Ancestry and other such genealogy databases.

[DeathGrip]

One of my oldest friends was adopted as a baby along with his twin sister. Sister always thought she was native American.

So last year he got a test and no native American. Turns out they're almost pure Italian.

We call her Injun from Spaghetti Western. She ain't to happy with us.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Once I had a dude tell me that he and his Family were descendants of Charlemagne.
So what did I reply?
No thanks, no fries with that burger.
But I would like a Ice Tea.

 

[Sgt911]

Mine was pretty close at first and with the update it is spot on from what I know to be true

 

[TTSH]

One of my oldest friends was adopted as a baby along with his twin sister. Sister always thought she was native American.

So last year he got a test and no native American. Turns out they're almost pure Italian.

We call her Injun from Spaghetti Western. She ain't to happy with us.

Genealogy is my other hobby. Has been for almost 15 years now. Serious deep research stuff, not just the "for fun" version. It's always funny when someone swears to God that they have Native American heritage... always heard it since birth kind of thing... and then they find out they have none at all.

Happens all the time. One infamously dishonest Massachusetts pol learned that lesson the hard way.

Even someone in my own extended family swore up and down that we had Native American heritage in our family tree. Nope... none whatsoever.

But there is someone in there that is a well-known name and a great embarrassment to us all. We do our best to try not to think about her.

 

[armadillo]

I had the same experience with Ancestry.com. They changed my numbers 3 times so far. Their explanation is that as more information comes in, they are improving their database.

The original report had me at 49% German. At that time, I read that the average German today is only 48% German.

My brother did his DNA test at the same time I did He had very different numbers, but Ancestry.com identified us as full siblings. The only thing we didn't expect was that we both had Swedish DNA (<10%).

Ancestry also had family tree information for my father's family going back in Germany two generations farther than I had been able to discover. But they didn't show the source for that information.

 

[pawngal]

First off, I have never done the DNA test and have no desire to. My older sister has done extensive genealogy research through Ancestry and LDS data base and I'm satisfied with what she has found.

But, this discussion comes at an interesting time for me. Some people get a little crazy with this research. A few days ago my daughter was contacted by a lady thru Facebook that had determined they were related. So far my daughter has not responded to any of her messages.
1st. Message FB lady was related to-------(a great aunt to my daughter)
2nd.message FB lady was related to------(my daughter's great-grandmother)
3rd message FB lady was related to -----(my daughter's Grandmother)
4th message FB lady is certain that one of #3's 5 sons is her father that she never knew.
Then FB lady even contacted my daughter's husband thru FB
The finally in message 5 she spills what she does know. Her sister (who is 9 years older than FB lady) told her that the man who was her father was missing fingers. And FB lady told my daughter when and where she was born and her mother's name. (I'm thinking OMG, yes)

Well, that clinched it because my daughter's father (my ex-husband, now deceased) was missing 2 fingers on his left hand from a farm accident when he was a teenager. I emailed my daughter what I think is a proper reply. Don't know yet if she will send it or not.
Here is the reply for daughter to send to FB lady:

"By your sister's comment about the missing fingers, that would be the defining factor to ID David xxxxxxxxx as your biological father. You were conceived when I was a baby and my Mother was married to David. He was married at least 4 times and fathered 5 (?) more children other than me. I was the only one conceived during a marriage so there are others like you that never knew their biological father.
He was reckless and accident prone, had high blood pressure and heart disease, and at times was a heavy drinker."

I knew he was a ******* but really???

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

Invasions, counter invasions, slave raids, mass migration, kidnapping, mailmen, milkmen and cable repair guys muddy the water too much. I learned who I was interviewing my grandparents and great grand parents in that cub scout project we all did. I insist on letting that stand. I do not want to hear different. My wife is into all that but I refuse to participate in a DNA test. Besides, I don't want any of my old girlfriend's middle age children knocking at my door.

 

[Echo40]

I couldn't possibly be any less interested in a Geneology or a Family Tree. Long story short, my relatives on both sides are all scum, and I strongly doubt that it gets any better as it spreads out, so I don't want to know them and I especially don't want them to know me.

In fact, my ancestry overall is only of peripheral interest, and it this point I'm more interested in why my results are so inconsistent than anything else. I sort of wish that I had never bothered checking my updates because at least the initial results were unexpected/interesting, whereas now it's just a confusing mix of stuff I already knew coupled with a revolving door of regional data which I can only conclude must be the result of some anomaly in my DNA because it just keeps spitting out a random result then taking it back and replacing it with something else in the next update.

 

[Texas Star]

My daughter tried it.

Came back just as expected, and my son said it matches what he's done manually, checking both families via family, court, marriage and other documents,for several centuries.

I'm mainly English, although some of the family spills into Scotland. ActuaLly, had not one ancestor immigrated to the USA in 1830, I'd probably hold two (now dormant) baronetcies.

This is my father's side. My mother's side hasn't been checked as far back, but is also British. The family name is Nordic, probably via 1066 and all that. Noman invaders under Wm. the Conqueror were of Norse/Viking descent, not French Celtic.

I probably have some Saxon blood, too, though.

I have on the US side an uncle who was awarded the Medal of Honor during the Civil War . You can find him on Wiki, but he has my first and last names and I don't want to make that public knowledge on the Net

My kids are different, as their mom 's family were originally German. So, my offspring are about half that. My daughter's test kit was about as expected.

And your family name had better not look Finnish if you think you're Italian!

 

[Ole Joe Clark]

We, mostly my wife, does genealogy as a hobby. She helps people all over the US with questions about ancestors. A person that wants to know about family should go the the oldest ancestor or relative that can and will talk about family. Take a note pad and pencil, or better yet, a digital recorder. Write everything down and verify it with research.

