Maine it'd come in handy about now)

My late dh family was I think, Heugonots in France; they were vintners (the name means 'speaks wine' or 'the tongue of wine'. and it refers to the Anjou area of France.....) they were booted out and came to Canada. My f.i.l and his family came to St Albans or Albion, Me. when he was 8, and couldn't speak english.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

The reason for my being so contankerous is because of being German Irish.
MY Aunt did the geneology thing years ago.....some place here I have a copy . .long time since I've looked at it.
GGG(?) grand mother Green homesteaded in a sod home in Kierney (sp) Ne. . . smoked a clay pipe.........


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

On my great grandfather's side, related to Martha Washington through a cousin of hers, Sarah Minor. Martha Washington also provides a relationship to both presidents Harrison, and to General Robert E Lee. Wilber and Orvil Wright's great-grandmother was sister to my great-grandfather's great-grandmother.

One of DH's great-great-great (or something thereabouts) married Fear Alden, the daughter of John Alden of Mayflower fame...BTW...what kind of man marrys a woman named "Fear"? Little further back is Dr William Beaumont who had a lot of things named after him...he was the guy who took the gut-shot frenchman and fed him food on a string and then wrote a book on digestion that I hear is still a reference material today.

On my father's side....well, if you're from Eastern Tennessee and are a Cole, Anderson, Martin or Bullington...hey cuz! I hear we're related to the guy who invented the internet!

Mon


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## Ramblin Wreck (Jun 10, 2005)

viggie said:


> 23andme is down to $99...now I'm kinda tempted


 Thanks to you Viggie, I got around to it...well at least it's ordered.


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## Shygal (May 26, 2003)

Moms side - 100 percent Polish. My great grandfather on her dads side bootlegged liquor in Northampton MA during prohibition. My great grandmother and grandfather on her moms side was an arranged marriage, she cried all through the ceremony. They had 13 kids, 2 died as babies. He built their house in Hadley MA and its still there today.

Dads side - Polish, Hungarian, Slovak, Russian, German, French. My great great great grandma was married to a man that owned a flour mill in Austria, they were pretty rich, and they used to go to Vienna to see Strauss conduct his orchestra. She fell in love with their stableboy and they both ran off to America. So much for me being a flour mill heiress 

I know I told this story before, but my great grandfather came to America in the early 1900s. He was supposed to meet a brother that was here already, and go live with him in Philadelphia. When his ship came in , at Ellis Island, he was supposed to go into NYC and get on the train to Philadelphia. He couldn't read any english, and ended up on a train to Springfield MA. He ended up in Sunderland MA, liked it, and stayed there , built up a small farm and lived there the rest of his life. If he didnt get on the wrong train, his descendents would have never met my moms family and I wouldnt be here


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

German. V e r y German! My understanding is some of the family land around here has been owned by my ancestors since it was taken from the Indians. Grandpa was Scottish and so is my last name, but I took after Granny and the German side.


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## viggie (Jul 17, 2009)

Ramblin Wreck said:


> Thanks to you Viggie, I got around to it...well at least it's ordered.


haha I did too  I've been interested since they came out, but at that price it's a decent treat for myself with my tax refund.


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## foaly (Jan 14, 2008)

I've been involved in family genealogy and research for 35 years. Even published a couple of books! [Anyone who is doing family history research, here's a good rule to remember: Not everything on the Internet is fact.....not even Ancestry.com. Documentation is what proves your line, not a family tree someone copied onto a subscription-based website.]

About 90% of my ancestors, both paternal and maternal, were here prior to the American Revolution. So, I'm very American. My European roots are English, Dutch, German, and Scottish. Can't get much more Anglo-Saxon than that.

Only two celebrities (my uncle and a pro baseball playing cousin) and no "documented" killers but my father was a bit of an unsavory character. I have a Jamestowne ancestor, ancestors who were killed in Indian raids in 1696/1704 Deerfield, Massachusetts. Only three wars since King Philip's War did not have at least one of my direct ancestors involved in it. Mostly farmers, railroadmen, a doctor. Basically just hard working folks. Makes me proud. 

