Acadian Ancestors and Their DNA

Posted on April 9, 2024 by Roberta Estes

Recently, I’ve been focused on writing about my Acadian ancestors, and I’ve come across new, never-before-published information. When writing my ancestor articles, it’s always easiest to work my way up the tree, from child to parents. This article includes a summary of each Acadian line, with informational links.

My mother’s grandfather was half-Acadian, so I have a LOT of Acadian ancestors. That’s also why I’m one of the volunteer administrators for the Acadian AmerIndian DNA Project at FamilyTreeDNA. Many Acadian families have intermixed European and Mi’kmaq lineages. Our project celebrates both and welcomes all.

We are working hard to obtain at least two Big Y-700 tests for each paternal surname line and each maternal mitochondrial DNA line.

Why is that important?

Different DNA Tests Tell Us Different Things

Y-DNA descends through all males to only males, so men have their father’s and grandfather’s Y-DNA, on up that line. The Y chromosome is what makes males male. In the Western world, it’s the paternal surname line. You can view the Acadian AmerIndian project’s Y-DNA test results here.

Everyone has mitochondrial DNA, which is passed from female ancestors to both sexes of their children, but only females pass it on. If your direct matrilineal ancestor (you to mother to mother, etc., on up the tree) is Acadian, then you have Acadian mitochondrial DNA. You can view the project’s mitochondrial DNA test results here.

Additionally, we welcome all Acadian descendants who have taken an autosomal DNA test, meaning the Family Finder test at FamilyTreeDNA, or who have uploaded a DNA file from either Ancestry or MyHeritage. (23andMe DNA file uploads have been paused following the 23andMe data compromise, but will resume soon.) You can find upload/download instructions, here.

I encourage anyone who descends from any Acadian, Mi’kmaq, or Atlantic Maritime Native ancestor to join the Acadian AmerIndian DNA Project. We’ve been working on our genealogy together for 18 years, and we love to welcome new cousins!

Acadian Descendants are “All” Related

When I first discovered my Acadian heritage, my now-deceased cousin Paul LeBlanc told me that if you’re related to one Acadian, you’re related to all Acadians. I thought he was being facetious, but when he sent me a list of 137 ways we were related, I quickly realized how intermarried this isolated group of people had been.

The Acadians were French settlers who established homes in Nova Scotia beginning in the early 1600s and stayed until their forced removal by the English in 1755.

Click to enlarge any image.

Shiploads of people, after being stripped of all their belongings, were forcibly relocated elsewhere – locations that included various English colonies along the eastern seaboard, Caribbean islands, the Falkland Islands, South America, and France.

Some managed to return to Nova Scotia years later, but many either stayed where they wound up or made their way to Quebec sometime after 1766. A large number eventually relocated to the Louisiana area, where they are known as Cajuns today.

After deportation, all the Acadians had, literally, was each other, so they tried to stick together as best they could. Families were split as people were herded onto ships that were intentionally sent to different destinations. Most Acadians didn’t speak the language where they were exiled. They were also Catholics in an English world where Catholicism was often illegal. This meant that they remained in communities and intermarried with whatever other Acadians happened to have been herded into the same ship when the deportation occurred.

After at least a decade in exile, some Acadian families reunited in Louisiana, Quebec, or Nova Scotia, where they established communities.

It’s no wonder that today’s Acadian family trees are interwoven, and their DNA shows a significant amount of pedigree collapse and endogamy. So, not only are all Acadians related on paper, but many share some DNA with each other, too.

DNA Testing – You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

Almost everyone is familiar with the benefits of autosomal DNA testing. You match lots of cousins with whom you can collaborate and confirm ancestors across multiple lines in a variety of ways. It’s like a big jigsaw puzzle.

Not everyone understands why we need to do Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA testing for each of our Acadian ancestors and ancestral lines.

Put simply, you don’t know what you don’t know. Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA provide additional tools, and you know exactly which line they pertain to. Unlike with autosomal DNA, you’re not limited to “maybe” matching someone with whom you shared an ancestor just a few generations ago. Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA are direct, targeted lineage tests that break through barriers.

Ideally, we need to test the following:

Males directly descended through all males for each line to confirm there is no biological break in the line. Preferably a Big Y-700 test.
At least one Big Y-700 tester from each of two sons of the original ancestor to confirm that ancestor’s Y-DNA signature.
At least two people who descend from each female ancestor through all females to the current generation, which can be male, to confirm that ancestor’s mitochondrial signature
At least one mitochondrial tester from each of the original ancestor’s female children to confirm that all of the children attributed to her are her children.

Big Y-700 tests and mtFull (full sequence mitochondrial DNA tests) provide a smorgasbord of information, including:

Continental-level ethnicities for that ancestral line including European, African, Asian, Native American, and Jewish.
Highly detailed migration paths with Globetrekker and the Discover tools.
Time ranges when the various mutations occurred forming lineages which can be critical for determining relationships and timelines.
Matching with ancient DNA samples, which informs us of history beyond surnames.
Sometimes literally a village or a very specific location in a country where other testers’ ancestors are from.

I can’t tell you how many brick walls have fallen, including several Acadian lineages that, without Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA testing, we would never have been able to unravel.

The more people who test, the more refined the results, and the more information that becomes available for all of us. Since DNA testing is illegal in France, it’s up to the descendants of those who emigrated elsewhere to step up and fill the void.

Acadian Genealogy Trees

As with any genealogy, sometimes it’s challenging to sort the wheat from the chaff when it comes to genealogical information. Often, DNA testing and other resources add to the library of knowledge that we have, correcting and refining what was previously believed.

Genealogy is a team sport, and future research, both for us and new researchers to follow, is built on the foundation of those who have come before us and continue to contribute.

I encourage Acadian researchers to utilize two of my favorite sources in addition to DNA testing.

Karen Theriot Reader is a professional genealogist whose family is Acadian. You can access her free tree with sources, here. Thank you, Karen.
WikiTree is a free one-world tree that utilizes specialized volunteer teams that focus on accuracy and, when needed, dispute resolution. You can find the WikiTree Acadian project here, and I encourage you to add your lineage.

My Trees

I’ve uploaded trees everywhere I’ve DNA tested, and I also have public trees available for viewing.

You can view my tree at WikiTree, here. Antoine Lore is my most recent Acadian ancestor, so the Acadian portion of my tree begins here.
My MyHeritage tree can be viewed for free, here.
My Ancestry tree can be viewed by Ancestry subscribers, here.
My branch of the FamilySearch tree can be viewed here. I love FamilySearch’s one-world tree, but it doesn’t have specialty moderation teams, so I find its trees less accurate than the Acadian WikiTree entries or Karen Theriot Reader’s tree.

Ancestors

It’s difficult to decide how best to organize these ancestors, so I’ve chosen alphabetical groupings with explanations.

Please note that I haven’t yet written a comprehensive article about each ancestor. I’ll be updating this page as I add articles. Right now, I’m adding articles every week or so in anticipation of a trip to Nova Scotia to visit where they lived.

You’re going to see some new Acadian surnames here. That’s because we recently discovered records that were previously buried in France.

Aucoin Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Aucoin	Jeanne	1630	1718	Francois Girouard	H
Aucoin	Martin	c 1595	Bef 1671	Barbe Minguet		I-FTC21121

Origins

The Aucoin family originated in LaRochelle, France, where Martin Aucoin was married in 1632. Jeanne Aucoin was baptized there on November 26, 1630.

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

You can purchase an autosomal Family Finder DNA test here or upload a DNA file from another testing company. Then, join the Acadian AmerIndian project by clicking on “Group Projects” at the top of the page after you sign in.

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are an Aucoin male, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here. If you are an Aucoin male who has already purchased a Y-DNA STR test, please upgrade to the Big Y-700.
If you descend from Jeanne Aucoin through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Aucoin Links

Blanchard Family

Click to enlarge trees.

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Blanchard	Jeanne	c 1675		Jean LePrince	HV4a1a4
Blanchard	Guillaume	c 1650	1715/1717	Huguette Gougeon	X2b4	I-M253 need Big Y-700 test
Blanchard	Madelaine	c 1643		Michael Richard	X2b4
Blanchard	Jean	c 1611		Radegonde Lambert		I-M253 need Big Y-700 test

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Blanchard male, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here. If you are an Blanchard male who has already purchased a Y-DNA STR test, please upgrade to the Big Y-700.
If you descend from either Jeanne Blanchard or Madeleine Blanchard through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Blanchard DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need at least two Blanchard males from both Guillaume Blanchard and Jeanne Blanchard’s lines to take or upgrade to the Big Y-700 test. We don’t actually know if those two men are related.

Blanchard Links

Bonnevie Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Bonnevie	Marie Charlotte	c 1703	After 1742	Jacques Lore/Lord	X2a2
Bonnevie	Jacques	c 1660	1733	Francoise Mius		I-Y21507

Origins

Jacques Bonnevie was reported by Father Clarence d’Entremont to have been a conscripted soldier born in Paris, France.

Roberta’s Articles

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Bonnevie male, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here. If you are an Bonnevie male who has already purchased a Y-DNA STR test, please upgrade to the Big Y-700.
If you descend from Marie Charolotte Bonnevie through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Bonnevie DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need at least two Bonnevie males to take or upgrade to the Big Y-700 test.
We need mitochondrial DNA testers that descend from each of Marie Charlotte Bonnevie’s sisters to prove beyond a doubt that they share a mother. If you descend from Marie Charlotte or her female siblings through all females to the current generation, please take a mitochondrial DNA test.

Bonnevie Links

Bourg Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Bourg	Perrine	c 1626	After 1693	Simon Pelletret	H14b1

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Bourg male, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Perrine Bourg through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Bourg DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need any Bourg male or similarly spelled surname to take or upgrade to the Big Y-700 test.

Bourg Links

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bourg-20

Bourgeois Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Bourgeois	Marie Francoise	1659	Before 1697	Claude Dugas	H1ag1
Bourgeois	Jacques dit Jacob	1618/1621	1698/1700	Jeanne Trahan		R-FTC6661

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Bourgeois male, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here. If you are an Bourgeois male who has already purchased a Y-DNA STR test, please upgrade to the Big Y-700.
If you descend from Marie Francoise Bourgeois through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Bourgeois DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need at least two Bourgeois males to take or upgrade to the Big Y-700 test.

Bourgeois Links

Broussard Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Broussard	Marie Anne	1686		Rene Doucet	X2b4
Broussard	Francois	c 1653	1716	Catherine Richard		R-FT282415

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Broussard male, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here. If you are a Broussard male who has already purchased a Y-DNA STR test, please upgrade to the Big Y-700.
If you descend from Marie Anne Broussard through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Broussard Links

Chaumoret Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Chaumoret	Francoise	c 1605	Before 1650	Antoine Chebrat	HV4a1a4
Chaumoret	Vincent	Before 1585				Need Big Y-700 test

Origins

Francoise Chaumoret’s husband, Antoine Chebrat, is found operating a mill in La Chaussee, Poitou, France, in 1650.

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Chaumoret male, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here..
If you descend from Francoise Chaumoret through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Chaumoret DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need any Chaumoret male to take or upgrade to the Big Y-700 test.

Chaumoret Links

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Chaumoret-1

Chebrat Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Chebrat	Jeanne	c 1626	After 1677	Antoine Gougeon	HV4a1a4
Chebrat	Antoine		Before 1662			Need Big Y-700 test

Origins

Antoine Chebrat is found operating a mill in La Chaussee, Poitou, France in 1650.

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Chebrat male, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here..
If you descend from Jeanne Chebrat through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Chebrat DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need any Chebrat male to take or upgrade to the Big Y-700 test.

Chebrat Links

Corbineau or Charbonneau Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Corbineau, Charbonneau	Francoise	C 1605	Before 1666	Guillaume Trahan	H1ag1

Origins

Francoise Corbineau was born in St. Etienne Parish in Chinon, Indre-et-Loire, Touraine, France, and was of de la Paroisse St-Etienne when she married Guillaume Trahan in 1627.

Francoise Charbonnier, born in 1599, may be this person, but additional research is needed.

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Corbineau or Charbonneau male, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Francoise Corbineau through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Corbineau or Charbonneau DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need any Corbineau male or similarly spelled surname from this line or this region to take or upgrade to the Big Y-700 test.

Corbineau Links

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Corbineau-3

Cousin Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Cousin	Marie	c 1667	After 1710	Nicholas Goicheau	Need mitochondrial DNA

Origins

Jacquette Soulard was married on July 2, 1685 to Pierre Garceau in Saint-Marsault, Deux-Sèvres, France, about 55 miles northwest of La Rochelle. From Filae, “Pierre Goicheau, age 33, laboureur, père Nicolas Goicheau, mère Marie Cousin; Jacquette Soulard, age 18, père Jacque Soulard, mère Perrine Estancheau.” Hat tip to cousin Mark for deep–diving and finding this extremely elusive record.

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Cousin male whose ancestors are from this region of France, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Marie Cousin, through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Cousin DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need any Cousin male or similarly spelled surname from this line or this region to take or upgrade to the Big Y-700 test.
Additional children would certainly have been born to this couple. If you descend from Marie Cousin through all females to the current generation, which can be male, please purchase a mitochondrial DNA test.

d’Azy Family – see Mius

d’Entremont Family – see Mius

DeForest, Forest, de Forest, Foret or La Foret Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
DeForest	Marguerite	1747	1819	Francois Lafalle	HV41a14
DeForest	Jacques	1707		Marie Josephe LePrince	H1ag1	R-FT146490
DeForest	Rene	1670	1751	Francoise Dugas	J1b2	R-FT146490
DeForest	Michel		Before 1691	Marie Hebert		R-FT146490

Origins

Please note that Y-DNA testing has proven that this is NOT the Gereyt deForest line from Leyden, Holland.

Roberta’s Articles

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Forest male by any spelling, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Marguerite DeForest through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

DeForest Links

Desloges or Deloges Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Desloges	Renee	c 1570	Before 1632	Nicholas Trahan	Need mitochondrial DNA

Origins

Two of Renee Desloges’s children were baptized at Montreuil-Bellay, France in 1601 and 1614.

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Desloges or Deloges male, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Renee Desloges through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Desloges or Deloges DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need any Desloges male or similarly spelled surname from this region or this region to take or upgrade to the Big Y-700 test.
We need anyone who descends from Renee Desloges’s daughters, Anne, Renee or Lucrece Trahan through all females to take a mitochondrial DNA test.

Desloges Links

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Desloges-2

Doucet Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Doucet	Anne	1713	1791	Daniel Garceau	X2b4
Doucet	Rene	C 1678	After 1701	Marie Anne Broussard	H14b1	R-FT413594
Doucet	Pierre	C 1621	1713	Henriette Pelletret	T2b7a2	R-FT413594
Doucet	Marguerite aka Marie Judith?	1625	1732	Abraham Dugas	T2b7a2

Marguerite’s parents are unknown. She is the sister of Pierre.

Origins

Germaine Doucet, the uncle of Pierre and Marguerite, was born in Couperoue en Brye (or Coupri en Brie), today Coupru in the department of Haunts-de-France region, Picardie, France, about 20 miles northeast of Paris.

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Doucet male, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from either Anne or Marguerite Doucet through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Doucet DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need at least two Big Y-700 testers. If you are a Doucet male from this line, please take a Big Y-700 DNA test. If you are a Doucet male who has already taken a Y-DNA STR test, please upgrade to the Big Y-700 test.

Doucet Links

Dugas Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Dugas	Francoise	1678	After 1723	Rene DeForest	H1ag1
Dugas	Claude	1652	1732	Francoise Bourgeois	T2b7a2	J-FT168292
Dugas	Abraham	1616	1693/1700	Marguerite Doucet		J-FT168292

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Dugas male, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Francoise Dugas through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Dugas Links

Estancheau Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Estancheau	Perrine	Before 1647		Jacque Soulard	Need mitochondrial DNA

Origins

Jacquette was married on July 2, 1685, to Pierre Garceau in Saint-Marsault, Deux-Sèvres, France, about 55 miles northwest of La Rochelle. From Filae, “Pierre Goicheau, age 33, laboureur, père Nicolas Goicheau, mère Marie Cousin; Jacquette Soulard, age 18, père Jacque Soulard, mère Perrine Estancheau.” Hat tip to cousin Mark for deep-diving and finding this extremely elusive record.

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are an Estancheau male whose ancestors are from this region of France, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Perrine Estancheau through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Estancheau DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need any Estancheau male or similarly spelled surname from this line or this region to take or upgrade to the Big Y-700 test.
Additional children would certainly have been born to this couple. If you descend from Perrine Estancheau through all females to the current generation, which can be male, please purchase a mitochondrial DNA test.

Garceau, Garsseault or Goicheau Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Garceau	Appoline	1742	1788	Honore Lore	X2b4
Garceau	Daniel	1707	1772	Anne Doucet	U6a7a1a	Need Big Y-700 test
Garceau	Jean	c 1675	1707	Marie Levron		Need Big Y-700 test
Garceau	Pierre	c 1652		Jacquette Soulard		Need Big Y-700 test
Garceau	Nicolas	Before 1632		Marie Cousin		Need Big Y-700 test

Origins

Pierre Garceau married Jacquette Soulard in 1685 in Saint-Marsault, part of La Foret-sur-Sevres, about 55 miles northwest of La Rochelle. From Filae, “Pierre Goicheau, age 33, laboureur, père Nicolas Goicheau, mère Marie Cousin; Jacquette Soulard, age 18, père Jacque Soulard, mère Perrine Estancheau.” Hat tip to cousin Mark for deep-diving and finding this extremely elusive record.

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Garceau male, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Appoline Garceau through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Garceau, Garsseault or Goicheau DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need any Garceau or Goicheau male or similarly spelled surname from this line or this region to take or upgrade to the Big Y-700 test.
We need anyone who descends from Jacquette Soulard through all females to the current generation to test for her mitochondrial DNA. At this point, we know of no female children born to Pierre and Jacquette. If you discover those records, please reach out.

Garceau Links

Gaudet Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Gaudet	Marie	c 1633	1710	Etienne Hebert	J1b2
Gaudet	Jean	C 1575	1671/1678			G-YP786

Origins

Historian Geneviève Massignon believed that the Acadian Gaudet, Hebert, and LeBlanc families were already allied in France. Jean Gaudet, was censistaire (paid quit-rent to a feudal Lord) in 1634 on land at Martaizé (Vienne) in the Seigneurie d’Aulnay. D’Aulnay arranged for some of the people from this region to settle in Acadia. Massignon did not find baptismal or marriage records, although I’m unclear how much research was done.

Roberta’s Articles

Marie Gaudet (c1633-1710) – The Three Maries

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Gaudet male, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Marie Gaudet through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Gaudet DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need at least two Gaudet males from this line to take or upgrade to the Big Y-700 test.