Everybody has brick walls, skeletons in the closet, rascals and saints, heroes and hooligans, so you might as well get over it. The Native American story is always a source of laughter, because 99% of the stories in our families are not true.

We published a newsletter for a while and in every quarterly issue we stressed the importance of documents. My pet phrase was "document, document, document". Ancestry.com is rather expensive in my opinion, but has many links to sources that can be searched at home.

You can choose your friends, but you can't do anything about your kinfolk.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

 

[oldbrownhat]

DNA is an evolving science. It depends on recording test results from increasing numbers of people to get increasingly accurate.....

Yup. My gf teaches genetics & microbiology at univ. and a few years ago we both had our DNA done when 23andMe had a sale. The results were interesting but not earthshaking. Until a few months ago I'd get the occas. notice that someone is related to me but I never followed it up. I suspect that those tests are now more detailed as the technology improves and more exact testing can be done for a reasonable price for us consumers.

Now finding my biological parents' story 20+ years ago was more interesting. (I was adopted.) As it turned out my biological father's parents - my paternal grandparents - were born during the Civil War (1862 & 1863) in a tiny hamlet in south-central KY. My father was the last of 10 children, born in 1904. A few years later they upped sticks and moved to Saskatchewan to farm. I have a poor-quality B&W photocopy of my grandparents in their 80's, a couple of tough old stringbeans who could have been the inspiration for Grant Woods' famous "American Gothic" painting!

Every once in a while I go looking at Civil War records to see what side HIS grandfather fought on. Nothing conclusive but it might have been on the Confederate side. I know that one great-great (?) uncle had a slave, to whom he granted her freedom in his will, around 1838.

Haven't done much on my adoptive parents' side, although I have discovered that my surname (in its original Norman form) appears in the Domesday Book!

 

[Texas Star]

Try your library Genealogy department for free help.

 

[Injunbro]

This ancestry DNA thing is junk science. A bunch of people w/ Dutch names living in an area settled by Dutch must be Dutch, right? So if you have similar DNA you must be Dutch... Now comes the problem, my grandfather who had a Dutch name was descended from people who came from Holland but research shows they actually only lived in Holland for about a year where they changed their names to avoid trouble from their estranged families in Switzerland. No Dutch blood @ all. Mom's parents were registered Mohawk tribal members but claimed to be English to keep their children from being kidnapped by the gov't & sent to Indian schools. Theoretically my brother & I should be very similar but he's tall & skinny like Dad & I'm short-legged & blocky like Mom. I claim to be Dutch/Injun married to a Swede/Dane/Amish/Swiss which means our son is a....? Who cares, it's nothing we can change anyway & the Ancestry people change their data w/ every claim.
PS: If you check her history Queen Elizabeth is more German than English. oops!

 

[Ματθιας]

I'm adopted so, half of my adopted family has been in North America for thousands of years on my mom's side. My mom's maiden name is Bernal, thanks to the Spanish. Bernal is also the root word for the county in NM in which I live Bernalillo.

On my dad's side, his ancestors are the Spanish Conquistadors and settled in and around Mexico City. Probably some Native blood mixed in. Then about 120 years ago, my grandfather and his family were laborers and followed the railroad to Canadian, TX. After the Korean War, my dad settled in ABQ and worked for Santa Fe Railroad as a carman machinist and tool and die maker. At some point in the nearly 500 years, my Dad's family name changed from the original Spanish name of Landine to the one I have, a place name in Mexico. It's also a place name in Spain.

Thanks to my Grandma, on my mom's side, I have an Indian name meaning White Stag. Just don't ask me how to spell it much less say it - LOL!

 

[oldbrownhat]

...If you check her history Queen Elizabeth is more German than English. oops!

From Wikipedia:

Upon hearing in July 1917 that his cousin George V had changed the name of the British royal house to Windsor, Wilhelm remarked that he planned to see Shakespeare's play The Merry Wives of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

 

[Stevens]

I got a kit last Christmas it still sits unopened. I have always thought it would be interesting to take the test, submit the sample, then several months later get another kit and send in a new sample under a different name and address, then compare the results.
Steve W

 

[Echo40]

I appreciate all the advice, but as previously stated, I have no interest in conducting exhautive research to learn more about an my ancestry that I don't actually care much for thanks to my miserable, villainous relatives, especially when I already know plenty as it is, and that which I do know has been confirmed by Ancestry's results between my brother's DNA as well as my own.

For the most part, I'm all kinds of European, predominantly from the Mediterranean. Italian, Greek, French, English, and a bit German. All of that fits what I know about my ancestry from my parents based on what they were told by their parents and grandparents, so there's no surprise there. (My living relatives may be terrible, untrustworthy people, but my great grandparents were good people according to my parents, so I never doubted it.)

What this thread was really all about was me wanting to know if other folks who had dabbled with Ancestry's DNA Tests had the same inconsistent results as I regarding crazy variations in regional percentages between updates, which seems to be the case among those who don't get into the Family Tree aspect of the website.

I got a kit last Christmas it still sits unopened. I have always thought it would be interesting to take the test, submit the sample, then several months later get another kit and send in a new sample under a different name and address, then compare the results.
Steve W

Now that would be interesting.

 

[charlie sherrill]

I found a first cousin using Ancestry.com. Her Mom was messing with one of my uncles, still not sure which one. and she was adopted from the hospital where she was born. She is more kin to me than some of my known first cousins on ancestry. I also got labeled less than 1% Bantu and Jewish the first time around. Updates don't show any Bantu or Jewish blood.

 

[Ole Joe Clark]

My wife and I both did the DNA thing. Every so often I get email say they found some more 3rd cousins 2X removed. I think it was money wasted, but can't get a refund.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

 

[Kurusu]

@ the OP.

All I can say.

Bah! Humbug!

You are what you are. Not what your ancesters were.