Looking for Descendants of Mutiny on the Bounty Mutineers

HMS Bounty List of Mutineers

Here's an interesting DNA story. Phys.org writes that

"Ten pigtails of hair thought to be from seven mutineers of "Mutiny on the Bounty" fame and three of their female Polynesian companions will be analysed in a new collaboration between the Pitcairn Islands Study Centre at Pacific Union College (California, US) and the forensic DNA group at King's College London (UK)."

Since there are no hair roots in the saved pigtails, Y-DNA is not possible which means DNA analysis will not be able to trace male ancestry of the pigtail owners. However researchers are hopeful that mitochondrial DNA can be extracted. This will provide details of their maternal ancestry.

The pigtails on display in the US were housed in a nineteenth-century cylindrical tobacco tin. Also with the locks of hair was a handkerchief said to have belonged to Sarah, the daughter of William McCoy, one of the Bounty mutineers.
A worn, faded label with the pigtails notes that it is attached to the hair of William McCoy. The mutineer McCoy died on Pitcairn Island in 1800. Notes written on the label also state that the pigtails are of seven of the mutineers of H.M.S. Bounty and "also that of three of the Tahitian women," who accompanied the mutineers to Pitcairn in 1789.

Continue reading Forensic analysis of pigtails to help identify original 'mutineers of H.M.S. Bounty'

Baby Boy Hacht - Dead, or Kidnapped and Alive Today??

"A baby boy who was never named was born in July 1944, in Detroit, Michigan.  The family believes that he was kidnapped and another dead baby substituted for Baby Boy Hacht.  While at first this sounds improbable, if not incredulous, it isn’t." Source:DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy

Baby Boy Hacht's sister Patti and her brothers are looking for answers through the use of DNA. You, or someone you know, may be the key to this puzzle.

"The Y DNA of Baby Boy Hacht or his male child or male grandchild through a son will match that of Patti’s brother.  The autosomal DNA of Baby Boy Hacht or his children or grandchildren of any gender will match with Patti and her family." Source: DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy

 This incredible story needs no further explanation from me. Please read the full blog post at DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy

Good News From Ancestry - Deadline Extended!

Olive Tree Genealogy received this email notice yesterday from Ancestry.com

Due to recent site issues, we will be extending the period that MyFamily, MyCanvas, Genealogy.com, Mundia and the Y-DNA and mtDNA websites will be available. These sites will not retire until September 30, 2014. 

That's gotta be good news for many genealogists! Kudos to Ancestry.com for extending the deadline almost a full month so that customers have time to finish projects or download data before the services close.

DAR Accepting DNA as Evidence of Descent From Revolutionary War Ancestor

Good news for those seeking to prove an ancestor for admittance to DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution). Keeping up with the times, DAR now accepts DNA as evidence to support a claim of descent from a Patriot ancestor. 

Quoting from their DAR website

"The DAR accepts Y-DNA evidence in support of new member applications and supplemental applications. Y-DNA evidence submitted along with other documentation will be considered along with all of the other source documentation provided to prove heritage. Y-DNA will not be considered as stand-alone proof of lineage because while it can be used as a tool point to a family, it cannot be used as absolute proof for an individual."

Full details of criteria can be found at the DAR website above. 

New study claims that Irishmen descended from Turkish farmers

A new study has revealed that many Irish men may be able to trace their roots back to Turkey.

Research indicates Turkish farmers arrived in Ireland about 6,000 years ago, bringing agriculture with them. And they may have been more attractive than the hunter-gatherers whom they replaced.

DNA testing of the Y chromosome in men conducted by scientists at the University of Leicester revealed that 85% of Irish men are descended from farming people from the Middle East and especially Turkey.

Interested in having your DNA tested? Here are two sites worth using:

Family Tree DNA or  23andMe.com

Read more: http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/New-study-claims-that-Irishmen-descended-from-Turkish-farmers-83217437.html#ixzz2lZYvCoji

Understanding Your DNA Results: Comparison Charts

DNA is the latest genealogy tool and I've had my DNA tested with 3 different companies now (with one more pending). I used Family Tree DNA, 23andMe.com and DNA-me for testing. Since I'm a woman I can only test my Mt-DNA or my Autosomal. I have to leave the Y-DNA tests to a male relative. 

DNA results are not easy to understand and I don't pretend to understand them very well at all. So what I have done is make a spreadsheet of the summary of my DNA results - the Haplogroup I am in, my genetic origins and my percentages of various ethnicities. 

Each test is likely to show different results depending on the number of markers that were tested and the algorithms used to interpret the test. So I expected to find some differences but that is what makes testing with more than one company worthwhile. In fact it's important if you want to understand your DNA in more depth.

