Older Folks and Vaping Back Porch - Part Seven

[Janet H]

Can anyone here help me with my dna testing question?

My baby brother and I took the same test, within a few months of each other. It was the Genographic 2.0 test. The origins track, though, did not match up well at all. They show me being more English and Scottish than the average Englishman or Scotsman, while baby bro's most recent European ancestry shows as French. France is where my ancestry is SUPPOSED to be from... that's verifiable back to the 1500s when the family ancestors moved from France to Canada.

This has been bugging me for over 3 years now. What outfit can I contact, or where can we both submit our Genographic dna test results, or what new tests could we both take, where the outfit could tell us whether or not we are full brothers?

A very smart person who has an actual grasp of what dna testing entails gave me an explanation of how it's entirely possible for us to be full brothers despite the difference in ancestry results. However, the explanation was way over my head... I didn't understand a word of it and therefore it didn't quell my questions. I'm in need of more verifiable stuff... whatever DNA comparison tests would show with a high degree of certainty whether or not we're full siblings. I'm more comfortable knowing the facts, even if they are surprising, than having the question remain on my mind.

The more people participate the more accurate the conclusions. At least that's what I read on one of the sites. Since it's been 3 years it's possible the sites now are better than 3 years ago? Doing it again with another company should either verify your original results or show you something quite different that maybe could be verified. Mike and I just sent our spit away to Ancestry.com. A cousin in our family has been doing fabulous research and even made a trip to Italy to meet family members. She'd mostly been looking at her family, but has since been delving into her husbands family which includes Mike. She's been working through Ancestry so that's why we went with them.

I started researching years ago on my family and ran into walls that I couldn't get past. It was just taking up way too much of my time and I dropped off the search. Looks like I might be getting into it again...

 

[Janet H]

I got jinxed with our convo about losing things.

I'm in full blown panic mode. And it's one of my Provaris …my absolutely preferred mods for 99% of my waking hours.

Returned home, put it in my purse…or so I thought, walked to the house, sat my purse down, sat the bags down. Petted the cats and went to get my provari. NOT THERE!!!

DH and I retraced our steps to the car in case it fell out, searched the car, searched the entire house, not there . And if I don't find it I can't afford to replace it. I have 6 more but…

EDIT: I FOUND IT . It was in the trash. I think what happened was I must have put it in the plastic bag with my purchases and I emptied it above the trash container (don't ask me why) so when it dropped out into the trash container it didn't clank.

So glad you found it!!! When I lost mine I had such a sick feeling in my stomach because we were all the way out in Montana and knew I only had so much time to look before we had to leave. And I also thought I wouldn't be able to replace it. Turns out there still are some out there and I was able to replace it. (You know who you are and thank you again!) Mike is always loosing stuff, but we all do that from time to time. I always say if it's not where it's supposed to be then start looking in places where it shouldn't be. I'm so glad you hadn't taken the trash out yet!

 

[3mg Meniere]

Doing it again with another company should either verify your original results or show you something quite different that maybe could be verified. Mike and I just sent our spit away to Ancestry.com.

Agreed. Another company could verify. Also, encouraging other siblings, aunts and uncles, and cousins to do it would help. There is something on the internet that even identical twins come up slightly different. I just sent mine in to Ancestry. My sister has been urging us to do it. I think their 30% off sale just ended, however.

 

[Janet H]

Agreed. Another company could verify. Also, encouraging other siblings, aunts and uncles, and cousins to do it would help. There is something on the internet that even identical twins come up slightly different. I just sent mine in to Ancestry. My sister has been urging us to do it. I think their 30% off sale just ended, however.

I've been thinking a long time about doing it. Then our genealogy cousin mentioned that her husband, Mike's cousin, got his back with mostly Polish and only some German which shocked us. Obviously the Polish was from his mother's side while his father's side is German. The genes don't come through even. So, that got us to thinking and I ordered the kits. Now I'm excited to get it back. It takes 2-3 months - not fun.