Gaudet Links

Girouard or Gerard Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Girouard	Charlotte Anne	1659	1742	Jullien Lord/Lore	H
Girouard	Francois	1640/1651	1686/1690	Jeanne Aucoin		Need Big Y-700 test

Roberta’s Articles

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Girouard male by any spelling, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Charlotte Anne Girouard or her sisters through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Girouard DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need two Girouard males from this line or this region to take or upgrade to the Big Y-700 test. One test is in process, but we still need at least one more.

Girouard Links

Gougeon Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Gougeon	Huguette	1647/1655	1717	Guillaume Blanchard	HV4a1a4
Gougeon	Antoine	c 1626	Before 1679	Jeanne Chebrat		Need Big Y-700 test

Huguette Gougeon’s mother’s first husband was Jean Poirier, so there is some confusion that Huguette was a Poirier, but she was the child of her mother’s second husband, Antoine Gougeon.

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Gougeon male, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Huguette Gougeon through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Gougeon DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need any Gougeon male or similarly spelled surname from this line or this region to take or upgrade to the Big Y-700 test.

Gougeon Links

Hebert Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Hebert	Marie	c 1651	1677	Michel DeForest	J1b2
Hebert	Marguerite	c 1652	After 1715	Jacques LePrince	J1b2
Hebert	Etienne	c 1625	1669/1671	Marie Gaudet		R-BY31006

Marie and Marguerite Hebert are sisters.

Roberta’s Articles

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Hebert male, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Marie or Marguerite Hebert, or their sisters through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Hebert Links

Helie Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Helie	Madeleine	C 1626	Before 1678	Philippe Mius I	J – partial haplogroup – need mtFull test

Madeleine Helie’s parents are unknown. Her surname is spelled variably as Elie, Ellie, d’Elie, and E’Lie

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Helie male by any spelling, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Madeleine Helie through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Helie DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need any Helie male or similarly spelled surname to take or upgrade to the Big Y-700 test.
We need anyone descended from Madeleine Helie through all females to the current generation to take a mitochondrial DNA test. If you have already tested at a lower level, please upgrade to the full sequence test.

Helie Links

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Helie-2

LaFaille, Lafay, or Lafaye Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Lafay, Lafaille	Marie	1767	1836	Honore Lore	HV4a1a4
Lafay, Lafaille	Francois	1744	1824	Marguerite DeForest		Need Big Y-700 test

Origins

Francois Lafaye, Lafay or Lafaille, was a French sailor whose parents may have been Joseph Lafay and Francoise Germon from Bordeaux, France.

Roberta’s Articles

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a LaFaille, Lafay, or Lafaye male by any spelling, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Marie LaFaille/Lafay through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Lafaille, Lafay, or Lafaye DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need any Lafaille, Lafaye or Lafay male or similarly spelled surname from this line or whose ancestors descend from from Bordeaux to take the Big Y-700 test.

LaFailly or Lafay Links

Lambert Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Lambert	Radegonde	c 1621	1686/1693	Jean Blanchard	X2b4

Origins

Radegonde’s parents are unknown, but there has been speculation for years that Jean Lambert, the only male in Acadia at that time with the Lambert surname was her father. It’s currently believed that she married and arrived with Jean Blanchard. Her mitochondrial DNA proves beyond a doubt that she is not Native.

Roberta’s Articles

Radegonde Lambert (1621/1629-1686/1693), European, Not Native

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Lambert male, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Radegonde Lambert through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Lambert DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need any Lambert male or similarly spelled surname from this line or this region to take or upgrade to the Big Y-700 test.

Lambert Links

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Lambert-395

LeJeune Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
LeJeune	Catherine	1633	c 1678	Francois Savoie	U6a7a1a

There may have been three LeJeune siblings in early Acadia, but no definitive information or consensus has been reached. At this point, Catherine LeJeune’s parents are unknown.

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a LeJeune male, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Catherine LeJeune or any female LeJeune born in the same timeframe in Acadia through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

LeJeune DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need any LeJeune male or similarly spelled surname to take or upgrade to the Big Y-700 test.

LeJeune Links

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Lejeune-11

LePrince or Le Prince Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
LePrince	Marie Josephe	1715	After 1748	Jacques DeForest	HV4a1a4
LePrince	Jean	c 1692	After 1752	Jeanne Blanchard	J1b2	Need Big Y-700 test
LePrince	Jacques	c 1646	1692/1693	Marguerite Hebert		Need Big Y-700 test

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a LePrince male, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Marie Josephe LePrince through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

LePrince DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need any LePrince male or similarly spelled surname from this line to take the Big Y-700 test.

LePrince Links

Levron Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Levron	Marie	c 1686	1727	Jean Garceau	U6a7a1a
Levron	Francois	c 1651	1714	Catherine Savoie		Need Big Y-700 test

Origins

Francois Levron’s dit name is Nantois, which may be the source of his origins being placed in Nantes. Additionally, other Acadians came from there as well. To date, we need confirmation.

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Levron male, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Marie Levron through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Levron DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need any Levron male or similarly spelled surname from this line to take or upgrade to the Big Y-700 test.

Levron Links

Lord, Lore, Lor, L’Or, Laur, or Laure Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Lore	Antoine	1805	1862/1868	Rachel Hill	HV4a1a4	R-BY93943
Lore	Honore	1768	1834	Marie Lafay	X2b4	R-BY93943
Lore	Honore	1742	1818	Appoline Garceau	X2a2	R-BY93943
Lor/Lord/Lore	Jacques	1679	1786	Marie Charlotte Bonnevie	H	R-BY93943
LorLord/Lore	Julien	1653	1724	Anne Charlotte Girouard		R-BY93943

Julien’s dit name is LaMontagne, which was used as a surname at least once.

Roberta’s Articles

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Lore or Lord male by any spelling, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.

Lord/Lore Links

Minguet Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Minguet	Barbe	C 1600	After 1630	Martin Aucoin	H

Origins

The Aucoin family was from LaRochelle, France, so it stands to reason that the Minguet family was also from that area.

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Minguet male, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Barbe Minguet through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Minguet DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need any Minguet male or similarly spelled surname from this region to take or upgrade to the Big Y-700 test.

Minguet Links

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Minguet-1

Mius, Muis, Miuse, Muise, Mews, d’Azy, or d’Entremont Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Mius	Francoise	c 1683	1515/1517	Jacques Bonnevie	X2a2
Mius	Philippe II	1660/1662	After 1726	Unknown Mi’kmaq	J	E-V13, need Big Y tester
Mius	Philippe I	c 1609	1700	Madelaine Helie		E-V13, need Big Y tester

Roberta’s Articles

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Mius, d’Azy, or d’Entremont male by any spelling, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Francoise Mius or her sisters through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Mius, d’Azy, or d’Entremont DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need any Mius, d’Azy, or d’Entremont male or similarly spelled surname from this line to take or upgrade to the Big Y-700 test.
We need at least one person who descends through all females from each one of Francoise Mius’s sisters to the current generation, which can be male, to take a mitochondrial DNA test. We need to verify which siblings share the same mother. Her father, Philippe Mius, is known to have had one Native wife, is believed to have had two, and could have had more.

Mius Links

Pelletret, Pelletrot, or Peltret Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Pelletret	Henriette	c 1541	1686/1693	Pierre Doucet	H14b1
Pelletret	Simon	c 1616	1643/1645	Perrine Bourg		Need Y-DNA tester

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Pelletret male by any spelling, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Henriette Pelletret through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Pelletret DNA Needed – Can You Help?

Simon did not have any known male children. Therefore, we are hoping for a Pelletret male whose ancestors are from France to take or upgrade to the Big Y-700 test.

Pelletret Links

Richard Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Richard	Catherine	1663	1716	Francois Broussard	X2b4
Richard	Michel	c 1630	1686/1689	Madeleine Blanchard		R-FT137222

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Richard male, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Catherine Richard through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Richard DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need any Richard male from this line or this region to take or upgrade to the Big Y-700 test. Please note that several men with the surname Robichaud match the Richard line. These men are also invited to upgrade.

Richard Links

Savoie Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Savoie	Catherine	c 1659	1701/1703	Francois Levron	U6a7a1a
Savoie	Francois	c 1621	Before 1679	Catherine LeJeune		R-FT397291

Origins

The Savoie family origins are uncertain, but Bona Arsenault cites Massignon and states that they are, “Doubtlessly originally from Martaize, department of Vienne, France.” Additional research is needed.

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Savoie male, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Catherine Savoie through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Savoie DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need any Savoie male or similarly spelled surname from this line or this region to take or upgrade to the Big Y-700 test.

Savoie Links

Soulard Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Soulard	Jacquette	c 1667	After 1710	Pierre Garceau	Need mitochondrial DNA
Soulard	Jacque	Before 1647		Perrine Estancheau		Need Big Y-700 test

Origins

Jacquette married Pierre Garceau on July 2, 1685, in Saint-Marsault, Deux-Sèvres, France, about 55 miles northwest of La Rochelle. From Filae, “Pierre Goicheau, age 33, laboureur, père Nicolas Goicheau, mère Marie Cousin; Jacquette Soulard, age 18, père Jacque Soulard, mère Perrine Estancheau.” Hat tip to my cousin Mark who did the deep-diving and found this extremely elusive record.

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Soulard or possibly Foulard male whose ancestors are from this region of France, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Jacquette Soulard or her mother, Perrine Estancheau, through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Soulard DNA Needed – Can You Help?

We need any Soulard or Foulard male or similarly spelled surname from this line or this region to take or upgrade to the Big Y-700 test.
Additional children would certainly have been born to this couple. If you descend from Jacquette Soulard or Perrine Estancheau through all females to the current generation, which can be male, please purchase a mitochondrial DNA test.

Soulard Links

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Soulard-17

Trahan Family

Last	First	Birth	Death	Spouse	mtDNA	Y-DNA
Trahan	Jeanne	c 1629	1698-1700	Jacques Bourgeois	H1ag1
Trahan	Guillaume	c 1601	1684	Francoise Corbineau		R-BY34988
Trahan	Nicolas	1570/1580	After 1627	Renee Desloges		R-BY34988

Origins

Guillaume Trahan was born in Montreuil-Bellay, Maine-et-Loire, Anjou, France.

Roberta’s Articles

I have not written any articles about these ancestors yet, although they may be mentioned in others. You can search for the surname by entering the surname in the search box at my blog.

The Project

In addition to the autosomal test:

If you are a Trahan male, please purchase the Big Y-700 test, here.
If you descend from Jeanne Trahan through all females to the current generation, please purchase the mitochondrial DNA test.

Trahan Links

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Washington Family Lineage Revealed from Family Burials & Opens the Door for More

Posted on March 28, 2024 by Roberta Estes

I’m excited to share the paper, “Unearthing Who and Y at Harewood Cemetery and inference of George Washington’s Y-chromosomal haplotype” by Cavagnino et al. 2024, and published in iScience, on which I’m a co-author.

When Goran Runfeldt, Head of R&D at FamilyTreeDNA called me last year and asked if I wanted to work on something fun, I had no idea of the significance of the journey I was about to undertake. I was privileged to join the team working on the Washington family story, as told through DNA via excavated family burials.

I’ll tell you upfront that this project is very close to my heart in a very personal way.

Let’s talk about the science first, then I’ll share my exciting personal connection.

The Washington Project

By the time I joined this study, Courtney Cavagnino and the team at Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory, a division of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System (AFMES-AFDIL), had already been hard at work sequencing burials from the Harewood Cemetery in West Virginia for some time.

By Acroterion – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5598643

The Harewood Cemetery is located on a plantation owned by the Washington family where two grandsons of President George Washington’s brother, and their mother, Lucy Payne, are buried in unmarked graves.

George Washington’s brother, Samuel Washington (1734-1781), had the home designed in 1770 and had moved there before his death in 1781 at the age of 46, from tuberculosis. George Washington (1732-1799) visited his brother there several times.

Samuel Washington’s son, George Steptoe Washington (1771-1809), eventually inherited the property and married Lucy Payne (1769-1846). With Lucy, he had sons Dr. Samuel Walter Washington (1797-1831) and George Steptoe Washington II (1806-1831).

Lucy Payne’s younger sister, Dolley, married James Madison, the future President, in the parlor at Harewood in 1794.

This graphic from the paper shows Samuel Walter Washington’s ancestors. Note that he is related to Augustine Washington and Mary Ball through three different paths.

The FamilyTreeDNA research team redrew the relationships in a more traditional genealogical view.

Image courtesy FamilyTreeDNA. Click to enlarge.

Complicating the analysis, and making it more interesting was the fact that present-day tester, Samuel Walter Washington (SWW) is descended from Augustine Washington, the patriarch of the colonial Washington Family, and his wife, Mary Ball, through three different paths.

The Burials

According to the 1882 last will and testament of Dr. Samuel Walter Washington’s wife, the graves at Harewood were relocated to the Zion Episcopal Churchyard in Charles Town, West Virginia, where gravestones were placed for the Washington males. Therefore, only fragments and small bones were left in the Harewood plantation graves.

The Harewood property still remains in the Washington family, so they had ready access to the cemetery location. The original excavation took place in May of 1999, after using ground-penetrating radar to identify the likely burial locations based on soil disturbances. The original goal was to locate the grave of Samuel Washington, George Washington’s younger brother.

As would be expected, bacteria had contaminated already degraded DNA. This precluded traditional as well as some forensic sequencing methods. DNA capture technology has improved significantly since 1999, so the AFMES-AFDIL team was using a combination of revolutionary technologies to process the remains.

A technique known as hybridization capture using bait panels was combined with NGS sequencing to attempt to obtain about 95,000 nuclear SNPs, similar to those used in traditional autosomal testing. Additionally, the capture was primed for mitochondrial and Y-DNA SNPs for haplogroup determination. Some Y STRs were captured as well. The paper, published today, provides more technical details for those who are interested.

Three Kinds of DNA

We were fortunate to be able to utilize three types of DNA in the analysis.

Each type of DNA, with its specific inheritance characteristics, was critically important for establishing relationships between the burials. The connection to SWW identified the male burials.

Y-DNA is passed only from male to male and is not mixed with the DNA of the mother, making it uniquely qualified for male lineage matching.
Mitochondrial DNA is passed only from women to both sexes of their offspring, not mixed with the DNA of the father, making mitochondrial DNA uniquely qualified for matrilineal lineage matching.
Autosomal DNA is inherited from all ancestral lineages and is divided in each generation. Half is inherited from one’s mother and half from one’s father. Based on both random inheritance and recombination, people, on average, inherit half the amount of autosomal DNA of each ancestor that their parents did.

Y-DNA

Y-DNA is passed from father to son intact, meaning that it is not mixed with the DNA of the mother. Small mutations accrue over time, forming branches of the Y-DNA phylogenetic tree. Those branches have names assigned, called haplogroups. The higher up the tree, the more descendant branches have occurred over time. The further down the tree, the more unique and refined the haplogroup. Haplogroups are formed when two or more men have the same group of unique mutations.

Additionally, a second type of Y-DNA, STRs, or short tandem repeats, is also used for comparison. These mutate much more quickly than SNPs, single-nucleotide polymorphisms, used to determine haplogroups. Both types of Y-DNA are utilized together.

The bait panels were constructed to recover at least some information about the Y-DNA of the male individuals buried in the graves. For comparison purposes, Samuel Walter Washington, the living descendant, took the highly refined Big Y-700 test at FamilyTreeDNA which tests millions of locations on the Y chromosome – including all of the locations on the bait panels..

Some Y-DNA of the two male burials was recovered and reconstructed. The DNA results matched each other, as would be expected of brothers, and also the Y-DNA of SWW.

This provided a relatively high-level haplogroup designation, R-U152, which was formed about 4500 years ago.

A matching haplogroup at this level does not confirm a close family relationship, but it also doesn’t preclude it.

Fortunately, the Big Y-700 test of SWW was able to reveal significantly more information, including his refined haplogroup of R-FTE201 which was formed about 2000 years ago.

George Washington didn’t have any known children, so we can’t compare his Y-DNA or autosomal DNA directly to either the Harewood burials or SWW.

Barring an unknown paternity event, George Washington’s Y-DNA haplogroup would be the same as that of his brother’s grandsons and the same as present-day tester SWW.

Of course, it’s possible that small mutational differences would have occurred in the past three centuries, since Augustine Washington, the common ancestor of George Washington and SWW, lived, but if so, their haplogroups would be nearly identical.

The Washington family has graciously permitted the Washington lineage to be included in Discover, so if you are haplogroup R, please check to see if the presidential Washington family shows up in your Notable Discover connections in the next few days.

Mitochondrial DNA

Mitochondrial DNA is passed from mothers to all of their children without being admixed with the father’s mitochondrial DNA. Only females pass it on. Therefore, to obtain the mitochondrial DNA of any ancestor, one must descend from that female ancestor through all females. In the current generation, the tester can be a male.

Mitochondrial DNA has been the chosen methodology for the identification and repatriation of military remains for at least two decades. The reason is simple. Mitochondrial DNA is easier to retrieve since thousands of copies live in the cytoplasm of each cell. Only one copy of the 23 pairs of autosomes lives in the nucleus of a cell.

The mitochondria are comprised of 16,569 locations, while the autosomes contain 3 billion pairs, for a total of 6 billion locations across both the maternal and paternal chromosomes. As you can imagine, degraded autosomal DNA is broken into small pieces and mixed together. Think of a blender. Recovering that DNA and then piecing it back together is a massive undertaking.

Furthermore, with military repatriations, the mother or sibling or other relative who shares the mitochondrial DNA of the soldier contributes their mitochondrial DNA to the military for comparison against remains as they are recovered.

One of the ways that the graves of Dr. Samuel Walter Washington and his brother, George Steptoe Washington, were confirmed is that the mitochondrial DNA recovered from those burials matches the mitochondrial DNA of another burial, which was determined to be their mother, Lucy Payne.

While mitochondrial DNA alone is generally not adequate to definitively prove identity, it can be utilized along with other evidence, such as extra mutations in addition to haplogroup-defining mutations, and the geographical location where the remains were recovered.

The AFMES-AFDIL team recovered the full sequence of Lucy Payne’s and her sons’ mitochondrial DNA, which was identified as haplogroup J1c1b1a1 based on unique haplogroup-defining mutations.

Why the AFMES-AFDIL Team?

You may recall that the US government agency involved in this project is the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory. Why, you might wonder, are they involved in the identification of the people interred in the Washington family cemetery?

Did you notice that I said, “mitochondrial DNA has been the chosen methodology” for identification?

The AFMES-AFDIL team is developing and refining multiple techniques that can be utilized to identify badly degraded remains of servicemen.

