Friday, February 19, 2016

Emigrants Out of Germany in the Mid-1800s

What are the reasons people left Germany in the mid-1800s? I've always wondered and could never find the answer. When my cousin visited our great-grandfather's home village last year, a local reporter wrote an article about his visit. In addition, part of the article was about the mass emigration of people out of the Black Forest region in the 1850s. I found this extremely interesting. While it wouldn't explain my great-grandfather's reasons for leaving in 1872, it could explain his brother leaving in 1854. The article was written in German. This is a translation that my cousin had a friend do for him.

Thursday, February 11, 2016

New Roots Miniseries

I was excited to find out that they are remaking the Roots miniseries. I was first introduced to family history by watching this show in 1977. While I enjoyed it at the time, a recent rewatch made me realize that some parts of it haven't aged very well. I look forward to watching the remake.

I know some people criticized Alex Haley for making up a lot of the story of his ancestors. When I finally read the book, I realized how little of it is actually based on known fact of their story when I read the bit near the end explaining how Mr. Haley had put together pieces of the family oral tradition with stories passed down in the family still in Africa.

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

My DNA Origins

I've been trying to figure out the racial makeup of the various lines of my family tree. To do this, we'll start with my yDNA haplogroup.

My yDNA haplo group is J-M172. The origins of this haplogroup are Middle Eastern and, in particular, from the Asia Minor region. This could potentially be Jewish but could also be Middle Eastern men who migrated into the Roman Empire.

Then, we move on to my autosomal DNA test results. According to my autosomal DNA test, I am 96% European. Of this 96 percent, 45% is of Scandinavian origins, 39% British Isles, and 12% southern Europe, including Greece, Italy and Spain. The remaining 4% is the Middle Eastern origins shown in my yDNA test.
My DNA Origins