Holidays and Family History

On this day of giving thanks, when many of us are surrounded by family and friends, it is a perfect opportunity to learn more about your families. Over the next 5 weeks, we will see many family members and what better time than to check into your genealogy and start building your family tree.

In the last few months, I ramped up my efforts to build my family tree.  It started with revisiting the tree I had started a few years ago on www.Ancestry.com, which was poorly populated and mainly restricted by me not asking family members questions and having them start asking questions and reviewing the many hints that Ancestry.com leaves you as you populate your tree. 

I started of course with quizzing my parents and started organizing my notes online.  Each day I worked on my tree, I would find new family members, solve family “secrets” and as of now track my family back to the late 1700’s in a few cases, something that is not easy with African-American families.  My journey has taken a course through California and Detroit, Michigan, and through a lot of Alabama and into Georgia.  In recent days we have found ourselves virtually traveling to Mississippi and North Carolina.  There is also a line in the family that is taking us back through New Orleans to France and one that is inevitably headed to Ireland.  Most importantly I have had a ball talking to my Mom and Dad and other family members as I fill in the gaps in our family tree. 

I also finally pulled the trigger and ordered a DNA test.  As an African-American, it was practically impossible until DNA testing became affordable to trace the exact regions and countries of the world that you were descendent from because of the lost history tied to the “peculiar” institution of slavery.  I often balked at the cost or just talked myself out of it, but in September I ordered the test and in late October I received the results.  For the first time in my life I can tell someone specifically what regions of the world my family was from.  The funniest experience came when my 9 year old son, Miles looked at the results and saw that we had European ancestry and with a look of exasperation asked, “I’m white?!”  I told him yes partly.

The common myth that we were part Native America was busted, as my results showed no traces to Native/Indigenous Americans.  No direct link to East Africa, as had been rumored.  However, the results did show that my ancestry was primarily Western African (74 percent), not a surprise.   The results:

·        Mali – 14%

·        Cameroon/Congo – 13%

·        Nigeria – 13%

·        Ivory Coast/Ghana – 13%

·        African Southeastern Bantu – 12%

·        Benin-Togo – 7%

The majority of the rest of my ancestry was link to Europe (24%).

·        Ireland – 9%

·        Iberian Peninsula – 3%

·        Europe West – 3%

·        Europe East – 2%

·        Scandinavia – 2%

·        Finland/Northwest Russia – 1%

There is also 2% Central Asia that ties into the area of the -stans. 

The experience and journey continues.  I talk about my results and the building of the tree all the time. It is the subject of bar talk and pops up in staff meetings.  I have even found several 2^nd to 6^th cousins that I am making links with to fill out our family tree and share information that will help unravel some of our family mysteries.  It feels great to know where you come from and who you come from.  I spent all my life stuck in this mystery, thinking I was going to have to take an Alex Haley type journey in my retirement to solve it, while older family members passed always and memories were lost. 

This weekend I will talk to my 93 year old grandmother and tell her about what I found out about her mother’s family that she either never new, chose to forget or was never asked.  She will fill more gaps and tell many stories and yes we will get her DNA test these holidays to further tell our story.

I encourage all people, no matter what you know about your family history to do a DNA test; they are much cheaper and comprehensive these days.  It is a path not only to your history, but it opens up many opportunities to richly connect to family members known and unknown and maybe you might turn off the T.V. and put down the smart  phones for few hours and start filling in some trees and recording stories before your living historians leave this existence.