I agree with Catherine Kesseler. A step by step dummy tree building process for the DNA matches video would be fantastic. I get some of what you are saying but not all.
I never found that to be necessary in finding my biological parents and the rest of my family. Especially unneeded now that Ancestry has come out with Shared Match Grouping and filtering. But then again I also don't feel the need to ask my half-siblings to do a blood test either. Depends on where your personal evidence "bar" is I suppose.
Great presentation. Suggestion for a follow-up video, one where you walk people step by step through the process of looking at shared matches, doing the tree, etc. Like a case study. I think a lot of people, who don't have experience with tree building , would benefit. Cathy
Catherine Kesseler, I’m not 100% sure on this, you’d have to search Ancestry’s TH-cam channel, but I believe that Crista has already done a video presentation on what you are suggesting reference Shared Matches.
I have a feeling that they won't do that due to privacy issues. A lot of matches now show the person's name instead of initials and they would probably need to get permission to show this names. Christa's immediate family knows that she has used their results for teaching purposes but people they match to may not want to have their information presented in a video. Though I agree that it would be extremely helpful to see a working case study.
Stacy is correct. Getting permission from all of the matches that would show up on screen and any living people it would require me to put into a tree or ppt chart makes it difficult to do DNA demos or case studies. However, I am working on something that I hope will suffice. I'll keep you all posted.
This was a really neat topic! I had never heard of "mirror trees" so I'm glad you talked about it. However, you covered a whole lot of information in a short video. It would be neat to watch it being done using an example. I love the Shared Matches tab because when I get a match who does not have a family tree and is rather new to Ancestry, I just go thru that Shared Matches and I can find where we match at; recognizing the other shared matches we share. I use that Note box copiously but I just put in the shared surname.
Going forward, can you please do something about audio quality? Every time I try to watch one of these videos, I'm so distracted by the poor-quality, muffled/garbled/tunnel sound that I have trouble focusing on and understanding what is being said. I'm sure Ancestry can afford to do a more professional job of producing these videos.
Tracy Meyers My computer does not need checking. The audio here is pretty bad, and a few others seem to agree with me. Great info! Just annoying to listen to.
I wish Ancestry had a feature allowing matches I've grouped to be dragged and dropped into a specific folder for that bunch. Or maybe more symbols/icons (like the star) which can be placed alongside a match to immediately identify which group the match belongs to.
I totally agree. Or an option to have the notes show on the screen without having to click on each on individually. They just need a better way to filter matches so you don't have to flip through fifty pages to work with the six matches you are working with who are related through sisters. Surnames are nice if you are not working with a common-ish name or the trees are built up enough to include the surname you want to work with.
I too have wished for the same thing. Not any good way to filter matches. I'd like to remove those that don't have trees, as I think most of these people just want to know their % English, % Spanish, % whatever. However, if they don't have trees, I suppose Ancestry wants us to contact them and ask them to get trees going. More $ for Ancestry.
I've spent hours putting matches with no trees and no shared matches into the trashcan & still have thousands to go. People with locked trees go the same way. I only need UK centred trees and there aren't that many. Didn't see Stacey Coates' post before putting my comment up.... she put it better than me.
I too wish there was something more, maybe the ability to color the stars. Currently I am using the star to separate out my mother's family from my father's family. So anyone related to my cousin on my mother's side gets a yellow star and those from my father's side have a blank star. If were able to add different colors, I could separate out 1st cousins from 2nd cousins.
As I mentioned in the video, I use colored hearts. I have assigned a color to each of my great-grandparents, in the order of the rainbow (ROYGBIVP). So, for example, my dad's dad's dad is red. My dad's dad's mom is Orange. My dad's mom's dad is Yellow. And so on, through all eight of them. Once I figure out how I am related to one of my matches, I put that colored heart emoji as the first character in the notes field for that match. I use the MedBetterDNA extension for Google Chrome. One of the features of this app is that it places my notes on the Match List page so I don't have to click through to view each match to see the notes. It also allows me to filter matches various additional ways. I never "remove" matches off my list, usually because I am able to figure out who they are and how they fit into my tree even if they don't have a tree, have a small tree, or have a private tree. I use all of the tips found here and then some: thegeneticgenealogist.com/2017/03/11/are-you-doing-everything-to-identify-your-matches/ Please let me know if you have other questions about how this all works.
That’s how I found my friend’s biological father. I felt it was just awful that she had no idea who he was. I talked into doing the test. When a half niece showed up as a match it took me about an hour to identify him. He was born in 1922. Still living. She gained 4 half siblings and is slowly making progress in connecting.
This is the technique that I have been using since I started using DNA to help people find their biological parents in 2014. I do use mirror trees on rare occasions when I cannot find a common ancestor in a cluster but that is the exception rather than the rule. Another good tip that ancestry recently made a big improvement in is to look for unattached trees. Often times someone who has taken a DNA test also has a family tree but that tree is not attached to their DNA results. These were hidden before but Ancestry recently made a change to make unattached trees more visible which helps to speed up the process considerably.
This is so critically important. I've been building out trees for my matches, but not as separate from my own "working" tree. Yikes! Now I shall create a new unsearchable tree for building out my matches to find commonalities (and clean up my real tree!)
Thanks for doing this video. As someone who blogged about "mirror trees", which happened to be the most popular thing I've written, I agree that it is an idea that is now past its time. I've tried (in vain) to get people to use the term "proxy pedigree" instead of "mirror tree" because it is more descriptive. Yet today I find by far the most useful tool to be the Shared Matches capability on an AncestryDNA match page. This has helped me to solve several mysteries. Even for matches with no tree attached to their kit, using Shared Matches I can still form networks and this can quickly tell me if I am looking at a close-ish cousin, or a very distant one. However, I'm now convinced that one of the big stumbling blocks for newbies is that many people just aren't comfortable with working the tree editing software. Many people I come across seem surprised that one can connect and disconnect relationships as desired for anyone in their tree. So I believe that emphasizing people to practice with a learning tree as much as possible is very important.
Got to do my first quick and dirty tree helping my cousin find his birth parents with DNA and a tiny bit of information the adoption agency gave him. Took me less than 20 hrs and I am hooked! I WANT TO HELP MORE and do it OVER and OVER and OVER!!! SOOO much fun and VERY rewarding! Great video that helped me!
Also, when I work on mirror trees or research trees from my match list, I take the time to attach some of the records from the hints for those ancestors of my matches, then later when I come across that person again in another tree (who can remember all those names anyways?), ancestry tells me that this certain record was also attached to this same person in the previous tree that I was working on. So i know that I am looking at the same ancestor between those two cousin matches of mine, and helps me see some patterns in the lines. Very useful trick there.
Is Ancestry looking at adding any new ways to manage DNA matches? I have tested three of my four living grandparents and I would love to be able to move my matches into folders based on which branch of my family they are in. So that way I am not wading through 50+ pages of matches but 11 or 12 pages. Because when I am looking at all my matches it becomes overwhelming. And things like notes and shared matches help. Or do you have any tips or hints for just dealing with going through all the pages that we can end up having?
Thanks, Descendant Travels. Unfortunately that doesn't help me. Neither of my parents are interested in testing, so I have been focusing on getting all my grandparents (and their siblings) tested.
Stacey - I have found that the best thing to do is to use the filters. For example, I only STAR a match once I have figured out who they are and how they fit into my tree. I also will remark the "blue dot" if I haven't fully investigated a match so that I know I still need to come back to it. Then, as I methodically work through my matches, I click the NEW filter and it only shows me matches I either haven't looked at yet or want to investigate further. I don't see any of the matches I have figured out or any of the matches that I have looked at and not been able to figure out. Also, I never look at my own DNA Match list. I have tested both of my parents and my paternal grandmother. I can't have any matches they didn't give me. So, there is no need to work with my own match list. I work with my mom's match list (and occasionally her sisters') and then I work with my dad's match list in tandem with his mom's to help me sort out his maternal/paternal matches. Would that type of a system work for you?
