DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... Ancestry

To keep it simple, Irish, English, some French and native American.

There seems to be a hidden secret in the familly tree. My grandmother on my mothers side was German, but through research it appears I have no blood relation as I only have traces of Germanic blood. It looks like my mother and her twin brother were born to a different woman than the woman who raised them as her children.
Cracks in the door seem to support that but there is no definitive way to prove that...at least as far as I am willing to research.

No matter, the woman who I loved as a grandmother, and who treated me as her 1st grandchild in my Grandmother....blood or not, so let's say German heritage as well.

My grandfather on my mother's side was British. He came over to the US on a steamship, as a 12 or 13 year old orphan. It seems to me that my grandmother, who died of cancer long before I was born, was also of British descent.

My father was of Slovak descent.

I am a mutt.

"Finding Your Roots" is an excellent program. My wife and I rarely miss an episode.

We all are. Keep looking back far enough we are probably related to most everybody in some convoluted way.

I had a relative do the DNA kit, not sure which one. Some time later an uncle was arrested in a cold case murder. He died before trial and took his side of it to the grave.

English on my maternal side. They came over in the late 1700s and a couple had an ‘S’ branded on their foreheads because they were sheep stealers, according to my mother’s cousin, who is an amateur genealogist.

My biological father is English, but I think there’s some French and native mixed in there too. By now, almost all of us are mutts.

I'm French and German on both sides of my family with some Welsh mixed in on my Father's side, I supposedly had relatives here as early as 1609.

I did 23andm3 and came out as 99+ percent Ashkenazi Jewish. No surprise there. My son Edwin, adopted from Guatemala, came out as 97 percent Native American (Maya). Interesting stuff for sure.

Some years ago, I started a thread when the Smithsonian opened up its museum annex dedicated to the contributions of African Americans to this nation's history. I started that thread to pay tribute to family on My Father's side, who were instrumental in the beginnings of "Longtown" (also remembered as "Long") as a Midwestern town where Blacks, Whites, and Indigenous People lived together in harmony and shared citizenship. Yes- there is a small installation at 'The New Smith' that features the last name I carry.

In subsequent posts, I've talked about My Mother's side of the fam mix, which features similar background: tri-racial enclaves that chose to live together in an historical American age of almost universal segregation.

Both fams shared similar physical traits: coarse, straight (usually black/dark brown) hair, "paper-bag tan" skin coloration, and a range of facial structure that ranged from square/flat to oval, with high cheekbones. As early as 1838, Clems were already a thing in Ohio, and Findlays/Johnsons were already a thing in Indiana. Turns out, there were scores upon scores of enclaves like this, scattered throughout 1800's America, from upstate New York, Pennsylvania, NW Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan... all routes on the Underground Railroad. The Clem homestead was actually a stop along that route from America's Deep South to Union states, and Canada. The Clem homestead in Darke county, Ohio still boasts a tunnel from the house to the barn that was used when "ghost riders" rolled up.

This was The American History of the families that raised me and My Sister.

But there's a catch to this story:

Neither My Sister or Your Boy Clem share actual blood with each other, or either of these storied American families who raised us to where we now find ourselves.
We were both adopted into this family union, made between the family who gave us our surname(s) and the family who gave us the other half of our shared values. And- we were adopted two years apart, from 2 different gene pools- one, in Cleveland and another, in Columbus.

The Agency was called, "The Chosen Ones," a Christian-based adoption org that facilitated the adoptions of homeless, bi-racial babies like My Sister and me, back in the late-1950's.
As I've mentioned at this website, more than once:



So here's where I am with genealogy:

I thank my (anonymous) Sire for not 'pulling out.'
I thank my (anonymous) Dam for carrying me to term.

They were successful at creating life.
Beyond that, I thank them for nothing.

Everything I have have ever made of myself is because of the people who raised me.
Nature/nurture debate? No question. Nurture, for the win.


