Within the next few weeks I may be able to provide a good testimonial on advantages (to me) of testing done by FTDNA. Here's a little background on my situation. In the 1970s a J. S. Hurst (my 1st cousin once removed) did a lot of "conventional research" on our HURST family line. He didn't live to see his work published, but in 1982 his sister published the book "Hurst and Allied Families". I received a copy of the book & it sat on a shelf for about 17 years. When I retired, in 1999, I decided to do some verification & see if I could add anything, using the internet. It didn't take me long to realize that "internet genealogy" was NOT the end all in this field. Without getting too long, I'll say that I have done a lot of traveling around GA, TN. MD, VA, NC & SC in the last few years. Imagine my surprise when I found my cousin's book to be incomplete, inaccurate and in some areas downright untruthful. So much for "old time" methods. Maybe I was just a little more dilligent at digging through records in courthouses, libraries, archeives, etc. & searched out & talked to more folks than he did. Anyhow, back to the subject. It seems that my 3rd great grandfather, Jeremiah Hurst, dropped out of the sky with a wife & 3 kids in 1810, in time for the census, in Wythe County VA. Lots of other HURSTs there & nearby who could have been parents or siblings, but no record (that I've found) of who he "belongs to". Yes, I've been to Wytheville a couple times as well as Tennessee counties where he live between 1812 & his death in 1854. Found lots of "new" info (not in book) about him, his kids & other descendants but no "evidence" of who his parents are. There are currently 3 HURSTs who know they are descended from another guy in Wythe County at that time, who have been tested & are 100% match on the 25 marker test. If I come back with at least a 23/25 match with them (even better a 25/25 match) I will KNOW that I am at least related - if it's 25/25 match, the man they're descended from is probably my 4th, maybe 5th great grandfather. I know that's not as sure as finding a name on a will or administration, but it sure beats anything I've found in the last 3.5 years of searching, having spent a good bit of bucks traveling around the south. Someone mentioned the cost of the tests as a negative point. The 25 marker test cost me about $172.00 including postage. The 12 marker test is less, also less accurate & I did not even consider it. I don't think I ever went on a research trip where it didn't cost me about twice that much, and not all of the trips produced anything of value, genealogically speaking. I believe DNA testing is another tool, just like the internet is nothing more than a tool, to help some folks in their quest for the truth. Of course there can be some down sides to the truth, like the two "brothers" who were so far off on Y DNA that there was no way they had the same father, and they thought they did. Must have been a little hanky panky going on, but of course nobody wanted to talk about that truth. Anyhow, I'll post the results of my test when they come, whether they accomplish what I hope, or not. Regards Ernie Hurst ernie5823@earthlink.net