# Whoa... shocking family secret revealed! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 26, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-shocking-family-secret-revealed/569060 "2011-01-26T16:24:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-shocking-family-secret-revealed/569060/21 "2011-01-27T00:11:47Z")
Wow that’s messed up. My mother found proof that her father had had an older sister that lived and died (age 4) before any of the other kids were born. Nobody ever mentioned it and, as far as we know, none of the other kids even knew about it. Mom mentioned it to her aunt (my grandmother’s sister) - she refused to believe there had been another child … and never spoke to my mom again. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-shocking-family-secret-revealed/569060/22 "2011-01-27T18:09:40Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > That raises an interesting point, Mtgman. At this point, the only source we have for the incest story is family legend/rumor. Is there anyway a DNA analysis of my mother, or me, would be able to tell if my grandfather was the product of incest? From such a small sample size, from so long ago, probably not. If everyone living were suddenly sequenced, we’d be able to. The way to do it would be to look up the y chromosome signatures and if none of them matched then we could have a high confidence level it was incest. But from just you and your mother, not really. I’m just saying that as individual genetic sequencing becomes more common we’ll get closer and closer to being able to do a search for “who might have been the father of my grandfather?” If we don’t find any matches in male descendants of other members of the community at the time your grandfather was conceived, then incest becomes more likely. A sequence of your great-great-grandfather and your grandfather would be necessary to seal the deal though, and those are pretty unlikely at this point. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-shocking-family-secret-revealed/569060/23 "2011-01-27T18:17:14Z")
Upon closer reading I see this is your matriarchal line and since there would have been other y-chromosomes introduced by your father, it would be less likely your DNA would have relevant information. Your mother’s DNA and all the DNA in the reasonable set of men who may have had relations with your great-grandmother during the right time would be necessary. I think I got all the people/relationships straight that time. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-shocking-family-secret-revealed/569060/24 "2011-01-27T19:39:12Z")
> [@Mtgman](#): > > Upon closer reading I see this is your matriarchal line and since there would have been other y-chromosomes introduced by your father, it would be less likely your DNA would have relevant information. Your mother’s DNA and all the DNA in the reasonable set of men who may have had relations with your great-grandmother during the right time would be necessary. I think I got all the people/relationships straight that time. > > Enjoy, > Steven Thanks. Theoretically I think I can get straight male-line descendents from both my GF and G-G-GF whom we could use to compare Y-chromosomes but I don’t think anyone really cares to invest that much into it. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-shocking-family-secret-revealed/569060/25 "2011-01-28T01:58:54Z")
One whole branch of my ancestry might be totally wrong. They were very practical farmers with large families. And there were rumors of baby trading with my Grandma. That one family had too many girls and no one to work in the field, and another family had too many boys and no one to work in the house, so they would trade newborns. If true It’s not shameful, more like an adoption without paperwork, but still interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-shocking-family-secret-revealed/569060/26 "2011-01-28T15:40:08Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > We have a few examples of cousins marrying cousins in the early 1800s in my tree. I guess women were in short supply then. Charles Darwin married his first cousin in 1839. It wasn’t all that uncommon back then - or now, in some parts of the world: [Cousin marriage - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cousin_marriage) Barack Obama, I read, once told a friend, “Some of my family looks like Bernie Mac, and some of my family looks like Margaret Thatcher.” ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-shocking-family-secret-revealed/569060/27 "2011-01-28T19:23:53Z")
Supposedly, there’s something not quite as bad on my husband’s side of the family. His GGGrandfather impgregnated his older blind sister. This happened in the 1880s and there are NO official records that we can find of the birth and no “surprise” younger siblings. So who knows? There’s also some intermarriage on my dad’s family. Apparently, there weren’t too many people in Webster County, KY in the 1850s and 1860s, because three sisters married three brothers. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-shocking-family-secret-revealed/569060/28 "2011-01-29T01:29:13Z")
I have one ancestor who lived in the 1800’s who seems to not have been very forthcoming on the identity of his parents. Official census forms are blank in that area. My family and I have speculated on this, and it may be that he was illegitimate and embarrassed over this fact (for a white farmer, pioneer, and family man in 1860, it would have been much more of a big deal than it would be today), he could have been a fugitive, or he could have been a foundling who legitimately didn’t know the identity of his parents. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-shocking-family-secret-revealed/569060/29 "2011-01-29T02:09:41Z")
