Update to Ancestry DNA

So while the Genealogical community here in the US has been going mad over the 1950 Census, Ancestry made an update to their site that hasn't been getting a whole lot of coverage that I have been able to find. In the middle of this month, they started a new section of the DNA results section of their site. If you have had your DNA done by Ancestry,  you now have a new section called Ethnicity Inheritance. This splits your DNA matches based on whether they think they are your father's relations or your mother's, and in doing so, narrows down your DNA results based on whether they are your mother's or father's. 

I think this is my favorite change to the DNA results since I first got my DNA tested. I have a lot of things in my results that make me curious, and this definitely answered some questions for me. 

These are my results.  As you can see, it splits your results between your parents based on where they presume those results come from. As I said, this is based on the matches you get on Ancestry. 

In this case, I can see that Parent 1 is my dad, because he is the one whose father was Jewish, so even if there were a small section of Jewish on the other side, I'd know that the major Jewish results should come from his father, and therefore should be about a quarter of my results. In this case, I'm happy to see that even though I have more than a 25% result of Jewish in my results, they all come from my dad's side of the tree. Until now, I've had a possibility that perhaps there were some hidden Jews on my mom's side of the tree, but as you can see, I don't have any Jewish coming from her side of the tree at all. At least according to their presumptions. This doesn't preclude some hidden Jews on my dad's mom's side, but one of dad's first cousins on her side of the tree did have her results done, and she has no Jewish results in her DNA, so I'm going to assume that I am right here and all the Jewish results come from my grandfather's side of the tree. I am hoping to convince one or both of my aunts to take a DNA test to confirm this, but for now, I'm happy. For me, this proves that just got more than my share of my grandfather's DNA.

And this is my mom's results, which are fascinating when compared to mine, because you can see that very strong Welsh result in both. Now, I know her mother was Welsh. Both parents were born in Wales, so that's not a surprise. And while I was hoping this might narrow down whether or not we're Huguenot or not, unfortunately, this doesn't prove or disprove it. It just means if we are, it didn't get passed down to us, which is just as likely.

On the other hand, it does prove something about my great-grandmother on my grandfather's side. Granny was born in Philadelphia, but her parents were both immigrants from Ireland. They'd married in Armaugh, Ireland, now Northern Ireland, in 1883 before immigrating to the US. So we've always "known" we were Irish. I have record of them from the time they started having children in the US, but almost nothing before. I have since found out more, but of the four surnames I originally have for their families, the results are very interesting. Park, Dunlop, and Blair, three of my four third-time great grandparents's surnames, are very Scottish surnames. Quite often, you do find overlap between the two groups, especially in Northern Ireland, where a lot of poor Scots ended up after the Nobles in Scotland decided to use their land as pastureland and kicked out their tenants so they could. So I always knew it was possible, or even probable, that we had some roots in Scotland. But looking at my grandfather's half of this, with more than half Scottish ancestry, it appears that we're Scottish, and that that tiny wedge of Irish might not even be related to my great-grandmother, despite where her parents were born.

So two things definitively proven, at least to a very strong extent, but more questions. And that Finnish of my mom's makes me very curious. Given her father's father was at the very least German and Norwegian in descent, the mixed info on his side between the English/northern European, Swedish/Denmark, Norway, and Finland numbers, that looks about right for his side of the family. And having that random Finish section probably comes from some random inheritance over the generations there.

And I'm not the only one who has had a few questions answered. My friend, who had her DNA as well as her parents' and paternal grandparents' done about the same time I got mine done, managed to determine that the small amount of African DNA she has all comes from her mom's dad's side. We're very much looking forward to digging into all her results now that we can. it's all very exciting.

This change is the kind of thing that gives me hope for DNA technology. It's not about what they can initially do, because that stage is about trying to understand the data they're getting and what it means. But now that they've been doing this for years, we're learning more with each year that goes on. I can't wait to see what comes next.

So have you had your DNA done? If so, did this answer any of your questions? If not, does it make you want to try?

