Families trying to establish OLD WORLD connections
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For over 100 years family researchers have been researching the YANCEY family of America (which traces back to the family living in Virginia as early as 1704) - but without success in finding a clear OLD world connection (though it seems pretty clear they would have come from the British Isles)
The Yancey name has not been found to exist in Europe (other than cases of mis-transcription on large genealogical databases that mis-transcribe other names as Yancey)
a summary of the Yancey research:
http://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/origin.htm
Im not really asking for any specific help on the Yancey family - but rather - would be interested in sharing thoughts and ideas of those also researching early American families - that even after YEARS/DECADES of serious research have not been able to find the exact connection into the Old World.
Obviously in many cases - records have been lost or destroyed - but in many of these cases I think the reason behind the brick wall - is more than just due to "lost records" - but very specific reasons that such information was lost (or withheld from succeeding generations)
I imagine many of you will point out how DNA research can help in this area - and that is very true - but I'd like to generate some discussion on the subject in general and not so much just focused on DNA.
How many of you descend from early American families that have not made the link back to the Old World? what are some of the probable reasons?
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I am trying to track a German family from New York to the Württemberg, Germany area. My biggest problem is that I am dealing with a common name and not enough other identifiers to find the man that I want. Couldn't he have another name besides Johann?
I think that I need to slow down and analyze each of the men with the same name and see if I can make connections with other family names in the church records. I do believe that the answer can be found, but that I haven't invested enough research yet.
Speaking of DNA, without DNA testing, I would not have known that I needed to look for another ancestor. (I will be good now and try not to derail your question.) I too would like to hear why others can't find their Old World ancestor. I do have an Irish ancestor that was supposed to have jumped off a ship with gold tied up in his pant leg. I am still trying to visualize this. How much gold did he have? Was his pant leg full? Or did he just have a few pieces of gold dust? How come this story doesn't have more details? (And after he had immigrated, did he really see a photographer trying to sneak a photo of him and shoot the camera?)
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