It’s time to stop giving attention to “Ethnicity”

[One quick note: As always, we receive no financial benefit or consideration for any product or service we review/recommend/discuss here. Everything we discuss is our opinion alone, and we talk about it because we use it.]

Ancestry has recently made a major update to their Ethnicity estimates, and combing how their notion of “ethnicity” changes with the cultural wariness of the “accuracy” of consumer DNA tests makes one thing clear: as a community of serious researchers, we need to be the voice of reason when it comes ethnicity/genetic admixture and call it out for dubiously valuable, largely inaccurate parlor trick that it is.

Here’s why we say that:

Ethnicity cannot be tested for. Ever.

Ethnicity is a social construct. Period. If we look at any test, any genealogical tree or other determination it will not build a social link to ones ancestral background. Using his father as an example, despite being able to trace 12.5% of my 3xGGP to Ireland, and despite Ancestry’s admixture pointing to an Irish background, I am not Irish. I visited Ireland as an American…a very obvious American. As will Michael when he visits. Nor will he be mistaken for Beninian when we visit Benin. We are Americans, all with European ancestors, some with African ancestors as well, but even with a perfect admixture that could pinpoint our ethnic ancestors exactly…we’re still not German, or Cameroonian, or English/Irish, etc. You can’t scientifically test for it, and DNA gives you no indication of how someone identifies ethnically. And that’s important, because Ethnicity is only about how someone identifies themselves and/or how others identify them…it’s not based on a gene. Neither is race, but that’s another rant for another day.

We need to voice a supportable, honest, accurate narrative of what commercial DNA is, and what’s valuable in it, to drive continued testing. A narrative that will continue after the “ethnicity” emperor is shown to have no clothes.

all of the major providers target who your genetic ancestors were 800-1000 years ago. Even those of us with great trees rarely go back to 1000-1200 AD…and we doubt there would be much value in anyone researching our 28th great grandparents

It’s not honest

All DNA testing companies, especially 23andMe and Ancestry, are for-profit enterprises that have a strong incentive to grow their number of DNA tests. The larger the test database, the more money the companies charge to sell access to your data. This isn’t to say they are selling personally identifiable data, the data is largely de-identified and aggregated, but it’s YOUR data…and it’s very, very valuable. 23andMe survives almost entirely on the revenue generated from your data, and it’s likely Ancestry is generating a large amount of their revenue from your DNA data as well. And no one’s advertising “come test with us, we are selling to great causes like Michael J. Fox Foundation” [23andMe], they are basing their sales pitch on the shiny bauble that gets the tests in the door: Ethnicity and pretty graphs. The more we play into the ethnicity pitch, the less credibility we’ll have when the public learns ethnicity is a sham.

It’s not a genealogical tool

Ethnicity (as determined by genetic admixture), has almost no genealogical or family history value, and the results will never break a brick wall or significantly add to your family’s stories. First, all of the major providers target who your genetic ancestors were 800-1000 years ago. Even those of us with great trees rarely go back to 1000-1200 AD…and we doubt there would be much value in anyone researching our 28th great grandparents. We have over 1 million 18th GGP’s. Admixture doesn’t rank even among the top 20 tools we use to build our trees, and it doesn’t deliver us any value.

Text from Ancestry.com website listing total reference samples — Ancestry.com’s pre-2018 Reference Samples

Text from Ancestry.com listing updated 2018 reference samples — Ancestry.com’s pre-2018 Reference Samples

It’s not accurate, and it’s not scientific

The biggest red flag from Ancestry’s last update was this: in 2018 they increased the reference samples from 3,000 tests to 16,000. Today they are using just over 56,000 samples. They have literally spent the last decade selling “ethnicity” to the general public as a great reason to build Ancestry’s test database, even though the entire house of cards was built on as little as 3,000 reference samples. Even at 56,000 total samples, some of their localities have just a handful: Ireland has 794, Korea is 280, and Nigeria is 569. There is little statistically valid data that be gleaned from a handful of total samples as they relate to our genetic ancestors 1000 years ago. Again, we each had MILLIONS of ancestors 30 generations ago…and to use this few samples to map “all” genetic admixtures just demonstrates the shoddy science that underpins this process. Even as Ancestry has grown to 56,000 samples, it’s a ridiculously small sample…assuming those samples were each perfectly tied to a region/culture 1000 years ago. “Ethnicity” is just enough science to seem valid enough to be scientific…and just scientific enough to justify the pretty graphs that facilitate the selling of more tests.

