Deciphering our past Part 3 : FGC53429+ DUKES & NOBILITY IN FRANCE

Posted on May 30, 2026     Leave a Comment

Introduction

In this chapter we switch our focus from the parent SNP FGC22501 to a specific sub-clade SNP FGC53429+, but still with our eyes on the Sun Wheel symbol. Our target area for FGC53429+ on the map above is in Gallia Belgica. This map show the early Celtic Tribes of about 200 BCE. The previously mentioned Ad(t)uatuci Tribe in the middle top. I have added the areas of early La Tène Boii concentration about 450 BCE [green outlines]. The FGC53429+ descendants were bishops and hereditary episcopal nobility of Reims, Trier, Verdun, Metz, Laon, Cologne, Utrecht, Lincoln, St-Davids, Durham, Bruges, and Antwerp. Is it possible that they were descendants of the Ad(t)uatuci and later the Suessiones Tribe that each had versions of the Sun Wheel on their coins?

The following is the timeline of FGC22501 to FGC53429. In essence traveling form Bohemia to Belgica about 574 current age.

  • R1b>U152>L2>FGC22501 appears to have originated in Bohemia about 2200 BCE [As above]
  • R1b>U152>L2>FGC22501>FGC22538 originated about 2153 BCE
  • R1b>U152>L2>FGC22501>FGC22538>FGC22516 originated 1591 BCE
  • R1b>U152>L2>FGC22501>FGC22538>FGC22516>FGC22518 originated about 1585 BCE
  • R1b>U152>L2>FGC22501> as above FGC22518>FGC42117 originated 1469 BCE All the above likely staying in Bohemia
  • R1b>U152>L2>FGC22501>as above FGC22518>FGC42117> FGC42109 originated about 998 BCE perhaps beginning to migrate
  • R1b>U152>L2>FGC22501>as above FGC22518>FGC42117> FGC42109> FGC53429 originated about 574 CE in Belgica.

Symbols of Power

Symbols reduce the infinite complexity of the world or the universe into manageable, recognizable pieces, allowing for immediate understanding. They are effective in branding and recognizing, power, authority or affiliation. They are evocative and have the capacity to move people, acting as catalysts for passion, belief and sometimes action, as in a holy war. So might an ancient Sun Wheel be both an external and internal symbol used to identify in this case both secular and spiritual power. From ancient Celtic seers to later marquis? Heraldic designs came into general use among European nobility in the 12th century. Systematic, heritable heraldry began at the beginning of the 13th century. But before that we see the Sun wheel still in use in Anglo-Saxon coins 690-715. Although difficult to piece together this early symbol dating back as far as the Royal Game of Ur 2600-2400 BCE we can see the Sun Wheel symbol. The Wheel itself is invented about 3500 BCE. The Domestication of the horse perhaps around 2200 BCE on the Eurasian Steepe. In many ancient traditions the sun god or goddess is responsible for pulling the sun across the sky each day via horse and chariot. Those who can understand and explain the powers of god and the universe are both revered and feared. They co-opt the power of the gods.

Due to the extensive work of Vanessa Van der Beke we have found that the 5 or sometimes 3 annulets [rings] are frequent symbols appearing on the Blason (Coat of Arms) of families and places associated with FGC2253429+. Is this a coincidence? Almost all arms with annulets belong to marquess [episcopal nobility]. (However, not all marquess have arms with rings / annulets). There were many places and families in France and elsewhere having arms with rings. Vanessa was able to connect them to the palatine counts (episcopal counts) of the Carolingians and their successors. A sampling below.

Arms of Erdorf, near Bitburg, Germany
Vienne le Chauteau Coat of Arms 25. Miles West of Verdun, France
Blason of Raoul de Louppy-le-Château
Ornes Coat of Arms 10 Miles North of Verdun
Niepperberg Coat of Arms from Bidgau
Van der Beke Coat of Arms

Timeline

  • 100-57 BCE Aduatuci coins minted with 5 annulets
  • 57 BCE Dispersal of surviving Aduatuci after their conquest by Ceasar
  • 140 CE Vicus Beda (Bitburg) founded. Bitburg was stopping place for travelers from Lyon through Metz and Trier to Cologne.
  • 400 CE End of Roman rule & takeover by Frankish Tribes
  • 690-715 CE Frisian Sceattas Anglo Saxon coins minted with 5 annulets
  • 715 CE Frankish Castrum Bedense (Bitburg) became the capital of the Bidgau (Bitburg province)
  • 720 CE, the noble Frankish woman Bertrada founded an abbey in Prüm, close to Bitburg and Trier
  • 768 CE Charlemagne made Prüm his personal abbey with possessions in Belgium, the Netherlands, France & Germany with 300 monks
  • 795 – 855 CE Lotharius I, King of Lorraine was buried in the abbey of Prüm . The abbey of Prûmh had a villa in Erdorf near Bitburg, which belonged to vassals of the counts of Vianden who had arms with annulets. Erdorf’s coat of Arms had 5 annulets
  • Count Wigeric(k) From 915 or 916, he was the count palatine of Lotharingia. He was the founder of the House of Ardennes. He died 9 July 953 He married Cunegonde of the Carolingans (from whom the van der beke line descends)
  • Count Gerald (Gozello) of Metz (911-942/3) married Oda of Saxony (905-965)
  • Bruno the Great (925-965) his brother Otto I appointed him Duke of Lorraine.
  • Van der Beke arms and the arms used by the military commanders and masters of accounts from the duchy of Bar from the former duchy of Lorraine, Arms 5 silver annulets on a red field [see above]
  • c1147 Geoffroy de Vienne et de Louppy with Arms with 5 annulets, gold on red field [see above]

Background on the Noble Titles

Following the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire the Merovingians were the ruling family of the Franks c481-751 who established the largest and most powerful kingdom in Western Europe. They followed the Roman laws and were served by mayors of the palace who liked weak kings so they could increase their own power and territory. Until one of them grabbed the highest power and became king himself and ancestor of Charlemagne creating the dynasty of the Carolingians.


