DNA DAY!!! FTDNA SALE!

DNA DAY is here!

Family Tree DNA will have a two-day sale.

The sale prices for new tests and for upgrades!  These are HOT prices, so order now!!!!

If you are new, click on the FTDNA icon in the lower right of this blog and order.  For and order that involves a Y-DNA (even when combined with another test), put your surname in the SEARCH box and follow the prompts.  IF you do not find your surname listed and/or if you are testing only for mtDNA or Family Finder, enter GFO in the SEARCH box and I can help you with understanding the results.  Doing this also allows you to join a project which always gives you the lowest price available at the time.

The sale begins at 6 PM Thursday April 19th and will conclude at 11:59 PM on Saturday April 21st.  I know that FTDNA is located in Houston and that is Central Time, but I do not know if this means the time in your time zone or theirs.  Play it safe, regardless!

Although the email didn't mention it, I'm sure you must pay for it when you order to get the sale price.  Credit Cards are automatic payment.

No coupon is needed; all prices will be automatically adjusted on the website.

If you have any questions, email me at:  aulicino@hevanet.com

New Kits....................Current Group Price ............SALE PRICEY-DNA 12........................... $99.....................................$59
mtDNA.................................$99.....................................$59
    
Y-DNA 37..........................$149....................................$129
Y-DNA 67..........................$238....................................$199
Family Finder.....................$289....................................$199
mtFullSequence (FGS....... $299....................................$249
    
Y-DNA 12 + mtDNA........$179.....................................$118
FF + Y-DNA 12................$339.....................................$258
FF + mtDNA.....................$339.....................................$258
FF+ Y-DNA 37.................$438.....................................$328
FF + mtDNAPlus..............$438.....................................$328
Comprehensive (FF + FGS + Y-DNA 67).......$797......$657
    
Upgrades   
Y-DNA 12.........................$89.........................................$59
mtDNA add-on..................$89.........................................$59
Y-DNA 12-37 Marker.......$99.........................................$69
Y-DNA 37-67 Marker.......$99.........................................$79
Y-DNA 12-67 Marker....$199........................................$148
mtFullSequence upgrade (HVR1 to Mega)...$269.........$199
mtFullSequence upgrade (HVR2 to Mega)...$269.........$199
mtFullSequence add-on...$289.......................................$219
Family Finder add-on......$289.......................................$199

Don't miss this sale!  The odds are that even in their summer sale (if they have one), you won't get all of these options!

Best wishes,
Emily

NEHGS and "Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr."

This press release was just sent by the New England Historic Genealogical Society with a a request to post it to my blog.

NEHGS to be featured on new PBS Series
“Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.”
Show helps to uncover the mysteries of who we are and where we come from

Boston, MA – March 30, 2012 – The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) is pleased to announce that it will be featured on the next episode of the new 10-part PBS series, Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. NEHGS and Senior Researcher Rhonda McClure will be featured on the next episode of the show scheduled to run on Sunday, April 1st at 8pm ET on PBS. 
On this episode, McClure helps uncover the family mysteries of Geoffrey Canada, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Harlem Children’s Zone. Geoffrey Canada has become recognized internationally for his ground-breaking work helping children and families in Harlem and as a passionate advocate for education reform. In addition, television journalist and former co-host and chief correspondent of ABC News’ “20/20” as well as current creator, co-owner, executive producer and co-host of “The View,” Barbara Walters will learn and discover her fascinating ancestral background.

This season, Professor Gates examines the fascinating family histories of celebrities including Samuel L. Jackson, Harry Connick Jr., Condoleezza Rice, Kevin Bacon, Martha Stewart, Robert Downey Jr., Maggie Gyllenhaal, and many more.

“It is truly an honor and a privilege to have this opportunity to work closely with Professor Gates,” says NEHGS President and CEO, D. Brenton Simons. “All of us at NEHGS are thrilled to be a part of such an incredible television series and we wish Professor Gates and the rest of the production team a most successful season!”

The basic drive to discover who we are and where we come from is at the core of Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the 12th series from Professor Gates, the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University and director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research. Filmed on location across the United States, the series premiered nationally on Sunday, March 25th, and will continue to run through May 20th on PBS. Be sure to check out the next episode on Sunday, April 1st. Please check local listings for times.


