Do You Use DNA Testing in Your Genealogy Search?

The times they are a changin'. DNA testing for genealogy has become a very popular segment of family history research. Some companies that are well known in this business are FamilyTreeDNA, AncestryDNA, Pathway Genomics, 23andme, and a great many others.

These companies send out DNA kits to gather a sample and you do your own test at home and mail the sample in to one of the DNA testing centers and they will return your results in a few days. The test is harmless in that you just use a little scraper paddle device and run it around inside your cheek and seal it in the sterile return envelope to send to the testing company.

If you are able to test yourself and your parents you will have absolute proof then in order to test further back in generations it becomes a little more like a numbers game. the Y-DNA test is used for testing father to son and is absolute.

If you are a female you do not have the Y chromosome but two XX's and this is called a mitochondrial test that can prove mother to daughter results. All persons enherit mita and this test is used primarily to go way back in history and you will be able to tell which part of the world your early ancestors inhabited.

This type of testing increased rapidly in the 1990's and now in the 21st century it is growing enormously fast. The more people that test and join the database of results, the better the results reporting become. Now is a great time to have your DNA tested.

This is great especially for surname studies, as you can have male distant cousins tested to show approximately how far back in time until you have a common ancestor. Feamles can enlist the aid of a brother or male cousin to prove her surname connection.

Give it a try and see what your DNA test results look like.




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Y-DNA and mtDNA Studies Being Used to Track Palatine German Descendants

Modern technology is being used by Family Tree DNA to track the various groups of descendants of the 1709-1710 Palatine German Emigrants.

Wars and weather were unkind to this large section of the southern part of what is now Germany, and a mass migration occurred. These poverty stricken and hungry families numbered in the thousands and they went first to Holland and then were invited by the young Queen Anne of England to come to London.

Well that was a mistake. London already was overflowing with poor and hungry citizens. The basic story is that these so-called Palatines were split into groups and sent to various colonies of England. One large group went to Ireland to farm the lands of the wealthy Scottish landlords, and another group of over 800 families were sent to the Province of New York in 1710.

The New York group settled along the Hudson River just a little north of New York City. The premise was that they were to work off their passage by gathering "spars and pitch" for the Queen's Navy. Well that did not work out too well and they were abandoned by the British Government.

The winter hardships and starvation took their toll, but the Native Americans took pity on these newcomers to the land, and many of the Palatines did survive and eventually prospered. Many of the people throughout this country can trace their lineage back to these hearty souls that survived.

Now there is a program to gather DNA samples from male and female descendants to show connections back into Europe and even back as far as the beginnings of time.

Read the full story and then check the program out if you are interested, by going to Upstate New York Genealogy at: www.unyg.com and clicking on the "UNYG Blog" tab.


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