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Trump, Elizabeth Warren and DNA

I’ve been trying to avoid politics but the amateur genealogist in me just can’t let this one slide.

President Trump has recently offered to give Elizabeth Warren a million dollars if she will take a DNA test. He wants to disprove her claim she has some Native American blood.

But here’s the thing, taking the DNA test may prove Ms. Warren has a Native American ancestor, but it won’t prove she doesn’t have one.

You see, we inherit half of our DNA from each parent. One might assume that if someone’s father is half Irish and half Chinese, and his mother is Norwegian, he will then be ¼ Irish, ¼ Chinese and ½ Norwegian. Simple math, right? It’s how our family tree has been explained to us for years. However, DNA does not work that way.

While we inherit half of our DNA from each parent, it is not necessarily an equal ratio of a parent’s total DNA.  That person in my example might get just the Irish DNA from his father and so, according to his DNA test, he doesn’t have any Chinese.

I had a DNA test, as did my mother and sister. Not everyone on my mother’s results are listed on mine or on my sister’s. And while my sister and I share the same parents, our DNA results are not identical.

I’ve been researching my family’s history since I was a teenager and my paternal grandmother gave me a copy of the detailed family tree her family had prepared. According to that tree, one of my ancestors was the Scottish poet, Robert Burns, author of the song we sing on New Year’s Eve, “Auld Lang Syne.”

However, I have since discovered that isn’t true. It doesn’t mean my grandmother lied—or that the person preparing the tree lied. It simply means it’s not uncommon for misinformation to be passed down in families when discussing lineage.

Elizabeth Warren might have some Native American ancestors, and maybe she doesn’t. I don’t believe for a moment there is anything devious or calculating in her claim. I see it as a rather typical response to someone embracing what she believes is her family’s story.

But the bottom line, I think this entire non-issue is petty and frankly, our country has real problems we need dealt with.

What’s in a name?

Left to right: Gene Glandon, Tillie Bromley, George and Hilda Glandon, Caroline and Margaret (girls in front) Glandon. Abt 1935

Back in September one of my readers asked me how I happened to come up with Boatman as Danielle’s maiden name. She was curious because it’s not a common name, and it happened to be her maiden name.

I explained to her that I snatched the name from my family tree. We then entered into a private email exchange and discovered we are distant cousins!

Well, at least I suspected we were. I had been investigating that particular branch of my family tree—my father’s paternal grandmother’s line—yet I wasn’t quite sure I was on the right track. I knew no family along that branch to share information.

But then after Christmas, I took one of those Ancestry.com DNA tests, and guess what? I discovered I had been on the right track, and I could rightfully claim the Boatman surname—as well as that distant cousin I had met online, after she read Haunting Danielle.

For those who have already read The Ghost and the Leprechaun, you’ll probably now recognize what inspired me in that particular story line, in regards to DNA.

Of course Boatman is not the first name I’ve borrowed from my family tree. Chris and Joanne share a common surname, Johnson—which is my maiden name. Of course, Chris’ real surname is Glandon—my mother’s Maiden name. Even my McIntyre pen name was taken from my family tree.

I like to keep it the family.

(Photos: Some of the Glandon from my family tree.)