About NEHGS

Founded in 1845, New England Historic Genealogical Society is the country's leading resource for family history research. We help family historians expand their knowledge, skill, and understanding of their family and its place in history. The NEHGS research center, located at 99-101 Newbury Street, Boston, houses millions of books, journals, manuscripts, photographs, microfilms, documents, records, and other artifacts that date back more than four centuries. NEHGS staff includes some of the leading expert genealogists in the country, specializing in early American, Irish, English, Italian, Scottish, Atlantic and French Canadian, African American, Native American, and Jewish genealogy. Our award-winning website, www.AmericanAncestors.org, provides access to more than 135 million searchable names in 3,000 collections.

Enjoy the program!
Emily

Who Do You Think You Are? Live 2012

Who Do You Think You Are? Live, the world’s largest genealogy conference, was held once again at the Olympia Center in London’s Kensington-Chelsea area, and once again many of us from the United States attended to help at the Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) booth and at the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG) booth.

Max moved for more space

And this is only part of the Booth

Conference attendance appeared to be back to normal from its slump last year. Usually Friday is the largest attendance day, but “on-the-ground” observers contend that both Friday and Saturday were equally busy.  Sundays are always slower. The FTDNA and ISOGG booths were both swamped, so I had little time to take photos and am relying on friends who have shared theirs with me this year.

The hall is so large that any photo appears to show a light attendance, but booths (called stands in the UK) were crowded.  Various stands provided information for dating and identifying your old photos, learning about your family heirlooms, asking experts for advice on particular problems, and identifying your military ancestors. Besides accessing the resources at the stands, various Irish, Scottish, and Welsh societies as well as many counties in England had databases or books available to assist you. There are many workshops on various aspects of UK research as well as discounts on vendors who focus on records from the Isles. And as usual, celebrities from the British show of Who Do You Think You Are? made appearances.  Of special interest was the presentation by Dr. Turi King of the University of Leicester regarding Surnames, DNA and Family History. She was a delight to meet as was Dr. Brian McKechnie of the University of Strathclyde who offers courses in various aspects of genealogy, and Dr.Bruce Winney of Oxford University who is leading the sampling program for a project entitled the Face of Britain.  Meeting Drs. King and Winney were the result of efforts by Brian Swann, PhD to gather various members of the genetic genealogy world together.

As a result of my attending last year’s conference, a short visit to the Scottish genealogy society took my Storrier lineage in Dundee, Scotland back another generation, and this year, at the Northern of Ireland Family History Society, I found the baptismal record of my great-great-grandfather Robert Grey Gilmore who was born in Donaghadee, Northern Ireland along with two possible siblings and another probable family member.  Sadly, the records do not mention his mother’s name, but I did learn that his father was a carpenter. This society has a network of people who look up records for you, so naturally, I joined.

Alasdair McDonald

Chris Pomery

Family Tree DNA, a major sponsor of the conference, rotated their speakers so everyone had an opportunity to attend.  Max Blankfeld explained basic information about DNA testing for genealogy followed by Alasdair MacDonald on Scottish DNA, Katherine Borges on DNA Success Stories, Bennett Greenspan on the ABC’s of Y-DNA, Chris Pomery on Combining Traditional and Genetic Genealogy, Bennett Greenspan on New Frontiers for Genealogy, Chris Pomery on British Populations, and the day closed with a panel of experts to answer any audience questions.


Bennett Greenspan, President and CEO of Family Tree DNA
Max Blankfeld, VP Operations/Marketing of Family Tree DNA
Alasdair Macdonald, Professional Genealogist and Scottish representative for Family Tree DNA
Chris Pomery, author of DNA and Family History and DNA in the Genes
Katherine Borges, Directory of the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG)

Ken in white shirt

You never know who will appear in the FTDNA audience.  One year, an actual princess, and this year the paparazzi spotted Ken Chahine, Vice President of the Ancestry.com DNA division.  Looks like Ancestry is still in their learning phase.  Interesting!  AND, there's no one better to learn from than Family Tree DNA!

The real news this year, however, is that many FREE DNA kits were given away to men with particular surnames.  For the last three years Family Tree Y-DNA project administrators have offered to pay for a Y-DNA test if someone walking by the ISOGG booth had a surname listed on the poster.  In previous years about 3-5 tests were given away each year.  This year the following tests were paid by project managers. We were all shocked as even some of us who were there actually had testers for our projects: Katherine Borges obtained the DNA of a Fuller and a Powell; Linda Magellan found a Parker, James Irvine reaped a Urvin, and  I was fortunate to have a Dowlen and a Doolin test, Doolin being my maiden name.

