On Autosomal DNA Testing

DNA double helix, public domain from Dreamstime.com

Autosomal DNA testing hasn't been very helpful in my case (and I don't think this is unusual). What is confirmed over and over again is my mom is my mother, dad is my father, and my older brother is my brother. Almost all of my 1st-thru-3rd cousins identified as my "DNA Matches" were previously known or recently discovered, so the suggested DNA match more or less confirmed the known facts. But the autosomal DNA test has not helped much with family genealogy research.

So, is DNA testing a waste of time? Well maybe for most folks, unless a person is unsure about their true blood-related family as may occur in an adoption, etc. I always thought maybe I fell off the back of a milk truck (mom always liked the milk delivery man)... but Lil is my Mom. And I think on several occasions dad felt like disowning me as a pre-teen and teenager -- but it seems Dad is my Dad.

I did find a previously unknown paternal 2nd cousin, but unfortunately, Colonel Bob Janzen, USAF was then deceased (Bob passed away in 2016, two years before discovery). Bob and I are in the same generation from the closest common ancestor, our Great Grandmother Ms. Effie Julia (Odell) Moegling. Seems that cousin Bob had taken the 23andMe DNA Test in an unsuccessful attempt to track the origin of the Parkinson's Disease that took his life. Sad to have missed the opportunity to discuss ancestry subjects with Bob... naturally over a couple of beers. I'm unsure if Bob was satisfied with his DNA test research, but I think probably not.

RIP Colonel Robert Lawrence "Bob" Janzen, USAF (ret.)

P.S.  Should have added that our interesting common ancestry takes us back to early New England settlers Captain George Denison (d.1694, Hartford, CT) and Thomas Stanton Sr. (d.1677, Stonington, CT).  The following lineage chart shows Thomas Stanton Sr. --  to -- Colonel Bob Janzen link (note: Thomas Stanton Jr.'s wife Sarah Denision (d.1701) is the eldest child of Captain George Denison): 

Thomas Stanton Sr. (1616 - 1677)
10th great-grandfather

Thomas Stanton Jr. (1638 – 1718) and Sarah Denison (d.1701)
son of Thomas Stanton Sr.

William Stanton (1677 - 1718)
son of Thomas Stanton Jr. and Sarah Denison

Sarah Stanton (1708 - 1755)
daughter of William Stanton

Sarah Richardson (1734 - 1812)
daughter of Sarah Stanton

Sarah Brainerd (1762 - 1828)
daughter of Sarah Richardson

Hannah Smith (1789 – 1840) and Isaac Odell (d.1840)
daughter of Sarah Brainerd

William Sheldon Odell (1817 - 1891)
son of Hannah Smith and Isaac Odell

Albert G. Odell (1839 - 1892)

son of William Sheldon Odell

Effie Julia Odell (1862 - 1924)

daughter of Albert G. Odell

Alice Edith Gorton-Moegling-Brazinski-Gignac (1885-1935)

daughter of Effie Julia Odell

Edna Elizabeth "Betty" Brazinski (1915-1978)

daughter of Alice Edith Gorton-Moegling-Brazinski-Gignac

Colonel Robert Lawrence "Bob" Janzen (1935-2016)

son of Edna Elizabeth "Betty" Brazinski