Sale on DNA Tests for Genealogy

All DNA tests for genealogy are on sale at Family Tree DNA through November 21, 2016.

$59 (US Dollars) for the Family Finder (autosomal DNA) is the best deal out there.

This test estimates your ethnic percentages and lists people who share DNA with you.  They are descendants of your ancestors and the next step is figuring out which ancestors you have in common.

Direct lineage tests (Y-DNA and mt-DNA) are on sale and coupons are floating around!  I'll post codes in the comments below and then delete when used or expired.

Interactive Family Tree

Create your own interactive family tree through a tool developed by Bradford F Lyon.


Below is a tree of my father's ancestors.  At a glance, you can see the lines that are traced back farthest, as well as the tail ends of each line.  (Individual names appear as you scroll the cursor.)

My mother's tree, in contrast, does not extend past the 1800s, so far fewer ancestors are displayed.

You can also generate a descendant tree.  The tree below is for Joost DeRieux, the original immigrant of my Duryea line, who was born around 1635.  Not every descendant is in the family tree file that I used to create this diagram, but you can see at a glance which branches died out or which ones need further research.

LivingDNA Test

I took another DNA test.

LivingDNA.com is a DNA testing company based in the United Kingdom.  The analysis will include a breakdown of ancestry into eighty different regions of the world, 21 of them specific to the United Kingdom.  I will share my findings with you.

My kit cost $159 (US Dollars) and shipped in three days from Kentucky, United States.

Cheek swabbing is the method of collection.

My mother's ancestry is of recent origin from Ireland.  I am hoping that this DNA test may reveal geographical areas of prevalence in my DNA and link me to close cousins in the United Kingdom.  If customers are primarily from the same country as my mother's ancestors, LivingDNA could be a deeper pool of potential close cousins than other companies whose customers are overwhelmingly from the United States.

I'm not a fan of ancestry results, finding them widely varied, and prefer to see DNA cousins to figure out the common ancestors.