A) I’m an Eastern European living very near West Virginia. Interesting, yes - shocking, no. B) For anything DNA related in genealogy, the name to remember is Megan Smolenyak. Yes - she is attached to [ancestry.com](http://ancestry.com) but she knows her stuff. And if you need a reference, let me know – we’re related. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-shocking-family-secret-revealed/569060/30 "2011-01-29T02:56:49Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Yeah, unless the white ancestors only entered the family tree more recently than that. It’s only been 150 years. Best wishes, hh ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-shocking-family-secret-revealed/569060/31 "2011-01-29T03:36:55Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Any black american lighter than Wesley Snipes almost certainly has slave owners in the family tree. Are you a Birther? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-shocking-family-secret-revealed/569060/32 "2011-01-29T03:40:21Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > A) I’m an Eastern European living very near West Virginia. Interesting, yes - shocking, no. > > … Are you in Loudoun County, Virginia? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-shocking-family-secret-revealed/569060/33 "2011-01-29T03:46:55Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Are you in Loudoun County, Virginia? Not **kopek** , but that is where I grew up and where I am at this very moment! And I went to college in West Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-shocking-family-secret-revealed/569060/34 "2011-02-16T15:25:29Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Well, it’s possible the wife was very sick for a long while or something (she was 45). I think I’ll try to get a hold of the death certificate and see what’s listed as the cause. > [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Or, say, “falling” down the stairs… :eek: Just bumping the thread to provide an update on this question, the official cause of death was influenza. That’s pretty reasonable and would be an unlikely cover for a more nefarious event. So my great-great-grandfather may have raped his own daughter but at least he probably didn’t kill his wife :D. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-shocking-family-secret-revealed/569060/35 "2011-02-16T15:29:31Z")
Rats! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![serious\_lark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@serious\_lark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/serious_lark)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-shocking-family-secret-revealed/569060/36 "2011-02-16T20:59:44Z")
Jack Nicholson only discovered as an adult (after a reported did some sleuthing) that the woman he thought was his sister was in fact his mother, and the woman he`d been calling mom all his life was biologically his grandmother. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack\_Nicholson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Nicholson) I can only imagine how traumatic that must have been, especially since both his mom and grandmother were dead when he found out. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-shocking-family-secret-revealed/569060/37 "2011-02-16T21:36:17Z")
I suspect if it weren’t for cousin humping, many of us wouldn’t be here to say “Ewwww!”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-shocking-family-secret-revealed/569060/38 "2011-02-16T21:54:43Z")
I had a big crush on my cousin when I was in high school. She was my age, and had long beautiful red hair. And she was my _second_ cousin, so that barely even counts! But she lived in a different state and I only saw her occasionally. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-shocking-family-secret-revealed/569060/39 "2011-02-17T02:52:47Z")
> [@serious\_lark](#): > > Jack Nicholson only discovered as an adult (after a reported did some sleuthing) that the woman he thought was his sister was in fact his mother, and the woman he`d been calling mom all his life was biologically his grandmother. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack\_Nicholson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Nicholson) I can only imagine how traumatic that must have been, especially since both his mom and grandmother were dead when he found out. Something similiar happened to my friend’s dad – when he was about 12 he found out that his mother was actually his grandmother. (I don’t remember exactly what the whole story was, though, this was years ago, when I was in high school) Only in this case, he never met his mother until he was an adult. Cousin marriage – look at European royalty! ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-shocking-family-secret-revealed/569060/40 "2011-02-17T04:22:12Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Back to the OP: I feel like I should be quoting “Chinatown!” :eek: Well, _I_ am certainly in a Chinatown quoting mood! “He’s your father!” Slap! “He’s your grandfather!” Slap! “He’s your father!” Slap! “He’s your grandfather!” Slap Slap Slap Slap Slap! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-shocking-family-secret-revealed/569060.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-shocking-family-secret-revealed/569060.md?page=3)