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Archiver > NYDUTCHE > 2002-02 > 1012900845


From: "Leslie Hope" <>
Subject: RE: [NYDUTCHE] Re: Genetic testing in genealogy?
Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2002 01:21:24 -0800
In-Reply-To: <173.31c4b46.2990efa7@aol.com>


No, geneticists don't dig up bodies. What they do is compare your DNA to the
DNA of known descendants of, say Daniel Boone or Thomas Jefferson, to
determine how closely you are related to a common ancestor and if you are,
when and where your line would have diverged. For a good, understandable
discussion of some of the new developments in genetics read Bryan Sykes, The
Seven Daughters of Eve which is about mitrochondrial DNA which is passed
from mother to daughter virtually unchanged. Sykes, a professor of genetic
biology at Oxford University, also has a website through which you can have
your mitrochondrial DNA tested and identified. They also do the Y line
testing. The cost is similar to ancestry. Of the two, I would prefer to
entrust my DNA to Sykes and will probably do so within the next few months.
Below is a link to Sykes website that was posted to another list:

From the NY Times science section 5/2/00:
Last month a company called Oxford Ancestors set up business with the
offer to tell customers which of the seven daughters of Eve they are
descended from. (Almost all Europeans belong to only seven of the nine
mitochondrial lineages found in Europe). The test (see
www.oxfordancestors.com) requires sending in a sample of cells brushed
from the inside of the cheek. For a mere $180, anyone of European
ancestry can establish the start of a genealogy far senior to
Charlemagne's.
BTW I too have participated in Brigham Young University's Molecular
Genealogy project. I decided that I wanted to be part of their database, so
for me, the pros outweighed the cons. I have three adopted children who
happen to be black (my ancestry has turned out to have a major Quaker
component surprise, surprise) and I hope that someday they will be able to
go to this database and be able to pinpoint their ancestry if they so desire
as the written records that I rely on for knowledge of my ancestry simply
are not there for them and others in similar situations.
Leslie Hope
Santa Monica Canyon



-----Original Message-----
From: [mailto:]
Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2002 12:20 AM
To:
Subject: [NYDUTCHE] Re: Genetic testing in genealogy?


I'm wondering about something about something that I've not seen mentioned
in
any of the articles and letters, etc., that I've read about genetic test as
it concerns genealogy: If, for example, I wanted to get genetic proof that
I
really am descended from Joseph the Miller SMITH, who was b ca 1595, how
would these scientists and labs come up with some DNA against which to test
my DNA?? Would they go try to find where the body of Joseph is buried??
How, after so many years could they be absolutely positive that, no matter
what the gravestone has engraved on it, assuming that there's still one
after
more than 400 years, that the body in that hole really is/was Joseph Smith??

Or say I'd wanted to find out if I was descended from Daniel Boone, (a
popular personage in this neck of the woods). (I'm not descended from him.)
His wife, Rachel, died before Daniel, and was buried in a local cemetery.

Later, when Daniel died, he was to be buried in the same cemetery, but when
they went to dig a grave for the body of Daniel next to Rachel's, they found
that space already occupied. I think it was the body of a favored slave who
had been buried there. Not wanting to disturb and move this body, they
simply dug a different grave for Rebecca, at the feet of Daniel.

Sometime later, the State of Kentucky, who had never paid Boone a dime for
all his exploring, services, etc., decided, in their wisdom, that since he'd
been born in Kentucky,that Daniel's body should be brought back to Kentucky
for burial there. A large disagreement ensued, and eventually some folks
from Kentucky, without permission, took it upon themselves to sneak out to
the cemetery, and dig up what they assumed was the body of Daniel, and
proceeded to take it back to KY, where it was reburied, and I guess is now
pointed out to the tourists.

Several years after this body-napping, another long-time worker or slave,
also very dear to the family, was on his deathbed. While talking to a
member
of the family or a friend (I forget exactly who it was), he's said to have
chuckled, and said, "They never did get ol' Dan'l", and then explained about
the placement of Rachel's grave.

SO, how could anyone be proven to be a direct descendant of Daniel Boone's??

And we all know how few of the really old gravestones in cemeteries, even in
this country, which is so much younger than the countried from which our
ancestors came, are either missing, defaced, unreadable. HOW is the
original
DNA of the ancestor obtained??

If I rememeber correctly, the burial spots of all of the Pilgrims is unknown
except for one. Well, like many other people, I'm descended from three of
the Mayflower passengers...but could I prove that by DNA testing??

Sorry...stuff like that bothers me! I'm nosy, and I ask too many questions,
but I do like to know how things work!





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