Question of the Week: Do you have African roots?

Question

Do you have ancestors from Africa? What do you know about them? 

Please tell us with an answer below. You can also answer on Facebook or post the question image on social media to share your answer with friends and family.

Answer 1

I've got one great great great grandfather by the name of John Lavoun who I've been told was possibly of mixed French, Spanish and Afro- Caribbean ancestry. He was a ship's steward who came to South Australia in the 1850's, married my Northern Irish great great great grandmother Ann Trotter and had 7 kids. Haven't been able to trace back any further than John or work out where in the Caribbean he may be connected to, mainly because there are so many spellings of Lavoun and records seem non existent so far. I'm pretty confident about the African ancestry due to it appearing across most tests at about 2- 5%, my Aunty gets about 6- 8% and also descriptions I've found of some of John & Ann's children. Also have had cousins show up throughout the Caribbean, central and south America and the southern USA, just not sure what the exact connection may be. Might have other African ancestry within the family and links to the Americas and the Caribbean, but less certain on that.

Comments

Yes I do have African roots. I was born in Liberia, West Africa

Answer 2

Well technically we all do, right? 

But for me, no recents one no. I wonder how hard it is to have documentation on them (though I guess it depends country to country.)

Comments

Great answer :-)

I was thinking exactly the same - I'm sure I have African roots, just no paper trail to document them ;-)

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Exactly. My African roots go WAY back. Not possible to trace.

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Yes, indeed!

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Uh huh.  Undocumented still.

Answer 3

Yep.  A male ancestor was transported from one of the Caribbean islands to Tasmania or New South Wales.  I am heading the  Black Heritage in Australia sub-project! 

Answer 4

Here is my Video Answer to this weeks question

Answer 5

Yes, I do, but I haven't been able to figure out who the specific ancestor/ancestors were. I only have 2% Sub-Saharan, but my sister has 5% and my 1C1Rs, a generation older, have 5%-12%. So we know which line, but unfortunately my GGF was adopted. Based on my African DNA matches and attempts to triangulate the trees in that line, the common element is Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and the family name seems to Crawford. Unfortunately records for the black residents were poor back in the early-mid 1800s. I suspect the original African ancestor was deemed a British loyalist during the American Revolution or was a 'servant' of a British Loyalist and made their way to Nova Scotia. There is one Crawford that I found in the Book of Negroes, but I don't think that that person is from the same Crawford family as my ancestors. I think the original ancestor arrived in Canada (well, the British colony, back in the day) at Saint Johns NB and moved across the Bay of Fundy to current day Nova Scotia over the next generation or so. Once Covid is more settled, I'll definitely do a field trip to southern Nova Scotia!

Answer 6

According to my DNA results from MyHeritage, I have 8.9% North African and 2.6% West African (possibly Nigerian) heritage.  All the rest of me is West Asian, Central Asian,  North and West European, Celtic, and Iberian Peninsula.

Comments

Iberian Peninsula may be you Native roots. Check your results again, since they've updated it on Ancestry. Plus, you can see different Haplotypes and Admixtures on GedMatch.com.

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They've updated my DNA results from MyHeritage on Ancestry? That's interesting! I'll look at my results again.

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Yes, it used to show my uncle as 3% Africa (Mali -2, Senegal 1), 37% Grest Britain, 28% Irish, 26% West Europe, 2% Iberian Peninsula, 1% European Jew, 1% Italian, 1% East European, and 1% Finland.

Now it shows as 44% England/NW European, 15% Welsh, 38% Scots, 2% Cameroon/Congo/Bantu, 1%Native. That's not fully correct either, due to research on the tree, which I need to add on here.

Answer 7

Yes. I am descended Elizabeth Key (Key-41) on my father's side. According to my DNA results I am 1% Benin/Togo, however, I don't believe it comes from Elizabeth Key since none of my cousins on my father's side share that. My cousins on my mothers side show the 1% African. I have a few suspects, but they are currently brick walls.

Answer 8

Well, I am Afro-Caribbean so the majority of my Ancestry is African.

On my mother's side it's mostly Nigerian. On my father's side is mostly Ghanaian with some Nigerian and Angolan.

Comments

How far back have you been able to trace your ancestry?

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Depends on the line, 1600s for my father's paternal line, early 1800s for his maternal line and stuck in the 1900s for my maternal line.

Answer 9

I’ve got one great great great great grandmother and she is Krotoa (Eva) van de Goringhaicona (Meerhoff). Her husband was Peter Havgaard ( meerhoff). She is a Khoi Khoi. They probably lived in zuid afrika for 10.000 years. The Khoi language consist of clicks. She grew up in the house of van Riebeeck. She was the first inhabitant of the cape, who was baptized (mei 3,1662). She was also the first native african to convert to chritianity and also the first to merry a european.

Comments

Sounds like a very interesting language.

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Hello, it’s an interesting language.. I also have an interesting family tree. I myself am from the netherlands. And my mother from South Africa. In my family tree is also the European  royal family. But also in Z.A. are interesting people. Like Angela van Bengalen. She was a slave, and married a white man. Her daugher she was merried to Oloff Bergh he was from Sweden. And also they managed Great Constantia  on the Cape, a wine yard. Later onother ancestor of mine managed the wine yard. This is Hendrik Cloete, and later his son Jacob Pieter Cloete. Now it is a trust. Even Napoleon Bonaparte (also family) had his wine from St Helena. Where he was exiled. And so i can tell a lot more about my family tree that goes all over the world. Best regards Georgina de Winter Bout

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My, that is an interesting family history. Your family's wines must have been excellent! I suppose if you're exiled in St. Helena, South Africa may have the closest decent wine. I live about 100 miles from the town of St. Helena in California in the USA. Just to mention coincidence. And on my mother's side, my great grandmother's maiden name was Weinbrenner. However, there are not any professional makers of wine since their arrival in America in 1752, and I have not been able to trace them in Germany before that date.

