Saturday, January 11, 2014

More, Moor, and Moore DNA-ness

I am totally diggin' on this DNA testing for genealogy research. I was really hesitant to do it for a few reasons:

  1. It used to be so much more expensive than it is now but it's still not cheap. I am in a constant state of broke. I spent a good chuck of my life well underpaid and so I exist in a lot of debt. I don't have money to throw away. Family history research is expensive enough with database subscriptions and purchasing vital records.
  2. I heard a lot of people who had done the testing were disappointed with the results. They thought it would open up their research so much more than it did so...

Why bother??

But I am not disappointed at all. I am totally fascinated with it. I had been at a point in my research where almost every line had hit a brick wall. Now I am connecting with other researching cousins and totally confirming my research.

In general, I am not a very confident person. Ask any man I've ever dated. I'm not the insecure jealous type really...that's not it. You go be with whoever you want, I don't give a damn...but I am always sort of convinced it's not me. And not in a "woe-is-me" kind of way more in a "now-what-are-you-doing-here" kind of way. But whateve. Why am I telling you this? Oh yeah, lack of confidence. I know I am a good researcher, I know I am a decent writer, but I just doubt and second guess myself constantly.

The great part about this DNA testing though is that it has totally confirmed my research. I had used the example in the past of my 6th cousin once removed, Cousin Mary, and I not connecting with each other through DNA. I was so disappointed but I did connect with someone else who shares the same common ancestors as Cousin Mary and I. That felt great because I had doubts about my Raynor research where as Mary's line was pretty doubtless. So to see my DNA sync me up to someone of the same Raynor line...I was elated; even proud that I had documented that ancestry correctly.

Now I have just had that experience again. And get this...with my patriot line. 

If you have read my blog in the past you may know I researched to get into the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). I thought I had a patriot based on some bad info and gave up on the thought of becoming a member. I thought I didn't have any direct ancestors who could have been patriots. My dad's line - in my mind - was the one with long standing roots in America and they lived in Loyalist territory during the Revolution. 

Then I stumbled across a patriot in the most unlikely place. I found my patriot, Daniel Moor, on my mother's side which I always think of as my immigrant side because none of the arrived in the 1600s...or so I thought. 

I believed the line I found my patriot on to be a Canadian line. Seems the Moors traipsed back and forth cross the U.S. Canadian boarder for several generations though. By the way, the spelling of that last name takes every imaginable form in my documentation; Moor, Moore, More.

I thought this connection to Daniel Moor was  kind of too good to be true but today I found someone with a DNA match who has researched back to the same couple, John and Janet Moor, Daniel Moor's parents!

What that does is confirm that my research is correct. Someone connecting to that same couple has DNA in common with me. I have patriot DNA! I'm so excited.

Now of course if my father's DNA test come back and matches this same researcher we have a problem because the Moors are on my mom's side. We'll see because right now I am patiently waiting on Dad's results and my sister's. Yes, they each got a kit for the December birthdays. Just what they always wanted!! :-D

We'll see!

5 comments:

  1. Hi April, had the pleasure of your "company" at today's DAR meeting in Freeport. I found your presentation to be easily understood and the data presented with great clarity. As a relatively new science to most of us, having done both mine & my husbands DNA, it is just fascinating. Looking forward to hearing from you on the future, left my DAR info, now Registrar of Col. Aaron Ogden, in Garden City.. Love this stuff!!! June Fairhurst Fay

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    1. Oh it was so nice to meet you too. I am always very honored to speak to the Daughters. I am anxious to have my application accepted soon.

      Does your Chapter have separate meetings or do you always attend the Freeport meetings? I'd be willing to present the material again to your chapter if you'd like.

      AND I'm totally going to try to find out if your husband's Fays are connected to my Fays. My maternal grandmother's maiden name was Fay - she was from Elmhurst, her parents were from Manhattan, and her grandparents were from Saugerties.

      And don't you nevermind about any typos - - I have typos all the time. :-)

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  2. Please advise on editing , unable to do... :-( forgive any typos..
    June

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  3. John and Janet Moor are my great x 7 grandparents. I will be getting a DNA test soon to confirm but I am 99.9999999% sure.

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    1. Hi Clarke. Always nice to have cousins connect through my blog. I did my DNA test through Ancestry.com and did find a few matches who also have John and Janet Moor in their family trees. DNA is a great tool but it can be difficult to interpret. I hope it provides you the confirmation that you want.

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