Stacey, get the DNA Match Labeling Chrome extension. It gives you more colored dots to work with. Also the AncestryDNA Helper extension that gives you the ability to search your Notes field, download a csv of your matches, and a few other helpful tools.
Great presentation Crista and Angie.. love your comments about the note field and emoji's-- I raised the issue of increasing the note field at RootsTech 2018...still waiting...but I hear from folks behind the scenes, that some cool alternatives are in the works... I hope, I hope, I hope... As for the the Q&D issue, it is far too much work to do them on separate trees, so i use my "Master" tree, and simply add posible parents, etc...and put a ? or NOT PROVED in the JR/Sr field..and leaving them "living"... BUT, leaving them living seems to prevent the Ancestry system from searching for all the best records for this "proposed or suggested" parent, relative, etc. Yikes, floating people...I've lost a few, and...aargh! I do like simply using the edit relationship field and add 5 or six possible parents, simply alternating them as the biological parent until I hit gold. Then delete all the wrong parents. What REALLY needs to happen here is for Ancestry to allow an individual profile to be PRIVATE WITHOUT MAKING THEM ALIVE... WHY? Alive hinders the search features in Ancestry...or at least IMHO. And, in the long and short of connecting to the 2nd-4th cousins, I have found great success in simply using descendancy research building out and down to these RELATIVELY close matches (even those with no trees) and using Google research to find them, and ultimately many of my 2nd cousins and 3rd cousins who have no trees, have made me the manager of their DNA, allowed me to add them onto my tree...making them part of "our big family"- a huge win-win. Thanks so much for this great video... loved it! Three cheers!
One of the great things about shared matches with a person is that if you are adopted, you can pick the first one and then click on the shared matches and click the stars. Then go back to your regular list of matches and you will see that some are starred and some aren't. Great way to sort paternal from maternal when you have no clue who is whm.
I just did my first Quick & Dirty tree by following your instructions. I started with a guy from the first page of my 23andMe matches, whom I could tell was on my father's side, but I couldn't get any reply from him and his tree was very sparse. I got an immediate success and it was as quick and easy as demonstrated by you and also by Blaine Bettinger. No waiting to edit out two days of waiting! I was unable to find Angie's recommended charting software. It sounded like Luciter, but I am sure I am spelling it wrong.
Thanks for the video. Great information. Do you know if the Shared cM Project Tool is accurate for matches with a lot of endogamy such as French Canadian? Should the user adjust the input or output themselves or is it built into the tool? Or does is not make a big enough difference to worry about? Thanks.
Hi Jason, it should be fairly accurate for French Canadian endogamy. The endogamy might push the amounts a bit higher, but probably not too much to throw off the estimates significantly.
We're over the moon to hear that you have found these videos of benefit to your own research, Wendy! There is always so much more we can learn and constant innovation in this field is providing more and more resources and useful tools every year. Make sure to call on our team anytime you have a query in the future. You may also like to check out our extensive back catalog of past videos and Q and A events over on our FB page if you've yet to do so. Click here to take a closer look : facebook.com/AncestryUS/videos/?ref=page_internal . We hope that your research will continue to go from strength to strength and appreciate your support of our community! 🌳
That's great news, Wendy! We also host Q and A events with Crista over on our Facebook page from time to time so hopefully we will catch you there sometime soon. Thanks for your kind reply and support over the years. 🌳
What about situations where you are related to a DNA match in multiple ways? Will this affect the number of cM or the reading of relationship? My mother was from SE KY. 'Nuff said.
Hi Naithom. Great question. If the intermarriage in your family was a close relationship (1st cousin, for example) and happened within the last 2 generations, then yes, it can inflate the amount of DNA you share with a match from the same branch of the family tree. Also, if you come from a highly endogomous population (where there are a small number of founding families in the population and the descendants in those families intermarried repeatedly over a period of time), you might see a large number of 4th cousins and a slightly inflated amount of shared DNA between you and your 3rd and 4th cousins.
@@AncestryUS My maternal grandparents were 4th cousins. My great grandfather's great-grandparents were first cousins and 4th great-grandfather through several relationships was the father of three of my ancestors. Yes, I can have a family reunion in the shower given how many times I am my own cousin.
Really great, I just wish this had been a two part series or something. You had so much information to pack in and I will have to rewatch several times to catch it all. Is one of the DNA centric videos helpful for telling how to correctly manage a DNA account for a family member? I don’t want to mess his up because he will be key to many of my brick walls.
Ah, nevermind. I just found the one on activating and managing. Still have a question, though...I don’t really understand what you guys meant by clusters. Like a maternal line and a paternal line? How are you identifying the ‘cluster’ that gets a ‘red heart emoji’, for example? (I know it doesn’t matter what emoji or way it is tagged, but I don’t get how you are coming to a conclusion of a particular cluster or what the cluster even consists of.)
Great question. I have assigned a color to each of my great-grandparents in the order of the rainbow (ROYGBIVP). So, for example, my dad's dad's dad is red. My dad's dad's mom is Orange. My dad's mom's dad is Yellow. And, so on through all eight of them. When I find a match that is connected to me through one of those great-grandparents, they get that color emoji. Then, when I look at the Shared Matches with that person, it is almost certain that they are part of that same "cluster" or family group, meaning that they likely connect to me through that same great-grandparent. Now, when I am working with the DNA Matches of someone who is looking to identify biological parents, I don't know when I start which ancestors go where on the tree. So, in that case, I just randomly assign colors as I start to group people based on Shared Matches. Does that make sense?
This is very helpful. I'm looking for my bio dad and I have found the common dna relationship but there is alot....alot of children , grands and great grandchildren to go through wow these people were busy lol 😂thank you for the work you do.
Hi Crista, you say that you put all your research trees in one tree. Do you have a video or a website that would give a visual of how that may look for the different trees?
I know where the term quick and dirty came from, because as a programmer we used that term quick-and-dirty program to get something fixed or figured it out quickly. An early operating system QDOS, from the original Microsoft days, meant quick and dirty operating system. It was only later they relabeled it to Disk Operating System for public use.
That was a great presentation, filled with a lot of information. I would love to have you slow down and provide a real example of the clustering and making the mirror tree. No doubt you guys knew what you were talking about but there were not enough examples for me to be able to leave this presentation and go and use the info. Even watching it a number of times was not enough. I'll check out the facebook pages.
I agree about the clustering. I have a number of cMs that are in the range of 21-25, so when I look at the cM tool I get the same general information about 4th to 6th cousins, removeds, etc. The chart didn't lead me in any particular direction. I got the impression from your presentation that similar numbers could show relationships, but I'm not sure to what extent that is. Would two 21.7s be family members, in the same place in the chart, or at the same cousin level? I was more hopeful at the end of the video than I was after I tried the cM tool and started looking at matching cMs in my match lists. I was intrigued by your use of emojis and wonder why Ancestry hasn't created color tags or allowed users to sort Shared Matches some way. I have been filling the stars to show I've added notes, but that has limited utility. Thanks for the work you do. I'm sure I will get there eventually.
Everything you said goes over my head. I don’t understand. Watching you do what you describe might be easier than watching you talk about it. I just can’t picture what to do at all. Still waiting for dna results.
Christa, I’m unable to find the link to the chart of possible relationships axed on length of shared cM. Could you point me to it’s location? You and Angie packed a lot of great info into this video! Sue
Very helpful video! You briefly mentioned shared matches. Do you have a video that discusses that topic in more detail? I am mostly interested in the accuracy. Also, is there a way to make program suggestions to Ancestry? I think it would be really helpful when looking at “Ancestry Member Trees” under “Hints” if there was some indication if the owner of that tree is a DNA match.
