The Case of the Missing DNA

A recent inquiry from a DNA match sent me into the mysteries of AncestryDNA matching. I was appalled at what I learned.

In the field of data science, we use the term "single source of truth." You would expect that DNA matching would be consistent across all the different testing companies, so any and all of them would be a valid source of truth. Not so. If you skip the story, please take a moment to look below at the explanatory graphic.

It started with a routine email from a gentleman I'll call Lou. He found our match on Family Tree DNA and asked if it was possible we were related through a particular surname. He closed by telling me he was of African-American descent.

Knowing the challenges faced by African-Americans who are researching their roots, I gave the email far more attention than I would have if it had been from a Caucasian match.

Lou and I had no shared matches on FTDNA, so  I turned to Ancestry, where I have identified many cousins from that branch of my family. But there was a problem. Our match on Ancestry was only 8 cM (1 segment), where on FTDNA it was 27 cM (3 segments). How is that even possible?

Our FTDNA match includes a couple of short segments. Eliminating them leaves our FTDNA match at 19.9 cM (1 segment), still more than double what AncestryDNA showed. We exchanged some emails to discuss the source of the data.

• Lou had uploaded his AncestryDNA results to FTDNA, MyHeritage and GedMatch. 
• Lou had tested with 23AndMe and uploaded that result to GedMatch.
• I had directly tested with FTDNA and MyHeritage, in addition to AncestryDNA. 
• I had uploaded my AncestryDNA result to GedMatch. 

All match combinations except AncestryDNA are in the range 17.8-19.9 cM, with one segment in the same approximate range in chromosome 12. Of course we can't see what AncestryDNA is suggesting.

Choose Your Source of Truth

My brother's match to Lou is also in a similar range to these numbers. At Ancestry DNA, Lou's brothers and daughter have a stronger match to me than Lou does. However, none of them have uploaded to GedMatch, so we can't see the science behind the numbers. This particular chromosome range does appear to fall in or near an ISOGG-documented slight pile-up area.

So this leaves the possibility that AncestryDNA has chosen to ignore some of the match due to pile-up. Wouldn't it be nice to be told that?

Does Ancestry have a computational error on my match with Lou, since Lou's daughter matches me more strongly than Lou matches me? Or does she match me in an entirely different way via her mother's lines?

What is the best source of truth? If you are using only AncestryDNA for your DNA matching, you are not seeing the whole truth. GedMatch is free. FTDNA is inexpensive. MyHeritage has some great tools. You can choose your source of truth.

Why Should I Use GEDMatch for My DNA?

Addie is an adoptee, looking for her birth parents. She tested her autosomal DNA with 23AndMe. Addie has a good match with some people who tested at FamilyTreeDNA and with some who tested at AncestryDNA. But there's a huge problem: how does she find those matches? Each company shows only matches from within their own customer base.

GEDMatch is the answer.

GEDMatch expands the playing field for all autosomal DNA testers and it provides the chromosome browser and triangulation tools that are missing from AncestryDNA. Fortunately for Addie, a number of her matches had uploaded their DNA results to GEDMatch.

My father, who tested at FTDNA, is second on Addie's match list at GEDMatch, while my brother, who tested at AncestryDNA, is first. Our first cousin is 13th, while my half-uncle and I don't match at all. Of course, there are many others on her match list. Several researchers now have a multi-way conversation going on to try and help with her search.

Along with the larger conversation, I have a one-on-one conversation going on with one man. We think that there is a relationship not only between his aunt Ethel and my dad, but also between my mom and Ethel. That is because my brother matches Ethel in other chromosome locations than my dad matches Ethel. If we were working only at AncestryDNA, we would never have known about that subtle nuance.

Jim Bartlett recently shared on his blog ten reasons to upload to GEDMatch (or FTDNA). Note that GEDMatch is entirely free, while FTDNA is not. In the comments on that blog post Jim explains just a bit about how to download and upload DNA results. Instructions are also available at GEDMatch once you register for an account.

The team at GEDMatch has made some changes since I last wrote about this fabulous website. The match list still shows the kit number, the Y-DNA haplogroup and MtDNA haplogroup and the matching segment totals, including matches on the X chromosome. The display of the email addresses and names of testers has been improved. One of the features that I most appreciate is the concise listing of matches. Both AncestryDNA and FTDNA require a lot of scrolling.

