I’ve always been interested in genealogy in a distant sort of way. For example, I thoroughly enjoy watching the show Who Do You Think You Are? In each episode, a celebrity uncovers the stories, secrets, and history of their ancestors.
My fondness for Who Do You Think You? inspired me to write a genealogist heroine. Bookish Nora Bradford, Genealogist Extraordinaire and Historical Village Owner, is the heroine of my most recent contemporary romance, True to You. I paired her with a hero who asks her to help him find his birth mother.
Enter my hair stylist, Tammy, who is full of interesting stories. Tammy had never been entirely sure who her father was. Her mom had hinted that it was man #1. Her aunt had told her she suspected it was man #2. Tammy never had any clarity on the subject until she sent a DNA sample to Ancestry.com. Her results provided her with insight into her ethnicity. And, because some of her family members had already sent in their DNA, the results also provided her with insight into her father’s identity. It was man #2. AND she discovered a half-sister she’d never known she had. AND she discovered that her mom had been wrong about the identity of her father (Tammy’s grandfather) too.
I didn’t expect any jaw-dropping surprises like the above from my DNA test. But my conversation with Tammy made me wonder about my own ethnicity. I was fortunate to know all four of my grandparents and some of my great grandparents well. Beyond that, I mostly knew that we’d been farmers in the south before migrating to California around the time of the Great Depression.
When Ancestry ran a special on their DNA test over Black Friday weekend, I bought one.
Six weeks later, here’s what I discovered about myself:
I had no idea that I had Scandinavian heritage!
Ancestry.com’s marketing funnel worked like a charm on me because my DNA results motivated me to discover who it was who’d come to America from those far-flung places.
Friends! Beware. Creating a family tree is addictive!
Thanks to the tremendous number of census records, marriage documents, information gleaned from grave stones, and access to other people’s family tree information available at Ancestry.com, I’ve been able to “meet” the people I’m descended from for the first time.
It’s relatively easy to add to your tree. Do you see the little green “leaves” next to the names on my tree above? Every time I click on a leaf it shows me all the data the site has on that person. Then I’m able to add information to my tree with the click of a button.
It turns out that my ancestors came to America a LONG TIME ago. Shockingly so. As far as I can tell at this point, one female ancestor was born in Plymouth in 1623. Others were present at Jamestown. Some were Quakers. One hosted George Washington on his property numerous times. Another fought in the Revolutionary War.
Every now and then, I’ll stumble upon a gem like the below and glimpse the faces of the people I’m descended from.
Best of all, my expanding family tree is giving me a clearer sense of myself. Of who I am. And the people I come from. Now that I’m uncovering genealogical information, I’m astonished that I was content with my ignorance about my heritage as long as I was. I’m curious by nature! Why did I wait so long to solve on my own personal mystery?
Ancestry.com offers a free trial but when the free trial expires, you have to subscribe to the site. There are several sites that offer free genealogy information, however:
- https://www.familytreemagazine.com/
- https://www.cyndislist.com/
- https://www.findagrave.com/
- https://www.libertyellisfoundation.org/passenger
- https://www.accessgenealogy.com/
Have you researched your ancestry? If so, what surprises did you find?
Becky Wade
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I did a DNA test from ancestry and was shocked to find out that I am 19% Eastern European Jewish! Isn’t that great? I knew I was mostly Eastern European, but didn’t know about the Jewish part of my heritage. This puts WWII in a different perspective for me.
I’m sure that it does! What fascinating information to discover.
Fascinating! My husband’s uncle did the DNA test and discovered that they have more Eastern European ancestors than they’d thought. Now we want to do the test at some point—thanks for the tip about Black Friday sales; hadn’t thought of that! My great-aunt (also my godmother) did our family history, but I haven’t looked at it. My husband is a history professor (Ancient History), but it’s a little weird that I haven’t looked into it. I write historic fiction, after all! Ha! You’ve inspired me to look into it. 🙂
I encourage you to give it a try, Sarah! I’ll be interested to know whether you find it as compelling as I do. 🙂 It sounds like your great-aunt’s research might give you a nice head start!
