Posted on 01/13/2016 1:40:00 PM PST by Little Bill
I am wondering if any FReepers had unexpected results when they did a DNA test during a family History search.
In my case I was looking for an oppressed history of serfdom and general nastiness from Norman Overlords during the Middle Ages, just preparing for an Obama America.
To my surprise I discovered we were Normans, in the Staple, Merchants, and in general capitalists, until God and Religion brought us unto this Blessed Shore to continue in the same trades.
So in this election year of the usual Freeper cage fights I thought to step outside the blood and gore of FReeper politics and speak of Family History.
Direct descendant of John Knox (c. 1513 - 1572) was a Scottish clergyman, theologian, and writer who was a leader of the Protestant Reformation.
I think it’s all what you make of it :-)
-JT
>> The problem with MT DNA and your mother is Irish you can get a match but finding a relationship before 1800 is very difficult <<
Absolutely correct, due especially to the fact that in our society, women have for hundreds of years taken their husbands surnames, meaning that the surname changes with every generation. That pattern makes it much more difficult to use mtDNA matching than it is to use Y-DNA matching.
Still, you can occasionally hit paydirt with an mtDNA match. So as long as somebody can afford the expense, I recommend that he or she get an mtDNA test.
Hey, Cuz.
And, the only “surprise”I had in mine was the 9% Iberian Peninsula one. But, Spain did occupy the Netherlands for a time.
>> My Ancestry matches tend to seem more consistent as far as relationship distance <<
I don’t doubt that they are sometimes very useful. But I’ve heard a lot about Ancestry matches that just weren’t credible. The basic problem seems to be that they don’t give you a “chromosome browser” like you get from FTDNA or 23andMe. So you can’t make your own informed judgment about the relevance of any matching chromosome segments.
>> FTDNA were more pioneers in this field, and I much more trust their Ydna testing <<
Definitely. There was no such thing as DNA genealogy before FTDNA came along. They truly invented it as a hobbyist’s tool
>> Have no experience on 23/Me, maybe just because of the bad press they have gotten <<
They have been very good for genealogy until recently. But now that FDA has finally approved some of their health-related testing, there are signs that 23andMe may in effect abandon the loyal genealogists who gave them tons of business during their FDA-imposed exile from the health field. For more info, check the archives of Roberta Estes’ blog, DNAeXplained.
>> Direct descendant of John Knox (c. 1513 - 1572) <<
I’ve always heard that none of his legitimate children survived long enough to reach their own child-bearing ages.
But some of today’s Knox-surnamed families may descend from one of his brothers or first cousins.
lol reminds me of my mother’s response when I asked her why we didn’t look up her genealogy (she is French) after we did my Dad’s family (very interesting history). She said ‘they were just peasants’. lol
My connection is through the South Carolina branch of the Witherspoon family. The marriage of John Knox's third daughter, Elizabeth, to the rev. John Welsh of Ayr in 1592 is well documented. Their youngest daughter Louise Welsh (b. c. 1613), married James Alexander Witherspoon in Scotland c. 1635. There is some dispute among genealogists about the connection regarding Louise, but it has been part of the family history of the Witherspoon family going back to the early 18th century, and is even mentioned in Boddie's History of Williamsburg, South Carolina.
“The female relative who was captured, was scalped”
She must have suffered hideously.
I wish people were more aware of just how terrifying the Indians actually were.
It was not a happy event. Terrifying, too, was the white man’s revenge. Not a good time in history. So many suffered.
“Terrifying, too, was the white man’s revenge”
Cholera wiped out half the Southern Cheyenne in 1849.
I wonder how we should evaluate the moral culpability of the Forty-Niners, and ours as their descendants.
