Monday

Happy Birthday Tante Anna!

127 years ago today Anna Abrahamson Jacobson was born.
The second child of nine born to Robert Albin Abrahamson and Anna Karolina Karlsdotter.





my great Aunt
Anna Abrahamson Jacobson
b. 31 Jul 1885 Östra Frölunda, Ålvsborg, Sweden
d. 2 Mar 1965 Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA






*click on photo or document to enlarge for easier viewing*

Friday

America's forgotten Swedish colony


“New Sweden was the last of the European 
colonial empires to be founded in North America”
from History.com click and read about ↓



Wednesday

Midwest - Nordstjernan - A Chicago, Andersonville landmark returns

Chicago, Illinois:

After three years of missing the historic blue and yellow Andersonville water tower that had to be removed from the roof of the Swedish American Museum, a replica is being assembled in the museum’s nearby parking lot, getting ready for installation. 


Read all about the progress in the lastest edition of...



Monday

DNA and Me the fourth AND FINAL part

The latest and supposedly greatest event in the study of  family history or genealogy is the advent of DNA testing. How cool, it seemed to be able to tell where in the world your ancient ancestors came from. I already, a few years back, had traced my family back quite a few generations on all my lines. There was so much excitement about DNA in the genealogy groups I attended and my brother also expressed an interest. I thought then, why not? There were a few surprises but a little internet sleuthing showed me the possibilities. Besides it was a fun game. I blogged about it.

     DNA and Me part 1 - my haplogroups
     DNA and Me part 2 - inherited traits
     DNA and Me part 3 - my autosomal breakdown

I initially tested through 23 and Me. My Heritage had the free offer to upload results from other companies such as 23 and Me to see if there were matches in their database. I hopped on since I had heard that My Heritage had more European participants and my heritage was exclusively Northern European. I just received my autosomal results from My Heritage. Here is the comparison of the two companies results and mind you these results came from the same DNA in the same spit tube.

Me part Indigenous Amazon?
I DON'T THINK SO

It was a fun game but I think I'm finished with this DNA stuff. I can see the use for those of us Americans descended from slaves who cannot trace their roots beyond a couple of generations. I think for the adopted also. Or just those whose families have been in the Americas so long they have no clue from where they originated.  A genealogist with a law degree, The Legal Genealogist Judy G. Russell, JD, CG, CGL (not sure what all the letters stand for but I'm impressed) is a lecturer, educator and writer who wrote clearly about the limitations of DNA testing today. Read her article HERE.

Sometime soon I am sure the science will have advanced so much they will be able to tell lots from my DNA. But for now I am content to know....we are all cousins, cousins of the same mother who originated in Africa long long ago. 

What am I? I am 100% American.
 My ancestry? I take my grandmothers at their word.

          Love you both,