Genealogy Discoveries

[gsoda3 3263]

John Tyler, the last president before Texas became a state, has a living grandson.

[CooterBrown 18014]

26 minutes ago, gsoda3 said:

John Tyler, the last president before Texas became a state, has a living grandson.

Armybrat and John Tyler are Eskimo brothers.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13515]

40 minutes ago, gsoda3 said:

John Tyler, the last president before Texas became a state, has a living grandson.

The grandson is 95 now. Some young woman needs to take one for the sake of odd history so that Tyler will have a great grandchild alive 70+ years from now.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13515]

Looking back on family trees are interesting. you find a few outstanding/famous folks, a few bad apples but mainly just every day people who just lived a normal life. I always liked the ending of Kubrick's Barry Lyndon that describes anyone from the past, minus the King George comment.

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by Nice Guy Eddie

[Brisketexan 105154]

Huh.  Thought I'd shared this on this thread before, but guess not (even though I sure as hell talked about it with MAC at length, he said it solidifed the shit out of my NOLA bona fides).

For most of my life, we all assumed that my natural grandfather on my mom's side was a good old south Louisiana abusive drunk.  My grandmother left him and hauled ass to S. Texas when my mom was in elementary school.  Later in life, they redeveloped something of a relationship - I recall meeting him and spending time together a few times.  He was a professional-level drinker, traveled with a briefcase bar like this:

We also had and have a relationship with my mom's half-sister (his kid by another woman in La Place). 

When I was in high school, he hooked the hose up to the car tailpipe and offed himself.  No big loss.

Then, my mom decided to do a 23andme or somesuch.  Turns out, she was NOT related to her half-sister.  At all.  Turns out she DID have a DIFFERENT half sister, living in the Dallas area.  They connected (she's a nice lady, we keep in touch).  And she got the scoop.

We thought my natural grandfather was a S. La. drunk.  Turns out my ACTUAL grandfather* was a classic NOLA character - a prominent physician who had a habit (and talent for) boning and impregnating his patients.  Turns out, my natural grandmother (an alcoholic herself) was also a bit of a tramp, slept with her Dr., and had my mom. 

So, my NOLA origins are actually that my alcoholic grandmother cheated on her alcoholic coonass husband with her lecherous doctor (apparently joining a club with quite a few members), and had my mom as a result.  So, I'm the product of.....NOLA being NOLA.

 

*  Well, my NATURAL grandfather.  Later, in S. Texas, my grandmother married the man who would adopt my mother, and who I grew up with as my grandfather - he was a damned good man.  And who was HE a direct descendant of?  Edwin Booth, brother of a guy you may have heard of, John Wilkes Booth.

Edited May 26, 2023 by Brisketexan

[Knoxtnhorn 6055]

4 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Huh.  Thought I'd shared this on this thread before, but guess not (even though I sure as hell talked about it with MAC at length, he said it solidifed the shit out of my NOLA bona fides).

For most of my life, we all assumed that my natural grandfather on my mom's side was a good old south Louisiana abusive drunk.  My grandmother left him and hauled ass to S. Texas when my mom was in elementary school.  Later in life, they redeveloped something of a relationship - I recall meeting him and spending time together a few times.  He was a professional-level drinker, traveled with a briefcase bar like this:

We also had and have a relationship with my mom's half-sister (his kid by another woman in La Place). 

When I was in high school, he hooked the hose up to the car tailpipe and offed himself.  No big loss.

Then, my mom decided to do a 23andme or somesuch.  Turns out, she was NOT related to her half-sister.  At all.  Turns out she DID have a DIFFERENT half sister, living in the Dallas area.  They connected (she's a nice lady, we keep in touch).  And she got the scoop.

We thought my natural grandfather was a S. La. drunk.  Turns out my ACTUAL grandfather* was a classic NOLA character - a prominent physician who had a habit (and talent for) boning and impregnating his patients.  Turns out, my natural grandmother (an alcoholic herself) was also a bit of a tramp, slept with her Dr., and had my mom. 

