Acts20.com

Have any of you done any ancestor research? My parents did DNA tests that showed no Indian blood on either side, which was contrary to family lore. So I started researching ancestors. I think my cousin must have put his ancestor research on geni.com. I was able to look up previous ancestors. My mom's first ancestor in the New World was neighbors with my dad's ancestor. My dad's family got to Virgina a generation or two before my mom's did. Someone posted online that my mom's first ancestor hear married one of my dad's ancestors, but that was just guesswork. There was no evidence for her last name, apparently.My mom's first ancestor here was buried on one of my dad's ancestors' farm. It's kind of funny because their families, their parents, did not know each other at all. They are from different states and met at a chicken restaurant in Atlanta. I also found out that I am distantly related to Henry Clay, the former speaker of the house and secretary of state who ran against Andrew Jackson, someone I remember from high school American History class. He's not my ancestor, but we have ancestors in common. Another relative, not ancestor, was a famous explorer. And another one was 'Sir', but his father wasn't so he must have been knighted back in the 1400's.I am not a serious ancestry researcher. Some people really dig through court records and look at tombstones and old family Bible's and such. Now that the Internet is out there, I can just read what they posted online

Just one comment on Indian DNA, it hides and usually vanishes after about 3 or 4 generations. So not having the DNA does not mean that you didn't have Native Americans in your family tree. This has been discussed a lot in the DNA discussion boards.

Some facts but mostly just my [email protected]/

I am just curious. So I will ask here and research later today anyway, but how does one get a DNA analysis? What is used? Blood, hair, saliva ....? Some facts but mostly just my [email protected]/

I had about decided that 23and me was better because it showed counties where it thought your ancestors came from, instead of a vague map that you couldn't zoom into. I also liked the map of registered relatives and the distribution, as opposed to the ancestry upsells asking you to subscribe to get more information. 23andme gives you more, but if it isn't as accurate, that's something to think about.They must only be looking for certain markers for Native Americans. The Cherokee and other groups may have lost some genetic diversity represented in those who got married in with the whites or stayed behind after the trail of tears. They probably aren't using samples from the 1800's. We could be carrying native DNA but those markers aren't in the database.I've also looked online for native ancestors. My dad sent me a picture of a couple of ancestors and the wife was supposed to be full blooded Indian. She looked like a dark-haired white woman to me. I want to get her name and see if geni.com gives her two white-sounding parents. That side of the family is pretty well documented on geni.com. There is one grandmother whose ancestors I can't find on any of the free sites that have family trees on them. I found out last night that my grandmother's last name was an Anglicized German last name and not Irish. One of my ancestors was apparently a Hessian who came to fight the Revolutionary Army. One of my aunts said we had ancestors who fought on both sites

23andMe links my mom's DNA to certain counties in Ireland, too. But my guess is they weren't digging up bones from the 1700's or 1800's. It is possible though that a lot of families in rural areas in Ireland stayed there, but cities tend to attract people from all around. The rural Irish groups they compare with may be useful.Famines and wars would cause people to migrate, though

Following one of the materalineal lines, I saw that I was descended from a Scottish nobleman, and tracing back through some of the ancestors, I appear to be descended from Henry I and William the Conqueror and Malchom III. There were also various European noblemen and crusaders. That would make a descendant of kings going back to Alfred the Great. Then I looked up the US ancestor who was supposed to have descended from the nobleman who had these ancestors, and ancestry researchers said there was no evidence of it. I've got an early corporate owner in the genealogy was was an alderman of London, and that one seems pretty legit as long as my female ancestors were faithful and there weren't any other surprises. That's the most well-known ancestor I had, I think, other than Adam, Eve, Seth, Methuselah, Enoch, Noah, Noah's kids, and all those people we all have in common.I was reading online that it is likely most of Europe is descended from some king or another. If you multiply every generation by two going back, after a while you get more people than have ever lived as your number. So family trees eventually cross and one ancestor could be an ancestor multiple times on a family tree