Last October I attended a genealogy seminar put on by our local Victoria Genealogical Society (VGS), dedicated to the topic of DNA research.  I learned more about the scientific facts of DNA,  types of tests and suppliers, risks, plus the limitations and benefits of getting your DNA tested for genealogical purposes.    Spurred on by the momentum and enthusiasm of the excellent speakers and the sold out attendees, I decided to get tested through Family Tree DNA (ftDNA). 

Existing knowledge of DNA and its application has certainly increased since I learned the fundaments of DNA in high school Biology 11.  But it is still true that almost all our cells contain 23 pairs of chromosomes that define who we are: 1 pair of sex chromosomes, and 22 "autosomal" pairs.  DNA testing could be deemed sexist due to our inherent biology (girls have 2 X chromosomes, whereas guys have 1 X and 1 Y). We are not all created equal.  As I am female and lack a Y chromosome, I am unable to take the Y test.  But there are other options.

There is no specific test for the X chromosome yet, and as males also inherit an X chromosome from their mothers, it would not be an exclusive test.  But there is a lesser amount of DNA in the cell's mitochondria that is inherited only from the mother, regardless of sex.  Therefore mitochondrial (mt) tests can give everyone insight into their direct female line (mother's mother's mother's mother ...).  That's interesting, but not very broad in scope for a single individual.

The remaining test looks at a limited selection of locations on all 22 pairs of the autosomal DNA.  The testing company then use complicated algorithms to compare your results with others who have also taken this same test. They then provide you with a list of "matches": those who are related to you within 5 generations or so.  Each match could be on either your father or mother's side - no way to tell from the DNA alone.  And of course it doesn't tell you exactly how you are connected.  The only clues you have are surnames optionally posted by you and your matches based on your traditional genealogy research. It's then up to you to contact each match and explore how you might be related. More traditional research is often required to discover exactly how you are connected.

These various tests usually include an estimate of your genetic heritage or "ethnicity",  presented in the form of percentages by country or region.   They calculate this based on samplings from a variety of population groups in various locations throughout the world where unique mutations have been identified.  If your DNA includes some of these mutations, it is probable that your ancestors came from that particular location after the mutation date. We're talking long term here!  


For my DNA test, I chose to take the autosomal "Family Finder" test through Family Tree DNA (ftDNA).  I ordered the kit at the end of October.  After in arrived I did the cheek swab and mailed it back in November.  I got word that they had received it in December (it took a while to cross the border and get delivered in the pre-Christmas season). I still didn't have the results by January 14 when I attended another VGS meeting and one of our members talked about her success using the Family Finder DNA test.  She discovered and then visited new 5th cousins in the southern USA. The amazing part is that she is white and they are black and they are all thrilled to learn about each other.  It was truly inspiring, and I hoped that I would also learn a lot from my own DNA results when they arrived.

​The very next day I received an email from ftDNA.  My results were now available online!  Looking first at my ethnicity, it was no surprise to learn that I am 100% European, including 40% British Isles and 31% Scandinavian (perhaps the Viking influence?). And as far as autosomal matches were concerned, I have well over 200 to review.   My top match is a 2nd or 3rd cousin, and from the surnames he listed it seems obvious that we are connected somehow through my father's side.  I have a lot of more distant cousins to investigate too.

In the last couple of weeks I have sent out 14 queries to 14 of my DNA matches.  Six have not yet responded (including my top match), but lively email discussions are ongoing with some of the others.  Generally speaking, it's been harder than I thought it would be to figure out how I'm connected to each of the matches.  But the good news is that I have already found one connection. I was lucky to find it so quickly considering the circumstances.

I had downloaded all the match data into a spreadsheet to make the data easier to view, sort and manipulate.  Then when I was browsing through the user names of the submitters (fortunately close or equal to their real names in most cases), one familiar name happened to catch my eye even though it was farther down the list.  I thought it might belong to a maternal 4th cousin I had contacted a few years ago, but the person in my match list only used a first initial and had a different email address.  And they hadn't listed any ancestral surnames, so it was hard to be sure.  So I decided to contact her using her old address to see if she was also the owner of the DNA.  I quickly learned that yes, she was the one who had created the DNA account but the DNA sample belonged to her elderly father, who I know is my third cousin once removed (3C1R).  The DNA list predicted that the match would be a 4th cousin (3rd to 5th range).  So we all got it right!