Charlemagne (748-814) was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian Empire from 800-814. When Charlemagne became emperor he had one big concession: the imperial title belonged to the ancient Roman empire, so to continue it, he had to share it with the highest entity in Rome: the pope. The title of emperor belonged worldly 50% to the emperor and ecclesiastically 50% to the pope and the realm was called the Roman-German Empire. During his reign Charlemagne made great efforts on behalf of medieval education. Later the Ottonian emperors (919-1024) of the German or Saxon dynasties expanded them further, mainly through abbey and chapter schools. Children of the nobility, ministerials, and the wealthy attended these schools. Precursors to formalized noble classes were high-status clans, warrior elites, or landholding families before the standardization of hereditary titles. About 1250 in France the proto-nobility emerges before the introduction of marquis sometimes changed to: sire, prince, marquis, margrave, knight, page, esquire, or simply count (earl). In the medieval context, the Latin word ‘marchio’ meant among other things: marquis, margrave, marshal, but equally count palatine, episcopal count, accountant, chancellor, governor, diplomat, bailiff, or counselor.

By virtue of his ecclesiastical position, the Marquis or Margrave was usually educated in both secular and ecclesiastical law. In addition to guarding and defending the imperial or royal domain, the palace, and/or borderland, a Marquis was also frequently employed as a diplomat. A marquisate is the territory, domain, or rank held by a marquis, marquess, or marchioness. It could be an entire county such as Flanders or only a part of it like Vienne (le-château) in the county of Bar.
Furthermore, it could be a secular or ecclesiastical marquisate, in contrast to a secular duchy which contained multiple counties. In a modern context, a marquisate roughly corresponds to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a duchy to a Ministry of the Interior, both assisted by the Ministries of Justice and Defense.

A key element of Emperor Otto I’s (912-973) domestic policy was to strengthen ecclesiastical authorities at the expense of the nobility who threatened his power. So he filled the ranks of the episcopate with his own relatives and with loyal chancery clerks. As protector of the Church he invested them with the symbols of their offices, both spiritual and secular , so the clerics were appointed as his vassals through a commendation ceremony. The bishops had the right to appoint a temporary “count for life” (comte viager), theoretically subject to the authority of the bishop. These counts were selected from the noble family of Ardennes. Because of the duality of the imperial title their servants were equal : this meant a bishop and a king were equal, a duke and a count palatine (marquess) were equal. One holding the worldly power and the other the ecclesiastical power. They were always second : to the king of France, England, the dukes of Bar, the counts of Flanders. But as ecclesiastic equals they served as regents when the worldly emperor, king, duke, count was absent we replaced his authority.

The division of power between church and state, pope and emperor had serious consequences because everything needed to be divided. The emperor had kings, the kings appointed dukes (who controlled a whole territory ie.: Lorraine). The pope had bishops, the bishops appointed count palatines (seneshals who controlled border lands called marks, hence the name of margraves – mark counts – later changed into marquess). These margraves served also as episcopal counts protecting the bishoprics, when the bishop obtained worldly power from the emperor he became a countal bishop (Verdun) or a prince bishop like in Cologne, Utrecht, Liège and Durham. Over centuries the pope lost more of his power and the Roman-German empire changed into the German Empire. 

If you look closely this coin contains the symbol of the Sun Wheel. It appears on coins from the Macedonian through the Byzantine Dynasties. it is a sign of power.

Emperor Constantine VIII (reigning 1025–1028) Histamenon

Case Study : van ver beke

At the time of the Dukes of Lorraine, beginning in 959, Upper and Lower Lorraine, the royal lineage of the House of Ardennes (Verdun) was a marquisate of the Holy Roman Empire vis-à-vis the Kingdom of France. Van der Beke, comes from the royal family of the House of Ardennes (Verdun), they also possessed, on the border between the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire, the count-bishopric marquisates of:

  • Moncel-lez-Lunéville for the Count-Bishopric of Metz.
  • Vienne (later Vienne-le-Château) for the Count-Bishopric of Verdun
  • Louppy (later Louppy-le-Château)
  • Chardogne for the Count-Bishopric of Toul, which they had acquired through investiture.
  • County of Voncq (possibly) next to the originally Merovingian palace of Attigny, which briefly served as a Christmas and summer residence under the Carolingians,
Map of Verdun 1910 CC Gallica Digital Library

Returning to the Blason (Coat of Arms) of the families and places associated with FGC2253429+ we see how the symbol was adopted by families and places alike. It reminds me of a family heirloom whose provenance has been lost to time but whose story can be read in its symbol. Or in this case the YDNA.

Episcopal counts like van der Beke made their titles hereditary and no emperor or king could intervene. The titles were open to either males or females so you could have a marquess and a marchioness. We see this in this text of the prince-bishop and count palatine Anthony van der Beke. The episcopal principality of Metz was a bishopric state of the Holy Roman Empire. This State is distinct from the diocese of Metz, founded in the 4th century, initially subordinate to the ecclesiastical province of Trier, over which the spiritual authority of the bishop is exercised, and which extends over part of the Lorraine area. The episcopal principality is for its part the set of territories (possibly disjointed) over which the bishop exercises the temporal power of a lord, disposing of high, medium or low justice depending on the case. The bishops of Metz, who initially came under the Duchy of Lorraine, obtained imperial immediacy as temporal lords of the episcopal principality in the 11th century, and were part of the college of ecclesiastical princes at the Diet of the Empire. In the 11th century, the influence of the Holy Roman emperors faded; the royal counts become dukes of Lorraine, while the bishops, residing on the spot, concentrated more and more in their hands the temporal power the exercise of which they delegated to their counts palatine; these become “episcopal counts. Verdun was part of the middle kingdom of Lotharingia and in 1374 it became a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. The Bishopric of Verdun formed together with Tull (Toul) and Metz the Three Bishoprics, which were annexed by France in 1552.

The Sun Wheel does not belong to FGC22501 exclusively or its descendants— However following the DNA and this symbol shows a connection that does tell a story. We can never fully know the truth of a thing, but we can follow it deeply and perhaps get a richer view of history for doing so. This story may get further chapters as more discoveries are made. I hope it has whetted your appetite to dig a little deeper into your own stories.