For example, in this case, there were only small bones, the DNA was severely degraded, and there was significant contamination.

If the mitochondrial DNA was a very common haplogroup, and was perhaps only partially recovered, they could eliminate several possible soldiers as matches, but they could not make a positive ID.

This case was just “problematic” enough to be useful, without being an unknown or unresolvable situation.

The family was involved and supportive. They knew who the candidate burials were in the cemetery and SWW contributed his own DNA for comparison.

SWW’s involvement provided two very important genetic benefits.

First, SWW descended from Augustine Washington through the direct paternal line, so his Y-DNA should match that of the two Washington men in the burials.
Secondly, SWW was related to the male burials in a short enough time period that he should match them both – one as his direct ancestor – his great-great-grandfather. The second burial was his great-great-grandfather’s brother. He should match his great-great-grandfather more closely than his great-great-grandfather’s brother.

Individual	Relationship to SWW	Expected percent of DNA	Expected cMs of DNA	Relationship Degree with Dr. Samuel
Dr. Samuel Walter Washington	Great-great-grandfather	100	3500
Christian Marie Washington married Richard Scott Blackburn Washington	Great-grandmother	50	1750	First
Samuel Walter Washington	Grandfather	25	875	Second
John Augustine Washington	Father	12.5	437.5	Third
SWW	Present-day tester	6.25	218.75	Fourth

Lucy Payne would be SWW’s Fifth Degree relative, as would Dr. Samuel Walter Washington’s brother.

Full siblings share approximately 50% of the same DNA, so SWW would be expected to match the burial to whom he was more closely related with approximately twice as much autosomal DNA.

Therefore, using pairwise comparisons and kinship predictions, the team was able to discern which burial belonged to Dr. Samuel Walter Washington, because SWW matched that burial more closely.

But it turned out to be not quite that simple.

The Monkey Wrench

Relationships are classified as degree levels, as shown above. For example, children are first-degree relatives of their parents, siblings, and children. Genetic relationship levels are determined by comparing the DNA of two people and result in kinship predictions.

Normally, genealogists don’t think much about relationship degrees because we use the number of shared or overlapping centimorgans (cMs), and DNA testing companies provide kinship predictions.

However, because the AFMES-AFDIL team wasn’t working with the normal autosomal chip, they were only able to utilize a portion of the 95,000 locations, and they needed to “convert” SWWs results to compare to Dr. Samuel Washington and George Steptoe Washington Jr. They also needed to compensate for the fact that they were not able to obtain 100% of the 95,000 SNP locations on any of the burials. Recovered DNA ranged from 50%-85%

However, the burials matched SWW at one relationship degree level higher than expected.

Initially, Goran had asked me to review and work on expanding the genealogy of the Washington family, but now we had a new, very-interesting, wrinkle.

On a call, the team mentioned the disparity in the expected relationship level. I realized that the probable answer was that SWW was descended from Augustine Washington not just once, not twice, but three times, and we were seeing the genetic effects of pedigree collapse.

Those multiple relationships are beneficial when they provide one path to the Washington Y-DNA through a direct line to Augustine through his son, John Augustine, and another shorter path to Dr. Samuel Walter Washington for autosomal matching.

However, multiple relationship paths added complexity to autosomal relationship determination

There was yet a third avenue of descent to SWW through the father of Richard Scott Blackburn Washington, John Augustine Washington II.

In other words, there are three ways that SWW can and did inherit autosomal DNA from the Washington lineage, beginning with Augustine. Carrying extra autosomal DNA would affect the expected degree of relationship, potentially for SWW with both of the male Washington burials.

We needed a methodology to account for that.

Pedigree Collapse

I’m sure that the AFMES-AFDIL team didn’t view pedigree collapse as a benefit, at least not initially. They aren’t genealogists, so they really weren’t thinking about pedigree collapse in the same way genealogists do.

I’ve worked with pedigree collapse many times, but three separate events in the same line within a few generations was challenging in terms of getting the math right. It’s not obvious, and it’s not easy.

With pedigree collapse, it’s not just a simple matter of figuring out the expected percentage of DNA for all three relationships and adding them together because some of that DNA can be expected to be shared, which reduces the matching amount of DNA from the “add-three-together” number. So, the actual expected amount of shared DNA is someplace between the closest relationship, in this case, Dr. Samuel Walter Washington, and the additive result of all three relationships.

Plus, I couldn’t use cMs, so one hand was tied behind my back.

Therefore, we worked together to solve this puzzle.

My article, Pedigree Collapse and DNA – Plus an Easy-Peasy Shortcut is the result of my pedigree collapse calculations for this project – and how to make pedigree collapse easier for you to understand and account for.

It’s also the foundation of what I provided for the AFMES-AFDIL team, which integrated it into their protocol. Of course, when I published my Pedigree Collapse article, I had to remove anything that might have given anything away before the study and resulting paper was ready for publication.

Why the Monkey Wrench is Important

When dealing with unknown remains, we don’t have the luxury of already knowing who the family is and their potential position in the family.

The AFMES-AFDIL team wants to be able to utilize the techniques they are perfecting for the identification and repatriation of military remains as far back as WWII, 80 years ago. That means that those men would have been born nearly a century ago, and if a generation is roughly 20-25 years, the people available today to test may be as many generations removed from WWII veterans as SWW is from Dr. Samuel Walter Washington.

The repatriation team also won’t know if they are dealing with pedigree collapse until they see it. If a potential relationship comes back slightly differently than expected, they will know to consider either endogamy or pedigree collapse. Furthermore, tools that measure runs of homozygosity (ROH) can help inform them of either condition.

I’m glad this monkey wrench crept into the equation, and I was in the right place at the right time to help.

The Conversation

I joined this team someplace midway in the process, so I didn’t initially have the benefit of understanding why Courtney’s team was involved – that they hoped to refine their processes to begin utilizing autosomal DNA for repatriation.

I opined at one point that I was incredibly frustrated that this many years following the use of autosomal DNA for genealogy, the military was just now beginning to consider its use for repatriation, AND that they were not and had not been collecting autosomal DNA from family members of MIA/POW service members.

Courtney hopes this study will open that door sooner rather than later. As far as I’m concerned, next week would be great!

I was shocked that I had fallen into this opportunity, given that I have a POW/MIA family. member.

I’m a Gold Star Family Member

My first cousin, Robert Vernon Estes, Bobby, served in the Army in the Korean conflict. He was captured on November 30, 1950 in the horrific battle later known as “The Gauntlet.” He died on approximately January 31, 1951 in a POW camp someplace near Pugwon, Korea. He was only 19.

I am his namesake, and I also represent him as a Gold Star family member.

Robert Vernon Estes (1931-1951), Nightmare: Prisoner of War

I’ve written about Bobby’s story, obtaining and unraveling his military records.

Robert Vernon Estes (1931-1951): MIA, POW, Military Records

Bobby probably starved to death, as other members of his battalion did.

His mother died shortly after his capture, and he had no sisters to contribute mitochondrial DNA.

I’m the closest family member left now. We shared grandparents.

Robert Vernon Estes: Still Missing, But Not Forgotten

In July 2021, Bobby was honored by the State of Indiana. He served from White County. I was incredibly proud to be his representative family member.

When I accepted the invitation to assist the AFMES-AFDIL team with the Washington family burials, I had absolutely NO IDEA that their goal was to validate and extend this technology and these techniques to service member repatriation.

Bobby’s mother was adopted, so I have absolutely no ability to locate someone with Bobby’s mitochondrial DNA, which has frustrated me greatly for years. Therefore, if Bobby’s body were returned from North Korea today, his remains would remain unidentified and unclaimed. That possibility breaks my heart.

North Korea, “isn’t even answering the phone right now,” so the hope that Bobby will be returned to us in my lifetime fades a little with each passing day. That’s EXACTLY why it’s so important for the military to adopt and accept autosomal DNA from family members, even if they can’t utilize it today. My DNA and others can be archived for the future. Someday, Bobby and other servicemen may come back home.

Mitochondrial DNA alone couldn’t have solved the Washington mystery. There will be service members like Bobby who have no mitochondrial DNA sample waiting to be matched to them.

Just a few months before Goran asked me if I wanted to assist with a fun project, I had spoken with Bobby’s military representative, begging them to accept my autosomal DNA. No dice – at least not then.

Hopefully soon – very soon, so that we can begin to build the bank.

These men deserve to be identified. They gave their lives, their futures – that’s the least we can do for them.

The very least.

I’m so proud to be a part of this fantastic project. I’m incredibly grateful that Fate decided to put me in the right place at the right time, with the right combination of skills. I hope Courtney succeeds in pushing this door all the way open. It’s past time, and our team has proven beyond a doubt what can be accomplished. Our POW/MIA servicemen, servicewomen, and their families deserve it.

Thank you to my colleagues, Michael Sager and Goran Runfeldt at FamilyTreeDNA, Courtney Cavagnino, and the AFMES-AFDIL team.

_____________________________________________________________

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DNA Purchases and Free Uploads

FamilyTreeDNA – Y, mitochondrial and autosomal DNA testing
MyHeritage DNA – Autosomal DNA test
MyHeritage FREE DNA file upload – Upload your DNA file from other vendors free
AncestryDNA – Autosomal DNA test
AncestryDNA Plus Traits
23andMe Ancestry – Autosomal DNA only, no Health
23andMe Ancestry Plus Health

Genealogy Products and Services

MyHeritage Subscription with Free Trial
Legacy Family Tree Webinars – Genealogy and DNA classes, subscription-based, some free
Legacy Family Tree Software – Genealogy software for your computer
OldNews – Old Newspapers with links to save to MyHeritage trees
Newspapers.com – Search newspapers for your ancestors
NewspaperArchive – Search different newspapers for your ancestors

My Book

DNA for Native American Genealogy – by Roberta Estes, for those ordering the e-book from anyplace, or paperback within the United States
DNA for Native American Genealogy – for those ordering the paperback outside the US

Genealogy Books

Genealogical.com – Lots of wonderful genealogy research books
American Ancestors – Wonderful selection of genealogy books

Genealogy Research

Legacy Tree Genealogists – Professional genealogy research

RootsTech 2024 Synopsis – Plus the MyHeritage Keynote is Online Now

Posted on March 18, 2024 by Roberta Estes

RootsTech isn’t entirely over yet.

Many vendor videos remain available
FamilyTreeDNA show pricing specials are still in effect until March 29^th. Don’t miss out.
Relatives at RootsTech is still available through March 29th
Recorded RootsTech speaker videos are available and will remain available indefinitely.
Gilad Japhet is the founder and CEO of MyHeritage, and his wonderful keynote has only become available in the last day or so. I always attend his keynote, but unfortunately, I was presenting a session at exactly the same time, so I couldn’t this year. Gilad revealed an incredible discovery that every genealogist will both understand and enjoy. You can watch, here.

Relatives at RootsTech

People have continued to sign up to view the free sessions, so don’t neglect to check back. Here’s the link.

Don’t forget that Relatives at RootsTech is the perfect avenue to connect with cousins who descend from specific ancestors. Seldom do you know which ancestor you share before you know if you are a DNA match – so take advantage of this opportunity and ask your relatives if they have tested their DNA and, if so, at which company or companies. Then, take a look at that company, see if they match, and paint your segments at DNAPainter.

Relatives at RootsTech is also particularly useful for finding candidates for both Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA candidates since you can tell immediately if your cousin descends from your common ancestor through all females (mitochondrial DNA) or if they are a male and descend from a male ancestor through all males. Generally, the surname tells that story.

Close cousins may well have photos, stories, or other information that didn’t make their way down to you, so do reach out.

I write about Relatives at RootsTech, including instructions, in the article Relatives at RootsTech Returns!!! Don’t forget to take advantage of this while you still can.

The RootsTech Travel Journal Articles

I really had no idea how many people look forward to travel journal stories, for lack of another description. I know not everyone can attend, and I really wanted to give you a true flavor, like you were walking along with me.

For those of you who would like to be sure you read all of the RootsTech 2024 articles, or if you simply want to read them in order or check out the comments, here they are:

RootsTech 2024 Online Vendor Booth Videos & Resources – These are still available and free, so take advantage of them.
FamilyTreeDNA RootsTech Pricing Lowest Ever & Still in Effect – These bargain basement prices are still in effect until March 29^th, so don’t miss out.
RootsTech 2024 – Panic in the Cavern of Doom – Who needs an escape room??
RootsTech 2024 – MyHeritage is ON FIRE with 13 Announcements – Have you tried OldNews yet? Do you like the new Profile pages? I do and I like the hints too.
RootsTech 2024 Happy Dance – FamilySearch Library and RootsTech Setup
RootsTech 2024: Paradigm Shift – FamilySearch Knocks It Out of the Ballpark With Full Text AI Search, Transcription & Indexing – I’m making a list of each ancestor and running through each one. THIS IS AMAZING!!!
RootsTech 2024 – Celebrating 25 Years of Genetic Genealogy – I’m still in awe.
RootsTech 2024: DNA Academy and Ancestry Announcements
RootsTech 2024: Friends, Discover Tools, Highways of History and the Storm

RootsTech 2025

I always say I don’t know if I have another one in me. RootsTech, the presentation prep, planning, leadup, travel itself, the incredible show, and then returning home are both exhilarating and exhausting. I feel like I need to sleep for a week!

I tell my friends and my husband to remind me of this about mid-summer when I’ve forgotten the pain of childbirth, er, I mean RootsTech, and think this is a wonderful idea again.

They do, and then I sign up anyway.

Now they just roll their eyes at me. I don’t blame them one bit.

Did I mention that I don’t know if I have another one in me? 😊

I will say that RootsTech would be a WHOLE LOT MORE tempting if it didn’t take place in the winter.

I keep suggesting that FamilySearch purchase the hotel around the corner from the FamilySearch Library and rent rooms to researchers and conference attendees.

I sure hope you’ve enjoyed attending RootsTech with me this year!

_____________________________________________________________

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Share the Love!

You’re always welcome to forward articles or links to friends and share on social media.

If you haven’t already subscribed (it’s free,) you can receive an e-mail whenever I publish by clicking the “follow” button on the main blog page, here.

You Can Help Keep This Blog Free

Thank you so much.

DNA Purchases and Free Uploads

FamilyTreeDNA – Y, mitochondrial and autosomal DNA testing
MyHeritage DNA – Autosomal DNA test
MyHeritage FREE DNA file upload – Upload your DNA file from other vendors free
AncestryDNA – Autosomal DNA test
AncestryDNA Plus Traits
23andMe Ancestry – Autosomal DNA only, no Health
23andMe Ancestry Plus Health

Genealogy Products and Services

MyHeritage Subscription with Free Trial
Legacy Family Tree Webinars – Genealogy and DNA classes, subscription-based, some free
Legacy Family Tree Software – Genealogy software for your computer
OldNews – Old Newspapers with links to save to MyHeritage trees
Newspapers.com – Search newspapers for your ancestors
NewspaperArchive – Search different newspapers for your ancestors

My Book

DNA for Native American Genealogy – by Roberta Estes, for those ordering the e-book from anyplace, or paperback within the United States
DNA for Native American Genealogy – for those ordering the paperback outside the US

Genealogy Books

Genealogical.com – Lots of wonderful genealogy research books
American Ancestors – Wonderful selection of genealogy books

Genealogy Research

Legacy Tree Genealogists – Professional genealogy research

Rootstech 2024: Friends, Discover Tools, Highways of History and the Storm

Posted on March 16, 2024 by Roberta Estes

I didn’t want to open the curtains Saturday morning, given the blizzard warnings that were worsening all day Friday.

I finally screwed up my courage and peeked out.

Indeed, those skies look dark, grey, and foreboding.

Decision Time

I had a decision to make.

I originally planned to stay in Salt Lake City until Sunday, but I had already changed my flight to late Saturday afternoon following my session. I also changed my hotel reservation accordingly.

However, if I packed and checked out, got to the airport, and my flight was canceled, I was likely going to be stranded, potentially at the airport for at least two days. There aren’t any hotels in the Salt Lake City airport, but there are a few nearby. However, probably not enough rooms to accommodate an airport full of stranded people.

Would Uber even be available?

Could I get back into Salt Lake City to check back into the Marriott or any other hotel? Would they have space?

I was at the go-no-go decision point.

It was probably a 50-50 roll of the dice.

I packed and checked out.

It wasn’t snowing yet, but no one doubted that it would. The only questions were when the snow would begin, whether it would begin as rain and freeze into ice before the snow started falling, and how much snow would there be.

Maybe more important to the people at RootsTech – what about flights?

All day, you could see people obsessively checking their flight information on their phones.

I had two speaking engagements scheduled for the day: a morning Y-DNA “Ask Me Anything” panel and my afternoon session, “Highways of History – Flesh out Your Ancestors Using Discover Case Studies.”

The afternoon session was scheduled to end just half an hour before RootsTech closed for the year, so there really was no getting out early.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

Friends in the Expo Hall

I was still trying to visit every booth on the show floor.

I’ll just admit right now that I failed miserably. Not only was I bone tired by this time, but I kept running into people I knew. I realized that this was my last opportunity to see them this year, so I never made it past the halfway point in the Expo Hall.

I did notice that the crowds were very thin. Saturday was Family Day, but apparently, not many people wanted to risk venturing out. Even the locals were concerned which is never a good sign.

The Heritage Theater had a full schedule of events, but there were very few people in the audience through no fault of the speakers or RootsTech.

For those hearty souls who did attend, they received up-close and personal sessions and information from the presenters.

It was nice to see the folks from Family Tree Magazine again. I’ve written for them off and on for years, but had never met the staff in person before.

Be sure to check out their Best Genetic Genealogy Websites and also their Genealogy Books Guide, listed by subject.

When you get there, check out their other “best of” categories and other topics.

Walking on down the aisle, I stopped to talk to the “One Kind Act a Day” people,

Being the skeptic that I am, I kept trying to find the hook, but I couldn’t. It’s a nonprofit that seems to do exactly what it says.

This is absolutely something I can sign up for, so I did and took the pledge.

Doing one kind act a day is easy, so let’s do two!

You can follow them on Facebook, too.

Reclaim the Records is another nonprofit that has successfully advocated and reclaimed more than 60 million records to date that were behind lock and key.

Take a look at their successes and their to-do list.

They style themselves as intellectual freedom fighters. Did you know so many records were still entirely unavailable?

Hey, isn’t that Myko Cleland sitting at the Reclaim booth, on the left? He’s the Director of Content in Europe for MyHeritage, nicknamed the DapperHistorian, and you just never know where you’re going to find him!

How cool is this? Wear What You Love uses sublimation dying to permanently print/infuse your photos on t-shirts or other materials.