Definitions

You also have to do a lot of reading (aka research) to increase your knowledge of DNA testing, the various tests and what the results mean. What I have gleaned (admititily just the tip of the DNA iceberg!) Is this: 

MtDNA - Maternal DNA is passed from mother to child (of either sex) and does not change over the generations. A female testing her MtDNA is testing her female lineage from herself to her mother to her mother's mother and so on. This is the X chromosome

Y-DNA - Paternal DNA tests the Y chromosome which is passed, unchanged, from father to son. Thus if you wish to test for your surname and you are a woman, you must find a male relative with that surname to take the test. Women do not have the Y chromosome (We are XX while men are XY)

Autosomal: Autosomal DNA recombines with every generation and that means the number of markers you share with a common ancestor is halved with each generation. 

Haplogroups: The Haplogroup your DNA indicates you belong to will show your deep roots, your heritage going back thousands of years.  

This is very basic but it's a start to understanding. There's no sense paying money for DNA tests and then just letting the results sit there because you don't understand what was tested or what the results mean.




My DNA Test Results

Here is the chart I've finished which shows the comparison of the 3 companies whose results are in. My 4th company is still running my DNA samples so I don't have that yet.

Family Tree DNA is the one marked as FT DNA. They do not narrow down my ethnic origins as much as 23andMe.com but you can see that they both agree the majority of my ethnic origins are European of some sort. 

DNA-me is the surprise with their finding of a smidgeon of African origin. And their Haplogroup assignment of JT also throws me a bit. I have more research to do to try to understand how that happened. I am pretty sure they didn't test very many markers and the more markers tested, the  more accurate the results.

You can also see that 23andMe.com has both Standard (75% accuracy) and Speculative (50% accuracy) results so I included them. The East Asian was interesting especially when I compared my test results to my brother's. Since his tests include the full Y chromosome testing there are bound to be some differences. And I love that 23andMe.com tests for your percentage of Neanderthal ancestry in your DNA! 

My Brother's DNA Results

For example even though we know we have Native American heritage on my father's side, it does not show on my results with any company. But it does show on my brother's results through 23andMe (but not Family Tree DNA) and on tests that Professor McDonald ran on my brother's Family Tree DNA raw data. Again this points out the importance of testing with more than one company. 

You can see that testing my brother's DNA confirmed our Native American heritage and the Asian heritage shown for me in both 23andMe and DNA-me testing. The big surprise was the Ashkenazi in his speculative results. It's important though to note that these results are only considered to have 50% accuracy. They may be correct but they are equally likely to be wrong. 

DNA Matches

I've also been studying and reading about how to compare raw data with matches found for me in each of the DNA company's databases. I'm getting better and can now narrow down the ethnicity we share (based on what chromosomes we match on). This obviously helps with figuring out who our common ancestor might be, but I have much more to learn. When I have that a bit more figured out I will post here. 

Meantime if there are any readers who understand what I've posted today better than I do (or better than my explanation) please do leave a comment so we can all learn from each other's knowledge.  

Sizzling Summer Sales at FamilyTreeDNA!

Join the Genealogy Revolution. Search for your surname in the largest DNA database of its kind! My Surname Begins with Equals Contains Ends with Sounds like

Summer is once again upon us and it is time for Family Tree DNA Sizzling Summer event! Our successful summers over the last two years have led us to offer you great values again this year.

We have been working with Illumina to offer our Family Finder autosomal test for only $99 during our summer event. In fact, if we receive enough orders at $99, Illumina may be able to help us keep it at this extremely low of rate of $99!

As you take advantage of our summer event, remember that the permanency of the $99 Family Finder test is actually in your hands!

Beginning on Thursday, June 27, 2013 and running until Friday, July 26, 2013, we will offer the following:
        

• Family Finder    was $289    Now $99
• mtDNA Full Sequence    was $289    Now $189
• Y-DNA37    was $169    Now $129
• Y-DNA67    was $268    Now $208
• Y-DNA111    was $359    Now $308
• Family Finder + Y-DNA37    was $368    Now $228
• Family Finder + Y-DNA67    was $467    Now $307
• Family Finder + mtDNAFullSequence    was $398    Now $288
• Comprehensive Genome (Y-DNA67, FMS & FF)    was $666    Now $496

REMEMBER: ALL ORDERS FOR THIS Family Tree DNA SALE MUST BE PLACED AND PAID FOR BY 11:59pm CST, JULY 26, 2013, TO RECEIVE THESE SPECIAL PRICES.

Exciting Find Through FamilyTree DNA Find Dates Back 338,000 Years

A DNA test on an American hoping to trace his family tree has come up with a stunning result - the roots of the human tree date back much further than previously thought.

Researchers were shocked when they analysed the DNA of Albert Perry, a recently deceased African-American from South Carolina.

