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Old 09-21-2017, 10:17 PM
 
Location: Tijuana Exurbs
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Through the DNA testing they do, Ancestry.com shows that the bulk of West Virginia was settled by people from the Pennsylvania/Mid Atlantic region. The Eastern Panhandle, the Northern Panhandle, and the northern two thirds of the center of the state has its genetic roots north of the Potomoc River. Only the southern third of the state is predominately settled from south of the Potomac River. And even those people started out pretty far north, and after swinging down through southern West Virginia moved back north in their follow on migrations.

Here is a direct link to the Ancestry Blog Image:
https://blogs.ancestry.com/cm/files/...gration1_c.jpg

Does this information make you feel more Northern now?
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Old 09-21-2017, 10:26 PM
NCN
 
Location: NC/SC Border Patrol
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Many people in Northwestern North Carolina have Northern roots too. When I google my maiden name the results are from Ohio and surrounding areas. I think they may have followed the New River down to North Carolina. Some of my grandparents last names show to be from Pennsylvania. I think they may have started West on the Ap. Trail and stopped off when they got to what they say looked like Ireland in Ashe County, North Carolina.

When I take one of those word choice tests it often places me in the Ohio region.

http://www.city-data.com/county/Ashe_County-NC.html

Last edited by NCN; 09-21-2017 at 10:52 PM..
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Old 09-22-2017, 01:21 AM
 
Location: Winfield, WV
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This is very interesting but not surprising to me, since my ancestory show's a very similar path to arriving in WV. WV was largely settled by immigrants with Irish roots in southern WV, Italian Roots in NCWV and Northern Panhandle, and some Germanic ancestors scattered throughout as well as many other ethnic groups. My ancestors were immigrants from Germany, and had a port of entry in Philadelphia, PA. Somehow they wondered down through the Potomac region and settled in areas of the Eastern Panhandle of WV and NOVA for decades before they started spreading out into other areas of the country and WV.
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Old 09-25-2017, 09:20 AM
 
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My father in law (may he RIP) used to buy dollar bags from the auctions that were full of 1950's era textbooks and the like, to fill his wormy chestnut bookshelves with.

The American geography for high school type books usually classified WV as a Northeastern, not Midwest or Southern, state.

Though, he also had a 1950's era WV state history book that literally had a stamp in it "approved for white schools." Possibly, the authors of the first set of books didn't see that one.
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Old 09-25-2017, 09:32 AM
 
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I always find interesting noticing what the denomination of the "little country church" in an area is, and trying to find clues about the cultural history of the area from that.

Looks like even the original Baptists came from the north:
Baptist History and Heritage Society | Southern Baptist Beginnings

Does anyone have any thoughts about the geography of Primitive Baptists? This references a "Black Rock Address," but I can't even tell on a simple search where Black Rock, MD is:
Primitive Baptist History - Old School Baptist A Primitive Baptist Website
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Old 09-25-2017, 10:21 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Silkdashocker View Post
This is very interesting but not surprising to me, since my ancestory show's a very similar path to arriving in WV. WV was largely settled by immigrants with Irish roots in southern WV, Italian Roots in NCWV and Northern Panhandle, and some Germanic ancestors scattered throughout as well as many other ethnic groups. My ancestors were immigrants from Germany, and had a port of entry in Philadelphia, PA. Somehow they wondered down through the Potomac region and settled in areas of the Eastern Panhandle of WV and NOVA for decades before they started spreading out into other areas of the country and WV.
Wheeling and most of Marshall County are primarily of German origin (although there are also many eastern Europeans there too in the south Wheeling and Benwood areas ... came to work in the steel mills and mines), and German ancestry is most frequently found in Monongalia and Marion counties. There are many Italians in those areas as well, and that is likely the most frequent ancestry for Harrison County (Clarksburg), as well as Brooke and Hancock counties ... Follansbee/Wellsburg/Weirton. The southern portion of the state tends to be more of Scots Irish origin. English is also found in all of those areas as a strong secondary ancestral background. Of course, there are many Scots Irish, especially in the rural areas, in the northern part of the state and many Germans in the southern part too. It's just that they don't predominate in those areas.
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Old 09-25-2017, 11:42 AM
 
Location: Philadelphia
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The OP misread the data. If you look at the size of the dots in WV that tells you that the number of individuals is very small. This data was gathered from people who paid $100 or more for Ancestry.com DNA analysis, which I don't think is a high-priority in WV, so who knows what a random study would show.