This is the top of my match list. My dad and daughter are 1 generation away from me, while my brother is 1.3 and other family members are 1.5 to 2 generations away. Beyond immediate family, the number of generations rapidly rises to 4 and beyond.

The first letter of the kit shows if the test was done at Ancestry (A), FTDNA (F) or 23AndMe (M).

17th on my match list is my third cousin once removed. When I click on the "A" in the Autosomal column, I can run the one-to-one chromosome comparison, with or without a graphical representation. I like to include the graphs, rather than numbers alone, because I can better visualize the match. Clicking on the X for an X-chromosome match works in a similar way.

I see that we have matching DNA on chromosomes 2, 4 and 18.

At the end of the compare are some statistics about the match.

     Largest segment = 20.4 cM
     Total of segments > 7 cM = 41.8 cM
     Estimated number of generations to MRCA = 4.2

I can use this information as part of mapping my chromosomes to ancestors. These segments probably came from our shared Mooney/Alexander ancestors. We still need to verify them against other Mooney and Alexander descendants.

I've also shared about the ethnicity models at GEDMatch and how I can run my family's DNA through different ethnicity models, depending on their known ethnicity. The result is a pie chart with a legend.

GEDMatch does all this for free. I choose to donate to help support the site, so I do have access to some other tools. Fellow DNA testers -- readers and cousins -- come along for the ride and enjoy the new discoveries that await you at GEDMatch.

My 2016 Genetic Genealogy Goal

Looking for descendants of Aaron Lake, born about 1775

• Aaron Lake lived in Breckinridge County, Kentucky, at the time of the 1820 census.
• Is he the same Aaron Lake who lived in Perry County, Indiana during the 1820 census?
• Was he the man enumerated in Washington County, Pennsylvania in the 1800 census?
• Did he pay taxes in Washington County, Pennsylvania in 1800?
• Did he marry and have children in Hunterdon County, New Jersey?
• Was he the same Aaron Lake who died in Morgan County, Illinois, on July 6, 1835?
• Which man, if any, is my ancestor?

Researchers have shared this tidbit online: Mary Ann Lake (daughter of Aaron Lake) was born about 1794, in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. She died in 1852, in Leopold, Perry County, Indiana, where she was buried in the St. Augustine's Catholic Church Cemetery. She married John Baptist Alvey on June 8, 1813, in Breckinridge County, Kentucky.

My ancestor, Lindsay Lake, was born in Breckinridge County on May 5, 1813. He named his eldest son Aaron. Lindsay died in Morgan County, Illinois on August 19, 1876. Lindsay has the dubious distinction of my ancestor who married the most times. His son said it had been seven times, though it may have been eight. Son Aaron, born in 1835, is my ancestor.

An Illinois neighbor, Israel Lake, provides additional clues. He was born in Pennsylvania about 1809 and married in Perry County, Indiana, in 1829. One of his descendants and I have an autosomal DNA match at the 5th-8th cousin level. Israel's death is unknown, but was after 1880 and most likely was in either Cass County or adjoining Morgan County, Illinois.

William Lake was born December, 1800, in Pennsylvania. He married in Perry County, Indiana, in 1824, and died in Vermillion County, Indiana, on Aug 27, 1868. His probate mentions Linzey Lake, likely my ancestor. I have a trace autosomal DNA match to a descendant of William Lake. William named his eldest son Aaron and another son Israel.

Lord Harrison Lake was born in Pennsylvania before 1800, married in Perry County, Indiana, in 1822, and died in Cass County, Illinois about 1846.

Both Y-DNA and autosomal DNA can help with this relationship puzzle. If you are a male Lake descendant, with all male Lake ancestors back to any of these men, please join the Lake surname project at FamilyTreeDNA. If, like me, your Lake ancestry wanders between males and females, your autosomal DNA can help. Consider testing with the FamilyTreeDNA Family Finder or with Ancestry DNA. Also be sure to upload the results to GedMatch.com. Let me know via a private comment here, if you do one of these tests. The more cousins who test and communicate, the more we can learn about the Lake family.