I'm also active in multiple lineage societies. It's good to have friends who enjoy the same interests.......talking about dead people.


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## krebolj (Feb 23, 2013)

zong said:


> In the history that was written by the distant mormon cousin, many of the family were foremen on cotton plantations. As a result, they messed around with the slave women on a regular basis. One had a large family with a slave, and after the civil war, they stayed together. The other members of the family decided he was a disgrace, so, they packed him, the woman, and the kids, along with everything they owned across the county line. He changed his last name, but spelling only, it was pronounced the same. His children, some of whom were light-skinned, married other light skinned children of slaves, and "passed" for white. That branch changed their name, yet again, spelling only. So, in one county of SC there are 3 names, all pronounced the same, but spelled differently. All kin, but none will acknowledge their kinship to the other.
> 
> Apparently, my personal ancestors were from another brother and include a woman who killed her husband, a woman who had her hand cut off for slapping a union soldier who raped her during a particularly evil time called "reconstruction". Several who refused to be drafted for the war because they had to work and support their family, and didn't have a dog in the fight. One woman whose husband hid in the well, and as the draft board members were questioning her, she turned around, hiked up her dress and said " Look in here, you done looked everywhere else"
> on down to a direct ancestor who killed a man about his bluetick hound getting pregnant by the other man's mongrel. Since he went **** hunting with the judge and the sheriff, nothing much happened about that.


I would love if you would tell the name that was "changed"....I am living in South Carolina now, and am quite amused by some of the family histories around here.


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## Ardie/WI (May 10, 2002)

Both sides of my family are 100% Belgium. I'm steeped in it! All the neighbors around them where I was born were also 100% too.


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## foxfiredidit (Apr 15, 2003)

There were a few surprises in looking through family history. One grandfather was a private in the ranks of the Virginia Militia. There is one chapter of the DAR that bears his name. He was from Pennsylvania, got a land grant in the Mississippi Territory after the war and moved to what would be Alabama. One of his grandsons was a Sgt in the Confederate Army, captured in one of the last battles of the civil war, paroled 6 months later at Vicksburg.

What was surprising about this find was that it occurred years after I was called upon, as a logging supervisor, to cut and remove marked timber from that same battlefield where he was captured. I had walked those redoubts and trenches countless times working on ways to remove those certain trees they wanted cut, to restore the battlefield. I knew it like the back of my hand, and I reckon now, Grand-Pappy did too.


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## sustainabilly (Jun 20, 2012)

I only have info from my Dad's side but I'm pretty sure I'm almost all German. My great great grandfather came here with his parents from Prussia in 1840 at 3 yrs old. They settled in Indiana and farmed. My Great grandparents lived on neighboring farms growing up. There are still family owned farms there now. I'm named after my great grandfather who was born in 1859. They've been having family reunions straight through since 1956.

On Mom's side all the names are German too. My great Grandpa worked for the railroad in northern WI and the U.P. They moved around a lot. Gramma always talked about how they made the kids sit on the luggage in the back seat of the car so when the cops stopped them they wouldn't find the booze her Dad was running.


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## SimplerTimez (Jan 20, 2008)

I know most about my paternal side - descendant of one of the last Norse kings on the Isle of Man, Scot/Viking lineage there - between two clans Clan Gunn and Clan MacLeod, both known for their strong fighting ways. My maiden name is a derivation of "Thor's Kettle". Must be what makes me a strong and feisty wench 

Maternal side is Irish all the way - we have a liqueur named after us  But since Scots are a scattered Irish tribe, this isn't surprising. I'm also a descendant of the famous 'Duke' clan in the Carolinas. So yeah, testy rule breakers are everywhere in my lineage, along with moonshiners and truck farmers.

I do know that we landed in Virginia and at one time owned quite a bit of land. I can say that I come from a long line of rabble rousing, 'rules don't apply to me', quite strong-minded individuals on both sides. 

Most of the characters that I am aware of in both families have been in the most recent past and are still living, hence I won't speak about them :angel:

~ST


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## RideBarefoot (Jun 29, 2008)

Hybridly vigorous.


