The Lie: Part 5. DNA.
About the year 2000 a new tool was added to the genealogical tool kit. This was DNA testing. Since then, I have tested with four different companies and uploaded my results to several more. Initially the companies only offered a Y-DNA test (now alternately called a Y-STR test) to men (women do not have a Y chromosome) and a mitochondrial DNA test (mt-DNA) to men and women. Because it is passed from father to son, Y-DNA tracks with the family surname in most western cultures and is highly relevant to a study of the Ragusin family. Similarly, mt-DNA is passed from a woman (not the man) to her children but is not relevant for the present discussion because we are tracking the family surname. As far as I know, at this time I am the only male with the Ragusin surname in the world to have taken a Y-DNA test. It has been lonely over the last dozen years waiting for even a relatively close match. Maybe this website and these posts will help change that.
By 2010 nearly all the companies had abandoned Y-DNA and mt-DNA for the more general but potentially far more powerful autosomal DNA test (sometimes at-DNA). Currently, the standard autosomal DNA test today samples about 700,000 locations with tens of thousands of samples taken from each of our 23 pair of chromosomes. This test is not restricted to the family surname but allows matches anywhere in one’s family tree. I have positively identified autosomal DNA matches to many of the branches of my family tree and still have thousands of matches I have not figured out yet. Since I am the only Ragusin to have taken a Y-DNA test and the mt-DNA test does impinge on this discussion, I will refer to an autosomal DNA match as simply a DNA match.
After testing, the companies provide you with a list of names of other people who have also tested and have results similar to yours. The more similar the results the more closely related the two people. Based on the study of genetics and some fancy statistical analysis an estimated range of what degree of cousins the two people are can be made. I have had much success finding DNA matches to my distant Ragusin cousins.
One DNA match specific to this issue is to a father and daughter from New York (the names of all living persons are being withheld for privacy reasons). They are descendants of Filomena Ragusin. Filomena is the youngest sibling of Nicolas Anton (my grandfather’s father) and Andrew John Marie (my grandfather’s Uncle Andre). Filomena was born 10 Dec 1856 in Punat, Croatia and married a man named Francis Franolic.
I have another DNA match to a woman who is a descendant of Catherine Ragusin. Catherine is another sister to Nicolas Anton, Andrew John Maria, and Filomena. She was born 12 Jan 1842 in Punat, Croatia. She married a man named John Zic Ivancic. I also have other DNA matches to several Zic Ivancic family members but have not yet identified the exact details of how we are related. [NOTE: There are so many Zic families in Punat that some started using a second name. In this case the second name is Ivancic.]
I have yet another DNA match to a woman, her son, her brother, and her sister. They appear to be from the Chicago area. They are descendants of Jacob Ragusin and Margarita Orlic. Jacob and Margarita were the great great grandparents of my grandfather. Jacob was born on 24 Sep 1734 in Veli Losinj, Croatia and Margarita was born 10 Dec 1744 in Punat, Croatia. A planned upcoming post will be the “Descendants of Jacob Ragusin and Margarita Orlic”, which could alternately be called “The Ragusin Family in Punat.” Catherine Ragusin and John Zic Ivancic, from the previous paragraph, were second cousins and both were great grandchildren of Jacob and Margarita. Another DNA match is to a woman from Canada who is also a descendant of Jacob Ragusin and Margarita Orlic.
I have another DNA match to a woman from Willowbrook, IL and her half uncle in Europe. They are descendants of Dominic Michielli. Dominic is the paternal grandfather of my grandfather’s mother Frances Michielli. Dominic was born some time before 1788 in the Venetian Republic. He married a woman named Curizia Picini. I have several DNA matches to the Picinich family on the islands off the coast of Croatia. I am speculating that Picini in Italy is the same family as Picinich in Croatia, but I need to do more work.
I also have numerous DNA matches to descendants of Ragusins from Veli Losinj, Croatia but have not been able to work out the details of how we are related at this time. I only recently (spring 2021) obtained birth, marriage, and death records for Veli Losinj for the time period 1584-1828.
I also have DNA matches whose descendants (as far as their own family trees indicate) are not Ragusins but come from the towns of Senj, Crikvenica, Punat and Veli Losinj. Other DNA matches have descendants who come from other towns on the islands of Krk (island on which Punat is found) and Losinj (the island on which Veli Losinj is found) or other nearby islands. I have a number of DNA matches with the family names Orlic, Bonifacic, Maricic, Mrakovcic, and Zic—all of these names, among others will appear in my upcoming “The Descendants of Jacob Ragusin and Margarita Orlic” post.
Autosomal DNA can also be used to make estimates of a person’s ethnicity. The percentages of ethnicity and the associated colored maps are THE (yes that is capitalized for emphasis) reason most people have their DNA tested–not genealogy. It helps that the autosomal test is the also cheapest DNA test available. I find the ethnicity aspect of autosomal testing the least useful for genealogical purposes, but regrettably it remains the most popular.
Initially the companies strove to identify regions such as Northwest Europe or West Africa. Then as more people tested (better statistics) and our knowledge increased the companies could identify smaller and smaller areas such as countries or provinces. Two companies with which I have tested not only indicate that I have Croatian ancestors but specify that my ancestors come from Lika-Senj County and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County in Croatia. These are the counties in which the towns of Senj and Punat, respectively, are located. I have no similar identification for ancestors in Rimini or the province in Italy in which Rimini is found. However, these same companies indicate that I do have ancestors from the Italian region of Calabria specifically the province of Cosenza. This is where my maternal grandmother’s family was from. Although many misinterpret DNA results, the science does not lie.
Conclusion: I have used three different methods to establish my grandfather’s date and place of birth as 21 Mar 1883 in Senj, Croatia. Two methods used traditional genealogical documentation and the third used multiple autosomal DNA matches—none of which could be possible if my grandfather had been born in Rimini. Conversely my attempts to confirm my grandfather’s claims that he and his father were both born in Rimini, Italy all ended in failure. I could find no Ragusin in any birth, marriage, or death record in Rimini from 1866-1935. The case is closed. All references to Rimini, Italy should be removed from our family trees, databases, family group sheets, or general discussions.
Copywrite 30 Dec 2021 Thomas John Ragusin
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