You are invited to join our Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) surname project called the Austin-Austen Project. All variant spellings (Aston, Osteen, etc.) are welcome. All you need to join us is your FTDNA kit number & password. You must initiate a ”Join Request” once you have signed-in to your kit.

 

The Project began in 2003 and has been developed continuously with support from the Austin Families Association of America, AFAOA. Our Project’s advantage is that the DNA project relates to AFAOA’s free on-line genealogical AFAOA’s Database with over 160,000 Austin-related individuals.  (No login is required.)

 

The database of Austin family trees represents essentially all Austin lines in N. American with a few lines that reside today in Australia & England.  The AFAOA-maintained database is open and free to the public. Parts of the 80-years’-worth of background material are maintained on the Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, IN. Other parts are maintained on the AFAOA home page. All background materials are available cost-free to the public.

 

We are looking for Austin males, with documented family lines, to join our Project. In addition, we offer free advice to help members attach to existing Austin lines whenever appropriate and possible.

 

Our continuously expanding Austin Y-profile includes subclades of C, E, G, I, J and R Y-haplogroups. We encourage all levels of Y-DNA testing from Y-37-STR to Big Y-700. With over 500 current members, we now include 107 Big Y test results.

 

We encourage Y-37-STR testing as a good starting point and recommend upgrades to existing tests as needed. Our ultimate target for Austin testing is Big Y. Individuals fund most DNA tests, but some are partly-to-totally funded by private donations to the Project General Fund and occasionally by subsidies from AFAOA.

 

Please join us in this exciting search for vetted Austin families aided by Y-DNA matchings and related proofs through coupled genealogy research and genetic genealogy.

Many Austin family lines have known occurrences of Non-Paternal Events, NPEs. This usually means that in a family line a man was raised by a true Austin father who was not his biological father, and the Austin son (by surname only) was never aware of this. At least there is no documentation of the event that can be found. The Austin son has passed his non-Austin DNA to all his descendants throughout time. If any of these descendants (maybe you are one) were to test your DNA, you might be surprised to find no links to your assumed Austin line.

 

If you are Austin-related and have completed any DNA test that makes you suspect your Austin blood line, we at AFAOA would like to know about your situation. We are in search of the truth about Austin lineage.

 

Send any information you wish to share with AFAOA to us. We will do what’s possible to aid you in better understanding your NPE. At least that’s our intent. Any information you send will be held in confidence per AFAOA’s Privacy Policy.

 

Submitted by John Clinard. My “Austin” wife is an NPE product.

 

Direct your e-mail to editor06@afaoa-tng.org

Greetings Austins!

I had to write a quick follow-up to my last blog post about Granny's Jam Cake recipe.

Since the recipe was vague, I shared it with my baking friends and spoke with my great-aunt to fill in the gaps in the directions. She remembered the nuts and jam mixed into the batter and caramel frosting on the cake. I asked, but she did not have the frosting recipe.

Armed with this additional information, I began making the cake. I used strawberry jam and walnuts. I chopped the nuts fine. I did not bake it in layers as instructed because I am a rebel. Instead, I baked it in a mini loaf pan. I was looking to get the flavor profile and texture right this time. 

While it was baking, it smelled heavenly. It filled the house with the scent of the holidays. If Christmas had a flavor, it would be this cake! It tasted so good!! It was fluffy, moist, and full of flavor. It brought back memories of Christmases and Thanksgivings past where it felt like this cake should have always been. 

This experience has brought me a feeling of connection to my Austin ancestors I had not felt before. It was like my Granny was hugging from the great beyond with every bite. It was a blessing to have my daughter try it with me. We shared the experience and delighted in the history of the recipe. I told her what I could remember of Granny and the rest of the elders I had the pleasure of meeting in my youth. When she left, she took the recipe to begin the Granny's Jam Cake holiday tradition with her family. We have also agreed to work together to find the caramel icing recipe to complete the cake. 

Amazingly, something so simple as a recipe can make you feel like your ancestors are right beside you, bringing the generations together.

If you make this or any old family recipe, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did! I will post the caramel icing recipe once I have it figured out.