Immigration and Migration Patterns

 

One purpose I had in my family archival research work, resulting in the 2014 publication “A History of My Eight Great Grandparents – Robertson. Eubank, Luke, Shepherd, Torian, Crawley, Jenkins, and Cocke” was to determine as well as I could the immigration and migration patterns of my eight great grandparents and their ancestors, e.g., the countries where ancestors immigrated from and where ancestors migrated to in America.  In this section, I present what AncestryDNA suggests about my ancestors immigration and  migration, compared to my archival research findings.

 

Immigration

 

The results from AncestryDNA are that 98% of my ancestors came from England, Wales, and Northwestern Europe and 4% came from Germanic Europe.  This is an exceptionally good agreement with what my archival research has found.  Given below for my eight great grandparents are countries that I found that their ancestors immigrated from.  

 

Ancestors of Richard W. Robertson were identified who were from these countries:  England.

 

Ancestors of Mary A Eubank were identified who were from these countries:  England..

 

Ancestors of Dale Delafield Luke were identified who were from these countries:  England.

 

No  ancestors  for Martha F. Shepherd  could be found that were born in other countries.

 

Ancestors of George Torian were identified who were from these countries:  England; Ireland; Scotland; Switzerland; and Sweden.

 

Ancestors of Amelia Blanche Crowley were identified who were from these countries:  England; France.

 

Ancestors of Charles Augustus Jenkins were identified who were from these countries:  England; Wales; and Germany.

 

Ancestors of Lillie Shepherd Cocke were identified who were from these countries:  England; Wales; and Germany.

 

These countries fit very well with AncestryDNA’s suggestions, using my DNA.

 

 

Migration

 

AncestryDNA, based on my DNA profile, suggested areas in America that are likely areas that my ancestors lived in (migrated to).   These areas are: 1. In Virginia from around Richmond south into northern North Carolina; 2. In central and southern Mississippi; 3. In eastern Virginia from the Potomac south to the Norfolk/Portsmouth area; and 4. In western Virginia along the Appalachian.

 

The AncestryDNA suggestions agree exceptionally well with what my research found. Here are the migration patterns for my eight great grandparents and their known ancestors that my research found:

 

Richard W. Robertson was born in Amelia County, Virginia, died in Richmond, Virginia, and he and his known ancestors lived in central Virginia.

 

Mary A. Eubank and her known ancestors lived  in central and western Virginia along the Appalachian.   Mary was born in Amherst County,  lived in Chesterfield County, Virginia, and died in Richmond, Virginia.

 

Dale Delafield Luke and his known ancestors lived in southeastern Virginia.  Dale was born in Portsmouth, Virginia. 

 

Martha F. Shepherd was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, as was her father.   Other Martha ancestors could not be identified.

 

George Torian and his known ancestors lived in southwest Virginia.  George was born in 1854 in Halifax County, Virginia, and died in Campbell County, Virginia.

 

Amelia Blanche Crawley and her ancestors lived in southwest and northeast Virginia.   Amelia was born in Halifax County, Virginia and died in Campbell County, Virginia.

 

Charles Augustus Jenkins and his parents were born in southeast Mississippi .  Earlier ancestors were born in northeast and western Virginia (along the Appalachian).

 

Lillie Shepherd Cocke and ancestors on her father’s side were born in western Virginia along the Appalachian and in central Virginia.   Ancestors on her mother side were born in New Jersey (an area not mentioned by AncestryDNA).

 

In conclusion, I am extremely impressed in how well analysis of my DNA by AncestryDNA provided immigration and migration information that agrees with what my archival research found.  For various reasons, much of what is written above about my ancestors in the 1600s and 1700s could not have been found only by my archival research; the technology of the AncestryDNA family tree tool and its hint application was necessary.