Lindsay Lake had a mix of step and natural children. Obviously, we need DNA from only his natural children. Fortunately for us, his heirs had a court battle over his estate. His named heirs, all believed to be natural children are: Aaron Lake, Cynthiana Lake Fanning, John L. Lake, Susan Lake, Josephine Lake, George B. Lake, and Isaac H. Lake. I have a 4th-6th cousin match with a descendant of Cynthiana.

The minor children of the Aaron Lake who died in Morgan County in 1835 were named in his probate:

• Angeline married George Sibert
• Rebecca married Edward Hardy

I look forward to hearing from Lake cousins near and far!

Autosomal DNA Matching 102

In the last post you met my cousin Mary, who has DNA tested at Ancestry and uploaded her results to the free GEDMatch site. We know our common ancestors, William and his wife. But I also mentioned a "gotcha".

Mary and I are related through my mother. Our matching DNA on chromosome 2 is from 74188298 to 105591639. But I can't assume that everyone who matches me in those segments are matches on my mother's side. It's so very important to look at chromosome matching in detail after you have identified a known relationship. GEDMatch is just one tool that will help do that.

Another good tool is DNAGedcom. It is a free site that works only with files from FTDNA and 23AndMe. Note that it cannot work with Ancestry files.

DNAGedcom will pull my DNA information and my matches right from my FTDNA account and will upload the files to the website. I can then run a report that will graphically show my matches for each chromosome. These graphics are far better than GEDMatch and FTDNA for seeing the shared segments.

Here's a part of my DNAGedcom report for chromosome 2. I can see the name and email address for each person who matches me at FTDNA. If they have put surnames on file, I can hover over their information to see those surnames. I can also hover to see the names of the people who match me in common with that person.

Mary is not on this report, as she has not uploaded her results to FTDNA. The large fuchsia line at the top is for my Dad. The yellow boxes show the areas where I have matching DNA with Mary.

Notice the top yellow box. I have matches that are up to 85044774 that match my Dad (fuchsia on the left), yet are in the range where I match Mary. Then there are several matches starting at 84408203 that do not match my Dad. Is the matching DNA random, or IBS (identical by state)? Or is there a real match?

Is part of my match with Mary IBS? I need more confirmed matches to know if the DNA matches are real or random. The point is to not make assumptions based on one match. Keep working with your matches to find more confirmed cousins and to build your knowledge of what your DNA reveals.
 

Autosomal DNA Matching 101

A friend who is just embarking on the genealogical DNA journey says it's too complicated. I have to agree that it can be overwhelming.

• If you are taking the AncestryDNA test, focus on learning about autosomal DNA. 
• If you are taking the Family Finder test at FamilyTreeDNA, it is also an autosomal DNA test.
• Ignore Y-DNA and mTDNA for now.

The first thing that I suggest is to subscribe to the DNAeXplained blog by Roberta J Estes. Sometimes her posts pertain, sometimes they don't, but her work is a great resource.

After you subscribe to the blog, visit the publications section of Roberta's DNAeXplain.com website. Scroll down to the section titled Working with DNA and see what you might want to download and read.

You've ordered an autosomal test, but what will it do for you? The purpose of an autosomal DNA test is matching your DNA to that of cousins known and unknown. It can answer:

1. Who shares my DNA? 
2. How much DNA do we share? 
3. What segments do we share? 
4. Who else shares those segments? 

Unfortunately Ancestry only answers question 1 and hints at question 2. However, the genealogical community uses Ancestry more heavily than FamilyTreeDNA , so that's where more matching will take place. The Family Finder test at FTDNA answers all 4 questions. The free website GEDMatch also answers all 4 questions.

When your test is completed, you can download your results from Ancestry, FTDNA or 23AndMe, which I don't use. You really don't want to look at your results file -- it's big and has a lot of numbers and letters. But it's yours and you will want to get that download file to use at other websites now and in the future.

What can you do with your downloaded file?

