Genealogy Slam!

Kelli Bergheimer, nationally known genealogy speaker.

Join nationally well-known speaker, Kelli Bergheimer, as she lectures on genealogical DNA testing.

Kelli is a writer, teacher, editor and a nationally hosted genealogy speaker. She is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists and the Genealogical Speakers Guild. She also facilitates the Central Ohio DNA Interest Group. To see a full list of her lecture topics, click HERE.

On April 27th, at the Medina Library, she will teach you how to get the most from your DNA test results using your cousin matches and other tools like Excel, One Note and GedMatch.

Sign up for this 4 hour, 12-4 p.m., presentation HERE.

This program is presented with the Medina County Genealogical Society.

Door prizes and light refreshments provided.

She Has Her Mother's Laugh

She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity

by Carl Zimmer.

This tome is an in-depth look at the history and science of heredity, and genetics, AND genealogy. It is not for the casual DNA enthusiast. 

We have come to believe that our DNA makes us who we are. It determines the color of our eyes and hair and the size of our feet. And it can tell us something about the people we are related to and who we are descended from. That is why millions are spent every year on Ancestry DNA tests.

But...


We carry in our bodies a lot of DNA that doesn't belong to us. Some of it is the DNA of the bacteria and viruses that we are hosts to. Some of these hitchhikers are disease-causing and some are beneficial. Like the bacteria in our stomachs.

But the story of our DNA is much more complex than that.

Did you know that mothers can carry within their bodies cells (and DNA) from the children they have been pregnant with? Scientists have discovered that these cells persist in the woman's body decades after the pregnancy, and can include cells from miscarried and aborted pregnancies.

But stranger still are the cases of mosaics and chimeras. Mosaics+ is where some cells developed differently than most, resulting in "patches" of difference. Chimeras++ are where two embryos get started, like for twins, but they combine together and result in one baby being born. That baby will always carry two sets of DNA.

Also, our DNA can undergo mutations that can be benign or cause catastrophic results.

So when we send in our DNA sample, just which DNA is being tested? And what does all of this mean for the accuracy of DNA tests??

If you want to get a clearer picture of what is going on in the science and theory of DNA in a book not written for scientists, check out  She Has Her Mother's Laugh HERE.

Upcoming GENEALOGY SLAM:

Don't forget to sign up for the Genealogy Slam coming up on November 3rd. We will have 3 learning opportunities, DOOR PRIZES, and REFRESHMENTS! Sign up HERE.

If you want more information on which classes are being offered, check out last week's BLOG.

Remember that this Slam will be held at the Brunswick Library.

Here is some new vocabulary I learned from She Has Her Mother's Laugh:

*In meiosis, when the precursor sperm and egg cells replicate, the DNA splits down the middle and duplicates itself, like in mitosis. In meiosis, after the replication, proteins slice the chromosomes and when the cells repair themselves, some of the DNA  gets exchanged or "reshuffled".
+ Glossary - Mosaics - genetic variation among somatic and germ cells in a single multi-cellular organism
++(Wikipedia - chimaera (chimæra) is a single organism composed of cells with distinct genotypes. In animals, this means an individual derived from two or more zygotes, which can include possessing blood cells of different blood types, subtle variations in form (phenotype) and, if the zygotes were of differing sexes, then even the possession of both female and male sex organs[1] Animal chimeras are produced by the merger of multiple fertilized eggs. Normally, genetic chimerism is not visible on casual inspection; however, it has been detected in the course of proving parentage.[2])

DNA with Blaine Bettinger

Blaine Bettinger has released a new book on DNA testing for genealogy titled Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy  It is available to borrow from the Medina Libraries. Find it on the shelves at 929.1072 BET.

It is an excellent book for those of us who have had our DNA tested for genealogical purposes.

Amy Johnson Crow, Certified Genealogist,
presenter and author, her e-book
31 Days to Better Genealogy is available on
Amazon.com

Amy Johnson Crow interviewed Blaine for her web site and posted it HERE.

Some of the highlights of Blaine's interview are:

1. Take ethnicity estimates with a grain of salt. Look at the continents that your ancestor came from.
2. Dig into the DNA matches concentrating on the closest matches first (the most shared CM, which stands for centimorgans).
3. A centimorgan is a way of measuring shared DNA. Don't bother with matches that share less than 20 CM. It is too hard to prove a connection.
4. There are three main testing companies:
1.  Ancestry - has an extremely large database. Because of its advertising campaign, they have a lot of novice genealogists testing.
2. Family Tree DNA - this is the test used by hard-core genealogists.
3. 23andMe - has a very large database, but most were tested for medical purposes.
5. DNA testing WILL NEVER REPLACE traditional genealogy research.
6. Contact your matches. Some of them will be able to help you build your tree.

Check out Blaine's book and his blog,  The Genetic Genealogist.