So, my NOLA origins are actually that my alcoholic grandmother cheated on her alcoholic coonass husband with her lecherous doctor (apparently joining a club with quite a few members), and had my mom as a result.  So, I'm the product of.....NOLA being NOLA.

 

*  Well, my NATURAL grandfather.  Later, in S. Texas, my grandmother married the man who would adopt my mother, and who I grew up with as my grandfather - he was ca damned good man.  And who was HE a direct descendant of?  Edwin Booth, brother of a guy you may have heard of, John Wilkes Booth.

Cool.  In an odd twist of fate, I read somewhere the Edwin Booth saved Todd Lincoln's life when the boy was a child.  Pulled him from an oncoming train or somesuch. 

[Knoxtnhorn 6055]

My csb.

Going back 20 years - guessing Hornfans at the time, I used to seek out advice and/or vent about the situation I was in with my ex.  I was going through a custody battle.  Long story short; I never asked for a paternity test even though there was a chance the kid wasn't mine.  As soon as she came into this world, she was mine and that's all that mattered. 

Fast forward to today.  We are both extremely close.  She is finishing her MBA in August.  She's amazing.  Anyway, I randomly did a 23 and Me (or whatever it's called) a year ago.  When doing so, you'll get a report that shows your ancestors in percentages.  Apparently, I'm 1% black.  Another feature will show relatives via a percentage.  Sure enough, I see my daughter's name w/ a 99.9% match to my DNA.  She had done the test w/o my knowledge - also on a whim.  Guess that question got answer way after I had stopped considering it.

[SurlyBDR 22805]

My dad wrote the following email to our family about 10 years ago.

Spoiler

Hello all,

I have learned some things about our ancestory in the last week or so that have been quite startling to me.  I assume that no one else in the family - until now - is aware of this either, as I’ve never heard these details discussed before.  I began to learn about this when Tracy mentioned to me what she had found on the internet - that we have an aunt (Edna Lou Chapman) buried in Pond Springs Cemetery – this aunt was a sister to my Mom.  She was 6 years old when she died in 1921 – 5 years before my Mom was born.  Her death certificate states that she died of heart failure and diphtheria.  I vaguely recall my Mom mentioning that Grandpa and Gramdma had lost a child.

While the fact that she is buried so near was surprising, what I learned subsequently was even more surprising.  Grandpa’s parents are also buried in that cemetery!  Their names are William and Lavinia Chapman.  William served in the Confederacy during the Civil War.   William died in 1905, and Lavinia died in 1929 – when my Mom was 3 years old.  A Historical Marker at the cemetery lists Lavinia’s (my great-Grandmother) name as a citizen of the Republic of Texas (the Republic of Texas was its own nation prior to joining the US).  (Expand the attached picture of the historical marker to see her name.)  In all these years, I never knew that my Mom’s grandparents were buried so near.  I don’t think Mom knew this because I never heard her mention it.  They apparently were buried there, as they owned a farm in the Cedar Park area – according to Shirley Barber - a distant cousin.  Grandpa inherited the farm after his father's (William Chapman) death - on the condition that Lavinia could live there the rest of her life.  Lavinia inherited the farm from her parents.

Shirley’s grandmother was my grandpa’s sister, and she has done a good bit of research and restoration of the cemetery and grave sites.  She is responsible for the wrought-iron fencing and gravel in the family’s plot.

The next revelation was even more surprising.  Lavinia’s father’s name was Joseph Hyland.  Joseph was born in New York and met Stephen F Austin in New Orleans, and accompanied Austin to Texas.  Stephen F Austin got permission from the Mexican government in 1825 to bring 300 families to Texas to settle.  That took a year or two, after which he later gained permission to bring 900 more families to Texas to settle.  Joseph Hyland and his family was one of the 900.  Wow – never knew that my great-great Grandfather was an original settler of Texas! 

More on my great-great-great grandfather Joseph Hyland:

Spoiler

Joseph Hyland

1804-1898

Joseph Hyland was born February 1804, in New York. The 1889 Texas Census informs us that Joseph's father was born in Scotland and that his mother was born in Ireland.

