Have fun with that.

Mine is pure redneck. No Rockefellers. Been on the continent since before the Revolution, but nothing flattering.

But did find a relative with a very interesting past. Joined the U.S. Army at age 14 and served in WWI, buried at Fort Rosecrans in Point Loma but missing from every request for military record due to a fire at the records office.

tommie said:

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You're gonna find out we're cousins on your dad side.

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Cool. I am still going to suck at dancing I bet.

My wife's aunts do research on her side. It is hilarious as they always trace back to someone famous. The best yet is Charlemagne.

I told my wife I would probably get back to Ned the stable boy who died in 1574 when a kick in the head by a horse aggravated a syphilis infection in his brain.

My great uncle says one part comes from a half-blood Cherokee that left NE Alabama a couple of years before the Trail of Tears. They took his land from him so he moved to Central Arkansas and stopped identifying as an Indian. Indians couldn't legally own land in Arkansas in the 1830s.

An 1/8 or less kills that story as my dad's % is pretty defined.

NoBSU said:

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tommie said:

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You're gonna find out we're cousins on your dad side.

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Cool. I am still going to suck at dancing I bet.

My wife's aunts do research on her side. It is hilarious as they always trace back to someone famous. The best yet is Charlemagne.

I told my wife I would probably get back to Ned the stable boy who died in 1574 when a kick in the head by a horse aggravated a syphilis infection in his brain.

---

All I know is I kept seeing the words:

• Sharecropper
• Laborer
• Farmer

beside every related name in the census registry, so I pretty much assumed after four descendants there wasn't a relative on the Mayflower.

Now, one of the women probably 'worked' at the Mayflower hotel, but not the same thing obviously.

I have seen a lot of farmers from Tennessee and Virginia on my dad's side. I have a cousin who has done a lot of work on that. Hard scratch living from the looks of it.

I've seen my great grandfather's grave so I know the city he died in. I know he was a doctor, and in fact, the family grave plots were all bartered payments for medical services.

I know what building his office was in.

The local historical society has a limited number of city directories, Medical Society listings, and a directory from the building he practiced in from the period he likely was practicing in the city. By limited, I mean 1 or 2 from an over 40 year period.

He is not listed in any of them.

There is a story in the family that my grandfather was named after my great grandfather's best friend whose last name is a common word misspelled. My grandfather's middle name is that misspelled last name.

I've found that a contemporary in the county founded a sawmill and later had a city named after him with that last name. But I have not had any real time to look for proof of the connection.

I also know the maiden name of my great great grandmother, as she is buried in the family plot. It is not a terribly common name so there weren't many in the early city directory I've seen, unlike my last name. It is the name of the first county sheriff. But again, I haven't had time to determine if it is the same family.

My parents were vacationing in Tennessee once and came across a huge family reunion with our last name. Curious, my Dad stopped and found that a geneologist that had focused on our family name was there to speak and to sell his book on the family. He told my Dad that he was fairly sure that our branch might be related but he had been stymied by records fires. If so though, I may be the direct descendant of a horse thief LOL. My dad loved to tell that story.

The descendants of my great grandfather's brother actually found my brother with social media. That was kind of cool.

I'll probably never know too far back, but it is kind of cool to have family born in the 1850's in the family plot.

By the way NoBSu. If you are related to Charlemagne and can prove it, you should call your cousin Queen Elizabeth.

BU84BEAR said:

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I've seen my great grandfather's grave so I know the city he died in. I know he was a doctor, and in fact, the family grave plots were all bartered payments for medical services.

I know what building his office was in.

The local historical society has a limited number of city directories, Medical Society listings, and a directory from the building he practiced in from the period he likely was practicing in the city. By limited, I mean 1 or 2 from an over 40 year period.

He is not listed in any of them.

There is a story in the family that my grandfather was named after my great grandfather's best friend whose last name is a common word misspelled. My grandfather's middle name is that misspelled last name.

I've found that a contemporary in the county founded a sawmill and later had a city named after him with that last name. But I have not had any real time to look for proof of the connection.

I also know the maiden name of my great great grandmother, as she is buried in the family plot. It is not a terribly common name so there weren't many in the early city directory I've seen, unlike my last name. It is the name of the first county sheriff. But again, I haven't had time to determine if it is the same family.