Blaine Bettinger

I used this chart from page 8 of Blaine's book to determine that our family tradition probably was false. We were repeatedly told, by multiple sources, that my great great grandmother Emily ARTIS SWAIN (shown as EAS on the chart) was 3/4 Cherokee. I have had my DNA tested as have three of my siblings. The results are 99-100% European. From the chart below, we should have inherited some DNA from Emily (and we did!) but it doesn't show any Native American ancestry.

Genetic Genealogy Chart

This Genetic Genealogy chart shows (in the light green) shows the DNA you inherit from your ancestors. Notice that as you go back to the fourth generation and further back, some of your ancestors will not contribute any DNA to you.

I have added the initials showing my paternal grandfather's line. While my siblings and I have NOT inherited 100% of our DNA from Emily ARTIS SWAIN, we all have inherited some DNA from her - about 2%. If she were 3/4 Native American, it probably would have shown in at least one of us. 

This is not 100% proof positive that there is no Native American ancestry, because the DNA we inherited from her just might not include the Native American markers, but it does make it a lot less likely. 

DNA Testing Results

At the end of summer, my family took advantage of the reduced pricing on DNA testing from Family Tree DNA to get some more individuals tested. As Judy Russell of the Legal Genealogist Blog says "Test. Test as broadly and as deeply in your family as you can afford to test."

Both of my daughters now have been tested and two of my seven siblings also have been tested.

And it has been fascinating to see what the tests have revealed as well as what they haven't revealed.

I first became interested in DNA testing to help with a particular brick wall I have. Family lore tells us that my Great Great Grandmother, Emeline (ARTIS) SWAIN was three-quarters Cherokee. When I first starting researching my family history I interviewed relatives who knew Emily before she died and they all swore she was 3/4 Cherokee. And everyone pointed to my siblings with straight dark hair, brown eyes and darker complexions as evidence.

But no matter how much I searched, I couldn't find any written records that would corroborate  the story.

Emily Artis, on right, with her husband
 Otha Swain. Circa 1890's.

Emily's parents were Stephen ARTIS and Mary WALKER. The couple married in Montgomery County Maryland in 1829 and Stephen was in a militia unit for Washington DC in the War of 1812.  They have not been located in the 1830 census. Sometime around 1830-1835 they moved to Ohio, where Emily was born. Stephen reputedly died in 1837, but of course no death record exists for him. Mary is found in the 1840 and 1850 census with minor children. Searching in probate, land records and the DAWES Rolls for Cherokee connections have failed to turn anything up.




So, DNA testing to the rescue, right?? Maybe, maybe not. If Emeline was 3/4 Cherokee, as her Great, great granddaughter, I would be 3/64 Cherokee or slightly less than 5% Cherokee. That IS enough to show up on most DNA tests.

IF.

If everyone got exactly half of their DNA equally distributed from each of their parents. But DNA is much more interesting and tricky than that. You do get half of your DNA from each of your parents, but what half you get is pretty much up to nature.

And I apparently didn't get any of the Cherokee DNA from Emeline. My DNA results came back 100% European. Which wasn't too surprising, as I am fair complected and have blue eyes, like my mother's side of the family. But what about my brown eyed, brown haired siblings??

My first sibling to be tested was my oldest brother. He has the dark hair and dark eyes associated with our "Cherokee" ancestry. But his DNA results came back 100% European also. Puzzling...

One positive outcome was that we found out from his Y-DNA testing that our paternal JOHNSON's came from northwestern Ireland! We had no idea the Johnson line was Irish! Needless to say, we have not yet traced them back to the Emerald Isle. (Our farthest back Johnson was born in Kentucky in 1792.

My other sibling tested was a younger sister. She has hazel eyes and dark auburn hair. She seems to be a thorough mix of our parents - dark eyed, dark haired Dad and fair haired and green eyed Mother. Surely, with such a clear mixture of our parents, that Cherokee DNA would show up!?!

NOT!

She came back 100% European too!

So that is where we stand right now. No DNA evidence of Cherokee or Native American ancestry.

Does that mean the family lore is wrong?  Not necessarily. Remember that it is pure chance which of your ancestral DNA you inherit. We could get all of my siblings tested and none of them show up with Native American ancestry and it still wouldn't mean the family story is wrong.

BECAUSE OF THE TEST.

Not all DNA testing companies test the same chromosomes when they run their tests. And not all DNA testing companies use the same reference DNA to compare your DNA to. What do I mean by reference DNA?

That is their core DNA samples from around the world that they use to compare their users DNA. Because of the expense involved, they tend to focus their DNA samples on the presumed demographic of the people they think will buy their tests. So it is heavily weighted towards western European DNA. And not so much less numerous peoples.

Also, the test results are estimates based on what a formula each company has. And it can only compare DNA results with people living today. They are NOT comparing our DNA to people who lived a hundred or two hundred years ago. You know... our ancestors.

Judy Russell of the Legal Genealogist blog explains in much better in her September 2013 post here:
DNA Disappointment.

Next week I will talk about what the DNA tests did reveal...