November 2013 NMGS Program

November 2013 Program

The Community Room
   in the Lower Level of
The Albuquerque Main Library
501 Copper Street
Albuquerque, New Mexico
(on the northwest corner of 5th and Copper)

(Click here to view map.)

November 16, 2013, 2013
10:30 am
 

The New Mexico Genealogical Society

Presents

 Conducting Research Online and In-Person at the UNM Center for Southwest Research

by

Nancy Brown-Martinez
and
Ann Mossman

of the University Libraries, University of New Mexico

The Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections (CSWR) is located in Zimmerman Library on the UNM main campus. It maintains a wealth of library and archival collections documenting the people and communities of New Mexico, and the greater Southwest borderlands region. The CSWR's resources are open to all, so come find out the latest digital, library and archives sources of use for your research.

Access information about CSWR collections via LIBROS (libros.unm.edu) and RockyMountain Online Archive (rmoa.unm.edu). Many digital collections from the CSWR and museums across the state can be found at New Mexico Digital Collections (econtent.unm.edu).

This program is free and open to the public.

Questions? Call (505) 848-1376 or email info@nmgs.org.

October 19, 2013 NMGS Program

October 2013 Program

The Community Room
   in the Lower Level of
The Albuquerque Main Library
501 Copper Street
Albuquerque, New Mexico
(on the northwest corner of 5th and Copper)

(Click here to view map.)

Saturday, October 19, 2013
10:30 am

The New Mexico Genealogical Society

Presents

Paleography and How Spanish Documents Can Unlock Family History

by

Robert Martinez

Assistant State Historian

Paleography is the study of ancient writings and inscriptions, including their dating and cultural context. Learning how to use old Spanish documents can help to fill in important details about the lives of your ancestors.

These records are found in the Spanish Archives of NewMexico, Series I and II, as well as in many additional collections housed at the New Mexico State Archives in Santa Fe and other locations around our State.

Robert will also discuss period customs.

This program is free and open to the public.

Questions? Call (505) 848-1376 or email info@nmgs.org.

Looking for my ancestry through DNA

Recently, I paid for the Family Finder DNA analysis. On August 30th, I received my results.

According to FamilyTreeDNA.com, I am 43.15% European (+/- 13.31%); 19.04% Native American (+/- 0.96%); and 37.81% Middle Eastern (+/- 12.37%.) The European is identified as defined as Finnish/Russian, the Native American (Central American) as Mayan and the Middle Eastern as Jewish.

Now, knowing about my ancestry, the thing that was most confusing was the Russian/Finnish connection. I know that I'm 1/16th Swiss and 1/16th German/French. But Russian/Finnish doesn't fit. Also the fact that I have such a high Middle Eastern percentage seemed a bit much. As far as the latter, a high Middle Eastern percentage might mean that I have "recent" Middle Eastern ancestors (within hundred of years), but might also mean that I have Irish - or more accurately, Celtic ancestors. (Click on this link for more information.) Having Celtic ancestors makes sense. There were many Celts in Spain.

So, in order to find out more information about my DNA, I had an expert Dr. J. Douglas McDonald analyze my raw data. This is what he found:

" the automatic fit is saying you are Finnish, which is very rare in Latin Americans of any sort. So I did a more reliable custom fit (including it) and get 

       Irish 0.3337        Spain 0.2426     Moroccan 0.0925     Georgian 0.1367         Maya 0.1945 or

     English 0.5068        Spain 0.0475     Moroccan 0.1118     Georgian 0.1389         Maya 0.1950 or

     English 0.5447    Sephardic 0.0052     Moroccan 0.1166     Georgian 0.1393         Maya 0.1942 or

     English 0.5461     Moroccan 0.1174     Georgian 0.1378     Armenian 0.0045         Maya 0.1942 or

     English 0.5439      Italian 0.0035     Moroccan 0.1176     Georgian 0.1408         Maya 0.1942 or

     English 0.5465       Jewish 0.0002     Moroccan 0.1179     Georgian 0.1412         Maya 0.1942 or

       Irish 0.3845      Italian 0.1964     Moroccan 0.1053     Georgian 0.1205         Maya 0.1932 or

       Spain 0.4676      Finland 0.1570     Moroccan 0.0616     Georgian 0.1205         Maya 0.1933 or

       Irish 0.2570       French 0.3053     Moroccan 0.1109     Georgian 0.1338         Maya 0.1931

which is much more reasonable. The Caucusus is a bit odd: it could be real or just representing something Italian/Mediterranean/Balkan/Ukrainian. "

 

Having ancestry from the Caucuses seems a little odd to me, too. Could it be the fact that I have a 2nd great grandfather who was Swiss and another who was either German or French? Maybe. Maybe I have a few ancestors coming in through (Russian) Georgia and Armenia who made their home in the German states.

The English and Irish I assume has to do with my Celtic ancestry. The Moroccan could be from Moors who came into Spain. And, of course, I have some Sephardic Jewish blood.

The Mayan just means that I have Native American ancestry from North of Panama. This, of course makes a lot of sense. When Spaniards came to the New World, they didn't bring many women. Therefore, they mated with Native women.

I still have a lot of questions about my ancestry, but much of this makes sense.