I tend to be the sort of person who looks to the future rather than the past. But when some good friends of mine did their DNA test several months ago I had to admit a curiosity. Then when one of them discovered an unusual family link, I couldn’t help but wonder if mine might contain something unexpected as well. So with some casual curiosity, I signed up my husband and myself for the process. What did I learn? And is it worth the time, money and effort? Maybe yes, maybe no.
It turns out that some people are obsessed by their family tree. An article in Salon Magazine claims that Genealogy may indeed be “the second most popular American hobby after gardening and the second most visited category of Web sites after pornography.” My interest doesn’t run nearly that deep! After all, I have no children so there is no linkage to consider beyond my own. The truth is, while my parents were alive I took my ancestry for granted. But now that they’re gone, I feel somewhat disconnected to my past and those who’ve come before me. Plus, now that I can no longer question my parent’s first-hand knowledge, the search seems somehow more relevant.
The process is easy these days. Pay your money online and within a week or so you receive your kit. Send in a sample of saliva and then wait for your results. While you wait, email prompts encourage you to begin working on your family tree. Why not? I considered the process to be a mini-mind quiz to see what I could remember. Fortunately, the Internet makes the process far easier than traveling to distant locations to search the micro-fish records held by local jurisdictions. Similar to filling in a crossword puzzle, feelings of reward and accomplishment made the search for forgotten connections more interesting. I now have a better idea why so many people become addicted.
What did my results reveal? From the time I was a child I knew that my father was a full-blooded German whose parents immigrated from Russia before he was born. I expected a majority of German ancestry but countries on the report aren’t broken out that specifically. Instead my largest ethnicity estimate of 44% comes from what is called, “Europe West” which includes Germany and France and several countries in the vicinity. And although my German Grandparent’s family immigrated to Russia prior to moving to America, that regional influence was only 7%. My only unexpected surprise came from the knowledge that I was likely 21% Scandinavian, and 16% Irish. Plus, a very low probability link comes from the Mid-East.
My husband Thom’s information was even less exciting. He too was aware of his father’s German background and also knew that his mother’s family was Swedish. His “Europe West” Ethnicity came in at 42%, while Scandinavia was 35%. He had been told he had a “bit ‘o Irish” in him, and at 9% that’s about it. Background with Great Britain was 8%. Apparently, no skeletons exist in either one of our family trees.
So why bother? While I am content having my curiosity satisfied, I must admit the unexpected satisfaction I have found while putting together my family tree. According to the website: Who Do you Think You Are.com, less than 44% of us even know the name of our grandparents—let alone the names of our great-grandparents. I could barely remember my father’s mother, Anna Margarethe Pfeif because she died when I was only nine and we didn’t live nearby. All I remember of her was a perpetually-frowning, wrinkled old woman who never learned to speak a word of English. After she died I didn’t miss her for a second.
But during the last couple of days my admiration for her has deepened. Anna immigrated to the U.S. from Russia in 1913 at the age of 30 to escape some of the hardships put on German settlers in Russia. With three young children at her side, and a husband who had been wounded in a Russian war prior to the journey, they (along with 2,500 others) booked 3rd Class Passage on a ship named SS Neckar. Visuals from the movie Titanic and the people crammed together on the lower decks of a ship come to mind.
Once they landed at Ellis Island they headed to Wisconsin where a daughter, Lydia was born, and on then to Nebraska where another daughter, Marie joined the family. Eventually, they moved to a small northeastern town in the state of Colorado where my father made his appearance. She gave birth to him at 46! Dad’s father, George died a few years later when Dad was seven. That left Anna with a mix of nine boys and girls. Somewhere along the way, two of her sons died. The product of a strict Lutheran sect, she refused to learn any other language except German—and read nothing but the Bible—in German of course! It’s no wonder she wasn’t particularly cheerful.
Unfortunately, my father was the youngest in his family and at this point, all of his brothers and sisters have passed away as well. From what I can tell, his parent’s journey reads like something from Dr. Zhivago and Grapes of Wrath. But I’ll never know the details because there is no one left to ask. We lost touch with his side of the family years ago, and I’m already hitting roadblocks after my brief search into ancestry available for free online.
I do know more about my Mother’s family so there are still some links to check out. But what I’m discovering is a sense of connection with the past that I’ve discounted for much of my life. Many of us assume that we know our parents pretty well, and maybe even our grandparents. Yet the story of their life, their dreams, and their hopes remain a mystery filled with hardships and joys that we can only imagine. Guessing at the strength of character and the perseverance that my forebears needed to just survive is humbling. If anything, it reminds me to be incredibly grateful for all they accomplished just for me to have my time here on Earth.
