Home Schooled in DNA

It is definitely an experience. An extremely steep learning curve, if you do not possess a science degree. (I keep a large bottle of painkillers nearby to make up for my lack of education.).

Two years ago (2016), I took an autosomal test from AncestryDNA.  I was excited that the results confirmed A LOT of my paper research/ knowledge of 44 years regarding my ancestral origins; but a little disappointed that my haplogroups were not available.

It was a hard lesson learned – wrong test, Rabbit.

With the results came an assortment of “cousins,” from 3rds to distant. Many from (my paternal) Gramma Rabbit’s lines (MOREAU / DESOLLIERS). A rare find was (and still is) locating a relative from my mother’s paternal line (ATKINSON / WILSON).

Keeping the four lines separate continues to be difficult. I can only star one group (ATKINSON), the other three fall into notes, which does not really separate them well.

Last year (2017), I took a metachondrial test with FamilyTreeDNA. I felt I needed a science degree to interpret the results … unfortunately, I still do.

E-mails arrive almost daily; as many as six in a day, stating I have new matches.  Growing lists of names, their places of origin and various number values fill my screen, of which I return a blank stare, shaking my head asking, “How do I read this?”

Also, last year (2017), I purchased a LivingDNA test for my maternal cousin to take, in hopes that his results would assist in sorting out the three pioneer families that settled in York County, Upper Canada (later Ontario) between 1819 and 1833; particularly, to prove/ disprove that the groups were (or were not) as closely related as the first attendees of the 1927 Family Reunion believed themselves to be.

Alas, when my cousin got his results, he could not understand them; and when I finally inquired, the e-mail was hiding somewhere in his in-box.

So, back to the basics

Again.