Sunday, July 08, 2018

How It Works: DNA TESTING

My brother is responsible for what I have found out from my DNA testing. The tests, introductory ones only, showed me where my ancestors came from. And that, of course, was our first inkling that something was amiss. Although Ancestry.com and Family Finder differed somewhat, both showed my father's DNA was mostly from the UK and Ireland. My brother's paternal DNA was Western European, or in his case, Germany. For most people, this is enough unless they are looking for lost parents or children or genetic diseases.

The rub beyond this is that you will only find cousins among those people who are registered on each site. Mostly people who have bought their tests. There was no close cousins on the paternal side at all on Family Finder. Just a big fat zero. Whereas my brother was linked to the entire Nase family.

More possibilities showed up on ancestry.com but if they choose not to answer your query, that is that. And so far only the second cousin wrote back. And what I learned from her was basically information Jeff had already found. He has invested in access to information beyond what I get for my hundred bucks.

So there are three families linked by a turn of the century link to Scranton, PA. They came from Cheshire and Staffordshire all about that time. I need the men to turn up in Philly around 1947. One is a certainty, the other two a little more tenuous. I may have reached the end of the road. I can live with that. More to say about my mother later.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What an intriguing story. I hope you are able to solve the mystery. My daughter-in-law's DNA testing turned up another interesting story. When she received her results a name of a cousin was included. When contact was made she found that her cousin was African American. It turns out that her great great grandfather had a child with his slave. When he passed away he left her forty acres of land. My daughter-in-law's newly found relatives still live on some of this land. She and my son and a cousin attended a family reunion last year. This year they returned with more of her cousins an a nephew. The blended families look forward to more reunions to come. Mark Seganish

TracyK said...

I did not realize you could find out so much for DNA checking, Patti. All very interesting.

I might find some interesting information if I invested in checking my DNA because it was claimed that my grandfather on my mother's side had a child by another woman. Without my father or mother alive anymore, not sure it matters to me.

Todd Mason said...

Hope it's all a bit less disconcerting now...