This also works on fabric that can be used in quilts but more reliably on polyester fabrics, not cotton.

Hmmm, I have some ideas.

Y-DNA Ask Me Anything at FamilyTreeDNA

The Y-DNA “Ask Me Anything” session began at 10:30. I don’t think attendees realized that FamilyTreeDNA brought the R&D brain trust and you could literally ask them anything. What an opportunity!

Left to right, Michael Sager, FamilyTreeDNA’s well-known Y-DNA phylogeneticist, Dr. Paul Maier, seated, population geneticist, and Goran Runfeldt, standing at right, Head of R&D.

The team reviewed how to use Discover and what can be revealed.

Janine Cloud, Manager of Group Projects, is beside me in the black shirt, seated at far right. Group Projects are important tools for Y-DNA testing and testers.

In addition to the Discover Time Tree, shown on the screen above, a Group Time Tree shows Big Y project members as grouped by the volunteer administrators, along with their earliest known ancestors (EKA.)

Here’s an example from the Estes surname project that I administer. My grouping of participants is shown at left, the Time Tree in the center, and the locations with earliest known ancestors at right. Results are displayed in the order that they are phylogenetically related, helping genealogists immensely.

Here, the team is explaining the Block Tree which displays matches in a different format.

Men displayed together on the same Block Tree branch are more closely related to each other than to men displayed in other branches.

Michael Sager observes while Paul Maier demonstrates Globetrekker, an innovative interactive map that shows the path that one’s male ancestors took on their journey from Africa to where they are most recently found.

One of the attendees had a question and looks on as the team explains their results using Globetrekker.

We tried to get a team photo after the presentation and managed to corral some of the team. You’ve met several already, but Bennett Greenspan, Founder and President Emeritus of FamilyTreeDNA, is to my right as you look at the photo, with Sherman McRae standing between Bennett and Paul.

I particularly like this “generations” photo.

In the rear, Katherine Borges stands with Bennett Greenspan. Bennett obviously founded the company, and Katherine was one of the early administrators. Dr. Lior Rauchberger, CEO of myDNA, which includes FamilyTreeDNA, is seated at left, along with Alex Zawisza, CFO, at right. MyDNA purchased Gene by Gene, which includes FamilyTreeDNA, just over three years ago, and the team has continued to work together for the benefit of FamilyTreeDNA customers.

Lior traveled from Australia to attend RootsTech. He could be seen checking people out at the booth, so he had the opportunity to talk with customers. He said he heard the words “brick wall” more in those three days than ever before, as in, “Thanks to FamilyTreeDNA, I broke down my brick wall.”

We all owe Lior a huge debt of gratitude for his continued commitment to FamilyTreeDNA research, and in particular, the Big Y-700 tools, such as Discover, along with the Million Mito Project which will be released with a similar tool, MitoDiscover.

Thanks Lior!

I turned around to see Stephanie Gilbert, who gave the keynote at the FamilyTreeDNA conference.

Stephanie is an incredibly engaging speaker, and I’m going to recommend her to RootsTech for next year.

It was wonderful to see Schelly Talalay Dardashti, at left. She has worked for MyHeritage since 2006 and administers the Tracing the Tribe – Jewish Genealogy Facebook group, which has more than 73,000 members. Schelly is a wonderful ambassador, always helpful and incredibly knowledgeable.

Between us is Dana Stewart Leeds, creator of the Leeds Method, a technique that launched the autocluster craze by manually grouping matches. I wrote about the Leeds Method, here, in 2018. When you see AutoClusters at Genetic Affairs or the Collins-Leeds method at DNAGedcom, think of and thank Dana. They automated her process, with her permission, of course, creating some of the most useful tools available to genealogists. You can follow Dana here.

I swear, it was brainiac day at RootsTech!

Mags Gaulden, one of the founders of mitoYDNA and who writes at Grandma’s Genes, was working in the FamilyTreeDNA booth and was quite busy – so busy that I almost didn’t manage a picture with her. We never did get to have a meal together. We will have to do better in October when we are both scheduled to be at the East Coast Genetic Genealogy Conference in person. Oops, did I say that out loud???

Save the dates!

GEDmatch – New AutoCluster Endogamy Tool

I’ve emailed back and forth with Tom Osypian with GEDmatch many times now, but I’ve never met him in person, even though we’ve been in the same place before.

This time, I was determined. Although Tom was busy several times when I stopped by the booth, there were fewer people on Saturday, so I stood a fighting chance.

Tom explained that GEDmatch has a new AutoCluster tool developed by Evert-Jan Blom at Genetic Affairs and Jarret Ross from GeneaVlogger that helps with unraveling endogamy. I told him that I already knew because we used my Mom’s autosomal results during testing. Mom is partly endogamous through her grandfather’s Acadian line.

The Acadian cluster in the upper left quadrant looks like an orange blob with no differentiation, where everyone is related to everyone else – because that’s truly how Acadian descendants are connected. As my Acadian cousin once said, “If you’re related to one Acadian, you’re related to all Acadians,” and it’s true.

Evert-Jan needed to optimize clusters for a partially endogamous person without negatively affecting their non-endogamous clusters.

He did a great job separating my Mom’s big orange blob endogamous cluster into these nice, neat mini-clusters.

To take a look, choose AutoCluster Endogamy on GEDmatch and make your preset selection.

There’s a YouTube video about this tool by GeneaVlogger, here.

Next I ran into Patricia Coleman, a fellow genealogist scientist, who wrote an excellent article about finding segment links to the opposite parent using AutoSegment AutoClusters, here. Check out her blog and published papers, here.

We are incredibly fortunate to have such dedicated researchers and scientists in our community.

Unfortunately, I was running out of time on the show floor.

Sisters of Heart

OK, now, I’m going to say something really sappy. Consider yourself warned.

By this time, I needed to find food and quickly eat before my session, which was scheduled to start at 1:15. This meant I needed to be in the room by 12:45.

Janine was doing consultations in the FamilyTreeDNA booth and couldn’t get away for food either.

Thankfully, with the storm approaching, there weren’t long lines at the food vendors. I peeked outside as I walked down the hallway looking for a food booth that wasn’t very busy.

It was ominously dark and gloomy outside, and had begun to snow.

I found the food stand that looked least bad and got in line. Neither Janine nor I knew what was available at the food vendors, but we’ve known each other for enough years and attended enough conferences that we kind of know what the other likes.

I was standing in line taking pictures of the menu and the pre-made foods in the cooler and messaging them to Janine. People must have wondered if I couldn’t find something better to take pictures of. I just chuckled. I’ll spare you the food pictures because they were unremarkable,

They were out of everything Janine thought looked good. Apparently, everyone else thought those items looked good, too. When it was my turn to order, and I had to choose, I messaged Janine that we were sharing a turkey wrap and asked if she wanted fruit.

“YES! Fruit sounds wonderful.”

Great!

I got both items and paid.

“So do chips. Chips sound great, too.”

Perfect.

I paid again.

Then I saw the muffins. Chocolate sour cream swirl muffins with large shiny sugar crystals baked on top.

No need to message Janine about this one.

Yep, I paid for the third time.

Then, I apologized to the people behind me, hoped they didn’t recognize me, and hurried back to the FamilyTreeDNA booth.

Janine’s customer had just finished up, so I sat down in that seat and spread out our goodies on the table between us. The turkey wrap was cut in half, and we shared half of everything.

I love breaking bread and sharing food with my favorite people. There’s something about feeding the body that nourishes the soul and bonds the heart. I can’t explain it, and I really wasn’t thinking about it just then. Both of us just needed a minute to relax and eat before rushing off to do something else.

I asked Janine if she wanted the last part of my half of the turkey wrap. She told me to take the turkey out and eat it because I needed the protein.

Bless her heart. She was right.

I grabbed two forks in the food booth, and we both ate out of the fruit box positioned halfway between us.

Then, after discussing and laughing that the muffin looked like a geode, I cut it into four sections. We ate them on the cupcake paper with forks, like cake. It tasted wonderful. If you’re thinking that I couldn’t finish my turkey wrap, but had plenty of room for chocolate cake, you’d be exactly right!

Someplace in the midst of our impromptu picnic meal, I realized that four years ago at RootsTech 2020, was the last time we would see each other – for years. A week after RootsTech, everything shut down. People died. Both of us had family members who perished in the Covid epidemic.

Everyone was traumatized.

Neither of us knew if we’d ever see each other again, but neither of us verbalized that because – well – we just couldn’t. Some days during that time, it was all any of us could do to simply hold it together.

I realized just how important these very relaxed impromptu moments, built on years of shared space and breaking bread together, really are. It’s exactly why we don’t have any old photos of “normal” things, just special occasions. Normal isn’t special, until it is – when someone is suddenly gone. Then, “normal” is everything.

None of us know which meal together will be the last. We never know when our number will be called, or how. We really only ever have today.

I wish someone had taken a picture of us smiling and eating, sharing our meal with each other, something we’ve done countless times before. Something so normal that we don’t even think about it. I never thought about taking a picture of something so routine, and neither did anyone else. Why would they?

Regardless, that moment is burned into my memory, along with just how precious our time together is.

Then, the moment of quiet respite, eating chocolate muffins and sharing more than food, was over, and the fragile thought bubble was broken by the ticking of the clock. I had to jump up and run off to my next presentation, and a customer approached and asked Janine a question.

Thank Goodness we were both able to return to RootsTech and relish something so absolutely normal once again.

Highways of History – Flesh Out Your Ancestors Using Discover Case Studies

My class on Friday, “DNA Academy,” was full, and sadly, people were being turned away at the door. Saturday’s “Highways of History” class was held in a larger room, but many people stayed home, so the room was only about three-quarters full. I forgot to ask someone to take a picture, so I’ll just share a few slides.

I really enjoy using AI occasionally for images. This was ChatGPTs idea of Highways of History.

Using Big Y DNA results, I provided examples of using the Discover tools to reveal the stories of my ancestors. Not every Discover tool reveals something amazing about each ancestor, but together, they tell a story we can’t unravel any other way.

I seek out men who descend from every male ancestor paternally through all males and offer a scholarship for Big Y-700 testing.

Here are just a few examples of what I’ve found and documented:

A descendant of Etienne Hebert (c1626-c1670), my Acadian ancestor, matches an ancient DNA burial found in Metz, France. Etienne and his brother’s children cluster in a group with a common ancestor about 1650, and the ancient burial dates to about the year 500 CE during the time that Metz was a Gallo Celtic Village. Among other things, we learn that their common ancestors were Celtic.

An adopted male matches several Estes men. Based on his Big Y-700 mutations, I can place him in the Estes family tree within two generations. His position in the tree is confirmed by autosomal matches to the ancestors of the wife of Joseph Frank Estes. Autosomal matches confirmed the Big Y-700.

Germain Doucet, born in France in the late 1500s, had two sons. One was born in France about 1621, and the second in Acadia (now Nova Scotia) was born to either a second or third wife in 1641 and named after Germain. Based on Big Y-700 tests, the son born in 1621 has a European haplogroup, but Germain, born in 1641, has a Native American father, suggesting the possibility that he may have been adopted by the older Germain Doucet. This was quite an unexpected surprise.

A Bowling descendant of Hugh Bowling (1591-1651) born in Chorley, Lancashire, England, had almost no English matches. STR matches are from Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Cyprus, Germany, and Portugal, but the highest percentage are from Spain. Furthermore, his ancient Connections are from Hungary, Israel (4), Armenia, Rome, Italy, Turkey, Lebanon, Lincolnshire, and Norwich, England. Local history reveals a Roman Fort just 19 miles away from where Hugh Bowling lived, and the location, now excavated, was a settlement location for Roman Sarmatian soldiers.

Thomas Speak was born about 1634 in Downham, Lancashire, near Chorley, England where the family attended church. Big Y-700 testing shows that he and other English Speak men still living in the area share an ancestor about 1300 CE. When we visited in 2012, we discovered that Myles Standish’s family also attended the same church. Saxon Crosses are found in the graveyard outside, dating to circa 800-900 CE. A Standish male’s Big Y-700 test matches the Speak men, with their common ancestor dating to 850 CE, the same time that the Saxons were settling the region.

Bennett Greenspan’s Jewish ancestors were found in Ukraine in the mid-1700s, but he wanted to know more about where they came from originally. Were they Ashkenazi or Sephardic, or something else? By upgrading both close and distant matches to the Big Y-700, Bennett discovered that their common ancestors were in Spain in the year 296 when the two lines diverged and his line left. You can read Bennett’s story in more detail, here.

None of these mysteries or brick walls could have been solved without Big Y-700 tests and without the Discover tools.

This session was so much fun, and I can hardly wait to find more male ancestors and test their direct male-line descendants.

Goodbyes

By the time questions were answered, and I packed up my equipment, there were only about 15 minutes left until the Expo Hall closed at 3. Furthermore, I needed to retrieve my coat from the FamilyTreeDNA booth, retrieve my suitcase from the Marriott bellman, and order an Uber. My flight was only about two and a half hours away, assuming it left.

So far, it hadn’t been cancelled or delayed.

I mentioned my flight concerns to a colleague that I ran into on the way to the booth. He happens to live in Salt Lake City and gave me his phone number, with instructions to call if I got stranded.

My first (unspoken) thought was, “Thank you, but I’d never impose like that.” But then, I realized that was crazy and I really should call him if I needed help. What was wrong with me? I didn’t know him well, but I had known him and the company where he works for many years and felt completely safe. We are Facebook friends too, so I’ve joyfully watched him marry and start a family. I would have done exactly the same for him, and yes, I absolutely WOULD have wanted him to call. Plus, if I actually did wind up staying on his couch for a day or so, I would get time to “Grandma” his children, so HUGE BONUS!

You know who you are, and THANK YOU. I felt so much better after that. Genealogists are just the most amazing people!

Then, I ran into Lisa Rhea Baker who very generously gifted me with bracelets made by her veteran daughter as she healed from surgery. The bracelets around my wrist are beaded, and the one joining our hands is knotted in German colors. I’m wearing that one today. What a very talented and generous young lady.

I was very touched and so grateful. I asked her to thank her daughter on my behalf.

I saw Katherine Borges again in the booth as I was retrieving my coat and we quickly took a selfie. Neither of us realized we hadn’t gotten one earlier, although we did manage to have dinner with a small group where we all chattered like magpies.

Last, Goran, Paul and I took a quick selfie as I was preparing to run out the door. It was 3, closing time, and almost no one was left in the Expo Hall. I knew if I missed this flight, I’d not get another one. Everything was full.

I surely miss seeing these guys. Hopefully, I’ll see them again before the next RootsTech!

The Blizzard Strikes

I stepped outside.

The blizzard had begun in earnest. I could see a couple blocks down the street, but huge flakes of snow were pouring down. The wind was blowing viciously, whipping everything, making it difficult to hang onto my laptop rolling bag. The snow was sticking to everything.

At least it wasn’t slick yet, at least not where I was walking. If the wind hadn’t been so strong, it would have been pretty.

Would the plane be able to take off in this wind? The snow was blowing directly sideways now.

The only distance I had to walk was across the street. This is how much snow accumulated on my coat in just a minute or so.

A little later, Goran took this picture.

Ubers were becoming somewhat scarce, so two of us shared and made it to the airport in time for long TSA lines.

The plane was about 45 minutes late, which didn’t surprise me. I heaved a huge sigh of relief when it pulled up to the gate. At least it arrived, and as soon as it was cleaned a bit, we began to board.

Eventually, we pulled out of the gate and began waiting on the tarmac for the plane to be de-iced.

An hour later, we weren’t even halfway to the front of the line. The pilot estimated it would be another 90 minutes or so.

The snow continued to accumulate.

Would the pilot and crew time out and be unable to fly?

If we had to go back, there would be no prayer of getting another crew. Flights were already being canceled.

The woman beside me was ill. I felt awful for her, and it occurred to me that this might also be a reason to return to the gate.

At least the pilot allowed us to unbuckle our seatbelts and go to the restroom as we waited.

My flight had been scheduled to arrive just after midnight. But now, we were more than four hours late. What time would we get in? My poor husband. I told him to go to sleep and I’d just stay in the hotel in the airport. He said no, nothing doing.

I begged him to at least take a nap and recheck the flights at 3 or 4 AM.

The flight was extremely rough. We couldn’t get above or around the storm, and the seatbelt sign was only off for about 10 minutes during the entire flight.

I tried to sleep, but that wasn’t happening, even though I was beyond exhausted.

This is what love looks like. One single car in the cell lot at around 5 AM, as Jim waited patiently for me.

On the way home, in fact, all of the way home, we drove through the most incredible lightning storm I’ve ever seen.

It was someplace between worrisome/terrifying, and fascinating.

This lightning wasn’t reaching toward the earth in bolts. Instead, the entire sky lit up like daylight, horizon to horizon, flashing like an extremely bright strobe. It was so bright that, at times, it was nearly blinding, and the clouds looked like rainbows as the lightning flashed behind and through them. I had never seen anything like this.

This type of “sheet lightning” is crazy rare. Thankfully, it kept us awake and was stunningly beautiful in a very strange, ethereal way. We worried that we would be caught in a hellacious storm and unable to see in the downpour.

Florida is notorious for vicious storms and torrential downpours. It’s also the lightning strike capital of the US and ranks fourth in the world. This area, in particular, is known as Lightning Alley. Our house was struck last year.

As we exited the expressway, just a couple miles from home, the sky unzipped, and torrential rains began. Thankfully, we were spared for most of the drive.

I was incredibly glad to finally be home and hoped that others had been able to either escape the Utah storm or find a room in a hotel that did not lose power on Sunday. Reports said wind gusts in the Utah mountains were measured at 165 miles an hour, but Salt Lake City, tucked into a valley, was spared most of that.

What an incredible week in so very many ways.

I hope you enjoyed coming along with me. Dates have already been announced for RootsTech 2025.