And here’s where it came full circle. In part one I showed the Cross of St Cuthbert showing the familiar symbol . It happened to pop up on my Facebook feed. I sent the photo to Vanessa. She offered an explanation Anthony van der Beke (de Beck) was the bishop and chancellor of the Flemish count and the county of Flanders Seger. Van der Beke traveled with gold, emeralds etc as gifts from the Flemish count. This may be how the Cross of St Cuthbert makes its way to Durham Cathedral in 697 CE. We tend toward thinking people lived in isolation. They did not. Whether we want to draw discrete lines around countries, cultures, art or people—they will ever defy our attempts to hem them in. There is something in that which comforts me and my historical world view. We discover, we fashion we re-fashion. “There’s nothing new under the sun.” Remember that next time you pick up a dice—

More Exploration

  • First Horse Warriors (exploring the Botai culture of the Eurasian Steppe) and Native Horse PBS documentary NOVA: Season 46, Episode 9 2021
  • The Horse the Wheel and Language: How Bronze Age riders from the Eurasian Steppes shaped the Modern World. by David W Anthony 2007
  • Who We Are and How We Got Here: ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past David Reich. 2018
  • Celtic Art: Symbols & Imagery. Miranda Green 1996

Kelly Wheaton ©2026 All Rights Reserved

Deciphering our past Part One: DNA to Decoration—following the trail of one YSNP FGC22501

Posted on May 24, 2026     1 Comment

Introduction

This blog post or what may be a series of blog posts is a collaboration of Vanessa Van der Beke and myself. She has done a lot of the heavy lifting research wise in often esoteric old texts. It has been an unexpected journey that I don’t think we could have ever imagined. You may wish to read some of the earlier posts on this page. To make a long story short my husband did a Full Genome Corporation Y Elite DNA test in 2014. In his sample a series of Y-SNPS (aka mutations) were newly discovered and named. They are FGC22500-FGC22550. The most important to our work was the SNP FGC22501. The R-U152-FGC22501: Celtic U152/L2/FGC22501 and subclades project was approved in October of 2015 and has grown to over 225 members nearly 11 years later.

At the time we had no idea where this SNP would lead us. We were very fortunate that the sequencing of ancient human skeletons led to an early match with one of the so-called Headless Roman Gladiators in the town of York, England. This individual known as 6Drif-22 was dated at about about 100-400 AD and back in 2016 this individual was the only ancient to share the SNP FGC22501 —his closest population affinity was with Belgium. Vanessa calls Belgium home and her family goes Van der Beke, comes from the royal family of the House of Ardennes with Wigeric’s son Gozlin (911–942/43) the dynasty’s ancestor and carrier of the FGC22501 SNP. More on that later.

Following the YDNA via YSNPS

The SNP path of FGC22501 is as follows roughly (TIMELINE within R1b):

  • M173 SNP c. 20,000 BCE
  • M343 c. 17,000 BCE R1b (very pervasive carried by over 110 Million men)
  • U152 c. 2700 BCE
  • L2 c. 2500 BCE
  • FGC22501 2450 BCE (the most recent discoveries may ous this date earlier)

The next discoveries that pushed us back from 6Drif-22 Roman age skeleton in York, England to an individual of the Únětice Culture from Jinonice , Prague 5, Czech Republic named I7202 dated 2200–1700 BCE. It is important to note that even at this early date Celtic tribes represented many different YDNA lines within the R1b umbrella. The core Western European subclade, splits into the two dominant branches: P312 and U106 . P312 (S116): Extremely is common in France, Iberia (Spain/Portugal), and the British Isles. These are the major subclades, with our own FGC22501 falling under U152>L2 .

  • L21 (M529): Common in the British Isles (Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany).
  • DF27 (S250): Dominant in Iberia and the Basque region.
  • U152 (S28): Prevalent in the Alpine region and Northern Italy, often associated with Italics and Celts.
  • U106 (S21): Prevalent in the Netherlands, Northern Germany, and Scandinavia, strongly associated with Germanic tribes

Although a subclade may be prevalent in certain areas other subclades are often well represented too. Humankind has been mixing it up for a very long time. So we have called FGC22501 a Celtic SNP but it has lots of company and going back in time it will be preceded with other cultures, not just Celtic. We got lucky and a few more FGC22501 skeletons were discovered within a 50 mile radius of Prague and representing somewhat more recent individuals from Radosevice cemetary dated c309-190 BCE named 21736 Hrobcice, I15951 Radosevice, and I14984 Radosevice. Then was added I18837 Széles földek, Hungary c320-200 BCE. And more recently we have 4 new individuals I38966, I39176, I39356, I39358 from the Karain Cave in Turkey. To place them in order of age see table below. So with these new samples we are able to reach back between 5000-7000 years just based on a YDNA SNP discovered originally in my husband.

NameLocationAgePeriodNotes
I38966Karain cave, Turkey Details to be announced ?FGC22501
I39176Karain cave, Turkey??FGC22501
I39356Karain cave, Turkey??FGC22501
I39358Karain cave, Turkey??FGC22501
I7202Prague 5, Jinonice, Zahradnictví, Czech2200–1700 BCEBronze AgeÚnětice Culture FGC22500
I14984Radosevice, Teplice, Czech330–280 BCEIron AgeLa Tene; FGC22538 > FGC22516 
I15951Radosevice, Teplice, Czech290-250 BCEIron AgeLa Tene; FGC22538
18837Széles földek, Sopron, Hungary320-200 BCEIron AgeLa Tene FGC22538> PAGES00073

Symbol of Interest: Sun Wheel or Halo Cross

Dating back over 4,500 years, the Royal Game of Ur was Excavated in the 1920s by Sir Leonard Woolley in the Royal Tombs of Ur (now Iraq). The rules of the game were lost for centuries but were deciphered by British Museum curator Irving Finkel from a cuneiform tablet from 177 BCE. This is the first know instance of a curious symbol that has been interpreted with many meanings. Here is a wikipedia photo From the British museum:

British Museum Royal game of Ur

The blocks with five circles or annulets become an important part of our story. In many ancient civilizations, God was represented by the sun in the center. Frequently used representation in Middle Eastern, Celtic, East Roman, West Roman, Merovingian, and Holy Roman empires was a sun cross based on a vertical or diagonal representation of the sun with the spring and autumn equinoxes and the summer and winter solstices or even the cardinal directions.

Equinoxes as the 4 points around the sun.
Wikipedia Ta’oulunga cc

Many ancient peoples observed the power of the sun God in the heavens. This symbol is adopted in many cultures. Later the divine stewards obtained their sun-based sun wheel through investiture via the divine status of the kings. SO this symbol, together with DNA allows us to trace some very early connections. The same 5 circles are seen in a natural phenomenon called a Halo Cross.

