Kelli Bergheimer’s return visit to the Fayette County Genealogical Society was a big success on Oct. 15.
During her program Kelli demonstrated the percentages of DNA we inherit from our parents and how much of those percentages are maintained in our children, grandchildren, grandparents, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and so forth. She also showed how siblings with the same parents can inherit differing DNA from their parents. Thus, we know why some siblings look a great deal alike and others do not, and why we look like different people in our families.
Stressed during this night of study were the three types of DNA testing you can receive. One is the Y-DNA for men only, which is sometimes called the surname line of Y-chromosome passed on from generation to generation from grandfather to father to son. These Y-DNA lines remain unchanged for tens of thousands of years and have about 58 million base pairs. A second one is the Mitochondrial DNA Test. Everyone has mitochondrial DNA from their mothers. These are tests of DNA passed from grandmother to mother to daughter and also remain unchanged for tens of thousands of years. Sons will have mitochondrial DNA from their mothers but they do not pass it on to their children.
Mitochondrial DNA has about 16,569 base pairs. The third is an Autosomal DNA test, which tests a small sample of each of the other 22 pairs of chromosomes. This is the type of test that most individuals receive and is widely advertised by companies such as Ancestry and 23 and Me.
While all the tests can help in research and finding family members, the Y and Mitochondrial tests can help solve more difficult researches. As always Kelli went through cautions everyone should consider before using DNA in your genealogy research. Are you prepared to find out what you might find out? DNA does not lie. Also, DNA is of no use to you without documentation. You still need to build your family trees and search for records of verification. This was Part Two of a presentation that Kelli began with the Society last year and she plans to return again next October 2019 for a Part Three.
Kelli Bergheimer is a facilitator of the Ohio DNA Interest Group. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology, master degrees in both education and business management, and is pursuing a doctorate in industrial and organizational psychology. She is a writer, teacher, editor, nature photographer and small business owner. Her two small businesses are Geo-Centric Learning, a geography-based middle school curriculum, and Mess on the Desk, a genealogical organization with a blog. Kelli is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists and the Genealogical Speaking Guild.
The Society will be visited by Nathaniel Massie, a Revolutionary War veteran and founder of both Chillicothe and Bainbridge, during our November meeting. David Tillis will be giving a historical account of Nathaniel’s life in character while in costume. This program will be a real treat for Society members and their guests as David is well-known for his historical performances.
David, a southern Ohio historian, holds degrees from Asbury College, Lincoln Christian Seminary, and the Institute of Holy Land Studies in Jerusalem, Israel, and Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. He has participated in several archaeological digs in northern Kentucky and southwest Ohio. He presently serves as president of Bainbridge Historical Society, and volunteers at both the Dental Museum in Bainbridge, the first dental school in the United States, and the Lucy Webb Hayes House in Chillicothe, birthplace of the wife of President Rutherford B. Hayes.
This meeting will be Monday Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. in the meeting room of the Carnegie Library, 127 S. North St., Washington Court House. Please use the doors on the Catholic Church side of the building.
For additional information concerning this meeting or the Fayette County Genealogical Society, contact Cathy Massie White at 740-333-72270 or [email protected].