'This lineage diverged from previously known Y chromosomes about 338,000 years ago, a time when anatomically modern humans had not yet evolved,' said Michael Hammer of the University of Arizona.

Either interbreeding with Neanderthals or other populations led to the unusual genetic makeup, he said, or humans evolved far earlier than the extant fossil record suggests.

The new divergent lineage - which was found when Mr Perry contacted Family Tree DNA, a company specializing in DNA analysis to trace family roots - branched from the Y chromosome tree before the first appearance of anatomically modern humans in the fossil record.

The DNA analysis proves last common Y chromosome ancestor lived 338,000 years ago, even though oldest fossil of modern man is only 200,000 years old

Read more at The family tree that rewrote human history: Researchers stunned to find DNA submitted to online project dates back 338,000 years 

Credits: Photo of Chromosomes by Victor Habbick on FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Family Tree DNA Special - Now is the Time!

Family Tree DNA special until Feb 28, 2013!  $39.00 for a 12-marker Y-DNA test.

This helps make DNA testing affordable so if you've been putting off ordering your DNA kit, now's the time. The beauty of this is that you can wait until you see a sale for an upgrade and then start getting more and more markers tested.

See my other blog posts about testing my brother's Y-DNA and the upgrades (67 markers, Family Finder, etc) I've ordered by going to my posts under DNA JOURNEY

I've had my own mtDNA tested through Family Tree DNA 

And I've ordered my brother's and my DNA tested through 23andMe. It's been an interesting DNA Journey and it's not over yet!

23andMe DNA Test Kits Arrive

My 23andMe DNA kits arrived yesterday. I ordered three - one for my brother (for Y-DNA), one for me (for mtDNA) and one for my husband (for Y-DNA)

We've already had our DNA tested at Family Tree DNA but we wanted to try another company and see what kind of results we get. 23andMe focuses on genetic health issues and that's intriguing. But I'm also interested in their

Previously I have written about my brother's Y-DNA results from Family Tree DNA
at Family Finder Test Results in for my Brother's DNA! His Predicted Haplogroup is I-M223.  Quoting from the website, this Haplogroup
"...has its roots in northern France. Today it is found most frequently within Viking / Scandinavian populations in Northwest Europe and extends at low frequencies into Central and Eastern Europe."
 
It's been really interesting reading up on this and finding out more about our McGinnis paternal line ethnic origins, especially since my brother's Y-DNA showed a mutation that scientists know exactly where and when it occurred! Turns out it was around the time Hadrian's Wall was built between England and Scotland and his gene mutation is known to have come from a group of Basque at this time.

I also had an exciting update on our results for Native American heritage, which you can read about at Update on DNA Testing for Native American Heritage

My mtDNA results from FT arrived and I wrote about those at mtDNA Test Results Arrived!
My Haplogroup is J2a1a1a2  but I still don't completely understand my full results.

I'm hoping 23andMe will provide more interesting details. 

Follow along with me as I get ready to provide the test sample and mail it back to 23andMe

DNA and Native American Heritage

I'm a recognized Metis in Canada. I have my official Metis card. But I have always wanted confirmation of my Native American heritage through DNA testing.

Now perhaps it is just me but for the life of me I cannot figure out on Family Tree DNA how to do this! I have my brother's Y-DNA testing done and have the Family Finder upgrade. I have my mtDNA done. I've been willing to pay for whatever upgrade or test I need. But what one?

I wrote to one of the partners in Family Tree DNA a week ago to ask for assistance. No response. I should add that I'm linked to him on Facebook and I've seen him online several times since I sent my message. I'm sure he's a busy guy but c'mon - a week goes by and he doesn't answer a customer and someone he's linked to on Facebook as a friend?

So on the weekend I posted on the Family Tree DNA Facebook page, and asked for advice.  Again my post was met with silence. No official response at all.  Thankfully one person responded and gave me advice and a contact name of someone not involved with FamilyTreeDNA who might be able to help. I plan to follow that up as soon as I figure out how to download my raw data from FTDNA site!

In the meantime Roberta Estes was recommended as the person to consult. She responded to me with a link to her blog post called Proving Native American Ancestry Using DNA According to Roberta I need to order an upgrade to test at D9S919. Her article went on to explain exactly how to order this upgrade on FTDNA. I am so impressed! That's the kind of help I like - a clear explanation and set of instructions that are easily followed.

So I've ordered the upgrade on my brother's DNA and on mine. We'll see what happens!

But I must add that I'm very disappointed in Family Tree DNA's lack of response to a customer. It's not only bad customer relations, it's bad marketing! I want to spend money with them and they are not bothering to help me do so.

Thank goodness for the willingness and kindness of strangers who jump in and try to help!