 

[3mg Meniere]

I've been thinking a long time about doing it. Then our genealogy cousin mentioned that her husband, Mike's cousin, got his back with mostly Polish and only some German which shocked us. Obviously the Polish was from his mother's side while his father's side is German. The genes don't come through even. So, that got us to thinking and I ordered the kits. Now I'm excited to get it back. It takes 2-3 months - not fun.

I am just leaving it up to God. I have a lot of questions about how it comes up.

 

[Flowersoul]

Good morning,

Hope that forecast for you folks turns out to be nothing more than a mistaken 'forecast'.

​

 

[oldbroad]

Good morning,

Hope that forecast for you folks turns out to be nothing more than a mistaken 'forecast'.

​

That's what happened here just yesterday! But it's thin, wet snow...don't even need to shovel

 

[2legsshrt]

Good morning,

Hope that forecast for you folks turns out to be nothing more than a mistaken 'forecast'.

​

You talking about the Bomb Cyclone?

 

[MikeADore]

That's what happened here just yesterday! But it's thin, wet snow...don't even need to shovel

Just saw your quote from Deadwood. I binge watched the whole series in a few days recently. Absolutely loved it. Wish is had a few more seasons.

 

[oldbroad]

Just saw your quote from Deadwood. I binge watched the whole series in a few days recently. Absolutely loved it. Wish is had a few more seasons.

When the producers announced that there would be no more episodes, I purchased the whole box set

Boy oh boy...the producers sure got an earful from some very upset people...including me!

 

[clnire]

For those of you that remember this precious little puppy

He has grown into this, his breed Champion formal picture. L to R, judge, his breeder and me. In the front is the Gman!

I just LOVE this goofy little man!

 

[Iffy]

For those of you that remember this precious little puppy...

 

[Flowersoul]

For those of you that remember this precious little puppy

View attachment 726529

He has grown into this, his breed Champion formal picture. L to R, judge, his breeder and me. In the front is the Gman!

View attachment 726531
I just LOVE this goofy little man!

Wow! How time flies! He is so precious!

 

[yiddleboge6]

For those of you that remember this precious little puppy

View attachment 726529

He has grown into this, his breed Champion formal picture. L to R, judge, his breeder and me. In the front is the Gman!

View attachment 726531
I just LOVE this goofy little man!

Geordie is magnifique !

 

[MikeE3]

For those of you that remember this precious little puppy

View attachment 726529

He has grown into this, his breed Champion formal picture. L to R, judge, his breeder and me. In the front is the Gman!

View attachment 726531
I just LOVE this goofy little man!

What a beauty of a dog. So good looking.

 

[pwmeek]

Can anyone here help me with my DNA testing question?

My baby brother and I took the same test, within a few months of each other. It was the Genographic 2.0 test. The origins track, though, did not match up well at all. They show me being more English and Scottish than the average Englishman or Scotsman, while baby bro's most recent European ancestry shows as French. France is where my ancestry is SUPPOSED to be from... that's verifiable back to the 1500s when the family ancestors moved from France to Canada.

This has been bugging me for over 3 years now. What outfit can I contact, or where can we both submit our Genographic DNA test results, or what new tests could we both take, where the outfit could tell us whether or not we are full brothers?

A very smart person who has an actual grasp of what DNA testing entails gave me an explanation of how it's entirely possible for us to be full brothers despite the difference in ancestry results. However, the explanation was way over my head... I didn't understand a word of it and therefore it didn't quell my questions. I'm in need of more verifiable stuff... whatever DNA comparison tests would show with a high degree of certainty whether or not we're full siblings. I'm more comfortable knowing the facts, even if they are surprising, than having the question remain on my mind.

Most genealogical DNA testing is not so useful for connecting current relatives, or even recent relatives. And the "Where are you from" is not a whole lot of use either. I've done testing with a half dozen companies. I like FTDNA, and 23&Me best of all the ones I've tried (and yes, Genographic was one - actually two: Geno 1.0 and Geno 2.0). 23&Me got slapped down for their medical reporting (Congress essentially said they were practicing medicine without a licence) but have been making progress getting permission for some things. FTDNA's Big-Y (pricey, but frequently on sale) is probably the most powerful testing for tracing your male ancestry; their Family Finder (autosomal - checks more than the Y-chromosome [male line only] and mitochondrial DNA {female line only]) seems to find more 2nd or 3rd cousins than the rest of them (and probably would tell you more about whether you and your brother are full siblings).

