Treasure Chest Thursday: Let’s Talk DNA

You get out of the habit, and it’s easy to stay out of the habit of not posting.  Let’s see if I can work on better habits. 🙂

I received my DNA results back from Ancestry.com (full disclosure, I am an employee).

I was expecting Scottish and German.  Here is what I have:

Every line I’ve been able to track, both paternal and maternal go back to the 1700’s and I’ve yet to find a document that gives me proof of jumping the Atlantic.  But given names and other genealogies I’ve seen, I’m pretty sure that there are a ton of Scottish or Ulster Scots in my tree.  So that 69% British Isle feels right.

And yes, I’ve got what many have referred to as the “Scandinavian Surprise.” But the Scandinavians many centuries ago spent a good deal of time wandering the British Isles and shall we say, left some of themselves behind.

I have a lot of of what I believe to be German names in my tree.  Feazell, Baxter, Snavely (which may be Swiss).  I suspect they are the Eastern European. I would have guessed more than 17%, but guessing and being are two different things.

Not a lot of “What the heck?” in there.

I’ve also been able to match through trees of mine and others possible connections to my Mary Gillespie branch. I believe that her father was Willis Gillespie but it is all indirect evidence and sort of weak at that.  If that connection is true, then I have Smith’s from Amherst in my line, and I found two trees where that is the only overlap.  Now I know that doesn’t prove anything.  But it is a clue.  And I’ll take a clue I didn’t have any day of the week.  It does make me want to hunt harder for that evidence or at least work harder to put it together.

But that is all in the background at the moment.  CG work calls.

3 thoughts on “Treasure Chest Thursday: Let’s Talk DNA”

  1. Jana Last

    Great stuff here. I think it would be interesting to do a DNA test. I know I wouldn’t have any kind of “Scandinavian surprise” waiting for me. Why? Because I already know I’m half Scandinavian. My Dad was half Swedish and half Norwegian. My mom’s side would probably be all over the map though, or at least several different countries. And that would be fun to see.

  2. Shirley Dilsworth

    Three men in my primary line have done DNA tests (Ancestry.com) for me. One of them is my cousin, direct line and the DNA test link all three of them with a common ancestor. That is all I can derive from the results. Is there anyplace/anyone who can help interpret these tests more fully or give a clue where to go from here? I am looking for my great grandfather’s parents, he does not show up in the 2 lines, but I’m pretty certain his ancestors would link to these 2 other lines.

Comments are closed.