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

Ardie/WI said:


> Both sides of my family are 100% Belgium. I'm steeped in it! All the neighbors around them where I was born were also 100% too.


It was like that in the last town I lived in back in Michigan, and folks there had a saying, "If you ain't Dutch, you ain't much." ound:


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## Twp.Tom (Dec 29, 2010)

My folks grew up in the city of Youngstown, back then 30's-40's, neighborhoods were divided by ethnic heritage-most groups settled in the same area-it was also taboo, back in the day to Marry , out of your Race, Religion, or Ethnic heritage. Today, being mixed, is the norm. The cities of Cleveland, and Lorain are much the same, working class Cities, that were once divided. There were also separate clubs, bars. stores, Churches. The cities have changed very much since then. The people too.


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## Twp.Tom (Dec 29, 2010)

willow_girl said:


> It was like that in the last town I lived in back in Michigan, and folks there had a saying, "If you ain't Dutch, you ain't much." ound:


 Like "Holland "Mi.*, seemed to be a lot of French up that way too!


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## oneraddad (Jul 20, 2010)

I'm Basque, my Grandparents arrived at Ellis Island from the Pyrenees mountains in Spain around 1918 to herd sheep in Nevada.


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

German, and whatever country Cauley came from . Ive got a 1/8th Osage piece of indian also. Kansas indian. No Rolls. I can go back to 1880


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## Bret (Oct 3, 2003)

Ardie/WI said:


> Both sides of my family are 100% Belgium. I'm steeped in it! All the neighbors around them where I was born were also 100% too.


A thoroughbred.

Pretty sure I am Neanderthal. I am satisfied to know roughly where I came from. I want to the know persons that I came from, though far away, and also about their lives and times. There are some close to me...not so much.  Is that normal?


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## NoClue (Jan 22, 2007)

I'm predominantly Spanish, closely followed by English, with a little this and that thrown in along the way. If the genealogical efforts of those in my family are accurate, we've been traced back to around the 10th century. I have my doubts about the accuracy though. 

Culturally, I'm American with Spanish and Mexican accents (The Spanish side of my family, which I've always been closest to, came to the US by way of Mexico). There are a couple of specific traditions passed down in my family which supposedly go back to the 15th century. Again, I don't know if that's technically true, but I'm teaching them to my kids, and do know for a fact that they are at least the fifth generation to be taught them.


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

German Irish on my side.

My kids are SARS and DARS from their dad's side.


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## Twp.Tom (Dec 29, 2010)

I am curious, what are SARS, and DARS?


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## Guest (Feb 18, 2014)

Twp.Tom said:


> I am curious, what are SARS, and DARS?


Sons and daughters of American Revolutionary Soldiers


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

My ansestors set foot near Plymouth Rock a few years after the Pilgrims, the next couple generations had twelve children each, so the family grew. Lots of Ministers and business owners. Related to John Alden. Also related to the guy that helped Harvard build a library and a bunch of other stuff out east, George Peabody. Town in Mass. named after him. He hired a guy to be his clerk, taught him how to run a business, you might have heard of him, JP Morgan? George was the first major US philanthropist. While he was throwing around money in the US, he tried to help the poor in London. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peabody_Trust
Each generation moved a bit west, Mass. NH, VT Ohio, Michigan. Farmers mostly. My mom's side were German, farmed in IL, IN, Virginia, WI and MI. No politicians, criminals or anyone of greatness. One grand father farmed and sat on the school board for 30 years. Mom's father farmed, was an expert on breeding Polled Hereford show cattle. Worked a while at Michigan State University, beef herd manager.


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## no really (Aug 7, 2013)

Mexican, which can be a mix of Indian, Spanish and French. Great, great grandfather is the anomaly LOL, he was Scottish. He settled in Mexico after running from the law in Scotland, seems he was a pretty wild guy.. So I ended up a 5'10" inch light skinned Mexican, kinda stand out amongst the petite ladies. Hehe..


