I know many people shy away from doing their DNA testing, and rightly so if they are not willing to accept that their ancestors were human. They had no idea their secrets would be revealed through a simple test. A few years ago, my husband discovered a half-sister that even his 96 year old aunt did not know about. What a blessing it was to get to meet her in Texas and unite her with her DNA full sister!! All made possible with the technology we have today!
But my story here is about recent connections I made on my Murray family tree because of DNA. I get a lot of DNA match hints on “23 and Me,” “MyHeritage,” and “Ancestry.” I don’t spend time on matches that don’t share trees with surnames (This tells you how important it is to be familiar with your family names). I especially hone in on matches that are 4th generation cousins and lower. A few years ago, I saw a Murray match that was a great grandson of my Great, Great Grandfather, William John Murray, who remains a bit elusive. This great grandson shared a photo that looks exactly like my brother William!
More recently, I received a DNA match from MyHeritage with a Murray surname. He was listed as my second cousin. Immediately, I knew how we were related so I sent a message through MyHeritage and he responded right back. After a few messages through the database, with gained confidence that we were real and related, we shared email addresses. Now we were able to share pictures and more specific information. He was delighted to get the picture I got from William John Murray’s great grandson.
The next step we took was connecting with phone calls. They still have a Murray family reunion every few years so I invited myself to the next one. I am excited to get to meet my Murray family and share many more stories and get our own pictures of a united family! For me, DNA has been a miracle and blessing! But you must decide for yourself!
(Almost 3 years ago we were united through DNA with our first grandson who was given up for adoption, but that is another story for another day).
-Susan Wise, Consultant, Granite FamilySearch Center