Is there something I can do to find out where exactly my acestors were from?

Question

I have always wondered and it kills me when other people know exactly where their ancestors came from because I dont have a clue. My parents are mexican, my dad is very light skinned because his dad and his dad's dad both were light with blue eyes. My mom's mom is also very light. I have heard that in Chihuahua, Mexico there are a lot of italian decendants but my parents are from central Mexico, in the state of Jalisco. Im 15, and I just wonder if there is like a DNA test or anything that could give me an idea of what area my ancestors were from.

Answer 1

You can try the paper trail.  Try this:

You should start by asking all your living relatives about family history.  Then, armed with that information, you can go to your public library and check to see if it has a genealogy department.  Most do nowadays; also, don't forget to check at community colleges, universities, etc.  Our public library has both www.ancestry.com and www.heritagequest.com free for anyone to use (no library card required).

Another place to check out is any of the Mormon's Family History Centers.  They allow people to search for their family history (and, NO, they don't try to convert you).

A third option is one of the following websites:

http://www.searchforancestors.com/...

http://www.censusrecords.net/?o_xid=2739...

http://www.usgenweb.com/

http://www.census.gov/

http://www.rootsweb.com/

http://www.ukgenweb.com/

http://www.archives.gov/

http://www.familysearch.org/

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/...

http://www.cyndislist.com/

http://www.geni.com/

Cyndi's has the most links to genealogy websites, whether ship's passenger lists, ancestors from Africa, ancestors from the Philippines, where ever and whatever.

Of course, you may be successful by googling: "john doe, born 1620, plimouth, massachusetts" as an example.

Good luck and have fun!

Check out this article on five great free genealogy websites:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article...

Then there is the DNA test; if you decide you want to REALLY know where your ancestors came from opt for the DNA test. Besides all the mistakes that officials commonly make, from 10% to 20% of birth certificates list the father wrong; that is, mama was doing the hanky-panky and someone else was the REAL father. That won't show up on the internet or in books; it WILL show up in DNA.

I used www.familytreedna.com which works with the National Geographics Genotype Program.

Answer 2

Lacking any first hand information from relatives or documentation, there are DNA tests that can help to give you a clue about your ancestry.

The National Geographic "Genographic Project" (links below) offers these tests, and can give you an idea of the migration pattern of your ancestors, based on specific genetic markers (your "deep ancestry" they call it).  There are several different services that offer similar testing, though they are more expensive.

The results are pretty broad, and will probably only help verify that your ancestry includes Europeans and/or American Indians.  It might help identify a region in Europe where they're from, but not a country.

The wikipedia link you provided shows lots of immigration from Spain and Argentina.  The majority of Spaniards are caucasians, and I know that Argentina has seen a lot of European immigration.  I wouldn't be surprised at all if you had ancestors from one or more of those places.

Answer 3

Can you ask your grandparents or your parents' aunts and uncles? There isn't a DNA test that can tell you what part of a country someone came from or who that person was. And until you get people in your family to tell you what they know, you don't have a place to start looking. It seems too simple, but most genealogy starts by asking everyone in the family to tell you what they know. I fell in love with genealogy 30 years ago when I did it with my Grandpa. It really is cool to pick their brains and get their help. Sometimes they know more than anyone realizes.

Answer 4

Thats such an interesting thing to read, I never new there were that many immigrants. Thanks for the link.