My parents were vacationing in Tennessee once and came across a huge family reunion with our last name. Curious, my Dad stopped and found that a geneologist that had focused on our family name was there to speak and to sell his book on the family. He told my Dad that he was fairly sure that our branch might be related but he had been stymied by records fires. If so though, I may be the direct descendant of a horse thief LOL. My dad loved to tell that story.

The descendants of my great grandfather's brother actually found my brother with social media. That was kind of cool.

I'll probably never know too far back, but it is kind of cool to have family born in the 1850's in the family plot.

By the way NoBSu. If you are related to Charlemagne and can prove it, you should call your cousin Queen Elizabeth.

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My wife and kids (supposedly to Charlemagne). I really doubt my the efforts of my wife's aunt.

The Mormons have a ton of genealogy on hand. The databases used to be free. I kept getting back on their site to my ggrandpa wondering why he had his mother's maiden name. The county historical society had a page on him that he was from the same county of the LDS listing for my gggrandpa who was a doctor. Prior marriage? Illegitimate? Then I found a photo of a cousin who had the name of my gggrandpa not gggrandma (my mother's maiden name). That jogged my mom's sister's memory to tell the name change story of my ggrandpa. That he hit his commanding officer and left the army. You mean deserted. Well, yeah.

He headed down to the MO/Arkansas line where lots of people have fled to avoid authorities. Later became County Superintendent of Schools, County Surveyor, and (no license at the time) Physician's Assistant. So, my "respectable side" was an Army deserter who may have hurt or killed an officer. I don't think that he would have stolen a horse though. lol.

NoBSU said:

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I am thinking about doing an ancestry.com DNA test. My last dabble into ancestry research reveled that my "good side of the family" of ministers and teachers descended from a Army desrter around 1880. Slugged his commanding officer and ran to the Missouri Ozarks. Started using his mother's maiden name. My "bad side of the family" full of lay-abouts and honky-tonkers descender from an early judge, state legislator with a county named after him.

My Mormon co-worker from Utah knew she had a little Native American and Hispanic ancestry. Came back 22% Sub-Saharan African. No hint in her verbal family history. Asian for her Native American part.

So before I take this plunge to nail down my 25%+ Native American ancestry, what do I have to lose versus what I have to gain? The Cherokees aren't giving me any casino money, license plates, or pow-wow invites. But I would know if my greatuncle's stories were worth anything. Could my white priveledge evaporate? I love naan bread and tandoori chicken. Could I really be Indian and just misunderstood?

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Did their DNA test a few years back, and wasn't overly impressed. I know I am 1/16th Choctaw, and there was no hint of this on the test results.
The American Indian is best traced through the Dawes rolls. My ancestor who could have registered refused to do so, since they considered themselves "Apple," red on the outside and white on the inside.
I haven't done much on Ancestry for the past couple of years because of other life events and a change they made to their system. But if you get on their site (still fairly cheap), be forewarned that you can spend a lot of time there. I was able to find family I had no idea I had. My father-in-law's family was very interesting. For example, among his second cousins he never met -- one was killed robbing a bank in Carmine, Texas. Another was Cheney's chief of staff, who argued for the legality of water boarding.

Nguyen One Soon said:

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NoBSU said:

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I am thinking about doing an ancestry.com DNA test. My last dabble into ancestry research reveled that my "good side of the family" of ministers and teachers descended from a Army desrter around 1880. Slugged his commanding officer and ran to the Missouri Ozarks. Started using his mother's maiden name. My "bad side of the family" full of lay-abouts and honky-tonkers descender from an early judge, state legislator with a county named after him.

My Mormon co-worker from Utah knew she had a little Native American and Hispanic ancestry. Came back 22% Sub-Saharan African. No hint in her verbal family history. Asian for her Native American part.

So before I take this plunge to nail down my 25%+ Native American ancestry, what do I have to lose versus what I have to gain? The Cherokees aren't giving me any casino money, license plates, or pow-wow invites. But I would know if my greatuncle's stories were worth anything. Could my white priveledge evaporate? I love naan bread and tandoori chicken. Could I really be Indian and just misunderstood?

---

Did their DNA test a few years back, and wasn't overly impressed. I know I am 1/16th Choctaw, and there was no hint of this on the test results.
The American Indian is best traced through the Dawes rolls. My ancestor who could have registered refused to do so, since they considered themselves "Apple," red on the outside and white on the inside.
I haven't done much on Ancestry for the past couple of years because of other life events and a change they made to their system. But if you get on their site (still fairly cheap), be forewarned that you can spend a lot of time there. I was able to find family I had no idea I had. My father-in-law's family was very interesting. For example, among his second cousins he never met -- one was killed robbing a bank in Carmine, Texas. Another was Cheney's chief of staff, who argued for the legality of water boarding.