Some early examples:

So various cultures adopted this symbol into their decorations. The wheel was very important to ancient civilizations. The clay wheel from Spišský Štvrtok (Slovakia) is an archaeological artifact from the Early Bronze Age (around 1700–1500 BC). These wheels were small not for use but found in burials. This drawing of one from STUDIA HERCYNIA XV PREHISTORY OF EUROPE AS SEEN FROM ITS CENTRE Czech lands from Paleolithic to the end of the La Tène period in European context by By Jan Bouzek pg 41. “The end of Middle Bronze Age brought also changes in religious ideas. At time that roughly corresponds to period of Akhnathon’s religious reformation and his worship of sun god Aton (14 th century B.C.) also in the north of Europe reform brings to the centre of religious interest Sun god and/or Sun hero. “pg 40

Spišský Štvrtok (Slovakia) Clay Wheel 1700-1500 BCE
Achaemenid Gold Plaque with Lions 6th C BCE
Sarmatian -Parthian Gold amulet 6th C CE Tamoikin Art Fund, CC BY-SA 3.0
St Cuthbert’s Cross c. Durham Cathedral 697 CE

Next Chapter we will dive into why this symbol matters to FGC22501.

Kelly Wheaton ©2026 All Rights Reserved

Writing About Yourself: The Blue Flower

Posted on December 19, 2025     1 Comment

I realized I never posted this before. It is a short, but true story about me. It is a relative narrow topic but it reveals volumes (excuse the pun). It avoids the general concerns about self revelation, and yet is still self revelatory. I offer it as an example of how to write about yourself, without it being too scary. It doesn’t matter what my skill is as a writer, or lack thereof is. The purpose is to leave something behind that would allow the reader to get to know you. Not the genealogists: birth, marriage and death image—but something more personal and alive.

If you choose to write your own story, and you aren’t comfortable with writing, try telling it to someone and recording it. Then transcribe and edit as you go along. It may be harder to write about yourself, but it’s worth it to those who come after you.

The Blue Flower

Judy and I shared a passion for books. During our high school years we would make weekly forays to the complex of red brick buildings which provided us with endless titles to feed our growing appetites. Although we lived in El Cerrito we quickly consumed its minimal fare and needed the more substantial offerings that the Richmond Public Library provided.


On our many pilgrimages to this sacred building we explored the worlds of forbidden fruit. Whether pouring over sidereal tables trying to plot our astrological charts or conducting comprehensive studies of the Kinsey reports, Judy and I sought answers. It was during these reconnaissance missions that we happened upon a most delightful way to expand our horizons. We made our way upstairs to the adult fiction stacks. Here one of us would close our eyes and be guided by the other to one of the many aisles, spun around and asked to pick a book without looking. Once selected we were required to read the selection, however dull, and report to the other on its worthiness. This was a magical process which yielded us such authors as Flaubert, Zola and Lawrence and undoubtedly many lesser ones which we quickly forgot.

On one such occasion, I selected a book titled “The Blue Flower.” It was written by Henry Van Dyke and had a most beautifully decorated cover. Inside were interesting colored plates and a series of short stories with intriguing titles like “The Blue Flower” and “The Story of the Other Wise Man.” I enjoyed this book so much that I went back for other titles by the same author, yet “The Blue Flower” remained my favorite. Eventually on a trip with Judy to a used book store in San Francisco I located a copy along with some companion volumes.

Years passed. One day while going through some boxes of memorabilia in my parent’s garage I stumbled upon a stained and yellowed page with the handwritten words “Carrie Ethel Henager From A.W. Dolphin Dec_1910.” Turning over the page I recognized the familiar color plate and the facing title page of “The Blue Flower.” Carrie was my paternal grandmother and she had died some years before from what they then called senility, but we now know as Alzheimer’s disease. I always felt connected to Carrie, but I did not know her when she was well.
The pages I had found were the frontispiece and title pages of the book that had subsequently been lost. Carefully I carried them to my parent’s house and I asked my father to look at them. He asked me where I had found them and casually told me that “The Blue Flower” was his mother’s favorite book! I was so stunned it took me a few moments to recount to him my own relationship with “The Blue Flower.” To this day my grandmother’s pages reside next to their counterparts in my copy of “The Blue Flower.” They stand as a testimonial to the often unrecognized connection we have with our past and to the moment when I came to know my grandmother Carrie through the book that we both loved.

As a post script, my paternal grandmother Carrie’s favorite Flower was Blue Flags or Iris. When my Dad was dying I took him a pot of Iris reticulata ‘Harmony’ in bloom. They were planted in my garden where they continue to flourish.

Please check the Family History Writing Tab at the top of the page for more posts about writing.

Kelly Wheaton ©2025 All Rights Reserved

The Footnotes of History: Duane F Mosier as Witness

Posted on December 16, 2025     3 Comments

Most of us will never even make it into the footnotes. I was lucky that my Dad made it, not just once but many times. He was never famous but he had encounters with those who were. Billions of people living and dead are witnesses to history-making events or persons, but unless they wrote about it, or someone went digging, no one knows. An important aspect of family history research and writing is uncovering their witness. Particularly for many women men, exposing not only their contributions, but sometimes the successes claimed by others. I make no such claim for my father, but for many of you reading this—someone in your past was overlooked and someone claimed there work as their own. This could be their artistry, writing or research claimed by another or in the case of slaves or immigrants simply acting as if their work meant nothing.

General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr.

Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. 18 July 1886 – 18 June 1945) Brigadier General of the US Army

This first story, a humorous one happened when my Dad was about nineteen. This is from an interview about my Dad’s service in WWII and his first meeting of Gen Buckner, nicknamed Bucky. Bucky was born 18 July 1886. He graduated from West Point in 1908.