• GEDMatch levels the playing field for matching. It is a free site supported by donations and we who use it need to donate. Bear that potential cost in mind, as well as the possibility the site could vanish.
• An Ancestry test result can be uploaded to GEDMatch.
• GEDMatch accepts uploads from FTDNA.
• GEDMatch accepts uploads from 23AndMe.
• FTDNA accept uploads from Ancestry. It's $69 today to upload.
• FTDNA accepts uploads from 23AndMe, also $69 today.
• Ancestry will not accept an outside test result. 
• DNAGedcom will  accept uploads from FTDNA and from 23AndMe. More on this tool next time.

GEDMatch is the free site where we all can meet, regardless of the original test company. I've chosen Ancestry for my brother's autosomal DNA test, knowing it gives me flexibility in handling the results.

I'll use my cousin Mary as an example of matching via Ancestry and GEDMatch. She and I both tested at Ancestry, which predicted that we were in the range of 4th cousin to 6th cousin with a 96% confidence factor. We also have a leaf that we have a common ancestor in our trees. We had already connected, so none of this was a surprise.

We both uploaded our Ancestry results to GEDMatch.

GEDMatch provides a list of matches, similar to Ancestry. It also includes matches who have tested with other companies.

I look in my match list for Mary (in yellow), make a note of her kit number, and click on a link to run a one-to-one match. The match process provides a very clear answer to how much DNA we share and what the segments are.

GEDMatch estimates 4.2 generations to our Most Recent Common Ancestor. Mary is my 3rd cousin, once removed. Our common ancestors, William and his wife, are 4 generations from her and 5 generations from me. Both Ancestry and GEDMatch have done well with their estimates.

GEDMatch gives us other tools, including the ability to see others who match both of us. Someone who matches us both on chromosome 2 between 74188298 and 105591639 is now known to be related to us in the lines of William or his wife or both. As we accumulate matches, we can refine our knowledge. There can be a "gotcha" here, which I'll cover next time.

As I write this post, GEDMatch is in the midst of a transition with many tools unavailable and new uploads not being accepted. I have every confidence that they will be back to provide for Ancestry users the missing tools.

FTDNA works in similar ways to GEDmatch, but the interface is prettier and comes at a price. Here we see a couple of my Dad's matches.

The top is his confirmed cousin from Sweden. The little green icon shows that there is a family tree (GEDCOM) loaded by that person. The estimated 2nd-4th cousin has been replaced by the actual relationship that we calculated and then manually set.

The bottom match has no tree, but has listed some of her surnames. I'd rather see a tree. That's so important to facilitate making the connection.

FTDNA provides graphical comparison of matches and allows me to download my matches, their email addresses and the chromosome matching segments, similar to those shown above. It also provides a tool to see who else matches both me and one or more of my matches. One of the downsides of FTDNA is that a lot of the participants have not provided a family tree.

The autosomal DNA test is another tool in your genealogical toolbox. You still have to figure out the connections.

I hope this post helps with some basic understanding. Next time: the magic of DNAGedcom.

A Twist in the DNA Journey -- Part Two

In the previous post we met "Sven", a new cousin from Sweden, identified through DNA testing. A few weeks after Sven and I connected, his father's DNA results had an unexpected match. Sven had no match and my Dad had no match.

The new match is for a woman of Chinese heritage who has moved from Taiwan to the USA. Let's call her "Lucy". How could Lucy from Taiwan share DNA with a man from Sweden at the 5th cousin to Distant Cousin level?

Let's expand the Ekstrom-Fors-Nyström family tree a bit.

Extending the family tree from the last post, we add Martin Nyström, a Swedish missionary to China. Martin, along with his wife and infant daughter, Ruth, disappeared in China during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. Their story can be found on the website of the China Inland Mission. Martin's brother also was a missionary to China; however, he and his family escaped to safety.

Several European nations sent armies to protect their interests. It was a terrible time of chaos and violence in China. The Europeans raped and killed women and children, while the Boxers killed Europeans and Chinese Christians.

There are three possibilities for a Chinese woman to have enough Swedish heritage to be a match to the Nyström family:

• The infant Ruth survived the slaughter and grew up to have her own family. 
• Martin or his brother Fritiof fathered a child with a Chinese woman.
• An unknown Swedish soldier, related to Sven's father, impregnated a Chinese woman.

What a mystery! With all the upheaval in China over the past 100 years, can this mystery ever be solved?

