20 Feb Genealogist for Hire- February 20, 2021
Contents
- 1 Happy belated Valentine’s Day! Above is an advertisement from 1750 London (in those days the letter “s” was written as “f”). If you would like to know if this is how your ancestors got married, click on the red button below and let Dancestors get the answer!
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- 3 DNA is big business. In December 2020, Blackstone purchased Ancestry.com. Now, 23andme (which interestingly was co-founded by Anne Wojcicki, the spouse of Google co-founder Sergey Brin) is going public by merging with Richard’s company Branson. Maybe they will become Virgin DNA?
- 4 In follow up to the above, most of my clients often feel excited when they find out they descend from someone of significance in history. One of them descended from Vice President Johnson. What type of feelings would that create for you?
DNA is big business. In December 2020, Blackstone purchased Ancestry.com. Now, 23andme (which interestingly was co-founded by Anne Wojcicki, the spouse of Google co-founder Sergey Brin) is going public by merging with Richard’s company Branson. Maybe they will become Virgin DNA?
Does gaining the knowledge of our DNA and our ancestry give us the proper perspective about our past?
I have Norwegian and Swedish Ancestry. Should I feel proud or embarrassed, or even accountable for those Viking warrior ancestors invading others’ lands? They may have harmed my English, Dutch, Irish and Scotch ancestors.
If you have a Union Army ancestor, does that balance out the Confederate States Army Ancestor? Does it matter if one gave their life for the cause or not?
Does having some Native American or African ancestry in addition to Caucasian ancestry make me a victim or a beneficiary of the past? How does Asian or Middle Eastern ancestry fit into the discussion?
Some say that the past is the past, good or bad, and I can only hold myself accountable for my present and future actions? Others feel that there needs to be more than just acknowledgment of the errors of the past. Would that acknowledgment be atonement or something else?
These are all interesting questions we have to ask ourselves.
Reading the referenced article below indicates that the acquirers of these companies are betting that we will spend our dollars searching for these answers. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/16/opinion/23andme-ancestry-race.html
In follow up to the above, most of my clients often feel excited when they find out they descend from someone of significance in history. One of them descended from Vice President Johnson. What type of feelings would that create for you?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/02/07/julia-chinn-slave-wife-vice-president/
