I have been thinking about using DNA in my genealogy research. I started my genealogy research long before the Internet and DNA. When I first heard about having your DNA done to find out where your ancestors were from, I thought it was interesting. I had mine done through Ancestry.com years ago. It told me I was 39% Southern Germanic Europe (Germany, Austria, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the Netherlands), 19% North Central Europe (Poland, Czechia, Germany, Austria, Hungary), 15% Northwestern Germany (Germany, Denmark, Netherlands), 15% Southeastern England & Northwestern Europe (England, Belgium, Channel Islands, France, Netherlands), 6% Southern Poland (Poland, Belarus, Czechia, Slovakia, Ukraine), 2% Western Ukraine (Moldova, Romania, Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia), 2% Sweden, (Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland), 1% Estonia & Latvia (Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Lithuania), 1% Leinster, Ireland (Ireland) descent. I already knew most of this from my paper research which led me to Germany, Poland, Belgium, France, England, Scotland.
I knew who some of my matches were and some of the ones I did not know had no online family trees, therefore, I did not know our common ancestor. I thought the ones that had no family tree were just interested in where their ancestors came from but didn’t care about who they were. After all the research and paper trail that I did for many years, I felt like just doing your DNA was kind of like cheating and an easy answer to your ancestry. I ignored it for many years.
Recently, I was working on a brick wall trying to find one of my 2nd great grandmother’s parents. I had a lot of circumstantial evidence, but no actual documentation. I looked at some of my DNA matches and found one 4th to 6th cousin that had her family tree online. She has the person in her family tree who I believe is my 2nd great grandmother’s father and the person I believe is her mother. This leads me to think I am on the right track, but I am still looking for the paper proof. This piqued my interest in DNA.
I know nothing about DNA and how it works. I have heard that it can help break brick walls, and I would like to know more. I decided to enroll in an online course through the National Genealogical Society. I am currently working on module 3. I now see how DNA can be very helpful in our genealogy research and have changed my thinking on DNA. It is just one more tool for us to use. It is not meant as a replacement to doing the research and gathering the documentation to prove your ancestry.
Week 10 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge: Changed my thinking
Copyright © 2026 Gail Grunst