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Madness Monday
My maiden name is Beane. A pretty innocuous name. Common enough. Many known spellings: Bean [from which we are derived], Been, Bein, Beine, Beene, etc.
So, you would think surely that if we were to undergo a DNA test that we would match up with at least another line of Bean’s somewhere in the world. Right?
Wrong!
The Clan MacBean recognizes many branches of the Bean’s in North America. And I felt with all certainty that when I had my Dad perform a DNA test in 2007 that we would find a definitive match amongst those hallowed family lines.
Wrong I was!
Since that time, our DNA test has been posted with two of the major testing sites, and we have yet to make a definitive match with anyone!
Yes, it is maddening. However, hope springs eternal, and we continue to hope that one day, another individual with a matching DNA sequence, will arise amongst the legions and we will at long last be able to locate those missing ancestors!
3 comments:
My 4th great grandmother is Elizabeth Bean who married William Quesenberry. Sound familiar? The Clan MacBean book (I think it was that book) lists Elizabeth's father as Jesse Bean.
I'm interested in how DNA studies impact genealogical studies. I mean this academically and not insultingly. Have you considered that this means that somewhere along your Bean male line it breaks and that Bean male is not the father of a Bean son? Has the Clan MacBean hit a critical mass of DNA entries where it would seem this is the logical conclusion? If so, what do you do then? I'm not sure DNA helps as much it may hinder the paper trail that was genealogy.
Amy, How cool is that??? I don't seem to match up with that Bean line however. But I bet we do somewhere back in there!!!
Martin, yes, we have considered that a very real possibility. We do know that back to William Bean [b. 1792] the line is unbroken, as three cousins have taken the test [distant cousins - meaning 1st cousins 3 and 5 times removed]. It is presumed that a William McBean is that William's father. [The only logical choice in a 300 mile radius.] However, it is possible that he is but a step-father, or no relation at all!
We are watching for any matches, and disregarding surnames, and as yet have made no matches beyond 12-marker [which are basically inconclusive without trees matching up].
It may remain a mystery for all times.
In the mean time, I just keep searching for the elusive paper-trail that will lead me to the "holy grail"! And like you, I do agree that often we come to rely on that DNA test to lead us to what we want to know. We however, have never given up the good-old shoe-leather search! [At least as long as I am able to continue!]
Keep those comments coming!
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