“Sometime after re joining the 2nd Marine Division on Saipan, the Division was reviewed (in full field transport packs with all their gear) by Lt. General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Commander of the Tenth U.S. Army, who would be in command of the Okinawa operation. The General escorted by the usual entourage of descending rank, strode through rank after rank, stopping now and then to examine an individual marine. In the hot sun it seemed like forever before he would swiftly pass through our section and we could relax a little, but No! The General stopped in front of me. My right arm whipped my M-1 Garand toward present arms, but my left hand hung limply at my side, the circulation in my left arm cut off by the field transport pack. The butt of my M-1 continued on an outward path right to the General’s groin. He was felled to the deck! Each member of the entourage in turn passed the question down the line until finally my platoon sergeant stepped to my side and queried ‘What happened?” I replied, “My arm went to sleep”. Then the General, in pain struggled to his feet. The word passed back up the entourage to the General who nodded and ordered me to fall out and remove my pack. “(D.F.M. 1996)

“The second one also involves Bucky. In mid-May, General Buckner specifically requested that the 8th Marines be returned to Okinawa. The general had originally inspected the 2d Marine Division in the preceding February and had been favorably impressed with the combat-tested 8th Marines. He gave particular praise to the battalion commanders. General Buckner was later quoted as saying ‘he had never before has the privilege of meeting such an alert group . . .’”(A Brief History of the 8th Marines by James Santelli pg 48)

My Dad wrote:

“On the 18th of June the Eight [Marines] relieved the Seventh and drove rapidly southward, establishing an observation point on a ridge overlooking the remaining Japanese held territory. It was here that I was sent, carrying a message to Colonel Wallace the Regimental Commander. It was also here that Lt. General Simon Bolivar Buckner found himself observing the ground yet to be won. After delivering the message and awaiting a reply for several minutes, I returned down the steep trail about thirty yards when a barrage of artillery shells punished the rocky point that I had just left. Continuing down the trail I returned to the Command Post of the 1st Battalion 8th and learned that the Lt. General had been killed. The second time I had been a few feet from him with disastrous results. (D.F.M. 1990)”

The last picture of Buckner (right), taken just before he was killed by a Japanese artillery shell.

Tokyo Rose

I have already written about my Dad’s involvement in the Tokyo Rose Trial here. And here is the note of thanks he received from Iva Toguri D’Aquino. He just happened to have been asked to be a witness in a very famous trial for which the FBI had to later apologize. And for which “Tokyo Rose” received a pardon from President Gerald Ford

Element 102

Nobelium 102 lower right

After the war my dad went to the University of California at Berkeley under the GI bill. From there he graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering in 1951. He went on to work for The University of California Institute of Engineering Research while he made application to the Federal Government and was hired by the University of California’s Lawrence Radiation Laboratory on Nov 1, 1951 as a Junior Accelerator Operator.

Duane F. Mosier on right c.1951

At this time he was working with the Nuclear Chemistry Division with world renowned scientists like Ernest Lawrence and Glenn Seaborg. The first announcement of the discovery of element 102 was announced by physicists at the Nobel Institute for Physics in Sweden in 1957. The next year in 1958 scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory repeated the experiment headed by Albert Ghiorso, Glenn T. Seaborg, John R. Walton and Torbjørn Sikkeland, used the new heavy-ion linear accelerator. After some controversy it was eventually credited to the Berkeley team and named 102 Nobelium after Alfred Nobel. Her is a snapshot my Dad took. I assume the AG stands for Albert Ghiorso. When I was a girl and even until my parents moved to Yountville my Dad had a Champagne Bottle with everyone’s names etched into it who had worked on the discovery. It also had a sheet of calculations in it. I am not sure who my Dad gave it to but it is lost to me.

My dad authored this paper in April 1959 which was sent to the Atomic Energy Commission.

SIR FRANCIS DRAKE: The Plate of Brass

In 1977 a Plate of Brass purported to have been left by Sir Francis Drake in 1579, was discovered in 1936. Supposedly left when Drake was anchored at what is know called Drake’s Bay in Northern California.

The alleged Drake’s Plate of Brass



In July of 1977 Helen V Michel and Frank Asaro, friends and colleagues published their study “Chemical Study of the Plate of Brass.” They used neutron activation analysis to study the plate. They found it contained too much zinc and too few impurities to be Elizabethan English brass, while containing trace metals that corresponded to modern American brass. My Dad did the instrumentation and he is mentioned in the acknowledgments:

“A great deal of appreciation must go to Duane F. Mosier for many stimulating discussions

and his supervision of our electronic system.”

Drake’s Beach © Kelly Wheaton 2021

As a footnote my Dad died in 2000. In 2002 an account became public, that the plate was intended to be a joke among members of a playful fraternity of California history enthusiasts, the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus which originated during the 1849 California Gold Rush and was revived in the 1930s.

DINOSAUR EXTINCTION

There were lots of other research projects in which he was involved perhaps this is the most wide reaching. In 1980, a team of researchers led by Nobel prize-winning physicist Luis Alvarez, his son geologist Walter Alvarez, and chemists Frank Asaro and Helen V Michel, discovered that sedimentary layers found all over the world at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary contain a concentration of iridium hundreds of times greater than normal. The theory is that an asteroid fell in the Yucatán Peninsula, at Chicxulub, Mexico and that its impact 66 million years ago led to and environmental disaster that led to the Dinosaurs extinction. The event caused the extinction of all non-avian dinosaurs. Most other tetrapods weighing more than 55 pounds also became extinct, with the exception of some species like sea turtles and crocodilians. Still debated but largely excepted it is chronicled by Walter Alvarez in his book T.Rex and the Crater of Doom published in 1997. My Dad was responsible for building a “neutron activation machine that could achieve the necessary levels of precision.” When Life Nearly Died: The Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time Michael J. Benton 2003.

My purpose here is two fold, one to honor my dad and his contributions to his country and science. And to inspire others to go digging. It could be letters, diaries or objects hidden in an attic or in plain site. Some people are blessed with brushes with history. Of the top of my head I can think of only two other than Frank Asaro, Helen Michel and the other scientists I met through my father. As a toddler I sat on Governor Edmund G Brown’s lap about 1960 and I met Robert Redford on New Year’s Day over a decade ago while hiking at Lake Hennesey. However, I was too busy interacting with his dogs to note it was “Bob.” In fact all 3 women didn’t notice, and all three men in my party did. What untold stories should you be writing now?

Kelly Wheaton ©2025 All Rights Reserved

Family History Writing: Telling Our Stories

Posted on December 15, 2025     2 Comments



Writing about oneself, especially in retrospect, is always a dangerous undertaking. Do you tell the truth and risk being seen in a bad light? Or do you soften the edges to make it more palatable? Will it be considered your own brand of narcissistic, revisionist drivel or worse yet will it mean a damn thing to anyone? Do you paint yourself as the hero or the victim? Or is it a bit of both. Will people think better it worse of you having read what you wrote? Is there an audacity in speaking for yourself? Perhaps, but I will claim it as my right to set the record straight. Albeit from my own biased perspective. It is the life I have lived, who better to describe and interpret it?

