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Having a couple of defined project aims and objectives from
the start will usually help make it clear to others why you
are contacting them what you are trying to do - and why you
want their DNA! This is in contrast to a random approach to
testing which tries to get the ball rolling by testing anyone
with the same or similar surname. Both methods work, but most
find projects with a clear direction are more successful in
the long run.
A good objective to start off with would be, for example,
to “verify the line down from John Demaux b. Lancashire,
England 1792”.
It is usually a sound idea to identify a single, younger
ancestor first, and then test two fairly close, known relatives
that also have a solid paper trail to that ancestor. An example
would be two males who share a g-g-grandfather born 150 years
ago. Both haplotypes will usually be exactly the same, which
will give you a modal haplotype (the common haplotype) for
that line. Using this information, you can work your way back,
testing cousins who are more distantly related until you can
be sure that you have the haplotype for your particular ‘John
Demaux’.
As there are usually many different spellings for any particular
surname, a second objective could be to see if the e.g., “Demaux
and Demmo lines are related”. This requires that the
modal haplotype for the Demmo line needs to be determined
too.
Knowing the modal haplotype for a line (or lines) is very
useful, as you can also determine who is NOT related by blood.
When the haplotype of an individual is very different from
the modal haplotype, a non-paternity event (adoption, infidelity
etc.) has occurred. This could be for any number of reasons,
but they should easily ‘stick out’ from the rest
of the lines due to having a different DNA haplotype (something
your participants must be made aware of).
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