When all this DNA stuff began several years ago, I was hesitant to join in the fun. What if all my years ( 52 years at present) of genealogy tree climbing would be wrong. What if having my DNA analyzed would prove I was from "China" and not "Wales". For several years I was scared to ask this question. But, the bullet was bitten, and from Wales indeed I come!
My research along the way has been organized and stored in notebooks. Long before this DNA was available (Watson-Crick just starting their base pairing), I started climbing the family tree. (Beginning 1960!)
Over the years, this research has been placed into notebooks. This new blog is my attempt to outline this research [mostly into the surname JONES] and describe the content of each notebook. Hopefully, this will give the family tree climber an opportunity to review these topics.
The notebooks are physically located at my personal library, The Joseph Wheeler Jones Memorial Library, Danville, KY. They are available for use to any genealogist who would care to come and explore. Please contact me and let me know you would like to examine the content. You can search the blog sight using the "search" tag for subjects and content. You can contact me using the comment section on any of my blogs.
Showing posts with label genealogy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label genealogy. Show all posts
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Monday, May 2, 2011
Well, It's About Time
As a genealogist, having my own DNA analyzed was at first a hard decision to make. I had spent 50 years reseaching my family tree using the old library method, and blood hound techniques. This produced results that I felt were pretty accurate. Or were they? DNA was to prove me right or wrong? What if all my research proved to be wrong? I had traced my JONES surname back to Wales. What if DNA showed I was from China? Oh man, maybe I sould leave this DNA stuff alone?
It took several years to decide to go ahead and have my DNA tested. It only took a couple of months to get the results. Twenty five exact matches for my 12-marker test! I've hit the jackpot! Well let's see who are these folks? There is a Claxton, Amshoff, Boyle, Tilton, Mauradoglu(x2), Dohanrich, Sharp(x2), Gilmore, Welrich, Johnson(x2), Prichard, Gill(x2), Leonard, Pearson, Maudire-Janton, Fournier, and only one other JONES! What in the world? I had never heard of most of these surnames! How could I have exact 12-marker DNA.
An explaination which came with the results stated: "...if you match another person exactley with the same surname or a variant, you have a 99.9% likelihood of sharing a common ancestor with that person." This information went on to say, "This individual is described scientifically as the Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA)." A graph was included that gave an estimate of how long ago this common ancestor lived. The graph showed that on a 12/12 match, "...a 90% probablity that the MRCA lived no longer than 23 generations"! There was a 95% probabitity that the MRCA lived no longer 29 generations.
No longer than 23 generations! Not many folks would have their genealogy past 6-8 generations. Maybe the next series of DNA markers will help? Well maybe, it's not about time yet?
My 12-marker test as reported:
Locus 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
DYS# 393 390 19 391 385a 385b 426 388 439 389-1 392 389-2
Alleles 13 24 14 12 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 30
For an explaination of these terms see my post "Terms, Terms, and more Terms", Wednesday, December 22, 2010.
It took several years to decide to go ahead and have my DNA tested. It only took a couple of months to get the results. Twenty five exact matches for my 12-marker test! I've hit the jackpot! Well let's see who are these folks? There is a Claxton, Amshoff, Boyle, Tilton, Mauradoglu(x2), Dohanrich, Sharp(x2), Gilmore, Welrich, Johnson(x2), Prichard, Gill(x2), Leonard, Pearson, Maudire-Janton, Fournier, and only one other JONES! What in the world? I had never heard of most of these surnames! How could I have exact 12-marker DNA.
An explaination which came with the results stated: "...if you match another person exactley with the same surname or a variant, you have a 99.9% likelihood of sharing a common ancestor with that person." This information went on to say, "This individual is described scientifically as the Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA)." A graph was included that gave an estimate of how long ago this common ancestor lived. The graph showed that on a 12/12 match, "...a 90% probablity that the MRCA lived no longer than 23 generations"! There was a 95% probabitity that the MRCA lived no longer 29 generations.
No longer than 23 generations! Not many folks would have their genealogy past 6-8 generations. Maybe the next series of DNA markers will help? Well maybe, it's not about time yet?
My 12-marker test as reported:
Locus 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
DYS# 393 390 19 391 385a 385b 426 388 439 389-1 392 389-2
Alleles 13 24 14 12 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 30
For an explaination of these terms see my post "Terms, Terms, and more Terms", Wednesday, December 22, 2010.
Monday, September 6, 2010
DNA and Genealogy
DNA and genealogy have become an important topic. The identification and application of the genetic code that makes us all spearate individuals, yet make us one of the human race, has added a new tool to the understanding of ancestry. It adds a "no doubt" phenomina that often proves or disproves all the years of genealogy work that has been done on our family trees. It is a complex topic, full of scientific terms, scientific approaches, "over my head" assumptions, and the application of new technologies to a much older field called genealogy. How we put the two fields together will make the difference in our understand of who we are, and what is truely our lineage. An understand of DNA, and how it is used to aid the genealogist, is the goal of this blog. It is especially important for a surname like JONES whose frequency is among the most common surname in the Western World. I will use my own JONES DNA and more that 50 years of doing genealogy to try and tie the ends together. It also helps that I have a medical backgound so I understand most of the scientific terms. So let's begin a journey to see if the new DNA approach and the old Genealogy approch can come to a common ground.
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