GRAVES FAMILY
BULLETIN
Vol. 14, No. 7,
July 18, 2012
A
Free, Occasional, Online Summary of Items of Interest to Descendants of all
Families of Graves, Greaves, Grieves, Grave, and other spelling variations
Worldwide
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Copyright
© 2012 by the Graves Family Association and Kenneth V. Graves. All rights reserved.
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CONTENTS
**
General Comments
**
DNA Testing at Family Tree DNA
**
More About the New Autosomal DNA Test from Ancestry.com and How It Compares to
Tests from Other Companies
**
Changes in Reporting of Mitochondrial DNA Test Results
**
How to Figure Out Autosomal Matches and Other Things at FTDNA
** DNA Webinars from Relative Roots
** Home Study Courses From National Genealogical
Society
**
To Submit Material to this Bulletin & Other Things
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GENERAL COMMENTS
This
issue of the Bulletin was going to tell you about the special sale of DNA
testing at Family Tree DNA. Since
I didn’t get this sent before the sale ended on July 15, the emphasis will be
on the importance of taking DNA tests, and some of the ways you can learn more
about DNA testing and other aspects of genealogy.
You
may notice that I have cited the blog of Roberta Estes in 3 articles in this Bulletin. It is a very helpful resource for those
of you who want to be kept up-to-date on some of the latest details in genetic
genealogy.
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DNA TESTING AT
FAMILY TREE DNA
The
recent offer from Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) is the first time that they have
offered a deal on the 111 markers upgrade since its introduction in 2010. That test is one way to narrow the
possible lineage from a Graves/Greaves ancestor once multiple male descendants
of that ancestor have taken the test.
I am sure there will be other special offers from them before the end of
2012.
For
most of you, DNA testing is the only way to discover which group of
Graves/Greaves families you are part of, and to begin to learn more about your
earlier ancestry. You can see on
the Charts/Numerical Genealogy Listing page of the website whether any male in
your Graves/Greaves family has taken a Y-DNA test. If they haven’t, it would be extremely helpful to get at
least one male with the Graves/Greaves surname to test. If you live in England, you may qualify
to have some or all of your test paid for.
In
addition, we need more of you to take an autosomal DNA test (Family Finder from
FTDNA and Relative Finder from 23andMe).
This is available to both men and women, tests DNA from all your
ancestral lines, and may be helpful in connecting unknown parts of related
families together.
OTHER FTDNA
OFFERS
The
following information is from the July issue of FTDNA’s Facts & Genes newsletter.
Special Family Tree DNA Offers on Facebook
For special Facebook offers click “Like” on our page. Notice of
other upcoming sales and announcements will appear on your Facebook home page.
Transfer Your DNA to Family Tree DNA
Transfer your third-party DNA results to compare with genetic genealogy's
first and largest DNA database! Did you know that Family Tree DNA accepts DNA results from other
companies? We currently accept Relative Finder results and Y-chromosome YSTRs
tested at Sorenson Genomics labs. Y33 and Y46 can be transferred for just $19.
We also offer a combined Y33+ FTDNA's Y25 or a Y46+ FTDNA Y37 combos for $58
which provide additional markers and features like migration map and frequency
map, haplogroup origins and more! The price for Relative Finder results
transfer is $89.
THESE PRICES ARE OUR CURRENT PRICES AND NOT A LIMITED
TIME OFFER.
Visit the Family Tree DNA website
for more details.
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MORE ABOUT THE
NEW AUTOSOMAL DNA TEST FROM ANCESTRY.COM AND HOW IT COMPARES TO TESTS FROM
OTHER COMPANIES
Tim
Janzen has updated his autosomal DNA company test comparison chart. It can be downloaded by clicking here. As I mentioned in my article in the
June GF Bulletin, if you have to choose where to get a DNA test, I still
recommend Family Tree DNA.
Ancestry.com has a poor record so far for the quality of its submitted
genealogies and for its lack of support and tools for the Y-DNA and
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) testing it has previously provided. However, Ancestry.com (because of its
size) will probably have many more test results than either Family Tree DNA or
23andMe. Therefore, even if the
support, the features, and the quality aren’t as good, Ancestry.com will be a
desirable place to get tested for autosomal DNA after you test at the other two
companies, just so you can get as many matches as possible. And, who knows, their quality and
support may eventually improve.
In
support of my comments about the questionable quality of DNA testing at
Ancestry.com, Roberta Estes has written an article about the problem in her blog, citing an example with mtDNA
testing in which Ancestry.com not only got the haplogroup wrong, but of the 251
exact matches they reported, only 32 were actual matches (a poor 13% correct
score).
