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I'm the website coordinator for Bastrop, Lee and Hemphill Counties in Texas. As a researcher I too have to rely on whatever information I can find online for my families. I have several where I've hit a brick wall and just can't go up the tree anymore. One line is my Tiner's who moved from Baker/Early County, Ga to Bastrop County, TX. The earlies record we had was William Tyner who purchased land in Baker Co, GA in 1848. The only proof of his name was a delayed deed made in 1899 when the sister bought the brother's shares and the original deed where their father bought the land had to be made for the transaction. This family hid or was in a black hole during the 1850/60/70 census.

Along comes the DNA Project. One of the descendants of a brother that stayed in GA tested his DNA. Another participant in Ohio tested his DNA because he was stuck in 1805 in Ohio. The main Tyner line was from Nicholas Tyner b. 1650 and moved to VA. Well, a surprise to all of us was the Ohio line matched our GA line. Then another tested that has documented proof of his line up to Nicholas. The GA cousin and the new Ohio cousin matched this new test. So we now know we are from Nicholas I and just have to find where in the tree we belong.

In addition there was family stores that the daughter of Nicholas I, Sarah, was the mistress of John Harris. She had 3 children with the last names of Tyner. Well here comes DNA testing and it proved the story correct. Some of those with the Tyner name are really Harris', though related to the Tyner's through Sarah.

This sold me on the DNA tool. So, because I'm stuck on my husband's Owen line I ordered a test for him. His great grandfather was found in TN in 1870, age 13 born in Alabama, living with William Bond. I can't find him before that and he was raised by William Bond. I did find William Bond in Franklin Co, AL in 1860 but no George Owen. There are no Owen's in Franklin Co, AL in 1860.

I got the results back on Dec 29, 2006 and found there are 4 branches that match old George. Again, just need to connect the dots and find his direct line.

Even if you have solid paper proof of your line, you could be a "control", meaning that anyone matching your DNA would know they belong to your line somewhere. This is as important as trying to match another line. Plus you might be surprised.

If you order a test, join a surname project first to get the discount price. Also, you can order the test and get an invoice so you don't have to return it right away.

I actually bought one for another person because they couldn't afford it and I wanted to know who his line matched. It wasn't my line but it did eliminate a line I no longer had to search for.

You can also give to the surname's general fund to help others get a DNA test.

It's private and not given to law enforcement or health companies. It's strictly for genealogy purposes.

I don't own stock in the company or anything. I just am so excited about this new tool. So get those Great Uncle, Great Grandfather's, husband's, father's, brother's or son's cheeks scraped before it's too late. Females can do it too but for different reasons. See the webpage for further information and good luck.

From the FAQ's section of the FamilyTreeDNA page:

What do I get when I am tested?


Due to our unique scientific background , we can provide you more information than any other testing company: in addition to your specific data, you'll be receiving a series of other relevant information, like deep ancestral origins, matches with other individuals that share the same results, your recent ethnic origins, and for the Y-DNA, our patent pending FTDNATiP - the Time Predictor to the Most Recent Common Ancestor between you and other individuals that are relevant matches to you.

Y-DNA Test

When you test your Y-DNA, you receive not just the information that is relevant for your genealogical research - the markers that you are going to compare to other individuals' results - but you also have the possibility of knowing about your most distant ancestral origin in that paternal line. This can be done by either predicting it from your marker results, or through additional testing. Sometimes predictions can lead to inaccurate determinations of the deep ancestral origins, especially when the comparative databases that lead to those predictions are small. A recent example of a wrong prediction occurred when another company attributed someone as a descendant of Genghis Khan, when he was far from being that.

Here's where the Family Tree DNA test has an added value that no other company has: because the Family Tree DNA database is by far the largest in the world, our prediction in 90% of cases can be made with absolute certainty, and in those cases where we are not 100% confident, we will perform the additional testing (called SNP testing) for free to make the bullet-proof determination of one's deep ancestral origins. That's what we call the SNP Assurance Program , and Family Tree DNA is the only company that offers this guarantee.

mtDNA Test

On the mtDNA side, Family Tree DNA is the only Genetic Genealogy company that along with your mtDNA sequencing (HVR1) performs a panel of 22 SNP tests - for free - to unambiguously position your maternal line results in the ancestral tree of the humankind. We do this because unlike Y-DNA, the predictions for mtDNA are much more prone to error without the additional testing. By testing the panel of 22 SNPs for all of these, we are able make a definitive determination.

Certificates and Reports

Family Tree DNA makes results available to our customers both electronically and by regular mail. When the lab completes a test, we upload the results to our database and notify you via e-mail that the results are available online. The online results are accessed from the login box on our home page.
Demo-1 - Online results including a tab for the Group Administrator Page.
Demo-2 - Online results for a standard user.

A certificate and a report are sent by regular mail. The certificate contains the name of the tested individual, the results, and, in the case of the Native American or Cohanim test, shows whether the results were positive or negative.

The following are the materials sent by mail:
1. The Y-DNA and mtDNA test certificate

2. Depending on the test, a four to five page report included with the certificate

3. Maternal Match or mtDNA test results includes a migration map

4. Native American tests includes maps:

5. FTDNATiP - Time Predictor to the Most Recent Common Ancestor:


Family Tree DNA