There is a bit of a DNA lesson in this story. Little Ruth and Sven's Dad were first cousins, but did not have the same grandmother. They were half-cousins. Instead of sharing 25 percent of their DNA, they would have shared closer to 12 percent. If "Lucy" is a Nyström descendant, her percentage of matching DNA would be similarly decreased. The Family Tree DNA estimate of 5th cousin (or further) makes a bit more sense when we consider that reduction. Rather than 5th cousin, a better estimate would be half-first-cousin 3 times removed.

Who would have thought that a simple genealogical DNA test could crack open a door that was thought closed over a century ago!

A Twist in the DNA Journey -- Part One

It's been a while since I've shared much about my genealogical DNA journey, but the past couple of months have been fascinating.

This post is for you if:

• You are a cousin in my Ekstrom - Fors family.
• You are a cousin in my Nyström family.
• You are on your own genealogical DNA journey or thinking about it.
• You are debating who in your family should be next to have a DNA test.

A New Contact

On May 7, 2014, an email arrived from a man who lives in Stockholm, Sweden. I will call this new cousin "Sven":

My name is "Sven" and if I get it right we are 4th cousins 1R! I got the result today from FTDNA regarding my father's Family Finder.

Eric Carlsson Nyström and his wife Brita Christina Olofsdotter were my great great great grandparents on my fathers side.

My great great grandfather Carl Erik Nyström was brother of your great great great grandfather Anders Fors. I guess Anders took on the name Fors ...

The Family Grows

We have a friendly new cousin in Sweden with a good command of English. He has shared some photos and a map which will be in a later post. Part two will add more family information and a twist, so stay tuned.

Here's a graphical representation of our relationships and the DNA matching results. In part two of this series, the family tree will be expanded.

Lessons in DNA

1. Test the oldest generation. This match emphasizes what the DNA gurus teach. Sven and I both have results on file at FTDNA, but he and I have no DNA match. Fortunately, both of us took the step of having our fathers tested, also. Our fathers are in their 80s and we gathered that DNA while we could. For $99 each, we made this priceless connection.
2. Post your tree (GEDCOM) to your DNA testing website. I had posted my Dad's tree and Sven was able to see immediately where the connection was in our trees. He could follow the generations to calculate the relationship of 4th cousin to Dad and then once removed to me. We didn't have to ping-pong email to find the connection.
3. Work the closest matches first. Sven's Dad has a fairly close match to my Dad. FTDNA proposed a 2nd to 4th cousin match. Sven also has a match, but it was 4th to remote cousin. It might have been weeks or months before Sven worked through his own matches to the page where my Dad showed up. By working that closer match, Sven connected much more quickly.
4. Don't expect new ancestor information from every match. I've done a lot of Swedish research and have not added much information since connecting with Sven. He has augmented some of my knowledge and vice versa. The more complete your tree is, the easier it is to connect. You may be able to share bits and pieces with your new cousin(s) that will eventually lead to new findings.
5. Keep track of the matching DNA. I've added the following matching information to my files. When my Dad's kit has another match on any of these DNA segments, I'll know what family that match connects to.

Next time: The Nyström DNA takes a strange turn.
 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #27 The Amish DNA of Elizabeth Estella Lake Maddox Donnelley

You got it from your mother. I got it from mine. Our mothers got it from their mothers. It's the DNA that powers our cells. It's mitochondrial DNA, or mtDNA for short.

Last year my father and I each had our mtDNA tested by FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA). With his mother's mtDNA, he matched nearly 100 people. I matched only a handful. I was curious as to why my matches were so few.

During the recent attack on Ancestry, I spent some quality time on FTDNA closely studying the tree of my closest match. Following women ancestors can be tough, but I can follow my maternal line back to about 1760. The match also has his line back to the mid-1700s. I could see that our families relate in other ways, but I couldn't see where our match was.

Fortunately, he knew something unique about his maternal line: the branch is Amish and/or Mennonite. No wonder our matches are few. Amish descendants of Amish women won't be doing DNA testing!

My maternal line was Swiss-German Baptist who later became Church of the Brethren. However, it's very possible that pushing back another generation or two may turn up that connection to Amish/Mennonite.