According to Dixon and Kemp's book, The Heroes of San Jacinto, Joseph moved to New Orleans where he became acquainted with Stephen F. Austin and accompanied him to Texas in 1821. Joseph is listed in Austin's Memorandum Book of Applications, Volume II as Joseph Hylan, a single farmer arriving in Texas in 1831. Under the Constitution of 1836, single men aged seventeen or older, were granted first class headrights of one-third of a league of land (1,476.1 acres) if they were living in Texas on 4 March 1836. In 1838, The Colorado County Board of Land Commissioners authorized that Joseph receive such land.

Hyland was involved in several military campaigns against Indians. Joseph served under the command of Col. John H. Moore against the Waco and Tawacawa Indians and was honorably discharged at Bastrop Sept. 13, 1835. Reenlisting on 29 February 1836, Joseph was a member of the Citizen Soldiers of the First Regiment of Texas Volunteers. commanded by Colonel Edward Burleson. Captain William Jones Elliot Heard was in charge of Company F, of which Joseph was a member. Joseph participated in the retreat of Gonzales and the Battle of San Jacinto.

For service in the Battle of San Jacinto, Joseph received a Donation Certificate of 640 acres of land. In an act approved 15 March 1881. Joseph Hyland received a land certificate for an additional 1,280 acres as a surviving veteran of the Texas Revolution. Bounty grants were issued for his service to the Republic of Texas from 29 February 1836 to 29 May 1836 and, again, for service 23 July 1836 to 23 October 1836.

Joseph was first married to Miss Berry and they had one son, Robert R.

Joseph's second marriage was to Sarah Elizabeth Thompson Campbell. She was born November 4, 1817, in Tennessee. Sarah and Joseph had six children: Lavinia Ann, Nancy E., William T., Sarah S., James I., and Mary J.

Their oldest child, Lavinia A. married Mr. Cloud and had Nancy J. (1863). Her second marriage was to James D. Hanley and their daughter was Louteen (1868).

Lavinia then married William Chapman, of Cocke Co, Tenn. in 1871. He brought Mary E. (1864), William J (1865) Eliza (1866) and Alexander (1868) with him from Tennessee. Lavinia and William had: Sarah S (1872) Alice U. (1874), Wiley Joseph (1879) John L. (1883) and Howel (1888).


Joseph Hyland died on 14 January 1898 when he was 94 years old. He was preceded in death by his wife, Sarah, in 1872. Joseph was a member of the Texas Veterans Association when he died. A pioneer, a patriot, a father, and a farmer.

 

Edited May 27, 2023 by SurlyBDR

[Hate 20112]

This is my 8th generation Grandpa.  He was head of the Austin Colony militia and had a feud with Sam Houston.  If he hadn't been murdered, he might have led the Texas army in the revolution.

Kuykendall, Abner (ca. 1777–1834).Abner Kuykendall, Austin Colony pioneer, son of Adam and Margaret (Hardin) Kuykendall, was probably born in Rutherford County, North Carolina in 1777. The family was in Logan County, Kentucky, by 1792 and moved on to the Arkansas territory about 1808. Abner married Sarah (Sally) Gates. The number of their children has been reported variously as nine and twelve. With his brothers, Abner left Arkansas Territory for Texas in October 1821, probably in company with his father-in-law, William Gates. At Nacogdoches they were joined by another brother, Robert H. Kuykendall, Sr., and the three brothers were among the first of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred colonists. Abner commanded the militia of Austin's colony. Robert and a brother, Joseph, settled near the later site of Columbus on the Colorado River, but Abner and Thomas Boatwright moved ten miles west of the Brazos and on January 1, 1822, established a settlement on New Year Creek. Sarah Gates died about 1823. Abner never remarried. In November 1823 Abner Kuykendall moved back to the Brazos and settled about eight miles above San Felipe. He received title to 1½ leagues and two labores of land now in Fort Bend, Washington, and Austin counties on July 4, 1824. The census of March 1826 classified him as a stock raiser and farmer, a widower aged over fifty. A grown son, Barzillai Kuykendall, was another of the Old Three Hundred.