"...if the owner of that tree is a DNA match." - go to the profile page of the tree owner. On that page is an indicator if the tree owner is a match to any DNA kit you manage.
Dan Edwards I should have stated that better. I meant that it would be nice if you could see if they were a DNA match from the list of Ancestry Member Trees instead of having to click on the tree then click on the owner of the tree to find out. Especially when there are 25 trees.
The only trees I make private are the "Quick and Dirty" research trees that I put together while investigating my matches and how they connect. My own family tree, the one that is connected to my DNA results, is public. (~Crista)
Thanks for the video. I have watched it several times and I cant figure out how to do the Quick and Dirty trees. Maybe I'm missing something. I agree that it would be nice to see a step by step video. Thanks.
Are you looking for biological parents or are you just trying to figure out how your DNA matches are connected to you? Your goal will help dictate the method that you use.
I did everything you just said with the 'floating' person. when I go back to the tree I don't see them. Where did they go and how do I see them on the tree or their information?
Krista How did you do the power point thing? I was trying to figure out a way to place all my matches in a format where I can visually see where they fit in with myself and one another. I couldn't quite tell what you were doing on my phone. The other thing is it would be very helpful to have a way to sort my matches the way I want them sorted. For example; if I wanted to sort all my Sheppard's into one file, box or folder so I can work on them Lastly is there ever going to be a way to connect my matches to my tree?
In PowerPoint, I use the "Org Chart" function to create these charts. I will forward your "sorting" and "connecting" suggestions on to the DNA Product team. Thanks!
I love your information. I am adopted but I do have info on my DNA mother and know nothing about my DNA father. I have a DNA match who is a close relative with 1843cM who is on my paternal side. She also does not know her DNA father. As beginners, we are having difficulty narrowing information down to even work with. We have some common DNA matches but nothing close. Can you give me suggestions of where/ or what I should be doing to work on this match? I understand the DNA clusters but nothing pops.
Thank you for the video! I will have to watch it again to try and follow. I am trying to find the parents of my paternal grandmother. I have a 2nd cousin match that does not match with DNA from my mom who tested with Ancestry as well as me. My grandmother has not tested and has actually let her test expire. My 2nd cousin match, I built out a tree with all of our shared matches and then some. Is it possible to find a parent of my grandmother using this method? I feel like I'm so close yet so far to figuring this out.
Lauren - It sounds like you are doing all the right things. If the blue stabilizing liquid in the DNA kit is still fluid, your grandmother can still use the DNA kit. It might give you more data to work with. But, if she doesn't want to take the test, look at the Shared Matches with that 2nd cousin whose tree you built. Can you see where they intersect?
in fact two seconds after I posted this I realised there is a 'subtitles' option. It's not 100 per cent accurate but does help and I think the app is called Lucid Chart.
Intermarriage can cause elevated shared cM amounts between two people but typically only if the intermarriage was close and fairly recent. So, for example, if my parents were 1st cousins to each other, then I would share a significantly higher amount of DNA with the other descendants of that same set of great-grandparents from their other children. But, if my 3rd great-grandparents were 1st cousins (which is actually true 😉 ), it won't measurably affect my shared DNA with their other descendants.
For a while been pairing. Common matches by group numbers and if you gIve me a group number pretty good at knowing what side belongs to with out much search now it is which ancestor
Ancestry - yes, I know who my biological mother is. She has not taken a test, but I have a first cousin on my mother’s side of the family that has. Any of my matches that are shared with this cousin, I immediately eliminate. I have a second cousin & several third cousins on what I believe is my Dad’s side. I believe this because they do not share a match with my first cousin on my mother’s side. I believe I am close, but have hit a brick wall.
@@wendyjackson8248 - It sounds like you are on the right track. It's great that you have that maternal first cousin to help sort out your matches. How much DNA do you share with the top match that is NOT a shared match with that maternal cousin?
@Ancestry here are my top 5 that aren’t on my maternal side: 1. 219 cm - 2nd cousin 2. 188 cm - 3rd cousin 3. 174 cm - 3rd cousin 4. 133 cm - 3rd cousin
I just used the Q & D match method successfully for someone predicted to be a 3rd-4th cousin who had 3 people including himself in his unlinked tree. I was able to determine quickly that the person at ground zero was indeed the person whose DNA was matching mine at 123 cms. I then built the rest of the Q & D tree for him and eventually found our connection. We are 4th cousins 1x removed. I am wondering though about the Shared CM project numbers which indicate that a 4th cousin 1x removed is on average 28 cms. with a range 0-117 cm. Our 123 matching cms are not far over the top of that range but it is over. Any comment on this? Is the CM shared cm project a tiny bit unreliable even with the broad range of possible results for any given relationship? Or does this result suggest another family connection that contributes to the shared DNA but is not captured with this tree? I would be very interested to know your thoughts.
My biggest gripe at the moment are those people who have left Ancestry and/or don't respond to my questions about our DNA match. Do you have a video about how to find passenger lists? A cousin can't find the point of entry where her ancestors might have entered the US. She has followed them back to Virginia and that's where the trail stops cold.
Right clicking and opening the match in a new browser tab. That way you can hop around and look at all of them. You may have figured this out, but I thought I'd throw it out here for anyone coming to the comments with the same question.
Agreed, I couldn't understand what they were saying (even the one time Christa said the name), it should definitely have been a link under the video with the others (unless there is a business reason why Ancestry don't want to link to it, I guess).
I downloaded the GEDCOM file from my "real tree" and re-uploaded it and name it "Quick and Dirty" (so I got all of my documented generations in there) and marked it private and not searchable. I use this Q&D tree to add all of people of other DNA match trees into it so it's my full tree + all of these "possibility" people all in one big tree. I even went to far as to attach m DNA results to the Q&D tree so as I'm building these possibility trees, I might be able to genetically match to a "possible" common ancestor, that I'm unsure of (I wouldn't want to add to my own tree as I'm not sure yet). I try to add as many generations from there tree into the Q&D tree so there is a greater possibility of hitting on a common ancestor. I'm just new at this method, but I think it holds good potential for working on these "possibility" lines for people you think might be connected, but you don't want to pollute your actual tree with all of these theory people, while you work it out. I use the Q&D tree as a kind of safe work space when I can test my theories without spreading misleading information throughout the community by keeping the Q&D private and unsearchable.
It depends on what you are trying to discover and how much DNA you share with the DNA Matches that you are using to solve the question. If, for example, you are looking for your biological parents and you have a 2nd cousin match, you might only need to build a tree back three or four generations before finding the common ancestors with the Shared Matches. From there you would build the tree down (instead of back) to discover who all of the children, grandchildren, etc. are of that common ancestor couple.
dpslager - I really like this idea just because it keeps your research private. I agree with you about sharing unproven connections to other genealogists research.
Most of us deal with endogamy to one degree or another in various times and places in our family tree. We have to take that into consideration when we are working with our DNA Matches to figure out the connections to the common ancestors.
If you are interested in having the Ancestry ProGenealogists Unknown Parentage team help you out, you can go to www.progenealogists.com and give them the information you have in order to get a quote for cost.
Chromosome browser...please. 😇 Also limiting shared matches to those who are 20cM and higher really hurts those who are not of Colonial American ancestry. My mom's maternal line were from Poland and most of her matches on that side have no shared matches because they are under that 20cM threshold. It's very difficult to find "clusters".
Is there a way to find the relationships of my shared matches to their matches? And maybe the cM they share with their matches. In other words, put each of my shared matches in the number 1 position and see the matches and shared cM.
Unfortunately, there are privacy concerns about sharing that information without permission of the test taker. So, send a message to your match and ask them to share that information.