Malcolm Doolin & Emily

Bassett
Berry
Bowe
Brooks (3 testers)
Burton
Dowlen
Doolin
Fuller
Griffin
Hixson
Hickson/Wyatt
Moore
Pike (2 testers)
Parker
Phillips
Powell
Reid
Richards
Reynolds
Rockett
Taylor (2 testers)
Townsend
Urvin
Williams

Each year, several of us from the U.S. travel to London to help at the Family Tree DNA stand and the ISOGG stand.  Although the conference is three days, we become typical tourists and stay a week to explore various parts of London and the surrounding areas.  We also enjoy networking with the attendees and workers, giving us the opportunity to meet other genetic genealogists living in the UK.  It is also an opportunity to research at the Society of Genealogists, the Family History Center, and The National Archives.  Several of us have been successful in getting our lines back a few generations and confirming some ancestors through these depositories.  We have enjoyed meeting so many people in Britain, rekindling friendships there, and experiencing the kind help of strangers in navigating the city.

Who Do You Think You Are? Live 2013 seems too far away!

Enjoy,
Emily
©Aulicino, 3 Mar 2012

Family Tree DNA Allows Transfers of 23andMe Test Results

Today, Family Tree DNA opens the door to 23andMe customers! Those who tested with the V3 (Illumnia OmniExpress chip) may upload their results file to FTDNA for a one-time fee. Those who tested with the lower resolution V2 chip will have the option to retest with FTDNA at a discounted rate!

FTDNA is the largest testing company for genealogists and have allowed testers from several other companies to transfer their results to them, including the buy-out of DNA Heritage. This 23andMe customers will soon discover is because the personal webpages (myFTDNA) are loaded with information and the project administrators and community support are invaluable to the serious genealogist using DNA.

You can transfer test results if you are the owner or primary kit manager of a 23andMe test. Your options depend upon the test you took at 23andMe.  If you took the "V2" test, you can order a new Family Finder test kit at a discount. If you took the "V3" test that uses the Illumina OmniExpress chip, you can import your results into the Family Tree DNA database. You can transfer test results if you are the owner or primary kit manager of a 23andMe test.

There are several options, all allowing you to be a member of a project:

Option............................................Price....................Matching
FTDNA Kit Import (V2)............$50+$109 = $159........Retest
FTDNA Kit Import (V3)............$50..............................Database Import
New Customer Transfer (V2)....$50+$109 = $159........Retest
New Customer Transfer (V3)...$50...............................Database Import

See the FAQs on how to transfer your test result whether you have a current test account with FTDNA or not.

What are the advantages?

1. No monthly or annual fee
2. You can contact your matches directly by e-mail.
3. Your matches are active genealogists, not medical study participants.
4. You continue to receive matches with the arrival of any future tests.
5. You receive the same options to upgrading as other customers, but if you are a new customer, you need to submit a DNA sample with your first order. Family Tree will only receive your test results and not the original sample you gave to 23andMe.
6. You can remove your test results any time; it is your DNA.

Enjoy,
Emily

DNA - Genealem's Genetic Genealogy

DNA - Genealem's Genetic Genealogy

Archives.com and Family Tree DNA

Archives.com Partners with Family Tree DNA

In late September 2011, Bennett Greenspan and Max Blankfeld, founders of Family Tree DNA, called to ask if I would review a database company called Archives.com as FTDNA was creating a partnership with Archives to sell their DNA tests. I groused that I had run into that website more times than I liked since it is a paid site and seemed to have itself connected to many counties I was researching. I just didn’t want to get involved with another paid site. There are many costly databases for genealogists to use, and I feared this one was too expensive as I had found it everywhere. As I was able to explore the site without paying and was asked to give my honest opinion, I agreed.

I was introduced to Julie Hill, Product Manager, and John Spottiswood, Vice President of Business Development who answered any questions I had and requested any feedback I wish to send. Julie spent time showing me around the site, and later I spoke with the director of acquisitions which, to my pleasure, was a certified genealogist.

Background:
Archives.com was launched in July 2009 and has its headquarters in Redwood City, California. This budding company’s goal is to make records available to genealogists at an affordable price. As Julie Hill stated:

At Archives.com we’re extremely proud of our accomplishments this past year adding substantial value for members, and securing a number of fantastic partnerships. We look forward to adding millions of records, bringing the 1940 Census online, and other exciting enhancements in 2012.

 Archives.com contracts with many companies and develops partnerships to allow customers to access various databases at one location. The database is updated weekly, and some content is not available elsewhere.

The company’s focus for historical records acquisition is primarily US based, though they do plan to integrate a number of new international collections. They are adding vital and census records whenever possible, but are interested in any records valuable for family history research. These include immigration, military, obituary, newspaper and others.. So it’s a wide variety!

