Collaboration is the Name of the Game

A lot of work goes on behind the scenes of this Taylor DNA project. Among what happens is that the administrators are actively working with project members to facilitate a win-win experience for all. One of the principal parts to making your experience with the project a success is offering as much information as you can about your family lines—excluding personal information on living persons.

 

On your personal page at www.familytreedna.com, you have ways to input data about your father’s line, your mother’s line and all family lines. These can be input as a gedcom or individually.

When you post this information, it allows near-matches to begin to see where their line connects with your line. For best results, all project members should be forthcoming with family pedigrees.

But your job is not over! A next part is to actively collaborate with people who ask you for information. This means responding in a timely manner to project members who inquire about possible connections. It means responding thoughtfully. It means being responsible for your own safety and protection as well—don’t share mother’s maiden names or birthdates or social security numbers for living people!

It may be that you get a lot of e-mail; I do. If you are busy, give a quick response. “I got your message. I may have some information on your question. I cannot get to it until after the 20th. Please contact me again if I don’t get back to you.”

 

I have been in many conversations with project members and other genetic genealogists about how to best work collaboratively. Here are some thoughts from our member Richard A. Taylor:

 

I don't understand why so many folks spend all their money and time testing with FTDNA or some other DNA testing company, joining the Family Finder group and/or signing up for any of the many groups, projects or blogs and then DO NOT SUBMIT FAMILY TREES, GEDCOMS, MULTIPLE SURNAMES OR NOTES ABOUT THEIR FAMILY ORIGINS AND WORST OF ALL - DO NOT REPLY TO A CONTACT E-MAIL MESSAGE OFFERING TO SHARE/COMPARE INFORMATION!!!

 

I've sent out e-mails to three people listed as possible matches, 2 for my line and 1 for a friend’s Taylor line, without any reply or acknowledgement. Reckon this is sort of analogous to "leading a horse to water but you can't make him drink."

 

Why go to all this trouble if you're not going to respond or share any info?

I know that Dick’s a bit annoyed in his tone above, but he is simply repeating some of the frustration that all of us face as we start working through our matches in the Taylor project (and with our other related lines).

 

To the extent we can, we should work to make our own experience and that of our related lines as pleasant as possible. We can do this by submitted your family pedigree, or gedcom.

• Did you post your earliest known ancestor (of your male Taylor line)?
• Have you posted your earliest know female ancestor on your female-to-female line?
• Finally, if you are doing the Family Finder test, have you posted all the known surnames for all your lines in the last seven generations?

By completing these details, which are about people who are usually many years deceased, you improve your chances of determining how you link to anyone whose DNA you match. You also improve the ability of those you match to find their link with you. (This is because the person you match may have more family information than you have, which is a blessing in that it adds important family information you may not have known about.)

 

Lalia

  

Always happy to share Taylor or any other info I possess. My wife (surname Ford/Foard from MD to NC to TN to VA) and I have been researching since about 30 years or more.

 

 Richard (Dick) A. Taylor

 

 

 

 

 

Some new information about predicting appearance from DNA

Hi,

As fans of genetic genealogy, we are always interested in new applications.  Here are a couple of articles about predicting appearance from a DNA sample:

http://io9.com/5542776/how-forensics-experts-use-dna-to-create-mugshots-of-a-criminals-face

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=portrait-in-dna

Both of these articles feature a recent study that identified characteristics of a man who lived over 4,000 years ago.  His blood type was A+, he had indicators for male-pattern baldness, dark skin, and was likely stout or square of build.

It may be that within years there will be genealogical applications for this.  Could the future bring a DNA test that allows us to "see" some of our ancestors?

Lalia Wilson for the Taylor DNA Project

More Web Resources Available for You

Hi Again,

We have several projects underway that you will see soon enough. But in the meantime, here's an article, though the author calls it an e-book, that has some interesting information on Genetic Genealogy and gives many links.

There is a free document "I Have the Results of My DNA Test, Now What?" that you might find to be informative, that you can download from:

http://www.thegeneticgenealogist.com/

I will point out that I do not agree with this piece word-for-word. I'm letting you see it because it has much valuable material which might be helpful.

Lalia

More Inclusion of non-British Isles Taylors

Hi,

We know that some of our Taylor group are connected with African Haplogroups such as E3a.

Others may identify as African-American even though their DNA is of European origin.

However FTDNA is now participating in research that will allow those of African origin, recently as opposed to a millennium or two ago African origin, to better understand their roots.

See this article at http://blog.familytreemagazine.com/insider/2009/10/26/DNATestsInGhanaMayShedLightOnAfricanAmericanOrigins.aspx

Lalia

67-Marker Matches

Hi Again,

I'm continuing with more material from Ralph Taylor on the meaning of matches. What does it mean if you match 67 out of 67, commonly written 67/67, with another person? There is about a 50% likelihood that you share the same great-grandfather! Thus, you are second cousins. You could be slightly closer related or slightly more distantly related, but you are related recently as genealogists measure relationship!

As Ralph Taylor says, "67-marker matches, if you’re lucky enough to find one, are very precise; you may need to account for the birth dates of the matching individuals. The main problem is that most people have done a lesser test, so you can only compare against the markers they had tested." Thus, refer to earlier blogs which discuss 37 marker matches and fewer matches.

