The Family Tree Problem Solver: Tried-And-True Tactics for Tracing Elusive Ancestors (40 page)

Interpreting Y-DNA test results also presents some challenges. The number of Y chromosome markers you get tested influences the reliability of these tests. Men can choose to test between twelve and sixty-seven markers. The more markers tested, the greater the chance of finding genetic mutations (or differences) and, therefore, the smaller the chance of having an exact genetic match. In other words, a sixty-seven-marker test is more precise than a twelve-marker test, and less likely to imply a “false positive” relationship. It's also more expensive.

If two men have the same surname and the same Y-DNA test results, there's a very good chance they're related within a genealogically significant time period. A difference of one or two marker values, depending on the number of markers tested, also could indicate a genetic link. Remember that a genetic mutation can occur at any time, so even a father's and son's results might not match exactly, although this rarely occurs.

The Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation (SMGF), which offers Y-DNA, mitochondrial DNA and autosomal DNA databases at
www.smgf.org
, generally recommends that genealogists order thirty-six-marker Y-DNA tests. According to the SMGF website, two men with the same surname who match thirty-four out of thirty-six, thirty-five out of thirty-six, or thirty-six out of thirty-six markers probably have a common ancestor who lived within the past five hundred years. Two men with different surnames but with at least a thirty-four out of thirty-six match also may have a common ancestor who lived in the recent past. Fewer matches may indicate a connection before the widespread use of public records.

Geneticists know that some markers mutate faster than others, and they take this into consideration when interpreting test results. But you can see why different mutation rates can make predicting when an MRCA might have lived even more difficult.

REALITY CHECK:
Again, a testing company wouldn't have told Jenny and Helen how many generations back their MRCA lived. The company might have provided a range based on probability.

Myth 5:
If you take a DNA test, you can finally find out who your great-grandmother's parents were.

Your DNA test results won't reveal your ancestors' names, but you can use them to do a little detective work online. Plug your Y-DNA marker values — or your relative's — into a public DNA database, and you may connect with other genealogists who have the same haplotype. (As noted in the glossary on page 215, “haplotype” refers to a series of marker values. Your haplotype is essentially a list of numbers, each corresponding to a DNA marker.)

You may find that people with the same haplotype as you all live in the same region or even the same country. Although you won't know for sure that your ancestors hailed from that place, you may want to do some further investigating in written records.

Of course, you'll want to pay particular attention to any genetic matches whose surnames are the same or similar to yours. By swapping notes with these DNA cousins, you might just figure out who your great-grandmother's parents were. But you won't make this discovery through DNA testing alone.

Regardless of which company provided your test, you can contribute your results to any public online database. Once you sign up for a database, you may receive an e-mail notification each time someone with your haplotype adds his test results. We also recommend joining a surname or geographic project to meet people who share your surname or whose ancestors lived in the same region as yours. You can join a project before or after having your DNA tested.

You can upload your DNA test results and your family tree to websites such as GeneTree
www.genetree.com
and the SMGF database. Once you “meet” genetic matches, you can let them view your family tree online, which saves you the trouble of mailing files back and forth.

REALITY CHECK:
A DNA test can't tell you your ancestors' names, let alone the ancestors you share with someone else. But if you connect with a researcher whose haplotype matches yours, you may add to your family tree simply by sharing what you already know.

Myth 6:
“Big Brother” could get your DNA if you choose genetic genealogy.

Does the idea of your DNA test results' ending up in an online database make you nervous? Testing companies take your privacy seriously, and they won't post your results on the Internet without your consent. If you do want to include your information in an online database, you can determine how much personal information you want to reveal.

Testing companies also make a point of safeguarding customers' DNA specimens — attaching a bar code, not personal information, to each sample, for instance. Some companies destroy all samples after analyzing them. Others give customers the choice of having their specimens destroyed or allowing the company to securely store their samples for any additional tests. To learn more about a company's privacy policy, check its website or make a phone call.

Even though Y-DNA is passed from father to son, a Y-DNA test isn't a paternity test. Although the results can disprove paternity, they cannot be used to prove paternity in court. Law enforcement officials could potentially use DNA test results databases to further an investigation — a controversial topic in the scientific community — but it's unlikely they'd be able to identify a specific suspect using genetic genealogy research.

REALITY CHECK:
Rest assured. Getting your Y-DNA or mtDNA tested won't open you up to identity theft, criminal investigation or paternity suits. But it may introduce you to new research avenues, so you can write your own (true) success story.

