October 25, 2013
Clearly DNA testing is revolutionizing 21st Century family history research.
DNA Testing Helps Orphan Find His Family
There are heartwarming stories about successful DNA tests—like that of 80-year-old Patrick J. Holland, who was raised in an orphanage and through DNA testing finally found his family.
Here is the full report on this touching family story, from CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2013/10/11/dnt-tx-dna-solves-mystery.wfaa.html
DAR Accepts DNA Test Results
Lynn Young, national president of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), has announced that the DAR is now accepting DNA test results as proof for women wanting to apply for membership.
For more details about the new DAR membership acceptance policy, see: http://youngblog.dar.org/dna-evidence-dar-applications-and-supplementals
The new acceptance program starts with a DAR member with a proven (well-documented), accepted membership. Next you need to get DNA test results from a male descendant in that line. Then, if someone is applying for DAR membership but cannot produce the paper trail documentation back to the Revolutionary War period, there is now a way for that person to still gain membership—if that person has a DNA match between male relatives in both lines. The DAR says that the DNA evidence from both lines demonstrates that the applicant is related to the already-accepted member, and the applicant can use that DNA evidence of the male relative in support of her application.
DNA Study of Spanish Jews
A new DNA study of the descendants of Spanish (Sephardic) Jews has shown that statistically all Jews alive today have at least one Sephardic Jewish ancestor. Read the new genealogical study on Spanish Jewish ancestry from Cornell University here: http://arxiv.org/abs/1310.1912
European Jewish DNA Study
Another just-released Jewish DNA study shows that: “…the women who founded the Ashkenazi Jewish community of Europe were not from the Near East, as previously supposed, and reinforces the idea that many Jewish communities outside Israel were founded by single men who married and converted local women.” Read the complete New York Times (New York, New York), 8 October 2013, genealogy report here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/09/science/ashkenazi-origins-may-be-with-european-women-study-finds.html?_r=0
Kemp Genealogy DNA Study
I am participating in a Kemp DNA study and it has changed our conclusions of our ancestral connections. The DNA test we’ve been participating in has shown that our County Cavan, Ireland, Kemp line is completely separate from the County Kent, England, Kemp line—which is the largest recorded Kemp family.
See the current Kemp DNA test results here:
http://www.familytreedna.com/public/Kemp/default.aspx?section=ycolorized
Our Cavan Kemp descendants are all coded to R1a1. The English Kemp lines are all coded to R1b1, which appears similar but—the experts tell me—actually proves that the two Kemp lines are not related at all.
Interestingly, the German Kemp lines are coded to E, and the Scandinavian Kemp lines are coded to I.
The R1a1 marker has remained consistent with the Cavan Kemp descendants in the Canadian line: Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Ireland and here in the United States.
These DNA test findings changed our entire view of how “all” Kemp lines are or are not related.
Is DNA Testing Working for You?
Has a DNA study impacted your family history research? Has it changed your view of your family tree?
What are you finding?
What breakthroughs have you found from DNA testing?
Please share your experiences with DNA testing in the comments section.