_____________________________________________________________

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DNA Purchases and Free Uploads

FamilyTreeDNA – Y, mitochondrial and autosomal DNA testing
MyHeritage DNA – Autosomal DNA test
MyHeritage FREE DNA file upload – Upload your DNA file from other vendors free
AncestryDNA – Autosomal DNA test
AncestryDNA Plus Traits
23andMe Ancestry – Autosomal DNA only, no Health
23andMe Ancestry Plus Health

Genealogy Products and Services

MyHeritage Subscription with Free Trial
Legacy Family Tree Webinars – Genealogy and DNA classes, subscription-based, some free
Legacy Family Tree Software – Genealogy software for your computer
OldNews – Old Newspapers with links to save to MyHeritage trees
Newspapers.com – Search newspapers for your ancestors
NewspaperArchive – Search different newspapers for your ancestors

My Book

DNA for Native American Genealogy – by Roberta Estes, for those ordering the e-book from anyplace, or paperback within the United States
DNA for Native American Genealogy – for those ordering the paperback outside the US

Genealogy Books

Genealogical.com – Lots of wonderful genealogy research books
American Ancestors – Wonderful selection of genealogy books

Genealogy Research

Legacy Tree Genealogists – Professional genealogy research

RootsTech 2024 – Celebrating 25 Years of Genetic Genealogy

Posted on March 13, 2024 by Roberta Estes

On the first day of RootsTech, we celebrated the milestone anniversary of 25 years of genetic genealogy. Right now, we are at the intersection of two incredibly powerful tools: genetics and AI. Both technologies are revolutionary and have changed and are changing the genealogical world overnight. What an amazing time to be alive!

Day 1 is Just Beginning

Day 1 is just the beginning, although pre-show activities have been occurring for a day or two. Everyone is excited. The energy on the show floor and as attendees talk is palpable – a form of human electricity.

I’m going to share some of RootsTech’s flavor with you, so come along with me as I attend a few sessions, give my dozen sessions, and meet people.

First, I need to provide some caveats.

I wasn’t able to attend very many sessions
I didn’t get to half the expo floor booths
I was only at one keynote, but fortunately, most were recorded

I managed to overcommit myself “just a bit,” and I just couldn’t be in two places at once. Thankfully, recorded sessions are available here.

One of the reasons that I didn’t get as much done as I had hoped is because I kept running into people. There was more hugging at RootsTech than at a bear-hug festival. The fun of taking selfies is a thing – a modern-day bonding experience and lots of group selfies are floating around on social media.

I truly love my fellow genealogists, many of whom I’ve discovered are cousins, and some of whom have become lifelong friends. They are brothers and sisters of heart -people who I can’t imagine NOT having in my family. This group of troublemakers is the perfect example of that, with Lianne Krüger, Mags Gaulden, and me in the back and Janine Cloud in front. I think we look like a girl band. Perhaps we’ll call ourselves The Chromosomes. 😊

The first thing on my agenda for Thursday was a book signing for my book, DNA for Native American Genealogy.

Penny Walters wandered by while I was signing and said hello.

Penny, the queen of selfies, constantly has to instruct me on how to do this successfully. It seems I either shut my eyes or I’m smiling so hard I’m laughing. One day, Penny, one day!

Thanks, Penny, for taking this picture of me with my book.

Following the book signing, Janine Could, Groups and Events Manager at FamilyTreeDNA, and I had an AMA, Ask Me Anything session in the FamilyTreeDNA booth about determining if you have Native American ancestors. Our stories are so complementary.

I was raised with and participated in Native cultural traditions. Janine wasn’t, but she is an enrolled Cherokee tribal member. After we had known each other for several years, we discovered that we’re related, but not through that line – at least not that we know of.

The great thing about AMA sessions is that the speakers are literally there to answer your questions. During the conference, lots of people took advantage of the expertise of speakers and their fellow attendees.

Remember

Last year, I met Charis, in the middle between me and Janine. Charis made my day when she told me that she was driving by the Salt Palace a week or so before RootsTech, saw that I was giving a Native American session, and knew she had to attend.

We talked for a long time, and I wondered if I would see her again this year.

Sure enough!

I saw her walking down an aisle, so I knew she was attending. I wanted to give her a hug but I couldn’t at that moment.

She stopped by the FamilyTreeDNA booth and asked Janine if she thought I’d remember her.

You remember people that make you feel good, and she really did.

Someone once told me that people often remember you for how you make them feel.

This year, Charis attended my sessions, and it felt good to see a friendly, smiling face in the audience.

After one class, she waited for me until everyone’s questions were answered. I asked if we could sit down in the quiet at a vacant table in the back of that hall for a few minutes to visit.

Charis pulled out a bag with a card and gave it to me, saying she hoped I didn’t think it was weird or anything. I was stunned and quite moved.

Her name is Remember, the theme of Rootstech this year.

I cried. Charis’s gift was so thoughtful in so many ways, as was the card – and she had no idea how personally this touched me.

We talked for a long time, and while I’m not going to share details, I remembered how it felt to be young and have your life’s trajectory shifted in ways you can’t control.

I remembered what it was like to have hopes dashed.

I remembered when I was “just doing what I was doing” every day, not realizing that I was making memories – not just for me but for others as well.

I remember when Douglas explained the concept of GodMothers to me – and I wasn’t young.

Douglas told me that I had GodMothered people through our combined educational ministry (and I’m not talking about church here) and through my own individual work. Of course, the first thing I thought when Douglas said that was, “No, no, not me,” but then I remembered my mother’s “simple” ministry to others. I remembered how my step-father changed my life both with his actions and a few simple, well-placed words. I remembered the kindness of others when I desperately needed it – and still do.

I remembered.

I remembered that we all have a mission, a ministry, even if we don’t realize it. Even if we don’t understand it. Even if “all we do” is a simple kindness every day.

I remembered that some people’s lives are meant to intersect.

Charis is doing GodMother work, or maybe God’s Mother’s work, every day of her life.

Charis gives me hope for the future.

Thank you Charis, for Remember, and for helping me remember. And for being the next generation of GodMothers and shining your light for others to follow in generations of GodMother footsteps.

Remember.

Genetic Genealogy Turns 25

A few weeks before RootsTech, Diahan Southard emailed and asked me if I’d be interested in and willing to write a short, roughly 3-page “chapter” for a book she was preparing for RootsTech, celebrating the 25^th anniversary of genetic genealogy.

Additionally, Diahan would be hosting a panel where some of the contributors would share our remembrances, beginning with the earliest days and ending with more recent innovations.

You can watch the session here.

It’s not hyperbole to say that genetic genealogy changed my life. It also changed the trajectory of my career.

I was very proud to be included on this panel with Diahan and Bennett Greenspan, both of whom I have known since the beginning. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined an event like this – let alone being on this stage on this incredibly memorable day.

Diahan shared her story about beginning her career at Sorenson Molecular Institute with Scott Woodward, who joined us and told his story via video.

Bennett Greenspan spoke about his inspiration as a genealogist, and how and why he founded FamilyTreeDNA in 1999.

Bennett introduced Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA to the consuming public, planting the seeds of an industry that would flourish and ultimately become a household word in the genealogy community.

Tim Janzen spoke about the role of Y-DNA from the first 12-marker panels to the Big Y-700 today. The landmark discovery that Thomas Jefferson had fathered children with Sally Hemmings occurred as a result of Y-DNA testing and drew attention to the possibilities for solving long-standing mysteries – known or unknown.

Leah Larkin discussed the tipping point of autosomal DNA in the genetic genealogy industry.

Aimee Haynes with DNA Angels, an adoption search organization, explained how autosomal DNA, in particular, answers questions for adoptees, giving identities and histories to millions of people who “don’t know who they are.”

Diahan asked me to speak about ethnicity and genetic genealogy, and I actually managed to find my original ethnicity test from 2003. That image in the middle with the red dot and “parenthesis” bands was the extent of the information returned, in addition to the percentages. By the way, those percentages weren’t accurate either, but it was a beginning.

However, ethnicity, with associated segment information at FamilyTreeDNA and 23andMe, has paved the way for painting both ethnicity and match segments with Jonny Perl’s DNAPainter.

Jonny spoke about his inspiration for DNAPainter and how he initially developed it for his own use. Now, just a few years later, everyone loves it!

Lori Napolitano spoke about the evolution of Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy (FIGG), also known as IGG, including a collage of people whose remains have been identified and a separate collage of perpetrators of violent crime who are now off the streets. She addressed the successes along with the challenges.

Lori’s 3 or 4 minutes were extremely balanced, presenting both sides of the coin, and I strongly encourage you to listen beginning at about minute 36.

Diahan has compiled these people’s contributions along others for a total of 34 vignettes in the book So Far: Genetic Genealogy – The First 25 Years 1999-2024.

Megan Smolenyak-Smolenyak
Scott Woodward
Bennett Greenspan
Ann Turner
Ugo Perego
Diahan Southard
Scott Fisher
Roberta Estes
Tim Janzen
Jim Bartlett
Blaine Bettinger
Daniel Horowitz
Debbie Kennett
Kitty Cooper
Angie Bush
Michelle Leonard
Paul Woodbury
Kelli Bergheimer
Judy Russell
Dana Leeds
Drew Smith
Diana Elder
Nicole Dyer
Leah Larkin
Nathan Dylan Goodwin
Mary Eberle
Mags Gaulden
Aimee-Rose-Haynes
Jonny Perl
Brianne Kirkpatrick
Laura Olmsted
Cheryi Hudson-Passey
Margaret Press
Penny Walters

The stories and visions of these pioneers and industry influencers are fascinating.

The eBook is free by scanning the QR code below or click here.

The following day, I found Diahan’s booth and was able to thank her for this labor of love.

Printed copies of Diahan’s book were available for sale in her booth, Your DNA Guide, and I was surprised how many people sought out attendees who wrote mini-chapters and asked us to sign our pages. What fun!

Diahan and I go back a long way. In the greatest of ironies, in the very early days, the Skidmore Family Association retained Diahan to “tell them what she could” about early Y-DNA tests of 51 Skidmore men. Initially, I was very concerned that the family association might have gotten themselves aligned with someone who was less than competent – but then thrilled when I discovered that consultant was Diahan. Better yet, my own line was one of 8 individual Skidmore lines that Diahan identified and was represented by several testers. Back then, Diahan was working with only a few STR markers and of course, today, we have Big Y-700 tests.

Sunny Morton, another author, joined us for a lovely photo in Diahan’s booth.

I’ve always been incredibly grateful to Sunny for taking me under her wing during my first year speaking at RootsTech, where I had 4 or 5 days to prepare a presentation to cover for another speaker who was unexpectedly unable to attend. Baptism by fire, for sure.

Another reminder that people remember you for how you make them feel.

Expo Hall Show Floor

In between sessions and events, I wandered around the show floor to see the booths, their offerings, and my friends. Many of these people are probably your friends, too, or you have seen their names in the community.

Near Diahan’s booth, I found Diana Elder and Nicole Dyer, pictured above, a lovely mother-daughter professional genealogist pair who founded Family Locket. Should I say this? I especially love the baby genealogist peeking at us from behind. I’m thinking in another year or so, it will be a three-generation endeavor.😊

I was excited to run into Marian Pierre-Louis, who facilitates the smooth running of Legacy Family Tree Webinars and slays technology gremlins left and right! Another person I’m grateful to!

Geoff Rasmussen, founder of Legacy Family Tree, both the Legacy Family Tree Software and the webinars, was staffing the booth. If you haven’t tried these amazing genealogy webinars, all webinars are free initially and for 7 days and are then available by subscription in the webinar library.

Here, Geoff and Marian appear together. What a wonderful team. I’ll have a new webinar in the library before year-end.

Further down the row, I found Geneanet. If you’re not familiar with Geneanet, they are the last totally free resource that I’m aware of that allows the free uploading of your tree, regardless of size.

I use Geneanet often, especially when searching for Europeans. One of my favorite trees at Geneanet belongs to professional genealogist Karen Theriot Reader, and it documents more than 166,000 Acadians and their descendants—along with sources.

Yes, there was food, although not as much as in earlier years. However, these lovely mini-bundt cakes were TO DIE FOR. Unfortunately, I never did manage to purchase a chocolate one.

Maybe I’ll just have to cross my fingers for next year.

_____________________________________________________________

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Share the Love!

You’re always welcome to forward articles or links to friends and share on social media.

If you haven’t already subscribed (it’s free,) you can receive an e-mail whenever I publish by clicking the “follow” button on the main blog page, here.

You Can Help Keep This Blog Free

Thank you so much.

DNA Purchases and Free Uploads

FamilyTreeDNA – Y, mitochondrial and autosomal DNA testing
MyHeritage DNA – Autosomal DNA test
MyHeritage FREE DNA file upload – Upload your DNA file from other vendors free
AncestryDNA – Autosomal DNA test
AncestryDNA Plus Traits
23andMe Ancestry – Autosomal DNA only, no Health
23andMe Ancestry Plus Health

Genealogy Products and Services

MyHeritage Subscription with Free Trial
Legacy Family Tree Webinars – Genealogy and DNA classes, subscription-based, some free
Legacy Family Tree Software – Genealogy software for your computer
OldNews – Old Newspapers with links to save to MyHeritage trees
Newspapers.com – Search newspapers for your ancestors
NewspaperArchive – Search different newspapers for your ancestors

My Book

DNA for Native American Genealogy – by Roberta Estes, for those ordering the e-book from anyplace, or paperback within the United States
DNA for Native American Genealogy – for those ordering the paperback outside the US

Genealogy Books

Genealogical.com – Lots of wonderful genealogy research books
American Ancestors – Wonderful selection of genealogy books

Genealogy Research

Legacy Tree Genealogists – Professional genealogy research

RootsTech 2024 – MyHeritage is ON FIRE with 13 Announcements

Posted on March 7, 2024 by Roberta Estes

I’ve got to tell you, MyHeritage has outdone themselves.

I had a hard time just keeping track of their announcements, which totaled 13 – a baker’s dozen.

You can watch the MyHeritage RootsTech keynote by Aaron Godfrey, here.

However, there are a few things not in the video, so let’s take a look at a quick summary of what’s new.

DNA Uploads with Free Advanced Tools Forever Extended Until March 10th

MyHeritage just extended their DNA upload that includes ALL ADVANCED TOOLS FOR FREE, forever, to March 10^th so click here now to upload every kit you manage. This is a great deal. Hint – new ethnicity results are coming soon and you’ll be saving $29 on each kit you upload.

20+ Billion Records

MyHeritage has just passed the 20 billion record mark and is continuing to add. That’s billion, with a B. These records are available to customers with a MyHeritage subscription. If you don’t have a subscription, you can try a MyHeritage Subscription with a Free Trial, here.,

Additionally, right now, subscriptions are 50% off, but I don’t know how long that price lasts.

I love my MyHeritage subscription, and if you try it and don’t like yours, you can cancel and be charged nothing during the 14-day trial period.

I particularly like that the local newspaper where my grandparents lived is available on MyHeritage, and no place else. In addition, MyHeritage has integrated with FamilySearch, which is digitizing and indexing records like wildfire. That collaboration has provided me with information from European sources, including archives.

MyHeritage Wiki

MyHeritage has been working on their new Wiki, a community encyclopedia for genealogy and DNA, for almost a year now, although it was only recently released.

Photo courtesy of MyHeritage

I’ve been honored to write several articles for the newly announced MyHeritage Wiki, including the definition of DNA itself:

Take a look at the new Wiki, here.

You can filter in a number of ways, and you can even sign up to be a contributor.

Check out their blog article, here.

AI Record Finder

The AI Record Finder is the world’s first AI chat-based search engine for historical records.

I should probably tell you that, at this point in time, I do use AI, such as ChatGPT, very cautiously, and I’m inherently suspicious because AI tools sometimes hallucinate. It’s a new technology with lots of glitches and unknowns, so let’s see how MyHeritage is using this tool. It should be much more reliable since it’s in a controlled environment. I need to be convinced. 😊

The AI Record Finder is under the Research Menu. Just type your question about your ancestor.

I’m cheating and giving MyHeritage a tough one. I typed, “Please tell me about Solomon Ferwerda, who died in 1768 in Groningen, the Netherlands.”

MyHeritage returned three possibilities in their database, including their affiliated databases. One is a MyHeritage tree and two are records from FamilySearch.

Don’t limit yourself at this point.

I happen to know “my” Solomon is the first person, but I played around a bit before selecting the “right” Solomon. Why? Because there’s a lot that I don’t know about his life. It’s possible that the second and third records are ALSO the right person, so be sure to review everything.

Clicking on the middle or right record for Solomon shows that, indeed, this record from FamilySearch comes from the Dutch Archival Indexes, so it’s not “just someone’s tree.”

We do know the Ferwerda family is from Leeuwarden, but we don’t know when Solomon was born, nor if he was married twice. I only have the name of his second wife and one child, Jan, who was born the year he died.

The two FamilySearch Dutch archive records are from Leeuwarden, so maybe, just maybe, I’ve discovered something new about Solomon. How exciting!

I need to click through and check this out further.

I didn’t expect to like this tool, but so far, I really do. But wait – there’s more.

AI Ancestor Bio

You can click to have MyHeritage generate an AI bio of an ancestor for you.

The bio takes a few minutes to generate and will be available for download in the chat and will also be emailed to you. You can easily share with others. Getting other people interested in genealogy often encourages them to take a DNA test. DNA tests are still on sale for $39, here.

Solomon Ferwerda’s AI bio was completed quickly and arrived in pdf format. We know so little about him, I knew it would be short. I must say, I really enjoyed the “Historical Context” section that discussed the surrounding events that would have affected his life. That’s incredibly important and would have or could have influenced the decisions he made. Maybe the warfare and political unrest caused him to move from Leeuwarden to Groningen for some reason, where he died the year his son was born.

Here’s Solomon’s bio.

Here’s a link to the RootsTech lecture about the MyHeritage AI tools by Ran Snir, the VP of Product.

MyHeritage blog links for AI Record finder are here and here.

You can watch Telling Your Family’s Story with MyHeritage’s AI Features by Janna Helshtein at Legacy Family Tree Webinars, here.

I can’t wait to play with the MyHeritage AI tools more.

Updated Ethnicity Coming Soon

This is going to make a lot of people happy!

MyHeritage is in the process of updating their ethnicity results, increasing their regions from 42 to 80, with significantly optimized granularity in Europe. I initially misunderstood and thought the new results were available now, but they won’t arrive until summer.

I understand from talking to a Jewish friend involved in MyHeritage’s R&D effort that their own results are substantially improved and that they have now been placed in Armenia where their ancestors are from. They are no longer generically “Jewish.”

New Profile Pages with Hints

Daniel Horowitz said that everyone calls Smart Matches and Record Matches hints, so now MyHeritage has updated profile pages and is adding them to the profile page and officially calling them Hints.

You can still find Smart Matches and Record Matches listed separately under Discoveries, but on everyone’s profile, they are called Hints.

On Solomon’s profile page, scroll down to view his journey based on the information you’ve entered or accepted into your tree.

I did not yet add Leeuwarden, because I’m yet positive those records in Leewarden are his, but if I had, Leeuwarden would also be shown on his journey map. I’ll be incorporating these into my 52 Ancestors stories. I love maps! Maybe I can find old maps to include too,

You can read more about the new profiles and hints, here.

Tree Collaboration with FamilyTreeDNA

Aaron Godfrey announced tree collaboration with FamilyTreeDNA who pre-announced this at their conference in November.