Build your genealogical vocabulary with this glossary.

An abbreviated transcription of a document that includes the date of the record and every name it contains; it may also provide relationships or descriptions (witness, executor, bondsman, son, widow) of the people mentioned.

Administrator of any goods of a deceased person not already distributed by the original administrator or executor.

A tax imposed on the value of the property; contrasted to per capita tax.

Administration granted by the court when the executor of a will has died, leaving a portion of the estate not administered.

A German word meaning “ancestor table.” This system of numbering gives each ancestor a number and makes organization and reference easier. Fathers are even numbers, mothers odd. To find a father's number, double the child's number (if you are #1, then, your father is #2). Add one to the father's number to get the mother's number (your mother would be #3).

In the rectangular survey system, a description for an exact subdivision of a section of land. Aliquot parts use directions and fractions to indicate the land's location — for example, “W½SE ¼” represents the west half of the southeast quarter of a township.

The relatives you descend from directly, including parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and so on. Your number of ancestors doubles each generation you move backward; for example, you have four grandparents, eight great-grandparents and 16 great-great-grandparents.

The act or process of taking, apprehending, or seizing persons or property usually for the purpose of securing satisfaction of a debt or to guarantee appearance in court.

Genetic material inherited equally from mother and father. It's less useful genealogically than Y-DNA and mtDNA because it mutates more often. Genetic tests to determine ethnic origins — African, Native American, Viking — typically analyze autosomal DNA.

Church-generated documents publicly stating couples' intent to marry. The custom dates back to Colonial America; banns were posted or read on three consecutive Sundays.

A one-, two-, or three-digit number that describes a block (or piece) of land within a township.

A written, signed and witnessed agreement requiring someone to pay a specified amount of money by a given date.

Land granted by the Colonial and federal governments as a reward for military service. Bounty-land warrants — documents granting the right to the land — were assigned to soldiers, their heirs and other individuals.

The US government office historically in charge of disposing of public land. Usually, several branch land offices existed for each state. Its website contains a searchable database with millions of digitized federal land patents.

Records of the names and death dates of those buried, as well as maps of grave sites. These records are usually kept by cemetery caretakers. More-detailed records, including the names of the deceased's relatives, may also be included. In addition to these paper records, tombstones also can provide information such as birth and death dates and the names of other family members.

A census is an official count of the population in a particular area. In addition to counting the inhabitants of an area, the census generally collects other details, such as names, ages, citizenship status and ethnic background. The US government began collecting census data in 1790, and has done so every 10 years since then. Selected states have conducted their own censuses over the years.

A copy made and attested to by officers having charge of the original and who are authorized to give copies.

The record of successive conveyances affecting a particular parcel of land, arranged consecutively from the government or previous owner down to present owner.

A mortgage that involves personal, rather than real, estate.

A threadlike strand of DNA that carries genes and transmits hereditary information.

Studying your ancestor as part of a group, or “cluster,” of relatives, friends and neighbors and associates. The cluster approach can help you find (or confirm) details you might miss by looking only at an individual ancestor.

Any kin who aren't in your direct line, such as siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins.

A court administering equity proceedings.

The court where civil and criminal cases are begun. Most of these have been abolished, with jurisdiction transferred to district or circuit courts.

In Georgia, the court that formerly had exclusive and general jurisdiction over probate of wills, management of estate, and appointment of guardians.

The court in Pennsylvania or Maryland — known elsewhere as Surrogate or Probate court — with general jurisdiction over matters of probate.

A document transferring land to be paid for in installments over a four-year period. A delinquent payment or nonpayment of the full balance resulted in forfeiture. In 1820, Congress required full payment for land at the time of purchase.

The estate to which a man was entitled by the death of his wife that she had seized in either fee simple or entail, provided they have children born alive and capable of inheriting, i.e., not mentally incapable of managing financial affairs. It is a freehold estate for the term of his natural life. (In some states there was no requirement that issue be born of the union.)

An alien's sworn statement that he or she wants to become a US citizen, also called “first papers.” These records, which were filed in federal court, list personal details such as name, age, occupation, birthplace, last foreign residence and more.

A document transferring ownership and title of property. Unlike a patent, a deed records the sale of property from one private individual to another.

The conveyance of land without consideration (payment).

The testimony of a witness taken under oath from a distance, rather than in open court. A written transcript is made and becomes part of a permanent court record.