I've been researching about 10 years. I presume you've already built a tree? If not, do so, starting with your parents and adding grandparents, etc., based on facts like census data. Then email your matches. Ask if they have a family tree, or are willing to share information with you so you can build one for them. Start with your closest matches. It's very helpful if you can have a known relative/s test, so you know how you're connected. Above all, patience is required. This is a long game, and there's always more to learn. I'd watch more videos in this series.
My last grandfather goes back to 1499 his son who also is a grandfather but it stops there no wife record just grandad and son England is where their from any suggestions I'd like to go further or at least find my grandmother any tips.
I will have to watch this several more times to try to understand it. But, big question: An unknown great grandfather hunt. In 1904 Clara had a child, my grandfather Edward and a name appears on a birth record in NYC. Edward is born in the NYC Foundling Home system, St Vincents and is later adopted. Fortunately Clara goes on to have 11 children and I have a number of descendant DNA matches. A few of the matches go to Edward who has an unknown father and the rest are clearly from Frank who marries Clara and fathers those 11 kids. Is this relationship too far from me to use this DNA mirror tree system you are describing here? The great grandfather is level we are seeking. Thanks
No, the relationship you are describing is not too far to determine by using the shared matches/mirror tree system. I was able to figure out my great grandfather's biological father using this method.
Jim - This is exactly the kind of family history mystery that is readily solved by AncestryDNA matches. It sounds like you have already used your Shared Matches to start identifying clusters of matches. Do you have any 2nd or 3rd cousin matches that are not shared matches with the known descendants of Frank/Clara or one of your other sets of great-grandparents?
Timely video as on am on a mission to find my biological father and cement the fact that I have determined who my birthmother was. Need a little more help on the mirror project as it would pertain to those matches I have discovered on the paternal side.
The purpose of this video is to try and convince people to *not* do mirror trees anymore. If you're on Facebook, the group DNADetectives is a very large group whose goal is to help people looking for parents, grandparents, etc.
Help please? My account has been failing to update SAHs for mirror trees since Sept2018. Is there any news on when ancestry will have the current issues repaired>
AncestryDNA was designed for a DNA kit to be attached to one tree (to the person who took the test) and left there. Mirror trees, as was explained in this video, are an outdated, unnecessary, and highly discouraged practice. With the size of the database and the other methodologies that have been created, there are much more efficient and effective ways of identifying biological family. If you have questions about any of the methodologies explained in the video, please do not hesitate to ask.
It is kind of like learning a new language. Just keep at it, read blogs and watch videos and eventually you'll pick it up. Remember that everyone started at the same place.
Are you talking about true endogamy (like descendants of Eastern European Jews or French Canadians) or are you talking about a few close cousin marriages within the last few generations?
I found a record that said she had died in 2011. Also one other record of her marriage. I can’t verify who her parents or grandparents were. I tentatively attached a line of ancestors to her but there are discrepancies and I don’t know if those are the right people. And that’s only on her mother’s side. Her father’s side is blank.
What a timely video, today I clicked on a random match. She matches both my grandfather and I at the 5-8th cousin match. But whether I look at her through my test or my grandfather's no shared matches come up. And she was adopted and only knows her biological mother. She also lives across the pond and that side of the family I have not been able to follow back to my immigrant ancestor. I can only get back to my grandfather's great-great grandparents. Any suggestions on what I can do to figure out how we are related. (We share 9.3 and 9.2 centimorgans over 1 segment respectively with her.)
With that little amount of Shared DNA, I would venture to guess that the connection is much further back than you will be able to ascertain. If she shares her match list with you, you might be able to see if you can tell, from her side of things, which side of your grandfather's family tree she might connect on. Just as an FYI (I rarely - if ever) look at matches who share less than 20 cM of DNA unless there is a Shared Ancestor Hint and we both have extensive family trees (enough to rule out multiple lines of relationships). Or, unless that match appears on the match lists of multiple people/generations in my family cluster. (~Crista)
I don't want Ancestry to drop the 6-8 cm matches . I have cousins that match me at that amount that are common ancestor matches . Upgrade your system if it's too much data to handle !
You said that second cousins can help you find your parent. My brother has a different father than I, that we are trying to find. He has 2 second cousins that match along with him 4 other people. I have built trees for all these people, but cannot find the answer. BTW my brother and one of these 2nd cousins do not know their father either. This cousin was born in the Philippines so we know her father is American. My brother and the 2nd cousin "A" share 320/19 and with 2nd cousin "B" 254/12. 2nd cousins "A" and "B" share 258/16. Now there are 5 other cousins with varying degrees of DNA between 179-93. Even though I have these trees that I had to make, I can't find the two men who are clearly 1st cousins that fathered my brother and 2nd cousin "B". I have spent over two years on this. I am ready to just quit. Any advice or direction to try? Please....
Let me make sure that I understand before I try to give you advice. :-) You have a group of three 2nd cousins. Two of them (one being your brother) do not know who their biological fathers are. I think I got that right. Now, you have 5 other DNA matches that connect to all three of these people? Have you figured out who the common ancestors are for the 2nd cousin that does know their biological parents and the other 5 matches?
Oh man...I had begun to write this answer back to you, but it is so convoluted without looking at a diagram and I don't know how to put it in that I just erased it. Thank you for responding so promptly to my question, but this is just so crazy with so many adoptees involved and trees that I built from what little info I had that I am just so discouraged. All I really wanted to do is help these two find their fathers. Something they both truly need right now in their life. Thank you for at least considering the question. Distressed!
Very useful video to get out there. I've been doing this for years but I would LOVE it if ancestry would also include a NOT Shared matches to separate matches. fyi, I use draw.io (free) to do the dna comparison charts they talked about here.
I don't use a template because it's pretty easy and my trees aren't all the same. But you could save one with a basic structure to always use as a starting point. I put the main person on the left side in a box and draw a line down from that box and then across, underneath the tree noting the cm values shared with each ancestry cousin's kit so it easier to compare in a visual way. I can send you an example if you like
His Y chromosome will come from his father, paternal grandfather etc always moving up the direct male line. His X chromosome will come from his mother, but could have come from either one of his maternal grandparents, if it came from his maternal grandfather then the maternal grandfather has to have got it from his mother, but if the son in question got it from his maternal grandmother then she could have got it from either of her parents. In any case almost all AncestryDNA data, and thus matching, is done with Autosomal DNA, which is all the chromosomes except X/Y chromosomes. [Edit to correct 'paternal grandmother' to 'maternal grandmother'.]
40.00 per month is way too much for me.. family search is mostly free and you can access info there too.. I’m not saying they are wrong for charging that.. it’s just more than I can afford...
what exactly is inaccurate? Are you talking ethnicity or the dna matching? It might be good to specify. The ethnicity is ESTIMATES from hundreds of years ago and changes periodically based on updates samples. Have been reading many discussions on it in groups.
at 15:45, it was hard to understand, but I think she said "Lucidchart". See Lucidchart.com. I don't think there is anything magic about that -- it's not genealogy-specific. See also: draw.io , or as mentioned, you can do it in PowerPoint. I see people drawing these charts with all sorts of things. Pencils work.
I agree with Catherine Kesseler. A step by step dummy tree building process for the DNA matches video would be fantastic. I get some of what you are saying but not all.
I'll see what I can do. Thanks, Jane.
You know what else would be a really useful tool? A CHROMOSOME BROWSER.
exactly
I never found that to be necessary in finding my biological parents and the rest of my family. Especially unneeded now that Ancestry has come out with Shared Match Grouping and filtering. But then again I also don't feel the need to ask my half-siblings to do a blood test either. Depends on where your personal evidence "bar" is I suppose.
Yes please!