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So the DNA was wrong and the stories were right?

Perhaps "they could have registered" wasn't entirely correct. I am not trying to be adversarial but DNA is very accurate.

Ancestry ' s test has critics

You should do 23andMe. It tells you if you're a carrier for genetic health risks such as Alzheimer's and Parkinsons.

syme said:

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You should do 23andMe. It tells you if you're a carrier for genetic health risks such as Alzheimer's and Parkinsons.

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Uh no. I don't want to know that. What would you do with that onformation? Set a suicide plan?

Did FTDNA, found out I was part of Clan Colla, 4th century Irish.

And the website can grab your time, I get on occasionally and add 20 more relatives.

My family had stories of Cherokee connections, but no.

NoBSU said:

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syme said:

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You should do 23andMe. It tells you if you're a carrier for genetic health risks such as Alzheimer's and Parkinsons.

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Uh no. I don't want to know that. What would you do with that onformation? Set a suicide plan?

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It's not a diagnosis, but I see your point. And as the son of two adopted parents, it was nice to get some idea of a genetic health history.

syme said:

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NoBSU said:

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syme said:

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You should do 23andMe. It tells you if you're a carrier for genetic health risks such as Alzheimer's and Parkinsons.

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Uh no. I don't want to know that. What would you do with that onformation? Set a suicide plan?

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It's not a diagnosis, but I see your point. And as the son of two adopted parents, it was nice to get some idea of a genetic health history.

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I have a friend that is adopted and all she knows of her parents is that her mother is from Australia. She has mentioned several times how not knowing that family history complicates medical treatment. You kind of poked a couple of fears that a 54 year-old could be facing in 5-10 years. I would rather not know of me.

We have done quite a bit of genetic testing on our autistic son. But it is focused on how he absorbs vitamins and minerals.

I have zero medical, chemistry, or biology background but I buy the arguments of "Children with Starving Brains" more that the Jenny McCarthy (who at least is a RN) devotion to the vaccination theory for increased autism. Through something (pollution, whatever) affecting genetics where I think that some children are not absorbing or processing nutrients properly. The "gut dysfunction" was a real problem for my son. Once we solved that through diet he was able to potty train and sleep better. Within the last few years we noticed a decline in Vitamins B6 and D. So we deliver that in a different way.

NoBSU said:

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syme said:

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NoBSU said:

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syme said:

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You should do 23andMe. It tells you if you're a carrier for genetic health risks such as Alzheimer's and Parkinsons.

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Uh no. I don't want to know that. What would you do with that onformation? Set a suicide plan?

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It's not a diagnosis, but I see your point. And as the son of two adopted parents, it was nice to get some idea of a genetic health history.

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I have a friend that is adopted and all she knows of her parents is that her mother is from Australia.

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I'd be real careful with that.

If there is one country on Earth where NO ONE wants to know their ancestry, its' Australia.

Pretty much 2/3 of the country was the offspring of rapists, prostitutes, thieves.

quash said:

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Did FTDNA, found out I was part of Clan Colla, 4th century Irish.

And the website can grab your time, I get on occasionally and add 20 more relatives.

My family had stories of Cherokee connections, but no.

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I don't know much about genetic testing but I looked up that site. It seemed like all the "projects" started by people who have had the test done indicated that one of a variety of the advance tests should be done to join the project.

In general I assume this is to narrow down to a particular common sequence unique to that family or region, or to rule out false positives of certain cheaper tests, maybe depending on the sex of the tested person.(that may be wrong its just how I read it).

Did you go to that trouble? Pay for the more extensive tests? They seemed to have a large variety of additional tests, some of which were just less precise versions of the same test for a larger number of ______ (I am not sure what the blank is other than it is what they were looking for and I had no idea what that which filled the blank is)

I also could not find anywhere where they explained the advantage or reasons one would take one test over another that wasn't in technical language using DNA terms and segment names. Some of the projects did say what additional tests to take for that specific project, and kind of explained why, though with the technical language I did not understand.

BU84BEAR said:

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quash said:

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Did FTDNA, found out I was part of Clan Colla, 4th century Irish.

And the website can grab your time, I get on occasionally and add 20 more relatives.

My family had stories of Cherokee connections, but no.

