Happy to receive so many nice emails and kind words from individuals who are basing their 2021 summer travel plans to Maryland on information they have learned from the Acadians Were Here website.  It is great to be able to enjoy some of the most picturesque, outdoor locations in the State of Maryland while walking the paths of Acadian exiles who were deported to Maryland by the British, in 1755.  Click the image below to visit the Acadianswerehere.org website and learn more about how to plan your next travel by ancestry trip -- to Maryland! And don't forget to visit the Acadians in Maryland sign in Princess Anne when you do!

Well, let's see. I knew about my Native American and my European ancestry -- and now, my latest, revised, Ancestry report tells me about my "Mali" heritage out of Africa too! DNA testing frees the history we carry within ourselves!

From Ancestry: "Primarily located in: Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone.
About this Region: Mali’s modern boundaries were drawn in 1890, when French Sudan was created, and united two very different regions: the Sudanian savannas in the south and the Sahara Desert to the north. These man-made borders make our Mali region a mix of diverse peoples, but geography has always played a key role in Mali’s history and people. The savannas at the edge of the desert made the area a natural center for trans-Saharan trade, which connected western Africa with Europe and Asia in precolonial times. For centuries, Mali was a fabled land of gold, scholarship and empires."

Ancestry always makes our family origins sound so romantic -- when in fact, my African ancestry came into my family lines through the slave trade as it took place in Colonial Maryland.

See also:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_slavery_in_Maryland"

References:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IJzeren_voetring_voor_gevangenen_transparent_background.png
Ancestry.com

My father's Y chromosome DNA matches, now confirmed at 111 markers, were fantastic -- if you were a male descendant of a certain paternal ancestor who settled the Eastern Shore of Maryland the late 1600s and carried his surname. My father, an only child, had a different surname -- that of his beloved father of record - and did not know of any relationship he may have had to this old, well-documented Eastern Shore family when he submitted his Y DNA for testing in 2006, shortly before he passed away.

From his 67 and 111 marker Y Chromosome DNA matches, I knew what my paternal grandfather's actual surname would have been and I was able to discover the general geographic locations of his patrilineal ancestors. While my father's Y chromosome DNA test results gave me targets for my research, it was my Autosomal DNA that revealed a paternal great grandmother family connection that led me to discover who my father's biological father truly was!

This same paternal great grandmother connection also helped me find out why I had so many strong Autosomal DNA connections, in my 23andme results, my My Heritage results, my Ancestry results, and my Family Finder results, to Eastern Shore families out of Somerset County, whose surnames, prior to DNA testing, were not known to be a part of our ancestry!

My discovery of my biological paternal grandfather required TWO types of DNA tests: a Y chromosome DNA test for my father (which he took in 2006 shortly before he passed away), an Autosomal DNA test for me (first with 23andme then with Family Tree DNA, Ancestry, and My Heritage) and TWELVE YEARS worth of patience while I waited for his Y DNA matches and a pivotal "first cousin once removed" Autosomal DNA match to come in.

Following his passing, my father's Y DNA and my Autosomal DNA continued to work together over the next dozen years to solve a mystery he had only started to research during his lifetime. My father was concerned about his Y DNA results -- that at 25 markers he no longer matched men of his surname. His true biological cousins, who shared his actual patrilineal ancestry, had not had Y DNA tests at this time. I had no explanation for his lack of surname matches but had advised that over time more matches could come in which could answer our questions.

​When I search online, I still find my father's questions which he posed on various genealogical websites in the years prior to his death. I have paper copies of the records that he was able to collect through a private investigator he had hired to research his paternal line. While I shared that information with a researcher of my father's father of record (to whom we are not biologically related), these old family artifacts that include colorful letters, wills, and deeds have no bearing on my own family research today. If only my father had lived a few years longer, I could have helped him find his answers!

Men, have that Y DNA test and let it be a gift to yourself that you can pass to your children and grandchildren -- as my father did for me. Thanks, Dad!

Update July 18, 2018: After reading my recent social media post about how a close MyHeritage match helped solve a 12 year-old family mystery on my father's side, a MyHeritage representative contacted me for an interview about my experience using their product and then posted a blog with all the details. Enjoy! Read "Pure Gold: A First Cousin Match Helps Solve a 12 Year Mystery" Pure Gold: A First Cousin Match Helps Solve a 12 Year Mystery