I don’t have specific details about how it works, as this won’t happen for a few months yet, but FamilyTreeDNA customers will port their trees to MyHeritage which allows them to take advantage of MyHeritage’s record collections and such. Existing MyHeritage customers will simply connect their FamilyTreeDNA test to their MyHeritage tree.

FamilyTreeDNA has never been a “tree” company, so this means that users will have one less tree to maintain independently, and they can augment their research with records from MyHeritage.

I talked to Katy Rowe-Schurwanz, the Product Manager at FamilyTreeDNA to confirm that this is NOT a DNA transfer. FamilyTreeDNA matches still occur in the FamilyTreeDNA database, just like always, and MyHeritage matches still occur in the MyHeritage database. If you want matching in both databases, you still have to upload to or test at both. Only the trees are integrated, meaning when you click on a tree at FamilyTreeDNA, you’ll see the tree displayed on MyHeritage.

The great news is that FamilyTreeDNA features such as Family Matching (bucketing) where you link your DNA matches at FamilyTreeDNA to their profile cards so that maternal/paternal bucketing occurs will still work the same way. The only difference will be that your tree will actually reside at MyHeritage and not at FamilyTreeDNA.

You’ll be able to enjoy the best of both worlds.

We will know more in a few months, and I’ll provide more details when I have them.

Invite Another MyHeritage User to View Your DNA Results

Aaron Godfrey said in the keynote that 2FA (two-factor authentication) at MyHeritage will become mandatory later this month, and with it, MyHeritage is adding the feature of being able to invite another MyHeritage user to view your DNA results. This allows people to collaborate more easily, especially if a different person is managing someone else’s DNA test.

Reimagine Multi-Photo Scanner App

This photo-scanning innovation is for your phone and allows you to scan photos and entire photo album pages – automatically separating and improving the photos. Then, of course, you just tag them to the proper person in your tree like any other photo.

Oh, and did I mention that Reimagine is free? I expected to have to pay when I downloaded the app, but I didn’t, probably because I have a full subscription.

Based on this article, Reimagine is not meant for other types of images, like pages of text or albums of clipped newspaper articles. But guess what? I downloaded the app, and it works just fine for those items! Hallelujah. How I wish I had this last week at the FamilySearch Library when I was finding pages in books I wanted to associate with a specific ancestor.

If you have album pages of photos to scan, this is golden and integrates with the profiles of people into your MyHeritage tree.

I really, really like the idea of having the ability to scan in the palm of my hand. That way if someone has a photo, you don’t have to try to take a photo of it. Gone are the days of literally dragging a laptop and scanner around with me when I’m traveling – just in case. Yes, I actually did and now I don’t have to anymore.

I cringe to think how many opportunities were lost to me before the days of laptops – but not now.

Thank you – THANK YOU, MyHeritage. What a great gift!

You can find the QR code to download the app, here.

OldNews is New News

MyHeritage has introduced a new website for old newspapers called OldNews which you can find here.

This addition doubles the number of newspapers previously available on MyHeritage.

Users can also subscribe separately to Old News for about $99/year.

MyHeritage customers use their normal credentials to sign in to either site, but accessing newspapers not previously integrated into MyHeritage will require an OldNews subscription too.

I had to try it. I entered my mother’s name.

Look, my Mom had a tonsillectomy. I never knew that. It was just a couple of months after she graduated from high school.

I didn’t know Mom spent the summer in Philadelphia, either. She was 19 at that time, and I had heard rumblings that she studied with a “prima ballerina” at the School of American Ballet. Guess where that is? Yep, Philly.

My Mom was a professional tap and ballet dancer before she became my Mom.

Understanding that Mom spent the summer of 1942 on the east coast sheds new light on this and a few other photos in Mom’s photo album, which I can now scan.

Ok, I can’t help myself. I have to enhance this photo at MyHeritage.

Much better. Another tiny piece of Mom’s life brought into focus.

I wonder what else is in OldNews that I don’t know about. Hmmmm…

You can read about OldNews here.

New All-Inclusive Omni Subscription

MyHeritage is launching a new Omni all-inclusive subscription plan that includes most of the MyHeritage products and tools, except for Filae, unless I’m missing something. Omni reportedly costs less than half the price if you were to subscribe to all of these individually. I’ve asked for a comparison chart which I don’t have yet, but I’m told will be coming soon.

Here’s what’s included:

Complete MyHeritage Data and Records Plan
OldNews – access to all newspapers
Geni.com Pro plan
Legacy Family Tree Webinars – Genealogy and DNA classes
Reimagine Photo app – unlimited photo scanning

Additionally, I asked MyHeritage about whether or not the advanced DNA tools are included with Omni, and they are. So, add advanced DNA tools to that list.

The following information about the Omni Plan is a screenshot from the MyHeritage blog article, here.

I have not been able to determine the price of an Omni subscription. At RootsTech, you were interested in the Omni plan, you submitted a Google form and a day or so later, you received this email.

I suspect MyHeritage needs to talk to you because how much it costs initially depends on your existing subscriptions, and how much time is left on those.

I reached out to MyHeritage and asked when Omni will be available to purchase, and the answer is “soon.” You can’t sign up just yet.

I have never subscribed to Legacy Family Tree Webinars, even though I’m a webinar presenter and have several webinars available there. My gift to myself is going to be Omni when it’s available because I want Legacy Family Tree Webinars, and I’d love a subscription to OldNews. I already have a full subscription to MyHeritage, and I’d probably use Geni more than I do as a casual user if I had the Omni subscription.

Artifact Testing – Maybe

Unfortunately, I was not able to attend CEO Gilad Japhet’s RootsTech session because his session and mine were at exactly the same time.

However, I asked Aaron Godfrey after Gilad’s session what I had missed that was not in Aaron’s keynote, other than Gilad’s wonderful stories.

Aaron and others told me that Gilad stated that he was personally submitting personal artifacts, such as stamps, to a third-party lab once again, to test the waters to see if DNA can now be extracted from artifacts successfully.

MyHeritage tried this a few years ago, ultimately unsuccessfully. Perhaps this time will be different, but I would not hold my breath, truthfully. Degraded DNA has quality issues, not to mention that the DNA extracted might not be the DNA of the person expected.

I would personally love this, but I am also skeptical at this point. Kudos to Gilad for trying again with his own personal items.

MyHeritage Online RootsTech Booth

MyHeritage has provided several educational videos in their online RootsTech booth, at this link. Be sure to take advantage of this free resource.

Whew, I’m finally done! I told you that MyHeritage had been very, very busy, and I wasn’t kidding. I hope I didn’t miss anything.

_____________________________________________________________

Follow DNAexplain on Facebook, here.

Share the Love!

You’re always welcome to forward articles or links to friends and share on social media.

If you haven’t already subscribed (it’s free,) you can receive an e-mail whenever I publish by clicking the “follow” button on the main blog page, here.

You Can Help Keep This Blog Free

Thank you so much.

DNA Purchases and Free Uploads

FamilyTreeDNA – Y, mitochondrial and autosomal DNA testing
MyHeritage DNA – Autosomal DNA test
MyHeritage FREE DNA file upload – Upload your DNA file from other vendors free
AncestryDNA – Autosomal DNA test
AncestryDNA Plus Traits
23andMe Ancestry – Autosomal DNA only, no Health
23andMe Ancestry Plus Health

Genealogy Products and Services

MyHeritage FREE Tree Builder – Genealogy software for your computer
MyHeritage Subscription with Free Trial
Legacy Family Tree Webinars – Genealogy and DNA classes, subscription-based, some free
Legacy Family Tree Software – Genealogy software for your computer
Newspapers.com – Search newspapers for your ancestors
NewspaperArchive – Search different newspapers for your ancestors

My Book

DNA for Native American Genealogy – by Roberta Estes, for those ordering the e-book from anyplace, or paperback within the United States
DNA for Native American Genealogy – for those ordering the paperback outside the US

Genealogy Books

Genealogical.com – Lots of wonderful genealogy research books
American Ancestors – Wonderful selection of genealogy books

Genealogy Research

Legacy Tree Genealogists – Professional genealogy research

FamilyTreeDNA RootsTech Pricing Lowest Ever & Still in Effect

Posted on March 4, 2024 by Roberta Estes

Yesterday, I wrote about how to find the RootsTech vendors’ online booths.

So, guess what I found in the online FamilyTreeDNA RootsTech booth – a list of their show prices AND the associated promo codes, which means you can take advantage of these low prices even if you didn’t attend or even sign up for RootsTech.

These prices, most of which are the lowest I’ve ever seen, remain in effect through March 29^th.

Not only are new tests on sale, but so are upgrades if you’ve already taken one test and want to purchase a different type of test, or you want to upgrade an existing test.

Click to enlarge images

Upgrade pricing is shown below. Now is a great time to upgrade to the Big Y if you have only taken one of the 12-111 marker tests. There’s so much more to discover, pardon the pun.

Also, the new mitochondrial tree will be released soon with approximately 5 times as many haplogroups, and you’ll want the full sequence test to benefit from that new technology.

FamilyTreeDNA gave a sneak preview of the new MitoTree at RootsTech, and it’s AMAZING – both the haplogroups that reach into a genealogical timeframe and also the new MitoDiscover tool. (MitoTree and MitoDiscover are my names – FamilyTreeDNA might select something different.) I’ll write about this soon!

Click here to order a new test or sign on and upgrade!

Finding Cousins to Test

I talk in my sessions and in blog articles about the importance of testing someone from each of your ancestral lines for both their Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA. Essentially, you don’t know what you don’t know about your ancestors, and this is the only way to find out. I wrote about constructing a DNA Pedigree Chart, here.

Both Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA tests are useful for recent genealogy as well as before the adoption of surnames. Both can confirm or even disprove an ancestral lineage, not to mention breaking through brick walls. At these prices, there’s no better time to order tests for cousins who have the proper DNA to represent those ancestors and are willing to test.

Where might you find those cousins who carry the Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA of each of your ancestors?

Known cousins who descend appropriately from those ancestors
Your autosomal matches at any vendor – search matches by surname.
ThruLines at Ancestry
T heories of Family Relativity at MyHeritage
WikiTree descendants of each ancestral line and people contributing to each ancestor
Relatives at RootsTech (through the end of March only)
FamilySearch descendants of each ancestor
FamilyTreeDNA Projects for the surname in question
Facebook pages for surnames or even county genealogy society pages where your ancestors lived.
Facebook users by that surname, although if they are not involved in genealogy, they might think you are stalking them. I don’t reach out on Facebook unless I know the connection or they are in a genealogy-focused group.

Needless to say, always verify other people’s trees to be sure it’s the line of descent you need. I also test two people from each line, preferably through two separate children if possible, to make sure they match, confirming the lineage.

Anything Else?

Yes! You can upload your autosomal DNA file from either MyHeritage or Ancestry to FamilyTreeDNA for free. Uploads from 23andMe are currently paused and will resume soon.

Uploads receive free matching, shared matches and maternal/paternal side matching. Some of these features either aren’t available or require a subscription at other vendors.

Normally the one-time payment to unlock FamilyTreeDNA’s advanced tools, including the Chromosome Browser, myOrigins ethnicity, Chromosome Painter (including segment information), and Ancient Origins is $19, but right now, it’s only $9, and there’s no subscription required for anything.

This article provides DNA file upload and download instructions for each vendor.

Then, click here to get started at FamilyTreeDNA.

_____________________________________________________________

Follow DNAexplain on Facebook, here.

Share the Love!

You’re always welcome to forward articles or links to friends and share on social media.

If you haven’t already subscribed (it’s free,) you can receive an e-mail whenever I publish by clicking the “follow” button on the main blog page, here.

You Can Help Keep This Blog Free

Thank you so much.

DNA Purchases and Free Uploads

FamilyTreeDNA – Y, mitochondrial and autosomal DNA testing
MyHeritage DNA – Autosomal DNA test
MyHeritage FREE DNA file upload – Upload your DNA file from other vendors free
AncestryDNA – Autosomal DNA test
AncestryDNA Plus Traits
23andMe Ancestry – Autosomal DNA only, no Health
23andMe Ancestry Plus Health

Genealogy Products and Services

MyHeritage FREE Tree Builder – Genealogy software for your computer
MyHeritage Subscription with Free Trial
Legacy Family Tree Webinars – Genealogy and DNA classes, subscription-based, some free
Legacy Family Tree Software – Genealogy software for your computer
Newspapers.com – Search newspapers for your ancestors
NewspaperArchive – Search different newspapers for your ancestors

My Book

DNA for Native American Genealogy – by Roberta Estes, for those ordering the e-book from anyplace, or paperback within the United States
DNA for Native American Genealogy – for those ordering the paperback outside the US

Genealogy Books

Genealogical.com – Lots of wonderful genealogy research books
American Ancestors – Wonderful selection of genealogy books

Genealogy Research

Legacy Tree Genealogists – Professional genealogy research

Bennett Greenspan: Meet My Extended Family & Discover Extraordinary Deep Heritage

Posted on January 21, 2024 by Roberta Estes

“My ancestors are in my soul. I can’t get them out of my mind.”

Bennett Greenspan

“And yes, I brake for cemeteries.”

Bennett Greenspan gave an incredibly interesting presentation at the 15th International Genetic Genealogy Conference held by FamilyTreeDNA in November 2023. Since his retirement in January 2021, he has been able to focus on his genealogy. Once a genealogist, always a genealogist.

Bennett said some things I hadn’t thought about, and now I’m viewing Y-DNA matches with a different perspective – based on how he’s using his results.

Ever since I met him, Bennett’s focus has been to use genetics to unravel his complex Jewish heritage.

The questions that drive Bennett are the same ones that motivate most genealogists:

Who are we?
Where did we come from?
Where were we before we were there?
How did my ancestors get there?

Bennett “lost his family lines” before the mid-1800s due to his Jewish heritage, exacerbated in the 1930s by the devastation wrought by the Holocaust. Families were either killed or scattered to survive. It has been through Y-DNA in particular that he has been able to establish unquestionable and confirmed connections with other Greenspan men, sometimes by similar but different surnames, like Green, and sometimes with other surnames entirely.

When Bennett first started down this path, he tested more than 62 men before actually finding one a decade later that matched his Y-DNA. Bennet commented that it was “a little frustrating.”

Persistence is the key, and sometimes, genealogy is a waiting game, but that’s small comfort to genealogists during that unproductive waiting period.

Eventually, Bennett reassembled his family, at least somewhat, but it was a long journey. Here’s Bennett’s incredible story, including surprises, as he tells it.

Bennett discovered genealogy at age 12 and, like many genealogists, created a pedigree chart by talking to his family.

I love the mark-outs. How many of us still have our first chart with its edits?

This is the young Bennett Greenspan, whose interest in genealogy would one day unlock secrets for all of us!

It was a long way from a decade with no matches to finding his genetic kin in Ukraine.

The Big Y-700 Time Tree shows Bennett’s lineage in Ukraine, but stepping back in time, some descendants of his ancestors are found in adjacent locations.

Bennett was passionately discussing his matches on the time tree and in the Greenspan project, so I visited the Greenspan DNA Project, where the earliest known ancestors of Bennett’s Big Y matches are shown on the Group Time Tree.

Bennett’s closest matches are shown as descendants of haplogroup J-ZS1718. He has additional matches who are not in the Greenspan project. Since this is the Group Time Tree, it only displays the people in that project, along with their earliest known ancestors, Isaac and Usher Greenspan.

12-Marker Matches

Bennett never fails to amaze me. He said something very important and profound about 12-marker matches that I really hadn’t thought about – at least not this way.

As a community, we are often guilty of discounting 12-marker matches, those that don’t match us at 25-markers or above, or with different surnames, as “too far back in time” or otherwise irrelevant. I always look at the names and earliest known ancestors of 12-marker matches, because that person may have tested back in the day when fewer markers were available. But if I don’t recognize something, I move on.

However, Bennett said that, ”Y-12 matches reach back to a common ancestor. 12-marker matches are not a quirk. They are related to you, just further back in time. You share a common ancestor with them, someplace. They may be more distant, but they are still your close matches.”

I’ve been in too much of a hurry for a quick win, and ignoring the (apparently not so) obvious.

Determining when and where their ancestors lived also paves the way to discover yours. Your Y-DNA and theirs were in the same place at the same time.

Of Bennett’s 171 12-marker matches, 107 have upgraded to the Big Y, probably mostly due to his encouragement. This benefits both them and Bennett by fleshing out the history of that entire group of men, including how they got to where they are found in the first available records. The Time Tree shows when Big Y testers shared a common ancestor, and based on Earliest Known Ancestor (EKA) locations, where. This provides further information about the lives of ancestors before contemporary records – in other words – people that we can never identify by name. It’s a window into ancestors before surnames.

Bennett notes that testers need to know their ancestral village or location to be most useful within the project, and of course, they need to enter their EKA information. Location information is how the Migration Map, Matches Map, and Discover tools, including the Time Tree, are built.

What Happened in Spain?

Bennett’s ancestors and those of his 12-marker matches are found in Spain, and as Bennett says, “One son stayed and one left about the year 296.”

While we have no idea of their names, based on the Time Tree combined with the cluster of earliest known ancestors, we know that they were in Spain, and when.

Their family story is revealed in the bifurcation of the tree found beneath haplogroup J-L823, formed about 296 CE. One line stayed in Spain, and Bennett’s line migrated to eastern Europe where that man’s descendants, including Bennett’s family, are found in the Russian Federation, Belarus, Poland, Lithuania, Sweden, Slovakia, Ukraine, Germany, Romania, the Czech Republic, and other eastern European locations. The closer to you in the tree and in time, the more relevant to your more recent ancestral story.

However, Bennett’s deeper ancestry, the migration of his ancestors to Spain, was only revealed by testing those more distantly related men. Those same men could well have been ignored entirely because they only matched at 12 markers.

According to Bennett, “Y-12 markers are important because these are the men most closely related to you in a database of 1 million men.”

How incredibly profound. How much have I been cavalierly overlooking?

How does this actually apply to Bennett’s results?

Bennett’s Spanish Matches

Bennett has the following STR panel matches who indicate that their EKA are from Spain. You can see that they match Bennett on a variety of panels.

X = yes, match
No = no match
Blank = not tested at that level.

In the Big Y GD column, the genetic distance (GD) is displayed as 15/660 where 15 is the number of mismatches, or the cumulative genetic distance ABOVE the 111 panel, and 660 is the number of STR markers above 111 with results.

The Big Y-500 test guaranteed a minimum of 500 total STR markers, and the Big Y-700 guarantees a minimum of 700 total STR markers, plus multiple scans of the balance of the Y chromosome for SNP mutations that define haplogroups. Testers don’t receive the same number of markers because the scan technology sometimes doesn’t read a specific location.

