I just received my AncestryDNA results (faster than the 6-8 weeks they state) and for the most part there were no surprises. To be honest, I was a little disappointed that my results were so “vanilla”.
As far as my research, the furthest I’ve gotten back is to about the mid 1600s on one of my branches. My “foreign” ancestors were all here by the 1850s, my 2nd great-grandfather Massimo Pisani was the last to come to the U.S. in 1856. Once my ancestors were here they didn’t move around much. Except for one branch that moved from Boston, MA to Baltimore, MD in the 1820s, all my ancestors lived their entire lives within 15 miles of where they were born.
I expected to see more German as my father’s side is very heavily German. But after looking at the mapped results and reading more about migration patterns, the 39% Scandinavian and 9% Europe (East and West) makes sense.
I have never encountered any Scandinavian roots in any of my ancestors but DNA goes way further back than my research. Hopefully I’ll be able to meet some new cousins who may have better answers, but for now I need to go buy myself a helmet and learn how to row a boat!
Aunt Barb's Papers 