I've been pretty busy and/or under the weather and/or grumpy and/or uninspired, so didn't really think too much about today's Think Write Thursday topic about heritage — Irish or otherwise.
Then I read this sentence in Carole's post and laughed out loud:
As a researcher once told Dale when he was trying to prove that he is a Mayflower descendant – if you look too closely into this you might find out your family story is wrong.
My comment:
Haha! Yeah. Grandma always talked about a great uncle who’d done the research and traced back to Sir Francis Drake… but, um, I acquired a copy of his research and it was Sir Barnard Drake… CLOSE but no cigar (definitely a sailor, but kin?)! I still have a soft spot for Sir Francis, tho.
I've been involved in family history research for almost as long as I can remember, more — particularly in the years immediately following the birth of a child – or less. The aforementioned Grandma Blum was supportive and helpful (oh, I miss her!). I had a subscription to Ancestry.com back in the days of dial-up modems and was equally excited and frustrated when things like census images began to be available for online viewing. Excited because YAY, frustrated because DIAL-UP! OMG, I would finally get a page to load and then zoom in and/or move the page and it was pure AGONY to wait while it reloaded… you had time to go to the bathroom or throw in a load of laundry while you waited!
Now it's easy — sometimes too easy, I fear. There's a lot of inaccurate information out there with no research or sources to back it up, and people willing to accept it. I know first-hand how important it is to DO THE RESEARCH… follow the trail, don't settle. As I recently remarked to a friend who was exasperated with the repetition of given names in her research:
I have a bunch of Peters. Peter and his son Peter and his son Peter and… there was even, in one family, a son Peter who died at a young age so another son was named Peter and, just in case (?) ANOTHER son was also named Peter! I found them referred to as Peter Jr. and Peter Jr. II on land documents!! Muddying the waters even further, brothers Jr. & Jr. II's wives were SISTERS!!
I'd originally thought that Peter Jr. married Eva, then, after Eva's death, her sister Mary… NOPE. Two brothers, both named Peter, married sisters Eva & Mary.
Later, Peter & Eva's sons — John, Paul, Jake & Peter (of course) — married sisters Bena, Tilly, Lillian & Rose. John & Bena were my great grandparents.
Anyway, there's a lot of English and German — I've always thought more German. I've made Grandma Koenig's Apple Kuchen recipe since I was able to slice apples, and her dumplings, as made by my Aunt Arlene… well, it's been years and I still remember how delicious they were (my mother never made them). Her mother had come from Germany as a young girl and never spoke English. I made sauerkraut and pickles with my dad, and I ate Grandma's sulze with Grandpa Blum (learning that at butchering time, nothing was left to waste!). Grandpa Blum's family arrived in New York from Germany in 1855; Grandma's family from England before the Revolution.
A couple of years ago, for Christmas, Rusty & I each spit in a tube and sent them off to Ancestry DNA.
Here's my snapshot:
My ethnicity estimate shows:
- Great Britain – 69%
- Europe East – 13%
- Europe West – 5%
- Italy/Greece – 6%
- Scandinavia – 2%
- European Jewish – 2%
- Finland/Northwest Russia – <1%
- Caucasus – <1%
- Middle East – <1%
Rusty's, on the other hand:
- Ireland – 32%
- Great Britain – 27%
- Europe West – 20%
- Scandinavia – 15%
- Europe East – 5%
- Finland/Northwest Russia – <1%
So, I guess, kiss HIM! He's a bit more Irish!!
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