It seems that I judge my audience rather harshly in asking these questions, even if rhetorically. And so it goes. When I attempt to reconstruct the lives of my ancestors, I really want to know who they are. Not the sanitized, picture book stories of the past, but what were their thoughts and aspirations. What were their disappointments and struggles. How did they get through the hard times? This is not a curiosity that many share. Many are perfectly happy not knowing any of it. It’s not that they don’t care, it’s that digging any deeper might cause their carefully constructed fictions to spontaneously combust. My walls are built of tissue paper and some of theirs are stone.

Why put it down on paper? That answer is easy. Of all the ancestors that I have researched, including my parents and grandparents; my great grandmother’s diary, my grandfather’s letters and a transcribed interview of my Dad, speak with a clarity and authenticity of no other. Even Wills from hundreds of years ago speak with a precision that is impossible to duplicate. There is more of you in what you write than perhaps anywhere else.

So, where does that leave us? You and I can leave it up to posterity to figure out who we were or we can take the risk of telling it ourselves. At the end of the day we get to choose what we tell, and how we tell it— will it smack of fact, or fiction? Whether we write with precision, sterility, humor or horror pieces of us will slip through. My great grandmother’s diary—by the mere fact of choosing what to record, what matters to her, even when she doesn’t explicitly tell me how she felt— Whether it was which flowers she said were in bloom or when she wrote about visiting “her” special Bay Tree near Twin Peaks in San Francisco. She connected with me in those moments.

Of course our audience will shape how we write. Are we telling the story to or for ourselves? Are we apologists for our family? Or is our audience generations removed in the future and we are scattering bread crumbs that we hope might be helpful to someone else some day? Do we hope something will resonate in a world we cannot even imagine?  Maybe simply organizing how we see the landscape of our life is helpful to our journey and perhaps someone we cannot even imagine. 

So let’s get started. Some of us have written small pieces or maybe longer ones about ourselves. But for a moment let us imagine a descendant 100 years from now picking up our writing. What do you want them to know? That century is important, it lets vanity and criticism evaporate in the great scrap heap of time. 

So here is the assignment: write a letter to a 4th great grand son or daughter, niece or nephew, or even a stranger that will tell them something that might help them understand what your life was life, or life in general is currently or in your past. What worried you for the future or informed you about the past. It’s a big ask—but think about it. Even if it takes awhile to come to fruition.

Kelly Wheaton ©2025 All Rights Reserved

They Came to America: The Immigrant Experience

Posted on November 22, 2025     7 Comments

The loved ones we call the dead, depart from us and for a while are absent.
And then as if called back by our love, they come near us again.
They enter our dreams.
We feel they have been near us when we have not thought of them.
They are simply here, simply waiting while we are distracted among our obligations.
At last it comes to us: They live now in the permanent world.
We are the absent ones.

Wendall Barry

Walter Crane 1893 , Public domain

We had a conversation about the immigrant experience in the Genealogy Class I teach. I said I would put together some novels, movies and perhaps non-fiction resources. There are thousands of books and films that would meet this criteria. So this is a select, condensed list from some of the countries that are well represented in America. It is a work in progress. If I have missed some you would like included please message me or add to comments and I will review for addition.

Often novels paint a fuller picture of the immigrant experience; leaving their motherland for America and their new lives here. They may help us better understand our own ancestors journeys. Historical fiction, diaries, letters and non-fiction can help us flesh out our ancestors stories. I have found novels and diaries invaluable to my research.

AUSTRIA

Novels

Non-Fiction

Movie

CROATIA

Novels

Non-Fiction

DENMARK

Novels

  • Kingdom Come and The Evening and the Morning by Virginia Sorensen a series of Mormon novels about Danish immigrants to Utah
  • A Merchant’s House by Kristian Ostergaard Danish immigrant life in early Omaha, Nebraska

Non-fiction

Movies

ENGLAND

Mayflower, Replica at Plymouth, MA ©2016 Kelly Wheaton

Novels

Non-fiction

Movies

  • American Experience: The Pilgrims (2015): A PBS documentary
  • The Pilgrims (2015): A TV movie that covers the Mayflower journey
  • Saints & Strangers (2015): A National Geographic miniseries

FRANCE

Novels

Non-Fiction

Movies

GERMANY

Diary of a Voyage from Rotterdam to Philadelphia in 1728

Novels

Non-Fiction

Movies

  • Sweet Land (2005)
  • The German-Americans: 300 Years in the New Land (1983)
  • Hester Street (1975) focused on Jewish immigrants late 1800’s

GREECE

Novels

Non-Fiction

Movies

HOLLAND

Fiction

Non-Fiction

FIlms

  • New York: A Documentary PBS explores the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam
  • New Netherland: The Early Years PBS

IRELAND

Novels

Non-fiction

Movies

  • Out of Ireland (1995): Documentary traces the history of Irish immigration to the United States
  • The Forgotten Irish (2002): A documentary about the lives of Irish immigrants who were forced to leave as children. 
  • Philomena (2013) Based on the book

ITALY

Novels

Non-Fiction

Movies

  • Cabrini (2024) Story of Mother Francesca Cabrini, her work establishing orphanages and healthcare for the poor
  • Golden Door (2006), A Sicilian family’s journey in the early 1900s
  • Paesani (2022) documentary,mass Italian immigration to the United States between 1890 and 1930.  

MEXICO & LATIN AMERICA

From JFK’s A Nation of Immigrants 1959 Public Domain

Novels

Non-Fiction

Movies

  • Sin Nombre (2009) Honduran teenager and a Mexican gang member
  • Under the Same Moon (2007): A young boy in Mexico tries to reunite with his mother in the United States.
  • A Better Life (2011): An undocumented Mexican immigrant in East L.A.
  • El Norte (1983): A Guatemalan brother and sister flee to the U.S.
  • The Golden Dream (2013): A road movie about teenage immigrants journey to the U.S.

