White Utah woman makes amazing discovery after submitting DNA sample to learn more about her family tree

A white Utah woman's beingness changed everlastingly aft she made a singular find from submitting her DNA to larn much astir her family's history.

Deena Hill, a genealogist from Mount Pleasant, Utah submitted a DNA illustration to Ancestry.com successful 2016 lone to find retired her family's roots transverse galore waters, arsenic the results revealed she erstwhile had roots successful Igbo Land, Nigeria.

She primitively took the trial hoping to dispel a long-running household rumor of Cherokee blood, lone to observe she had respective African-American cousins, 1 being Desi Campbell of North Carolina.

Seeking much accusation connected her familial past Hill contacted Campbell further unraveling the enigma of however an Italian-English pistillate from Utah and an African-American antheral from North Carolina could beryllium related.

'I was shocked to find retired that I had African-American blood, but was truthful excited by this caller information,' Hill told The Pilot.  

Hill already knew she had household roots successful the Sicily portion of Italy from her father’s broadside and an English practice from her mother’s broadside - but inactive sought to find her and Campbell's communal ancestor. 

After galore telephone calls and deep-dives into documents - wills, deeds and census information - the representation became wide for the recently discovered cousins.

Hill is the 3rd large granddaughter of a antheral named Nelson Holder Ritchie whose parent was a enslaved who would yet go large by a nephew of the Holder family.

A neighbour past bought Jane and moved her to Missouri wherever she birthed Hill's great-great-great grandfather, Holder Ritchie, who would yet settee successful Utah aboriginal successful his life. 

Jane’s parents are Sarah and Sherod McNeill, who had 13 children - 1 of them being girl Jane and different a lad by the sanction of Gabriel McNeill - who is the 3rd great-grandfather of Desi Campbell. 

This is wherever Campbell and Hill’s beingness intersect: They are archetypal cousins 5 times removed.   

Since their life-altering find Hill and Campbell person started contacting dozens of their Nigerian relatives.

'We started contacting them and uncovering retired our heritage, and we could really constrictive it down to a municipality - it’s successful Igbo Land. Igbo Land is conscionable a small conception of Nigeria,' Hill told KUTV.

The probe duo recovered that Igbo onshore consists of 5 states, Anambra, Abia, Imo, Ebonyi and Enugu.

One of the relatives Hill contacted was Uzoma Kalu, who lives successful Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

'Since that time, Deena has been successful interaction with maine for accusation and besides Mr. Campbell from North Carolina. I person relayed the accusation to my household successful Nigeria successful Ohaifia,' she said.

Campbell made interaction with Oliver Udemba, different relative successful Raleigh, North Carolina.

'I americium 100% Igbo, truthful I’m arsenic African arsenic it gets! I’ve met a batch of groups, DNA trial groups, that are connected to my family,' said Udemba.

Hill's present precise thorough probe has pb to her realization that galore African Americans person ancestors who were forced into the U.S. arsenic slaves frankincense destroying their identities. 

Even with this reality, DNA exertion is giving anticipation to families searching for answers and throwing successful a fewer surprises.

Udemba said connected a regular ground he's getting calls from caller relatives of a antithetic ethnicity but inactive person DNA matches conscionable similar Hill just as anxious to larn much astir their Nigerian heritage.

'So adjacent though their color, their pigment mightiness look antithetic from mine, but close wrong what flows done their veins, there’s a batch of Igbo there. There’s a batch of my household there,' said Udemba.

Since Hill shared her communicative of researching her family’s past with KUTV, she said she’s received galore questions from radical funny successful learning astir their ain family’s ancestry. 

She mentioned seeking documents from the Freedman Bureau and other resources including DNA genealogy sites that person helped successful piecing unneurotic missing parts of her ancestry.