Episode 141: Genealogy - Where Your Family Comes From

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Paige: You are listening to “Coffee with Gringos.” I’m Paige Sutherland.

Ian: And I’m Ian Kennedy.

Paige: And so today we are going to talk about genealogy. So, what that means is it is your family's history—where you come from—and here in the United States, since we are a country of immigrants, we all kind of have an interesting genealogy. We're from everywhere and that's what makes America pretty great. We are a nation of immigrants and so me and Ian are going to chat a little bit about our genealogy, our family background, what we know, what we don’t, maybe what we've discovered throughout our life. And so, listeners, as always, if you get lost, check out that audio guide and transcript online. Ian—genealogy. It's definitely been more and more popular these days. I think in the past five years, there's been a business around it where there are all these companies that you submit your DNA to and they give you a whole chart of where your great grandparents came from and your parents and their parents and all the way back and it's definitely something that a lot of people have participated in and are curious about. Like we said, especially with the US that people are from everywhere and so, it has been interesting, I guess how it's really become so popular at least here in the US to know your genealogy. What about you, Ian? Do you know it pretty well? Have you submitted your DNA to any of these companies?

Ian: Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned that. This industry has exploded in the last, like you said, maybe ten or fifteen years to where we have that technology that exists now where you just swab your mouth, send it in and they tell you your genetic makeup which never existed before. So, it's really fascinating and people are really diving into this to figure out more about themselves. Where do they come from? These are the kind of questions we ask ourselves. So, me personally, I know my genealogy pretty well. We've been able to trace back on both sides of my family a little bit back. Some people are able to go back hundreds and hundreds of years. We’re still working on that—I'm still working on that. I know a pretty good idea of where my family’s come from. It’s a little bit all over the place but mostly from Europe. So, my grandpa is from Canada. On my dad's side of the family, it's very Irish. The Kennedys, they came over to the US in I think the year 1800 so, a little while ago. It’s been really fascinating because I've been home for a little while visiting my family here in the US and I've been helping my mom clean out my grandparents’ house and while we were cleaning out the house, we happened to find a really old box and we opened up this box and there were old letters from the late 1800s, early 1900s from some of my distant relatives—or sorry—from some of my ancestors. And it was fascinating to dive into these and really learn things that I hadn't learned before—old letters between friends, between family. And this is my family on my mother's side that came over from the Czech Republic—this eastern European area—and they actually came from a region called Plzen and Plzen is where the first pilsner beer was invented. So, I think that explains why I drink so much beer—why I like it so much. But it was interesting to look at these old letters and see 1905, 1910, seeing old obituaries from my family from back in the Czech Republic. I also found out that my great, great aunt died in a factory fire in New York City when she was seventeen years old. Back in the early 1900s, they would lock the doors and keep everyone in the factory to work and she was, unfortunately, a victim of one of those. So, we had her obituaries, the last letter she wrote, it was almost eerie in a way to see that but I have been diving headfirst into all of this and again really trying to find out more about myself and more about my family history. I just think it's fascinating.

Paige: That's great. I mean, I think it's good that you're taking the initiative to do it because, like you said, who you are is where you came from, so it's really important to kind of trace that back and learn more about yourself.

Paige: Hey, Ian. Did you know besides the podcast, Dynamic English offers one-on-one classes with native teachers from all over the world?

Ian: Really? But isn't it just a bunch of grammar lessons?

Paige: No, it's completely discussion-based and focuses on topics the student is interested in.

Ian: That's amazing. But what if I'm not living in Chile?

Paige: No problem. Dynamic does online classes so you can be living anywhere.

Ian: Great, but I'm a little intimidated to take the class alone. Can I join with a friend?

Paige: Of course. Dynamic offers group classes of up to four. Plus, for the next month, Coffee with Gringos listeners get 10% off individual or group classes. So go online to www.dynamicenglish.cl and mention that you are a listener and get your discount.

Ian: Well, I'm sold. Sign me up.

Paige: Yeah, so that's really interesting that since you've been home, you're digging into your old relics. What are some other fascinating things that you've found about your family that didn't know before?

Ian: Well, another cool thing was I found all these obituaries in the box as well that were from old newspaper clippings and they were all written in Czech. So, what I did is I plugged all of them into Google Translate into a document. I found all these old obituaries of my great, great, great grandfather and great, great, great grandmother and like I said, they came from the Bohemia, Czech Republic region and we found out that they came over in probably 1878 to New York City, which I think is really fascinating to me as well because this was during a time in the US when there was a huge influx of especially European immigrants. This is just something I never knew. Like you said, the US is a nation of immigrants and so a big question is when did my family actually come over from where they immigrated from? And so, for me to find out that that side of my family didn't come over until 1878 to New York City, and at that time it was just such a wild and kind of a newer place and I just like to imagine what life was like back then for them and coming to a place that you have never seen before. There were no photos to see, there were no videos. You just had to take a leap of faith and hope that you were doing something to make your life better. For me, that was super interesting to see, and then also on my mother's side, my grandmother, her father—my great grandfather—he was British. He came from London to the US in 1923—sometime in the 1920s—and I also, personally for me, for my family, I consider that it's kind of late to come over. So, it's really interesting just to find out I have these British roots, these Czech roots, these Irish roots. It’s just fun to find out where your family comes from and see if it can help explain some things as well. So that's been super interesting for me personally and my goal is to keep finding out more and more until I have it all figured out.

Paige: I bet you probably want to do some traveling too to really see where your family came from. I think that's exciting.

Ian: Exactly, I have some new places to put on the list now. So, it's fun.