NORWAY

Novels

Non- fiction

Movies

  • Utvandrarna (The Emigrants) (2021): A Norwegian-Swedish drama about Swedish emigrants traveling to the United States in the 1840s, based on Vilhelm Moberg’s book series.

POLAND

Novels

Non-Fiction

Movies

  • The Fourth Partition (2013) Poles to Chicago in the late 19th century
  • Sophie’s Choice (1982) explores the life of a Polish immigrant in post-WWII Brooklyn

RUSSIA

Novels

  • A Russian Immigrant: Three Novellas (2019) by Maxim D. Shrayer:
  • My Ántonia by Willa Cather: this classic American novel features a significant storyline about Bohemian immigrants in the American Midwest
  • A Prison Camp Guard’s Story and The Compromise, by Sergei Dovlatov
  • The Russian Debutante’s Handbook by Tom Rachman a novel about an American of Russian descent who moves to Prague to uncover his family’s history.


Nonfiction
 

Movie

SCOTLAND

Novels

Non-Fiction

Movies

  • Outlander TV Series (2014-2026)
  • Voices Over the Water (2025)

SWEDEN

Novels

Non-fiction

Movies

  • The Emigrants (1971) and its sequel The New Land (1972),

OTHER Countries

Please note as I add more resources I may be able to give more countries their due. I began with countries I have researched or represent those in my classes.

Kelly Wheaton ©2025 All Rights Reserved


Changes in Genealogical DNA Testing

Posted on November 5, 2025     Leave a Comment

Back in 2005, Francis Collins in his book The Language of Life: DNA and the Revolution in Personalized Medicine predicted that DNA testing for health was on the horizon within 10 years and that your doctor would routinely order DNA tests for you. That hasn’t happened as quickly as he thought, but companies like 23andme built their databases by offering medically relevant Direct to Consumer (DTC) DNA testing. 23andMe has a database of about 13 million and overall the top 4 companies: Ancestry DNA, 23andMe, My Heritage, and Family TreeDNA have over 53 million test kits. Some of those may overlap so roughly 40-50 million people have done DTC DNA testing.

My Heritage and Family Tree DNA and Gene by Gene

Several things have piqued my curiosity of late. As announced in 2024 “Family Tree DNA has been a valued partner and friend of My Heritage for well over a decade. Notably, since the launch of My Heritage DNA in 2016, Family Tree DNA’s in-house lab, Gene by Gene, based in Houston, Texas, has provided My Heritage with our DNA processing services.” And furthermore “Family Tree DNA customers can transfer their family trees to My Heritage, and to continue building them on My Heritage. Family Tree DNA users can now easily transfer their family trees to My Heritage for free, after providing consent on both Family Tree DNA and My Heritage.” More recently My Heritage announced in October that is was Upgrading Its DNA Tests to 2X Whole Genome Sequencing to be carried out by Gene by Gene. And then just days ago Family Tree DNA announced 30X Full Genome Sequencing. “The All-in-one bundle includes your genome data, health analyses, and reports” for $379 on sale. Not quite the $99 WGS testing that was anticipated a few years ago but getting closer.

The above collaboration and new offerings may be a sign of the health of these two companies under Gene by Gene. And their pivot to Health offerings is intriguing. I wonder whether at a future date their may be options to combine them. Who knows?

23andMe

Meanwhile in March 2025, 23andMe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and announced that the company was planning on selling substantially all of its assets. So its long term status is in question. Who will acquire the assets and will the data still be available to testers? Your guess is as good as mine. One of my favorite features at 23andMe was their Chromosome browser. No word on if it may come back. If sold would the genealogy component just be a casualty? So for now I can’t recommend 23andMe due to a high level of uncertainty. Sad because it has about 13 Million testers.

Ancestry

In 2019 Ancestry offered AncestryHealth® their vision “was to empower people to take action to address potential health risks identified in their genes and family health history.” Then in 2020 they suspended that offering and returned “to deepen our focus on family history, including AncestryDNA®, which remains an important part of our commitment to family history.” Ancestry has over 25 million tested and although the lack a chromosome browser are among the easiest to use especially for those already with a paid Ancestry subscription. It is also among the most expensive.

It looks like Ancestry’s focus will stay toward genealogy which is good news. It has the largest database of historical records with over 30 Billion. My Heritage has a bit more focus on International Records and has about 20 billion records.

Family Tree DNA

For now FTDNA remains the best place for YDNA and mtDNA testing if you plan on looking for matches. The shifting landscape of DNA test is hard to predict. Ancestry offered YDNA tests years ago and then abruptly stopped in 2014, as they pivoted to atDNA tests only. The earliest YDNA tests at FTDNA were 12 marker test whereas today a 37 Marker test is generally considered a minimum.

Recommendations

People always want to know the best company to test at. That depends on your reason for testing.

  • If you already subscribe to Ancestry or MyHeritage, testing atDNA is a no brainer especially at sale prices starting at $29
  • Chromosome Browsers are included at FTDNA, MyHeritage and Living DNA
  • A nice feature of 23andMe and Living DNA is they give your broad mtDNA , and if male: your YDNA Haplogroup
  • FTDNA is the project based place to test YDNA, both YSNPS and YSTRS
  • MyHeritage may bring more European matches for those with recent ancestry from Europe or Israel
  • Living DNA has a strong emphasis on UK testers that may appeal to those with recent UK ancestry
  • Full sequence mtDNA, with matching, is at FTDNA
  • FTDNA & Living DNA allow uploads from other companies

Given sales this month especially around Black Friday, you could test at Ancestry and MyHeritage for less than $70 and upload to FTDNA and swim in all 3 ponds. If you return your MyHeritage in 2026 you will get 2X WGS!

Where it all ends up in a few years—who know? In the meantime databases grow and prices come down. The Ancestral origins continue to be refined. Whether they are improved each iteration is widely debated.

Kelly Wheaton ©2025 All Rights Reserved

Writing Challenge: Choose Your Own Adventure Genealogy Style

Posted on September 19, 2025     Leave a Comment

First crossroads. Heaven, hell or purgatory. Your choice.

Second crossroad. Which ancestor will you choose?

Third quest. You will have 20 minutes to come up with a list of questions to ask your chosen ancestor. This may be a brick wall ancestor and your first question is where were you born? Or who were your parents? Or it might be a parent or grandparent that you forgot to ask important things and this is your second chance. It’s your ancestor, your questions. For the purposes of this exercise assume that they are willing to answer you and that they are up to speed with where the world is today. [Trying to ask questions within the confines of the time period they lived could be a second more challenging option].