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## plowhand (Aug 14, 2005)

Scotch Irish, English, and one Italian great-great granma, Revolutionaries, Confederates, Doughboys, and WWII......Planters, farmers,....and I've always thought it cool that I'm only 38, but Dads' grandfather was a Confederate soldier! Some of our family have done the geneologies...even to the land records...ect before the Revolution....oldest is Dads' mother....her family has been traced to the 1500s


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## foxfiredidit (Apr 15, 2003)

I found that my great grandfather died in 1947. He was born in 1865. Before he died, he and my grandmother reared 11 children. She preceded him in death, but, after she passed away, it was only a few years before he remarried and fathered a child at the age of 79. After he died, her mother took the little girl back to her home in Ohio where she grew up. Now she and her husband are retired and moved back to the Gulf Coast. 

I think its somewhat cool, albeit she doesn't remember him, to be able to say your dad was born in 1865.


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## viggie (Jul 17, 2009)

Woot! It's here  










I had not imagined I would have to spit in a tube for this though.


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## foxfiredidit (Apr 15, 2003)

I had one of those viggie, but forgot I had been chewing tobacco.
The results were that I was an unknown specie, but definitely from somewhere around Winston-Salem NC. 

But really, that is cool. May have to go that route to get around some brick walls.


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## Kiamichi Kid (Apr 9, 2009)

You wouldn't believe me if I told you....but it is fascinating.
I've taken autosomal DNA tests from two companies as well as mt DNA and y DNA tests. I've also tested three relatives so far..to give more depth to my research.
I can say one thing....it can expand your world view and knowledge of other peoples and their culture.


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## Ramblin Wreck (Jun 10, 2005)

viggie said:


> Woot! It's here
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Got mine too. Now I have to save up the spit.


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## SilverFlame819 (Aug 24, 2010)

I am 100% All-American. Which is to say... a mutt. 

On my mother's side, I am Irish, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Welsh, French, English, and Cherokee.

On my father's side... Who knows? *lol* I do know that my paternal grandmother is Hopi. My paternal grandfather was white-skinned. Not a clue what nationality. I haven't gotten into genealogy, and I doubt my dad would have a clue.


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## goodatit (May 1, 2013)

Ramblin Wreck said:


> Got mine too. Now I have to save up the spit.


23 and me will not send kits to residents in maryland. evidentely maryland has a law in place that prevents it. maryland is the most crooked state in the union.


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## Paumon (Jul 12, 2007)

My dad was 2nd generation Ukrainian-Canadian born in Manitoba in 1906. His parents also were born in Manitoba, they were homesteaders. Their parents (dad's grandparents) on both sides were immigrants from the Ukraine who came to Canada in the early to mid 1800's and all of their ancestors were from the Ukraine - they were Ukrainian Cossacks. 

Mom was born in England in 1907. She was a direct descendent of Sir Robert Walpole who was the first Prime Minister of England. All of her known ancestors were born in England. 

Dad came to BC to start a farm right after he got out of the military after WW2. Mom left England after she got out of the British women's military after WW2 and came by ship to Canada and then went to Alberta. Then she met my dad and came to BC to join him and they got married the day she arrived. My twin sister and I came along a year later.

So I'm 3rd generation Canadian on my dad's side and 1st generation Canadian on my mom's side. That is all I know about my heritage.


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## brewswain (Dec 31, 2006)

When I was a little kid, there was an old blind lady down at the next farm. She had broken her hip and was confined to bed. She dipped snuff and on one occasion when I was a baby and wouldnt quit crying, she took a toothpick out of her month and stuck it in mine. I quit crying. She died in 1955. I found out years later that her father had been discharged from the Army with dysentery. He got well and re-enlisted to fight the yankees. After the War he wouldnt let his family eat corn because he thought eating unripe corn had caused him to get sick.
I was that close to my Confederate ancestor! I wish I had known to ask questions.


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## lonelytree (Feb 28, 2008)

I don't know for sure, but I think that I am a Yeti.