Obviously I'm just getting started on this big project, hoping to find lots more distant relatives through this DNA process in the months to come.  Guess what the primary focus of my research and blog postings will be this year?


REFERENCES
 
DNA Explained, blog 
DNA Explained, articles and publications - basic to advanced 
Family Tree DNA - Family Finder Autosomal Test overview
Family Tree DNA - How does the Family Finder test work?
Family Tree DNA - FAQs, Autosomal Genealogy Matching

At the start of this brand new year, I would like to take a brief look back at the accomplishments of the past year, genealogically speaking, before moving on.  A big shout out to Amy Johnson Crow, genealogist and blogger extraordinaire, who for the past two years has hosted her “No Story Too Small - Life is made of stories” blog, and administered her “52 Ancestor” challenge.  I heard about this challenge in December of 2014, and began participating on 1 Jan 2015.  Because of this challenge, I wrote and posted 52 postings last year, plus 3 other posts not directly related to this challenge.  I know for a fact that these stories would not have been written, at least in this format and timeframe, had I not felt accountable to this challenge and supported by Amy and the other bloggers. The goal of the challenge was to write a weekly story of any length about an ancestor or relative, optionally including the theme of the week.  And I did it!

Writing 52 stories seems a lot (it was), and did take a lot of time.  Most stories required a lot of review of known information plus further research, even as I wrote each story.   I was also surprised to realize how much I didn’t know about the subject until I started looking at their life from a story perspective.  Choosing the ancestor to write about each week was no mean feat either!  I found the themes very useful for narrowing down the candidates, so I generally used the theme albeit obliquely in a few cases.  It’s been many, many years since my high school and university English courses, so I was reminded anew how a theme is a very effective unifying tool for writing a focused and more interesting story. And I do want these stories to be appealing so they will be read and enjoyed by family members.  I think that this challenge has stretched and fine tuned my writing skills (although there’s still much room for improvement), an unexpected key benefit of this challenge.

I decided at the beginning of the year that I wanted to at least summarize all I knew about a deceased person in our trees in a single article, although others chose to write a number of short stories about the same person at various times throughout the year(s).  I deviated from my plan on occasion, writing two stories about Terry’s father William Irvine BOORMAN and still not covering all aspects of his life.  I only wrote one short story about my mother Mabel Marion ANDREW as it related to a favorite photo of her; so much about her is still left unwritten. My last post was about making a photo memory book for my husband Terry BOORMAN.  Both of us are obviously not yet deceased, but I thought that merging the past and the present in the same story about an alternate way of preserving stories was a good transition and “resolution” to the year’s project.  Talk about an oblique use of theme!

I wrote about direct ancestors (grandparents…) and collateral relatives (uncles, aunts, cousins …).  I wrote about about a number of relatives in our parents generation, and as far back as the 1600s, including my 9-times-great grandparents Lord John LISLE, Lady Alice BECONSAW LISLE, and Thomas HAZARD.  And many others in between.  My selections were unevenly distributed between the various branches, generally reflecting the amount of research already accomplished in the different lines.  Ten of the fifty-two stories dealt with Terry’s relatives (including Terry himself); only one dealt with his maternal THOMAS line while nine involved individuals from his paternal BOORMAN tree.  My own maternal ANDREW, RICHARDSON and COMPTON tree is by far the largest so warranted thirty-eight stories. My paternal HENSON tree was the focus of only four stories.  So it’s obvious there are many more stories still to write, no matter how small!

I received notice from Amy on  December 31st that she would not be continuing the “52 Ancestor” writing challenge in 2016.  I will keep writing stories for this blog this year, but not as prolifically and not always in that format.  I need time to expand my research and hopefully scale some of those brick walls.  My future posts can now focus on the research process itself as well as individuals and family groups in our trees.  I will need to pick my own themes as well as subjects.  My new plan is not yet set in stone; I will let it evolve as I proceed with my genealogical research in 2016. One thing is certain: there is always more to discover and write about!