Archives.com has
...Over 1.6 billion historical records and counting.
...18 of the 20 top records collections of the nearest competitor
...Over 4 million unique visitors monthly.

Family Tree DNA Partnership:
Archives is running the same sale that Family Tree DNA is having until December 31 with kits up to 30% off.  Just go to the site to order your test.


Archives.com Features

Original Hard-Copy Certificates: 
Birth, death, marriage and divorce records are obtainable through Archives.com.

Digitized Historical Newspapers:
This large collection does not focus only on obituaries, but encourages the researcher to look for other topics such as birth and wedding announcements, professional achievements and volunteer work of your ancestors. You can also look up historical events or learn more about the period your ancestor lived and even the prices they paid for products. All genealogists know how the local news can enhance the knowledge of our ancestors’ lives.

On-site County Records Research:
This feature allows you to request a person to search any court, criminal, or civil records in the US, saving you the time and expense of travel. This feature is especially helpful in researching more current records and does require additional cost.

Roots & Branches:
...Partnership between Archives.com and the National Archives to provide the 1940 Federal Census to the public. This is free access to browse, view and download images from the census and will be available April 2, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. See www.archives.com/1940census for more details on the census.
...Contest to win a trip to reunite with a long lost relative for the holiday season through a partnership with WhitePages.com. The deadline is December 19th to submit your favorite memory about a lost relative you would like to locate. See: http://www.archives.com/blog/miscellaneous/win-a-trip-to-reunite-with-a-relative.html
...Partnership with Family Tree DNA, the world leader in genetic genealogy, to sell their tests on Archives.com, giving their customers the opportunity to find historical records and explore their genetic genealogy in one location.

My Tree:
This feature allow you to build a family tree, upload an existing Gedcom, add records, images, and notes from the Archives.com database and share it in email, video, and on social media forums such as Facebook. You can add family members from those social networks and share your lineage with them. 


Learn:
Under this heading you can view several topics, and with each you can visit several resources to help you with each section, including watching webinars, downloading various guides, and reading articles from experts.

Grow Your Tree: 
This section is wonderful for beginners and allows you to start building your tree.  It explains how you should be a detective and offers the ability to set up an alert for information on an ancestor.  This alert will notify you when data has been found about an ancestor you seek.

How to Search: 
This section provides tips and ideas on searching the databases.

Expert Articles:
This is a wonderful section!  There are many articles on a large variety of topics from many well-known experts in the field of genealogy.  I have had the pleasure to meet several of them and can vouch for their expertise.  Everyone can learn from this feature.

Video Tutorials: 
Brick wall Strategies, Finding Your Family in Old Newspapers, Online Immigration Records, Online Census Secrets, and Vital Records are currently listed with more to come. These Webinars can be downloaded or viewed online.

Member Forums:
Here you can ask research questions, help others and get help for yourself.

AND, your membership includes a free copy of Family Tree Magazine.

A year’s membership is $39.95, but some features require additional payments which are cheaper than using other companies or traveling yourself.  A comparison of Archives.com to their nearest competitor may be viewed at:  http://www.archives.com/compare

The Good:
I found the site easy to maneuver. If your search does not give you enough examples, Archives, provides suggestions and possibilities. You can choose to search on the exact given and/or surname or not. The result of a search is given according to databases (i.e., census, newspapers, obituaries, etc.) with the number of entries allowing you to choose the area of interest or you can view all the entries at once. It is easy to alter your search without going to a separate page. I often find on the right of the search page a list of newspapers containing the name I am searching. This list gives the date, name of newspaper and city and state so you can determine if it could be your person without viewing the entire article.

Archives.com has retained the Social Security Death Index as that is a current controversy. From that search I am able to locate the last known residence on a map link and often a listing of cemeteries in the county. However, the word county isn’t indicated and that needs correcting as it can be confusing to the novice. For example: Paul Ogan last resided in Kansas City, MO. There are 72 listings for Jackson, MO. That should read Jackson Co, MO. I know that Kansas City is in Jackson County, but I wouldn’t know the county name for many smaller towns.

The obituaries can be seen in full and are easily printed. I found a few which were poorly transcribed, but that is a result of the organization that partnered with Archives. What was very helpful is that every location mention is linked to a map which shows you the locations of family members. This source is invaluable for genealogists seeking family members that may still be living as well as clues for relationships.

All of the census images will be ready by the end of 2011 and they are working on the 1940 census to have it ready soon after it is available in April 2012 with all its indexing ready a few months after that.

