by Jack
This is a retelling of a former article with new information…
Do you know your family history? How has your ancestry influenced your life? You can trace your family history through a DNA trail at the National Geographic study site, just click here.
This study shows the common groupings of haplo types and their migration from the Southern tip of Africa to various parts of the world. The DNA trails are fascinating, but only show the most generic versions of your personal history.
We did our family tree long before there was a DNA test, the DNA only confirmed our recent history and then added in some of our previously unknown ancient history. Related people tend to live in clusters like clans and so it was through that clan research that I found distant relatives using the first 10 DNA markers as a standard. These clusters popped up in India, Iran, Ukraine, Germany, Sweden, Norway, England and most recently here in America.
Last week I made contact with a relative that shared a common ancestry within the last 5-6 generations as determined by the DNA study. Thanks to this connection I can extend our particular Lee line back to the original Jamestown settlement and England before that.
Others in my line lived later in the newly created Williamsburg. Some became members of the House of Burgess. One wrote the resolution to draft a Declaration of Independence from England and his friend, Thomas Jefferson, did write it. During the Revolutionary war the Lees were there too, my direct line shows a Private Elliott Lee who fought in the bloody battle at Charleston, S.C.
Seems like my family has always been involved in politics – so maybe that’s where I get it? Who knows, but it’s still nice to know where you come from. This DNA study also reminds us we were all pretty closely related at one point in time.
I think you will like my family story.
My grandpa George came out from England to the United States in the 1830’s. He found my gramma Mahala in Illinois (and there’s a story) and they brought their kids out here during the Gold Rush, (oh yeah story there) bought some land, had a farm just above a pretty rough Gold Rush town – I am named for the most infamous resident – Juanita of Downieville. Yee-haw!
Grampa George lived along the Yuba during a wild time. One day, he found “a Frenchman” panning on his property. He told the man he was trespassing, and to leave. The man said “non!”, and began throwing rocks at Grampa. So Grampa began throwing rocks back. When this didn’t go anywhere, Grampa turned and informed a group of school girls playing nearby that they should go home, there was going to be trouble. He told the one little girl to go home and get her dad, the sheriff. Then he went to the house for his gun. The Frenchman was still there when he got back, so he shot him, only wounding him, but still, incapacitating his rock throwing arm. The sheriff, a friend of Grampa, walked up at about that point and on his daughter’s testimony, arrested the Frenchman. He told my Grampa, “could you wait next time, I was in the middle of a meal!” Grampa apologized and paid the doctor, also his friend, to patch up the Frenchman.
This story was not passed down in my family, a relative found it in one of those books you buy at Gold Rush museums.
If we ever get to go shooting I will regale you with further tales of my awesome family. I love family history, and my family is big on it.