You can spend a couple thousand doing DNA testing with everybody in sight, but if you are willing to spend several hundred, try FTDNA's Family Finder, and maybe 23&Me.

 

[bigbells]

Most genealogical DNA testing is not so useful for connecting current relatives, or even recent relatives. And the "Where are you from" is not a whole lot of use either. I've done testing with a half dozen companies. I like FTDNA, and 23&Me best of all the ones I've tried (and yes, Genographic was one - actually two: Geno 1.0 and Geno 2.0). 23&Me got slapped down for their medical reporting (Congress essentially said they were practicing medicine without a licence) but have been making progress getting permission for some things. FTDNA's Big-Y (pricey, but frequently on sale) is probably the most powerful testing for tracing your male ancestry; their Family Finder (autosomal - checks more than the Y-chromosome [male line only] and mitochondrial DNA {female line only]) seems to find more 2nd or 3rd cousins than the rest of them (and probably would tell you more about whether you and your brother are full siblings).

You can spend a couple thousand doing DNA testing with everybody in sight, but if you are willing to spend several hundred, try FTDNA's Family Finder, and maybe 23&Me.

FTDNA is now the outfit that does the actual analysis for Geno 2.0, and allows those who have purchased Geno 2.0 to transfer the test results to FTDNA for free, and sign up for Family Finder for just $40. There is also an existing group with about 12 entries for my surname, so that's the direction I'm headed. I had already filed my test results with FTDNA, 2 years ago, but it wasn't until 2 days ago that I signed up with my family surname group, and I still haven't sent the $40 each for my brother and myself, but that's the plan. I'm sure that at some point the procrastination gene will be discovered, and it will be determined that I have it in spades.

In the category of TMI which some might find interesting:

Family tree research is easier for my surname than for most, because there aren't all that many of us and we are all descended (except for unrelated adoptees, of course) from a common 17th century ancestor named Blouin who was born in France in 1640 and who moved to Canada in 1664. My surname is Bellware. According to research done by a cousin of mine, this name didn't even exist until my great grandfather's brother moved from Canada and signed up with the Vermont Volunteers in 1864. "Bellware" is how a person from New England might well have pronounced and written "Belouin", with its nearly silent final n.

I'm fond of saying "you don't know anyone other than me with my last name, but if by some really remote chance you do, they are a close relative of mine". Sometimes people will be really doubtful of my statement, and when people think that they DO know somebody else with my last name, the name they're thinking of invariably turns out to not be the same as mine.

OK, so maybe I was lying when I said some might find that interesting.

 

[Bea-FL]

I've been thinking in using FDNA for me and DH. But for the family fibding doesn't the company have to have access to my relatives' DNA to match it with mine?

 

[pwmeek]

I've been thinking in using FDNA for me and DH. But for the family fibding doesn't the company have to have access to my relatives' DNA to match it with mine?

Yes; you only find connections with people who have done DNA testing with the same company that you used. This is why I said it isn't quite so useful for finding close relations. It IS excellent for proving (or disproving) NPEs (non-parental events) such as you suspect some relative is adopted or possibly born from a non-marriage liaison. It can also indicate whether it is worth spending a lot of time trying to connect two family trees with same or similar surnames. If you test a single person (or maybe a few) in each tree, it can tell you whether more research is warranted.

It is much better for finding cousins at a medium distance (2nd-4th) cousins (EDIT: because there are many more of them, which means that it is more likely that of one of them has also done DNA testing with the same company), which you must then buckle down and do the research to find the paper connection in censuses, church records, and the like. I have found several dozens of such "medium cousins" and am enjoying getting better acquainted.

Technical genealogical yDNA research iis something completely different. It's about finding the general background of your male line (only males have a Y-chromosome). It can be fun, and can help you find people with whom you may share an ancestor from hundreds or even thousands of years ago. It is very unlikely that you will find a paper trail to anyone else this way. There is similar technical mtDNA research which follows mitochondrial DNA which is inherited only through the female line. You pretty much have to be part of a group that specializes in the type (branch) of DNA you have; the group needs to have a few experts on the subject, and they need access to "super-experts" (people at the forefront of genealogical DNA research).