Great presentation. Suggestion for a follow-up video, one where you walk people step by step through the process of looking at shared matches, doing the tree, etc. Like a case study. I think a lot of people, who don't have experience with tree building , would benefit. Cathy
Catherine Kesseler, I’m not 100% sure on this, you’d have to search Ancestry’s TH-cam channel, but I believe that Crista has already done a video presentation on what you are suggesting reference Shared Matches.
Tracy Meyers I mean something recent with tree building process they just talked about. Give more of a hands on demonstration. A follow up video.
I have a feeling that they won't do that due to privacy issues. A lot of matches now show the person's name instead of initials and they would probably need to get permission to show this names. Christa's immediate family knows that she has used their results for teaching purposes but people they match to may not want to have their information presented in a video. Though I agree that it would be extremely helpful to see a working case study.
Stacy is correct. Getting permission from all of the matches that would show up on screen and any living people it would require me to put into a tree or ppt chart makes it difficult to do DNA demos or case studies. However, I am working on something that I hope will suffice. I'll keep you all posted.
This video is an overview of the process in moderate detail. th-cam.com/video/3dtX5sDW0FM/w-d-xo.html
Two of my favorite ladies sharing their vast experience and knowledge!
This was a really neat topic! I had never heard of "mirror trees" so I'm glad you talked about it. However, you covered a whole lot of information in a short video. It would be neat to watch it being done using an example. I love the Shared Matches tab because when I get a match who does not have a family tree and is rather new to Ancestry, I just go thru that Shared Matches and I can find where we match at; recognizing the other shared matches we share. I use that Note box copiously but I just put in the shared surname.
Going forward, can you please do something about audio quality? Every time I try to watch one of these videos, I'm so distracted by the poor-quality, muffled/garbled/tunnel sound that I have trouble focusing on and understanding what is being said. I'm sure Ancestry can afford to do a more professional job of producing these videos.
Cathleen S. You might consider checking your computer; iPhone; or iPad. I have not had this issue so it may not be on ancestry’s end at all.
Tracy Meyers My computer does not need checking. The audio here is pretty bad, and a few others seem to agree with me. Great info! Just annoying to listen to.
The sound is just fine, you might need hearing aid.
Watching from my computer, I found it very echoey which did make some of it hard to understand.
The acoustics in the room are not the best. There is a definite echo happening when I listen also.
I wish Ancestry had a feature allowing matches I've grouped to be dragged and dropped into a specific folder for that bunch. Or maybe more symbols/icons (like the star) which can be placed alongside a match to immediately identify which group the match belongs to.
I totally agree. Or an option to have the notes show on the screen without having to click on each on individually. They just need a better way to filter matches so you don't have to flip through fifty pages to work with the six matches you are working with who are related through sisters. Surnames are nice if you are not working with a common-ish name or the trees are built up enough to include the surname you want to work with.
I too have wished for the same thing. Not any good way to filter matches. I'd like to remove those that don't have trees, as I think most of these people just want to know their % English, % Spanish, % whatever. However, if they don't have trees, I suppose Ancestry wants us to contact them and ask them to get trees going. More $ for Ancestry.
I've spent hours putting matches with no trees and no shared matches into the trashcan & still have thousands to go. People with locked trees go the same way. I only need UK centred trees and there aren't that many. Didn't see Stacey Coates' post before putting my comment up.... she put it better than me.
I too wish there was something more, maybe the ability to color the stars. Currently I am using the star to separate out my mother's family from my father's family. So anyone related to my cousin on my mother's side gets a yellow star and those from my father's side have a blank star. If were able to add different colors, I could separate out 1st cousins from 2nd cousins.
As I mentioned in the video, I use colored hearts. I have assigned a color to each of my great-grandparents, in the order of the rainbow (ROYGBIVP). So, for example, my dad's dad's dad is red. My dad's dad's mom is Orange. My dad's mom's dad is Yellow. And so on, through all eight of them. Once I figure out how I am related to one of my matches, I put that colored heart emoji as the first character in the notes field for that match.
I use the MedBetterDNA extension for Google Chrome. One of the features of this app is that it places my notes on the Match List page so I don't have to click through to view each match to see the notes. It also allows me to filter matches various additional ways.
I never "remove" matches off my list, usually because I am able to figure out who they are and how they fit into my tree even if they don't have a tree, have a small tree, or have a private tree. I use all of the tips found here and then some: thegeneticgenealogist.com/2017/03/11/are-you-doing-everything-to-identify-your-matches/
Please let me know if you have other questions about how this all works.
That’s how I found my friend’s biological father. I felt it was just awful that she had no idea who he was. I talked into doing the test. When a half niece showed up as a match it took me about an hour to identify him. He was born in 1922. Still living. She gained 4 half siblings and is slowly making progress in connecting.
This is the technique that I have been using since I started using DNA to help people find their biological parents in 2014. I do use mirror trees on rare occasions when I cannot find a common ancestor in a cluster but that is the exception rather than the rule. Another good tip that ancestry recently made a big improvement in is to look for unattached trees. Often times someone who has taken a DNA test also has a family tree but that tree is not attached to their DNA results. These were hidden before but Ancestry recently made a change to make unattached trees more visible which helps to speed up the process considerably.
This is so critically important. I've been building out trees for my matches, but not as separate from my own "working" tree. Yikes! Now I shall create a new unsearchable tree for building out my matches to find commonalities (and clean up my real tree!)
Thanks for doing this video. As someone who blogged about "mirror trees", which happened to be the most popular thing I've written, I agree that it is an idea that is now past its time.
I've tried (in vain) to get people to use the term "proxy pedigree" instead of "mirror tree" because it is more descriptive.
Yet today I find by far the most useful tool to be the Shared Matches capability on an AncestryDNA match page. This has helped me to solve several mysteries.
Even for matches with no tree attached to their kit, using Shared Matches I can still form networks and this can quickly tell me if I am looking at a close-ish cousin, or a very distant one.
However, I'm now convinced that one of the big stumbling blocks for newbies is that many people just aren't comfortable with working the tree editing software. Many people I come across seem surprised that one can connect and disconnect relationships as desired for anyone in their tree. So I believe that emphasizing people to practice with a learning tree as much as possible is very important.
Got to do my first quick and dirty tree helping my cousin find his birth parents with DNA and a tiny bit of information the adoption agency gave him. Took me less than 20 hrs and I am hooked! I WANT TO HELP MORE and do it OVER and OVER and OVER!!! SOOO much fun and VERY rewarding! Great video that helped me!
Hooray, Amelia! I love that you were successful with this.
Also, when I work on mirror trees or research trees from my match list, I take the time to attach some of the records from the hints for those ancestors of my matches, then later when I come across that person again in another tree (who can remember all those names anyways?), ancestry tells me that this certain record was also attached to this same person in the previous tree that I was working on. So i know that I am looking at the same ancestor between those two cousin matches of mine, and helps me see some patterns in the lines. Very useful trick there.
Is Ancestry looking at adding any new ways to manage DNA matches? I have tested three of my four living grandparents and I would love to be able to move my matches into folders based on which branch of my family they are in. So that way I am not wading through 50+ pages of matches but 11 or 12 pages. Because when I am looking at all my matches it becomes overwhelming. And things like notes and shared matches help. Or do you have any tips or hints for just dealing with going through all the pages that we can end up having?
Thanks, Descendant Travels. Unfortunately that doesn't help me. Neither of my parents are interested in testing, so I have been focusing on getting all my grandparents (and their siblings) tested.
Stacey - I have found that the best thing to do is to use the filters. For example, I only STAR a match once I have figured out who they are and how they fit into my tree. I also will remark the "blue dot" if I haven't fully investigated a match so that I know I still need to come back to it. Then, as I methodically work through my matches, I click the NEW filter and it only shows me matches I either haven't looked at yet or want to investigate further. I don't see any of the matches I have figured out or any of the matches that I have looked at and not been able to figure out.
