Sunday 9 October 2016

Well, I Did It... Genealogically Speaking

What exactly did I do? I have jumped into the genetic genealogy pool with the purchase of AncestryDNA and FamilyTreeDNA testing kits. After a long break from doing any genealogy research of my own and a super-busy year of work, I decided that I needed to do something different to spark my interest and research.

I had the privilege of attending the Ontario Genealogical Society Annual Conference in Toronto in June for work and followed the genetic genealogy stream in the program as something that I wanted to learn more about for myself and my library patrons. I attended several sessions given by Cece Moore of the DNA Detectives - and while I won't confess to understanding everything about the ins and outs of DNA and genetic genealogy, I was hooked. Her stories, advice and information were captivating and intriguing, so I bought the AncestryDNA kit at the conference. I promptly took it home, left on holidays and left it untouched for the summer.


When FamilyTreeDNA advertised its summer sale, I bought their kit - knowing that the Devon DNA Project was affiliated with FamilyTree DNA.  I've hit the proverbial brick wall on my Ball line in North/South Molton, and am hoping that FamilyTreeDNA, with its large UK base, will help connect me to descendants of my Ball family that stayed behind in Devon.



Finally, in early September, I sat down one Wednesday morning, did my tests, and mailed them in on the way to work. Now, I am eagerly awaiting my test results.

I'll keep you posted when the results are in!

Cheers, Karen