where2look4ancestors

In this post I wrote, “… my ancestors each contributed a random assortment of genes to my DNA.”

Afterward I started to wonder, if all things were equal, just how much DNA would each of my ancestors have contributed to my gene pool? I posed my question to the Google-machine.

This answer was posted here: “You have 16 great-great grandparents. All your DNA came from them. Therefore, the amount you received from each, on average, is 1/16 of your DNA. That’s 6.25 %, or about 880 centiMorgans of DNA.”

Five countries ranked over 6.25% on the DNA table Ancestry created for me;

• Sweden 45%; seven* of my sixteen 2nd great-grandparents were born in Sweden
• Isle of Man 9%; two of my 2nd great grandparents were born on IOM
• Switzerland 8%; the birthplace of my great-great-grandfather Jacob Koebe MUELLER
• Denmark 7%; none of my 2nd great-grandparents were born in Denmark
• Norway 7%; the birthplace of my great-great-grandfather Peter MYSSE THOMPSON

*It’s highly likely that Karl Johan Andersson MOLIN is the father of my great-grandmother Johanna Kristina CARLSON, but I cannot be 100% certain.

This “top five” list demonstrates the randomness of DNA mixology. It doesn’t include five of my 2nd great-grandparents whose DNA contribution ranked lower than 6.25%: two of them were born in North America, two were born in what was then Germany or Prussia, and my remaining great-great grandparent, Elisabeth SCHMITT, who was born in France.

Ten of my sixteen 2nd great-grandparents emigrated from their home countries to Chicago Illinois, two by way of Ohio, two via Batavia Illinois. Two more emigrated to Ohio and remained there.

All but one couple married after emigrating. Two sets of my 2nd great-grandparents married someone from a home country other than their own.
Not all my ancestors were immigrants though. Two* of my Swedish ancestors remained in Sweden and both American-born ancestors lived out their lives in North America.

I’ve researched each of my direct line ancestor’s lives on and off for decades. During a lull something would happen to pique my interest and I would begin again, seeking to learn more about the country or region or person who intrigued me.

This year I visited several of the countries from which my ancestors hail and as you can imagine, each visit reignited the genealogy fire within.

In my next post, I’ll share what I learned when I visited France, where according to Ancestry dot com, only 1% of my DNA lies.