More ancestry

@sissy15 (12260)
United States
April 9, 2018 6:42am CST
As I wait for my DNA test to come back I've been doing family research and based on last names it seems I'm actually more English and Irish than anything else, I always thought I would be more German as both my mom's maiden name and my dad's last name (my maiden name) are of German descent but the further I get into my research I am finding way more English and Irish/Scottish ancestry. Now I have actually managed to find out more on my dad's father's side and they mostly trace back to Germany and Switzerland. I actually found a book written on my dad's side which is kind of cool. I am currently reading it but so far it's a bit of a dry read as it is just planting down the roots and telling the story about how Romans made their way into Switzerland. They also mention the Celts but it is kind of hard to stay with as it's not exactly super specific yet about ancestors or anything. I imagine the reading will get better once it actually starts pinpointing where my ancestors come in at. I am finding a lot of interesting facts. A lot of my ancestors fought in the various wars and there are towns and cemeteries named after various sides. My mom's family founded a couple of churches in Southern Ohio and several of them were preachers, and I have a couple of cousins that preach too. With my mom's side, I see a lot of our Christian roots in our ancestry. It's just interesting to see where we come from. I have some interesting family members too that had a less than flattering past and some which make me ashamed of where I come from but I can't control the past any more than anyone else can. I can't control the past actions of my ancestors all I can do is be better than they were. I had an ancestor that worked in the circus and was shot out of a cannon. In his lifetime he had broken all of his bones (not all at once). I had a great, great aunt who was a "lady of the night" and unsurprisingly she contracted syphilis and went crazy. There was a rumor that another great great aunt via marriage murdered all of her husbands including my great great uncle via poison. My mom said she was always afraid of her and wouldn't eat anything until her one cousin ate it first. We don't know if this is true but I will say having three husbands die somewhat young is rather suspicious. It's just interesting to hear about these ancestors but sometimes you have to take stories with a grain of salt because you don't know how much truth is behind them. I do believe some of the stories though because my mom did know those family members personally. I love family stories, it's part of who we are now. It's just interesting thinking about all of our ancestors before us and how different times were and how they probably lived. It's difficult for me to explain my fascination but a lot of it does have to do with knowing where I come from. When our ancestors were alive I doubt they thought about everyone to come after them or how we would want to know about them, I mean to them it wasn't important. They were just fighting to stay alive. Now, I often wonder if I will ever have ancestors looking me up years down the road, albeit it will be easier for them because half of us use social media. I can't explain why this is interesting to me because my ancestors are basically strangers, but they are strangers that have a biological tie to me. I mean as I research I find myself reaching out to cousins I didn't know existed and we are basically strangers who happen to be related. It's sort of cool to think about, at least it is to me.
2 people like this
1 response
@JudyEv (323662)
• Rockingham, Australia
9 Apr 18
I think in the future it might be harder researching ancestry what with so many 'partners' rather than 'spouses' and so many blended families. People don't always adopt family names like they used to either so it could be tricky knowing for certain who is related to who.
@sissy15 (12260)
• United States
10 Apr 18
Maybe, it probably depends on the situation. I still know a lot of families who are married and took their husband's last name. I imagine each situation is going to be different. For instance, neither my husband's last name or my last name is super common. I am the only person with both my first and last name even with my husband's last name. More and more people are getting into genealogy and taking DNA tests too making things a little easier for future generations. I guess it depends on how you look at it. Even back in the day, it was hard because while not a lot of people had children out of wedlock some did or some would just marry whoever so they were married when they had a baby and in turn, there is no real record of who the child's birth father is. There also was nowhere near as many documents as there is now. Yes, there are more people and things now but you can still find people with just a little information. I found my husband's birth father with just a name and a known location. Not to mention technology is constantly being updated and I'm sure the future generations will have an easier time finding what they need and people are asking more questions about where they came from and now know more information about their ancestors than probably ever before but I guess only time will tell.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (323662)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Apr 18
@sissy15 The DNA test would be quite exciting I think. I suppose they offer it here. I must make enquiries.
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@sissy15 (12260)
• United States
10 Apr 18
@JudyEv I know I'm excited to get my results assuming I didn't mess it up as I had a couple of minor issues but I don't know if they will mess up the test, so I'm hoping they don't have any issues processing it, it's currently in the processing stage right now. I should hopefully know in two to four weeks what my results are. I know they offer it in the UK so I imagine they would offer it in Australia but I could be wrong. I messaged a cousin of my husband' who lives in the UK as I was looking for more information on my husband's family and her tree showed up with most of the same information as mine. She told me she took the DNA test and was linked to my husband via a cousin that I actually knew of due to FB and my MIL. I mean it's just interesting to learn about. While researching last names and their origins I actually found one of the names on my tree was Jewish, I originally just thought it was a German name but it has mostly Jewish ties. I had no clue there was any Jewish ancestry in my family and while I doubt it was close enough to show up in my DNA it's still cool to learn something new about my family. You really should look into if you're interested in finding out where you come from. I did the Ancestry DNA test which I know does at least the UK and USA but I'm sure there are other countries it covers.
1 person likes this