Why DNA test?
The question came up yesterday afternoon, as it so often does, when genetic genealogists try to caution against thinking that DNA testing is the be-all and end-all of research.
The Legal Genealogist was sitting in on a panel discussion on DNA testing at the Minnesota Genealogical Society’s North Star Conference, and joined the panelists in talking about the need to consider DNA results as just one more data source, to think about the possibility that some results in the speculative category could be false positives and not real genetic relatives at all.
That’s a problem especially at AncestryDNA where there aren’t any good analytical tools to see just exactly where in our DNA we and a match may have an overlap and where the default setting is to include a great many possible matches in the speculative category: people who may very well be false positives.
So, an attendee asked, if he didn’t have a specific question he wanted to answer, and there were all those speculative cases to wade through, and nothing he really thought DNA might particularly help with, why should he do DNA testing?
I can’t answer for him.
But I sure can answer for me.
And this graphic, right here, is enough of an answer for me, even at AncestryDNA where the tools don’t rise to the level of the other DNA testing companies:
I tested at AncestryDNA, and for the record at every other major genetic genealogy testing company I could test with including Family Tree DNA, 23andMe and even the National Geographic Genographic 2.0 project.
I had no specific issue I wanted answered by testing at AncestryDNA, no theory I was trying to test, no second kit I was sending in for a possible cousin to see if our lines really were from the same family.
I tested with AncestryDNA mostly to see how their system worked, to be able to answer reader questions about it, to satisfy my own curiosity.
And, one morning, I logged into my AncestryDNA account and the graphic you see above is what greeted me.
You can see that this is a fairly close cousin and — assuming that the paper trail research is correct (and, in this case, it is) — we both descend from Gustavus and Isabella Robertson.
What makes this result so welcome and so extraordinary is that this third cousin’s ancestor William, oldest of the Robertson sons, had disappeared from my research radar with records that abruptly ended in the 1880s. He, his wife, his one daughter from the 1880 census might all have been captured by aliens. We simply couldn’t find any trace of them.
It was wonderful to be able to reconnect with this branch of the family. This cousin hadn’t known anything about his William’s grandparents, so I was able to take him back beyond Gustavus and Isabella. And what did I get from this connection?
Well, we can start with the sheer pleasure of reuniting two branches of this family. Of being able to add data about William’s line to the overall family tree.
But there was so much more than I gained.
You see, when I found out where William had gone after he disappeared from the counties where the rest of the family was, I checked the records in the places where — I thought — only William had gone.
And found that, in the years between the censuses, my own great grandfather — William’s baby brother Jasper — and their father Gustavus had also gotten land grants together in a part of Texas where I would never have thought to look.
Jasper and Gustavus didn’t stay there; both of them ended up giving up their land — to William in one case, to the husband of a sister in another case.
It’s a chapter of Jasper’s life I might never have known about if it hadn’t been for this DNA test. I wouldn’t have even known to look for it if I hadn’t gone ahead and done FAN club research (friends, associates and neighbors) after reuniting with William’s line.
And that, my friends, is why we do DNA testing.
Because we never, ever know what might be waiting for us if we do.
And that leap into the darkness of the unknown can end up shedding so much light on our own family history.
Judy, since I heard you speak at the G&G Conference in DC in August, I have had several cousins tested and I am having great success. The results from one of the FF tests at FTDNA proved the intermarriage connection between two branches of my paternal. On that same side, we connected with a first cousin of my cousin (second cousin once removed for me on that same side). Looking forward to much more success shortly. Thank you for this article (which I share on my society’s FB page) and for your positive approach.
I’m so glad to hear you’re having good results, Marlene! It really is a maybe-it-will-work-maybe-it-won’t situation, but oh… those times when it does…
Judy,
I was in that “do I have DNA tested or not” position for a long time. In the good old days (what 3 years ago) I did a Y-DNA test with Ancestry and transferred the results to FT-DNA because they had a surname study going. The problem, for me, is where the Paper Trail and the DNA Trail went in different directions.
I think that part of my problem was in my expectations in the results, I would have been cool IF the Paper and DNA trail went in the same direction.
So, my question is:
What is a reasonable expectation for the current DNA technology for making these connections? I am really talking about “back in time” or number of generations. Mine are in the early to mid-1600’s when the one of the trails took a detour.
I did have a goal or question. That was to confirm my Y-DNA paper trail. With the Y-DNA technology being out of date, I am guessing that my question won’t be answered. I won’t say never, but ….
So, I really looking for some guidance is setting my own expectations with DNA testing, in the time frame that I am looking for. I am not sure that I want to spend any more money to answer the question I have.
