Vol. 2 No. 1 Jan 2009

From the Director - New Year's Resolution #1 - DNA Test NOW!
     Are you or a relative contemplating DNA testing but are procrastinating?
Don't wait, test now because there is no way to know what curveballs life
is going to throw at you.  This was a recent topic of discussion among
ISOGG members and I shared the story of how my father DNA tested in
May 2003 and died five months later. Because my father tested with Family
Tree DNA and they store DNA samples for 25 years, I was able to upgrade
my father's kit to more markers and additional tests that have since come out. 
     Another member shared how her friend's brother had consented to test
after years of asking, but never actually took the step to order the test kit.  He
died unexpectedly of a heart attack and now they will never know if their two
ancestral lines were related.  Yet another member shared how one potential
tester was killed in an auto crash and another was in prison.  Perhaps the
oldest tester, but was one who did not procrastinate on testing, lived to be 106!
He just needed to live long enough to utilize the technology. 
     With tough economic times spread worldwide, many people may not be
able to afford a DNA test at present.  If this is the case for you, there are
several options available.  For example, some companies like Family Tree
DNA will accept installment payments and then send the kit for processing
once its paid off.  In the last six months, several companies have had sales
and some have reduced their prices considerably. There is also the option
of a free DNA test from SMGF, but know that you do not receive the results
and it may take up to two years or more for the results to be posted in their
online database.  If you are concerned about obtaining DNA now, but wish to
store it until you can afford the test,  Whatman produces reasonably priced
FTA storage cards.
     Whatever option you choose, just make sure that you do not procrastinate
on the actual swabbing.  You do not want to add that to your list of life's regrets.

-Katherine Borges
ISOGG Director



Brick Wall Knocked Down Through DNA Testing
by: Drusilla Pair

     DNA test results have confirmed a paternal relationship between the descendants of Arthur “Ardie” Pair (1864-1929) and Mabry Pair (1858-bef. 1900), both who lived in Greensville County, VA. My reason for testing the Y-chromosome or paternal DNA of these two families is that the documents (two marriage licenses and death certificate) found on my great-grandfather Ardie, did not name his parents. However, I determined the name of Ardie and Mabry’s mother through several research methods.
     Locating Mabry’s 1879 marriage license which named his parents as “Hal and Rainey.” No surname was listed for the parents on the marriage license.
     Doing a surname search of PAIR marriage records in Greensville County, VA which revealed that a Rainey Pair married a Joseph Briggs in 1867.
     Search of the 1870 and 1880 censuses for Rainey Pair Briggs and Joseph Briggs where Ardie and Mabry were found living with their mother and stepfather in 1870.
     Since I had not found any documentation on the paternity of my ancestor Ardie, I turned to DNA testing for answers. I wanted DNA test results to prove or disprove a paternal connection between Ardie and Mabry Pair.
     In order to test these two lines, I needed to test direct male descendants of these two families. In October 2008, a great grandson of Mabry Pair took a 46-marker DNA test from DNA-Ancestry. In November 2008, my father, who is a grandson of Ardie Pair took the same type of test. Results for both tests were received in late November with exact matches on all 46 markers. The paternal Haplogroup for these two tests is E3a.
     The 46-marker test results mean that these two families share a paternal ancestor within the last six generations or 150 years. I do not know when Hal, the common ancestor in these two families, was born or died; however, I do know that he was a common ancestor within the last five generations of this family.
     Further, these matching results also mean that the descendants of Mabry Pair have the same African connection as the descendants of Ardie Pair. In July 2007, one of my father’s brothers took a Y-chromosome test through the African Ancestry DNA Company. The results of this 8-marker test match present living people in three African countries:

Balanta people in Guinea-Bissau
Yoruba people in Nigeria
Akan people in Ghana.

These African Ancestry results mean that the Pair family has genetic African cousins living in these countries and that we share a paternal ancestor who lived thousands of years ago.

Submitted by Drusilla Pair and reprinted with permission

For more DNA success stories or to submit yours, visit:
http://www.isogg.org/successstories.htm

The French Heritage DNA Project
     Founded in 2005 by Doug Miller, the French Heritage DNA Project is an outstanding and remarkable example of a geographical/heritage DNA project.  Much of its innovative attributes is owed to the talents of project co-administrator, Jacques Beaugrand.  Not only does Jacques maintain the website in English and French, he has added features like a listing of mtDNA haplogroup frequencies, analysis of results by YDNA haplogroup and a region of origin for members.  A particularly interesting feature is the YDNA results by haplogroup along with computation of coefficient of relationship.  Click the link for this page, then click the "kin" button next to a surname and those results will appear at the top of a new page with closest matches listed underneath.
   The site also contains many success stories and has resulted in spin-off projects
like the Mothers of Acadia DNA Project which was featured in our November 2008
newsletter.  Doug and Jacques are also very involved in the genetic genealogy community.  Doug has given many genetic genealogy presentations in Southern California and Jacques has written genetic genealogy articles in French.
Continue ton excellent travail!




DNA: The Next Dotcom? - Entrepreneur.com - Feb 2009
The web of human progress revealed - The Guardian - 22 Jan 2009
Galileo DNA to solve astronomical riddle - ABC Science - 20 Jan 2009
Does Publishing Need Genealogists? - Publishers Weekly - 12 Jan 2009
Web site links African-Americans to ancestors' voyage - ChicagoTribune.com -
3 Jan 2009

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