In July 1824 and May 1826 Kuykendall went on campaigns against the Karankawa, Waco, and Tawakoni Indians. In 1827 he was sent by Austin as a member of a delegation to try to persuade leaders of the Fredonian Rebellion to give up their plans. During the rebellion he was detailed by Austin to patrol the Old San Antonio Road to watch for possible Indian invasions. In 1829 he led a scouting expedition from the Brazos to the mouth of the San Saba River. In 1830 he went to Tenoxtitlán to confer with Mexican authorities about Waco depredations and in the same year served on a committee at San Felipe to superintend the building of a jail. He was a public official at San Felipe in February 1832 and at the time of the Anahuac Disturbances led a party of from forty to sixty men to assist the Anahuac citizens. Kuykendall was stabbed at San Felipe in June 1834 by Joseph Clayton and died in late July. Clayton was convicted and hanged in what was probably the first legal execution in Texas. Abner Kuykendall's grave has never been found.

[RDCanecutter 26452]

21 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Huh.  Thought I'd shared this on this thread before, but guess not (even though I sure as hell talked about it with MAC at length, he said it solidifed the shit out of my NOLA bona fides).

For most of my life, we all assumed that my natural grandfather on my mom's side was a good old south Louisiana abusive drunk.  My grandmother left him and hauled ass to S. Texas when my mom was in elementary school.  Later in life, they redeveloped something of a relationship - I recall meeting him and spending time together a few times.  He was a professional-level drinker, traveled with a briefcase bar like this:

We also had and have a relationship with my mom's half-sister (his kid by another woman in La Place). 

When I was in high school, he hooked the hose up to the car tailpipe and offed himself.  No big loss.

Then, my mom decided to do a 23andme or somesuch.  Turns out, she was NOT related to her half-sister.  At all.  Turns out she DID have a DIFFERENT half sister, living in the Dallas area.  They connected (she's a nice lady, we keep in touch).  And she got the scoop.

We thought my natural grandfather was a S. La. drunk.  Turns out my ACTUAL grandfather* was a classic NOLA character - a prominent physician who had a habit (and talent for) boning and impregnating his patients.  Turns out, my natural grandmother (an alcoholic herself) was also a bit of a tramp, slept with her Dr., and had my mom. 

So, my NOLA origins are actually that my alcoholic grandmother cheated on her alcoholic coonass husband with her lecherous doctor (apparently joining a club with quite a few members), and had my mom as a result.  So, I'm the product of.....NOLA being NOLA.

 

*  Well, my NATURAL grandfather.  Later, in S. Texas, my grandmother married the man who would adopt my mother, and who I grew up with as my grandfather - he was a damned good man.  And who was HE a direct descendant of?  Edwin Booth, brother of a guy you may have heard of, John Wilkes Booth.

You best be pronouncin all those "Naturals" as "Natchul."

[atomheartbevo 89729]

Newspapers are good stuff to do research in (assuming the names you are researching aren't too common, or you have dates and locations to pin them down), and the University of North Texas (awesome collection, as @Hornius Emeritus can attest to) is adding to their offerings

https://eogn.com/page-18080/13217221

page: https://texashistory.unt.edu/

Quote

More than 4,500 issues of historical Texas newspapers from TSLAC’s collection, published from 1855 to 1930, are available online through UNT’s Portal to Texas History. The Portal provides free and open access to hundreds public domain newspapers held by repositories statewide.

“This partnership represents an exciting endeavor in both preservation and collaboration,” said Dr. Ana Krahmer, Director of UNT Libraries’ Digital Newspaper Program. “We look forward both to adding further newspaper titles to the TSLAC collection, as well as to building relationships with more Texas cities whose public domain newspapers will be newly available because of this partnership.”

Quote

Newspapers with issues currently available in the TSLAC Newspaper Collection include the Dallas Herald, The Terry County Herald, The Beeville Bee, Wichita Daily Times, Amarillo Daily News, The Hamilton Record and Rustler, The Goliad Guard, The Hamilton Rustler, Wichita Weekly Times, Alpine Avalanche, Dallas Weekly Herald, Terry County Voice and The Home and State (a Prohibition era labor newspaper). More titles will be added soon.

