Elizabeth Warren's - And My Own - DNA Testing

There's a lot of back and forth going on regarding the results of Senator Elizabeth Warren's DNA test results.  I've had my DNA tested by three companies, and there is less than 0.10% report of Asian/Middle Eastern DNA in my findings for all three reports, which might indicate Native American blood, but probably does NOT.  Of course, I am a woman, and my DNA results will have a large preponderance of my Mother's DNA heritage.  - And it is through my Father's maternal line that I found my 7th great-grandmother was a Native American.  The great-grandchildren of Captain James Crews produced enough evidence that they were listed in the Cherokee Tribal register as being 1/8 American Indian.  John Williamson and his siblings were admitted to the tribal rolls; their great-grandmother had been a member of a small tribe near the James River, members of the Powhatan Confederacy, and their tribe was extinct by 1690.  John Williamson was born in Henrico County, Virginia in 1694, and died there in 1762.  His daughter Judith married William Allen Lancaster (Senior), and my paternal grandmother was their direct descendant.
  Due to the quirks of DNA inheritance, and the fact that my ancient Native American blood was from the paternal side of my family, the DNA test in my case really showed that I have very little, to no Native American blood.  But I actually AM 1/1024 Native American.  It's just that in a person's 10th generation of ancestors, there are 1024 different people (unless cousins married cousins recently) - and one out of those people who are my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents was a Native American on my paternal side, from whom I received very little to zero DNA material.
  According to the released report on Elizabeth Warren's DNA, she might have Native American blood more recently than I do, but she has a snippet of complete Native American DNA in her maternal line, which I do not.  Here's an article that explains it well, with an illustration of how DNA is passed on to descendants:   https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/10/18/just-about-everything-youve-read-warren-dna-test-is-wrong/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.dbaaa5c2a466

   Enjoy!

Working On African-American Genealogy

The lady, and good friend, that I share an apartment with is African-American.  She knew nothing of her family's background other than the names of her grandparents, that they were born in Louisiana, and that her maternal grandmother was described as a Creole and had lightly colored skin.  For her Christmas present, I gave her a 23AndMe DNA kit.  She received the results, and I started working on her family tree about three weeks ago.  My original set of names were of  11 people, Beatrice and her four siblings, their parents, two aunts, one uncle, the paternal grandfather, and the maternal grandmother.  It's been slow going, but the family tree now includes 111 people, tracing back to 1604.
   One difficulty is the "advantage" taken of young women of color in the American South.  Several women were single mothers and the father s of their children were often married men, or men of another race.  I have the names of the fathers listed on birth certificates, but there are several men who have those names in each community - unless something suddenly appears, I am at an impasse with those individuals.  The surnames are: Bell, Byrd, Jones, Michaux/Michot, and Tickled/Tickles.
    With the instance of the Creole grandmother, I was able to find her with her parents in an earlier US Census, and then found her grandparents in the 1880 Census.  In the 1880 Census, my Bea's great-great-grandfather was listed as a mulatto, his wife was listed as black, and his three sons (of 12 children) were listed a mulatto.  What was interesting was that the man was also listed as a "planter," which meant he owned at least 100 acres (it was 160 acres in actuality) - which was rather rare in 1880 in Louisiana.  So I had his surname, but with him listed as a mulatto, I felt that his father was white.  So I started looking into his surname....
    Then I found a fantastic posting on a DNA discussion panel - a great-great-grandson of the mulatto planter had received his DNA results, which showed he was a direct male descendant of a white, French settler.  This white French settler also had the same surname.  And in that man's inventory of possessions after his death, his slaves were listed by name and age.  In that 1816 inventory was listed the name of the great-great-grandfather, two of his siblings, and his mother.
   Luckily, the name of the French 3rd-great-grandfather is well known in French, Spanish, and American Louisiana.  That is how I have been able to trace the family back to 1604 in northeast France, and their connection to the Bouvier family of France/Switzerland that produced Jacqueline Bouvier, who married John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
    I was able to find the death certificate for the wife of Bea's paternal grandmother on-line, which gave me the names of Alice's parents.  I was able to then find her grandmother's grandparents - both born into slavery.  I have their names (Priest Tickled and his wife Charlotte), but I am still looking for their parents and families.
   I am still also seeking information regarding the 12 children of the mulatto planter, Luc De'Clouette.  I have been able to find four of them - Edouard, Hyacinthe, Luke and Peter. It was Luke's great-grandson who took the DNA test; and Bea is descended from the son Peter.
   Three nights ago, I found a copy of Luc's obituary on-line.  It stated that he had stayed with "his mistress"  after he was freed from slavery, and that during the Civil War he had protected her and the plantation from Federal troops. Later, it was "his mistress" that gave him the 160 acre farm that had been a part of the plantation.  In looking into this matter, I found that Luc's "mistress" was his older half-sister, sharing the same father.   Why am I not surprised at his "devotion" to his "owner"?