Of course, that legend always comes with the Indian princess falling madly in love with a handsome frontiersman. Today’s DNA testing can give some weight to those stories passed down in the family. If I confused you enough last week with a discussion of DNA, let me just add to that confusion. The use of commercial DNA testing for family trees is still in infancy. Test results rarely lead to finding common ancestors beyond 4 or 5 generations. Until many more samples are matched to trees with solid genealogical research, the results will be mostly just for your fun. You may be thrilled to know that there is a First Nation ancestor in the family just like great-grandma always claims. Many aristocratic Southerners proudly claim Pocahontas and Miles Standish as ancestors. These same people would deny vehemently any test showing a trace of African blood. One thing the results do show, if you go back far enough, we are ALL RELATED! Adam and Eve! Actually, in RBC, you only have to go back three generations to know that family trees can have very tangled roots. I my case, Arkansas and Kentucky cousins. That said, in a few years, we will be able to use this as a tool to pinpoint an ancestor from Nyburg, Sweden. I do encourage everyone to have a sample registered in a large database. Only with large numbers of samples, does this research tool begin to work. There are many groups doing just this. For example: The Mayflower Society is trying to collect results from its members. To be a member, you have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, one or more of your ancestors walked off the boat at Plymouth Rock. By the way, I have seen the rock. They would have most likely slipped off the rock into the surf before wading ashore. Many other lineage-based organizations are considering this approach. Scottish Clan Donald, and other surname-based genealogy groups like the Dodge FAMILY TREE are gathering test results and trees. Someday, these groups may be accepting members based on DNA results instead of documentary proofs. Think of how many unrecorded adoptions were mistaken as biological ancestors. How many troubled youths changed their name to Smith and Jones? In the future, those trails might become transparent to researchers. Who knows? If thousands of early chemists could map the entire human genome, maybe I can make my FAMILY TREE LESS LIKE A JUNGLE GYM.
Ed Peck can be reached through this newspaper or the RBC museum. Future topic ideas are welcome.
BY ED PECK
Special to the Herald Times
