Living DNA: Your Ancestry

Utilizing this form of DNA testing in genealogy garners a lot of negative advice. Learn how vitally important this kind of testing can be when you use DNA as an active tool in the genealogical toolbox. This case study will show you how pairing good research and DNA testing can be the perfect marriage.

For over 25 years, oral history led Melvin Collier down the wrong road in the search for the father of his great-grandfather, Albert Kennedy (1857-1928) of Leake County, Mississippi. DNA was indeed providing great clues, but he initially attached them to the wrong ancestor. However, more autosomal DNA analysis, Y-DNA evidence, X-chromosome matching, and genealogy research revealed that the oral history had not been entirely true. This put Collier on the right road to discovery. Travel down this exciting genealogical road as Collier shows how DNA and genealogy led him to the identity and the story of his 2X-great grandfather. Ironically, he was born in northern Virginia, where Collier resides now, and was eventually taken to Sugartown, Louisiana during the Civil War. Lots of genealogy and genetic genealogy tips to be gained from this case.

Staying organized in your genetic genealogy research could mean the difference between celebrating the toppling of a brick wall, and beating your head against that same brick wall. Let's chat about how our DNA testing companies are making it even easier for you to keep your DNA organized in 2023.

Despite his best efforts, Geoff Rasmussen's long standing brick wall hasn't come down yet. John Williams, born in New York City between 1840-1854, was the son of John Williams. Family tradition says that "he was orphaned at the age of 10 and shifted around until he was 16". Geoff thinks it's time to add a little genetic genealogy to his plan. On hand to help him develop this DNA plan is DNA expert Diahan Southard. Join us and learn techniques that you can apply to your own family tree.

In this special session, MyHeritage's scientist will break down the science behind DNA – DNA inheritance, how DNA testing actually works, how raw results are analyzed, how DNA matching works and how we are able to find unknown relatives with it and estimate one's ethnic origins. In the second part of the session we will go over DNA results and important tools available on MyHeritage, that can help in researching your family history and identify relatives and relationships.

While genetic evidence can aid in the resolution of research obstacles, at the end of the day, genetic genealogy is just genealogy and must be considered within the context of documentary evidence. Even so, the aims of documentary research to make sense of anomalies in genetic evidence often center around finding the right person in the right place at the right time to be an ancestor of a research subject. Learn how to creatively use documentary evidence to recognize and detect intersections of DNA and document evidence.

Sometimes our ancestors seem to have appeared out of nowhere. That was the case with William Emmitt Hunter whose life before his 1910 Oklahoma marriage was basically unknown. One record—his application for a Social Security account number—provided self-reported information about his birth in North Carolina and his parents' names. But his alleged parents could not be found. Without DNA, this case would not have been solved. But DNA revealed that William was born as a Beddingfield, not a Hunter. Additional research identified his name at birth and traced him through multiple marriages, divorces, another alias, and indicated the possible reason why he changed his name and left behind his family and friends to start a new life in Oklahoma.

In this presentation Michelle will outline her most important DNA tips with a list of her top ten things you should do if you want to make progress with DNA testing for family history as well as her top ten things you should avoid. These tips will help you be successful on your DNA journey and steer clear of common mistakes and pitfalls.

We know the DNA testing industry is changing all of the time, but how much have YDNA and mtDNA changed? Let's cover what is tried and true and what is new with these two "other" kinds of DNA tests.