Should you match in the range of 65-67/67: You share a common ancestor and he almost certainly lived within a genealogic time frame.

o A perfect 67/67: The 90% probability level is a TMRCA of <= 11 generations, >= 1735 AD; 70% is <= 6 gen., >= 1860 AD; & it’s 50% probable that your common ancestor is your great-great-grandfather.

o 66/67: 90% is <= 18 gen., >= 1560 AD; 70% is <= 18 gen., >= 1730 AD; 50% is <= 7 gen., 1835 AD.

o 65/67: 90% is <= 24 gen., >= 1410 AD; 70% is <= 16 gen., >= 1610; 50% is <= 12 gen., >= 1710 AD.

Should you match in the range of 62-64/67: You share a common ancestor, who may or may not have lived in a genealogic time frame.

o 64/67: 90% is <= 31 gen., >= 1235; 70% is <= 22 gen., >= 1460; 50% is <= 16 gen., 1610.

o 63/67: 90% is <= 37 gen., >= 1085 AD; 70% is <= 27 gen., >= 1330 AD; 50% is <= 21 gen., >= 1480 AD.

o 62/67: 90% is <= 43 gen., >= 930 AD; 70% is <= 32 gen., >= 1200 AD; 50% is <= 26 gen., >= 1360 AD.

We've have spent a number of blog entries discussing the statistical meaning of matches. You do not need to completely understand statistics or probability, though. What you do need to do is to investigate the family trees of anyone who closely matches you. For example, with a "perfect" match of 67/67, you and the other person should be able to find your common ancestor fairly easily. One hopes that each of you has some information about your mutual family tree so that you each gain significant new information. After all, that's why you chose to participate in this project.

The good news is that eventually sufficient y-DNA records and pedigrees will exist to satisfy every participant's desire for knowledge of their roots!

Best wishes as we move towards that goal.

Lalia

What Does a 12 Marker Match Mean?

Here are some thoughts from Ralph Taylor on 12-marker Matches:

About 12-marker matches, there isn’t a lot to say. There are only three possibilities:

A perfect 12/12 means you share a common ancestor. But that ancestor may be many centuries in the past. The 90% probability level includes the past 60 generations (dating to as early as 510 AD); the 70% level includes the past 31 generations (as early as 1235 AD; and the 50% level (as likely to be low as high) includes the past 18 generations (as early as 1560 AD).

11/12 is inconclusive. Comparison of more markers is needed to draw any conclusions. If you are the one with only 12 markers tested, you should upgrade to more markers.

10/12 or worse excludes sharing a common ancestor within several thousands of years.

That’s cold, but true. 12 markers are considered sufficient to exclude sharing of a common ancestor, but not to include it.

Now, Lalia's interpretation... This means quite simply that if you match someone with the same surname 12 for 12, it suggests that you share that surname. However to trace your ancestry, you are going to need to test more markers and match more markers! (About which we will have more information in a future blog.)

If you do not share the same surname, or a variant of the surname, then a 12/12 match means that you likely come from the same general gene pool, such as the British Isles, and means nothing more.

We will have some forthcoming blog posts about higher levels of matches.

Good luck with your own genetic genealogical projects!

Lalia

Terminology Used in Genetic Genealogy

Hi,

Here are some terms that Ralph Taylor provides to help you understand your reading of articles and blog posts about genetic genealogy.

MRCA: The most recent common ancestor shared by two or more persons with a DNA match. We are concerned only with the most recent, because preceding ancestors will also be shared.

TMRCA: The probable time to the MRCA, expressed in generations.

Probability level: The cumulative probability, expressed as a percentage, that a MRCA lived within the specified number of generations. Here, we give three probability levels, 90%, 70%, & 50%. 90% means the chances are 9/10 the TMRCA is <= the given number; 50% probability is as likely to give a low TMRCA as a high one.

Genealogic time frame: A time for which it is feasible to specifically identify an ancestor, generally from about 1350 AD to the present.

Generations, length of: This is an estimated average of 25 years, developed from 18th and 19th century America statistics. We use the estimate to convert generations to common dates. Other societies may have had a different generational length -- either longer or shorter.

<=: Means less than or equal to, the maximum generations number for that probability level

>=: As applied to dates, means no earlier than the given date.

Eastman's article on y-DNA as a genealogy tool

Hi,

I'll just put the link here. I don't agree with every word, nor with all the numerous comments, but the majority is good information.

http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/07/how-dna-proved-my-family-tree-connection.html

Lalia

Finding People Who Match Your Results

Having done (ideally) 67 markers, you then look at the results page, and you may not find any matches within the listed Taylor results. Do not despair! You have several options.

Your first option is to wait until another Taylor joins the project and matches your results.

Second, you can search the entire Family Tree DNA database, if you indicate that you do not want to limit your search to the Taylor surname. It may be that you have a match with the last name Cruse, or Obama, or Robinson! Why could this be true? Because not all people carry the surname of their biological father. And when they have children, their children will carry (usually) the name of the father, so the "false" name is propogated down generations.

A third option is to upload your markers to www.ysearch.org to find matches with those who had testing done by other companies.

While you are going through this process, you should still work on refining your research on your own family tree. That is the family tree you want to post to the Taylor DNA project, and it is the family tree you want to share with people who match your results.

The best of luck to you on this! Our goal is to fully document all the Taylor lines! Fortunately, we won't run out of fun doing this job in the near future!