ROOTING AROUND DNA TESTING HELPS FIND LOST LEGACIES AND CEMENTS CONNECTIONS.Byline: Sandra Barrera Staff Writer Edwin Blancher blanch also blench v. blanched also blenched, blanch·ing also blench·ing, blanch·es also blench·es v.tr. 1. To take the color from; bleach. 2. was looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a genealogical breakthrough. Researching his patrilineal patrilineal /pa·tri·lin·e·al/ (pat?ri-lin´e-il) descended through the male line. pat·ri·lin·e·al adj. Relating to, based on, or tracing ancestral descent through the paternal line. family tree through documents revealed roots in Vermont. There he stumbled on the gravesite grave·site n. A place used for graves or a grave. of his great-great-grandfather William Blancher. Or was it Blanchard? The 79-year-old retired postal worker A postal worker is one who works for a post office, such as a mail carrier. In the U.S., postal workers are represented by the National Postal Mail Handlers Union - NPMHU and the American Postal Workers Union, part of the AFL-CIO. from Canyon Country says he suspected his oldest known relative, whose headstone indicates he was born in 1790, could have altered his surname. Six years ago, a pair of home DNA test DNA test n → DNS-Test m kits would prove Blancher right and add 150 years of Blanchard branches to his family tree. "Without DNA testing DNA testing Analysis of DNA (the genetic component of cells) in order to determine changes in genes that may indicate a specific disorder. Mentioned in: Acoustic Neuroma, Retinoblastoma, Von Willebrand Disease , I would have never known for sure," he says. It's all in the genes Ever since the descendents of slave Sally Hemings Sally Hemings (Shadwell, Albemarle County, Virginia, circa 1773 – Charlottesville, Virginia, 1835) was a quadroon slave owned by Thomas Jefferson. It is thought that she might have been, by blood, the half-sister of Jefferson's deceased wife Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson. and Thomas Jefferson lit the fuse of DNA testing, curious people with a few hundred bucks and enough enthusiasm to follow their bloodlines as far back as 400 years have become the fuel feeding this sweeping genealogical explosion. DNA testing is the 21st century's most effective tool for blasting through barriers when the paper trail has run dry. "Where we're missing a generation, we're able to connect two lineages and bridge the gap," says Bennett Greenspan, whose Houston-based company Family Tree DNA DNA: see nucleic acid. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. made genetic testing Genetic Testing Definition A genetic test examines the genetic information contained inside a person's cells, called DNA, to determine if that person has or will develop a certain disease or could pass a disease to his or her offspring. available to the public in 2000, ahead of its competitors. DNA testing is still groundbreaking science among genealogy hobbyists like the 1,000 or so people expected Friday for the 38th annual Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, Genealogy Jamboree and Resource Expo in Burbank. The three-day event three-day event a competition in the pleasure horse sport comprising usually one day each for dressage, cross country and show jumping. is one of the longest-running genealogical conferences on the West Coast. Between the big gatherings, genealogists stay busy. Genealogy is purported to be the second most popular hobby in the U.S. after gardening -- especially among aging baby boomers See generation X. and their parents. A Google search Google is owned by Google, Inc. whose mission statement is to "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful". The largest search engine on the web, Google receives several hundred million queries each day through its various services. is likely to bring up more than 32 million results, including a growing number of research databases such as Rootsweb.com, Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.com. Greenspan owes the fascination to the cultural whitewashing experienced by early-20th-century immigrants. "There was a lot of pressure on people 100 years ago to become American, and the way you became American was you chopped off the last couple letters of your Jewish or your Italian name Names in Italian are often directly derived from Latin ones. While in Latin there were nomen, prænomen, and cognomen, in Italian there are nome and cognome, the prænomen having been absorbed by the nome. , and you spoke English," he says. "Kids were embarrassed that their parents or grandparents grandparents npl → abuelos mpl grandparents grand npl → grands-parents mpl grandparents grand npl spoke English with a funny accent. Conversely, parents and grandparents didn't speak to their children in their native tongues. "Now we have generations of Americans that are disconnected from their European roots," he adds. "That becomes a real motivator for people to study their genealogy." Most of the cotton-swab saliva tests now available look at the DNA markers on the Y chromosome Y chromosome, n a sex chromosome that in humans and many other species is present only in the male, appearing singly in the normal male. It is carried as a sex determinant by one half of the male gametes. None of the female gametes