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CHANGES IN
REPORTING OF MITOCHONDRIAL DNA TEST RESULTS
Mitochondrial
DNA is the DNA that is passed on from a mother to her children, but is then
only passed on to the next generation through the daughters. Since mutations don’t happen very
often, your all-female ancestry can be traced by a mtDNA test.
Those
of you who have had your mtDNA tested at Family Tree DNA may have noticed that
the mitochondrial part of your personal page on FTDNA has changed. There are now tabs for rCRS Values,
RSRS Values, and mtDNA Community.
rCRS is Revised Cambridge Reference Sequence (usually just called CRS);
RSRS is Reconstructed Sapiens Reference Sequence; and mtDNA Community is a site
with software to facilitate easy donation of your mitochondrial DNA sequences
for scientific research purposes.
Barbara
Estes has written an excellent series of articles about this on her blog DNAeXplained. If you go to the most
recent article, you can scroll down to read the previous articles.
The
Cambridge Reference Sequence is the mtDNA test results of the first person to
have his entire mtDNA sequenced.
This was done in 1981, and then corrected in 1999 (giving the rCRS,
which is still used today). This
was a rather arbitrary standard, but it was all that was available. Finally, earlier this year, a study by
Dr. Doron Behar was published, defining the RSRS (Reconstructed Sapiens
Reference Sequence). This is the
genetic composition of the mitochondria of Mitochondrial Eve from whom we are
all descended. The determination
of this genetic composition required much testing of living people and a huge
amount of mathematical computation, way beyond my ability to explain in a brief
article. (For those of you who may
wonder, Mitochondrial Eve is not the earliest human female, just the one from
whom we are all descended. Other
lines from earlier females have all died out, leaving only this one.)
The
significance of all this is that we now have a way to compare all of our mtDNA
test results to a meaningful standard.
This allows us to see differences from the standard that are really
mutations that have occurred over time, and to better see how closely we are
related to other through our maternal lines. Family Tree DNA is the first testing company to show this
new comparison standard, but we hope that other companies will soon follow.
===============================================
HOW TO FIGURE
OUT AUTOSOMAL MATCHES AND OTHER THINGS AT FTDNA
Roberta
Estes is a blogger and lecturer who has written a number of helpful
articles. You can see some of
these on the publications
page of her website. I have
also referred to some of her writings in the preceding article about
mitochondrial DNA.
One
very interesting article is called “Who Am I Related To? - Using Family
Tree DNA’s Tools to Compare Within Projects.” After going to your personal page on FTDNA, you can go to
the Advanced Matching option available from the drop-down menus of Family
Finder, Y-DNA, or mtDNA. You can
find matches on only one type of test at one level or on a combination of
multiple tests and levels. There
are also options to match people of a specified name or with an ancestor of a specified
surname. You can also compare to
the whole database or to matches only within certain projects.
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DNA WEBINARS FROM RELATIVE ROOTS
The
following information is from the July issue of FTDNA’s Facts & Genes newsletter.
To subscribe to Facts & Genes,
go to the Family Tree DNA website and sign up to receive it.
Family Tree DNA partners with
Relative Roots to offer quality, convenient and affordable Genetic Genealogy
education to Family Tree DNA customers! Webinars (web-based seminars) are
an option for our customers to learn more about our tests and your own results.
How it Works
Attend our live or on-demand
webinars (web-based seminars) from the comfort of your own home! You’ll view
the presentation using your own computer and listen to the presenter using your
computer speakers or telephone. Attendees of our live webinars are able to ask
questions just as if you were attending a presentation in-person. Registrants
of our on-demand webinars can access a recording of our live webinars at a time
that is convenient for you. Each webinar session lasts 60-90 minutes.
Topics
We're launching our webinars
with four topics:
Beginner:
• Introduction to Genetic Genealogy at Family Tree DNA
Intermediate:
• Genetic Genealogy Demystified: Reading and Understanding Your
Family Tree DNA Results, Part 1: Y-DNA
• Genetic Genealogy Demystified: Reading and Understanding Your
Family Tree DNA Results, Part 2: mtDNA
• Genetic Genealogy Demystified: Reading and Understanding Your
Family Tree DNA Results, Part 3: Family Finder
Stay tuned for more topics to
be added to the schedule in the coming months!
Cost
Introduction to Genetic
Genealogy - FREE!
