DNA testing

The paper trail has failed us. Too many records were lost, burned, discarded or destroyed over the years so that we can no longer determine the names of our ancestors, particularly Phoebe, wife of Nimrod Taylor. Besides that, too many of the early genealogists (like Edna Vacher and Albert Casey) published their guesses as if they were facts, further muddying the waters.

Our only chance to discover the maiden name of Phoebe (or many other ancestors) is through DNA testing. Everyone who wants to know Phoebe's maiden name needs to have their DNA tested, as well as that of all of their oldest living relatives who are believed to descend from Nimrod and Phoebe Taylor.

The DNA we are discussing is autosomal DNA, the testing done by Ancestry, FTDNA (their Family Finder test), 23 and Me, and MyHeritage. You have 23 pairs of chromosomes that cause you to be you. For each of the chromosome pairs, you inherited one chromosome (of the pair) from your father and one from your mother. The one you get from your father (or from your mother) is a combination of the two they got from their father and mother, but the combination is various random slices (or segments) from each parent. So you did not get the same DNA from your father and mother that your siblings got.

That is why you want to get everyone tested who is willing. Any one of you might have gotten an unusually large segment from Phoebe that the others did not get. The exception is that no child inherited more DNA than their parents; similarly none of your aunts, uncles and parents inherited more DNA than your grandparents. So if you grandparent is willing to have their DNA tested to help your genealogy research, DO IT NOW.

ASAP, because previous generations are twice as likely as you to have those larger-than-average segments of Phoebe's DNA. Your grandparents generation, including great aunts and great uncles, are four times as likely. As a rough guess, it will take about one hundred cousins before someone will match someone else who has DNA from one of Phoebe's siblings or parents. Most people won't know their genealogy that far back, but eventually someone will, and BINGO, we will know Phoebe's last name. You don't have to do the analysis, you only have to convince the relatives to test their DNA ( - no easy job, I know).

Oh, and then there are two more necessary steps. First is to download your/ their "raw" DNA data to your personal computer and upload that file to GEDmatch, providing the DNA donor has no objections to that. (Don't worry, it is easy, and there are ways to insure that the donor remains anonymous.) You will have to create a GEDmatch account for this purpose using your e-mail address and a name for each person tested. (This name can be anything that you will remember - even simply their initials or a nickname like "Uncle John.") Second is to upload a GEDCOM file of the ancestors of each donor to GEDmatch. (Again, it is easy, but don't include any cousins or excessive descriptions. For this purpose more is NOT better. Only the names and vital statistics (including place names) of direct ancestors is exactly what is wanted. Be sure to add a death date, even if it is only "before 17 Sep 2022.") GEDmatch has an entire array of computer "tools" that expert users can use to great advantage.

Another page tells more about DNA testing (click here).

Why not trust Ancestry? Simple, Ancestry relies on their beloved trees to decide who relates to who how. Remember that I said that the paper trail has failed us? Ancestry is using those notoriously faulty paper trail trees to tell you how you relate to your "cousins." Yes, it is marvelously simple to use, but no, it is not accurate. Ancestry has told many of you that you descend from Judith Bankston, so y'all have taken great pleasure while adding that Bankston line to your tree. Oops, this new document tells us that the mother of Nimrod Taylor's children was Phoebe, and it doesn't tell us her maiden name. So Judith Bankston will remain in most of those Ancestry trees until hell freezes over, and many, many more people will be misled into believing that they have a Bankston ancestor.

Then comes the hard part ... the waiting. Sooner or later someone will send you an e-mail asking about your relationship to them. GEDmatch provides computer "tools" that allow people (including you) to see who matches them how and where. Your knowledgeable cousins will e-mail you and help you with your genealogy. Of course, a lot of people who are not knowledgeable will also find you and ask questions. You may discover that they have a family Bible or a hoard of old letters and photos; unlikely, but it does happen.

Links to expert instruction explaining all this in detail are at the following URLs (click on any one):

https://lisalouisecooke.com/how-to-test-dna-for-family-history/.

Here is a URL that explains how your DNA is formed: http://chickscope.beckman.illinois.edu/explore/embryology/day07/meiosis1.html

and another explanation: DNA/ Chromosomes meiosis

Here is a URL that offers a scientific explanation of DNA (that is over my head): https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/replication-and-distribution-of-dna-during-meiosis-6524853/

Here is a URL that explains that you don't receive equal DNA from every grandparent or great-grandparent: https://dna-explained.com/2020/01/14/dna-inherited-from-grandparents-and-great-grandparents/