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## Mooselover (May 4, 2009)

AMAZING...just amazing. i didn't used to be interested and for some reason, i am. not sure why. told i was german, irish, welsh, native american and a southern slang i will not say. actually, i believe i'm also part dog. there's gotta be dog in my blood and i refuse to believe otherwise....


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

I'm native born American just as Virginia Dare was over 400 years ago and millions more of all shades since. Peel back the skin and we are all red meat and blood with U.S. mailing addresses on our birth certificates.


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## whiterock (Mar 26, 2003)

Kiamichi Kid said:


> You wouldn't believe me if I told you....but it is fascinating.
> I've taken autosomal DNA tests from two companies as well as mt DNA and y DNA tests. I've also tested three relatives so far..to give more depth to my research.
> I can say one thing....it can expand your world view and knowledge of other peoples and their culture.


 
Aw, come on, J.D. Spill the beans.


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## Ramblin Wreck (Jun 10, 2005)

goodatit said:


> 23 and me will not send kits to residents in maryland. evidentely maryland has a law in place that prevents it. maryland is the most crooked state in the union.


 It may be a privacy issue in Maryland. I finally got around to registering my kit on line yesterday and there were disclaimers and waivers all over the place. On the good side, it didn't take as much saliva as I originally thought...didn't see that the tube inside the tube. Looking forward to seeing my results...I think/hope anyway.


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## Raeven (Oct 11, 2011)

RW, looking forward to hearing what you're willing to share of it.


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## Ramblin Wreck (Jun 10, 2005)

Thanks Raeven. I know I'm a Heinz 57, but I'm not sure of the varieties. It will be good to determine if the supposed Cherokee blood on my Mom's side is history or just family myth. The test is supposed to go back 500 paternal lineages and 750 maternal lineages.

Now the real issue is whether Viggie gets her results back first. I think she showed a little more initiative than I did, and I hate it when I get beat by a girl. You'd think I'd be used to it by now, but that darned male ego still gets bruised! I'm already mulling over a couple of excuses just in case: (1) I actually read all the waivers/permissions (which is not true); or (2) The Sun was in my eyes.


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## Raeven (Oct 11, 2011)

Something tells me you and viggie are going to find out you're related.


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## KnowOneSpecial (Sep 12, 2010)

My Great Grandparents on my Mom's Paternal side came from Sweden on the same boat, but they didn't meet until they were working in the same building in Chicago. My Mom's Maternal side is "100% hillbilly" from Hodgenville, Kentucky. 

My Dad's side came from Germany. My Grandma's family is full of woe. One ancestor came from Germany with her husband and 5 kids. They came to New Orleans and went up the river to St. Louis. As the Dad was coming off the gangplank he fell off and drowned. He had all of the money in his pockets and left most of it in the water. His wife was now a widow with 5 kids and no money in a land where she didn't have any family or kin. Thankfully his side took her in and she was able to live out her life here. Another ancestor had a son who was in New Orleans and struck by lightening. They brought his body back by train and she sent her Dad down to claim the body. As he was going to town to meet the train he himself was struck by lightening and killed. The ancestor had to bury her Father and her only son on the same day. 


Funny story....My Grandpa and Grandma got married in 1938-the height of the Depression. They lived in a glorified chicken coop on a farm. Grandma cleaned the house, did the laundry and watched the kids. Grandpa was a farm hand. I have a newspaper clipping that's all about them. The headline is "Married on Friday, hit by lightening on Monday. Man recovering.". Yep. My Grandpa was at work Monday as a newly married man and got hit by lightening!


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## Raeven (Oct 11, 2011)

That... is some hinky stuff, KOS. Something tells me you stay in during thunderstorms...?  What a cool story to share!!


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## Ramblin Wreck (Jun 10, 2005)

Got my initial, but not final, results back from the 23and me folks. The stuff below was cut and pasted, pretty much as it was reported to me. I'll try to figure it out a little better on a rainy day.

On my maternal side, I'm in haplogroup T2c1b, which is a subgroup of T2. 