Once you have your list of questions you can proceed in one of two ways.

  1. Have someone else ask you the questions and you respond. That is you assume your ancestors identity and wing it. Guess, surmise or just plain make it up.
  2. The second option is to do this with yourself. Assume both identities and have a conversation and record the results.

Why this exercise? To get your creative juices flowing. To think more deeply about your ancestor and what you would like to know. To get you started on crafting a reasonable story for them and perhaps giving you some insight into where to look.

SAMPLE QUESTION IDEAS TO PRIME THE PUMP:

  • What color are your eyes?
  • How did your propose to —-?
  • How did you fell when you arrived in —-?
  • What was your favorite color?
  • Who was your favorite ancestor and why?
  • Did you have a favorite book or author?
  • What was the biggest trouble you ever got into?
  • When did you first vote?
  • Where did you learn your trade?


Feel free to share your questions or how this worked out for you in the comments.

Kelly Wheaton ©2025 – All rights Reserved.

KENT The Garden of England Day Three Part Two: Faversham & Whitstable

Posted on September 2, 2025     Leave a Comment

We left Leed’s Castle for Whitstable a seaside town and the setting for the British TV detective series ‘Whitstable Pearl’ which I ended up watching after I returned home. First up is tour bus and our driver Tony.

Whitstable is full of shops, art galleries and places to eat oysters.

This was the site of the infamous Oyster Tasting by Charlotte that didn’t quite make it down.

The Duke of Cumberland hotel, Joyanne spotting me through the shop window and a few of the Beach huts.

Next stop was Faversham for a tour of the Shephers Neame Brewery. We had a bit of time to have a look about. In the following photo you can see the store front for the Brewery and on the far left you can barely see a tent set up for a street market. Since we had some free time I wandered down to have a look.

I had been looking for something for my friend Denise who couldn’t make the trip and I found it! A Crummles & Company enameled trinket box with a butterfly—which was her childhood nickname.

And then I spotted another one which I bought for myself. I had just been give the memoir “Raising Hare”, by my daughter for Mother’s Day. And finished it just before the trip. These are European Hares.

We have our own here in California. A photo of one from my back yard. They like to prune my plants at times!

Now back to our tour at Shephers Neame Brewery which was quite interesting, even though I am not a beer drinker.

I also couldn’t resist their collection of pub signs.

And the tasting.

And I found this chart quite interesting and comparable to similar ones for wine tasting

So whether you stop by for a tour or try their ales at your local pub, Enjoy!

We drove back to Leed’s Castle where we were to spend another night. We went out to eat at the nearby Park Gate Inn. We had a lovely meal and even though they were short staffed, Bamber, our waitress, took care of us to perfection! Then back to the Castle for another night’s sleep.

Whether day or night the gardens at Leeds Castle, put on a show.

Kelly Wheaton ©2025 All Rights Reserved

KENT The Garden of England Day Two Part Two & Day Three Part One: Leeds Castle

Posted on September 2, 2025     Leave a Comment

We arrived at Leed’s Castle in the afternoon for a two night stay. I had written a bit about Leed’s Castle in an earlier blog post here. Leed’s Castle is confusing for many a tourist, as it is not located in Leeds, Yorkshire, but rather near Maidstone in Kent. About the year 857, Leeds Castle was a Saxon castle built of wood on 2 islands, in the middle of the River Len. It was owned by the Saxon chief, Led or Leed, and was known as the Manor of Esledes. We drove in from the east past the golf course. The Castle lies in an idyllic setting on 500 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds. Although I am sure a “day visit” to enjoy many of the attractions is quite lovely, but for me the best parts of Leed’s Castle were revealed in the late evening and early morning hours when the grounds are only open to those staying there. We were to spend two nights here. My room, which was supposed to be shared I had to myself, and it was huge. In total there were 4 sets of window, 3 overlooking Culpeper’s Garden and one the Car park. Room, the view over the garden and the 3 upstairs windows on left were my room.

I couldn’t have been more pleased to have such a lovely view of the garden. This was the site of the original Kitchen Garden named after the family that owned the Castle in the 17th century. In 1980 it was transformed by the landscaper designer Russell Page into a beautiful formal garden with a central Wisteria tree. My grandparents had a similar one in, albeit smaller, in their garden when I was growing up. The garden with formal box hedges is chock full of roses, iris, allium, poppies and assorted perennials.

This first evening we had a stroll around the grounds, although the castle itself was closed to all but the people who were staying on the island. Dinner was at the Castle View Restaurant. The food and the view did not disappoint.

On the way back to our room I caught a quick photo of Chuck and Joan.

Off to a great night’s sleep but woke early, which gave me the opportunity to wander about the grounds before anyone else was up!

Magical colors of the early morning light.

After my morning scramble about the grounds seeing many of my beloved Rhododendrons and Exbury Azaleas. The Exbury azaleas weere hybridized in England but from American deciduous azalea species. I was off to breakfast at the Castle View Restaurant and then for a guided tour of the castle.

From the front entrance the size and grandeur is less visible than from a distance. Inside is a textural delight. A mix of old a new.

Leeds Castle was host for a significant Middle East summit in 1978 when U.S., Israeli, and Egyptian foreign ministers met eventually leading to the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel. This was originally set to happen in London, but was moved to Leeds Castle for security reasons. Summit room top below.

Dining Room designed by Stéphan Boudin
Hall with Alterpiece

The Dining hall is the home to an “altar piece” dating to about 1410. It shows 7 saints, 6 of whom are women. The gouging of the saints’ faces may have occurred in 1539 following the dissolution of Dartford Priory, a Domincan Nunnery, which is thought to have been the altarpiece’s probable original home.

There is much more to see but I was particularly interested in the pieces designed by Stéphan Boudin (1888-1967) Interior designer to for Lady Baillie as seen in above. And know for designing the red Room at the White House for Jacqueline Kennedy. My Room at Leeds Castle was called the Boudin Room. Two pieces below designed by Boudin.

There’s lots more to see, but I will leave it to you to visit the castle and explore further. Next up are visits to the towns of Faversham and Whitstable!

Kelly Wheaton ©2025 – All Rights Reserved

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