The Truths I Know

My family was very lucky. My grandfather was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany in 1922. He was his parents' third child of six; two boys, four girls. They were Jewish. For so many people he knew, that story ended badly. Twenty years or even less after his birth, friends and family members died at the hands of people who hated them, or worse, ignored them and their suffering at the hands of the Nazi party, thinking them unimportant and beneath their notice. Worse, some allowed the Nazi lies to lull them into believing nothing was wrong.

But my great-grandfather recognized the signs. He had been through something similar before. His family, who had escaped Eastern Europe for "friendlier" climes moved to London when he was still young. He lived there until the Great War broke out, when anyone in England who was "German," that is to say anyone who was from the Austrio-Hungarian empire, became an enemy. They were not only considered foreigners, regardless of how long they had lived in England, but a dangerous foreigner at that. Of course, being German, and worse, Jewish, meant that his family were not seen as possible candidates for citizenship. So he was sent to a camp, where he was sub-divided from the main group due to his religion. The Jews in the camp were kept separate from the Gentiles who felt they were beneath them, and dangerous to be near. After the war, England ejected him from the country, sending him back to Germany. He made his way to Frankfurt, where he met and married my great-grandmother. At the time, this was no great shock. Many Jews made their way to Frankfurt at the time. It was a good place to be Jewish. Many Jews came there from all over the Empire and built a great, strong (or at least what they believed was strong) community, with schools, businesses, synagogues and neighborhoods centered around their faith. They had such power in the city that they were even able to elect a Jew as the mayor of Frankfurt during this time. Unfortunately for him, his time as mayor ended with the Nazis hounding him from office, and hunting him into hiding, where he ultimately died.

So when violence against Jews began to rise in their city, my great-grandfather recognized the signs. He had no way of knowing how bad it would get, but he wasn't about to be separated from his family once again, and the anger against Jews in England was nothing to the anger he saw growing in Nazi Germany. Because of him, my family escaped. First to Paris for a year, and then to America, where the family has lived ever since, except for his youngest, who moved to Israel in her elder years. Aside from the war, we have been safe and protected because of the choice he made. I thank him for it constantly, ever since I finally understood the choice he made for his family, and in a larger sense, for all of us.

I am my family historian. I have been gathering the stories, the threads, the people, since my other grandfather's death in 1991. 28 years of looking for information on my family. 28 years of looking through lists of the dead, both hoping and dreading to find a link to my grandfather's side of my family tree, knowing that in that list were likely relations of mine; people whose names I did not know and could never meet because of other people's hatred, greed, and violence. It is only in the last ten years that I have really begun to understand more about this branch of my family. My grandfather never talked about it. For obvious reasons. Yes, they had escaped, but it had not been a pleasant time they'd lived through before that. It was not something he liked to speak of. He rarely even spoke German around the family. I think he didn't like sharing any of that with us, and probably did all he could to repress the memories. His language skills did stand him in good stead, especially after the war, when knowing French and German was in high demand for the Allies as they tried to deal with the consequences of what had happened. He worked as a translator in Europe well after the surrender, and because of it, met my grandmother, who was also there, helping with the cleanup after the war. But after they returned to America, it was a skill he rarely used.

Because of all that, and because he and my grandmother moved away from their families, we grew up with very little knowledge of our family history on his side of the family. We knew we were of German Jewish descent, and where they had lived, but little beyond that. Added to this was the fact that the experience had detached him from the beliefs he had grown up in. His sisters remained in the faith, but he had seen too much to believe religion held much value. At least, for him. So my father and his siblings grew up without religion in their family traditions. As did I. It was not even a part of my consciousness until I was an adult. I now know, thanks to a DNA kit, that I got larger than my natural share of Jewish ancestry. As I have only one Jewish grandparent, by all rights, I should have 25% or less Jewish DNA. Instead, I have discovered that a minimum of 30% of my genetic makeup is Jewish. But it is something I have never practiced or allowed to influence me in any major way. I am Jewish in heritage, but my grandfather's people would not consider me one of them, as my mother is not Jewish, nor was I raised in the religion. Aside from a passing acquaintance with some of the traditions of the faith thanks to my nanny's family when I was young, I know very little about the Jewish faith. This has left me struggling for many years now, trying to decide what my ancestry means, how I can honor it, and what I should take from it for myself.