*Haplogroup:* T2, a subgroup of T 
*Age:* less than 33,000 years 
*Region:* Europe, Near East 
*Example Populations:* Northern Europeans, Spanish 
*Highlight:* The outlaw Jesse James carried mitochondrial DNA from haplogroup T2.;

On my paternal side, I'm a R1b1b2a1a, which is a subgroup of R1b1b2.

*Haplogroup:* R1b1b2, a subgroup of R1b1 
*Age:* 17,000 years 
*Region:* Europe 
*Example Populations:* Irish, Basques, British, French 
*Highlight:* R1b1b2 is the most common haplogroup in western Europe, with distinct branches in specific regions. 

I've also got slightly more Neanderthal blood than most folks, whatever that means.


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## Oxankle (Jun 20, 2003)

Welcome to the club, Wreck. We neanderthals need to stick together. 
Lester


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## arcticow (Oct 8, 2006)

Knuckle draggers rule!!!


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## viggie (Jul 17, 2009)

Oops...My final was done on the 29th, but I didn't think to check in. It showed 2.8% Neanderthal.



*K1c1b is a subgroup of K*
*Haplogroup:* K, a subgroup of R
 *Age:* 35,000 years
 *Region:* Near East, Europe, Central Asia, Northern Africa
 *Example Populations:* Ashkenazi, Druze, Kurds
 *Highlight:* One branch of haplogroup K ties about 1.7 million Ashkenazi Jews living today to a single maternal ancestor.
My dad's side is Polish, so I'm assuming that's where the bulk of the Nonspecific European is from.









And I ran my raw data through the free Promethease for these results, which took some time to sort through. Obesity is the only "health issue" I have, but I do know some of these, good and bad, to run in my family.

"Good" Indicators


 Longevity Gene
 Not Warrior Gene - less aggressive and less anti-social
 Optimistic and empathetic; handle stress well (oxytocin receptor)
 Less chance of Atrial Fibrillation, Heart Attack, Blood Clots, MS, Lactose Intolerance, Palsy, Autism, Asthma, Dementia, Alzheimer's, Bipolar Disorder, Cancer (Skin & Most Cancer risks), Endometriosis
 Resistance to norovirus, caffeine
 More likely to have good mixed muscles, stronger bones, higher cranial capacity and IQ, high good cholesterol, kidney and pancreas function
"Bad" Indicators


 Poor Metabolizer (affects medication dosages), Risk of hypersensitivity/toxicity from some medications,
 Hemochromatosis carrier
 Unable to lose weight without high energy exercise (gs281)
 Metabolize higher fat diets and saturated fat poorly (from multiple genes - another obesity indicator)
 Reduced conversion of beta-carotene to retinol
 Possible inability to taste the bitterness of phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) and similar molecules in foods (like cabbage, broccoli, coffee)
 Higher risk of Obesity (from multiple genes), Type 2 Diabetes (from multiple genes), hypothyroidism, Near sightedness, Brain, Breast, Thyroid & Lung Cancers, Coronary Artery Disease, metabolic syndrome, Myelofibrosis, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, glaucoma, Tetrahydrobiopterin deficiency, hypertension, Crohn's & Celiac Disease, bone density disorders, high blood pressure, hypertension, Lumbar Disc Disease, Hodgkin lymphoma, Parkinson's disease, leukemia
Misc


 More likely to have light hair and blue eyes, be light skinned, think cilantro tastes like soap, lose more weight on a low fat diet, be in the A blood group (I'm A+), be taller, have stinker asparagus potty (teehee scientists sniffed this), have lower B6 levels, metabolize caffeine faster, have wet earwax and normal body odor, have straight hair, have higher anxiety, have higher B12 levels, have normal blood pressure, more "insistence on sameness"


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## Raeven (Oct 11, 2011)

Very fun and cool information! Now I'm going to have to do it, too...  Glad you both shared your results -- so interesting!


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

My daughter met someone that had the same surname which is a bit odd. They knew of a women that had taken it upon herself to do the family tree. Since then I've been amazed by what's she assembled. I never expected to know much about my father's family. Since then I learned of an aunt I never knew about and lately a cousin contacted me.


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