I started researching my family tree before the internet and was limited to county courthouses in Wisconsin. I’m mostly German, but my French Canadian line goes back furthest. Many of my foremothers were Daughters of the King, sent to New France to marry soldiers.
Wow!I love that you found that “Daughters of the King” piece of history in your lineage. So interesting!
It is so interesting, like putting a puzzle together. My cousin found my father had an older brother he never knew about, this is amazing considering his father had a brother that was disowned because he didn’t marry a catholic.
Did my son’s DNA on that black friday special, and no surprises. We knew he was related to John Alden on the Mayflower, and the family had a land grant from the King of Holland, so the only surprise is he is 32% Irish, and I’m 83%.
It really is like putting a puzzle together, Maureen! What a good way to describe it. The puzzle I’m putting together has been truly enlightening. There was SO MUCH about my ancestors that I didn’t know. I’m glad to know it now because learning about them, their families, their ideals, their bravery, their part in history feels like a good way to honor them.
Our son did a search on Ancestry.com about four years ago and found a connection to Mary Queen of Scots through my mother’s family. What a surprise! We were always told we had Scots/Irish and English ancestry on both sides, but we would have expected the most information to come through my father as my maiden name is Andrews. We need to continue this. Thanks for your inspiration.
A connection to Mary Queen of Scots! Intriguing!!
Every time I see a commercial for a DNA test kit, my interest is always peaked but I have yet to act on it. After reading your experience I may have to finally take the plunge and do it.
It might just be time to take the plunge, Amy!
A cousin gave me a fairly extensive history on the paternal side of the family, so I have names that go back into the 18th century. I would be most interested to know their occupations, their religious affiliations, etc.
It’s wonderful when a relative has already done some of the heavy-lifting with the research. One of my mom’s cousins had spent a lot of time tracing her ancestry, and I was immediately able to access her findings for that line of my family tree. So helpful!
Fun post!
My husband and I did the AncestryDNA test last summer. I was most interested in his results because his family is “American” on one side and that brings to mind the great melting pot. I on the other hand am from an immigrant family so ‘knew’ I was pure Dutch. What a joke for us. We had similar countries in our backgrounds and I had a significant Scottish/Irish percentage. Now I will have to research because that was so surprising.
Yes! It sounds like you have a good motive to conduct a little research in order to bring light to those DNA findings. 😉
Oh my Becky!! You’re bringing up my past. In 2007, I became obsessed with the site researching my family tree. In fact my next book coming out was inspired by things I discovered about my great great grandparents!! Welcome to the addiction!!
Thanks for the welcome! 😉
What exciting news to find out! I have been researching my family tree for a few years now, and my sister got me a DNA test for Christmas. I just got my results back, and while I didn’t have much new information revealed, there were 264 people on Ancestry who are fourth cousins or closer! Also, just as you mentioned, I never knew I had Scandinavian background either, and then I was reminded that Scandinavians settled the British Isles… It’s likely the exact location of where your Irish background came from!
That probably is likely! Yes. I’ve hardly had time to check out my cousins who are Ancestry members. I’m looking forward to doing so!
Loving all this information Becky! That picture looks a lot like Papaw Clem!!!
True!
Familysearch.com is another great place. A lot of ancestry.com ‘s microfilm links will send you to familysearch.
Familysearch is free. The only catch is that a lot of the historical record are not indexed so you have to go through each record. But its incredible . I found census records for my family from Luxembourg. Marriage and birth certificates….
I love family history/genealogy. It’s so fascinating, and with modern technology it’s so easy. I mostly use Familysearch.org. It’s free and offers you hints, etc. Plus, if you have your tree built or transferred to FamilySearch, you can download the FamilySearch Tree app, and it has some amazing features: Map My Relatives, and Relatives Around Me are two fun ones. With Relatives Around Me, you can find people within 100 feet of where you are that are related to you. You both have to have trees on FamilySearch and have the app on your phones, but it’s such fun. It will show you through which relatives you are related.
I love doing family genealogy! I did a DNA test early last year. I was surprised at the few per cent of Scandinavia that I had. My brother had done one and he showed none. The rest of mine was no surprise. I haven’t where I got that yet.