Did the DNA search help me to figure out more of who I am? Probably not. I am already pretty self-reflective so I don’t see that changing. But I am aware that there is current research into epigenetics that says we may inherit emotional experiences from our ancestors along with the biological markers that influence our DNA as well. If that is true, the strength and resilience I take for granted may likely have come from my ancestors. And who knows where I got my optimism? Plus, I imagine for anyone who is adopted or uncertain about their former relatives, a DNA search could be even more revealing. Actor Don Cheadle said about his DNA results: “You start feeling more grounded when you can reach back and go … ‘This is who I am all the way back.’”
A big part of SMART Living is taking the time on a regular basis to remember all the good we have in our lives and my brief journey into my ancestry is reminding me of that in a big way. Obviously it doesn’t take a DNA test to do that, but however a person gets there, it is beneficial to remember that none of us got to where we are without those who came before us. I’m also reminded of the open-door policy of our country that allowed so many of my ancestors to immigrate to our country. Regardless of how it is triggered, it is always SMART to remember to say “Thank You” to all who came before us.
Your turn: So have you done a DNA test for yourself? What did you find and was it SMART to do it? Please share in the comments below.
I really enjoyed reading this. And when you look at the back story of your grumpy grandma’s life, you have to admire her resiliency. As you mentioned the one downfall of the program is that descent from western Europe is not broken down into separate countries, but then again it would be a real challenge when you think of how many times those countries changed hands or rule.
Hi Pat! Thank you for popping in here to share your thoughts after your own DNA test (that you wrote about on your blog). I think when we are young (at least for me) I wasn’t too concerned about my past relationships with my ancestors. But that is changing. I doubt I will be ever fanatical about it. But I do like to think of my connections far into the future. ~Kathy
Interesting to read about your experience with the dna testing. I’ve long been curious about it while my husband – aka Mr Science – has scoffed at its lack of relevance. I have to admit that the ambiguity of “Europe West” doesn’t mean much, and the reality is that most of us are some version of *mutt* anyway.
… but I’m still curious. Sooner or later I will be dipping my foot into the dna pool to see what comes back 🙂
Great topic, Kathy. I haven’t done a dna test but have been curious about my ancestors more of late. My great grandmother lived an interesting life and I would like to write a blog post about her, for example. My husband’s family members always thought they were English and only recently through a dna test his sister took, found out they are actually Irish!
Hi Lisa! If you have $80 (that’s the regular special you can get at Ancestry.com) that you can spend it is an interesting experience. Ancestry.com allows you to set up a family tree and then for 14 days you get access to a lot of their worldwide database to search records and add to your family tree. There are also links to any of your DNA matches. My side hasn’t gotten many others from DNA searches, but my husband’s side has quite a few. It allows you to then connect with anyone you have a match with. Sort of an interesting way to reconnect with long-forgotten (or even unaware) relatives. And if you have a great grandmother you’d like to know more about, it would certainly be a fun way to dig a bit deeper. Good luck! ~Kathy
I did the National Geographic test a few years ago. Honestly, I forget what it said … except that I’m part Neanderthal.
Hi Tom! Hahahaha! If you are part Neanderthal that means we are probably related! 🙂 And it sounds like your results weren’t any more exciting than mine. But I have been staying a bit intrigued by working a bit more on my family tree. I just found out that some of my husband’s relatives were born in the deep south and fought for the Confederate army. Besides mortifying him, it is making him a bit more humble to think he might actually be related to some of the voters in the south who voted differently in the last election than he did! You never know what/who you might find! ~Kathy
Thanks for the info! I’m following you now and encourage others to sign up. You have a great variety of interesting stories on your blog. Thanks!
Hi Pati! Welcome to SMART Living. Thanks for letting me know you are out there and enjoying my thoughts. Please feel free to share yours with me again in the future. ~Kathy
Like your first commenter, Terri, I don’t think the spit test is accurate enough, like she says twins and triplets get different results. I already know my mother’s German family has Swedish relatives and ancestors, she made me a family tree album, but know nothing about my father’s German family who possibly originated in Poland, given the spelling of our surname. I’m not too concerned where I came from, being more concerned with my children’s and grandchildren’s futures. All my children have a copy of the family tree and they can add to it themselves when necessary. For my immediate family, all that’s left is my older sister, myself and two brothers, both half brothers with different fathers, so their version of any family tree will be different from mine. Then of course there are the children and grandchildren…
Hi River! Nice to hear from you. My test was done from Ancestry.com and if this informal test is any indication, it is fairly accurate. https://goo.gl/ttJa6U But again, if you were testing paternity and had other issues you would probably want to do several tests just to compare results. And yes, thinking about where we came from is not as important as the future. We can’t go back and change what is happened but hopefully, have the ability to influence the future in a positive way. I can’t imagine anyone with children not being deeply concerned about the state of the world and doing whatever they can to make it better. Like I said, I don’t have kids but I still care deeply about the fate of others. But again, there is something about honoring and appreciating our ancestors that remind us of what we do have, and an ancestry test can help do that. ~Kathy
DNA and ancestry is so interesting. Based on all our family names, Webster, Mauldin, Maynard, McCune, I’m betting I’m mostly Scotch-Irish. My grandparents knew enough about their genealogy that no one has been all that interested in pursuing the subject. I’ve heard many of the spit tests are inaccurate (saw identical triplets get different results). It is a fascinating subject for sure!
