The results are in....

If you hadn't all ready figured it out, I've been on pins and needles waiting on my results from AncestryDNA.  What is AncestryDNA, you ask? Well, learn all about it HERE -but in a nutshell, a lab analyzes a sample of your DNA and compares it to the over 700,000 markers examined on your genome to every other person in the database, resulting in an amazing breakdown of the very origins of your family lineage.  In theory, it sounded awesome, so I knew I wanted to try it.  When I unwrapped the box from John for Valentine's Day, I was anxious/excited/scared/uncertain--for so long I've had an idea of what my family might be and been able to map it fairly well, but this would put me one step closer to lining up pieces and closing gaps.

So...my obligatory 6-8 weeks has come and gone, and the results are in. Here they are!:

So here's what we've learned. Consistent with the genealogy (that my sister primarily) done in the past, we are indeed descendants of a past where slavery met European prominence.  The Cameroonian and other tribal roots can be traced back to when my ancestors were brought over to America via Haiti and then New Orleans, and sold into slavery, eventually settling into South Louisiana (Clinton). The name Beauchamp derives its origins from the Great Britain region, which encompasses England, Scotland, Wales, and parts of France. It should come as no surprise that we've been able to uncover on my dad's side where the lineage started to turn a little 'caramel' in the mid 1800's as a result of slave and slave owner interaction, and similar results on my mom's side as well.

This has been the most interesting thing ever--and it's just getting started.  I am so excited about the delineation of tribes within my African makeup.  I cannot wait to start researching and looking at the these tribes and different cultures within.   It's also very neat to see the European results line up with the little that we do know about those influences in our family heritage. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who has ever wanted a starting point or supplement to their genealogical research.  These results also link up directly with my Ancestry.com profile, so these results will now be integrated into my digital family tree!