Elizabeth Estella Lake's mother, Sarah Elizabeth Bosseck, was probably raised in the Church of the Brethren. When she married Aaron Lake in Cass County, Illinois, in 1857, she broke the pattern and married outside the Swiss-German community. The Lake family was Methodist in the last half of the 1800s.

Lizzie Lake was born February 11, 1861, the second of ten children. She and her older sister, Nellie, married two brothers. Lizzie married Joseph Allen Maddox and Nellie married George S Maddox.

Lizzie was a bit of an adventurer. She married at 15, while lying that she was 18. It appears that she forged a parent's permission note for Al, who was also underage at 19. They married in his home county of Scott County, Illinois, on June 13, 1876.

The Lake and Maddox families had financial troubles and together joined a wagon train to Kansas in about 1879. The Bosseck family had gone to Kansas earlier and the rest of the family joined them in Wilson County by the time of the 1880 census. Al Maddox doesn't appear in the census with the rest of the family. He was both a miner and a farmer and was likely mining elsewhere.

One of the family stories passed down is that Lizzie and Al would go out driving at night. Al would propose a horse trade in the dark with unsuspecting travelers. Sometimes he would come out ahead and other times behind. They would leave their children in the care of the eldest, Daisy, my great-grandmother. It seems that Al was quite a gambler and scoundrel and Lizzie must have enjoyed the game.

Lizzie and Nellie, their father, Aaron, and their families moved westward to Kingman County, Kansas, leaving behind most of the Bosseck family. When the opening of the Oklahoma Cherokee Strip was announced in 1893, they were living in an ideal spot to plan for and execute a land run. The family story is that Al ran for the land on foot, while Lizzie followed, with the children, in a wagon.

Lizzie and Al built a soddy on their homestead and began the work of cultivating the land and building a permanent house. However, Al battled with tuberculosis and alcoholism through his adult life. He died in 1895, leaving Lizzie with five children and an unfinished house. Aaron Lake is credited with finishing the house for her. She was able to keep the homestead, which Al had wanted to secure for their son, Archie.

On January 7, 1900, Lizzie married Charles Ford Donnelley, a widower with seven children. They had one more child, lucky 13. The photos show the couple, along with their son. Lizzie is also shown with three of her sisters and with her daughter Daisy.

Quick drop page from Mother is a Verb by Krystal Hartley for Digital Scrapper

To care for herself and her family, Lizzie was a milliner and taught the skill to her daughters. She opened a lovely store called Rosedale in Enid, Oklahoma, where the family moved in 1918.

Lizzie died on November 23, 1924, and was buried in Enid Cemetery.

Double the Fun with Double Cousins

Do you have any double cousins in your family tree? They are absolutely worth identifying and tracing forward.

I've got three places where double cousins appear in my tree that I know of, two of which are in my direct line. In one branch the parallel line has disappeared, but the other two are still going strong. If you look up at my header photos, part of the Maddox/Lake double cousins are at the far left, while the Allee/Lucas double cousins are in the very large family group. That just struck me rather funny, since I'm not writing about any of them today.

Double cousins are where siblings from one family marry siblings from a second family, with the resulting children being first cousins on both mother's and father's lines and having the same four grandparents. The cousins are often very close and share many of their family stories, which come down the line to their descendants.

Here's an example from my favorite confusing family, the Alexanders, who intermarried with the Maynards. There were more children in each and every one of these branches, but I just want to show the relationships.

My ancestor, Mollydine Alexander, was a double cousin to Patience Alexander and her siblings, as well as to John Maynard and his full siblings. It's called a double cousin because, for example, Molly was a cousin to Patience on the Alexander side as well as on the Maynard side.

In genealogy, the descendants of these double cousins are great partners when working on the brick walls. In the DNA world, it's very exciting to match with one. Double cousins share about as much DNA as a half-sibling, so it amps up the match potential.

I had reached out to Lenora, one of the descendants from this tree, to see if she had done a DNA test. I was hoping she would help my second cousin and me sort out some of our match information. Her email bounced, and so I lost her since our last contact several years ago.

