Ancestry.com DNA program

Ancestry.com has several DNA tests that people can get on a waiting list and take to discover their ethnicity.

All of that is great and wonderful.

We can also tie it into our family tree that is located at ancestry.com. At first I thought this was a fabulous thing.

Now? I suspect it will be somewhat of a wasted time attempting to contact total strangers to see if we share common ancestors.

Why would I think such a thing?

Pull up a chair. Because I know of one tree on ancestry.com where we share a common set of great, great grandparents. Yet, as I look at hints for other lines that we do NOT share, this same person has people that they aren't related to in their tree. Why? Shrugging. No clue. I have enough ancestors and ancillary relatives that I share common blood with that I don't have a need or desire to trapse up and down the branches of people I'm not related to.

There's another tree that has some of my line in it. I know for a fact that the creator of the tree and I are not related. Or if we are it's so far back that neither of us have found it. We are NOT related through the ancestors on that person's tree. Why are they on that tree? Not really sure, but I do know that this person's current spouse's late spouse was a sibling of my uncle's wife. (Yeah, it does get confusing.) I can see why my aunt and uncle are in the tree because of that connection. I can see why my grandparents are even listed. It's kind of a nice thing to do to list the parents of the non blood spouse. It lets those of us who are related to them know we have the correct family. Why it went past my grandparents is beyond me. But it's not my tree so it doesn't matter. Also, when I've sent corrections for misinformation pertaining to my parents, grandparents, great grandparents, great, great grandparents they've been fixed to show the correct information. I can live with them being on that tree.

However, if this person also decided to have a DNA test done and attaches it to that tree it will show we might be related because my parents, my grandparents, my great grandparents and my great, great grandparents are in that tree.

The truth is, the DNA test is not a magic bullet. I suspect some thought it would be that magical bullet that proved so and so was their ancestor. It was never designed to do that. Not at that price.

It's just a tool. Just as the trees on ancestry.com are tools. You can take some of the information of the DNA test at face value, which is more than you can do with the trees. Your ethnicity will be pretty accurate, even if you don't agree with it. As someone pointed out on one of the boards, you have two ways to view ethnicity, culturally, and genetically. The DNA shows you your genetic ethnic groups.

Culturally, I'm a fifth generation Kansas farm girl. I have a niece who is sixth generation Kansas farm girl. Her daughter is seventh generation Kansas farm girl. We know what a Corn Show is. But that's our culture, not our genetics.

Genetically, will be completely different. Probably some British Isle, probably some Scandinavian. No clue what else will be there. That's the fun of it. I know what culturally things were going back many generations on several lines. This will show me what it is genetically. Where did my ancestors ancestors come from.

Will it prove that you are related to me? Not this DNA test. Won't do it. Those ever important documents will do it. That's why the unsourced trees and the undocumented trees are still meaningless even if there's a good DNA match. Without sources and documents to back up the people in your tree, they are just names and if you can't be bothered to provide sources and documents, I probably won't spend a lot of time on your tree when it suggests there's a high DNA match. How do I know if these people are even your relatives? I can't and if you're not concerned about proving the people in your tree are related to you then I'm not going to spend my time proving your linage. I have enough ancestors willing to be found.

There is nothing that is concrete in proving anything in genealogy. We have to have many sources, many documents making cases.

The DNA testing is just another tool that might be helpful or not.