My paternal grandmother's family is my Mayflower side (and lots of US Presidents, of course), but my mother's parents were both 1st generation European Jews from Russia and Ukraine and my dna is 50% European Jewish! I wish everyone would do their dna and genealogy to show how diverse we all are, learn about the struggles of our ancestors, seeing the humbling circle of life in the records (ex: birth, marriage, children, death, etc) and most importantly...how much we have in common, too.
I agree wholeheartedly. If you have seen it, there is a great show on PBS called 'Finding Your Roots'. The host is Henry Louis Gates, Jr., a Harvard professor. He explores peoples' ancestry through records, family stories, etc., then does a DNA test. One of his messages is exactly what you describe - how diverse we all are - and he demonstrates it through DNA. He also does some really fascinating genealogy with African Americans, often being able to get farther back in their line than one would expect. One of my favorite episodes is from Season 1 - episode 9 with John Legend and Wanda Sykes. You learn that Wanda Sykes is a direct descendant of a woman that came to Virginia as an indentured servant in the late 1600s. There are some other great episodes as well - you learn that Larry David (actor/director) and Bernie Sanders are actually close cousins (they even look alike) and Bill Maher and Bill O'Reilly are actually cousins as well (this one was a little strange!)
What I find highly interesting in this conversation are the number of lightworkers here who are descendents from founding families-especially given the current environment/circumstances. Something tells me it's not a coincidence.
Nope, not a coincidence. There must be something to this,
I have many ancestors who were present in this country before the American Revolution. My great (many x's back) grandfather was the brother-in-law of Pres. James Monroe. President Monroe married his sister. The Great-Great grandparents of James Madison were my direct ancestor grandparents as well.
It's a mixed bag because these same families owned slaves.
Through DNA, I have also discovered I have African and Native American lines as well, a small smattering. This would go along with the family oral history which said one particular line was either Cherokee or Portuguese. Melungeon people often referred to themselves as Portuguese and were often a mixture of European, African and Native American (usually Cherokee) people. I may never know the actual story of this particular line but once again, I am amazed by the connections I have found. How ancestors in one family line actually interacted with ancestors in a different family line centuries ago and their descendants later married each other 2 centuries in the future.
It is fascinating.
@lovendures A friend told me to look into the melungeon people when I mentioned to her that I have both Nigerian and Native DNA (scant, but it's there). My maternal grandfather's line is Southern Indiana/Kentucky, so that is not at all out of the realm of possibility, even though we can go back only about two or three generations on his side.
My husband is also descended from a Mayflower passenger, but I can't remember which one ... I'll have to look into that.
@jeanne-mayell Thank you for starting this thread! I have been fascinated by family history since I was a child and have continued it as a hobby. I've gotten quite deep into it and even help manage some small DNA-related surname forums (fora?)
I wonder a lot about if and how our ancestors might connect with us, or even BE us (reincarnated) in some cases. Some of my ancestors seem to want to hide--- then are other times I have gotten wild clues out of nowhere that lead me to exciting discoveries. Looking forward to discussion.
@lovendures I have at least two Mayflower ancestral families. One was James Chilton's family, and I can't recall the other right now.
Mine is Nigeria, one other African country with I can't remember off the top of my head.and Native American. Mine was near the Cumberland Gap area, not in Kentucky but right next door.
@ana I too have wondered if my ancestors have helped me discover information about them. Sometimes I wonder if I am being guided to a missing link. Some things I have known about and others are surprising finds. Others are simply unknown. Since many of my ancestors are from the Virginia area, many records have been lost because of the Rev. War, the War of 1812 and Civil War. Many court houses and their records were burnt to the ground during these wars. I have however found some records back in England ( Pre-Rev. War) which is really cool.
Simply amazing. And not a coincidence. That so many descendants of the 135 souls on that ship 400 years ago, should gather in this community now, seems a strong message. They came to birth a new world and we are helping to birth one now. I wonder if some or many of them are spirit guides for this group?
I've done genealogy work for 40 years all because my mother asked me to help her by doing some research at the state archives. That's all it took. I was hooked.
Many years ago, before we could do genealogy research online, I was corresponding with a distant relative in Michigan. She told me about searching for family headstones in a cemetery, growing extremely frustrated because she couldn't find them. My relative was there on a snowy day, wandering through this cemetery, when suddenly the sun broke through and a beam of sunlight illuminated the headstones of our ancestors. I definitely think they were watching over her.
How cool is that?
I am descended from Peter Bulkeley through marriage to his first wife Jane Allen and their son Thomas Bulkeley. I would love to go to the UK and see where the Bulkeley's lived. I've made genealogy trips before to see where my ancestors lived and it's always been so rewarding.
Genealogy makes history come alive when you can see your family connection to certain time periods and locations. I don't do much research anymore (overdose), but always enjoyed going down that rabbit hole.