Also, I never look at my own DNA Match list. I have tested both of my parents and my paternal grandmother. I can't have any matches they didn't give me. So, there is no need to work with my own match list. I work with my mom's match list (and occasionally her sisters') and then I work with my dad's match list in tandem with his mom's to help me sort out his maternal/paternal matches.
Would that type of a system work for you?
Stacey, get the DNA Match Labeling Chrome extension. It gives you more colored dots to work with. Also the AncestryDNA Helper extension that gives you the ability to search your Notes field, download a csv of your matches, and a few other helpful tools.
Great presentation Crista and Angie.. love your comments about the note field and emoji's-- I raised the issue of increasing the note field at RootsTech 2018...still waiting...but I hear from folks behind the scenes, that some cool alternatives are in the works... I hope, I hope, I hope... As for the the Q&D issue, it is far too much work to do them on separate trees, so i use my "Master" tree, and simply add posible parents, etc...and put a ? or NOT PROVED in the JR/Sr field..and leaving them "living"... BUT, leaving them living seems to prevent the Ancestry system from searching for all the best records for this "proposed or suggested" parent, relative, etc. Yikes, floating people...I've lost a few, and...aargh! I do like simply using the edit relationship field and add 5 or six possible parents, simply alternating them as the biological parent until I hit gold. Then delete all the wrong parents. What REALLY needs to happen here is for Ancestry to allow an individual profile to be PRIVATE WITHOUT MAKING THEM ALIVE... WHY? Alive hinders the search features in Ancestry...or at least IMHO. And, in the long and short of connecting to the 2nd-4th cousins, I have found great success in simply using descendancy research building out and down to these RELATIVELY close matches (even those with no trees) and using Google research to find them, and ultimately many of my 2nd cousins and 3rd cousins who have no trees, have made me the manager of their DNA, allowed me to add them onto my tree...making them part of "our big family"- a huge win-win. Thanks so much for this great video... loved it! Three cheers!
I've recently found a half brother and biological family I never knew I had...it was so amazing.
One of the great things about shared matches with a person is that if you are adopted, you can pick the first one and then click on the shared matches and click the stars. Then go back to your regular list of matches and you will see that some are starred and some aren't. Great way to sort paternal from maternal when you have no clue who is whm.
I use that trick all of the time. Works like a charm. ;-)
Great minds think alike. LOL
I just did my first Quick & Dirty tree by following your instructions. I started with a guy
from the first page of my 23andMe matches, whom I could tell was on my father's side, but I couldn't get any reply from him and his tree was very sparse. I got an immediate success and it was as quick and easy as demonstrated by you and also by Blaine Bettinger. No waiting to edit out two days of waiting! I was unable to find Angie's recommended charting software. It sounded like Luciter, but I am sure I am spelling it wrong.
Great job! The program Angie uses is called LucidChart.
You are both so informative; thank you!
Thanks for the video. Great information. Do you know if the Shared cM Project Tool is accurate for matches with a lot of endogamy such as French Canadian? Should the user adjust the input or output themselves or is it built into the tool? Or does is not make a big enough difference to worry about? Thanks.
Hi Jason, it should be fairly accurate for French Canadian endogamy. The endogamy might push the amounts a bit higher, but probably not too much to throw off the estimates significantly.
another great preso - thank you Crista and Angie! I am off to create my Q&D tree. Really appreciate these tutorials 🤩
We're over the moon to hear that you have found these videos of benefit to your own research, Wendy! There is always so much more we can learn and constant innovation in this field is providing more and more resources and useful tools every year. Make sure to call on our team anytime you have a query in the future. You may also like to check out our extensive back catalog of past videos and Q and A events over on our FB page if you've yet to do so. Click here to take a closer look : facebook.com/AncestryUS/videos/?ref=page_internal .
We hope that your research will continue to go from strength to strength and appreciate your support of our community! 🌳
@@AncestryUS thanks team, I have learned so much from your vids and yes I will keep trawling for more intel :)
That's great news, Wendy! We also host Q and A events with Crista over on our Facebook page from time to time so hopefully we will catch you there sometime soon. Thanks for your kind reply and support over the years. 🌳
This was really helpful, thanks for sharing!
What about situations where you are related to a DNA match in multiple ways? Will this affect the number of cM or the reading of relationship? My mother was from SE KY. 'Nuff said.
Hi Naithom. Great question. If the intermarriage in your family was a close relationship (1st cousin, for example) and happened within the last 2 generations, then yes, it can inflate the amount of DNA you share with a match from the same branch of the family tree.
Also, if you come from a highly endogomous population (where there are a small number of founding families in the population and the descendants in those families intermarried repeatedly over a period of time), you might see a large number of 4th cousins and a slightly inflated amount of shared DNA between you and your 3rd and 4th cousins.
@@AncestryUS My maternal grandparents were 4th cousins. My great grandfather's great-grandparents were first cousins and 4th great-grandfather through several relationships was the father of three of my ancestors. Yes, I can have a family reunion in the shower given how many times I am my own cousin.
I'm working on a tree like that too! I don't call it a tree I call it a bush!
Really great, I just wish this had been a two part series or something. You had so much information to pack in and I will have to rewatch several times to catch it all. Is one of the DNA centric videos helpful for telling how to correctly manage a DNA account for a family member? I don’t want to mess his up because he will be key to many of my brick walls.
Ah, nevermind. I just found the one on activating and managing. Still have a question, though...I don’t really understand what you guys meant by clusters. Like a maternal line and a paternal line? How are you identifying the ‘cluster’ that gets a ‘red heart emoji’, for example? (I know it doesn’t matter what emoji or way it is tagged, but I don’t get how you are coming to a conclusion of a particular cluster or what the cluster even consists of.)
Great question. I have assigned a color to each of my great-grandparents in the order of the rainbow (ROYGBIVP). So, for example, my dad's dad's dad is red. My dad's dad's mom is Orange. My dad's mom's dad is Yellow. And, so on through all eight of them. When I find a match that is connected to me through one of those great-grandparents, they get that color emoji. Then, when I look at the Shared Matches with that person, it is almost certain that they are part of that same "cluster" or family group, meaning that they likely connect to me through that same great-grandparent.
Now, when I am working with the DNA Matches of someone who is looking to identify biological parents, I don't know when I start which ancestors go where on the tree. So, in that case, I just randomly assign colors as I start to group people based on Shared Matches.
Does that make sense?
Crista Cowan THANK YOU!
This is very helpful. I'm looking for my bio dad and I have found the common dna relationship but there is alot....alot of children , grands and great grandchildren to go through wow these people were busy lol 😂thank you for the work you do.
Hi Crista, you say that you put all your research trees in one tree. Do you have a video or a website that would give a visual of how that may look for the different trees?
I know where the term quick and dirty came from, because as a programmer we used that term quick-and-dirty program to get something fixed or figured it out quickly. An early operating system QDOS, from the original Microsoft days, meant quick and dirty operating system. It was only later they relabeled it to Disk Operating System for public use.
I have close matches that appear as first cousin once removed when they are actually second cousin once removed because of endogamy.
Now that we have thrulines how can we use a mirror tree? To use thrulines the tree MUST be public!?
Is this done by simply creating a new floating branch for each new match?
That was a great presentation, filled with a lot of information. I would love to have you slow down and provide a real example of the clustering and making the mirror tree. No doubt you guys knew what you were talking about but there were not enough examples for me to be able to leave this presentation and go and use the info. Even watching it a number of times was not enough. I'll check out the facebook pages.