But I'm doing the happy dance anyway. While exploring the new tools at Family Tree DNA, I found a match who is a descendant of Patience Alexander. Charlotte and I are fourth cousins who share those four people at the top of the tree. Although she's not doing genealogy, her willingness to contribute to the DNA pool will help me sort out my own matches.

The orange shows all the bits of our matching DNA at the 1cM level and above. The challenge will be to assign each of those areas to the right surname.

 

And I've updated my DNA fan chart recently -- you can see Charlotte's red marks in the right center. That's far closer in time than being outside the fan and will be of far more use than the distant cousins.

Double cousins are double the DNA, double the research opportunities -- and double the genealogy fun!

DNA Test Types

We've seen how DNA inheritance works -- now what about the test types. What are they and why use one?

Here's a reminder of a man with his father's Y-DNA in blue Mizuhiki, his mother's mtDNA in purple Mizuhiki and his randomly inherited autosomal DNA in paper.

There are three main tests: autosomal, Y-DNA and mtDNA. I think the FGS2013 speaker sponsored by Ancestry explained the difference best. He told us that an autosomal test is designed to answer the question, "to whom am I related." The Y-DNA and mtDNA test are to answer the question, "am I related to you."

I've been reading a fascinating book of an adoptee's search for his father and how DNA was instrumental in his results. It's a wonderful story that tells how using two types of tests were needed to get the right answer to the mystery. He had to use both autosomal and Y-DNA tests. His book is Finding Family by Richard Hill.

The AncestryDNA test and the Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) Family Finder are both autosomal tests. A bunch of people take tests and the computers compare my DNA to that of everyone else. The best matches come to the top and it's up to me and my matches to figure out how we're related. The autosomal matching is most useful up to about 6 generations. After that, it quickly loses its usefulness. Autosomal tests seem to have settled at $99 right now.

Y-DNA and mtDNA are passed down fairly intact for many generations, though there are occasional  mutations. Both of these tests can be done at different levels of thoroughness and different prices. The more expensive the option, the more useful they are. However, they are very narrow in terms of what they tell us.

The Y-DNA test is used to compare DNA of men who share a surname to determine relationships and ancestry. Men who are adopted or in doubt of their parentage can use this test to look for the answers. One of the FGS2013 speakers who manages a surname project recommends the 67-marker level, currently priced at $268 at FTDNA.

The mtDNA test is fuzzier in my mind. I've recently upgraded my own from the basic test I took in 2005 to the "full sequence." When I see how it helps, I'll report back. The full sequence at FTDNA is currently $199.

I recently ordered for my father a kit from FTDNA. I paid for both an autosomal test and an mtDNA test. But I didn't order a Y-DNA test. Let me explain why I made the choices.

1. Autosomal. Because autosomal matching is only effective for a few generations, I can add one more generation of effectiveness for a fairly low price point. I will also be able to tell which of my own matches come from which side of my tree.

2. Y-DNA. My father's male line -- father-to-father -- is well documented back into Sweden. By the time we get back a few generations, the surname starts changing due to the use of patronymics. Our current surname is somewhat common in Sweden, but we are not related to many people who have the same name. Because Y-DNA is passed intact down the male line, it will be possible in the future to test my brother or nephews if we ever feel the need. So I chose to avoid this pricey test.

3. mtDNA. This choice is complicated to explain. I don't have a particular reason to test my father's mtDNA. We are fairly sure of his female ancestry, due to my own autosomal matches. However, recall that mtDNA is passed only mother to child and never father to child. My dad carries his mother's mtDNA. There are only four other living people with that same (known) mtDNA: two living uncles, a male cousin and one female cousin, who has no children. At the death of those five people, my paternal grandmother's mtDNA will be lost forever. So I paid for the test just to be sure I've captured it.

Another FGS2013 speaker asked the rhetorical question, why we do DNA testing. The answer that popped into my head (as well as hers) is "because we can."

I Have Matches -- Now What

I just had a chat with someone who is right behind me on the DNA journey, but is feeling lost. So today I'll share some progress.

The tools at each DNA web site are different than the others, but the end goal is the same: connection with cousins. Ancestry is missing a key tool that can be found at GedMatch and at Family Tree DNA (FTDNA). That tool is the chromosome browser or chromosome comparison.

I was contacted by a gentleman that I'll call John. He is in my match list both at GedMatch and at FTDNA and he's been working with DNA for quite a while. I have part of my tree available at FTDNA and he had checked it out. His family and mine had intermarried in Weakley County, Tennessee, during the late 1800s. We don't see a common ancestor yet, though we know we must have one. But what does our DNA tell us?

Looking at GedMatch, he's near the top of my match list with an estimate of 4.2 generations to our common ancestor. His kit number is on the left and his email on the right. I've hidden both of those items. He and I don't have any X-chromosome (#23) DNA in common. But our Autosomal DNA (#1-22) has a fairly large matching area.

Let's do a chromosome review at both GedMatch and FTDNA.

GedMatch shows us, in blue, several areas where we have matches within different chromosomes. It's larger on the screen. This is just small so I can show more of the matching areas.

Here's the FTDNA match list, where John is the second one. He has an email address, a tree at FTDNA and I can add a note. Some of his his surnames are shown and I can also see which DNA tests he has done.

In the chromosome browser, I select John (in orange). This browser shows only the larger match. I was able to find several other people in my match list with a very similar matching pattern. The gray areas are not used in matching. At the top, I can download the matches to Excel so I can see the numbers.

OK, we have matching DNA. So what? My first question to John was what he knew about the source of that section of shared DNA.

John has worked with several of those matches over the past few months and they can't find the common ancestor. I'm new to the game, but I bring some new surnames to explore. We have a location to focus on, which John said they didn't have before. I also knew more about my family than John did and he taught me things about his family. Together, we have a clearer picture of how our families relate.

If John and I can find our common ancestor, everyone who matches us on that piece of DNA will suddenly know what they are looking for. We'll be able to say that segment came from our ancestor X. Anyone who matches that location in the future can be advised to look for their connection to ancestor X and their parents and siblings. Others may be able to help refine the source of the DNA as the mother of X or father of X.

The chromosome browsers are interesting, but useless by themselves. The payoff is when you find the connection to that common ancestor X.

What's the strategy? Work the closest matches first. Review trees. Send emails. Ask if they know about the common ancestor in the DNA segments where you match. When you find the common ancestor, document the DNA segments and look for others that match those segments. Then reach out to those others to let them know what you've found. And, of course, hope others will let you know when they unpuzzle a match.

I sent such an email the other day. I searched on a particular surname, found a match, found the common ancestor couple in his tree, then used the chromosome browser. I looked for others with a matching segment and emailed a woman to share what I found. I now have a list of 8 DNA segments that associate to two surnames. The largest is on chromosome 22 from 41311622 to 44012037. It's up to me to keep track of those numbers and the associated surnames. I'm looking for a way to do it, but Excel is what I'm using for now.

I hope that example is simple enough to follow. Let me know.

Ethnicity Through DNA -- Revisited

Earlier this year I shared my questionable ethnicity analysis as provided through AncestryDNA. The more I work with the DNA tools online, the more disappointed I am with Ancestry. So I paid to import my Ancestry DNA map into Family Tree DNA (FTDNA), as well as importing it into the free GedMatch website.

Of the various tools, I like what's currently available in GedMatch for ethnicity evaluation. For me, it has provided several ways to look at my ethnic background and to figure out for myself what fits. The best part is that it is free. As one of my friends says:

Free is in my price range!

First let's look at the AncestryDNA ethnic breakdown and then at one of the models from GedMatch.

Quite a difference! GedMatch lets me put my DNA map through a number of ethnicity models where my DNA is compared with control samples from other countries. That's called admixture. There is no one admixture that tells me all I want to know. By looking at all of them, I found several that flagged my Native American ethnicity, as well as refining European and Asian roots.

Here's a look at a 13-ethnic group test that shows Native American. It doesn't analyze the various European areas in depth, as the 36-group test above did. Nor does the pie chart show the Native American or other small percentages.

All of this requires analysis and thought. It's not as simple as the Ancestry model pretends.

I'll be writing a lot more about DNA. If you're working with DNA genealogy, be sure to check out the DNA Explained blog for explanations, tips, tricks and forms. It's a great resource that I'm leaning on in my own journey to understanding DNA.