𝄞We are F-a-m-i-l-y ♬

If you are a grandmother you may be one of a select few who understands the gravity of your intimate relationships with your grandchildren and their parents who by the way are your children that hopefully you and their father raised together. Now, none of us was handed a parenting guide when we discovered we …

Back From the Future – Part 3 (With John Rolfe and Pocahontas)

I wish to thank my dear friend, retired College Lecturer, and fellow Pocahontas research enthusiast, Christine Dean, for her ongoing updates about happenings in and around her hometown of  Heacham, Norfolk, England.  From her undaunting energy and perseverance, while delving into local legends about Pocahontas and John Rolfe, I am able to bring you new posts …

Adding “Genetic Communities” to My DNA Results

Evaluating My DNA Testing Results It has probably been three or more years since I first received my DNA test results that I ordered through Ancestry.com.  Initially, I was very disappointed with the look and feel of Ancestry's DNA feature--it merely showed (based upon my DNA sample test), that I descended from Europeans who had migrated …

From Spit to SNPs: Decoding My DNA

A few years ago I spit a small amount (about two tablespoons) of my saliva into a specimen collection tube provided in a DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) testing kit that I ordered through Ancestry.com. My goal was to learn about my ancestors' through their genealogical beginnings and follow a familial chain of genetic links from generation to generation. …

‘Great Surprise’—Native Americans Have West Eurasian Origins

November is National Native American Heritage Month.  In honor of this occasion, below I share with you National Geographic's article from November 2013: "Great Surprise"—Native Americans Have West Eurasian Origins Oldest human genome reveals less of an East Asian ancestry than thought. Native Americans may have a more complicated heritage than previously believed. PHOTOGRAPH BY ROLAND W. …

More Than a Few Names or Mere Numbers

As an addendum to this week's post What's In a Name?, I revised my Surname Report in Family Tree Maker™. This report shows that our family's tree (including my spouse's family) has 10,772 persons in it.  Of those persons (living and dead), 52 percent of them are male; making my database's percentage of males three percentage points higher than the …

Genetically Speaking, Could We Be Cousins?

Hard to believe, but we just might be near or distant cousins or cousins once or more removed.  When I started my genealogy research about 35 years ago we may never have been able to answer my question about being cousins with any certainty in a single lifetime. However, 11 years after my initial genealogical research, the …

Irish-American Heritage Month: March 2014

DNA Test Reveals 10% Irish Ancestry From my ancestry.com DNA report--A Look Into My Irish Ancestry - Primarily in Ireland, Wales, Scotland, but some lived in France, and England: I guess the DNA results that revealed my blood lineage as 10 percent Irish, allow me to legitimately wear green today to honor my Irish heritage.  Ireland, …