I have struggled with my family history, from those early searches and even now after learning so much more. Finally, I know the names of both of my great-grandparents' siblings. I know that my great-grandfather's family either stayed in England (how, I still have yet to determine), or left for America rather than going back to Germany. I know that my great-grandmother's eldest brother and two of her three sisters and one of her younger brothers survived. The other brother was lost shortly after the first World War. Her sister is the only one on both sides of the family who was lost because of the Nazis. All of my family on that side made it out aside from her. It's so much less than I expected to hear, knowing they were right in the middle of Poland; right in the middle of the target area. I wish it were none. I wish she'd survived. We don't know what happened to her, only that she failed to escape with her husband and their children. And that there is no record of her after that. I have guesses, but I doubt we will ever know for certain what they did to her. It is a horrible thing, not to know, but in some ways it is a blessing. As much of a blessing as knowing she was the only one lost.

This year, I have made a challenge for myself. To look into the books and movies made about my grandfather's people. I know it will hurt. I've read and seen enough to know. I grew up with Fiddler on the Roof. And even as I worked on my genealogy, I was certain that that was not my family's story. My grandfather was born in Frankfurt, after all. They were from a city. I was wrong. The two towns his parents were born in were exactly like Annatevka. Poor, and surrounded by Gentiles easily riled against them. So much so that I have learned of a pogram against one of those towns, where my great-grandmother's family was still living at the time. And I have a reasonable amount of certainty that her father was wounded or died in that attack. And I grew up knowing Anne Frank's story, too. Of the girl who was just like me. Who wanted nothing but to be free. Who was killed by the Nazis for the crime of being born into the wrong family. I watched a few movies last year towards the end of the year, and realize how many more there are to watch. And I wondered why I was doing this, because each hurts in a whole new and unique way.

Then I started reading Night this morning, and I learned. This isn't about being comfortable. This can't be about being comfortable. This is about knowing. About understanding. About standing witness. Because those who survived are dying. There are few left now who experienced it. And they need to be remembered. Their stories need to be remembered. I thank Elie Wiesel for that. I had always admired him, and the way he spoke out and reminded people of what the Nazis had done. Then 2016 happened. There were so many blows that year. And among them was Elie's death. And then that man came to power, and Elie wasn't here to speak about it. And since that man has been in office, since he has started running even for election, I have worried. I worry more every single day. The phrase "It can't happen here" no longer holds meaning. We have to remember. We have to stand up and we have to stop this. Now. Before it becomes like then. If it hasn't already.

So for my part, I plan to read, and watch, and understand, though the words and the knowledge cut me to the quick. So that when the time comes that I am faced with someone who doesn't understand, or doesn't believe, I will have words to give them. Because I can't let my great-grandfather's choice be in vain.

Mika Karin (Hillinger) Bartroff, 1/24/2019

My DNA Results!

So for my birthday, I asked for a DNA test for my genealogy. We have several spots that have questions, and I was hoping to prove or disprove some of them. I just got my Ancestry DNA results back this morning. A perfect week to get them back, because I'm home today and tomorrow, so I can really play around with it all. And tomorrow I go over to see my family, so I can show it to them. The mix was a bit different than I expected, but then I expected a few surprises, so I guess that's par for the course.

My Mix:

55% Great Britain

This one was one of my surprises. I have a grandmother who is full-blooded Welsh, and a great-grandmother who was Northern Irish, so I did expect some English, possibly even more than 25%, but more than half is shocking. Until I look at the map Ancestry provides about each grouping of DNA. This one includes Denmark and Germany. And given that Danish is another 25% of my Ancestry, 55% suddenly makes a lot more sense.

30% European Jewish

At first this one made sense, until I realized it's more than one grandparent's worth of DNA, which would only be 25%. Wow. This means that I have hidden Jews in my tree. A whole 5%, at least. More, really, given that the Jewish lines married into the area in many cases. And when I take into account two of the smaller strands in my tree below; the Iberian and Caucasus lines, that brings the percentage up to almost another 10%, if I am right about those also being Jewish in origin for my family.