It’s hurting genealogy, and it will ultimately turn the public off of genetic DNA testing

YouTube is rife with videos of the general public discussing their “inaccurate” DNA tests, with the testee going into great detail about how they know their Ethnicity and when they see something they don’t expect the test must be wrong. There are now new discussions everywhere with people questioning the entire testing process when the “results” can be changed so dramatically by a change by Ancestry. Ancestry is aware of the strain this update is having on the general public, and we can see the efforts they’re making to try and calm people as they go through the update. There are explanations, surveys, etc. to try and make sure the public doesn’t freak out about these changes. It’s all just adding more weight to the idea that these tests aren’t accurate/reliable. Since the entire business case for the public taking these tests has been “ethnicity”, once that’s being exposed as the subjective “art” that it is, the reason people are testing will be questioned. We will hit a tipping point where our relatives are going to think of DNA testing as a “scam” that’s of no value/dangerous, and it’s going to make the process of getting tests that much harder.

So, what can we do? What impact can we have? Honestly, not much…at least not immediately. But, as the people serious about genealogy we can start being the voice of reason and begin to lay out a better justification for why the public should test, even if the focus of the commercial testing companies is only on adding more samples to their databases. If the thought-leaders and respected voices in the communities turn their back on genetic admixture, that will eventually drive the discussion.

To that end, here’s our suggestions:

Stop discussing “ethnicity” as a testable value – Push back on this basic premise and start to educate the public on why DNA tests have no value as it relates to how they identify ethnically.
Don’t give genetic admixture a place at the table – We should no more engage in admixture as a point of genealogical value as we phrenology. They both sound scientific, and their proponents would like them to be seen as science, but neither are science. Even making an anti-admixture discussion elevates it to a “con” in a pro vs. con debate. We need to stop engaging in a debate of equal positions with admixture.
Develop other reasons the general public, and our relatives, should submit tests – The tens of millions of tests in various databases have a HUGE value to the genealogical community, and we all benefit as more tests are added. We need to voice a supportable, honest, accurate narrative to drive continued testing…one that will continue after the “Ethnicity” emperor is shown to have no clothes.
Be honest with our relatives as they test and help them, and the general public, understand how these tests play into the for-profit world – Those who take tests aren’t purchasing a product, they are the product. 23andMe and Ancestry needs those tests to make a profit, and it’s the only reason why they offer these tests. Let’s discuss that, and what we get in return, to level set everyone’s expectations. If we don’t set these expectations, some scandal will do it for us, and when negative public opinion sets in, we likely will lose the value of having non-experts testing. All genealogy is a trade off of what you’d like to get from the research and what the people providing their services want to get from your research (see our piece Dancing with the Devil: The Tradeoffs of Modern Genealogical Research), so let’s be honest with those who trust us.

Bottom line is that we can see how the reality of DNA testing doesn’t match the perception of the testing public, and all eggs are in the “ethnicity” basket. As that basket starts to fray, we can either be a part of the rational message that keeps this testing world moving forward, or we can be reactive and wish we could go back to the “good old days” when people were testing without us having to fight for each one.

Local historians bring a one-of-a-kind collection to the public eye

The Wisconsin Historical Society published an amazing collection 2018 that is essential if you’re researching your family history in Southeastern Wisconsin (Eugene Leach collection). Beyond an amazing repository, it’s also highlights the really cool story of how the public came together to preserve and publish some priceless records It’s also a perfect example of how our personal research can mushroom over time, how we need to be aware of the impact of that research can have over time, and how we need to ensure that our records survive us in a meaningful way.

“To a chosen few historically minded persons in each generation is given the privilege of collecting and preserving the sacred facts of history, that they may not be lost to future generations.”
Eugene Walter Leach

Eugene Walter Leach (1857-1938) was born in Minnesota, but moved to Racine as a toddler and lived there the rest of his life. He was largely a private citizen who took it upon himself to collect, catalog, and publish the history of Racine, Wisconsin. He published 3 books during his lifetime, and was appointed as Racine’s official historian and Custodian of the Racine History Museum 4 years before his death. But his magnum opus was a book (The Story of Racine County – A History) that was not completed at the time he died, and which is now publicly available for the first time.