In this map from the same study the researchers compared the similarities in the results across states and came up with the dot map at the bottom, which shows WV much closer to VA, KY than to PA or NJ.

https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms14238/figures/1
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Old 09-25-2017, 01:51 PM
 
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Originally Posted by Bobilee View Post
The OP misread the data. If you look at the size of the dots in WV that tells you that the number of individuals is very small. This data was gathered from people who paid $100 or more for Ancestry.com DNA analysis, which I don't think is a high-priority in WV, so who knows what a random study would show.

In this map from the same study the researchers compared the similarities in the results across states and came up with the dot map at the bottom, which shows WV much closer to VA, KY than to PA or NJ.

https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms14238/figures/1
I agree that getting DNA tested is not a priority in West Virginia (although I availed myself of the opportunity to have it done), but the fallacy in that study is it paints an entire state with the same brush. In other words, a slim majority within a single state throws the entire state into a certain group. Nobody would doubt that the sheer size of the southern tier of the state would result in a preponderance of people with closer ties to Mid Atlantic and Southern states as opposed to others, but it is clear that ancestral backgrounds are very different in the area from Sutton north than they are in areas south of Sutton or in the Eastern Panhandle. Each of those areas has distinct backgrounds of their own. Mining and industrial areas also break the molds due to large numbers of immigrants who were recruited from southern and eastern Europe to work in those places. There are many descendants of people with Spanish (European ... not Hispanic) backgrounds in Marshall, Marion, and Harrison counties, for example. In Wheeling there are thousands with Polish, Lithuanian, Croatian, and Slovak ancestry superimposed on the more familiar German and English mix. There was a time when if a person wasn't Italian in Follansbee, he just didn't fit in there. And, an entire area in Marshall County (St. Joseph's Settlement) was settled by German Catholics who were actually taught in the school by German nuns who spoke German as a first language. The few non-Germans in the area went to St. Joseph's school which, although operated by the Church, was funded in part by Marshall County as a public school. and non Catholics attended through 8th. grade without charge. Thus, they all learned a working knowledge of German as a second language even though instruction was conducted in English after a certain point in time.

Note in the article that the people in the settlement were from very different parts of Germany which, like with other immigrants, hastened their learning English. The reason is that ordinary people in those areas actually spoke different languages than each other, making communication difficult. Hoch Deutsch, or High German was only spoken by nobility and academics. It wasn't until well after World War 2 that High German became the language used throughout Germany in public schools and for official business. Today, all Germans speak the uniform language although many can still communicate in their local dialects too.

http://www.wvgenweb.org/marshall/stjosph.htm

Last edited by CTMountaineer; 09-25-2017 at 02:18 PM..
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Old 09-25-2017, 03:15 PM
 
Location: Cumberland
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The map isn't meant to show the entire genetic diversity of any region, it is made to show "where your cousins live," literally. The basic settlement patterns of early America are shown on that map, the seed stock if you will. It matches most dialect maps as well, since most American dialects (especially on the east cost) are based on the founder effect of the first settlers.

So, if you are a long time native PAer, you almost certainly have cousins living in northern WV according to the DNA tests. If you are a Utah native Mormon, you probalby have cousins back in NY, where the Mormons started out. Likewise with Louisiana and Acadia.

Ancestry.com products like this inarguable are of more use to people whose ancestors have been here 200 years+ as the overall population was smaller then and because most of America, at least in part, was settled by people descended from this relatively small initial pool of people. This means it is easier to find a common ancestor and establish cousin relationships based on DNA.
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Old 09-25-2017, 03:55 PM
 
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Originally Posted by westsideboy View Post
The map isn't meant to show the entire genetic diversity of any region, it is made to show "where your cousins live," literally. The basic settlement patterns of early America are shown on that map, the seed stock if you will. It matches most dialect maps as well, since most American dialects (especially on the east cost) are based on the founder effect of the first settlers.

So, if you are a long time native PAer, you almost certainly have cousins living in northern WV according to the DNA tests. If you are a Utah native Mormon, you probalby have cousins back in NY, where the Mormons started out. Likewise with Louisiana and Acadia.

Ancestry.com products like this inarguable are of more use to people whose ancestors have been here 200 years+ as the overall population was smaller then and because most of America, at least in part, was settled by people descended from this relatively small initial pool of people. This means it is easier to find a common ancestor and establish cousin relationships based on DNA.
I believe you are spot on there. Northern WV, to this day, is virtually indistinguishable from southeastern PA, western Maryland, and Mid Ohio Valley eastern Ohio. In fact, in the Northern Panhandle, standing on a hilltop one can easily see PA and OH along with WV. Everyone has cousins living across the arbitrary state lines.

Also, the NP area was developed by Euros long before the areas further to the South, and descendants of those populations from more than 250 years ago are plentiful there. Most of the early settlers arrived from PA and low country Maryland. The Marylanders established a very strong Catholic presence there centuries ago.
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