Holly and all,
I just read through the information you offered here and it is great advice.
It is so nice to see other people concerned with accuracy in gen. records.
No natter what has gone before, each and every researcher or gen .collector
MUST do a vast amount of original research themselves and NOT pass along
information "as is" from other people.
Census research and verification is the most valuable beginning tool of all
and can be done anywhere, even from home these days. If anyone does not
know how to research the census records, just go to your nearest genealogy
assoc or society or library with a local history dept. They will be happy to
get you started. Genealogy does require a commitment to accuracy, no matter
how the facts wash out.
Now, concerning the DNA information at the bottom: It is true that only
males have the Y-DNA. but let's not be smug about that--the male Y is
considered to have a missing leg of the X and the women have both complete X
chromosomes. (This information is true but offered with humor.)
Also, when considering cousins to join in a family project, they must be
males with the same last name. This has been a very hard concept for my
children to understand, and they are adults and well educated in fields
other than biology.
There are DNA projects available for female DNA projects, but the
information is much different than that obtained from that of the straight
line males.
J A Dyer
----- Original Message -----
From: "Holly Carter Dunlap Georgia" <holly_carter_dunlap(a)hotmail.com>
To: <carter(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2011 9:12 AM
Subject: [CARTER] My list of Genealogy Research Tips
My list of Genealogy Research Tips
December 15, 2011
> - Just because two people have the same name doesn't mean they are the
> same person.
- No matter how unusual you think a name may be, don't
assume there was
only one person with that name.
- The wife named in a man's will was not always the mother of
(all of) his
children. (Or even any of his children.)
- When anyone uses the phrase "has to be", consider that a Red Flag.
Sometimes there are other possibilities that haven't been considered.
- The most obvious explanation is not always the correct explanation.
- Sometimes the information reported in the census records is wrong.
- A lot of incorrect genealogy information has been posted on the Internet
but the Internet does not have a monopoly on incorrect genealogy
information. Sometime the information printed in genealogy books is wrong
too. Just because something gets printed in a book, doesn't make it
correct.
Key points for Y-DNA testing:
- Only males have Y-DNA. Females do not have Y-DNA.
- Y-DNA is passed from biological father to biological son.
- Y-DNA is usually passed from generation to generation without change.
Changes do happen from time to time but they are rare.
- You have to have matching Y-DNA from descendants of two different sons
in order to be able to triangulate back to their father.
- When selecting participants for Y-DNA triangulation you want to select
men who are as distantly related as possible but still have a documented
relationship along their direct paternal lines. That is, 5th cousins are
better than 4th cousins but 4th cousins are better than 3rd cousins and
3rd cousins are better than 2nd cousins. You can only triangulate back to
their most recent direct paternal line common ancestor. For 1st cousins
that would be their grandfather. For 2nd cousins that would be their
great-grandfather. Etc.
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