contain a Y chromosome. found only in males and passed down from father to son. The results can determine whether two people descend from the same ancestor. People can take the test along with suspected relatives they've identified on their own or just send in their single DNA sample and hope for a hit in one of the testing databases. They also can look for a surname project based on a match -- or derivative -- of their last name. Male call There are more than 4,000 surname projects already under way at Family Tree DNA, and the company has a database with 150,000 individual entries. A 12-marker test is the standard for determining common ancestry. Females, because they lack the Y chromosome, have a harder time with current DNA testing since it can only prove the ethnic and geographic origins of their direct female line. Those results are more anthropological than genealogical. Some women go back two or three generations to find a male cousin they've never talked to just to ask him if he would be willing to take a DNA test. Alice Fairhurst did. The 70-year-old Covina woman has been working on branches of her family tree since 1954. She recalls her mother and aunts were always talking about their family, including her great-grandmother Mary Matheson. "They says she was born on Christmas Day in 1836, although I later found out she was born in January of 1837," Fairhurst says. "They would always talk about how much I was like her." Naturally, it piqued her curiosity. DNA testing was already widespread when Fairhurst met Gordon Matheson, to whom she thought she was related. It turns out they are not. Matheson, in fact, shares no genetic material with any of the Scottish Matheson clan. He's all Dunbar. "It's mind-boggling," says the 83-year-old Lakewood man who has been a member of the Matheson clan for decades and was recently welcomed into his newfound clan with open arms too. "You wonder what in the hell went on." For others like Doug Miller, the 68-year-old former president of the Southern California Genealogical Society and Family Research Library in Burbank, DNA testing has put to rest long-held family lore. "My aunt used to tell me, 'You're descended from American Indians.' and that was always in the back of my mind when I started my research 30 years ago," Miller says. "Of course, I was never able to verify that before. But through DNA testing, I know it's not on my paternal line, and it's not on my maternal line." And by year's end, an estimated 70,000 people could find the answers they're looking for, too. Sandra Barrera, (818) 713-3728 sandra.barrera@dailynews.com THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GENEALOGY JAMBOREE What: A three-day gathering of genealogists, family historians and noted speakers in the field of recreating family trees. Where: Burbank Airport Marriott Hotel and Convention Center, 2500 Hollywood Way, Burbank. When: noon to 9 p.m. Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Saturday and 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday Tickets: $40 daily; $75 for the weekend; $55 Friday night banquet; $20 Saturday breakfast; $15 Saturday evening social and Zydeco zydeco (zī`dĭkō'), American musical form originating among the African-American Creoles of Louisiana. Drawing on elements of traditional Cajun music as well as jazz, country and western, and blues, it is characterized by French lyrics, music; $20 Sunday breakfast; $150 Family History Writer's Conference all-day Sunday. Finding your own history Science can only put so much foliage on your family tree. The experts agree genealogy also requires research -- and lots of it. "One of the things you cannot substitute with just DNA is doing genealogical research," says Alice Fairhurst, a Covina-based genealogist who began unraveling her family history back in high school. Here are some suggestions on getting started: Go with what you already know about your family or can find out by asking, and then write it down. Buy a genealogy computer program to help get you organized. One option is Family Tree Maker, which is $31.96 at www.theancestrystore.com. Visit your local history center for what you don't already know. The genealogists interviewed for this story used the resources at the Church of Jesus Christ Church of Jesus Christ may refer to:
The Web is another great resource for locating census records, death certificates and other important documents for a fee. Some sites to get you started are Ancestry.com, Rootsweb.com and FamilySearch.com. Once you've exhausted your resources, you can put the Y chromosome to the test, says Bennett Greenspan of Family Tree DNA. The company's 12-marker Y-DNA test is $149 at www.FamilyTreeDNA.com. -- S.B. CAPTION(S): 5 photos, box Photo: (1 -- cover -- color) DNA HELPS FAMILY TREE GROW A simple swab of the cheek speaks volumes about where - and who - you came from (2 -- 3) Edwin Blancher of Canyon Country, with a Blanchard family history book, found his lineage is a branch of that family after taking a DNA test. Below, a 1900s photo displays some of his family from Rockford, Ill. John Lazar/Staff Photographer (4 -- 5) A DNA migration map, above, tracks a person's lineage. Below, a technician processes DNA. Box: Finding your own history (see text) |
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