It has been a long slide down the slippery DNA slope ever since I first sent my vial to ancestryDNA. Oh my goodness – so many matches. While I was delighted to recognize some of them, I have long suspected most were superfluous, added by ancestryDNA’s desire to impress me. I needed to develop a system to separate the “good” DNA from the “bad”, and to reconcile the results with my tree. So I convinced my mother to test (Thanks, Mom!), allowing me to focus on her side. Her line can best be described as very WASPy. This heritage has allowed me to develop a magnificent tree with many branch that stretch far back in time. The articles entitled “DNA of WAB” represents my attempt to make sense of her results.
My father’s side of the tree poses a far greater challenge. His own father was born of Askanasi Jewish parents and his mother was born of Slovakian immigrants. Not only is the tree very short, but the DNA results are garbled. However, I am not complaining. Some DNA success has already been achieved. It will simply take a higher level of understanding to further decode the DNA’s message.
One of the more interesting tools used is a computer program called “Genetic Affairs”. Usually, I have kept my research under wraps due to generalized internet paranoia. With this article, I am trying something new., and am sharing this link with the GA community as a way to share ideas.
DNA of WAB, Pt 1: Introduction
DNA results for my mother, WAB, are in. Presented are an introduction to the results including matches, shared matches thruline and cluster diagrams
DNA of WAB, Pt. 2: Needles in Haystacks
Focus on the unknown clusters and single matches. The forces which impact clusters: Endogamy, NPE’s, and Pile Up. Introducing concept of cryptoclusters (unknown clusters) and pseudocluster (fake clusters)
DNA of WAB, Pt 3: Understanding the Gray
Those gray dots in a cluster diagram have meaning. Here is a generalized approach at differentiating expected gray dots from the unexpected.
DNA of WAB, Pt. 4: The 20 cM Problem
Moving from 30 cM to 20 cM introduces some unexpected results. Here I try and make sense of it by creating a series of reference clusters.
DNA of WAB, Pt 5: The Perkins Subgroup
Deep dive into the DNA WAB’s maternal grandmother, Olive (Perkins) Nicklos. Turns out that Olive’s grandmother, Mary Vansickle, dominates the results
DNA of WAB, Pt. 6: The Baker Subgroup
WAB’s maternal grandfather came out of New England provides a surpising complex result. Here I try and make sense of the 20 cM cluster diagram
DNA of WAB, Pt 7: The Woods Subgroup
Text here
DNA of WAB, Pt. 8: The Nicklos Subgroup
DNA maternal grandfather has only a few matches above 20 cM in the cluster diagram. We got very lucky with them.
Perkins DNA Update
Found a male Perkins to test his YDNA. The results were completely unexpected and upend our understanding of our Perkins lineage.
Jardine DNA Update
Tried a different technique to extend the Jardine line using DNA.
DNA Success with Anna (Balyetsky) Schwartz
A complete brick wall for over 10 years, until DNA results uncovered new relatives.
Meet Markus Szwarcbard
Using a cluster diagram to isolate our various Schwartz ancestors using my aunt’s DNA