Shaking the family tree

My husband and I decided to go with 23andme after talking with a friend who discovered her birth mother in Australia through DNA. Mine was curiosity, I have been researching my family tree for years. Nothing new came from my DNA but I get new relatives every month. My husband never knew his father so I had spent thirty years looking for him. I finally found family and was in touch, but we could not be 100% sure. When his test results came back he matched with another family member. I was elated that all my research had produced results. This was very important to me for health reasons, genetics play a part.
 

A good place to start searching for ancestors is on findagrave. Put their name in or various spellings of their names. It is free. I have a number of various virtual memorials there. I have also set up memorials for my own family members, such as my parents and grandmother. I added their pictures to their memorials. I have also gone to a cemetery for another member and took a picture of a grave they did not have for their family member.

My tree goes back to the 1400's or so. I am so into this but I did have to unsubscribe from Ancestry but will again soon. Right now I am just trying to pay off a bill first so am taking a break from it now.
 
Aunt Marg said:
Are you talking about MyHeritage DNA, 23andMe DNA, those types of tests?

A few years ago the news was splattered with how the people behind such tests were passing info onto other outside parties, so that ended any and all interest I may have had over ever having a test done right then and there.

Also don't want to find out anything bad about my health.
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I didn't know that those tests provided a health profile.

At any rate, the TV program Nova claimed that they are highly inaccurate to determine ancestry for several reasons, one of which is the reference groups at a particular geographic region may be due to the mass migrations that occurred over the centuries.
 
Sliverfox said:
Not very interested in doing a DNA at this time.
Fairly sure that on mother's side were Irish.
Guessing father's side were English.
That is the side I will work on ,,once I get tax paperwork in order.

There isn't much on my father's mother that I know about.
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Do you know her name, birth date (or close) and places she lived?
 
Damaged Goods said:
I didn't know that those tests provided a health profile.

At any rate, the TV program Nova claimed that they are highly inaccurate to determine ancestry for several reasons, one of which is the reference groups at a particular geographic region may be due to the mass migrations that occurred over the centuries.
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I do believe the health profile reports are optional, but don't quote me on that.

Very interesting about the tests being highly inaccurate, and I for one would definitely side with Nova's, claims on that.
 
Aunt Marg said:
I do believe the health profile reports are optional, but don't quote me on that.

Very interesting about the tests being highly inaccurate, and I for one would definitely side with Nova's, claims on that.
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Health info is optional from what I have seen, which is very little. Still, one has to wonder how private it will be. Cirminals have ways of penetrating most computer sites. It think it's naive to believe that a DNA data base won't be violated.
 
Never assume that any DNA information in their data base will be kept secret. The bad guys and gals seem to be able to penetrate any data base - personal, corporate or government - if they really want to do so.
 
Brookswood said:
Health info is optional from what I have seen, which is very little. Still, one has to wonder how private it will be. Cirminals have ways of penetrating most computer sites. It think it's naive to believe that a DNA data base won't be violated.
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I agree, and according to reports that were circulating over the news a few years back, the people behind such testing are to blame for passing people's information onto third, and other outside parties.
 
My mom was really into genealogy but I didn't pay much attention. I vaguely think she said the Mormons had great records and not just on Mormons. I'm sure she used ancestry dot com but she also would go to whatever little government offices had records on births and marriages, but some of that she did in the old days before everything got computerized (I'm guessing all the old records got computerized by now?). I wish I'd paid more attention to what she found, though I remember part of the family went back far enough we would qualify for the Daughters of the American Revolution (except she nixed that due to it being politicized or something), and somewhere in the past in one branch there was a family crest (she gave us all paperweights with the "family crest").
Both my mom and I did the 23andMe DNA tests. It did not reveal any unknown ancestry but I do like their regular updates of findings related to my DNA (when I can remember my login password, sighhhh). I especially like seeing all my relatives that show up on it, my particular family is dwindling away, so it feels good to see that there are lots of relatives.
 
HoneyNut said:
My mom was really into genealogy but I didn't pay much attention. I vaguely think she said the Mormons had great records and not just on Mormons. I'm sure she used ancestry dot com but she also would go to whatever little government offices had records on births and marriages, but some of that she did in the old days before everything got computerized (I'm guessing all the old records got computerized by now?). I wish I'd paid more attention to what she found, though I remember part of the family went back far enough we would qualify for the Daughters of the American Revolution (except she nixed that due to it being politicized or something), and somewhere in the past in one branch there was a family crest (she gave us all paperweights with the "family crest").
Both my mom and I did the 23andMe DNA tests. It did not reveal any unknown ancestry but I do like their regular updates of findings related to my DNA (when I can remember my login password, sighhhh). I especially like seeing all my relatives that show up on it, my particular family is dwindling away, so it feels good to see that there are lots of relatives.
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I have quite a number of Revolutionary soldiers also. I am making a list of soldiers in various wars for my brother. The Mormon online site is the Family Search (org). In Salt Lake City and it says on their site ~"The world's largest genealogical library in Salt Lake City, Utah has experienced guides and genealogists that can help you with your research. It’s available to you free of charge!"
 
All I can say is that my 72 year old adopted cousin found his birth mother (alive) which opened him up to a whole host of new relatives 😍. He used...is it 23 and Me? Think that’s it...20 something and Me. He was basically just looking for health information
 
considering the relatives that both myself and a friend found on 23andme I would say that there are positives, but some would say "be careful what you wish for" you might not like what you find.
 
