Yes, DNA is biological, genealogy is social. Your ancestors may have lived in Germany, but way, way, way back there may have been British, Oriental, Australian, etc. in their blood lines. My own were either Dutch or German depending on who was the ruler of the lands they owned back in the 1600's.

[QUOTE=LenaBeena;7841593]Yes, very different. DNA is biological, genealogy is social. Your ancestors may have lived in Germany, but way, way, way back there may have been British, Oriental, Australian, etc. in their blood lines. So much movement occurred and lands changed rulers, and wars were fought etc. And remember the results are only from people in their database. As of now it is in many countries and about 16 billion submissions. As more people have their tests done, more will be found in results. No one from my mothers family has had their DNA tested yet. When they do I will find more cousins. Many times family records can be in error or confusing, or lost so this really helps. Maybe this will even help stop prejudice as we realize we all connected in one big world.

My sister had hers done recently. I knew about English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, French, and German. But I did not know about Finnish. Wow. All that with Mohican (and they confirmed that too). Wow!

Nope, just not interested. I've lived this long without knowing and, if at one time I might have cared, I don't now. And if I find out I had a marvelously famous ancester, how would that change my life now???? And I could just as easily discover that I'm related to Mata Hari and why would I want to know that?

[QUOTE=LenaBeena;7841626]And in the same sense it may also cause bigger problems.

Like genealogy, it could dig up some past skeletons in the closets, that sometimes are better left in the past.

They say, "Knowledge is Power", though sometimes it only creates questions that cannot be answered, and the quest for such, can sometimes disrupt the peace and harmony that was had.

[QUOTE=QuiltE;7842155]I agree. When I was doing genealogical research with a group, one of the things they told new members was to be ready for what they might find. The past isn't always pretty and it isn't always neat. There's a lot of messy stuff there. Sometimes its best to just let it go, but not everyone can do that.

[QUOTE=cashs_mom;7842240]Oh how true!

I have a story to tell you which I think is funny. I had an aunt, my mother's sister who decided to find out more about their dad. She did the genology & found out that he had been born out of wedlock & raised by grandparents. Well my aunt started looking at pictures of him & thought he veey big lips which she concluded meant he might have some black blood. So she gets going with finding out more. Both my maternal grandparents were born & raised in New York City. In her research she finds out a last name so she orders a telephone directory & starts calling everyone. This was and is a popular last name so you can imagine getting a phone call from a stranger wanting to ask about their genealogy! She made several friends but was never able to find out anything else about my grandfather.

oh goodness. my lips used to be very full and I got kidded about them in High School a bit. now all collagen is gone!!

Hi,
My name is Nancy and I am an addict! Ancestry addict. lol Two DNA test one Ancestry and one Family tree. I have been doing this for several years. Met a lot of cousins did not know about. So many stories. I feel like I am as close to dead people as I am live ones. Favorite pass time besides quilting is visiting old Cemeteries.