Tester	12	25	37	67	111	Big Y Test	Big Y GD	Big Y Match	Haplogroup
AA	X	X	X	No	No	Yes	15/660	No	J-FTD8826
DT	X	X	No	No	X	Yes	17/664	No	J-FTE50318
JG	X	X				No		No
AR	No	No	X	X		No		No
ELR	X	X	X			No		No
EL	X	X				Yes	17/666	No	J-FTE50318
GC	X	X	X	X		No		No
JC	X					No		No
JLG	X	X	No	No	No	Yes	14/662	No	J-FTE23540
MF	X	X	No	X	No	Yes	15/665	No	J-FTD91126
MT	X	X	X	X		No		No
BE	X	X	X	X	X	Yes	20/664	No	J-BY1795
DR	X	X	X	X	X	Yes	16/660	No	J-FTC87344
EC	X	X	X	X	X	Yes	15/665	No	J-FTC87344
GM	X	X	No	No	No	Yes	16/650	No	J-FTD28153
GM	X	X	X	X	No	Yes	17/664	No	J-FTD11019
LS	X	X	No	No	No	Yes	18/666	No	J-FTD28153
NE	X	X	X	X	X	Yes	23/597	No	J-BY1795
NC	X					No		No
RR	X	X	X	No	X	Yes	22/659	No	J-BY1795
TT	X	X	X	X	X	Yes	16/647	No	J-FTC87344
XG	X	X	X	No	No	Yes	17/523	No	J-BY167283
JA	X	X	No	No	No	Yes	15/646	No	J-FTD11019

Of those 23 Spanish matches, sixteen have upgraded to Big Y tests, 14 of which are Big Y-700s, resulting in nine different haplogroups, all of which are descendants of Haplogroup J-L823. How cool is that?

The “Nos” in the Big Y Match Column aren’t mistakes. That’s right – none of these men match Bennett on the Big Y test, meaning they had more than a 30 mutation difference between them and Bennett on the Big Y test.

At first glance, you’d think that Bennett would have been disappointed, but that’s not the case at all! In fact, it was the information provided by these distant Spanish matches that provided Bennett with the information that his line had split sometime around the year 296 CE, with one branch remaining in Spain and his branch migrating to Eastern Europe, where he has lots of matches.

DNA Plus History

What was happening in Spain or the Iberian peninsula that involved the Jewish people about that time? Historical records exist of Jews living in that region before the fall of the Second Temple in about 70 CE, including records of Jews being expelled from Rome in 139 for their “corrupting influence.”

Furthermore, the Ancient DNA Connections for haplogroup J-L823, the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) for all of those branches, includes connections to multiple burials from:

Lebanon
Iran
Rome (from 1-400 CE)
Turkey
Jordan

Clearly, Bennett’s ancestor was in the Iberian peninsula around or before 296 CE. One branch stayed, winding up in Spain, and one headed for Europe.

Without these matches, some who didn’t match above the 12 or 25 marker level, how would Bennett have EVER known that his Jewish ancestors left the Middle East for Spain in the early years? How would he have known they migrated from Spain to Eastern Europe, and how would he have known that his line did not migrate directly from the Levant to Eastern Europe in the 9^th century?

Big Y matches are typically within about 1500 years, but non-matches are still INCREDIBLY valuable. Without them, you can’t completely assemble your family story.

I noticed on the Time Tree that in Bennett’s Eastern European line, one of his ancestor’s brother lineages includes the Katzenellenbogen Rabbinic Lineage derived from ancient DNA samples.

Bennett’s successes have resulted from contacting his matches and encouraging upgrades. So how did he do it? What’s the magic sauce?

Contacting Matches

How to contact matches successfully is a question I see often. In fact, FamilyTreeDNA recently wrote about that in an article, here.

Bennett’s methodology for contacting his matches to encourage an upgrade is that he sends an email explaining why he’s encouraging them to upgrade, followed by a 2^nd email three days later.

Bennett tells the recipient that we are at an inflection point in time. “It’s winter, the wind is blowing hard, and many of the leaves are gone.”

In other words, we need to cast the net wider and capture what we can, while we can. Unfortunately, many early testers have died, and with them, chapters of history are perishing.

Collaboration is key. In addition to encouraging upgrades, Bennett also offers Zoom calls to these groups of men to explain the results if they are interested.

What a GREAT idea! I need to begin offering that as well.

Upgrade Request

Bennett reaches out to his matches at various levels, but he expects his closer STR matches, meaning at the 67 and 111 marker level with the fewest mismatches, to match him on a Big Y-700 test and connect someplace between 300-600 years ago, which helps everyone flesh out their tree.

Bennett’s email:

Hello <name>,

Since you have already made a sizable investment in your Y-DNA, you now know that we come from the dominant male Middle Eastern group (Haplogroup J) of men who <subject here>.

What’s really neat is that our Y-DNA has recently been found in an archaeological site in Northwestern Jordan dated to about 4200 years ago. I know this because I upgraded to the Big Y, which tests SNPs, looking at several million locations on the Y chromosome of each man.

One academic customer recently compared this new technology as the difference between looking into space with binoculars versus the Hubble Telescope.

I don’t know if you are familiar with your list of matches at the highest level you’ve tested for, either Y-67 or Y-111. If you are, you should recognize my name and the names of others who have taken the Big Y test.

You’ll see what you’ll gain by letting me upgrade your test for you and determining whether you are related to my line – probably between about 200 years and 500 years.

This might be the second time that I have written to you on this matter; can I presume if I don’t hear from you that you’re not really interested in the Y-DNA subject anymore?

Can I run the test so that I can see how closely we are related – at my expense? (Of course, you get to see how closely related we are, too).

Please reply to me and say “yes.” You don’t even have to put a 🙂 if you don’t want to.

I started this company and this industry over 20 years ago. I predict that you will be happy with the history of YOU that this upgrade will uncover.

Best,

Bennett Greenspan

As you can see, this email can easily be personalized further and adapted to matches at the 37, 25, and 12 marker levels – or even Family Finder matches, now that intermediate-range haplogroups are being reported.

What’s Next?

I’m going back to every one of the kits I sponsored or that represent descendants of one of my ancestors to review their matches again – focusing not just on the closest matches with common surnames, but also on locations – and specifically at lower matching levels. I’ll also be checking their Family Finder matches for male surname matches, or similar surnames.

As is evident from Bennett’s tests, an entire mine of diamonds is out there, just waiting to be unearthed by a Big Y test.

And to think that some people have been advising people to ignore 12-marker matches out-of-hand because they are “entirely irrelevant.” They aren’t – for two reasons.

First, some early testers only tested to that level
Second, because of the deeper history that Big Y tests from those matches will uncover

You can view your Y-DNA matches, upgrade your own Y-DNA test, or order a Big Y-700 test if you haven’t yet tested by clicking here. What’s your next step?

_____________________________________________________________

Follow DNAexplain on Facebook, here.

Share the Love!

You’re always welcome to forward articles or links to friends and share on social media.

If you haven’t already subscribed (it’s free,) you can receive an email whenever I publish by clicking the “follow” button on the main blog page, here.

You Can Help Keep This Blog Free

Thank you so much.

DNA Purchases and Free Uploads

FamilyTreeDNA – Y, mitochondrial and autosomal DNA testing
MyHeritage DNA – Autosomal DNA test
MyHeritage FREE DNA file upload – Upload your DNA file from other vendors free
AncestryDNA – Autosomal DNA test
AncestryDNA Plus Traits
23andMe Ancestry – Autosomal DNA only, no Health
23andMe Ancestry Plus Health

Genealogy Products and Services

MyHeritage FREE Tree Builder – Genealogy software for your computer
MyHeritage Subscription with Free Trial
Legacy Family Tree Webinars – Genealogy and DNA classes, subscription-based, some free
Legacy Family Tree Software – Genealogy software for your computer
Newspapers.com – Search newspapers for your ancestors
NewspaperArchive – Search different newspapers for your ancestors

My Book

DNA for Native American Genealogy – by Roberta Estes, for those ordering the e-book from anyplace, or paperback within the United States
DNA for Native American Genealogy – for those ordering the paperback outside the US

Genealogy Books

Genealogical.com – Lots of wonderful genealogy research books
American Ancestors – Wonderful selection of genealogy books

Genealogy Research

Legacy Tree Genealogists – Professional genealogy research

What Subjects Should We Explore in 2024?

Posted on January 4, 2024 by Roberta Estes

DNA testing is all about solving genealogy puzzles!

After we test, we need to fully understand what those test results are telling us.

To help, I need to know about your genealogy dreams! Who are you dreaming of finding, and what tools do you need to understand better to achieve that goal?

I have some articles planned for 2024, but I’d like to know what topics you’d like to see covered.

Of course, I always cover “breaking news” in genetic genealogy. I’ll be covering RootsTech as well.

Here are a few articles that I have in the works for 2024.

DNA and Pedigree Collapse
Big Y March of the Ages, by Dr. Paul Maier from the FamilyTreeDNA Conference
Highlights from Ancient Connections, by Dr. Miguel Vilar from the FamilyTreeDNA Conference
Meet My Extended Family – Leveraging Y DNA Testing, by Bennett Greenspan from the FamilyTreeDNA Conference

Focus

To help focus my efforts, I made a list of my own “genealogy dreams” by reviewing each ancestor and asking myself what I need to know about their life. For example, do I have the Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA haplogroups for each line? How can I figure out who their parents are? Do I have representatives of this line in every database? How can I address each of these things?

I’ve already started my 2024 research from a focus list I created. So far, I’ve:

Upgraded two cousins who took a Y-DNA test to the Family Finder, so I can use those two tests together. I need to know how closely related those two men might be, and who they match in common.
Upgraded a cousin to the Big Y-700 from a Y-67, hoping to discover when two lines from our common, unknown ancestor, split. That may help me know where to look, and when.
Encouraged a 95-year-old cousin to upload their Ancestry DNA test to FamilyTreeDNA and join the appropriate surname project. They did! Now we can compare their results within a project, which may very well solve a long-standing mystery of an unknown father all the way back in 1809! Fingers crossed!
Asked several cousins to also upload their DNA files to both FamilyTreeDNA and MyHeritage. You’ll find free step-by-step instructions for how to do that, here.

It’s Your Turn

What mysteries are you focused on solving using DNA? Who are you searching for in your tree?

Please note that already published articles are available by using the search function on the main DNAexplain blog page, here. Those articles may prove quite helpful.

What topics would you like to see covered in 2024 that will assist with your journey?

Here’s to a wonderful 2024 and finding lots of ancestors!

_____________________________________________________________

Follow DNAexplain on Facebook, here.

Share the Love!

You’re always welcome to forward articles or links to friends and share on social media.

If you haven’t already subscribed (it’s free,) you can receive an email whenever I publish by clicking the “follow” button on the main blog page, here.

You Can Help Keep This Blog Free

Thank you so much.

DNA Purchases and Free Uploads

FamilyTreeDNA – Y, mitochondrial and autosomal DNA testing
MyHeritage DNA – Autosomal DNA test
MyHeritage FREE DNA file upload – Upload your DNA file from other vendors free
AncestryDNA – Autosomal DNA test
AncestryDNA Plus Traits
23andMe Ancestry – Autosomal DNA only, no Health
23andMe Ancestry Plus Health

Genealogy Products and Services

MyHeritage FREE Tree Builder – Genealogy software for your computer
MyHeritage Subscription with Free Trial
Legacy Family Tree Webinars – Genealogy and DNA classes, subscription-based, some free
Legacy Family Tree Software – Genealogy software for your computer
Newspapers.com – Search newspapers for your ancestors
NewspaperArchive – Search different newspapers for your ancestors

My Book

DNA for Native American Genealogy – by Roberta Estes, for those ordering the e-book from anyplace, or paperback within the United States
DNA for Native American Genealogy – for those ordering the paperback outside the US

Genealogy Books

Genealogical.com – Lots of wonderful genealogy research books
American Ancestors – Wonderful selection of genealogy books

Genealogy Research

Legacy Tree Genealogists – Professional genealogy research

FamilyTreeDNA 2023 Update – Past, Present and Future

Posted on December 11, 2023 by Roberta Estes

At the FamilyTreeDNA International Conference on Genetic Genealogy, held November 3-5 in Houston for group project administrators, product and feature updates were scattered across both days in various presentations.

I’ve combined the updates from FamilyTreeDNA into one article.

I’ve already written two articles that pertain to the conference.

15^th Annual FamilyTreeDNA Conference for Genetic Genealogy – Reunion, Reception and Keynote

FamilyTreeDNA has already begun rolling the new Y DNA haplogroups from Family Finder autosomal tests, which I wrote about here:

FamilyTreeDNA Provides Y DNA Haplogroups from Family Finder Autosomal Tests

I still have at least two more articles to publish from this conference that was chocked full of wonderful information from a wide range of talented speakers.

Past, Present, and Future with Katy Rowe-Schurwanz

Katy Rowe-Schurwanz, FamilyTreeDNA’s Product Manager, provided an update on what has been accomplished in the four and a half years since the last conference, what’s underway now, and her wish list for 2024.

Please note the word “wish list.” Wish list items are NOT commitments.

Recent Milestones

A lot has been happening at FamilyTreeDNA since the last conference.

Acquisition and Wellness Bundles

As everyone is aware, at the end of 2020, myDNA acquired Gene by Gene, the parent company of FamilyTreeDNA, which included the lab. As a result, the FamilyTreeDNA product menu has expanded, and wellness bundles are now available for FamilyTreeDNA customers.

If you’re interested, you can order the Wellness product in a bundle with a Family Finder test, here.

You can add the Wellness product for $39 if you’ve already tested.

New TIP (Time Prediction) STR Report

Did you notice that the old TIP report for Y DNA STR markers was replaced with an updated version several months ago?

To view the new report, sign on and select your Y DNA matches. At the far right of each match you’ll see these three icons representing a pedigree chart, notes, and the TIP (Time Predictor) report.

The updated TIP report includes wonderful new graphs and age estimates for each match category, which you can read about, here. Each category, such as 67-marker matches, has time estimates in which a common ancestor might have lived at each possible genetic distance.

Math is our friend, and thankfully, someone else has done it for us!

Please note that the Big Y SNP dates are MUCH more accurate for a variety of reasons, not limited to the instability and rapid mutation rate of STR mutations.

MyOrigins3

MyOrigins3, FamilyTreeDNA’s ethnicity offering, added over 60 new reference populations for a total of 90, plus chromosome painting. You can read about MyOrigins features here, and the white paper, here.

This is one of my favorite improvements because it allows me to identify the segment location of my population ancestries, which in turn allows me to identify people who share my minority segments such as Native American and African.

Due to a lack of records, these relationships are often exceedingly difficult to identify, and MyOrigins3 helps immensely.

Additional Releases

Additional products and features released since the last conference include:

Family Finder improvements include a User Interface (UI) update, matching changes, and loading improvement. You can read the new Family Finder matching white paper, here.
Y DNA match pages received a UI update, too.
Lots of information buttons and boxes were added on many pages.
Many new and updated articles in the Help Center, here.

Discover

Released in July 2022, Discover is the amazing new free product that details your ancestor’s Y DNA “story” and his walk through time and across the globe.

In the past 18 months, all of the Discover features are new, so I’m only making a brief list here. The great thing is that everyone can use Discover if you know or can discover (pardon the pun) the haplogroup of your ancestral lines. Surname projects are often beneficial for finding your lineages.

Haplogroup Story includes haplogroup location, ages derived from the earliest known ancestor (EKA) of your matches, and ancient DNA samples. Please be sure you’ve entered or updated your EKA, and that the information is current. You can find instructions for how to update or add your EKA here.
A recent addition to the haplogroup story includes Haplogroup Badges.
Country Frequency showing where this haplogroup is found with either a table view or an interactive map
Famous and infamous Notable Connections, including Mayflower passengers, Patriots from the American Revolution, US presidents, royal houses, artists, musicians, authors, pirates, sports figures, scientists, and more.

If you know of a proven connection to a notable figure, contact customer support and let them know! Notable connections are added every week.

One famous Discover connection is Ludwig von Beethoven which resulted from a joint academic study between FamilyTreeDNA and academic researchers. It’s quite a story and includes both a mystery and misattributed parentage. You can see if you match on Discover and read about the study, here.

Updated Migration Map, including locations of select ancient DNA sites
The Time Tree, probably the most popular Discover report, shows the most current version of the Y DNA phylotree, updated weekly, plus scientifically calculated ages for each branch. Tree node locations are determined by your matches and their EKA countries of origin. I wrote about the Time Tree, here.
Anticipated in early 2024, the EKA and block tree matches will also be shown on the Time Tree in Discover for individual Big Y testers, meaning they will need to sign in through their kits.
The Group Time Tree, visible through group projects, takes the Time Tree a step further by including the names of the EKA of each person on the Time Tree within a specific project. Information is only displayed for project members who have given permission to include their data. You can select specific project groupings to view, or the entire project. I wrote about the Group Time Tree here and here.
Globetrekker is an exclusive Big Y mapping feature discussed here, here, here, and here.
Ancient Connections includes more than 6,100 ancient Y DNA results from across the globe, which have been individually analyzed and added for matching in Discover. Ancient Connections serve to anchor haplogroups and provide important clues about matches, migration paths and culture. New connections are added weekly or as academic papers with adequate Y DNA coverage are released.
Your Ancestral Path, which lists the haplogroups through every step from the tester back to Y Adam and beyond. Additional information for each haplogroup in your path includes “Time Passed” between haplogroups, and “Immediate Descendants,” meaning haplogroups that descend from each subclade. New columns recently added include “Tested Modern Descendants” and “Ancient Connections.”
Suggested Projects include surname, haplogroup, and geographic projects. Katy said that people joining projects are more likely to collaborate and upgrade their tests. You can also see which projects other men with this haplogroup have joined, which may well be projects you want to join too.
Scientific Details provides additional information, such as each branch’s confidence intervals and equivalent variables (SNPs). You can read more here.
Compare Haplogroups is the most recent new feature, added just last month, which allows you to enter any two haplogroups and compare them to determine their most recent common ancestral haplogroup. You can read about Compare Haplogroups, here.

Please note that the Studies feature is coming soon, providing information about studies whose data has been included in Discover.

You can read about Discover here, here, here, and here.

If you’re interested, FamilyTreeDNA has released a one-minute introduction to Y DNA and Discover that would interest new testers, here.

Earliest Known Ancestor (EKA) Improvement

Another improvement is that the earliest known ancestor is MUCH easier to enter now, and the process has been simplified. The EKAs are critical for Discover, so PLEASE be sure you’ve entered and updated your EKA.