His research for the book filled 14 archival boxes, and the manuscript itself was over 1300 pages. Leach had spent decades collecting the stories of earlier settlers to Racine County. Just a quick review of about ½ of the collection showed me that he was visiting nursing homes, sending out questionnaires, reaching out to surviving family members for recollections, and being very active in gathering information about his subjects. All of this was preserved when he died in 1938, but largely lost to history.

Around 2008 a volunteer at the Racine Heritage Museum, John Magerus, PHD, was considering various projects when he came across an entry on the Wisconsin State Historical Society’s website referencing the papers of “Leach, a Racine, Wis. historian and curator of the Racine County Museum, including an unpublished manuscript.” Further digging led to discovering Leach’s papers were stored locally at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, and Magerus published portions of the manuscript in 2010.

Local history buff Todd Wallace began working with the Wisconsin Historical Society and UWP to digitize the collection, which lead to a GoFundMe campaign in 2016 to pay for the digitation. That digitization effort culminated in the WHS releasing the collection digitally in 2018.

The collection is fascinating, and a true treasure. We’ve gone through and skimmed about half of the documents, and while there isn’t much directly related to our family, it’s still a wonderful read.

Reviewing the collection, a few thoughts popped out at us:

We all start out as family historians and make the transition to historians/genealogists if we’re serious about this hobby

My 1C1R Peggy is the historian of the Leonard family, and her collection of artifacts and documents is amazing. It was her Family Reunion book from the early 1980’s that got us started on this journey. But it’s a classic collection of great stuff and stories, with no attribution, or citations, or publication. As we all start collecting our information, we will reach a point like Leach where we become keepers of unique and irreplaceable knowledge. As you go longer in this hobby it’s natural to start being more organized, more formal, and more interested in publishing what you’ve found. Reading through this collection it feels a lot like what I hope my work will be 20 years from now, and I can see how my work could progress much like his…from amateur historian, to a historian.

The best part of genealogy is the stories, not the facts

We knew when we first got into this hobby that we cared about the stories much more than the facts, and this just further demonstrates that truth. We, of course, recognize the utility, and value, of the facts he’s presented, but we’ve spent most of my time consuming the stories of these settlers of Racine County, and of how the community sprang up. I can’t imagine how excited the descendants of these subjects must be to find the stories of their family told.

Digital research has it’s place, but the most valuable work is often what you go out and discover offline

Many of the vital records, and even most of the newspaper articles, that are a part of these archives available to us today. The most valuable parts of the collection are the research he did with living people, the letters, finding and copying old diaries (that are likely long since lost), visiting nursing homes for interviews, etc. are nothing short of treasures. I was especially impressed by his work with sending out hundreds of pre-printed questionnaires, which led to impressive results. We spend a lot of time looking at our screens for answers, but we need to spend more time out in the field gathering the pieces of this puzzle that can’t be found online.

Make sure you have a formal plan to pass your research on when you’re gone

We’ve published on this previously (To Save Our Archives We Have to Give Them Away) but have added a formal Codicil to our Will that details how to process our genealogical work. We’ve also already reached out to historical museums to make arrangements to donate objects we have that are priceless, and that we can’t maintain to the level they deserve to be. We’ve made digital copies, so we’ll be able to

Store your research archivally

Building off the previous point, we started from day one using archival paper, folders, storage boxes, ink, sleeves, etc. to store our documents. They are never stored in the basement, and they should easily survive us. We’ve had friends who received the trunk of family photos and documents when Grandmother passed away, that were soon destroyed when the basement flooded. Looking at Leach’s collection, I shudder to think how easily it could have been lost and to think of how many similar collections were lost due to family who didn’t care about these things as much as we did.

Get involved in your local historical societies

Eugene Leach’s work eventually BECAME the local historical society. This collection is seeing the light of day this month because a local historian volunteered at the Racine Historical Society, and took it upon himself to dig the collection up, and other local historians raised funds to have it digitized. We can have a huge impact, and it can’t help but further your research as well.

