Here is some info that came as a comment but needs to go as a posting! for those who are interested in DNA testing, I got a comment from the CEO of this DNA Testing Company:

Hi -- Since you guys are talking about DNA tests for genealogical purposes, I thought I'd share some news with you.

Familybuilder, a leading genealogy software and application company has just announced the introduction of Familybuilder DNA, the lowest-priced DNA test on the market. At $59.95, for both YDNA and mtDNA tests, this is ideal for genealogical purposes.


For more information, please visit: http://www.familybuilder.com/dna

Thanks,

David Rheins
CMO Familybuilder

Someone has asked about getting DNA testing done. There are many many services out there (especially in this age of genealogical research) who will do it for various prices. It's not hard... a swab inside your mouth and there's your DNA collected.


I live in the UK so I'm not sure about what is available world wide, but here are two interesting places to begin.

1. Cyndi's List - Genetics, DNA & Family Health: http://www.cyndislist.com/dna.htm I don't know who Cyndi is, but her website has been around for a long time and THE most comprehensive research site there is. Period. (Not only can you look into DNA testing, but you can look further into Latino family research with this site as a great starting point.)


Anyway, regarding the DNA testing I see someone is advertising DNA testing fro $79 but that is paternal testing and hopefully every Caban knows "Who's da Daddy".

2. Another interesting website is: "Family Tree DNA" http://www.familytreedna.com
They aren't particularly cheap, but they seem to be running a surname database project which shows our surname listed twice. Anyway, they seem pretty professional and have some interesting articles on DNA testing including at link to an article in the New York Post.


Yeah yeah - I know it's not like the New York Post when I was younger - more of a rag now... but the article's pretty good. It says in part:

"Rather than getting trashed at bars, New Yorkers are swabbing their cheeks en masse at house parties and then sending saliva samples back to labs to help trace their ancestors.

But for Latinos, an umbrella group consisting of various ethnicities, races and religions, tracing family trees is a bit more complicated.

"Five hundred years after Europeans colonized Latin America, imported 10 million African slaves and mixed with the Native Americans, modern Latinos still don't have a clear understanding of their own lineage," explains Bennett Greenspan, a genealogist and expert in Jewish, Latino and African ancestry.

"They've heard tales and rumors from relatives, but they've often lacked a paper trail to verify the claims," says the head of Family Tree DNA."

"What's in Your Genes? DNA testing is the Rage Among Latinos" by Shirley Velasquez, New York Post, November 12th 2008

Hopefully this is a starting point... as I said before, unfortunately it has to be you male Cabans who get the DNA testing... that "Y" chromosome is the marker needed. Female mitochondrial DNA testing can only tell us about our extremely ancient progenitors... not where we came from before we ended up in Puerto Rico and/or NYC!


If you do it I will publish it!

Hola familia mia!

I've had some really nice comments come in on this blog. But I think it's time for an update, don't you?

Someone suggested DNA tests to determine our ancestry. That is a fantastic idea!

The only thing is that the test for female DNA only shows very ancient family information. While we may be interested to know if our very ancient mothers came from the Sub-Saharan continent, it seems to me that it would be more useful to know more about our ancestors PRE Puerto Rico! For that you need male DNA.

Therefore if any one of you Caban guys out there (particularly my immediate cousins) who gets a DNA test please let me know all about it and I will gladly publish the results here on this site. Who knows? We might get some interesting results and the exchange of good information.

The picture above is of "Tia Goya" - Gregoria Caban de Reyes. She came to New York in the early 1920s. She was married to Daniel Reyes and they never had any children. Tia Goya didn't like the things that went on in the bedroom so she gave her husband money to go get himself "Fixed" from time to time. They adopted and raised her nephew, Phillip Salgado. Tia Goya also bought land in Manhattan but didn't read English, so when the tax notices came she never paid the taxes and in time the city took her land back. I'm shaking my head at the loss of her potential fortune even as I type these words...