Similar to an Outline Descendant Chart, the Descendant Report in Generations also includes dates and places of birth, death and burial. It's useful as a compact format for displaying detailed information on a person's descendants.

An ancestor's offspring — children, grandchildren and every new generation in the direct line.

The molecule that contains each cell's genetic code, organized into 23 pairs of chromosomes. Genetic genealogy tests analyze your Y-DNA, mtDNA or autosomal DNA.

The process of citing your sources of family history information. Thorough documentation makes it easier for you to keep track of the details and sources you've already researched; it also allows other researchers to verify your findings.

A provision by law that entitles the widow to a life-estate in the lands and tenements of her husband at his death if he dies intestate, or if she dissents from his will. Dower has been abolished in the majority of states. Although it was traditionally one third of the estate, there was wide variation among colonies and states.

The property that a woman brings to her husband at their marriage; sometimes referred to as “her portion.”

A copy of an original record.

To settle or limit the succession to real property.

An estate of inheritance that, instead of descending to the heirs in general, goes to the heirs of the owner's body (meaning his lawful issue), and through them to his grandchildren in a direct line. There are several variations of estate entail.

Divisions of each county and some large cities used to make census taking more efficient and accurate. For large cities, the boundaries of enumeration districts often match those of wards or precincts.

Succinctly summarizes your information on a couple and their children. Includes names; dates and places of birth, baptism, marriage, death and burial; and source citations. Arrange these sheets by husband's last name in a three-ring binder for easy reference at home and on research outings.

The world's largest genealogical information collection, founded in 1894 by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The main branch is in Salt Lake City, Utah, but many of the library's microfilmed records can be loaned for use at one of its 3,700 worldwide Family History Centers. The FHL's FamilySearch website contains the Social Security Death Index, the Military Index, the Ancestral File and the International Genealogical Index, plus searchable census data from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Refers to an estate granted to a man and his heirs with no limitations or conditions.

Basically, a family tree. The five-generation chart has five columns reading from left to right. Column one (a single box) contains your vital information. Column two (two lines) contains the names of your parents and their vital information. The third, fourth and fifth columns have four, eight and sixteen lines, respectively, for you to list the names and vital information of everyone through your great-great-grandparents.

An enfranchised citizen. The right to be called a freeman was a political right dependent upon specific qualifications imposed by law. A freeman was not a freed slave, nor a released indentured servant.

A male released from slavery; an emancipated person.

An action brought and carried out by the mutual consent and arrangement of the parties to obtain judgment of court on a doubtful question of law, the facts being usually settled by agreements.

A geographical dictionary; a book giving names and descriptions of places, usually in alphabetical order.

GEnealogy Data COMmunications, or, the universal file format for genealogy databases that allows users of different software programs to share their data with others.

a hereditary unit consisting of a sequence of DNA that occupies a specific location on a chromosome, and determines a particular characteristic in an organism.

The study of your family's history; the process of tracing your ancestors back through time.

Represents a specific location on a chromosome where the basic genetic units exist in a variable number of repeated copies.

The compilation of multiple genetic markers; serves as the unique genetic identifier for any given individual.

An identification of the genetic group your ancient ancestors (10,000 to 60,000 years ago) belonged to; sometimes referred to as your branch of the world's family tree.

Collectively, the marker values on your Y-DNA test results.

Usually, a home on land obtained from the US government. Part of the agreement between the homesteader and the government was that the individual had to live on the land and make improvements to it, such as adding buildings and clearing fields.

A law allowing people to settle up to 160 acres of public land if they lived on it for five years and grew crops or made improvements. The land was free, but the settler paid a filing fee.

In genealogical terms, an alphabetical list of names taken from a particular set of records. For example, a census index lists the names of people named in a particular set of census records, such as the 1870 or 1900 census. Indexes come in book form and on CD-ROM, microfilm and microfiche.

Claims made to the government by whites whose property had been destroyed by the Indians, and vice versa.

One who rented his land from a landlord.

The International Genealogical Index (IGI) is one of the resources of the Family History Library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Containing approximately 250 million names, it is an index of people's names that were either submitted to the church, or were extracted from records that the church has microfilmed over the years. It includes baptisms, marriages, and deaths. It can be accessed on the Web through
www.FamilySearch.org
, at the Family History Library, or one of the many FamilySearch Centers throughout the country.

Description of a person who died without leaving a will.

The calendar used from 46 BC to 1582, named for Julius Caesar. It's often referred to as the “Old Style” calendar and was replaced by the Gregorian calendar.

Blood relatives.