Oh, and I have and my family have made some new cousin connections with the AncestryDNA test results. In fact, before my wife got her results a cousin found her son’s DNA results and made contact with her. It was probably like your screen. In fact, this hit is far closer. But, I won’t go into that one.
Thank you for ALL that you share with us, across that various platforms, your knowledge and experience with DNA. You make a very complicated (for me) subject understandable.
Russ
The answer is really different between YDNA and autosomal DNA, Russ. For YDNA, you could still get a fairly definitive answer to your question — where did your paper trail and your YDNA diverge — even back in the 1600s. For autosomal, it’s a lot dicier because the way autosomal DNA is inherited involves a random mixing of genes in every single generation. Some people find a fairly clear path back to eighth or even 10th cousins because of what’s sometimes called a sticky segment (one big piece that seems to come down the generations unbroken). Others — like me darn it! — sometimes don’t even match third cousins. So it’s a crap shoot — but at $99 per testing company one that — in my opinion — is worth it.
Finding our Cottrell cousin, The Legal Genealogist, also inspired me to get going on the DNA testing. After meeting Judy at FGS in San Antonio, realizing that her uncle and my son were Y matches at 66/67 markers and heard Judy say she never met a DNA test she didn’t like, I came home and reviewed my DNA strategy. Although I had tested myself, my son and my brother’s son, I had been waiting for those other cousins to wake up and smell the coffee and be as excited as I about DNA. While I was waiting, two of the oldest died. If it important to me, why shouldn’t I spend my money on it? So I started reaching out to the oldest among my relatives and offering to pay. I now have 7 pending kits and have identified 10 others I have contacted and offered to pay.
I have been doing genealogy for 40 years and it is extremely gratifying to finally have confirmation of some of these paper trails.
Outstanding, Ruth!! With some luck some of those cousins will be MY cousins too!!
Judy,
I don’t believe in coincidences, but this post certainly coincides with my blog post today. I posted that I am going to submit an Ancestry DNA test in tomorrow’s mail. Even though both of my brothers have been tested, one on YDNA and the other on MtDNA, I had yet to test myself. Now, after reading your post, I’m positive I have made the right choice, regardless of the outcome. Thanks so much. If you’d like to read my post, here is the link. http://www.michiganfamilytrails.com/2014/10/dna-testingtime-for-me-to-send-in-sample.html
Thanks,
Diane
Good for you, Diane, and yes — going ahead with DNA testing and doing it now is the way to go, for certain.
Judy,
Excellent post as always! As I say frequently it takes courage to take a DNA test and it takes a willingness to confront the truth. I spent nearly 40 years doing traditional genealogy and turned to a Y DNA test first for my husband to break down a brick wall (it did!) Subsequently I have done atDNA at the 3 major companies and I have found them all useful. For the tree I had researched all has panned out but there were surprises and some yet to be solved. One of my greatest joys is finding proof that long standing theories that researchers had back in the 1970’s have come to fruition on two lines. In each German families that were thought to be related but lacking proof have proved to be. I have made connections with 2nd and third cousins and have found photos of great great grandparents. I have oured over histories and atlases and learned so much more about this earth we inhabit and my place in it. Like all information DNA is what you make of it. Unlike published genealogies and even histories DNA does not care what we think it just reports what is there.
To Diane above and all those considering the plunge. DNA is just a new adventure that will have an impact on your view of the world and yourself if you have the courage to follow its path. Good luck have fun and rmember there is probably no betetr way to honor your ancestors.
Cheers, Kelly
Thanks so much for your as-always great input, Kelly!
Judy, what this post says to me most loudly is that we need to get together and compare notes again. Speaking of which, are you going to be in S. Oregon and N. California this month? Thought I saw some things noted in passing that indicated this but then couldn’t remember where I saw them!
Yes, indeed! I will be in Portland, Oregon, at the Genealogical Forum of Oregon on October 25-26, and then in San Mateo, California, at the San Mateo County Genealogical Society on November 1. You know how much I’d love to see you…
Hi Judy, thanks for sharing your story. I too, took the Ancestry DNA test out of curiosity and for the purpose of being able to talk about it to others. I am likewise surprised and elated by the cousins I am finding, especially on surnames I have not had any luck on researching with other testing companies! In fact, it was just last week that I extended my tree by finding a female ancestor and when I queried her surname in my Ancestry matches, I found a close cousin who lives in the town I was born in! So exciting!
That’s excellent, Ginger! DNA testing sure opens up a lot of possibilities.
Try this analogy:
If you knew there was a challenging but popular and well-written book in your local library revealing countless fascinating clues about ancestral information relating to several lines in your family tree, would you read it? Even if you didn’t have any specific questions about the lines discussed in the book?
Good analogy. Not perfect, but good.