Quote

Approaching 10 million newspaper pages, the Texas Digital Newspaper Program, hosted on The Portal to Texas History, is the largest single-state, open-access interface to digital newspapers in the U.S.

 

[RDCanecutter 26452]

In the late 1790s my 5xGreatGrampappy Sullivan was in the habit of making trips from Ft. Fidius (farthest west American outpost in Central Georgia) southwestwardly through the Creek Nation and what was then Spanish West Florida. as a "Linguist" and "Pilot."

How he knew Creek and/or Spanish is not pointed out, as he appeared to history earlier as one of three brothers with an Irish name seeking land-grants from King George III near Augusta.

Anyway, in 1795 the Spanish authorities in San Estevan de Tombechbe (now a ghost town in South Alabama) arrested him and another guy on suspicion of being American spies. Maybe. Because the genealogist admits she couldn't decipher the 30 pages in Spanish copied from records in Cuba or Sevilla or wherever. Maybe he was charged with something else, but at 30 pages it was more serious than a speeding ticket.

Must have gotten cleared up, because he kept popping up around there even while it was Spanish. In fact, one of his brothers got a Spanish land grant a bit down-river, which my guy inherited about 1803 when the brother died.

All this leads to one thing-- can I cobble together something out of this where I can claim Spanish citizenship, and run a titty-bar on the beach in Mallorca?

[UpperWestside 6169]

I need to do one of these 23andMe type searches to do a deep dive. My mother does not want to, but I do because her dad played the field A LOT when she was young. Her mom had two other daughters that their dad took from her and left town with. She was young and uneducated and had no real way to stop that from happening. Her dad drove trucks and he had a REAL GOOD TIME doing that. My mom jokes that she has no idea how many actual brothers and sisters she probably has out there.

The only folks I know for sure that are on my mom’s family tree are a guy most of you would n ow in John Wesley Hardin. It’s documented from the people who kept diaries during that time and were intact for a relative who researched the family in the 1970’s. 
 

The better one to me is another part of my grannie’s family. They came from Scotland in 1640 and worked their way down the eastern seaboard. Eventually they stopped in Texas. Along the way five brothers fought in the Revolutionary War. A few decades after that some of the family congregated in Spartanburg, SC. When one of them died around 1850 he left I believe 100k to start a Presbyterian Liberal Arts college. That school is Wofford College. I remember a couple of years before my granny died I told her to turn on her TV. She had a real thick accent and I tell her to turn it to CBS and see the names of the teams playing. She says “I see Michigan and Wofford.” I said “Grannie one of your ancestors started that school.” She gets quiet and says for a few seconds and says “Well J (nickname for being a junior) I gotta get going now. Love you!” She could not have cared any dang less…😂 I told that story when I gave her eulogy a couple of years later and it helped give everyone a pretty good laugh.

Edited November 12, 2023 by UpperWestside

[RDCanecutter 26452]

OK, got holt of scans of Great x 5 Grandaddy Thomas Sullivan's Spy Trial in Spanish West Florida in 1795. The original papers went from either Mobile or Pensacola to Cuba to Sevilla as the Spanish Empire contracted over the years.

The scans are very grotty with reverse sides of the paper bleeding through, but sort of like solving a very hard crossword, I can slog through a page at a time.

The Spanish call him Tomas Soliben. I don't think he could write so he would have just said it for them. They use an interpreter for him and the other guy, so he doesn't appear to know good Spanish. Since he's listed elsewhere as a linguist passing through Creek territory, I guess maybe he knew Creek. Or maybe he spoke OK Spanish, but the Comandante Antonio Palao got tired of his accent.

Palao is the guy who brought them to trial. He shows up a fair amount in histories I can only see as blurbs on Jstor as "querulous" making life rough for those around him. Elsewhere I read that he'd been removed for incompetence and restationed in Pensacola. Probably just gossip from other people he had also tried for espionage.

Haven't gotten to what made him suspicious.

Anyway, Tom Sullivan's son had 23 kids so probably half this board descend from the man at the spy trial.

Here is what I am working with. This is one of the easier pages.

