The group has been quiet, so I figure I could post a more speculative question. I've taken a Y-DNA test (as well as the mtDNA test), and I have about 15 matches. One of these matches is a relatively close match (about 7 generations away), and I'm hoping to find the exact connection soon. While a few of the other 14 matches have similar beginnings of surnames, it's probable that the connection is further back in time. Considering that I'm Jewish and my paternal ancestry is from Belarus, I would think it's an almost insurmountable task to trace people prior to the beginning of the 18th century. I was struck by a recent statement someone made, something to the effect of if there is no documntation for the person, then they don't belong on your tree. For those who have achieved simliar results through DNA testing, what do you do? Incorporate the people into the tree, or do something else with them? I'm interested to hear of others' solutions. Bob Kosovsky New York City

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:06:46 GMT, Power-Post 2K <nonews@noname.com> wrote: >The group has been quiet, so I figure I could post a more speculative >question. > >I've taken a Y-DNA test (as well as the mtDNA test), and I have about >15 matches. One of these matches is a relatively close match (about 7 >generations away), and I'm hoping to find the exact connection soon. > >While a few of the other 14 matches have similar beginnings of >surnames, it's probable that the connection is further back in time. >Considering that I'm Jewish and my paternal ancestry is from Belarus, >I would think it's an almost insurmountable task to trace people prior >to the beginning of the 18th century. > >I was struck by a recent statement someone made, something to the >effect of if there is no documntation for the person, then they don't >belong on your tree. > >For those who have achieved simliar results through DNA testing, what >do you do? Incorporate the people into the tree, or do something else >with them? > >I'm interested to hear of others' solutions. > >Bob Kosovsky >New York City Bob, For what it's worth, here's how my family hopes to incorporate Y-DNA results... We've tracted my most distant Y-DNA ancestor back to his arrival in Louisiana in the late 1700's. We have paper trail proof of descendancy from his two sons to present day descendants, and show identical Y-DNA matches. We have paper records indicating his marriage in Canada, at which time his name was spelled Hoffbauer.... and note that "he" spelled it Hoffpauer on records in Louisiana, which gradually became Hoffpauir over the next couple of generations in predominantly French Louisiana. So our suspicions are that his original family surname was Hoffbauer. With "our" Y-DNA records of his descendants, we are looking for individuals with the surname Hoffbauer, and hoping for a Y-DNA match, which would indicate that our family roots are actually linked to the Hoffbauer name, a name wiich still appears in Germany today, whereas there are no Hoffpauers or Hoffpauirs there, with the exception of my brother, born here but now living there, and his family. If we find any such links, they can only be added to the "family tree" if we can establish a common ancestor via the paper records. However, at least if we do get a Y-DNA match, it will tell us to definitely look at Hoffbauer records in Germany! -- Charlie Hoffpauir http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/

"Power-Post 2K" <nonews@noname.com> wrote: > The group has been quiet, so I figure I could post a more speculative > question. > > I've taken a Y-DNA test (as well as the mtDNA test), and I have about > 15 matches. One of these matches is a relatively close match (about 7 > generations away), and I'm hoping to find the exact connection soon. > > While a few of the other 14 matches have similar beginnings of > surnames, it's probable that the connection is further back in time. > Considering that I'm Jewish and my paternal ancestry is from Belarus, > I would think it's an almost insurmountable task to trace people prior > to the beginning of the 18th century. > > I was struck by a recent statement someone made, something to the > effect of if there is no documntation for the person, then they don't > belong on your tree. I would consider that statement half-true. What is true is that no matter how they are related, you cannot know their exact placement into a family tree without additional facts (beyond DNA). Based on being unable to place them, then the statement "they don't belong in your tree" is accurate. However, they should still be tracked in your database so that when you do find the connection, their personal information is already present. > For those who have achieved simliar results through DNA testing, what > do you do? Incorporate the people into the tree, or do something else > with them? > > I'm interested to hear of others' solutions. > > Bob Kosovsky > New York City "D. Stussy" <spam@bde-arc.ampr.org>

In article <omftt3lisfqfcftbarqetq4ciu54thqsas@4ax.com>, Power-Post 2K <nonews@noname.com> writes: > The group has been quiet, so I figure I could post a more speculative > question. > > I've taken a Y-DNA test (as well as the mtDNA test), and I have about > 15 matches. One of these matches is a relatively close match (about 7 > generations away), and I'm hoping to find the exact connection soon. > > While a few of the other 14 matches have similar beginnings of > surnames, it's probable that the connection is further back in time. > Considering that I'm Jewish and my paternal ancestry is from Belarus, > I would think it's an almost insurmountable task to trace people prior > to the beginning of the 18th century. > > I was struck by a recent statement someone made, something to the > effect of if there is no documntation for the person, then they don't > belong on your tree. > > For those who have achieved simliar results through DNA testing, what > do you do? Incorporate the people into the tree, or do something else > with them? > > I'm interested to hear of others' solutions. > > Bob Kosovsky > New York City DNA testing is a tool, nothing more, nothing less, and can't - or shouldn't - be used in isolation or in place of the other tools available. The fact you can determine you and Joe Doaks share a common ancestor N-generations back doesn't identify that ancestor - it just gives you a time and place to look. It's still necessary to establish the paper trail to identify and place that ancestor. Swell Ol' Bob -- Robert G. Melson | Rio Grande MicroSolutions | El Paso, Texas ----- Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason so few engage in it. -- Henry Ford

Power-Post 2K wrote: > Considering that I'm Jewish and my paternal ancestry is from Belarus, Please write me. I have some information for you. -- Wes Groleau Don't get even -- get odd!

I've written - let me know whether my message gets thru. Bob K. On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 21:36:05 GMT, Wes Groleau <groleau+news@freeshell.org> wrote: >Power-Post 2K wrote: >> Considering that I'm Jewish and my paternal ancestry is from Belarus, > >Please write me. I have some information for you.