Under the dropdown beside your name in the upper right-hand corner of your personal page, select Account Settings, then Genealogy and Earliest Known Ancestors. Complete the information, then click on “Update Location” to find or enter the location on a map to record the coordinates.

It’s easy. Just type or drop a pin and “Save.”

Saving will take you back to the original EKA page. Save that page, too.

Recommended Projects on Haplogroups & SNPs Page

You’re probably aware that Discover suggests projects for Y DNA testers to join, but recommended haplogroup projects are available on each tester’s pages, under the Y DNA Haplotree & SNPs page, in the Y DNA STR results section.

If there isn’t a project for your immediate haplogroup, just scroll up to find the closest upstream project. You can also view this page by Variants, Surnames and Countries.

This is a super easy tool to use to view which surnames are clustered with and upstream of your haplogroup. With Family Finder haplogroups being assigned now, I check my upstream haplogroups almost daily to see what has been added.

For example, my Big Y Estes results are ten branches below R-DF49, but several men, including Estes testers, have been assigned at this level, thanks to Y DNA haplogroups from Family Finder testing. I can now look for these haplogroups in the STR and Family Finder matches lists and see if those men are receptive to Big Y testing.

Abandoned Projects

Sometimes group project administrators can no longer function in that capacity, resulting in the project becoming abandoned. FamilyTreeDNA has implemented a feature to help remedy that situation.

If you discover an abandoned project, you can adopt the project, spruce things up, and select the new project settings. Furthermore, administrators can choose to display this message to recruit co-administrators. I need to do this for several projects where I have no co-admin.

If you are looking for help with your project, you can choose to display the button
through the Project Profile page in GAP. For non-project administrators, if you’d like to help, please email the current project administrators.

New Kit Manager Feature

FamilyTreeDNA has added a “Kit Manager” feature so that an individual can designate another person as the manager of their kit.

This new setting provides an avenue for you to designate someone else as the manager of your DNA test. This alerts FamilyTreeDNA that they can share information with both of you – essentially treating your designated kit manager the same as you.

If you’re the kit manager for someone else, you NEED to be sure this is completed. If that person is unavailable for some reason, and support needs to verify that you have legitimate access to this kit, this form and the Beneficiary form are the ONLY ways they can do that.

If your family member has simply given you their kit number and password, and for some reason, a password reset is required, and their email address is the primary contact – you may be shut out of this kit if you don’t complete this form.

Beneficiary Page

Additionally, everyone needs to be sure to complete the Beneficiary page so that in the event of your demise, FamilyTreeDNA knows who you’ve designated to access and manage your DNA account in perpetuity. If you’ve inherited a kit, you need to add a beneficiary to take over in the event of your death as well.

What is FamilyTreeDNA working on now?

Currently in the Works

Katy moved on to what’s currently underway.

Privacy and Security

Clearly, the unauthorized customer data exposure breach at 23andMe has reverberated through the entire online community, not just genetic genealogy. You can read about the incident here, here, here, and here.

FamilyTreeDNA has already taken several steps, and others are in development and will be released shortly.

Clearly, in this fast-moving situation, everything is subject to change.

Here’s what has happened and is currently planned as of today:

Group Project Administrators will be required to reset their password soon.

Why is this necessary?

Unauthorized access was gained to 23andMe accounts by people using the same password for multiple accounts, combined with their email as their user ID. Many people use the same password for every account so that they can remember it. That means that all a hacker needs to do is breach one account, and they can use that same information to “legitimately” sign in to other accounts. There is no way for the vendor to recognize this as unauthorized since they have both your user ID and password.

That’s exactly what happened at 23andMe. In other breaches, this information was exposed, and hackers simply tried the same username and password combination at 23andMe, exposing the entire account of the person whose account they signed in “as.” This includes all of their matches, genetic tree, shared matches, matches of matches, ethnicity, and segments. They could also have downloaded both the match list and the raw DNA file of the compromised account.

At FamilyTreeDNA, project administrators can select their own username, which could be their email, so they will be required to reset their password.

Additional precautions have been put in place on an interim basis:

A pause in the ability to download match and segment information.
A pause in accepting 23andMe uploads.

Administrators will also be required to use two-factor authentication (2FA.) To date, two of the four major vendors are requiring 2FA. I would not be surprised to see it more broadly. Facebook recently required me to implement 2FA there, too, due to the “reach” of my postings, but 2FA is not required of everyone on Facebook.

Please note that if you received an email or message that is supposedly from any vendor requiring 2FA, GO DIRECTLY TO THAT VENDOR SITE AND SIGN IN. Never click on a link in an email you weren’t expecting. Bad actors exploit everything.

Customers who are not signing in as administrators are not required to implement 2FA, nor will they be required to reset their password.

Personally, I will implement 2FA as soon as it’s available.

While 2FA is an extra step, it’s easy to get used to, and it has already literally saved one of my friends from an authorized hack on their primary and backup email accounts this week. Another friend just lost their entire account on Facebook because someone signed in as them. Their account was gone within 15 minutes.

2FA is one of those things you don’t appreciate (at all) until it saves you, and then, suddenly, you’re incredibly grateful.

At this point in time, FamilyTreeDNA users will NOT be required to do a password reset or implement 2FA. This is because customers use a kit number for sign-in and not a username or email address. I would strongly recommend changing your password to something “not easy.” Never reuse passwords between accounts.

I really, really want you to visit this link at TechRepublic and scroll down to Figure A, which shows how long it takes a hacker to crack your password. I guarantee you, it’s MUCH quicker than you’d ever expect.

Kim Komando wrote about this topic two years ago, so compare the two charts to see how much easier this has become in just two years.

Again, if you receive an email about resetting your password, don’t click on a link. Sign in independently to the vendor’s system, but DO reset your password.

FamilyTreeDNA also engages in additional security efforts, such as ongoing penetration testing.

New Permissions

Additionally, at FamilyTreeDNA, changes were already in the works to separate out at least two permissions that testers can opt-in to without granting project administrators Advanced rights.

Download data
Purchase tests

The ability to purchase tests can be very important because it allows administrators to order and pay for tests or upgrades on behalf of this tester anytime in the future.

Family Finder Haplogroups

FamilyTreeDNA has already begun releasing mid-level Y DNA haplogroups for autosomal testers in a staggered rollout of several thousand a day.

I wrote about this in the article, FamilyTreeDNA Provides Y DNA Haplogroups from Family Finder Autosomal Tests, so I’m not repeating all of that information here – just highlights.

The Family Finder haplogroup rollout is being staggered and began with customers on the most recent version of the testing chip, which was implemented in March of 2019.
Last will be transfers/uploads from third parties.
Haplogroups resulting from tests performed in the FTDNA labs will be visible to matches and within projects. They will also be used in both Discover and the haplotree statistics. This includes Family Finder plus MyHeritage and Vitagene uploads.
Both MyHeritage and Vitagene are uploaded or “transferred” via an intracompany secure link, meaning FamilyTreeDNA knows that their information is credible and has not been manipulated.
Haplogroups derived from tests performed elsewhere will only be visible to the user or a group administrator viewing a kit within a project. They will not be visible to matches or used in trees or for statistics.
Any man who has taken a Y DNA STR test will receive a SNP-confirmed, updated haplogroup from their Family Finder test that replaces their predicted haplogroup from the STR test.

Please read this article for more information.

New Discover Tools and Updates

Discover content continues to be updated, and new features are added regularly, creating an increasingly robust user experience.

Soon, group administrators will be able to view all Discover features (like Globetrekker) when viewing kits of project members who have granted an appropriate level of access.

Ancient and Notable connects are added weekly, and a new feature, Study Connections, will be added shortly.

Study Connections is a feature requested by customers that will show you which study your academic matches came from. Today, those results are used in the Y DNA tree, but the source is not detailed.

Anticipated in early 2024, the EKA and block tree matches will also be shown on the Time Tree in Discover for individual Big Y testers (not publicly).

Big Y FaceBook Group

FamilyTreeDNA has ramped up its social media presence. They launched the Big Y Facebook group in July 2023, here, which currently has just under 9000 members. Several project administrators have volunteered their time to help manage the group.

FamilyTreeDNA Blog

In addition, FamilyTreeDNA is publishing at least one blog article each week, and sometimes more. You can view or subscribe here. Some articles are written by FamilyTreeDNA staff, but project administrators and customers author other content.

Multi-Language Support

Translation of the main FamilyTreeDNA website and results pages to Spanish has begun, with more languages planned soon.

Paypal, Payments, and Gift Cards

Paypal has been added as a payment selection, along with a PayPal option that provides the ability to make payments.

Additionally, a gift card can be purchased from the main page.

Million Mito Project & Mitotree

Work on the Million Mito Project is ongoing.

The Million Mito Project was launched in 2020 as a collaborative effort between FamilyTreeDNA’s Research & Development Team and the scientific portion of the Genographic Project. I’m a team member and wrote about the Million Mito Project, here.

We’re picking up from where the Phylotree left off in 2016, analyzing 20 times more mtDNA full sequences and reimagining the mtDNA Haplotree. By examining more mtDNA data and applying the processes that allowed FamilyTreeDNA to build the world’s largest Y DNA Haplotree, we can also create the world’s largest Mitotree.

In 2022, the first update was released, authored by the Million Mito team, with the discovery of haplogroup L7. You can read about this amazing discovery rooted deep in the tree here, here, and here. (Full disclosure: I’m a co-author.)

Not only that, but “Nature Scientific Reports” selected this article as one of five named Editor’s Choice in the Mitogenomics category, here. In the science world, that’s a HUGE deal – like the genetic Emmy.

Here’s one example of the type of improvements that can be expected. Currently, the formation of haplogroup U5a2b2a reaches back to about 5000 years ago, but after reanalysis, current branches originated between 500 and 2,500 years ago, and testers are clustered more closely together.

This is SOOO exciting!!!

Just as Discover for Y DNA results was built one feature at a time, the same will be true for MitoDiscover. That’s my name, not theirs.

As the new Mitotree is rolled out, the user interface will also be updated, and matching will function somewhat differently. Specifically, it’s expected that many more haplogroups will be named, so today’s matching that requires an exact haplogroup match to be a full sequence match will no longer work. That and other matching adjustments will need to be made.

I can hardly wait. I have so many results I need to be able to view in a tree format and to place in a timeframe.

You can be included in this exciting project, learn more about your matrilineal (mother’s) line, and hopefully break down some of those brick walls by taking the full sequence mitochondrial DNA test, here.

After the new Mitotree is rolled out and the Y DNA Family Finder haplogroups are completed, Family Finder customers, where possible, will also receive at least a basic-level mitochondrial haplogroup. Not all upload files from other vendors include mtDNA SNPs in their autosomal files. The mitochondrial Family Finder haplogroup feature isn’t expected until sometime in 2025, after the new tree and MitoDiscover are complete.

The Future

What’s coming later in 2024, or is ongoing?

Privacy Laws

Most people aren’t aware of the new privacy laws in various states, each of which has to be evaluated and complied with.

The effects of these changes will be felt in various areas as they are implemented.

New Kits Opted Out of IGG

Since late August, all new FTDNA kits are automatically opted OUT of Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG) by default.

Regular matching consent and IGG matching consent have been separated during onboarding.

Biobanking Separate Consent

Another consent change is to have your sample biobanked. FamilyTreeDNA has always maintained your sample for “roughly 25 years.” You could always ask to have your sample destroyed, but going forward, you will be asked initially if you want your sample to be retained (biobanked.) It’s still free.

Remember, if someone declines the biobanking option, their DNA will be disposed of after testing. They can’t order upgrades without submitting a new sample. Neither can their family after they’re gone. I ordered my mother’s Family Finder test many years after she had gone on to meet our ancestors – and I’m incredibly grateful every single day.

MyHeritage Tree Integration

An exciting change coming next year is tree integration with MyHeritage.

And no, before any rumors get started, FAMILYTREEDNA IS NOT MERGING WITH MYHERITAGE. It’s a beneficial marriage of convenience for both parties.

In essence, one of the primary focuses of MyHeritage is trees, and they do that very well. FamilyTreeDNA is focused on DNA testing and their existing trees have had issues for years. MyHeritage trees are excellent, support pedigree collapse, provide search capabilities that are NOT case sensitive, SmartMatching, and much more.

If you don’t have a MyHeritage account, creating one is free, and you will be able to either port your existing FamilyTreeDNA tree, or begin one there. If you’re already a MyHeritage member, FamilyTreeDNA and MyHeritage are planning together for a smooth integration for you. More detailed information will be forthcoming as the integration progressed and is released to customers.

You’ll be able to connect multiple kits to your tree at MyHeritage, just like you can at FamilyTreeDNA today, which enables family matching, aka bucketing.

You can also have an unlimited number of different trees at MyHeritage on the same account. You’re not limited to one.

After you link your initial FamilyTreeDNA kit to the proper person in your MyHeritage tree, you’ll be able to relink any currently linked kits.

MyHeritage will NOT receive any DNA information or match information from FamilyTreeDNA, and yes, you’ll be able to use the same tree independently at MyHeritage for their DNA matching.

You’ll still be able to view your matches’ trees, except it will actually be the MyHeritage tree that will be opened at FamilyTreeDNA in a new tab.

To the best of my knowledge, this is a win-win-win, and customers of both companies aren’t losing anything.

One concern is that some FamilyTreeDNA testers have passed away and cannot transition their tree, so a view-only copy of their tree will remain at FamilyTreeDNA so that their matches can still see their tree.

Big Y Infrastructure

Katy mentioned that internal discussions are taking place to see what changes could be made to improve things like matching and test processing times.

No changes are planned for SNP or STR coverage, but discussions are taking place about a potential update to the Telomere to Telomere (T2T) reference. No promises about if or when this might occur. The last part of the human genome to be fully sequenced, the T2T reference model includes the notoriously messy and unreliable region of the Y chromosome with many repeats, duplications, gaps, and deletions. Some data from this region is probably salvageable but has previously been omitted due to the inherent problems.

I’m not sure this shouldn’t be in the next section, the Wishlist.

Wishlist

There are lots of good things on the Wishlist – all of which I’d love.

I’d have difficulty prioritizing, but I’d really appreciate some Family Finder features in addition to the items already discussed. I’d also like to see some GAP (administrator) tool updates.

Which items do you want to see most?

Katy said that FamilyTreeDNA is NOT planning to offer a Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) test anytime soon. So, if you’re holding your breath, please don’t. Based on what Katy did say, WGS is very clearly not a consideration in 2024 and I don’t expect to see it in 2025 either unless something changes drastically in terms of technology AND pricing.

While WGS prices have come down, those consumer tests are NOT scanned at the depth and quality required for advanced tests like the Big Y or even Family Finder. Normally consumer-grade WGS tests are scanned between 2 and 10 times, where the FamilyTreeDNA lab scans up to 30 times in order to obtain a quality read. 30X scans are in the same category as medical or clinical grade whole genome scans. Significantly higher quality scans mean significantly higher prices, too, so WGS isn’t ready for genealogy prime time yet.

Additionally, commercially available WGS tests are returned to the customer “as is,” and you’re left to extract the relevant SNPs and arrange them into files, or find someone else to do that. Not to mention, in order to preserve the integrity of their database, FamilyTreeDNA does not accept Y or mitochondrial DNA uploads.

Recently, I saw two WGS files with a 20-25% no-call rate for the autosomal SNPs required for the Family Finder test. Needless to say, that’s completely unacceptable. Some tools attempt to “fix” that mess by filling in the blanks in the format of either a 23andMe or Ancestry file so you can upload to vendors, but that means you’re receiving VERY unreliable matches.

The reason none of the major four vendors offer WGS testing for genealogists is because it’s not financially feasible nor technologically beneficial. The raw data file alone won’t fit on most home computers. WGS is just not soup yet, and it won’t be for the general consuming public, including relevant tools, for at least a few years.

I’ve had my whole genome sequenced, and trust me, I wish it were feasible now, but it just isn’t.

Suggestions Welcomed

Katy said that if you have suggestions for items NOT on the wishlist today to contact her through support.

I would add that if you wish to emphasize any specific feature or need above others, please send that feedback, politely, to support as well.

Katy ended by thanking the various teams and individuals whose joint efforts together produce the products we use and enjoy today.

Lab Update

Normally, DNA testing companies don’t provide lab updates, but this conference is focused on group project administrators, who are often the most dedicated to DNA testing.

A lab update has become a tradition over the years.

Linda Jones, Lab Manager, provided a lab update.

You may or may not know that the FamilyTreeDNA lab shifted gears and stepped up to handle Covid testing.

Supply-chain shortages interfered, but the lab ran 24×7 between 2020 and 2022.

Today, the lab continues to make improvements to processes with the goal of delivering the highest quality results in a timely manner.

On Monday, after the conference, attendees could sign up for a lab tour. You might say we are a rather geeky bunch and really enjoy the science behind the scenes.

Q&A and Thank You

At the end of the conference, the FamilyTreeDNA management team answered questions from attendees.

Left to right, Daniel Au, CTO; Linda Jones, Lab Manager; Katy Rowe-Schurwanz, Product Manager; Clayton Conder, VP Marketing; Goran Runfeldt, Head of R&D; and Andrew Gefre, Development Manager. Not pictured, Jeremy Balkin, Support Manager; Kelly Jenkins, VP of Operations; and Janine Cloud, Group Projects Manager. Janine is also responsible for conferences and events, without whom there would have been no 2023 FamilyTreeDNA conference. Janine, I can’t thank you enough!

A huge thanks to all of these people and many others, including the presenters, CSRs, IT, and other FamilyTreeDNA team members for their support during the conference, enabling us to enjoy the conference and replenish the well of knowledge.

_____________________________________________________________

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DNA Purchases and Free Uploads

FamilyTreeDNA – Y, mitochondrial and autosomal DNA testing
MyHeritage DNA – Autosomal DNA test
MyHeritage FREE DNA file upload – Upload your DNA file from other vendors free
AncestryDNA – Autosomal DNA test
AncestryDNA Plus Traits

Genealogy Products and Services

MyHeritage FREE Tree Builder – Genealogy software for your computer
MyHeritage Subscription with Free Trial
Legacy Family Tree Webinars – Genealogy and DNA classes, subscription-based, some free
Legacy Family Tree Software – Genealogy software for your computer
Newspapers.com – Search newspapers for your ancestors
NewspaperArchive – Search different newspapers for your ancestors

My Book

DNA for Native American Genealogy – by Roberta Estes, for those ordering the e-book from anyplace, or paperback within the United States
DNA for Native American Genealogy – for those ordering the paperback outside the US

Genealogy Books