I also found that John and Julie were very helpful and listened to my comments. I was told they listen to their customers, and I find that is true as they have already implemented some of my suggestions and have put others in the queue for IT to repair.

The Bad:
Like most database companies, Archives.com relies on other companies and volunteers to transcribe and index data, and results in errors. All genealogists know how frustrating it can be when those volunteers do not know how to read the old handwriting, do not take the time to match difficult to read letters with other examples on the page or nearby pages, or do not clarify the difference between towns and counties clearly. In other databases, I have seen the surname Talley spelled by indexers as: Lalley, Salley, Falley and more. One only needs to compare the handwriting with other names (in this case, Lawrence, Sally, Franklin, and Thomas) to determine the correct letter. Every database has these problems, but I want to see less errors. It may be extremely difficult to correct once the material is uploaded, but as I have been researching for the last forty years, it is very worrisome that, with the advent of the computer, we are seeing more and more people take what they read online as gospel and not use multiple sources to double check facts. For this reason it is imperative that a company demand their workers and clients produce the most accurate product possible.


The Best:
Besides all the features above, the pace at which this company’s database is growing, and their willingness to listen to customers, it is wonderful to have a business give the other huge database companies a run for their money and to do so by not taking all of ours! The subscription is only $39.95 per year, quite affordable for anyone and well worth the cost.

The generosity of this company towards its Family Tree DNA partner is wonderful. Attendees at the FTDNA conference last November heard the first public announcement of this partnership. Those near me were very pleased with what they saw from Archives even before Archives announced that all present would receive a year’s subscription free. FTDNA has formed a committee, under Katherine Borges, Director of the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG), for feedback to Archives, and I look forward to their growth and partnership with FTDNA.

Pitts Project DNA Success Story

DNA testing for the use of genealogy has produced many success stories over the years.  Genealogy research will always have a dead-end where DNA testing can give you matches with cousins when the connection is current to hundreds or thousands of years old, depending upon the test taken.  Many of these stories can be seen under Success Stories for the ISOGG (International Society of Genetic Genealogy) website.  Many stories have not been printed anywhere.  David has three such stories on the Pitts website, but the one below is the most current.

In the past I have posted some of the success stories for my projects and have found that others recognize the names, so more cousins were located and more genealogy shared.  If you would like your DNA Success story posted here, email me.

The particular story is a result of testing Family Tree DNA's Family Finder test, an autosomal test which gives the testers matches anywhere in their lineages back to 5-6 generations, and allows you to compare shared segments on each of our 22 pairs of chromosomes. There are exceptions that give matches farther back. For example, if an ancestor married his or her cousin, the descendants would inherit more autosomal DNA from that couple than from others in their lineage.  For this reason, a predicted match of a 3-4 cousin could be a 6-7 cousin or so in reality.  The Family Finder test can also help adoptees find more recent cousins who may know more than they about their lineage.

Family Tree DNA has many of their tests and upgrades to tests on sale now through the end of December so take advantage of the most accurate tool a genealogist has.  See the post prior to this one for details of the sale.

Family Finder DNA Success Story for Group 1 of the Pitts DNA Project 

We had long suspected that Mary Lenora Pitts was a daughter of Pitman Pitts (b. 1784 VA) and Mary C. Andrews Pitts. This was, in part, due to the 1860 census showing Mary Lenora and another girl (possibly granddaughters) living with Mary C. Andrews Pitts. We had tried for several years to figure out a way to test this hypothesis using mtDNA by testing the descendants of Mary Lenora Pitts to a living person who was in a direct female line. But the other two daughters of Mary C. did not produce viable direct female lines.

The autosomal Family Finder test, however, made testing this hypothesis easy since the lines could be mixtures of males and females.

I matched Nancy (the descendant of Mary Lenora) on chromosome 3 and my sister Imogene matched her on a slightly larger segment in the same area on chromosome 3 (both with the Affymetrix and Illumina chips). My 3rd cousin once removed (Sue, verified by both Family Finder and Y-dna with her brother at 67 markers exact) matched Nancy on Chromosome 5 with the Affymetrix chip but not with the Illumina chip. My 1st cousin once removed, Celestine, however, did not match Nancy with the Affymetrix chip, but did match her on chromosome 16 with the Illumina chip. So all four of us that tested matched Nancy. We are fourth cousins with our most recent common ancestors being Pitman Pitts and Mary C. Andrews Pitts.

David Pitts
Pitts DNA Project co-administrator

Enjoy,
Emily Aulicino, 18 Nov 2011