I sent out a couple of messages last week via 23andMe to two individuals considered to be “DNA Relatives.” Both preferred to remain Anonymous on the site and were simply identified as First (Male) and Second (Female) Cousins with 11.6% (30 segments) shared and 5.37% (17 segments) respectively. A Second to Third Cousin is also identified by the name of Phil with 2.46% (8 segments). These are the highest matches for me on the list of 1,114 relatives. A Third to Fourth Cousin named Terry (.96% 2 segments shared) was my initial connection through the site. (See Post #410). He was the individual who provided me with the birth certificate and 1940 census identifying my birth mother, Edna Faye.

For those of you not familiar with the 23andMe website, it is a privately held personal genomics and biotechnology company based in California. The firm is named for the 23 pairs of chromosomes in a normal human cell. In 2007, 23andMe became the first company to begin offering autosomal DNA testing for ancestry, which all the major companies like Ancestry.com now use. I sent a saliva sample to them over a year ago, and they provided me with a list of those with matching chromosomes – my blood relatives. Through the message board on the website I sent this message to these anonymous First and Second cousins:  

“I am adopted, so I have little family background. Our DNA matches closely, so I’m hoping you can provide some information.

My name is Mike Johnston and I live in Portland, Oregon. I was born in Indianapolis Indiana on 8/27/1951 as Jerry Lee Bannister. Mother is Edna Faye Banister and father an unknown Marine.

Is there a connection that you can think of?”

I was excited because I got the following message back from my female second cousin, providing her connection to the Banister family and revealing her identity:

“Hello, I’m responding to you from 23 and Me. I’ve never followed up on anything before, but oddly enough, I saw this email.

Yes, I know an Edna Faye, she is my mother’s cousin. I have met her only a few times. Her family stayed in southern Indiana but mine, through Freddie Banister, Edna’s Uncle, ended up in Illinois.

I’ll get back to you.

Janine”

While I’m still waiting for a similar DNA test from Ancestry.com that may provide even more insights into the Banister family, I can now find genealogical links to Janine and “Uncle Freddie” on the Jerry Bannister Family Tree that I have started to create in Ancestry. Plus, the feedback from this additional DNA test should also establish a credible link between myself and Bruce Banister, who identifies himself on Ancestry as the Banister Family historian. He’s my birth mother’s nephew, who I have recently become Facebook friends with under my Jerry Lee Bannister alias.

Confusing I know, but aren’t the roots of all family trees tangled? I’m not sure if I’ve ever figured out all the twisted branches of my life-long adopted family with last names of Johnston, Hancher, Hizer, Stackhouse, Elliott, and Logan. These were people that I actually knew. By contrast, I haven’t met a single Banister yet, and Janine’s response is the closest I’ve come to meeting a true blood relative. I’ll look forward to additional communication, and return to “Bannister World” to let you know more on a future post.