15.1 Genetic Genealogy

“Most people I tell about my [DNA] situation find it…surprising. While to others the event is an amusing anecdote, for me it represents the sudden destruction of my sheltering concept of family.”1 –Randy Lindsay

Not every genealogical question can be answered. Certainly, not every genealogical question can be answered by records and documents alone. One way to break down “brick walls” in research is to utilize DNA testing. Genetic genealogy expert Blaine Bettinger explains it this way:

Genetic genealogy is an essential tool for genealogists. It is an important piece of evidence similar to a census record, will, or land records, and it might be the last piece of information available in locations where records have been lost or destroyed. Although DNA testing cannot answer every question, savvy genealogists should at least consider it as a resource for genealogical research projects.2

People build genealogical family trees for many reasons, but this does not mean that the trees they build are genetically accurate. Sometimes that is intentional: Someone decides to disown a family member or incorporate people into their family who are not biologically related; or maybe there is a misattributed parent event or other circumstance where most family members do not know something unusual has happened. When records prove elusive or things do not make sense on a family tree, DNA is a great tool to give researchers information to address those tangled branches. Genealogist Diana Elder asks “Do you have an individual you’ve researched and have many pieces of indirect evidence pointing to him as your ancestor? Perhaps you’re unsure of the connection though, and wondering what to do next. With DNA now giving us a way to prove biological relationships, we can use this new tool to add evidence to our conclusions.”3 Elder then walks readers through a case study utilizing DNA evidence to prove or disprove the accuracy of her tree and connections to her third-great-grandfather.4

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