 

Edited November 22, 2023 by RDCanecutter
Necesito Ynterprete.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

 

So apparently like my 3rd great grandfather was a bodyguard to Joseph Smith and he had to go get the body after he was assassinated.  I’m also a direct descendant of at least 10 Mayflower passengers including John Howland, the guy that fell off the ship, John Billington, the first white man hung in America for white on white murder, and John Cooke who was the last male passenger to die in 1695.  I’m also related to Ulysses S. Grant, Winston Churchill, and FDR in like 8 different ways. 

 

I’m at least a quarter Mennonite, around a 1% dash of Cherokee, and a double dash of Ukrainian.  

 

Also have a 9th great grandmother that was somehow hanged twice in Boston in 1660.  Perhaps you’ve heard of her on drunk history, Mary Dyer.

 

https://youtu.be/108OO-O86NM?si=J7EaVAg07Uuf-mFp

 

 

 

Hook ‘em 

[Armybrat 40851]

So, I would venture to guess neckties are not popular with your family these days?

[ImissWallyPryor 9046]

My GGFx7 (or something like that) was one of the most famous slave traders in recorded history. Pretty cool, if you ask me. 

[DixonHur 11340]

Does anyone know if DNA results are skewed by recency?

Based on Genealogy research, half my family came over from Germany (some as Hessian mercenaries and some in the early 20th century) and half came over form Italy in the early 20th.

But my DNA results came back as 78% Italian.

Is that because the Italian side came over more recently, or was one of my grandmother's stepping out on her husband?

[Brisketexan 105154]

Does anyone know if DNA results are skewed by recency?
Based on Genealogy research, half my family came over from Germany (some as Hessian mercenaries and some in the early 20th century) and half came over form Italy in the early 20th.
But my DNA results came back as 78% Italian.
Is that because the Italian side came over more recently, or was one of my grandmother's stepping out on her husband?

Always assume grandma was a slut. Always.
Ask Armybrat for verification.

[RDCanecutter 26452]

1 hour ago, DixonHur said:

Does anyone know if DNA results are skewed by recency?

Based on Genealogy research, half my family came over from Germany (some as Hessian mercenaries and some in the early 20th century) and half came over form Italy in the early 20th.

But my DNA results came back as 78% Italian.

Is that because the Italian side came over more recently, or was one of my grandmother's stepping out on her husband?

Dunno about recency, but I am always suspicious of tests that slam results neatly inside modern national boundaries. To put it another way, lots of common elements went into the mix of modern groups. Ancient Roman colonies were all up and down the Rhine, with Germanic tribes clustered up next to them before later settling in Italy and elsewhere. I have read that Hesse comes from the name of the Germanic Chatti (Latin word for them, ) they weren't complete strangers.

Or maybe somebody adopted an Italian orphan.

No doubt there are a bazillion long-term Germans who read genetically as more like Danes or French or Italians or Poles. 

[Sawbonz 27578]

9 hours ago, DixonHur said:

Does anyone know if DNA results are skewed by recency?

Based on Genealogy research, half my family came over from Germany (some as Hessian mercenaries and some in the early 20th century) and half came over form Italy in the early 20th.

But my DNA results came back as 78% Italian.

Is that because the Italian side came over more recently, or was one of my grandmother's stepping out on her husband?

One of the Jared Diamond books makes reference to a study from one of the private NYC hospitals in the early 1900’s that showed about 10% of newborns could not have been the biologic children of the mothers’ husbands based on blood typing alone. Meaning probably 1/4 to 1/3 of all births could have been the result of infidelity 

[Armybrat 40851]

19 hours ago, DixonHur said:

Does anyone know if DNA results are skewed by recency?

Based on Genealogy research, half my family came over from Germany (some as Hessian mercenaries and some in the early 20th century) and half came over form Italy in the early 20th.

But my DNA results came back as 78% Italian.

Is that because the Italian side came over more recently, or was one of my grandmother's stepping out on her husband?

Your Italian side likes to fuck more.

[Armybrat 40851]

17 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Always assume grandma was a slut. Always.
Ask Armybrat for verification.

Linda Palazola was still a virgin last time I saw her 62 years ago.