Hi Terri! I think they are refining the tests on a regular basis so they are more reliable. I hadn’t heard about the identical twins issue! Good for you for already having an idea of your “roots” so you don’t need to do it. The good news is that for those of us who are interested, there are more and more resources popping up every day. ~Kathy
Hi Kathy! My cousins have had the ancestry dna testing done and they just love poking around in our family history. I’m yet to do it but I do find it fascinating. Have a beautiful weekend. Stopping by from #BlogShareLearn
Hi Sue! Oh, you have to do it at some point. I wish more of my relatives had done it. So far only a few very distant cousins are connected through the website so it would be much more fun if they did. Thank you for your comment. ~Kathy
We wrote on similar topics this week. Must be something in the air. I recently did my DNA only to discover that though my four grandparents all have German names and heritage, I am 24% British heritage, which makes sense as my mother and all her family have been in love with England forever. But people were always moving across Europe to find a better place to live. Poor Ireland, they got conquered on a regular basis. I too have Scandinavian which translates to German or that part of the world.
Hi Beth! Yes we were on the same wave-length this week for sure. And who knows? With all that German blood in you, we might be related??? What company did you use? Did you like how they reported the results? And are you doing a tree? Not sure how long I’ll stick with it because it is pretty time consuming but enjoying it while the urge lasts. ~Kathy
Not earth shattering but still interesting about your background Kathy. My primary care doctor had her’s done and she thought she was Scottish and Irish and it came back with out a drop of either! Turns out her heritage was 90% German. She thinks her great grands lied because Germans were not favored and never told their heirs! I have been wanting my husband to get his done for over a year! What service did you use Kathy?
Hi Haralee! Yes, I was actually sort of looking forward to some surprises on my test but it was fairly predictable. 🙂 Of course, I’m wondering why my mother’s family hid the fact that there was more Irish in them than English? Might have been for the same reasons as your doctor 🙂 I ended up using Ancestry.com for my test because our friends used that one and another and they liked the Ancestry best. Otherwise, I can’t really offer a comparison. Watch the website though. They are normally $99 but you can get it for $79 on certain specials. They also offer a referral program that gives you the 20% discount if you ever decide you want to try it. Just let me know and I’ll send you a link. ~Kathy
I am glad that I did a DNA swab while my grandmother was still alive because I got a lot of good information as to where our history began and where the slave ships discharged my ancestors in this country.
Hi Antionette. I’m jealous. Having your DNA from your grandmother would be a tremendous advantage. Even getting it from your parents would be beneficial. I’m sure if your ancestors came over on slave ships there is a lot of uncertainty about your families roots and how far you can trace it back. It really makes you think about what they must have experienced in a very visceral way. ~Kathy
I’ve never really been interested in my genealogy but I can see the appeal – especially if you have ancestors from all over the world. The DNA component was really interesting – I wonder where you both got you Irish “bits” from?
Hi Leanne! I’m guessing the Irish must have come from my mother’s side. I always thought there was some Britsh in there…now it seems like it is Irish. And the Scandinavian could have come from either side. I was never really that interested in my genealogy before either but something about the idea of tracing my DNA, but my friends really piqued my interest. And as more people do it, the more connections can be made. I like that. Let me know if you ever do it! It would be interesting to see what roots someone from your side of the world would bring up! ~Kathy
Hi Kathy – I, too, have been playing with the idea of having a DNA test done but haven’t actually followed through. I have done ancestry research the old-fashioned way (through archives) and have a down line of about 5-6 generations. What was really exciting recently was talking to one of my oldest living relatives, an uncle in his 80s, and hearing stories of his youth and young adulthood. I had never heard about his experience before. Somehow, it completes us by learning more about our ancestors. As you indicated, some understandings occur that may be based on epigenetic transmission of emotional experiences and certain personality traits resulting from them.
Hi Annette! Thanks for sharing your progress with your chart. And good for you for proving it can be done without the test. From what I can tell, the benefit of the test is linking you with others who have done the test as well and showing connections that way. Unfortunately I’m only tied to a couple of “cousins” I don’t know. Thom though had 5 or 6 close cousins to contact. But yes, I’ll be you can still do that the old fashioned way too. And how great that you were able to connect to an uncle who could provide first hand knowledge. It’s another one of those things that we often don’t value until it’s gone. Thanks again for your comment. ~Kathy