American & Canadian PF members only: colonial roots?

[StatGuy2000]

As a follow-up to a previous thread I started about % of white Americans with colonial roots, I thought I'd pose the following question below, about whether any of you (American or Canadian PF members), as far as you know, have roots in what is now Canada or the US dating back to the 17th or 18th centuries (essentially, before the US became a recognized independent nation).

I'd love to see what the poll results here would be.

 

[DrClaude]

I have an ancestor that landed in Nouvelle France in 1634.

 

[russ_watters]

I have many from the 18th century and I have *heard* I have an ancestor from the mid to late 1600s, but haven't traced that specific line myself so I'm not sure of the details (or even which line!). But given the odds we discussed in a previous thread and the fact that until recently, few people on my mother's side have lived outside of southeastern Pennsylvania as farmers, I'd be surprised if it wasn't true.

At an average of 25 years per generation starting with my grandparents (it was 30 for both my mom and me), that's 1024 ancestors in 1690, not including inbreeding...which was probably significant.

It's been a couple of years since I've updated my tree - perhaps I will over the holidays.

[edit] Prior to doing Ancestry DNA in 2017 my mom thought she was 100% German. By the original formulation (I don't have her update), she has 22% British ancestry and a couple of others, which makes better sense given that PA was founded by the British and it would be tough for even a cloistered German community to stay 100% german for that long.

 

[George Jones]

I have an ancestor that landed in Nouvelle France in 1634.

Because of a genetic condition that runs in my family, a Canadian research hospital traced my mother's lineage. On my mother's (née Hébert) side, I am a direct descendant of a woman who landed there in the 1600s. On my father's side, I an first-generation Canadian. He came to Canada from Wales when he was fourteen, and was never a Canadian Citizen.

My daughter has this background and more, as her mother (my wife) came to Canada from Pakistan via Nigeria.

 

[Stephenk53]

I do, I have relatives from primarily southeast Canada as well as some from France during that time. That’s all on my mother’s side since on my fathers side they are all German.

 

[phinds]

As a follow-up to a previous thread I started about % of white Americans with colonial roots, I thought I'd pose the following question below, about whether any of you (American or Canadian PF members), as far as you know, have roots in what is now Canada or the US dating back to the 17th or 18th centuries (essentially, before the US became a recognized independent nation).

I'd love to see what the poll results here would be.

Just out of curiosity, why does it matter to you? What is it that you are trying to find out?

 

[BillTre]

Because of the effect that @russ_watters mentioned:

At an average of 25 years per generation starting with my grandparents (it was 30 for both my mom and me), that's 1024 ancestors in 1690, not including inbreeding...which was probably significant.

that the number of ancestors increases (geometrically) the farther back you look, I would expect a large percentage of people to answer yes to this question.
A more interesting question (and more difficult to figure out) would be what is the average percentage of ancestry from a particular past space-time coordinate (where and when).
This would give you an indication of the relative importance of the ancestors to overall make-up.

 

[epenguin]

I have an ancestor that landed in Nouvelle France in 1634.

Because of a genetic condition that runs in my family, a Canadian research hospital traced my mother's lineage. On my mother's (née Hébert) side, I am a direct descendant of a woman who landed there in the 1600s. On my father's side, I an first-generation Canadian. He came to Canada from Wales when he was fourteen, and was never a Canadian Citizen.

My daughter has this background and more, as her mother (my wife) came to Canada from Pakistan via Nigeria.

Interesting.You probably know that French-Canadians are favourite subject of study by population geneticists, being an 'isolate' descended from a rather small founding population of a few thousand, who themselves originated from only a few small regions of France. Consequently they have an unusual spectrum of inherited genetic conditions. Also the family histories, marriages and descendants, are rather completely documented if I remember right.

 

[StatGuy2000]

Just out of curiosity, why does it matter to you? What is it that you are trying to find out?

Oh this thread is to satisfy my curiosity about the demographics of PF (in part stimulated by recent blogs and Youtube videos of people who are exploring their genealogy).

 

[phinds]

Oh this thread is to satisfy my curiosity about the demographics of PF ...

Then I suspect that the number of answers you get will be so small that your results will be statistically meaningless.

 

[Astronuc]

On my mother's side, I'm apparently related for Flora MacDonald, who emigrated in 1773 to what is now North Carolina returning to Scotland in 1779, so my ancestor would have been born before MacDonald left for the colonies. My mother's family was English and Scottish. My paternal heritage is from the Lancashire-Yorkshire border area, with a mix of Scottish, Irish, and Skye.

I have relatives across the Commonwealth: British Isles, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and parts of Europe from recent migration. My paternal great-grandfather visited NZ (ca 1890) and Ontario, Canada (~1907), each time returning to England, before settling in Australia (~1909). His older brother settled in NZ, ca 1890. Some family members have moved to the US over the centuries, some may be as early as the 1600s. I'm a more recent arrival.

 

[StatGuy2000]

Then I suspect that the number of answers you get will be so small that your results will be statistically meaningless.

Why would that be? My understanding is that the majority of PF members are American, so asking them about what they know about their family heritage should yield larger results than what you suggest.

Are you suggesting that most PF members would be reluctant to answer the question?

 

[phinds]

Why would that be? My understanding is that the majority of PF members are American, so asking them about what they know about their family heritage should yield larger results than what you suggest.

Are you suggesting that most PF members would be reluctant to answer the question?

No, I'm suggesting that the vast majority either won't even open this thread or will not bother to answer. Reluctance doesn't enter into it.

 

[DrClaude]

Interesting.You probably know that French-Canadians are favourite subject of study by population geneticists, being an 'isolate' descended from a rather small founding population of a few thousand, who themselves originated from only a few small regions of France. Consequently they have an unusual spectrum of inherited genetic conditions. Also the family histories, marriages and descendants, are rather completely documented if I remember right.

My understanding is that there is a sub-population of French-Canadians that is particularly well studied, because they were geographically separated and consequently more inbred than the rest of the population. For my part, I strongly believe that I have some admixture of Native American blood (maybe one ancestor somewhere along the chain).

Also the family histories, marriages and descendants, are rather completely documented if I remember right.

Yes, thanks to the church. Also, as Canada has been relatively a calm and stable society, most records were well kept up to this day. I have an uncle who did some genealogy and it appears that, when you go up the tree, things become much more complicated when you reach an ancestor born in France.