If you draw up a complete (but blank) ancestry tree, with the number of ancestors in each generation being double the number in the previous generation, you will see that yDNA and mtDNA only covers the people on the extreme right and left edges of the tree. The vast majority in the middle have their lines mixed between male and female and thus are not included. These kinds of DNA testing can find (or confirm) close relatives if each has an unbroken male (or female) line back to a single common ancestor of the proper matching gender.

Autosomal tests (23&Me, Geno, and the like) do cover the middle, but must do so in a much more general way (humans have a LOT of chromosomes). Such tests will show up a lot of "4th to distant cousins" as matches, but I have yet to make a good paper connection to any of the many such "matches" those tests have found for me. (They do also show close matches to people more closely related to me, but I usually know about them already from paper genealogy.)

 

[Bea-FL]

Yes; you only find connections with people who have done DNA testing with the same company that you used. This is why I said it isn't quite so useful for finding close relations. It IS excellent for proving (or disproving) NPEs (non-parental events) such as you suspect some relative is adopted or possibly born from a non-marriage liaison. It can also indicate whether it is worth spending a lot of time trying to connect two family trees with same or similar surnames. If you test a single person (or maybe a few) in each tree, it can tell you whether more research is warranted.

It is much better for finding cousins at a medium distance (2nd-4th) cousins (EDIT: because there are many more of them, which means that it is more likely that of one of them has also done DNA testing with the same company), which you must then buckle down and do the research to find the paper connection in censuses, church records, and the like. I have found several dozens of such "medium cousins" and am enjoying getting better acquainted.

Technical genealogical yDNA research iis something completely different. It's about finding the general background of your male line (only males have a Y-chromosome). It can be fun, and can help you find people with whom you may share an ancestor from hundreds or even thousands of years ago. It is very unlikely that you will find a paper trail to anyone else this way. There is similar technical mtDNA research which follows mitochondrial DNA which is inherited only through the female line. You pretty much have to be part of a group that specializes in the type (branch) of DNA you have; the group needs to have a few experts on the subject, and they need access to "super-experts" (people at the forefront of genealogical DNA research).

If you draw up a complete (but blank) ancestry tree, with the number of ancestors in each generation being double the number in the previous generation, you will see that yDNA and mtDNA only covers the people on the extreme right and left edges of the tree. The vast majority in the middle have their lines mixed between male and female and thus are not included. These kinds of DNA testing can find (or confirm) close relatives if each has an unbroken male (or female) line back to a single common ancestor of the proper matching gender.

Autosomal tests (23&Me, Geno, and the like) do cover the middle, but must do so in a much more general way (humans have a LOT of chromosomes). Such tests will show up a lot of "4th to distant cousins" as matches, but I have yet to make a good paper connection to any of the many such "matches" those tests have found for me. (They do also show close matches to people more closely related to me, but I usually know about them already from paper genealogy.)

Excellent info! Thank you

My research would need to be done in Europe. My parents, brother and I emigrated from Greece in 1967. No other family in the states and from my research Europian ancestry research is quite expensive so I gave up.

I think you all might enjoy my main reason for wanting to pursue this. I grew up in Greece but my mother is French…from Paris. My father met her there during a trip. For years I kept asking my French grandmother for her maiden name so I could research the fsmily on my mother's side. She lived in France and always ignored my questions in her letters although we were very close. What I found out after she died in the 1980s from a cousin of my mother's was that Grams's parents were never married. Her mother and father were the classic Upstairs/Downstairs story…her mother was a lady's maid in a very rich household and she was seduced by the family son. When she got pregnant she was sent to this cousin's home in south France to have the baby who was then raised by that family as their own. Marriage was out of the question.

My poor Grams was ashamed of her background…we're talking late 1890s…totally different morals about unmarried sex and kids born out of wedlock.

I would love to find out who her father was. Who knows I may be related to a famous family!