Memor Esto Majorum

Hey folks.

Just figured I'd share some of my recent research with everybody.  I know I mentioned this before, but Kris bought me one of those DNA tests from Ancestry.com, and I began utilizing the company's extensive archives in late December.  Since then, I've added over 1,000 members to the various branches of my family's tree, and have put in hours of extensive data mining, referencing, etc.

I've found tons of relatives that fought - on both sides - of the Civil War.

Now, this wasn't my first rodeo, guys - I've been doing family research for nearly 15 years - but having access to the kind of records that Ancestry has is incredible.  I've been able to pinpoint the exact dates ancestors arrived in the United States using ship logs, I've determined occupations of family members using federal census forms, dates of marriages and maiden names from marriage licenses, and even military service details using old recruitment logs.  I've learned tons of stuff about my extended family's past, and have really only touched the tip of the iceberg, regardless of nearly four months of research.

While I knew a lot about my family's past, there were still quite a few eye openers.  I found physical evidence that the Houghs of Alabama and Mississippi were slave owners (whoops.)  I pinpointed the first Houghs in America to a 1683 crossing, when 23-year-old Richard Hough, a Quaker from Cheshire, England, crossed the Atlantic and settled in Bucks County Pennsylvania.  Interestingly enough, in that same, small Quaker colony outside Philadelphia, in the same year, lived Richard Lundy - my direct ancestor from my maternal Grandma's line.  Given the small population and religious selectivity of the region at the time (1680s), the two dudes most likely knew each other well.  What are the odds of that shit?

Anyway, aside from my hours and hours of family tree-building and ancestor research, I also received my ethnic DNA results back.  Again, no major surprises there, but a few eye-openers, definitely:

During my research I had repeatedly found English and Irish ancestors, but was also  able to trace the Hunter line (my paternal grandma's line) to Scotland, so I wasn't shocked to find that I'm practically a third Irish/Scottish.  While the Houghs and several other key lines came from England, I was surprised the DNA percentage of that region was only 21%, while I was 26% Western European (primarily German.)  While I did find some German ancestors, there wasn't a lot of connections, so I had to dig a little deeper to figure out why those numbers didn't add up. 

I had to take a closer look at England's history to put everything together.  After the fall of Rome in the 5th century, England was repeatedly invaded and conquered by different bands of people.  Saxons (from Germany) were the primary group, and formed the dominant population in England for centuries, and it was from these groups that the beginnings of many different lines got their start.  The Houghs themselves were Saxon nobles in Cheshire (see coat of arms.)  Anyway, the Franco-Vikings the Normans invaded England in 1066 (Battle of Hastings, guys) and took care of the Saxons, but that pretty much explains my DNA results.

For the most part.

There were a few curve balls, though.  For one, I found out that I was 11% Southern European.  Taking a closer look at this, I found that most of this was due to the fact that I had roots in southern Italy.  That's right, I'm a tenth-Italian.  Who knew.  I also found out that I'm about a tenth Norwegian, so whether that's on account of Viking raids on England in the 7th and 8th centuries, or else I had some ancestor (probably named Sven) cross over in the 1880s at some point, who knows.  There were a few other areas that popped up in my DNA (3% Spanish, 1% Eastern European, >1% Greek, etc.), but those could very well be from marriages and the like - I didn't see a lot of that in the main lines.

So yeah, there you have it.  If you have any interest whatsoever in your family's past, I'd highly recommend looking into this stuff, it's pretty cool.  DNA kits and a month of free family tree research sets you back about $100, but on Black Friday and other promotions you can see that price drop to about $70.  I'd say it's worth it, for sure, but, then again, I'm a huge history nerd.  Perhaps this shouldn't come as a surprise, either, since one of the centuries-old coat of arms mottos connected to the Hough family is Memor Esto Majorum, or, "Remember Thine Ancestors."

- Brian