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Back to basics: YDNA

Y not give it a try! Reader Frank Folwell Jr. would sure like to get some help with a part of his family tree. “I have traced my Folwell line to colonial New Jersey,” he writes: William Folwell of Salem, N.J., d. 1710 is most likely my immigrant ancestor. There were...

Really, 23andMe? Really?

Email says changes are coming “in days” The Legal Genealogist was one of many long-time 23andMe customers who got the email this past week. The one with the subject: “Coming soon: A new 23andMe experience.” The one that says that new “23andMe experience will be ready...

Family Tree DNA changes: a work in progress

Not ready for prime time There are changes underway at Family Tree DNA to the way that matches are presented, particularly Family Finder autosomal matches. As long as you have certain close relatives who have tested — first cousins or closer — and as long...

Who’s on first?

Unable to untangle the pieces The Legal Genealogist had planned to do a test of the new Geni-Family Tree DNA interface for today’s DNA Sunday blog post. The information about this new link came in a press release, and you can read all about it here in the Geni...

Opening a can of worms

DNA used to challenge a title It was one of those cases where the first child takes something less than nine months to produce and all subsequent children take a full nine months. The marriage was on the 16th of October 1902. The birth of the first child — a son...

That Y Line

Happy Father’s Day It’s Sunday, June 19, and that’s Father’s Day in the United States. And since it also falls on DNA Sunday here at The Legal Genealogist, I’ll join in with lots of other folks today showing off what I can show off about...

WOTD: Sale

Father’s Day DNA sale The Legal Genealogist is at summer camp for genealogists this week — otherwise known as the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research in Alabama. So the blog this week is focusing on terms — words and phrases — we may come across...

Term of the day: DNA

What do we mean by that? DNA Today is the start of the week-long Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR). It’s the last year that IGHR will be at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama; next year the Institute moves to the University of Georgia...

Blurring the lines

Protecting matches’ privacy So The Legal Genealogist is in Toronto, Canada, for the 2016 Ontario Genealogical Society Conference, and wow… more than 700 registered and very enthusiastic attendees have made this a truly wonderful conference. My own...

Get ready for 23andMe change

Action needed in advance So those of us who tested on 23andMe before the whole kerfluffle with the FDA and access to health reports are finally seeing some action in transitioning our accounts over to the new 23andMe reporting system. The Legal Genealogist finally got...