4% Europe West

This includes the central body of Europe: France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, etc; but also bits of England, Denmark, Italy, and the Czech and Slovak regions of Eastern Europe. I expected this piece to be much higher, given that I have at least four different areas of my tree that link back to Germany, and one that links to France. I was hoping to have some proof for the Huguenot ancestry on my great-grandmother's side, but unfortunately, this doesn't help that at all.

4% Scandinavia

This was a major shocker, given that two of my lines are strongly Scandinavian. Nana was the daughter of two full-blooded Danish Immigrants, and Grandpa's father was "full-blooded" Norwegian. Until I remember that Danish is also included in the Great Britain results, at least partially, and that several of Grandpa's line actually came from Germany, but that still doesn't explain the Europe West part. Perhaps several of the Hidden Jews were in this line, and that's why they moved to Norway?

3% Ireland

This was one of the things I was hoping to prove. My great-grandmother was Northern Irish, which tended to be more Scottish and English than actual Irish, but now I know for certain we have a small amount of Gaelic blood, whether from the Scottish or the Irish, I'm not sure. The test doesn't separate out the two, which isn't a shock, given how close the two are related. Still, I'm very glad to have this confirmed. We are not just English Transplants.

2% Iberian Peninsula

And then there's this, which makes me even more excited. My family surname, Hillinger, was actually spelled Hilinger by my great-great grandmother. I know nothing of her line aside from her and her descendants. But when I look up the surname, I find that there are a larger percent of Hilingers in the Iberian Peninsula than anywhere else in the world. Which made me wonder if we might have some roots there. If this result is right, and not from some other line, this means that we most likely have some small Saphardic heritage. Very exciting.

2% Caucasus

This is the middle east, basically, which implies that this is the origin branch of my Jewish Heritage, so unsurprising, but still nice to see.

So what does all this tell me? Well, I'm still very Northern European, which I knew before. But the Jewish Heritage (34% total if I include Iberian and Caucasus) is far larger than expected, so I will have to look into that, and I have definitely proved the Irish connection, even if it is way far back there.

Off to look into the connections they suggest now. Wish me luck!

Saturday Night Genealogical Fun: My Paternal grandmother's Paternal Line

1) What was your father's mother's name?

2) What is your father's mother's patrilineal line? That is, her father's father's father's ... back to the most distant male ancestor in that line?

3) Can you identify male sibling(s) of your father's mother, and any living male descendants from those male sibling(s)? If so, you have a candidate to do a Y-DNA test on that  patrilineal line. If not, you may have to find male siblings, and their descendants, of the next generation back, or even further.

4)  Tell us about it in your own blog post, or in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook or Google Plus post.

1)      My Father's mother was Margaret Hansen, later Margaret Hansen Hillinger. She was born in 1919 to Holger and Oline Hansen in Cleveland, Ohio.

2)      Holger's line:

* Holger was born 1891 and died in 1977.

* His father was Jens Christian Hansen (1858-1919), who married Else Katrine Larsen (1865-1934).

* Jen's father was Hans Knudsen (1824-1902), who married Christine Jensdatter (1834-1918).

* Hans Knudsen was born to Knud Knudsen (1794-1866) and Ane Marie Hansdatter (1797-1876).

* Knud Knudsen was born to Knud Madsen (born about 1730, died unknown) and Karen Pedersdatter (born about 1752, died unknown)

* Knud Madsen's father was likely Mads something, but we have no actual information about him or his wife, so Knud Madsen is the end of the information I have on this line.

3)      Nana (my grandmother) had one brother, who is now deceased. He did, however have two sons, both of whom are still alive, or were last I heard.

I have to say, I haven't considered the DNA testing yet because I still have so much to go through with all the papers that I do have. Moreover, I probably wouldn't test this line as this one goes pretty far back (18^th century is better than several lines I have…) The one I am interested for Nana is her mother's line, so I'd have to go one generation back on her mother's side. I do think there are some there, but I don't have any contact with them at this time, so that would take a little doing. Still, it could be interesting.