Some new 23andMe results came in. Now I can see specific regions my ancestors lived in:
(Lublin Voivodeship, Silesian Voivodeship, and Podkarpackie Voivodeship)
(Lucerne, St. Gallen and Schwyz)
(Baden-Württemberg)
(Šibenik-Knin County and Sisak-Moslavina County)
(Glasgow City, Leicestershire and Greater London)
January 23, 2019 @ 1:30 pm
Poland! I’ve been reading some of Wislawa Szymborska’s wonderful essays this week.
Both my parents recently did analyses of this sort (which means I don’t have to, right?). The old myth of a Native American ancestor on my mom’s side was proven to be, indeed, a myth. My Dad’s side gave us all a Scottish last name, which so enchanted my mom that she gave me Scottish first and middle names too. In fact, she dragged us all go to the Highland Games festival every year. But it turns out that my Dad’s side (and my Mom’s too, for that matter) are almost entirely English. I had tried to tell her this before, since I’ve got a lot of old-school genealogical info, but she didn’t want to hear it. Poor Mom.
January 23, 2019 @ 7:42 pm
Funny enough, no one in my family has ever tried to claim a Native American ancestor, but it appears we have one anyway. Only .3%, but 23andMe says, “You most likely had a fourth-great-grandparent, fifth-great-grandparent, sixth-great-grandparent, or seventh-great- (or greater) grandparent who was 100% Native American. This person was likely born between 1700 and 1790.”
My father’s side was Anabaptist (Amish on this side of the ocean), but his mother’s side was French, which doesn’t show up in any significant amount in my own genes. My mom’s side is Polish and Croatian, and it turns out she was correct in saying that there was even some Ukrainian in there. The mysterious English ancestor is the only surprise, and no one has any idea which side of the family it could have been.
The Lady of the House turned out to be 80% English and 20% Swedish. “Whiter than white bread” is the official term, I believe.