DNA & Research Working Together

UnChopping Down my Johnson Family Tree with DNA & Research

My Grandmother was in the DAR and Magna Charta Society based upon a James Johnson & Rebecca Jones, he was the son of James Johnson & Millie Moorman, she was the daughter of Zachariah Moorman & Elizabeth Terrell. The Terrell line supposedly connected back to the Plantagenet Kings of England. Unfortunately I was never able to find any real supporting documents so “I Chopped Down My Royal Family Tree.”

Eleven Years ago the “Y-DNA” results from a 4th cousin, the only living direct descent male in my Johnson line, matched with others who were also claiming descent from the Annandale Johnsons. Traditional research, relooking at old records, and visits to Ohio and Virginia have uncovered records and helped me to find other people to test and also helped me to see where other project members fit in. I created the Johnson Project Olive Group webpage after the original project site was removed two years ago. While verifying the claimed pedigrees of the group members before posting them, I noticed some interesting differences when researching uphill vs. downhill.

We will take a quick look at the DNA results at Ancestry, FamilyTreeeDNA, MyHeritage, and Gedmatch along with some spreadsheets to help organize the relationships and the DNA results to see if they agree.

The “at-DNA” test results have helped to show that many of the relationships claimed by my Grandmother may have in-fact been correct after all!

Past Presentations: 

14 September 2019 - The North Suburban Genealogical Society - Meeting
Northbrook, IL

20 October 2018 - CAGGNI - Meeting
NIU Conference Center
Hoffman Estates, IL

DNA & Research Working Together - Revised 2018 

See how the Y-DNA tests from distant cousins and recruited subjects & the Johnson DNA Project along with research and at-DNA tests are helping to "unchop" down my Johnson Family Tree. 

Transferring Ancestry results to FTDNA and Gedmatch.com for additional reports and tools will also be explored.

2015 version Drilling Down for DNA

Discussed the Johnson/Johnston Y_DNA Project results from the candidates found, as well as the results from Ancestry DNA tests and moving the results to Gedmatch.com to see a variety of Heritage Mixtures and Pedigree Charts from DNA cousins.

13 April 2017 - Tinley Moraine Genealogists - meeting

Tinley Park, IL

8 August 2015 - Polish Genealogical Society of America - Meeting - New 2015 Version

Algonquin, IL

Original Drilling Down for DNA

Explored a variety of methods to discover the distant cousins whose DNA test results might help to get past a brick wall. Looks at how DNA tests and DNA projects can help to overcome tough research problems.

Based upon his article in Everton's Genealogical Helper September/October 2007.

22 August 2009 - Tippecanoe County Area Genealogical Society - Workshop

Lafayette, IN

28 February 2009 - DuPage County Genealogy Society - Annual Conference

St. Charles, IL

6 August 2008 - Genealogy and Local History Section of the International Federation of Library Associations

Ottawa, Ontario Canada