Give back wherever you can

You see sharing across this entire story. Leach built his work off the work of various historians who preceded him. 100’s of relatives of early Racine settles shared stories and artifacts with Leach, which in turn have now been shared with us. Local historians banded together to share money so the collection could be digitized. We approach this work collectively, and no one builds their research on their work alone. We stand on the shoulders of others as we build our family histories, and we have a duty to share our work freely so that others will build on our work and take it further than us.

Thank you so much to everyone who worked on this collection, and I can’t wait to read all the way through these amazing!

In Remembrance – Daniel Walter Leonard (1868-1924)

Today we remember Michael’s 2xGGF Daniel Walter Leonard, who died on this date in 1924.

Dan (as he was known) was born in Algoma Township, Wisconsin on 12 May 1868 to John Leonard (1829-1891) and Louisa (Phalen) Leonard (1840-1925). He was the 5^th of 11 children born to John and Louisa, and he was raised on the Leonard farm just outside Oshkosh on Lake Butte des Morts. Unlike his brothers, and most of his sisters, Dan didn’t continue farming as an adult, instead focusing on physical labor.

Newspaper article describing the death of Sheriff Dan Leonard, with a photo of him

He was still living at home when he wed Emma Marrion Kupps (1879-1953) on 29 Oct 1902, although family lore is he met Emma when she was a waitress in Antigo, Wisconsin. Emma was known as one of the first European children born in Langlade County. Dan moved to Antigo after they married, and in 1903 the first of their 8 children was born. In 1904, after 2 huge fires in Antigo within 10 days of each other, the city voted to pay their firefighters, and Dan was named the first paid Fire Chief. By 1910 he was listed as a laborer doing odd jobs, and by 1920 he was a teamster for a logging company.

Dan ran, as a Democrat, for Langlade County Sheriff in 1922 and he was elected to a 2 year term. The role of sheriff, beyond just law enforcement, also encompassed management of the County Jail which would usually have prisoners not just waiting trial, but also those serving sentences less than a year. The Sheriff, and usually his wife, would be responsible for the feeding and laundry of those prisoners and usually they would live on-site to provide needed services 24 hours a day. Their youngest child was 4 when Dan was elected, so they moved into the jail as a family. Just over a year into his term Dan became sick with what would be diagnosed as stomach cancer. He was seen in Oshkosh for treatment, and went to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota as well, but with no success. He was moved from a hospital in Oshkosh to his home, but died the next day, 11 Mar 1924 at age 55.

Soon after Dan’s death, Emma was appointed Sheriff to complete Dan’s term by Governor John Blaine, making her the first woman to be a Sheriff in Wisconsin history. As she had effectively executing all of the functions of the office for the 6 months before her husband’s death Gov. Blaine felt she’d be the best candidate. Emma would go on to sell insurance for the Morse Tradewell Company in Antigo, where her 4^th child Gerald Francis Leonard (1908-1967) would meet the owner’s daughter Catherine Suzette Morse (1911-1990), and they would wed in 1937.

In Remembrance: Royal Johnson Morse (1808-1901)

In these times of bitterly cold weather and snow everywhere we will often wonder what was wrong with our ancestors picking such a wintry area to settle, which ultimately lead to us living through all this. Today’s In Remembrance is one of the men who directly lead to us living where we do, Royal Johnson Morse.

Royal was born in Worthington, Massachusetts on this day in 1804 (February 2^nd) to Major Samuel Morse (1782-1867) and Charlotte (Leffingwell) Morse, and was their 3^rd son. Samuel and Charlotte had 9 children total, all in Worthington, but around 1820 they migrated to the “Western Reserve” area of Ohio in Williamsfield, about 30 min SE of Ashtabula.

On 17 Nov 1831 Royal married Eliza Jones (1809-1898) in Ashtabula County, Ohio. Eliza was from one of the earliest American families to settle the Western Reserve, arriving from Connecticut around 1807. The early Connecticut families in this area were well known to be very committed abolitionists, and it’s likely Eliza fit this mold as Royal was stridently against slavery. This caused friction with his father who was a committed believer in the practice. In 1830’s and 1840’s the former enslaver and farmer from Kentucky James Gillespie Birney had freed his slaves and became a nationally known abolitionist publisher and politician in Cincinnati, Ohio. Royal chose to name his first son James Gillespie Birney Morse (1840-1930) specifically as a “joke” on his father!

