What's Your Heritage? ... Where Ya From?

I'm from rural Iowa, mostly German and Danish stock, with small bits and pieces from other places mixed in for good measure.

As a kid, we had a farm pond in our back yard, so lots of bass fishing. We also made the occasional fishing trip to Minnesota, with the BWCA being my favorite.

My heritage has taken a twist as of late...up until the last year I always claimed my adopted parents heritage Irish from my mothers side and German from my fathers.  My Dad was born in Portland Maine, and moved to Rhode Island at the a very early age.  My moms family had lived in Sciutate RI for several generations. Several of our Ancestors fought in the Civil War and my Maternal Great Grandfather (or great great grandfather, it gets confusing) died in McCellen's Maryland Peninsula Campaign of 1862. My Great AUnt has an orginal letter sent from him to his family about a month before his death.  The house my mother was raised in had been in the family since the early 1800's, and the land was deeded to the Son as means of getting him to care for his mother after his father passed on.  In the deed it required him to furnish so many bushels of apples and potatoes and other things annually to her till she passed.

My father's side emigrated here sometime in the late 1800's and his Grandfather served in WWI, we still have his bayonet. 

Where its confusing now, is from my birth side, as now I have found I may have English in me.  My Maternal grandfather served on PT boats with non other than JFK.  Along the family tree I found where one of my ancestors fought in the American Revolution on that side.  As for my biological father I don't know anything, and I doubt I ever will.

My father's side of the family is German and my mother's side is Danish.

There had always been some claim of Native American blood in there somewhere, but I was suspicious. So, I did a DNA test (Family Tree DNA) a while back, and on their map it shows a big circle that includes northern Germany and a bunch of Scandinavia, with nothing else. So, the Native American myth is busted. But, what I found most interesting is that almost all of the people with close DNA matches are British. Maybe that should not have been too surprising, as my last name (Stamp) is about as British as it comes, and there is quite a sizable German minority in England.

My family native blood myth was busted too!  Funny how so many white families have this in common.  I do have more Neanderthal DNA than most, so I have that going for me.

I’m from California. My lineage is Germanic French (Alsace Lorraine) and European Jew.

I apologize in advance. 

This has me pretty curious about my own DNA story...

Whoever I came from, I hope they were people who gave a shit about the future.

Great thread!  thanks for bumping Eric!

Dad was Irish/English.  Bushnell is an English name and progenitor came over way back in the 1600's.  Technically, anyone with my last name, I am related to somehow.

Mom was a Hansen. Pure Norwegian 2d generation in US from Fergus Falls Minn. Her dad owned a car dealership  until the depression wiped him out, whereupon they moved to So Cal for his work in the aircraft industry.

My dad was born and raised in Durango Colorado. He'd spend summers in the Sangre de Christo mountains with his uncle, tending sheep (and fly fishing).  His father variously was a barber and once owned the movie theater in town.  I have seen the little house they lived in on a dusty side street. 

Same deal, the depression forced a move to So Cal where grampa worked as a barber but spent much of his time away from the family "prospecting" in the Mojave and Death Valley regions.  Grampa Bushnell was a fly fisherman too, I actually have the remnants of one of his rods in the garage.  Maybe all that "prospecting" was really fishing the Owens river and East Sierra Lakes, I don't know.  I do know he never struck gold.

Bushy

Guess I'll play?

I am a Yugo/Scot. Was of the first generation born in the USA at St. Mary's hospital in San Francisco, CA. not far from Kezar Stadium,1950. Mother from Glassgow (Haddock), father from Brac' (Mullett).

I Zod Out

Just regular Pinoy here. Though the last name Noriega thought to be south American descend.

Just regular Pinoy here. Though the last name Noriega thought to be south American descend.

Not Spanish?

I am from South Vietnam and my ancestor was one of the the Kings from the Nguyen's dynasty with 2000 concubines 

With the advent of genetic testing.... A lot of our family history is proving to be myth or fabrication. There is American indian in there. Maybe not as much as family tells us though. Working on the threads of our family history as the Quilt appears to have been guilded a bit here and there. Family history centers are available at most LDS/Mormon churches. Folks are there to help free of cost and show you how to search if you are curios. Finding out the truth can be  very interesting. We have an Irish castle and were lords for 150 years in one province in Ireland.... who knew!? Learning more and more....

My maternal grandmother was full blooded Chickasaw Native American Indian.  My maternal grandfather immigrated from Ireland.  My paternal grandparents both immigrated from Germany.  My oldest son did the documentation through Dawes Rolls research.  Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB) and citizenship as a Chickasaw, an individual must establish he or she is a lineal descendant of an original enrollee.  His research attained us citizenship in the Chickasaw Nation. 

Addendum to my post in this thread years ago:

My oldest had to do her family tree for a school project.  We went digging and I discovered a famous relative.  My great grandmother had a older sister, but they were never close.  Her sister had a son.  Tragically, her husband, her son's father, was murdered when her son was still a toddler.

So her son grew up and had a remarkable, soothing voice.  He worked in radio and was hired as a reporter.  He had a storied career and millions of Americans welcomed him into their homes for decades.  My cousin's name was Paul Aurandt, but you know him as Paul Harvey.

And now you know the rest of the story.