My great grandfather Williams came to the US when my grandfather was 12. Grandfather was John Scott Williams, and Aynard and Conway were also names in the family. Williams is a very common name in Wales as the Welsh were fighting the Britons and many were called Williams’ Men, shortened to Williams. I was told that GG was a ships joiner and youngest son in a very large family. When GGG died, the older children inherited land in Liverpool, but my GG inherited a shipyard which he ran unsuccessfully and moved to the US. One of those men probably GGG was charter member of the first British carpenters’ union. Also it was said that granfather was born in the shadow of Conway castle. He died at age 98, and all but 2 sibling died in 90s. One died younger and other died 103.
My father’s brother was heavily into genealogy. He traced my grandmother’s ancestry back to John Alden and Priscilla Mullins who came over on the Mayflower, married and had many children. They were not Pilgrims but among the others who filled out the ships complement. Another name was Israel Putnam, and on a collateral line, poet William Cullen Bryant and Civil War General Israel Richardson killed at Antietam.
My late husband’s father’s family came from Scotland. GIven his build and coloring I suspect he had a fair share of Neanderthal DNA. His mother also had British ancestry but shortly before she died told him she was 1/8th Cree Indian from an ancestor who was a Canadian trapper with Indian wife. My son had 6 wisdom teeth and dentist asked if he had Eskimo ancestors, so that probably came from the Cree.
See Comment #212 for more details. The most interesting thing I have is a German language genealogy dating back to the 1700s. This is from my maternal grandmother’s side. Some day I hope to get it translated. I am told that some ancestors were robber barrons. I know that my great grandfather lost the 1000 acres they owned in East Prussia (currently Kaliningrad) during the Franco Prussian War, 1870s. They had potato contracts with the army. There was a blight and they sold land to buy potatoes to meet the contract. They finished with 20 acres and the buildings. My great grandfather dropped von (sir) from his last name and went to work as a court secretary. His daughter married my grandfather who was a marine engineer. He didn’t like the way Bismark’s navy was headed and brought his wife to America. There is probably some Asiatic tartar way back there. I read that 1/20th of humans have DNA from Gengis kahn (sp?), who conquered as far west as East Prussia. Even though my husband had light blue (highly recessive color) and I have hazel eyes (moderately recessive), both sons have very dark brown eyes, although one has light brown hair. So I suspect it is a fairly strongly recessive Asian dark brown eye color, weaker than my main color but stronger than my husbands pale blue. The idea that we most might have blood of conquerors in our veins does not surprise me. Remember the law of Primogeniture? The custom that the lord had first rights to the new bride of a serf.
See my comments #212 and #213. Perhaps something of interest there. Regarding your Spanish bit, a number of Spanish sailors from the Spanish Armada against Queen Elizabeth were shipwrecked on Irish shores and perhaps Welsh shores. The Irish and Spanish were Catholic and the Welsh weren’t too happy with the British either. Many a liaison probably took place. Have you ever heard the term “black Irish?” That refers to the coloring of those Irish with some Spanish ancestry. If you read #212 you will see that my husbands mother from Iowa hid the fact of his Indian ancestry for many years. In the early and even mid 1900s Indians were often refused service of alcohol in Iowa.
and don’t forget Niall of the Nine Hostages. Also Edward III (r. 1327-1377) and Richard II (r. 1377-1399) who have millions of descendants in the US, and King John “Lackland” who is forefather to all of the US presidents except for Martin Van Buren (Dutch roots), and a great many of us besides.
Genghis Khan: Father To Millions
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1158027/posts
King Tut DNA:
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/haplogroupr1b1a2/index
Girl Traces US Presidents’ Family Tree, All Related But One
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2698845/posts
Guide to American Presidents GEORGE WASHINGTON 1732-99 [GW’s English Ancestry]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3032972/posts
Confucius, He Has Many Descendants
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1972572/posts
G Khan:
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/mongolmassmurderers/index
Much to my horror it has been discovered that Great-Great Uncle Clarence had been executed in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison for the crime of Murder. But, do not despair cousins; I have found a way to present it in the Official Version of our Family History.
“Great-Great Uncle Clarence occupied a chair of Applied Electronics at an important government institution. He was attached to his position by the strongest of ties and his death came as a great shock .â€
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