As someone who has a hobby interest in genealogy, the potential of this type of research fascinates me.
After testing his own DNA at the request of a distant cousin, Mr. Grieve was shaken to discover that he did not match any of his extended family, including his first cousin, the son of his father’s brother.As anyone interested in genealogy knows, too often the "paper record" is sketchy, or downright inaccurate.
That could only mean an occurrence of what genetic genealogists call a “nonpaternal event.”
Either his father was not his father, or his grandfather was not his father’s father. But the elder Mr. Grieve has refused to surrender to the swab.
Right into the latter part of the last century, an illegitimate birth was a scandal, to be officially obfuscated whenever possible. Marriage dates or birth dates were adjusted to cover such events.
In census records, women often lied about their ages. If it was Dad who answered the door when the enumerator came around... children's ages were often wildly inaccurate. If ole' Dad had been drinking... it was worse.
If the person being enumerated had any sort of foreign accent, they could be listed as "Irish" because in the 1800's, the epithet "bogtrotting Irish" could encompass all foreigners and persons of low birth.
No one -- the O.J Simpson jury excepted -- questions the validity of DNA.
Which raises the issue... do you really want to know?
Technorati Tags: DNA, genealogy, where's poppa