Demystified series is - $10
each, or 3 for $25
Starting and Managing an FTDNA
DNA Project is $10
Family Tree DNA
Discount
Webinar attendees will receive a limited-time discount on select
new tests and upgrades to help offset the cost of attending the webinar. A
coupon code will be provided at the end of each live webinar and will also be
available to those who view the on-demand recordings.
Webinar Schedule
Our core webinars are
currently repeated every month. Following is the webinar schedule for
July & August:
• Jul 26 - Genetic Genealogy Demystified: Reading and
Understanding Your Family Tree DNA Results, Part 2: mtDNA
• Jul 31 - Genetic Genealogy Demystified: Reading and
Understanding Your Family Tree DNA Results, Part 3: Family Finder
• Aug 5 - Introduction to Genetic Genealogy at Family Tree DNA
• Aug 9 - Genetic Genealogy Demystified: Reading and Understanding
Your Family Tree DNA Results, Part 1: Y-DNA
• Aug 14 - Genetic Genealogy Demystified: Reading and
Understanding Your Family Tree DNA Results, Part 2: mtDNA
• Aug 21 - Genetic Genealogy Demystified: Reading and
Understanding Your Family Tree DNA Results, Part 3: Family Finder
• Aug 23 - Starting and Managing a Family Tree DNA Project
Register Today!
For registration, more details
about each of the webinars and schedule updates, please visit the webinars page
of Relative Roots.
About
Relative Roots
Relative
Roots is a Florida-based genealogy consulting and education company, owned and
operated by Elise Friedman. Elise became a Family Tree DNA customer in
2005 while working on her own genealogy brick walls. She quickly became a
proponent of genetic genealogy as a tool for genealogists, and today she's a
volunteer administrator for several surname, geographical and haplogroup
projects at Family Tree DNA. Over the years, she has given presentations
on genetic genealogy at a variety of genealogy society meetings and genealogy
conferences. Then earlier this year, Elise took her presentations online
and began offering genetic genealogy webinars through her company, Relative Roots.
Family Tree DNA is very pleased to now have Elise as our education partner so
we can offer this new educational opportunity to our customers.
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HOME STUDY
COURSE FROM THE NATIONAL GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
The National Genealogical Society has developed
a series of home study courses called American Genealogy Studies. These are directed toward those who
want to learn how to research U.S. records. However, their most recently announced course, Genetic
Genealogy, The Basics, developed by Dr. Thomas H. Shawker, should be of
interest to everyone, no matter where they live and research. The following information is from a
recent announcement by NGS.
Thomas H. Shawker, MD,
is a physician with the National Institutes of Health, a nationally recognized
lecturer on genetics, and chairman of the NGS Genetic Genealogy Committee. In
2004 he authored the NGS book, Unlocking Your Genetic History.
Now, Dr. Shawker shares his medical expertise
in the six-lesson self-paced course Genetic Genealogy, the Basics.
Topics covered in the course include
·
the structure of the DNA molecule, how
it is organized, how it replicates, and how it functions;
·
human chromosomes and how the Y
chromosome is inherited;
·
the two types of DNA markers used in
genetic genealogy;
·
haplotypes and haplogroups;
·
evaluation of a Y chromosome surname
project and a discussion on how to evaluate the test results of the
participants; and
·
the structure of the mitochondrial DNA
molecule, how it is inherited, and how it can be used in genealogy.
The course is designed for independent study.
Students check their work with an answer key that immediately follows each
self-test. Genetic Genealogy, The Basics is available on a PC- or
MAC-compatible CD in a PDF format. The tuition is $45.00 for members and $70.00
for non-members. For further information, or to purchase the course, visit the NGS website and click on the Educational
Courses tab.
Visit the course web page for
more information.
NGS American Genealogy Studies courses are
designed for both beginners and established genealogists who want the
convenience of completing their genealogical studies at their own pace in their
own home.
Other available courses include:
·
American Genealogy: Home Study Course
·
Using Federal Population Census
Schedules in Genealogical Research
·
Introduction to Civil War Research
·
Introduction to Religious Records
·
Social Security Sleuthing
·
Special Federal Census Schedules
·
Transcribing, Extracting, and
Abstracting Genealogical Records
·
Working with Deeds
Founded in 1903, the National Genealogical
Society is dedicated to genealogy education, high research standards, and the
preservation of genealogical records. The Arlington, Virginia-based nonprofit
is the premier national society for everyone, from the beginner to the most
advanced family historian, seeking excellence in publications, educational
offerings, research guidance, and opportunities to interact with other
genealogists.
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ABOUT
THIS BULLETIN:
This
bulletin is written and edited by Kenneth V. Graves, ken.graves@gravesfa.org.
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