Testing

[mlcarson]

I transferred an older Ancestry autosomal test for myself to FTDNA. I've now ordered FamilyFinder tests for my parents and a Y-67 test for myself. I'm just waiting for test results to come back now. All of my grandparents are dead so no testing for them. I've got a brother but I don't think there's any benefit to testing there if my parents have tested.

A male first cousin once removed on my mother's side has taken a FF/Y-37 test so that should give me some insights on the maternal Grandmother surname.

There's another male first cousin once removed on my mother's side that has the maternal Grandfather's surname. If he's willing, would it be worth testing him? I'm at a dead end on this branch at my second great grandfather. He's from 1820 Kolberg-Koerlin, Pomerania, Germany/Prussia so few records exist from that time.

Am I wrong in thinking that Y-testing of male relatives on surname branches that I'm stuck on might lead to more clues? Another branch I'm stuck on is Schultz. Not only is it one of the most common German names, it's also spelled a lot of different ways like Scholz, Scholtz, Schultze, Schulze, Schulz, etc.

So just thinking of what next...

[Aniara]

You should only need one YDNA test done for your great great grandfather's direct paternal line. 1820 wasn't too long ago. Maybe you'll get lucky and find a match who has a tree he can share with you so you can locate a common ancestor. But if you have too many matches, you will have to test further to fine tune the results a bit.

[mlcarson]

Maybe I didn't describe that right. The 1820 ancestor would be my mother's father's paternal lineage. I don't have that surname so only a cousin or a cousin once removed in this case that was male and did have the appropriate surname could do any Y-testing.

I did the Y-67 testing for my Carson ancestry which I also ironically lose track of in the 1820's but these ancestors were in Tyrone Co, Ireland at that time.

The Schultz ancestry would be my mother's Grandmother on her Paternal side. I'd need to find a living male Schulz that was a known descendant for Y-testing on that branch too.

There's a chance that my mother's autosomal DNA results might pick up on something where my test results didn't but so far not a lot of luck. The inherent problem is that nobody knows anything about them once they get back over in Europe and most of the records from back then no longer exist.

[Aniara]

Ahh, well then yes, I would go ahead and get him tested.

Maybe you'll find some cousins in Europe who have collected records you're seeking. I'm finding atDNA very helpful even without any YDNA or mtDNA on file yet.