This is my very first time at Jamboree and here’s how
day one went.
My friend and fellow blogger Debby Warner Anderson who writes Debby's Family Genealogy Blog
and I live within 5 miles of one another in Ramona. I got to her house at 5
a.m. (thank you to my husband who got up early to drive me to her house). Debby has been to
Jamboree before and offered to drive. She also made hotel reservations and
guided me through the registration process and picking classes.
The drive through L.A. traffic was mostly uneventful,
I’m happy to say and we got to the Marriott here in Burbank about 9
a.m.
I’m already seeing people I know from the San Diego
Genealogical Society and various Facebook groups.
Day One
is DNA day at the Jamboree. I picked four classes to attend. I really need to
expand my knowledge about DNA and how it can work to connect with ancestors and
their descendants. I’ve tested with Ancestry and the following members of my
family have been tested with one or more companies: My Mom (thankfully, since
she just passed in March), my brother, my half brother, my husband and several
cousins.
Here are some of the highlights from all four
classes. Certainly not a complete synopsis of what was covered in an hour long
class.
10 a.m. – Autosomal DNA-Specific Steps to
Insure Success – Speaker: James Vincent Bartlett
-
Develop a robust tree going back many generations.
Even if you have not yet proven for sure that they are your ancestors, add them
to the DNA tree. Note: I have a completely separate
tree on Ancestry that is connected to my DNA test.
-
Make an alphabetical list of about 50 of your
surnames to send to people who contact you via the DNA testing
-
Create a standard email that you use to respond.
Don’t make it long, but be very upbeat in your response.
-
Send an email to every
match.
12:30 – DNA forGenealogists – Breaking Brick
Walls – Speaker: Kitty Cooper
-
R1B is the most common haplogroup
-
1 marker equals about 100 years. So if you are 4
markers from another person, that would be approximately 400
years
-
Y DNA won’t break all your brick walls until more
people test
2:30 – Why Y? Case Studies for Y-DNA
Solutions – Speaker: Katherine Hope Borges
-
Test as many family members and cousins as you can
afford to or who will offer to be tested. Maybe some of them will pay for their
own tests. Offer to give them family trees or information on their ancestors in
return. (you have probably already done the research any way)
-
The Mayflower Society has a YDNA project.
-
At Ysearch.org you can upload your
results
-
Test at the larger YDNA companies like FtDNA.
Several smaller companies have gone out of business over the
years.
-
Notes to myself from this class – have my first
cousins tested and see if I can upload my brother’s YDNA to the Mayflower
site
3:30 – Using Autosomal DNA to Solve a Family
Mystery – Speaker: Thomas Wright Jones
Thomas presented an excellent case study from his own
ancestor and took us through all the steps used to solve the mystery of “Who was
Calista’s Father?”
-
When we put together a puzzle picture of our
ancestor, remember that not all the pieces will be completed. But, if the
pieces you have fit, and you have enough of them, you can complete the
picture.
-
When pieces don’t fit – set them
aside.
-
Missing pieces can augment what we already
know.
-
If our hypothesis has only one conclusion and we
can explain that conclusion, then we have an answer.
-
6 generations is at the very edge of the ability of
DNA to be helpful to us.
-
Focused questions, like the one about Calista, make
our research more efficient.
-
Target people to test, rather than just randomly
testing.
-
Use GEDMatch to compare your tests to
others
Those are just some of the tips I took away from the
classes yesterday.
Were they helpful to me?
Absolutely! Will this allow me to make better use of the DNA tests I currently
have and future tests? Yes!
Stay tuned for Day Two of my Jamboree
experience.
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Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl
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Hall
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