Genes can only determine so much.
The rest is due to the ppl who actually impact one's life, on the daily.

I have every modern tool available to me to chase down my genetics. And yet, I consciously choose to keep things as they've always been.
A 1956-era "closed adoption" is just fine with me. Always has been, always will be.

I was born an American enigma, and I'm perfectly OK with dying as one.
My adopted family is more than enough to give me my identity.

I am a product of the families who raised me.
"23 & Me?" pfffft.

Actual People raise Human Beings. Not genes.


Just sayin',
clem.

Clemdawg - I really appreciate your perspective as someone who was adopted. I often wonder what goes through Edwin's mind (my son adopted from Guatemala). He doesn't seem to be at all interested in contacting his bio. family though I have offered to help him with this many times over the years.

Edwin was born in Retalhuleu, on the Pacific coast. We stayed in Antigua, a beautiful town for both of the trips to Guatemala. What an incredible time you had there! Did you see Lake Atitlan?

...with my brain, I'll probably be reading your name as lamb-dogg for awhile.

I'm another mutt. Never had it formally broken down, but I think I have a pretty wide spread of Europe covered. Czech-Swiss-German according to the families' oral histories, if I remember correctly, allegedly with a dash of Blackfoot.

Excellent post. I agree completely on the "nature vs. nurture" aspect.

Now, there are all kinds of rabbit holes one could go down, but nature vs. nurture is the end all.

I think nurture plays a big part, but nature does play a role.

Hi, sk8termom. Good to hear from you again.
I love that you spend time with us.

I can only speak for myself, when I talk about such a personal topic. Perhaps Edwin sees things as I do, perhaps he sees them in his own personal way. Life is something each of us must go through on our own. The lessons that Life teaches us plays a major part in how we find our way in this world. You, me, your husband... and Edwin, too. We are all connected... and yet, each of us are alone, as well. Each of us must find our own paths in the time we are given.

Do the things that are meaningful to you.
Be the person you were raised to become.
The details will sort themselves out, in the fullness of time.

_____________________

I see my adoption from a different viewpoint as My Sis. She was always curious. She did the research, found her data.
I never was curious. My take: "Thanks for depositing me here, but bigger thanks to the fams that raised me to get here."

My Sis wanted to know.
I did not- and still don't.
We were both given what (scant) info was available to us.

She&Me are miles apart on this one... and yet, we're both still OK with each others' choices.

Perhaps Edwin falls somewhere in between My Sis & me.
...and if he does, wherever he falls will be OK, if it happens in a place that allows him the comfort of family support, and the autonomy to choose his own course.

sk8:

Edwin will always possess individual traits specific to him, but that's to be expected from any kid in any family.
In all the most important ways, he will grow to become the kind of person he was raised to be. That's what he's getting from you.

Nature determines personal traits.
Nurture determines personal outcomes.

Big thanks to you- for giving someone like me a chance.
Edwin has a fan in his corner... and so do you.

best,
clem.

I wasn't adopted, but have several good friends who were. Those people fall in to one of three categories:

Those who have to know.

Those who are curious to know.

Those who don't want to know. Maybe it is more don't care to know.

Mine came back mostly human.

I haven't done the DNA test for this, but my mom has turned researching our ancestors into her hobby on Ancestry.com. She has uncovered something absurd like more than 35,000 sets of ancient great(n) grandparents. I've seen some of her results dating back to 800-900's AD. Tons of Kings & Queens from all the European nations, LOTS of Viking blood (half the names in the Vikings streaming series), a handful of actual Saints (Olga of Kiev & Vladimir the Great).

I read once where every living human on earth today that has even a drop of European ancestry is a direct descendent of Charlemagne, and sure enough, she linked us directly back to good ol' Holy Roman Emperor Chuck I.

No matter your beliefs ... if you track things back far enough ...... we are all closely related.

Thank you so much again Clemdawg for your amazing, kind, thoughtful post.

j/c

English (Maternal); Scottish (Paternal).....