About us
My name is Sunny Aldrich and I would like to introduce myself to all of you as the new Admin for the Randall DNA Project.
BACKGROUND
The project has been without a dedicated administrator for some time, so I volunteered to take over the project management and start working on getting the project back up to speed. I am an amateur genetic genealogists with several years of experience and the admin for two other projects at this time.
MY LINE
My grandmother's maiden name was Randall, which is how I got started as a Randall researcher. Her great-grandfather, James, was born in Canada circa 1821. Census records indicate both of his parents were born in New York, so we know his line was only in Canada for a short period of time. James married Hannah Ann Soule in Wisconsin in 1848 and they had numerous children there before moving to Republic, Kansas circa 1770. A member of our Randall family will be adding a DNA test to the project shortly in order to discover which group we belong to.
GOALS
The goal of any DNA project is to discover who is related to whom and how the various lines tie together or where they diverge from one another. To this end, I cannot stress enough the importance of traditional genealogy work. As experienced genealogists know, tracing ancestors is often like working a "missing persons" case hundreds of years old. We use the best "evidence" available and have to piece together a case from the available clues. Just like modern investigations, DNA can be a very useful tool in proving or disproving theories and "suspects." However, without that paper trail of evidence to support it, DNA is simply an interesting biology exercise! The two tools are most effective when they are used together in order to create a comprehensive body of work that supports and compliments the efforts of family researchers. In order to accomplish this, our project needs two things:
- Genealogically useful DNA tests (Y-37 or higher)
- Ancestral lineages of the DNA donors (proof of descendancy)
In support of both of these goals, I will be updating and upgrading our project in the following ways (the blue, underlined text below is linked to the websites mentioned):
FTDNA GROUPS: FTDNA will soon be converting all of their projects over to the "MyGroups" format. This will give project members a private message board where we can exchange information, post photos and queries.
UPGRADE YOUR DNA TEST: I would like to encourage everyone who has only tested at the Y-12 or Y-25 level to upgrade to at least Y-37 markers (click here to purchase an upgrade.) The Y-12 and Y-25 tests are very broad, basic marker tests which only provide you with an ancient ancestral "haplogroup" prediction. These tests can give you a general ethnic assignment for your direct paternal ancestors thousands of years ago, but are not adequate for use in genetic genealogy. I will be notifying the group when FTDNA has sales, specials or coupons.
PATRIARCHS AND LINEAGES: Many of us have our earliest ancestor posted on our FamilyTreeDNA profile, but some folks do not. This is always a personal choice and is not always information that donors choose to share. However, sharing our trees and lineages within our project is part of what makes the DNA project useful in the first place, so I strongly encourage everyone to make sure their information is up to date. You can do this by logging in to your FTDNA account, going to your profile settings and clicking the "genealogy" tab. You can also upload your gedcom on that page which allows other project members to view your tree. You can choose whether or not your tree is shared with the general public or only visible to project members. Please consider making it visible to all project members rather than just those you match - sometimes it's as important to know who you don't match and can therefore rule out as a possible ancestor.
We also have our own project page at WorldFamilies.net which allows us more flexibility in displaying our project results and also gives us a "Patriarch's Page" where we can post results. If you have not already done so, please visit the PEDIGREE BOARD of the RANDALL PUBLIC FORUM at our project and add your pedigree or reply to this email and I will add it. If you have a DNA test kit, be sure to add the kit # to your message so that we know which test the pedigree is associated with. Please only include ancestors you have reasonably "proven" with traditional genealogy and indicate where your "brick wall" is. This is also a great place to post queries or contact other researchers! This page is public whereas the group messages at FTDNA are only visible to project members, so post wherever you feel most comfortable.
I'M HERE TO HELP
If you have questions, concerns, or information you would like to provide about your lineage, please do not hesitate to contact me. I will do whatever I can to assist you and make sure you get the most out of your participation in the project.
Sunny Aldrich
Randall DNA Project Admin