---

I don't know much about genetic testing but I looked up that site. It seemed like all the "projects" started by people who have had the test done indicated that one of a variety of the advance tests should be done to join the project.

In general I assume this is to narrow down to a particular common sequence unique to that family or region, or to rule out false positives of certain cheaper tests, maybe depending on the sex of the tested person.(that may be wrong its just how I read it).

Did you go to that trouble? Pay for the more extensive tests? They seemed to have a large variety of additional tests, some of which were just less precise versions of the same test for a larger number of ______ (I am not sure what the blank is other than it is what they were looking for and I had no idea what that which filled the blank is)

I also could not find anywhere where they explained the advantage or reasons one would take one test over another that wasn't in technical language using DNA terms and segment names. Some of the projects did say what additional tests to take for that specific project, and kind of explained why, though with the technical language I did not understand.

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I did, it helps the group further determine the markers for that line.

Robert Wilson said:

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Am I the only one who thinks this may be about as effective as snake oil?

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Effective for what? A DNA test won't cure the vapors.

quash said:

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Robert Wilson said:

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Am I the only one who thinks this may be about as effective as snake oil?

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Effective for what? A DNA test won't cure the vapors.

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We were going to keep stringing him along, but you ruined it.

quash said:

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Robert Wilson said:

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Am I the only one who thinks this may be about as effective as snake oil?

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Effective for what? A DNA test won't cure the vapors.

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I think they could say you were 1/3 Cherokee, 1/3 Scotch Irish, and 1/3 German, and most people wouldnt know the difference.

Robert Wilson said:

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quash said:

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Robert Wilson said:

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Am I the only one who thinks this may be about as effective as snake oil?

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I think they could say you were 1/3 Cherokee, 1/3 Scotch Irish, and 1/3 German, and most people wouldnt know the difference.

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Effective for what? A DNA test won't cure the vapors.

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That's not how it works. They also set you up with a webpage to track your family tree and notify you when someone closely related is tested (they provide a level of privacy) so that if they were just matching people at random it would quickly be obvious when you couldn't find a common ancestor.

The technology is solid.

quash said:

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Robert Wilson said:

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quash said:

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Robert Wilson said:

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Am I the only one who thinks this may be about as effective as snake oil?

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I think they could say you were 1/3 Cherokee, 1/3 Scotch Irish, and 1/3 German, and most people wouldnt know the difference.

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Effective for what? A DNA test won't cure the vapors.

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That's not how it works. They also set you up with a webpage to track your family tree and notify you when someone closely related is tested (they provide a level of privacy) so that if they were just matching people at random it would quickly be obvious when you couldn't find a common ancestor.

The technology is solid.

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That's pretty cool.

http://www.pbs.org/show/finding-your-roots/episodes/

Watch Season 4 Episode 3. It's pretty cool how they find out who is related to whom on the show via genetic testing.

NoBSU said:

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I told my wife I would probably get back to Ned the stable boy who died in 1574 when a kick in the head by a horse aggravated a syphilis infection in his brain.

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In the office pool, this is exactly what I have in the "How will Nobs Bite It in the End?" question. Hard to believe you'd actually be second in your line to go this way.

Turns out the most famous people I'm descended from are Joe Blow (he spelled it "Blowe") and Joe Schmo. And I'm more pygmy (1/276th) than Comanche (1/332nd). Who would've guessed?

NoBSU said:

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fubar said:

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NoBSU said:

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I told my wife I would probably get back to Ned the stable boy who died in 1574 when a kick in the head by a horse aggravated a syphilis infection in his brain.

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In the office pool, this is exactly what I have in the "How will Nobs Bite It in the End?" question. Hard to believe you'd actually be second in your line to go this way.

Turns out the most famous people I'm descended from are Joe Blow (he spelled it "Blowe") and Joe Schmo. And I'm more pygmy (1/276th) than Comanche (1/332nd). Who would've guessed?

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By no means second. Family oral history can be a wonderful thing. Maybe not if you are 11, the afternoon sun has the temperature above 100, and your grandmother's diabetes isn't anywhere close to being controlled. Long list of cousins that caught brain-eating syphilis from laying with harlots. Long list of cousins kicked in the head by a horse or a mule. Several cross-overs. Not sure if this not so dear, not so sweet, retired one-room school marm was attempting STD awareness or equine safety. I did learn several things. Historically Chadwick, MO has been the home of a lot of harlots. Insulin is a necessary thing. My mother could sit in a catatonic state for 20 minutes after asking her son, "So how was your afternoon with your grandma?"

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So much win.

TellMeYouLoveMe said:

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NoBSU said:

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I have a friend that is adopted and all she knows of her parents is that her mother is from Australia.

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I'd be real careful with that.

If there is one country on Earth where NO ONE wants to know their ancestry, its' Australia.

Pretty much 2/3 of the country was the offspring of rapists, prostitutes, thieves.

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Sounds like Australia sends a lot of emigre's to Hollywood ...

NoBSU said:

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fubar said:

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NoBSU said:

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I told my wife I would probably get back to Ned the stable boy who died in 1574 when a kick in the head by a horse aggravated a syphilis infection in his brain.

---

In the office pool, this is exactly what I have in the "How will Nobs Bite It in the End?" question. Hard to believe you'd actually be second in your line to go this way.

Turns out the most famous people I'm descended from are Joe Blow (he spelled it "Blowe") and Joe Schmo. And I'm more pygmy (1/276th) than Comanche (1/332nd). Who would've guessed?

---

By no means second. Family oral history can be a wonderful thing. Maybe not if you are 11, the afternoon sun has the temperature above 100, and your grandmother's diabetes isn't anywhere close to being controlled. Long list of cousins that caught brain-eating syphilis from laying with harlots. Long list of cousins kicked in the head by a horse or a mule. Several cross-overs. Not sure if this not so dear, not so sweet, retired one-room school marm was attempting STD awareness or equine safety. I did learn several things. Historically Chadwick, MO has been the home of a lot of harlots. Insulin is a necessary thing. My mother could sit in a catatonic state for 20 minutes after asking her son, "So how was your afternoon with your grandma?"

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Love it! I was interested in the family history at an early age, so I listened to lots of stories from my grandparents that included stories of relatives killed stealing livestock, in duels, and miscellaneous other odd circumstances. Fast forward 40 years, and now there are sites like newspapers.com. It's amazing the number of family stories where I've been able to verify the stories and get details filled in. Granny told me that her grandfather had was shot in the 1870s, 20 years before she was born, and when I asked why she responded "oh he was just stealing hogs." I found a newspaper story online this summer from 1878 that talks about the ongoing dispute he had with a neighbor who accused him of that, about his drinking all day at the bar in Troy, about the argument he and the guy had on the way home, and how he was shot during the argument. (Also stories about how he embezzled money from the men's club he was treasurer of, so it sounds like he was a problem...)

Other fun stuff that I have also learned with detailed newspaper accounts:
- a relative and his death in a duel in Mississippi in the 1870s,
- my 3rd great grandmother dying in 1890 of maggots in her brain from a fly going up her nose,
- my 4th great grandfather partying in Nashville in 1821 with his good friends Andrew Jackson and Sam Houston, and then in 1828 committing suicide after getting caught embezzling.
- Lots of miscellaneous obituaries, stories of weddings, travel, ads for their businesses, and miscellaneous other accomplishments and foibles.

The DNA stuff is great, but lots of the family legends (which is a fun part of all this) can get filled in with just good old-fashioned paper. Each method makes the other more effective

Lol. Maggots in the brain from a fly up the nose. That's a new one for me. Fubar, get out your D-con buddy. We can't afford to lose you that way. Except the last few posts would be priceless.

Growing up in the late sixties and early seventies, the best stories in a small to medium sized town were found Saturday morning at the feed store. The farmers would come to town and drop the wife off at the beauty parlor for a wash and set. So, the town and country men would drink coffee and loaf at the feed store. Lot's of farm accident stories. Reliving fight & feud stories. Gossip on who was stepping out on their wife (always told in a disapproving way).

NoBSU said:

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Lol. Maggots in the brain from a fly up the nose. That's a new one for me. Fubar, get out your D-con buddy. We can't afford to lose you that way. Except the last few posts would be priceless.

Growing up in the late sixties and early seventies, the best stories in a small to medium sized town were found Saturday morning at the feed store. The farmers would come to town and drop the wife off at the beauty parlor for a wash and set. So, the town and country men would drink coffee and loaf at the feed store. Lot's of farm accident stories. Reliving fight & feud stories. Gossip on who was stepping out on their wife (always told in a disapproving way).

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It was in the Thornton Herald, so it has to be true, right? They didn't have fake news back then. It was quite the story though, as the Galveston Herald, 200+ miles away, reprinted the story.

If I buy a test for my brother, can I just use his results for ancestry purposes?