I agree about the clustering. I have a number of cMs that are in the range of 21-25, so when I look at the cM tool I get the same general information about 4th to 6th cousins, removeds, etc. The chart didn't lead me in any particular direction. I got the impression from your presentation that similar numbers could show relationships, but I'm not sure to what extent that is. Would two 21.7s be family members, in the same place in the chart, or at the same cousin level? I was more hopeful at the end of the video than I was after I tried the cM tool and started looking at matching cMs in my match lists. I was intrigued by your use of emojis and wonder why Ancestry hasn't created color tags or allowed users to sort Shared Matches some way. I have been filling the stars to show I've added notes, but that has limited utility. Thanks for the work you do. I'm sure I will get there eventually.
Everything you said goes over my head. I don’t understand. Watching you do what you describe might be easier than watching you talk about it. I just can’t picture what to do at all. Still waiting for dna results.
Christa, I’m unable to find the link to the chart of possible relationships axed on length of shared cM. Could you point me to it’s location? You and Angie packed a lot of great info into this video! Sue
Are you asking about the Shared cM Project Tool? You can find it here: dnapainter.com/tools/sharedcmv4
Yes, Thank you!
Very helpful video! You briefly mentioned shared matches. Do you have a video that discusses that topic in more detail? I am mostly interested in the accuracy. Also, is there a way to make program suggestions to Ancestry? I think it would be really helpful when looking at “Ancestry Member Trees” under “Hints” if there was some indication if the owner of that tree is a DNA match.
"...if the owner of that tree is a DNA match." - go to the profile page of the tree owner. On that page is an indicator if the tree owner is a match to any DNA kit you manage.
Dan Edwards I should have stated that better. I meant that it would be nice if you could see if they were a DNA match from the list of Ancestry Member Trees instead of having to click on the tree then click on the owner of the tree to find out. Especially when there are 25 trees.
Thank you for the suggestion. We will pass it along.
thank you for this presentation. I love the add new person feature and I'm wondering if you still need to have your tree private.
The only trees I make private are the "Quick and Dirty" research trees that I put together while investigating my matches and how they connect. My own family tree, the one that is connected to my DNA results, is public. (~Crista)
so adding emoji's to help organize matches what Ancestry SHOULD ACTUALLY HAVE IN THE SYSTEM actually helps....
Thanks for the video. I have watched it several times and I cant figure out how to do the Quick and Dirty trees. Maybe I'm missing something. I agree that it would be nice to see a step by step video. Thanks.
Are you looking for biological parents or are you just trying to figure out how your DNA matches are connected to you? Your goal will help dictate the method that you use.
💖 Appreciate your sharing! 😍 🌟
I did everything you just said with the 'floating' person. when I go back to the tree I don't see them. Where did they go and how do I see them on the tree or their information?
Great Video. Needs updating to the new features though!
Krista
How did you do the power point thing? I was trying to figure out a way to place all my matches in a format where I can visually see where they fit in with myself and one another. I couldn't quite tell what you were doing on my phone.
The other thing is it would be very helpful to have a way to sort my matches the way I want them sorted. For example; if I wanted to sort all my Sheppard's into one file, box or folder so I can work on them
Lastly is there ever going to be a way to connect my matches to my tree?
In PowerPoint, I use the "Org Chart" function to create these charts.
I will forward your "sorting" and "connecting" suggestions on to the DNA Product team. Thanks!
@@AncestryUS Thank you.
I love your information. I am adopted but I do have info on my DNA mother and know nothing about my DNA father. I have a DNA match who is a close relative with 1843cM who is on my paternal side. She also does not know her DNA father. As beginners, we are having difficulty narrowing information down to even work with. We have some common DNA matches but nothing close. Can you give me suggestions of where/ or what I should be doing to work on this match? I understand the DNA clusters but nothing pops.
Hi N Lyn, How many centimorgans of DNA do you share with the top match that you have in common with 1843cM?
Thank you for the video! I will have to watch it again to try and follow. I am trying to find the parents of my paternal grandmother. I have a 2nd cousin match that does not match with DNA from my mom who tested with Ancestry as well as me. My grandmother has not tested and has actually let her test expire. My 2nd cousin match, I built out a tree with all of our shared matches and then some. Is it possible to find a parent of my grandmother using this method? I feel like I'm so close yet so far to figuring this out.
Lauren - It sounds like you are doing all the right things. If the blue stabilizing liquid in the DNA kit is still fluid, your grandmother can still use the DNA kit. It might give you more data to work with. But, if she doesn't want to take the test, look at the Shared Matches with that 2nd cousin whose tree you built. Can you see where they intersect?
Very poor sound - does anyone know the name of the App mentioned at about 16 mins? Just can't hear what's said. Thanks!
in fact two seconds after I posted this I realised there is a 'subtitles' option. It's not 100 per cent accurate but does help and I think the app is called Lucid Chart.
What about double lineages - intertwined lineages increasing the cM
Intermarriage can cause elevated shared cM amounts between two people but typically only if the intermarriage was close and fairly recent. So, for example, if my parents were 1st cousins to each other, then I would share a significantly higher amount of DNA with the other descendants of that same set of great-grandparents from their other children. But, if my 3rd great-grandparents were 1st cousins (which is actually true 😉 ), it won't measurably affect my shared DNA with their other descendants.
When you add someone and then edit and disconnect them where do they go as not visible in tree?
Hello, what is the name of the tool mentioned by Angie, that she uses once shee has found common ancestors (at 15:55)?
Ok I got the answer from previous commentaries. Thank you!
For a while been pairing. Common matches by group numbers and if you gIve me a group number pretty good at knowing what side belongs to with out much search now it is which ancestor
This is great info, but what do you do when you don't know who your shared ancestor is? I'm adopted and I'm trying to determine who my father is.
Hi Wendy! How much DNA do you share with your top 5 DNA matches? Do you know who your biological mother is?
Ancestry - yes, I know who my biological mother is. She has not taken a test, but I have a first cousin on my mother’s side of the family that has. Any of my matches that are shared with this cousin, I immediately eliminate.
I have a second cousin & several third cousins on what I believe is my Dad’s side. I believe this because they do not share a match with my first cousin on my mother’s side.
I believe I am close, but have hit a brick wall.
@@wendyjackson8248 - It sounds like you are on the right track. It's great that you have that maternal first cousin to help sort out your matches. How much DNA do you share with the top match that is NOT a shared match with that maternal cousin?
@Ancestry here are my top 5 that aren’t on my maternal side:
1. 219 cm - 2nd cousin
2. 188 cm - 3rd cousin
3. 174 cm - 3rd cousin
4. 133 cm - 3rd cousin
@Ancestry - 5. 115 cm - 3rd cousin
I just used the Q & D match method successfully for someone predicted to be a 3rd-4th cousin who had 3 people including himself in his unlinked tree. I was able to determine quickly that the person at ground zero was indeed the person whose DNA was matching mine at 123 cms. I then built the rest of the Q & D tree for him and eventually found our connection. We are 4th cousins 1x removed. I am wondering though about the Shared CM project numbers which indicate that a 4th cousin 1x removed is on average 28 cms. with a range 0-117 cm. Our 123 matching cms are not far over the top of that range but it is over. Any comment on this? Is the CM shared cm project a tiny bit unreliable even with the broad range of possible results for any given relationship? Or does this result suggest another family connection that contributes to the shared DNA but is not captured with this tree? I would be very interested to know your thoughts.
My biggest gripe at the moment are those people who have left Ancestry and/or don't respond to my questions about our DNA match. Do you have a video about how to find passenger lists? A cousin can't find the point of entry where her ancestors might have entered the US. She has followed them back to Virginia and that's where the trail stops cold.
There are several helpful videos here about finding immigrant ancestors: th-cam.com/users/AncestryComsearch?query=immigrant
I see Berry surname in that tree and my mom has that name in hers too! Would be nice if they are connected.
At one point in the video one of you all mention right clicking on a match's info and I can't quite catch what that is. Can you help?
