DNA points to royal roots in Africa

[n2doc]

Alan Boyle writes: William Holland, a genealogical researcher living in Atlanta, has seen some pretty strange twists in his family tree. Several years ago, he found out that his great-grandfather was a black slave ... who wound up serving as a Confederate soldier during the Civil War. But this year Holland's research resulted in something even stranger.

Thanks to DNA testing, Holland is being welcomed as a long-lost relative by a ruling family of the West African nation of Cameroon. He's visited the country once already, back in March, and he'll be getting the royal treatment in November when he goes back with additional members of his family, including his 79-year-old mother.

"Imagine receiving that news, after all these years when you grew up as the son of a sharecropper. ... Everybody tells you that you came from slaves, you came from slaves. And now you find out that you came from royalty," Holland told me.

Holland's case shows how genetic genealogy can untangle mysteries in a family tree — even for African-Americans, who typically face tougher challenges because the vital records for slaves are so scant.

Holland attributes his success to GeneTree, a Utah-based DNA testing service that came up with the Cameroon connection. But GeneTree's chief scientific officer, geneticist Scott Woodward, said Williams' case was far from unusual.

more

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/09/08/5070972-dna-points-to-royal-roots-in-africa

[Drale]

1. one of my ancestors

tried to start a revolution in one of the german states in early 1800's, so I was almost related to a ruling family lol

[Odin2005]

2. That is frikking awesome!

[applegrove]

3. Genealogy can be fun.

[Nihil]

4. The two points aren't exclusive

> Everybody tells you that you came from slaves, you came from slaves.
> And now you find out that you came from royalty

All that means is that the "royalty" was the loser in a battle
and taken (then sold) as a slave by the winner.

:shrug: