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The following is a chapter from:
Trace Your Roots with DNA
by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak and Ann Turner
(reprinted with permission)
REVERSE GENEALOGY: FOLLOWING THE DNA TRAIL
Locating DNA testing candidates gives you a chance to play sleuth and frequently rewards you with the discovery of previously unknown cousins as an added benefit. While it can be challenging at times, persistence and creativity in the hunt usually pay off. Walking through the process with a couple of fellow researchers will give you the feel for how to approach your DNA quest and what you might expect along the way, so we're going to take you step-by-step through a pair of actual searches here. We'll start first with a typical Y-DNA case and follow with an mtDNA situation, so you can view the process from both perspectives.
Y-DNA: LOOKING FOR LUCASES
Stacy Gately was intrigued with the notion of genetic genealogy and had her father's y-chromosome tested almost 2 years ago. The surprising results (a rare haplotype not matching anyone of the same surname) from the first test whetted her appetite for more, so she decided to develop a genetic pedigree, that is, a Y- and mtDNA profile, for each branch of her family tree. She figured that by doing so, she would be well positioned to learn more as others got tested and DNA databases grew. She also thought that it would be smart to obtain samples while she still could - you know when the death of a distant, last-in-line cousin might effectively end your chances to obtain DNA from that branch of the family. So Stacy set about trying to locate testing candidates for each name in her pedigree as far back as her great-grandparents' generation.
One of her great-grandmothers, Mary Lucas, was born in 1891 and immigrated to America in 1911. Mary had died long before Stacy was ever born, but even if she had still been living, it would have been necessary to find an appropriate male relative to provide a Y-DNA sample. Since Mary was a woman, it was her father's Y-DNA that Stacy needed to trace. This meant that her true target - her ancestor of interest (see the top row in Figure 8-2) - was her great-great-grandfather, Phillip Lucas, and she needed to locate one or more of his direct-line male descendants.
Through traditional research, Stacy learned that Mary had been one of nine children, four boys and five girls. With so many potential lines to follow, she decided to sketch a descendancy chart to help focus her search.
Figure 8-2: Following the Y-DNA trail - All those surrounded by a dark, shaded area are testing candidates.
To prevent the chart from becoming extremely busy, she detailed only the lines she intended to follow and collapsed the others by indicating how many other children of that gender there had been in the family (with numbers in the squares and circles). Phillip's five daughters would not have had the right DNA.
After interviewing older relatives and learning that two of his sons had also come to the United States and settled in the Scranton, Pennsylvania, area, she opted to focus on them.
Armed with the names of immigrant brothers, Stacy launched her reverse genealogy search with the 1930 census, the most recent one available to the public. This gave her approximate birth years as well as names of their wives and children - a good start! She now knew that Steve had been born around 1879 and Harry around 1897. While she could have followed either line, Stacy decided to trace both. If she found male descendants in both, she reasoned, she could get one from each tested and rule out the possibility of any non-paternity events.
Going straight to the Social Security Death Index, she quickly found a death date for Harry, the youngest brother, but was not surprised that the one born in 1879 was not listed, the bulk of SSDI records begin in 1962. To learn when Steve had died, she wrote to the county courthouse where he had lived and requested a copy of his will and other estate records. Now equipped with death dates for both, she obtained copies of their death certificates.
Wanting to be absolutely sure she was following the correct DNA trail, she also requested their Social Security applications and naturalization records. All the documents confirmed that the brothers definitely shared the same parents as Stacy's great-grandmother Mary, and some records provided extra details, such as names and birth dates for some of their children.
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North American office: P.O. Box 160, Carmine, TX 78932-0160 USA tel/fax: Toll free 866-7-DNA-DNA |
European office: 40 Preston Road, Weymouth, Dorset,
DT3 6PZ, UK tel:+44 (0) 1305 834936 fax:+44 (0)
1305 835925 |
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