Right clicking and opening the match in a new browser tab. That way you can hop around and look at all of them. You may have figured this out, but I thought I'd throw it out here for anyone coming to the comments with the same question.
Please give a link to the app Angie uses for lists. Starts with L but she speaks too quickly to catch it
Are you referring to Lucid Charts? It's an online tool for making diagrams: www.lucidchart.com/
Lucid Chart
Agreed, I couldn't understand what they were saying (even the one time Christa said the name), it should definitely have been a link under the video with the others (unless there is a business reason why Ancestry don't want to link to it, I guess).
Search Lucidchart App (mac or windows). It's used as an extension so make sure your browser is compatible.
When you're building these "quick and dirty" trees, how many generations do you go back?
I downloaded the GEDCOM file from my "real tree" and re-uploaded it and name it "Quick and Dirty" (so I got all of my documented generations in there) and marked it private and not searchable. I use this Q&D tree to add all of people of other DNA match trees into it so it's my full tree + all of these "possibility" people all in one big tree. I even went to far as to attach m DNA results to the Q&D tree so as I'm building these possibility trees, I might be able to genetically match to a "possible" common ancestor, that I'm unsure of (I wouldn't want to add to my own tree as I'm not sure yet). I try to add as many generations from there tree into the Q&D tree so there is a greater possibility of hitting on a common ancestor. I'm just new at this method, but I think it holds good potential for working on these "possibility" lines for people you think might be connected, but you don't want to pollute your actual tree with all of these theory people, while you work it out. I use the Q&D tree as a kind of safe work space when I can test my theories without spreading misleading information throughout the community by keeping the Q&D private and unsearchable.
It depends on what you are trying to discover and how much DNA you share with the DNA Matches that you are using to solve the question. If, for example, you are looking for your biological parents and you have a 2nd cousin match, you might only need to build a tree back three or four generations before finding the common ancestors with the Shared Matches. From there you would build the tree down (instead of back) to discover who all of the children, grandchildren, etc. are of that common ancestor couple.
dpslager - I really like this idea just because it keeps your research private. I agree with you about sharing unproven connections to other genealogists research.
Angie, my brother is trying to find his paternal family members. he did the ancestry DNA and has not had much luck any tips?
How many centimorgans of DNA does he share with his top non-maternal match?
What about people who come from an area with endogamy?
Most of us deal with endogamy to one degree or another in various times and places in our family tree. We have to take that into consideration when we are working with our DNA Matches to figure out the connections to the common ancestors.
What is the name of the on line app that you use to drag and fill out names and information.....Luciter?
Is it Lucidchart?
Thanks!
That's it, Mary!
How much does it cost for your services? I have a giant family tree for my bio dad, but I can’t figure out which family line he’s in.
If you are interested in having the Ancestry ProGenealogists Unknown Parentage team help you out, you can go to www.progenealogists.com and give them the information you have in order to get a quote for cost.
Hi. Are we able to match our DNA with people from other countries?
Anyone who taken an AncestryDNA test, from anywhere in the world, goes into the AncestryDNA network and is compared to everyone else.
Could you tell me again the name of the App that Crista uses to chart the DNA matches. Thank you.
Frank Smith PowerPoint
Thanks for that. Well what was the mapping App that the other person used?
lucidchart
My husband and I sent our DNA week's ago. Haven't gotta the results yet.
Chromosome browser...please. 😇 Also limiting shared matches to those who are 20cM and higher really hurts those who are not of Colonial American ancestry. My mom's maternal line were from Poland and most of her matches on that side have no shared matches because they are under that 20cM threshold. It's very difficult to find "clusters".
Sound quality is pretty bad, must click away. Thanks for your time.
Is there a way to find the relationships of my shared matches to their matches? And maybe the cM they share with their matches. In other words, put each of my shared matches in the number 1 position and see the matches and shared cM.
Unfortunately, there are privacy concerns about sharing that information without permission of the test taker. So, send a message to your match and ask them to share that information.
What about those "shared matches" that are under known Maternal and Paternal lines? How do you figure them out?
HELLO? Any help with this question?
I've been researching about 10 years. I presume you've already built a tree? If not, do so, starting with your parents and adding grandparents, etc., based on facts like census data. Then email your matches. Ask if they have a family tree, or are willing to share information with you so you can build one for them. Start with your closest matches. It's very helpful if you can have a known relative/s test, so you know how you're connected. Above all, patience is required. This is a long game, and there's always more to learn. I'd watch more videos in this series.
I'm not sure what you mean by "matches that are under known Maternal and Paternal lines." If they are "known" what are you trying to figure out?
Is saliva the only way to pull DNA samples?
Yes. AncestryDNA is a saliva sample.
The term centiMorgan was new to me. It should have been defined at the outset
We define that in the video, Chad. Were you expecting something else?
I couldn’t catch the name of the charging app spoken of, could you repeat that name please?
Charting not charging
@@mimimiller1236 It is called LucidChart.
My last grandfather goes back to 1499 his son who also is a grandfather but it stops there no wife record just grandad and son England is where their from any suggestions I'd like to go further or at least find my grandmother any tips.
I will have to watch this several more times to try to understand it. But, big question: An unknown great grandfather hunt. In 1904 Clara had a child, my grandfather Edward and a name appears on a birth record in NYC. Edward is born in the NYC Foundling Home system, St Vincents and is later adopted.
Fortunately Clara goes on to have 11 children and I have a number of descendant DNA matches. A few of the matches go to Edward who has an unknown father and the rest are clearly from Frank who marries Clara and fathers those 11 kids.
Is this relationship too far from me to use this DNA mirror tree system you are describing here? The great grandfather is level we are seeking. Thanks
No, the relationship you are describing is not too far to determine by using the shared matches/mirror tree system. I was able to figure out my great grandfather's biological father using this method.
Jim - This is exactly the kind of family history mystery that is readily solved by AncestryDNA matches. It sounds like you have already used your Shared Matches to start identifying clusters of matches.
Do you have any 2nd or 3rd cousin matches that are not shared matches with the known descendants of Frank/Clara or one of your other sets of great-grandparents?
Timely video as on am on a mission to find my biological father and cement the fact that I have determined who my birthmother was. Need a little more help on the mirror project as it would pertain to those matches I have discovered on the paternal side.
The purpose of this video is to try and convince people to *not* do mirror trees anymore.
If you're on Facebook, the group DNADetectives is a very large group whose goal is to help people looking for parents, grandparents, etc.
Terrible audio. Could not make out what program the guest mentioned. It sounded like "Lucifer".
It sounded like Luciter to me but I have not been able to find that app or any information about it so far.
The app is named Lucidchart.
I'd be grateful if your approach descriptions are accompanied by examples because I find your descriptions difficult to follow.
Help please? My account has been failing to update SAHs for mirror trees since Sept2018. Is there any news on when ancestry will have the current issues repaired>
AncestryDNA was designed for a DNA kit to be attached to one tree (to the person who took the test) and left there. Mirror trees, as was explained in this video, are an outdated, unnecessary, and highly discouraged practice. With the size of the database and the other methodologies that have been created, there are much more efficient and effective ways of identifying biological family. If you have questions about any of the methodologies explained in the video, please do not hesitate to ask.
OMG this is so far beyond my understanding...I just don’t understand the DNA stuff...I’m so confused 😐
It is kind of like learning a new language. Just keep at it, read blogs and watch videos and eventually you'll pick it up. Remember that everyone started at the same place.
Great advice, Donna.
SBA - If you have questions, ask away. It sometimes just takes a while to start to understand. You've got this!
what about endogamy?
Are you talking about true endogamy (like descendants of Eastern European Jews or French Canadians) or are you talking about a few close cousin marriages within the last few generations?
How do you find someone who died 14 years ago but there’s no records on them or their spouse?
What type of record are you looking for? