Comments on: Where There’s a Wall, There’s a Way

By: CeCe Moore

CeCe Moore — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 22:15:12 +0000

Hi,
Nice summary. We (International Society Of Genetic Genealogy) have been working with this type of DNA analysis for two and a half years. I am excited that AncestryDNA is going to help it get the much needed attention that it deserves. It is a very promising avenue of discovery for genealogists and can sometimes reveal great surprises. @Terry – I think there is a good chance that your biogeographical ancestry analysis will show your African ancestry because it really isn’t that far back. It, of course, will depend on how admixed your “ancestors of color” were. They may have already had significant European DNA, in which case it is less likely to show up.
I have posted a “First Look” of the AncestryDNA BETA product on my blog here: http://www.yourgeneticgenealogist.com/2012/03/ancestrycoms-autsomal-dna-launch-first.html
Best of luck to those of you who are using DNA to learn more about your ancestry!

By: Rosilda

Rosilda — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 16:03:57 +0000

this was a great post. thank you. i just wanted to ceommnt about the poc/white relationships as well. I’m not under any illusions about the nature of the power dynamics in most of these relationships, but I think Andrea does have a point wrt poor whites/indentured servants/Irish intermingling w/ poc which was happening enough that codes had to be put in place to keep them separate and the poor whites identifying w/ the power structure and not their neighbors in solidarity. The great documentary Slave Catchers, Slave Resisters talks about how that intermingling really threatened Southern plantation owners. And up in the north, i know that there was far more intermarriage particularly around the Cape and Islands and Rhode Island. But besides this, I just wanted to say thank you for the original post, because its a springboard for me to talk about the bigger picture behind these self-identification issues with my family. Things like blood quantum/one drop rule, what white privilege is etc because even now despite what the percentages are, in the end, it can still be about how you look, and what privileges you have depending on the shade of your skin.Which brings up something else that annoys me, that percentages somehow holds all of what identity is. Like people who are white, but claim 1/3 Scottishness or Cherokee or something and there’s nothing in their family or life that has any connection to an actively Scottish or Indian identity except as some kind of exotic cool whiteness. Anyway, I had more to add, but it’s late and I’m tired now but it was a great read.

By: Karen

Karen — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 20:28:33 +0000

I have taken part in the Ancestry DNA tests also. My mother was raised by her aunt because her birth mother had gotten pregnant in an affair with a married man circa 1917. My mother was told that she was born in Dayton, OH on 24 Mar 1918. To this date after 3 years of working on my family tree…I have not located a birth certificate for my own mother. She was told that a certain name was given as the father’s name…made up…but so far..no luck. I have made my tree public and happily share any and all records, photos and information. It may take years..or maybe never…but the fun is in the hunt as much as it is in the results. I have met close and distant cousins …some of them related to more than of my family lines. Keep the faith, keep looking and never give up!

By: Sharon

Sharon — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 20:09:14 +0000

As for DNA testing, I am disappointed. I have not been able to find anyone who would share with me. Since I had my maternal DNA tested, and a woman’s name usually changes with marriage, there are many family names involved, and I have not traced every woman in my maternal line. I have provided a list of family names I do have to fellow “DNA relatives,” but no one has taken the leap and shared. (I have been generous with invitations to my tree with members who message me about relatives we share.)

By: scwbcm

scwbcm — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 18:55:07 +0000

DNA is indeed still in its infancy even though it seems like it has been around for a long time now. It has changed so much since my first class college class on this. It is difficult for people to grasp that there is a new frontier for something related to history. Looking forward to more on this.

By: Nicole G

Nicole G — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 21:22:13 +0000

Great work! Thanks for the great info.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:34:24 +0000

Re: DNA testing

Keep in mind, DNA will only match you with a relative if that SPECIFIC relative has also had his DNA tested and posted the results in a searchable database. It can give an idea of a general area where your ancestors likely can from hundreds of years ago. But it will NOT magically generate a list of unknown relations.
In reality, the chances of it finding a match are pretty slim, since so few people have had it done.

By: Trevor

Trevor — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 20:50:21 +0000

Mary, as Ana mentioned, try contacting them via phone if you haven’t already.

By: Doris Jaeger

Doris Jaeger — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 20:37:01 +0000

You have some misinformation on Susan Jan Van Cott…..Daughter of Tunis Van Cott….
She was born on October 20,1801..Married George Weeks …there is a record of George marrying Susan on Oct 11, 1832 in the Presbyterian church of Smithtown LI, NY
He died in 1879.

By: Sandy

Sandy — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 20:12:26 +0000

I, too, enjoyed the episode on Blair Underwood. Last week I mentioned in my blog that Who Do You Think You Are does not address the subject of brick walls. I was pleasantly surprised to see this as a major point in Blair’s search for his ancestors on Friday.