Paige: Definitely. I mean, I think it's unfortunately common for people in the US to not really explore that rich history of where their great grandparents came from because, at least for us, a lot of people I know are not first-generation. So, my parents were born here. I'm assuming your parents were born here but it is interesting going a little further back to see how we kind of got here. I haven't done a deep dive into my genealogy. It doesn't go back that far in the sense where I'm not a huge mix. I'm half Irish, half Scottish so like if I submitted my DNA, I don't think I'd find something like, “oh my god I'm also German and Russian.” My mom's maiden name is Casey and my dad's name is Sutherland. They're very Scottish and Irish.

Ian: Very Scotch-Irish.

Paige: Yeah, but it was cool when my grandfather passed many years ago, we went to Scotland because he didn't come over to the US until right after my dad was born and so, it was cool to be in Scotland and see my name everywhere and I had a billion cousins that I didn't know about and I think that is sad about when people immigrate to the US, they often lose ties with their family. So, I just have so much family and all over the world that I didn't even know about, especially because back then, families were so much larger. Both of my grandparents from Scotland are one of like eight kids and all those eight kids had eight kids, and so I have like a billion cousins that I've never met that are, I guess, second cousins. You know, not like fourth cousins. Pretty close, which is interesting.

Ian: You find out pretty quick that the family tree is more extensive than you originally thought, right?  A lot more branches than we had imagined.

Paige: Yeah, I mean, to have a family of eight kids and have both grandparents have that, it just means you have so many other distant relatives, which is interesting and because a lot of people left Europe—like my grandparents left Scotland to go to the US—but then one of their brothers went to Australia, one of the others went to London. So, it's kind of like you have Sutherlands all over the world.

Ian: Exactly, Sutherlands everywhere spreading those branches all around. But no, it's so interesting to find these things out and it kind of can help explain a little bit about yourself and me at least I feel like I'm not really answering a lot of questions I have necessarily but it's just very interesting to know where did we come from? And, like you said, it's so easy to just forget about that, to just think in the present moment. But I think it's important to look back and appreciate what your ancestors did or who they were, if you didn't know them, and just, again, have a better understanding of yourself and your family.

Paige: I agree I think it's also important too because that generation, especially like our grandparents and great grandparents, struggled a lot. Times were rough and a lot of people flee their home country because they were looking for a better life and fleeing something that was negative. You wouldn't leave a place that you love or having a good quality of life and so, it is also important to learn about the struggles and sacrifices that a lot of our generational family have made so that we could have a great life in the US and have all these privileges and benefits. So, it is important to learn that story. I think what's interesting too about all these DNA companies is that a lot of people have learned maybe positive news but also negative news that my father has another kid that I didn't know about which could be bad if your parents are happily married and the kid was not known. But it also could be good if you have a new sister that you didn't know about and this technology allows people to kind of connect with family that they might not have ever known about or met.

Ian: Exactly.

Paige: It is funny people submit those and find out some dark family histories.

Ian: Exactly. Or they find out that they have family history in a place they never thought it was actually part of their genetic makeup. That can be surprising for some people as well. So, like you said, it can be good or bad depending on your outlook on the results, but it's always interesting nonetheless.

Paige: Yeah, so like Ian did you know going through old newspaper clippings and learning more about his family, I recommend to listeners, everyone should really do it. I mean, there's so much to learn. Maybe you don't have those newspaper clippings, but ask your grandparents, talk to your family, ask about their story and I think you'll find it very fascinating and maybe you'll learn more about yourself. Especially nowadays where we more time on our hands and we're inside more, it’s good to do this now before life gets busy again. So, again, listeners, as always, check out that audio guide and transcript online. Thanks for listening.

Ian: We'll see you next time.

Ian: “Coffee with Gringos” officially has over one hundred episodes and we are among the “Top Podcasts in Chile”. And that’s thanks to you. But we are always working to grow our audience so make sure to rate sure to rate, review and share us. 

Key Vocabulary, Phrases & Slang:

 1.     to submit (verb): present or give something to be analyzed or investigated.

a.     She submitted a formal document to the committee.

2.     DNA (noun): a molecule carrier of genetic information.

a.     His DNA matches all records that his family came from East Asia.

3.     to swab (verb): to collect skin tissue or body material using an absorbent material.

a.     The doctor needs to swab the inside of the patient’s mouth for the test.

4.     fascinating (adjective): extremely interesting; compelling.

a.     Finding out about my family history has been absolutely fascinating.

5.     to dive into (phrasal verb): to become completely focused or committed to something.

a.     My goal is to continue to dive into my family tree and history.

6.     to trace (verb): to find or discover by investigation.

a.     The researcher traces people’s family history back for hundreds of years.

7.     ancestor (noun): a person from one’s family usually from generations older than one’s grandparents.

a.     Her ancestors came from Europe even though her family has been in the US for many years.

8.     obituary (noun): a newspaper notice of a death, usually including a biography.

a.     The obituary is from 1890 and seems to be written in a European language.

9.     eerie (adjective): strange and frightening.

a.     An eerie feeling came over them as they went through the old house.

10.  relic (noun): a historic object surviving from an earlier time.

a.     Finding so many relics in the house has been almost like a treasure hunt.

11.  influx (noun): an arrival of large numbers of people or things.

a.     The US experienced a large influx of immigrants in the late 1800s.

12.  leap of faith (noun): an act of believing in something which cannot be proven.

a.     She took a leap of faith and decided to move from her original country.

13.  first-generation (adjective): the first generation to become a citizen or to be born in a new country.

a.     She is a first-generation citizen as her parents came from Finland.

14.  extensive (adjective): large in amount or scale.

a.     The family tree becomes more and more extensive as one researches it.

15.  to flee (verb): to run away from someone or something.

a.     The family decided to flee the dangerous country in hopes of new opportunities.