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?
I am just starting to build my understanding of using DNA to solve genealogical questions – a topic I intend to attack full-force upon retirement! The one I’d really like to solve is to figure out the parents of my 3x-great-grandfather Andrew Fraser.
I am convinced that I’ve hit the end of the line as far as finding any more evidence in the records. I traveled to Scotland in 2016 and got hands-on help and consultation from experts. I even hired some Scottish researchers to go to a couple of archives for me and follow up on a few clues that I found after I got home.
However…there is an intriguing Y-DNA match to my cousin Bruce that points to a Highland Scot connection in Inverness. These distant DNA-cousins ended up in Canada. Our common ancestor is likely just a generation or two beyond where each of our family trees ends.
A fantastical and unlikely theory about my distant Fraser ancestry can be found here.
Which Alexander Fraser are you stuck on? There must be more than I have in my tree, as of yet, because I don’t think I have one that died in 1872. I think I have a big mess in my tree….lol. Hurry up and retire!!!!
Chris Williamson
Karen, I’m retired now and hope to spend more time on genealogy too. I have taken the Ancestry DNA test and it would be interesting to see how we match up. I think we figured out once we were 4th cousins. Our common ancestor is Duncan Campbell.
Talk to you later,
Dave Whitehouse
Nina Campbell was a dinner guest
She said there was a long standing feud between Campbells and Frasiers
We patched that up LOL as well as our Frasier ancestor married Ann C ampbell