My Ancestry DNA Journey Part II: The DNA Test

     My DNA test kit arrived today!  The test itself was pretty simple, not much more involved than spitting into a vial.  The instructions were short and easy to follow.  I activated the test on ancestry.com and mailed it back in and that's all there was to it.  Now I just have to wait.

     Here are some facts about the test itself.  Ancestry's DNA test costs $99, which is not an insubstantial amount of money.  Whether or not it is a worthwhile expenditure really depends the person buying the test.  Ancestry has an explanation of how the test works and what it can offer you on their DNA page, so if you are considering buying a test from them, make sure to check out their page and see if the test will accomplish what you want it to.  If you're curious about your ethnic background, it can provide you information on that.  If you're hoping to connect with relatives, this test can do that, but only if your relatives have also taken Ancestry's DNA test.  So if you come from a large family, your odds of connecting with relatives might be a bit better than if you come from a small family, as you will have more relatives who could potentially have taken the test.

     If you don't already have an Ancestry account, you will have to make one.  According to their website, they do have a free option, so you won't have to pay any additional money to create an account.  You'll get all of the benefits of the DNA test with the free account; you just won't be able to access the parts of ancestry.com that require a subscription.  I have a paid subscription to Ancestry, so I don't have any experience with the free account, but if any of you do and would like to share your experience, describe it in the comments or email me at hathaway.amber@gmail.com.

Photo of the Day

     Rather than share only one photo, this time I decided to share pictures I have of a family.  Below are the pictures I have of Kate (Rumney) and James Hunter Southall and their daughter Kate.

James Hunter Southall Jr.

James Hunter Southall Jr.

Kate (Rumney) Southall

Perhaps photo of Kate Sr. and Kate Jr.?

Kate Southall Jr. and Lucy Clifton Biggs

Kate Southall Jr.

James Hunter Southall Jr.

     Catherine "Kate" R. (Rumney) Southall was born on May 27, 1853 in Detroit, Michigan to Harriet Larned, born in Michigan, and William  Rumney, born in New York.  She purportedly was a descendant of Captain Simon Larned, who served in the American Revolution.  In the 1860 census she was living with her parents and three siblings in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan.  In the 1870 census she resided in Detroit with her parents, maternal grandmother, Catherine (---------) Rumney, and five siblings.  James Hunter Southall Jr. was born in November of 1848 in Colombus, Mississippi to Sarah Clifton (Wheeler) and James Hunter Southall Sr., both born in North Carolina.  (James's sister, Frances Josephine "Josi" (Southall) Bowen was my great great grandmother.)  In the 1850 census he was living in Lowdnes County, Mississippi with his parents, four siblings, and an aunt, Amy M. Wheeler.  In the 1860 census he was living in Colombus, Lowdnes, Mississippi with his parents and five siblings.
     James and Kate married in Wayne County, Michigan October 24, 1874 (marriage record here).  In the 1880 census they were living in Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia with their daughter Kate C. Southall.  James was listed as a clerk cotton merchant.  In the 1900 census Kate was living in St. Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota with three children, including Kate Jr. and in the 1900 census James was in the Minnesota State Prison in Stillwater, Washington, Minnesota.  Kate died on January 1, 1903 in St. Paul, Minnesota.  The 1930 census stated that James was living in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota.  He died there on July 26, 1939.
     James and Kate's daughter, Katherine Clifton Southall married 1st on October 16, 1901 Allan Porter Abbot, 2nd in Chicago, Cook, Illinois on March 19, 1904 Charles R. Corning, born in September of 1874 to Mary E. (---------) and John W. L. Corning.  In the 1910 census she was living in St. Paul, Minnesota with her husband, who served as vice president of a building material company.  In the 1920 census she was still residing with her husband, now the president of a lumber company, in St. Paul.  She died on August 27, 1928.
     Besides the records mentioned and/or linked to above, I also used the book The Family of Daniel Southall by Seth Warner.

The Beginning of My Ancestry DNA Journey

     It's been a long time since I've written a post for this blog, but when I finally decided to purchase an Ancestry DNA test, I figured that this experiment would be worth chronicling.  I have considered off and on for some time now buying a DNA test to find out whether the rumor of Native American ancestry in my family tree held any merit, but knowing of no evidence to substantiate the tale, I did not bother to.  I had poured over record after record, only to find that each person listed was white, so I figured that my relatives must have been confused.  However, on memorial day, my father and my aunt and uncle began rehashing what they knew about our supposed Native American heritage, reigniting my curiosity.
     Here's how the story goes.  Supposedly, my great great grandmother, Lucy Iola (Perkins) Graves was full blooded Native American.  The problem with this theory is that on census records, her marriage record, her daughter's birth certificate, etc., she is listed as white.  Furthermore, both her parents, Rosa Ellen (Delano) and George A. Perkins, are listed as white many times over as well.  Her mother's lineage includes Mayflower passengers Richard Warren and Francis Cooke, and Phillip Delano, who came to America on the Fortune in 1621.  Her father descended from Jacob Perkins, who settled in Wells, Maine.  His tree does not seem to contain any illustrious figures, but from the branches that I can trace, it appears that everyone is white.  That of course does not rule out the possibility that some of the branches I have not been able to trace may contain Native American ancestors, but it does indicate that if Lucy really was the daughter of George and Rosa Perkins, she was not full blooded Native American.
     Pondering the claim Friday afternoon, I began wondering if perhaps Lucy was not a biological child of George and Rosa Perkins, as this is the only way possible for her to be Native American if the Perkins's were not.  I know of only one piece of evidence that could potentially support this theory, although it is rather flimsy evidence.  In 1892, the state of Maine mandated that all municipalities begin collecting vital records.  While birth records for her four siblings and a record of a stillborn son born to her parents are on file at the Hampden town office, no birth record for Lucy exists.  While it is entirely possible that her birth was not recorded for one reason or another, if she was adopted then that would also provide reason why her birth record would not be there.  I'm not sure how common adoption was during this time period, but I have come across two instances of adoption while researching side branches of my family tree.
     With these thoughts in mind, I decided to turn to ancestry.com's DNA test to find out if I have any Native American heritage.  While the test cannot tell me directly who my Native American ancestors are, if I have them, it can tell me approximately what percentage Native American I am and can connect me to other users who are related to me.  Hopefully if it does turn out that I am part Native American, I will be able to utilize these and other resources to find out who in my tree is Native American.  I don't care which outcome the test produces; I just want an answer to this mystery which has plagued me for so long.

Photo of the Day

     Photo of the day is a feature I started in my previous blog post, in which I share photos and scans of portraits and photos in my possession.  My hope in sharing these is that you will find pictures of your ancestors that you may not have seen before.

     This is a photo of Margaret Belle Peebles.  I suspect she is the Margaret B. Peebles, born in October of 1899 to Nancy E. "Nannie" (Shook) and Henry Bruce Peebles (Henry Bruce Peebles's younger brother Calvert Goosely Peebles was my great grandfather).  She was presumably born in West, McLennan, Texas, which is where her family was living when the 1900 census was taken.  In the 1910 census she was ten years old and living in Woodward, Woodward, Oklahoma with her parents, her eight-year-old sister Mary C. Peebles, and her seventy-four-year-old grandmother Margaret A. (---------) Shook.  At the recording of the 1930 census she was living with her widowed father on Texas Avenue in Woodward, Woodward Texas and working as a public school teacher.  The census lists her as married.  If you have further information about Margaret Peebles or about this photo, share it in the comments below or email me at hathaway.amber@gmail.com.