[HouTex 1878]

21 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

Dunno about recency, but I am always suspicious of tests that slam results neatly inside modern national boundaries. To put it another way, lots of common elements went into the mix of modern groups. Ancient Roman colonies were all up and down the Rhine, with Germanic tribes clustered up next to them before later settling in Italy and elsewhere. I have read that Hesse comes from the name of the Germanic Chatti (Latin word for them, ) they weren't complete strangers.

Or maybe somebody adopted an Italian orphan.

No doubt there are a bazillion long-term Germans who read genetically as more like Danes or French or Italians or Poles. 

At least in my case, with 23 and me, it categorizes my ancestry with various locations in Europe—some of which are very specific locations.  It uses modern geographical boundaries which may or may not reflect the actual genetic makeup of the country as a whole.  In my case, from my father’s side, my genetics come from a very small area in Poland near the German border.  I could actually be more German than Polish. 

[Brisketexan 105154]

18 minutes ago, HouTex said:

At least in my case, with 23 and me, it categorizes my ancestry with various locations in Europe—some of which are very specific locations.  It uses modern geographical boundaries which may or may not reflect the actual genetic makeup of the country as a whole.  In my case, from my father’s side, my genetics come from a very small area in Poland near the German border.  I could actually be more German than Polish. 

Yeah, my daughter noted yesterday in a discussion on family genetics that our French ancestry (remember, my mom was a coonass) was specifically Parisian.  La-de-da.  I am quite fancy.

Of course, last night, going through a bunch of stuff, I found out that a GGG uncle of mine was big-shit in Mexico back in the day.  He was born in Texas in the early 1800s (that's right, "Coahuila y Tejas" was the state back then).  Ended up being Mexico's ambassador to France trying to talk them out of their Maximilian bullshit (didn't work, obviously).  And lots of other notable offices.  But, to confirm that he was indeed a member of our family, he "died penniless."  Yep, the bloodline checks out.

[RDCanecutter 26452]

28 minutes ago, HouTex said:

At least in my case, with 23 and me, it categorizes my ancestry with various locations in Europe—some of which are very specific locations.  It uses modern geographical boundaries which may or may not reflect the actual genetic makeup of the country as a whole.  In my case, from my father’s side, my genetics come from a very small area in Poland near the German border.  I could actually be more German than Polish. 

Yeah, they did that for me with England and Ireland. It may be accurate, it may have to do with how many people there took the test. In my case, there's a good 1/4 of the family with Highland Scottish names who barely leave a blip. For some of them we know which town or island they came from, but no dice.

On the other hand, pretty strong showings in the west of Ireland and round about Manchester, Liverpool, and nearby industrial areas. I don't doubt that many of them came from there too, it matches other names. So where are the Scottish Highlanders? Well, most of them don't live in the Highlands anymore, thanks to the clearances and normal backwoods emptying-out. So where might distant cousins from there live now? Possibly all over. Sitting in Manchester taking 23nMe tests?

But in the meantime I just claim the Pogues and Gerry and the Pacemakers.

[EDIT: Coming back to your German post, I heard that at one time you could travel across Eastern Europe in a cart and sleep in a German village every night. They even made it to the Volga.]

Edited March 11 by RDCanecutter

[HouTex 1878]

23 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Yeah, my daughter noted yesterday in a discussion on family genetics that our French ancestry (remember, my mom was a coonass) was specifically Parisian.  La-de-da.  I am quite fancy.

Of course, last night, going through a bunch of stuff, I found out that a GGG uncle of mine was big-shit in Mexico back in the day.  He was born in Texas in the early 1800s (that's right, "Coahuila y Tejas" was the state back then).  Ended up being Mexico's ambassador to France trying to talk them out of their Maximilian bullshit (didn't work, obviously).  And lots of other notable offices.  But, to confirm that he was indeed a member of our family, he "died penniless."  Yep, the bloodline checks out.

My mother was born in Louisiana and is 1/2 French on her mother’s side.  We always thought she was half coonass but when we did a family tree several years ago we learned that the ancestors were indeed French, but they came to New Orleans well before the Cajuns arrived from Nova Scotia.  

