My grandparents told stories about people I never met. Stories about family, like the time Butch Cassidy left silver in the horse feeder when he “borrowed” my Great-Grandfather’s horse. Or the story about how we came to be related to Pretty Boy Floyd.
It started my passion for genealogy. I wanted to know more about the characters that make up my family tree. I’ve researched my family history since I was 15. Not to give away my age, but it’s been 33 years.
I was recently invited to review MyHeritage DNA. They’re the new kids on the block when it comes to DNA testing, with a lot to offer.
My test kit came.
It’s a simple kit. Here’s what’s included.
I followed the directions and swabbed my cheek.
Repeated with the other cheek and then sealed it up and sent it off for processing.
Waiting was the hardest part.
I passed the time reviewing my family tree and making discoveries through MyHeritage.com, a site I have been a member of for years.
An exciting find is my first cousin, three times removed, Andrew Burgess. With 894 patents, he is one of the most prolific firearm inventors the world has ever known (second only to John Browning in the number of firearms patents issued to an American).
It turns out he had many interests. One of them photography.
He photographically documented Reconstruction in the post-Civil War South, as well as documenting the execution of the French-installed Emperor Ferdinand Maximilian in Mexico.
Andrew Burgess is now credited to have taken the famous “Brady’s Lincoln” photograph found on the American five dollar bill.
Andrew Burgess, the man who took Abraham Lincoln’s photo that is now on the $5 bill, is better known for inventing a pump-action folding shotgun.
Burgess established his own company in 1892. The Burgess Gun Company.
According to Mark Lee Garner in “To Hell on a Fast Horse,” Pat Garrett was armed with a Burgess when he was killed on Feb. 29, 1908.
Burgess sold Burgess Gun Co. to Winchester in 1899.
Everything I have read says Andrew Burgess married Eudora Tiffany, grand-daughter of Charles Lewis Tiffany, founder of Tiffany & Co New York (though I can’t seem to connect the dots).
There’s also Atha Meeks, the last white man to be murdered by Indians in Indiana territory.
On my mother’s side, I’m related to:
- Stephen van Cortlandt
- Stephen Rensselaer, whose holdings made him the tenth richest American of all time, based on the ratio of his fortune to contemporary GDP.
- Dievendorf–founder of Dutch West Indies Trading Co.
- And the Schuylers (General Philip Schuyler’s daughter, Eliza, married Alexander Hamilton)
Long before the Hamilton musical, I worked at Delta Airlines in Reservations. A call came through one weekend, and the SkyMiles number showed a name, Schuyler ________. When I pronounced her name correctly (Skyler), she questioned how I knew, and I told her, “I’m related to General Philip Schuyler.” It turns out, she is too. Her sister’s name is Rensselaer.
There are so many more stories I could share. I have a pedigree of outlaws, royalty and colorful characters.
MyHeritage DNA was able to confirm many of these lines by matching my DNA, which is exciting!
It also shows me my ethnicity make-up:
I am looking forward to learning more by connecting to those who show a DNA match to me and hearing their stories about our family.
What will your DNA reveal? Go to: www.myheritage.com/dna and use your personal coupon code MHJULEEMORRISON to receive free shipping ($12 US value).
Wow! Very interesting, I’ve seen that video of some participants not liking a certain race of people and then when they do a DNA test would end up that they have DNA from them, makes them change their views about one’s heritage…
Like others said, it is good to know where one comes from, makes them identify themselves more to this and that. Thanks for sharing this, I would want to try myself. 🙂
DNA is amazing. Sometimes what we learn about ourselves has us rethinking who we are and our beliefs.
I SO want to try this kind of service! Is this only available in your country? Or can it be done internationally too? But yeah, your history looks interesting! I have yet to really trace where or what my roots are. I have a feeling it’s mostly Asian though but who knows haha.
I think it is available internationally. You might be surprised. I have one speck on my DNA that is Asian and I tell my kiddos “that’s my Ghengis Khan!” <3
My parents have been mapping our family tree for years. It’s been the coolest thing to learn all about my ancestors. I’ve passed your post along to them. I’m certain they’ll be ordering Heritage DNA. I can’t wait to see if what they think is true .. really is! x
Finding out what I thought was true was, was truly the greatest feeling. I love your parents already and for sharing the stories of who you came from is truly the greatest gift.
I did a DNA analyst on Ancestry.com. It was pretty neat to get the results and find out where exactly my family originated from. Myheritage DNA seems to give a bit more information than the results I got. I can say it was a neat and exciting experience.
I want to try Ancestry. Maybe next year. I have so many ancestors I want to find connections too. MyHeritage DNA was so much fun and proved a lot of my work.
DNA and heritage is so interesting. I am a member of DAR and we have to do a lot of research on our family lines in order to join. There are several members who have used this DNA test in order to learn more about their lineage. Pretty cool what we can learn about our history.
DAR is a cool society. Can you give me information to join?
I am sort of curious to try out a service like this. I am also a bit nervous! One should always know where they originate from. It helps us to understand a part of our identity. Thanks for sharing this 🙂
it is so much fun. I love the MyHeritageDNA matches to people so I can learn more. It’s so awesome to know where you originate and the people that have made you– you.
It would be so cool to know this kind of information about our family and history. I have done a DNA Ancestry type thing in the past and found out some stuff but not like this, I would love to do this one too. I like the idea of finding out about anything that past test left out, there are so many things to know.
To be fair, I have been doing genealogy forever. MyHeritageDNA just allowed me to verify my research by matching my DNA to others. It has been a great experience and I so want to branch out with other DNA services to learn and verify more!
A friend recently did something similar, but his results did not tell him nearly this much stuff. It merely told him the region where his ancestors had came from. This test sounds much more interesting!
I’m actually really into genealogy. I already knew my ancestry, but MyHeritageDNA solidified my research 🙂
What an interesting family history you have! I’m fascinated by the past but was unfortunately born into a very disjointed family tree, so researching my ancestry is a bit tricky. I was considering doing one of those DNA tests until a friend of mine who works in genetic testing told me that she doesn’t put much stock in the results, so that put me off them, but if I knew more about my family tree, I think I’d do one anyway.
OH, darn it for your family tree. I have a few “branches” that are a mystery early on. I used this test to validate my family research. Start with those closest to you. Get their stories…ask them about their parents, grandparents, great grandparents and eventually you’ll find a connection.
This is exciting stuff to find out. I would love to do this.