You know how you order something on Amazon, and then when it arrives later than you think it will, you often forget what you ordered? I do that all the time. It's like Christmas over and over again! Well, that happened this week, but not as dramatically. I ordered a MyHeritage DNA kit for myself and for Laura. They were only $27, so why not? I did one in 2021, so about 5 years ago. My DNA hasn't changed, but they've gotten better at detecting all the people you may be related to, so I wanted to start fresh and see if it does, in fact, line up with the results I got in 2021.
The one thing about My Heritage vs some of the others is that it goes back further, including my heritage from before Jesus! No, it's not that far back, but it seemed like it. I think they included the Vikings, making me primarily Scandinavian, and I had to do some study, research, and questioning to find out which of those Vikings came from the Scottish side of the Isles and which from the English side, or even the German side. It took a minute, and I paid a little extra. Still, it was finally estimated that from about 1100 A.D., our family tree(s) stemmed primarily from 48% Scots and 47% English, with literally 1-2% Italian. There was less than 1% of Iberian blood in there. (Rogue Viking)
Knowing what I know, I decided to do it again, to see if anything else pops up since they've been processing millions more people, and they may have more detailed information five years later. One thing that MyHeritage sent me recently, after I put in my own name to research, was a little death notice of another Jude Stringfellow, and get this -- she was a woman!! A woman named Jude Stringfellow was born around 1643 and died in 1679 at age 36, likely from a stomach ailment. I wonder if it was her gallbladder. I had mine out in 2008, so I was 46. It just makes you wonder what people in those days went through that could have been cured today. It's a miracle any of us are living now. Those people, and those before them, went through so much more than we can ever imagine.
My daughter Laura has never taken a DNA test. I told her I needed her to so I could prove I was her mother. After 36 years, I just want to know the truth. (😆) She looks like me, so there's that, but you just never know! Besides, I want her to see that she really does have Native blood running through her veins. It's not something she got from my side of the family, I can tell you that. I wish I could say it was me, but I don't have any. I live in the Native American capital of the world, and my grandfather was born in Oklahoma, but he was born to people who heard about the land run in 1889 and joined in on the fun of staking property. He was born in Indian Territory in November 1890, which doesn't count. He was just a white boy.
Laura's father's mother was, according to family rumor, more than or about 33% Native. I would love that for Laura. Depending on how much, if any, Native her paternal grandfather had, she could have 10-20% Native blood, which would be really cool. She's a paler sort of pasty white color, but it could happen! Her biological sister (my other daughter Caity) from the same parents is darker in color, showing more of her father's side when it comes to tanning and turning a pretty color of something other than burning red flesh. At least I gave her life and wiped her butt when she needed me to. I'm still living with her, but the arrangement is different. I depend on her more, to be honest - which is a great relief.
We'll send the packages off tomorrow, and probably get our results back in about 10 days or so. They email them to you. I'll upload my results here. I'm not hiding anything. I told her I was going to dox her to the point of telling the world just how much, if any, Native blood she has. If it is true, she still wouldn't be allowed to register on the tribal rolls, but it's good to know she has more American blood than I do. She, too, like me, was born in Oklahoma City. That's funny, too, because I never really put too much thought into it, but my entire family was born somewhere other than Oklahoma City. I'm the only one who was born in the Sooner state other than my grandpa.
My father was born in Frog Level, Arkansas. It was Sevier County, close to Horatio. His parents were born there, and so were his three brothers. My mother was born in Thrift, Texas, near Burkburnett, as was her mother and most of her siblings. My own siblings were born in Denver. My grandfather on my mom's side is the only one born in Oklahoma. He was born in Tishamingo. Since I'm now on the different family trees, I can find out where his parents were born, but I typically trace my father's side more often. I don't have to. I have two sides to my tree, just like anyone else. It's funny, though, most of my people from 2026 all the way back to about 1200 come from within 200 miles of each other, close to and crossing over the border between England and Scotland. The Jude and John Stringfellow mentioned are not from my line.
Our people, mom's and dad's side, didn't venture into London, or go further south than Yorkshire. Crazy. When you think about it. All those people came over this way, to the new world, and they came from virtually the same area, landed in almost the same location, migrated to virtually the same places, and then we all ended up here. If just one person in that entire string of people had chosen to marry or procreate with someone else, I wouldn't be here. It's one of those unexplained phenomena that you know was guided by God. There's no other way to see it -- not a chance.
OK, so I'll send the package off tomorrow, and in about 7-10 days, I'll have the results. I'll let you know exactly what it says, and I will laugh my ever-loving head off if it comes back with a full 1% Iberian! I'll be like ...YEAH!!! I doubt it, but it could happen. I have brown eyes, but they're not dark. They're more of a cinnamon color. Oh, to be exotic.
Photo Credit: MyHeritage.com (1st) and Google Maps for the gravesite photo.
No comments:
Post a Comment