Oh yes, My daughter gave me an Ancestry.com as a gift a few years ago.
My Dad died always believing he was Swedish but the test showed he was half Swedish and half Irish/Welsh!
he would have LOVED to have known that during his life! I ALWAYS felt so close to the Welsh/Irish but NOW I KNOW WHY!
You don't know how tickled I was to find out I'm part Celtic!
 
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Murrmurr said:
Start with Ancestry dot com. You can access your family tree if one exists or create your own putting in family members you're sure about. The website alerts you when a "match" occurs. It's free to start, there's a membership fee if you want more in-depth results, matches, and info, but I'm sorry, I don't know how much it is. Not a lot, as far as I can remember, and I think it's a one-time fee. Probably worth it.
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I've been doing research for over ten years into my Swedish, British and German roots and have my family tree on Ancestry. If you want to see all the tips and "matches" that come up you have to pay a fee which is charged annually. The cost is different depending on which records you want to see, just your own country or worldwide. Worldwide access is most expensive at about 240 US Dollars but they do have special offers, I got my latest worldwide subscription for about 130 US Dollars. But be careful when you research and always check sources before adding people to your tree. I've found people who have Julius Caesar, Cleopatra and most of the kings and queens of Europe in their tree.
 
Do you have Swedish ancestors?

I know that many people in the USA have Swedish roots and that researching there can be difficult not only because of the language problems but also the former use of patronyms.

If you have Swedish roots and would like to find out about your ancestors there let me know and I'll see if I can help
 
I have Mormon relatives so mine is done on my mother's side. There are even books about these ancestors. I have a cousin who is working on my father's side. His parents came from Sweden. I really would be interested in the DNA test but I worry about the privacy part, and what this could be used for in the future. I am not interested in the health part of the test though.
 
I've used Ancestry.com for several years. They are fantastic. I use Family Tree Maker (FTM) software. FTM is essential, and works just great. They offer Windows and Mac versions. You can get both versions for the same price. That helped me a lot since I recently switched from using Macs to using PCs.

Unfortunately, I am limited by what documentation is available. My earliest documented ancestor with my family name was born in 1823. I can't find any more info about his parents, etc.
 
Jeni said:
There are other ways to research family trees without the DNA aspect. I depends on what you hope to find with it.

I have always said it was very clever that the government ( that will probably have access) that they did not spend money......... but had each person pay for their own section of creating this database.

While some sites say "we don't share your information on the basic tests" ......but if a relative reaches out using one of the DNA share section to try to locate a family person...... that shared data is no longer covered by the privacy of the basic part. ........

the health aspect is all could be or maybe and could just cause stress over a small possibility.

A friend said her sibling did this..... found her dad had a second family ....... it caused nothing but hurt to find out why he had missed so many things in her life ( half sibling graduated at same time so he missed my friends ceremony.).... while playing dad to another family ........both families just bought travel for work thing.
Some things are better left alone.
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It is surprising how many of these "second families" are now coming to light. I know some folks who have had this discovery and others who have reason to suspect. Oh the things that technology can now provide us. It reminds me of the tide going out at the beach and seeing all that had been covered. :sick:

When one of my brothers decided to jump on this bandwagon, he found out that much of what we were told growing up about our family history wasn't true. Though raised Catholic, we are actually Jewish, going back generations on my mother's side. At least that new story explains why we didn't have all the relatives everybody else had.

Tony
 
I know a lot about my husband's side of the family. His oldest brother was obsessed with getting all the info he could from his Mother and Father's sides of the family.
A cousin on my Dad's side of the family did a lot of research also. I would like to know my Mom's family's ancestry but so far no one has done the research. I do know I have over 80 first cousins because my Mom had 5 brothers and 5 sisters. I would really like to learn that side of the family's ancestry but I don't have the patience to do it.
 
Aunt Marg said:
Are you talking about MyHeritage DNA, 23andMe DNA, those types of tests?

A few years ago the news was splattered with how the people behind such tests were passing info onto other outside parties, so that ended any and all interest I may have had over ever having a test done right then and there.

Also don't want to find out anything bad about my health.
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I can't say anything about whether or not MyHeritage is legit, but I can tell you from personal experience with a relative who works for 23 And Me that it is legit. The relative described to me the structures and policies they have in place to prevent the leakage of data from their customers. The relative is in a position to know how well those restrictions and policies work and is also knowledgeable enough to be a good judge of those security measures. In fact the relative has a job where they need to make sure they are maintained and audited for their effectiveness.

It would be interesting to see what the news article was and if it was credible enough to investigate it further.
 
I've had my DNA done by 23 And Me but did so before my relative was working there. It's been very enjoyable finding relatives and reaching out to them. I uploaded my DNA from 23 And Me onto the MyHeritage website and found more matches there as well.

My favorite genetic find is a 2nd or 3rd cousin who lives in the UK but was born in one of the Baltic states. She had more knowledge about that side of my family than I'd found before.

I actually like using MyHeritage.com because the family tree matching works well to find out more about one's ancestors. If one is careful one can build one's family tree just listing one's direct ancestors so the tree doesn't get so large that one has to pay. It's been especially helpful for finding more about one of my grandparent's ancestry. I didn't know much before looking on MyHeritage.com but what I have found has been confirmed as other family members have shared information that aunts or uncles had but hadn't shared with the rest of the family.

I found a half uncle who I knew about but had never been in touch with. I also found a 2nd or 3rd cousin that was the daughter of a girl one of my dad's cousin's had when she was a late teenager and gave up for adoption. The rest of the family didn't know about her but our DNA match was definitely within the range for such a situation.
 
Just because I may be related to someone, there’s no reason I should feel any emotional attachment. I just looked at the names shown. If I knew them, that was fine. No interest in meeting anyone.
 

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