52 Ancestors Week 16: DNA

 From Amy Johnson Crow: DNA. It's amazing how three letters could so completely change the field of genealogy. What's a discovery you've made with DNA? What about a brick wall that DNA might help break down?

Originally I was going to type a genetic code in but...nah.

        DNA testing can definitely change your life and frankly your entire world could be flipped upside down in an instant. Sure you can find out where your ancestors came from and confirm or deny stories you've heard growing up via admixture results provided to you by your favorite vendor (Ancestry, MyHeritage, 23andme etc.). However, there's more to it than that. DNA testing allows you to find out about relatives a world away or as close as your own backyard. Whatever happens when you take a DNA test, you are going to find surprises. Like the one below....

I'm sure "Sara" wouldn't mind me sharing this. Relax. This is photoshopped.

    Shameless Starbolts reference aside, I've definitely found my fair share of surprises in my DNA matches. My most recent one occurred just a few months ago. In February, I talked about how I came into contact with a cousin of mine on Myheritage in this blog. To recap, she is an Italian woman living in Switzerland and her mother is my great-grandfather Vincenzo's niece. Vincenzo and my grandparents, Marco and Olympia, went to Switzerland for her wedding back in 1969. The rest, as they say, is history.

OR IS IT?!

I wonder if I should ask for Swiss cheese.

  
Not long after I started talking to my cousin, her daughter showed up as a DNA match to me and my father. She shares 88 centimorgans with me and 210 centimorgans with him. I honestly didn't see that one coming! Yes, I knew she was a cousin. I just didn't know she tested. That in and of itself was very cool. Then more people started to come out of the woodwork!

    My match's son and a first cousin also showed up as matches, too! It was incredible! I love finding new family and I like figuring out where they all fit into the grand scheme of things.

Your kids went all over the place.

    As it turns out, they all descended from my 2nd great-grandparents, Marco Ferraiolo and Caterina Coppola. Vincenzo's sister, Concetta is the link. She married a man named Giuseppe Aleardi and moved to Switzerland. Concetta wasn't the only Ferraiolo offspring with a bit of a wanderlust. Rosa went to Rome after marrying a Serrao. Caterina married Giuseppe Astorino and moved to Argentina.

    I think that's why many of my Swiss relatives have tested. Since Caterina moved to Argentina, it stands to reason that they lost contact with them. At least that's what my cousin told me. After Concetta passed away, the family lost contact with the Astorinos and I guess they wanted to reach out to family all over the world. I'm not sure if that's 100% accurate. But, it makes the most sense. It's a big world out there and family can be everywhere. I've told my cousins about the family on the Coppola side in America who tested on Ancestry. They are very happy to learn about them and that makes me happy as well because I like to help people and bridge the gap so to speak. The more people learn about their family and where people came from, the more whole a person becomes.

Concetta Ferraiolo

        I suppose the moral of the story is that you should test on the biggest vendor out there first before putting your DNA on other platforms. In my case, I tested on Ancestry back in 2018 and put my DNA on MyHeritage. My parents and I didn't get any really, really close matches until recently save for one or two people. After so many years of playing the long game, I finally got a few European matches and that is VERY exciting! Is it worth it? You know it is!

    If you have recent immigrants, it's probably a good idea to put your DNA on a site where many people who test are in Europe or in other parts of the world. That way you can find a DNA connection to the grandparents of your immigrant ancestor and beyond. Sure you might be playing the long game like I did. But, in the end it's great because you get to see who you might connect with worldwide. It's a big world out there. DNA matches aren't going to be found just in your small corner of it.

    As Ancestry.com is based in the United States, I never really got full Thrulines or DNA matches who descend from just Marco and Caterina. This was because their children moved around and their descendants did not go to America. If you're a descendant of a recent immigrant like I am you may find there isn't a Thruline on Ancestry. That may be due to any number of reasons. You might have the wrong ancestors like I did for Antonio Tedesco or your ancestor has descendants who stayed in Europe or went to South America like mine did. This is also why I don't have Thrulines for Domenica Gullo and her family. As far as I know, her brothers and sisters stayed in Europe. I could be wrong.

Paolo Ferraiolo and Elisabetta

Rosa Ferraiolo

    My experience tells me that it's a good idea to fish in every pond imaginable. You aren't going to find what you want just by sitting at Ancestry or 23andme. So, get out there and make some amazing DNA-related discoveries. Your cousins are all over the world. For the longest time, I thought I wouldn't find any Ferraiolo cousins who descended from Marco and Caterina and now I have and I am definitely glad that they're out there and that they can help fill in the gaps on my family tree. DNA testing and paper trail genealogy should work well together as it strengthens the tree and sorts out the messes that need to be sorted. This is just one reason for uploading your DNA to another vendor. You have matches you wouldn't get anywhere else. It just so happens that Myheritage has a lot of European testers. So, what are you waiting for? Download your DNA and upload it to another site! Yeah, it sounds weird when I put it like that. But, it's worth it! See for yourself and make some amazing discoveries!

See ya next time!