Genealogical Gems

DNA testing has become quite popular, especially through Ancestry.com. In this video, Ancestry's Brad Argent explains DNA Testing. (c) Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2016

Last week AncestryDNA was made available to even more countries! It is now available in over 30 countries. Participating countries are: Albania , Armenia , Australia/New Zealand, Austria , Belgium , Bulgaria , Canada , Croatia , Cyprus , Czech Republic , Denmark , Estonia , Finland , Georgia , Greece , Hungary , Ireland , Liechtenstein , Lithuania , Malta , Netherlands , Norway , Poland , Portugal , Romania , San Marino , Slovakia , Slovenia , South Korea , Sweden , Turkey , United Kingdom , United States , and Vatican City . I am so excited that Poland has been added! My ethnicity broke down in the following manner: 35% Europe East; 29% Great Britain; 17% Ireland; 14% Scandinavian; 3% Europe West; 1 % Italy/Greece; and 1 % Europe Jew. So what does that mean? Where did those percents come from? My AncestryDNA results Half my DNA comes from my father and half comes from my mother. I am sending in a DNA kit for my sister today and I can not wait to see the difference be...

Ancestry.com explains how DNA testing can help solve - or at least put a dent in - those brick walls. © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2016

I am working on genealogy goals for the New Year for the hubby’s side. While mine will mostly focus on my immigrants and ancestral homelands, I think for his I may concentrate on confirming documentation across the board and researching one or two lines in more detail. I have his Eckman line dated back to the mid 1600’s to the birth of his 7 th great grandfather, Ulrich Eckman. The Eckmans are from Roamnshorn, Canton of Thurgan in Switzerland . This is definitely one branch on which I would like to confirm documentation. The Deyoe line is another I would like to work on documenting more. This past summer we took a few days and went up New York . We gained a lot of information that I am still in the processing of transcribing all the data. The shortest line I have is that of his maternal grandfather’s mother, Louise Sharp. She has been a bit of a mystery. She was, according to several census records, born in 1838 in Delaware County , New York . I believe her mother’s first...

Working on genealogy goals for the New Year. Thinking of concentrating efforts on my immigrants and ancestral homelands. There are a few (on Mom's side) that I am still not certain of yet. Daddy's side was actually easier, probably since I am only third generation American on his side so I only have four direct immigrants (my great grandparents). Mom's however ... Frances & John Kurenda My known immigrants are: Daddy's side: Panko Hruszczak - from Prusy, Sambor, Galicia Bessie Matys - from Fraga, Rohatya, Galicia John Kurenda - from Tatary, Sambor, Galicia, Poland Frances Skrabalak - from Temeszow, Poland Mom's Irish lines: Mary Kilpatrick - my great grandmother Michael Walsh - my 2x great grandfather Anna Keating - my 2x great grandmother Dennis O'Flaherty - my 2x great grandfather Martha Durkin - my 2x great grandmother I got my AncestryDNA results back earlier and would also like to confirm which of my lines is my European Jewi...

Last Sunday I had a great time at the PA Renaissance Faire dancing with the band Tartanic (pictured below for no other reason than the drummers are hot!). After their set, I had a chance to chat with them – one in particular - about tartans. I still had a few questions about them, like which one can I wear if I have several Irish lines.    The Scottish Register of Tartans states a restriction of one of my ancestral tartans is that it may only be worn by those with that surname. Does this mean that since my maiden name is (clearly not Irish) Ruczhak, that I can not wear my ancestral tartans?       My grandfather’s mother was a KILPATRICK, born in Ireland . My grandmother was full Irish. Her grandparents – our immigrants – were WALSH, O’FLAHERTY, KEATING, and DURKIN. My DNA results from Ancestry.com show that I am 35% Eastern Europe, 29% Great Britain and 17% Ireland . I also have 14% Scandinavia, 3% Western Europe , 1% Italy/Greece and a tra...

Ancestry.com has a wealth of informative videos on You Tube. One of those videos is You've Received Your Ancestry DNA Results. Now What? I learned some vital information from the video. Crista Cowan does an excellent job simplifying DNA. She explains that my sister and I, for example, may not have exactly the same DNA makeup. Obviously we have the same bloodline but we each got 50% of our DNA from Daddy and 50% from our mom. Nothing says we got exactly the same 50% from either one. So where, my DNA results showed a less than one percent European Jewish background, she may not have got that handed down to her. The video below here explains the results in a simple manner. When I had received my DNA results, I was surprised at the percentages. The ethnicities however did not surprise me. I thought I was doing great going back through my generations. When Cowan did a little mathematical chart showing 10 generations back, it struck me how little I actually know and how m...

The DNA results for my husband are finally back. It's like Christmas at the Eckman House today! I had wanted to get his DNA results (from Ancestry.com ) so that I could go in one of two directions. His family swears they have Native American blood and admittedly it IS a good story. I however did not, after doing some research on that particular line, believe that they do. In part these results will tell me whether I head to New York to trace the alleged Native American OR if we can finally drop that story. Well ... story is dropped! That said, I do have to admit the results were not entirely what I expected. Hubby is 99% European and ... here's the surprise ... <1% Asian. South Asian to be specific. That area includes: India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.   The European results are broken down as such: 56% Europe West 26% Ireland 6% Great Britain 4% Italy/Greece 3% Finland/Northwest Russia 3% Iberian Peninsula 1% Scandinavian Eu...

My niece (my husband's niece to be more specific) got me the Ancestry DNA kit and I finally got back the results. Big surprise here ... wait for it ... I am 100% of European descent! Like I couldn't figure that out, right? But what I did find interesting is the breakdown of each ethnic background. I am from - according to the results - 35% Eastern Europe, 29% Great Britain, 17% Ireland, and 14% Scandinavia. Trace regions showed also 3% Western Europe (which includes Germany), 1% Italy/Greece, and les than 1 % (so literally a trace) of European Jewish. The Eastern Europe did not surprise me at all figuring I am after all half Daddy and half mom and Daddy is all Slavic. It would have been interesting if the DNA test could actually distinguish between Polish and Ukrainian and Russian blood for example. Great Britain is primarily considered England, Scotland and Wales. It did surprise me that the number was higher than my Irish. Although Ireland here is defined as Ireland, W...

The Lancaster Family History Conference will be April 19-21. It's put on by the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society. Keynote speaker Darvin Martin will speak on "Deep Roots - Using DNA to Unlock Your Family's Ancient Past".  In addition to the keynote, there will be several sessions Saturday and a buffet lunch. The sessions Saturday include:The Ferree & LeFevre Families; Your Ancestors' Germany; Scots Irish Genealogy; Amish and Old Order Mennonite Genetics; Huguenot Diasposra; and Hispanic Genealogy. There will also be four field trips available at an additional cost. The registration deadline is April 14th. For more information, visit www.lmhs.org  or call 717-393-9745.