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Hi, allison. Have something nice for you. I have read Sofia Caspari book. In the land of the coral tree. There is also a Brunner-Weinbrenner in it. Greetings

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Oh, how nice. It doesn't look like her book has been translated into English, I checked on the internet. My German is rudimentary, and my Dutch is worse.

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Very interesting.  The Khoi Khoi folks are considered by some scientist to be the earliest yet discovered of our species and with the most genetic diversity.

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That's fascinating!  Thanks for sharing, Mary.  I'll have to look up more info on this.

Answer 10

Known parts of my family trace back to Case-Pilote, Martinique. Some were enslaved but later emancipated. Not surprisingly, DNA indicates a West African connection.

Answer 11

Yes I do. On my father's side, my ancestors from Africa came from what is now known as Senegal, Benin, Togo, Ivory Coast and Nigeria. Recently, I found out that I had an ancestor from the Magreb (Northern Africa.) They came to the Bahamas and later to the USA.

Answer 12

About 12 years ago, my dad and one of his sister-in-laws discovered that my great-grandfather has mostly African and Native Ancestry. His family was from Nova Scotia, but he was born in Massachusetts. They've been able to to trace that line to a slave that was purchases in , I believe South Carolina and then he was taken up to Canada.

Answer 13

My Great Uncle had his DNA done, and it shows as 3% Western Africa/Congo area. My direct 3rd Great grandfather's grandfather is part of the source, and a brick wall.

Lawrence Bristol's New Jersey will states he was black, but we're having difficulty finding any other records of him besides a court case. We don't know if he was a slave, because there's no Manumission papers for him, nor has anyone found other records for him.

Answer 14

I'm 6th generation (Caucasian) African, I've lived here for 50 years, I've visited slave holding cells & whipping blocks in East Africa, broke my heart. Some not public knowledge.I have black friends around Africa, desperate to know where ancestors ended up,all our history is oral,DNA tests here are rare & costly.I've asked many to join here,to help with info they have.I'm happy to help you all in any way I can! African history in all the books is incorrect.DNA will prove this some day.Egypt & West African people are our NB link to the truth.

A friend in LIBERIA is a direct descendant of returned slaves from MARYLAND. If any need help, I have friends in : ZIMBABWE ZAMBIA SOUTH AFRICA GHANA NIGERIA MALAWI LIBERIA UGANDA KENYA TANZANIA

My hope is that each enslaved African will one day be identified & given back their name, remains returned to Africa & missing gaps in history filled. Our people are restless, most history is gone, all want to connect with their pasts & know where their relatives ended up.

We believe only then will our Continent find true peace.

Comments

Right on!

Answer 15

I have DNA from Sub-Saharan Africa, actually from two places in Africa (Congo and Senegal) which suggests an enslaved ancestor or two--since how else would they have gotten together at that great distance. No idea who my closest African heritage ancestor was, though, despite much speculation.

Answer 16

I recently discovered my great-great grandfather was Jewish Sephardi born in Morocco. His name was Abrahao Abitbol (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Abitbol-4) and he married a Portuguese woman also Sephardi called Felicidade Cohen (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Cohen-5504). So far I haven't been able to find birth or marriage records for them. They moved to the north of Brazil at some point in the 19th century and converted to Catholicism. My father used to say our Jewish ancestors were originally from Syria, so I was very surprised to learn they were actually from Morocco and Portugal.

Answer 17

Does WikiTree have a tool for stratifying and summarizing ancestors by continent and country of origin?

Answer 18

Yes.  My DNA shows 4% Sub-Saharan.  I've been able to identify the sources in my maternal line, the oldest going back to 1619 Jamestown...the first Africans to arrive from Angola on the White Lion, a pirate ship that had stolen the cargo from a Portuguese slaver.  That surname is Goins/Gowen, etc.  They eventually became known as Melungeons, a tri-racial group that hid out in the mountains of TN, KY,VA, NC (where the 4 states come together). My other lines that originated in what is now Senegal, Madigascar, and Mozambique have surnames Hataway/Hathaway and Dixon.  I can find these ancestors in Free Negro Registers, but haven't found slave records. Census records say my 4th g-grandfather DIXON was born in SC with children all born in MS....indicating a move as slaves, not as free Blacks.  The search continues.

Answer 19

Yes. I have finally confirmed my African roots from My dads side! I discovered my grandfather from my dad side was the first African-American detective in the city of Milwaukee Police Department along with his partner in the 1930s 40s 50s! I was estranged from them because my dad was passing, but I finally met my family after 60+ years I found them myself. From my grandmother side brown family that is an awesome legacy as well. So I can probably say without any doubt yes I do have African roots I knew it all along but no one would tell me. And now I know. Now I know where I came from I wish I had known sooner. I’m sure my store is not  an independent story of “passing for White“ that the generation of my parents had to do for survival sake sometimes but what I found by doing research is it caused a whole generation of cousins to miss out on bonding and relationships with them. That’s what I missed as a result of passing…  Twice my parents made, my father made… I wonder do we do a study on how many people changed their race on paper for survival back in the 40s 50s? I can see on my dad’s paper trail where he changed when he register for the selective service. Here’s my question how do I change it back? Because my race is incorrect on all of my documents how do you change it back to what it is supposed to be? Sorry to go off topic lol but yes I do and I know for sure now that I have African roots very deep ones.