Royal and Eliza’s 6^th child (and our 4^th Great Grandfather) Addison Joseph Morse (1846-1925) was the last of 9 children of Royal and Eliza to be born in Ohio. Royal packed his family into a covered wagon in 1847 intending to take the land route to Racine, Wisconsin but made it a far as Cleveland before deciding to load the wagon on a boat and take the lake route. When the arrived in Wisconsin they settled at Mygatt’s Corner (currently the corner of Hwy 20 and Hwy 31) in Mount Pleasant, with Eliza’s parents. (Note: James Bennet Tradewell also lived at Mygatt’s Corner at this time, so they families likely knew each other and James Billespie Birney Morse (known as “Birney”) attended the Mygatt’s school built on land sold by Tradewell, but there’s no sign they knew their grandchildren would eventually marry!)

Within a couple of years Royal and Eliza purchased their own 120 acre farm in Caledonia, where today’s Highway K meets Emmertsen Road (by the entrance of Johnson’s Park, which was formed by the purchase of Royal’s farm after his death by the City of Racine). Birney enlisted in the legendary Wisconsin 22^nd Regiment (known, somewhat derisively, as the “Abolitionist Regiment” due to their strict anti-slavery attitudes) the day the unit was organized, and would later stand guard over Lincoln’s body in Chicago. Royal would actively farm his land for nearly 50 years, although he sold plots so a son-in-law, and a piece for one of the first public schools, and was renting his land when he died 13 Jul 1901.

Google Map of Royal Morse’s farm, with a plat book from 1875 overlayed.

In remembrance: William “Will” Thornton (1866-1940)

Today is the anniversary of the passing of Michael’s 3x Great Grandfather, William “Will” Thornton. Will was born around 1866 in Ashley County, Arkansas, just a couple years after the end of the Civil War. He died of pneumonia on 13 Jan 1940 in Parkdale, Arkansas at the age of 71, having lived his whole life in Ashley County.

Will was the 6^th of 16 children born to Hardy and Victoria (Kazre) Thornton. Hardy and Victoria were likely enslaved by James and Hannah (Homes) Hadley and they all are listed as being born in North Carolina. The Hadley’s left North Carolina in the mid-1850’s and settled in the newly available Arkansas Territory. Will was born on the Hadley farm just west of Parkdale, however by 1875 Hardy owned 40 acres of that land and was a farmer on his own farm. Will worked that land throughout his childhood, and there is no record he attended school. He is listed as being unable to read or write as a teen, but later in life he had learned how to do both.

Will was married to Laura Elizabeth Johnson on 12 Jan 1897 in Ashley, Arkansas and they would remain married until his death. By 1910 Will owned the 40 acres outright, and he and Laura were on their way to raising 9 children: Walter, Mark, Brutus, Hardy Jr, Anderson and Andrew (twins), Francis, Beatris, and Percy.

That land was a key factor in their quality of life. It was passed eventually to Will’s son Andrew Thornton, and his daughter Cassie Lee (Thornton) Crayton would talk about how owning their own land at the height of Jim Crow America afforded the Thornton’s a bit of stability, respect, and freedom. She would say that they thought they were rich compared to their neighbors because they always had what they needed, even though looking back on it everyone was poor. They could plant whatever they wanted, whatever made most sense to them, and they reaped the rewards of a better crop. If the white farmers in the area needed help at harvest, their neighbors were forced to work for him and/or work longer hours than normal, but that farmer would come to ask if the Thornton’s would help and offer a fair wage for the efforts. They could turn that work down if they chose to, but in at least some years we see that Will earned as much as $400, so he likely was doing extra work on top of working his own farm.

Many of the Thornton’s would move to Milwaukee as a part of the Great Northern Migration in the 1940’s and 1950’s, including Laura who passed in Wauwatosa in 1962, however the land is still in family hands. It’s now at the edge of the Overflow National Wildlife Refuge, which plays a key role in protecting waterfowl and songbirds in Arkansas.

An American Genealogy

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