[locodos 5387]

32 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

Yeah, they did that for me with England and Ireland. It may be accurate, it may have to do with how many people there took the test. In my case, there's a good 1/4 of the family with Highland Scottish names who barely leave a blip. For some of them we know which town or island they came from, but no dice.

On the other hand, pretty strong showings in the west of Ireland and round about Manchester, Liverpool, and nearby industrial areas. I don't doubt that many of them came from there too, it matches other names. So where are the Scottish Highlanders? Well, most of them don't live in the Highlands anymore, thanks to the clearances and normal backwoods emptying-out. So where might distant cousins from there live now? Possibly all over. Sitting in Manchester taking 23nMe tests?

But in the meantime I just claim the Pogues and Gerry and the Pacemakers.

Same-ish   Lots of Scottish surnames in my family and family lore of being predominantly Scots.  Ancestry returned majority English ~65% Scotish~17% Irish~13% and Germany/Norway making up the rest.

Here's the rub... there is also a decent bit of French in my family...  I know this because I have genealogical records of ancestors coming directly from France.   This is why...

Illegal DNA test in France
It is considered illegal to take a DNA test outside of legal proceedings in France. According to the law, it is forbidden to carry out a genetic analysis in a private setting, for example on the internet or abroad. Therefore, as an individual, you do not have the right to use tests considered recreational through private laboratories.

 

Bottom line these tests are only as accurate as the data they are compared against.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/01/22/578293890/my-grandmother-was-italian-why-arent-my-genes-italian

Edited March 11 by locodos

[66BUFF 2564]

48 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Yeah, my daughter noted yesterday in a discussion on family genetics that our French ancestry (remember, my mom was a coonass) was specifically Parisian.  La-de-da.  I am quite fancy.

Of course, last night, going through a bunch of stuff, I found out that a GGG uncle of mine was big-shit in Mexico back in the day.  He was born in Texas in the early 1800s (that's right, "Coahuila y Tejas" was the state back then).  Ended up being Mexico's ambassador to France trying to talk them out of their Maximilian bullshit (didn't work, obviously).  And lots of other notable offices.  But, to confirm that he was indeed a member of our family, he "died penniless."  Yep, the bloodline checks out.

I don't have to tell you that poverty stalks the streets of Paris.
Yeah!
Families don't even have enough money for bread.
- No. - We are down to almost nothing.
Last week, I myself ran out of wool.
- We have no rights. - No.
- We have no say. - No.
- We have no dignity! - No!
We are so poor, we do not even have a language.
Just a stupid accent.
She's right! She's right. We all talk like Maurice Chevalier.

[RDCanecutter 26452]

20 minutes ago, locodos said:

Illegal DNA test in France
It is considered illegal to take a DNA test outside of legal proceedings in France. According to the law, it is forbidden to carry out a genetic analysis in a private setting, for example on the internet or abroad. Therefore, as an individual, you do not have the right to use tests considered recreational through private laboratories.

France is fun that way. If you're low on funds in Europe, and want some entertainment, just find a park bench near where a German cop might need to write a traffic ticket for a Frenchman.

[956 Worldwide 34715]

A while back a cousin of my dad’s died and his wife prepared a long genealogy and sent it around the family, which was quite sweet. 
 

It turned out that the first known person in the U.S with our last name was a French Huguenot who lived in upstate New York and who peaced out to Canada during the revolution (likely a Loyalist but no proof) and then came back in the early 19th century. He made a living shipping timber down the Hudson for shipbuilding.

The fun part is that he had two wives and 16 children and was profiled in a local newspaper as the oldest man in town after living past 100. He attributed his long life to “not listening to my wives and to drinking brandy every afternoon.” 

So, yeah, that tracks. 

Edited March 11 by 956 Worldwide

[AUS-97HORN 11809]

45 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

It turned out that the first known person in the U.S with our last name was a French Huguenot who lived in upstate New York and who peaced out to Canada during the revolution (likely a Loyalist but no proof) and then came back in the early 19th century. He made a living shipping timber down the Hudson for shipbuilding.

 

Edited March 11 by AUS-97HORN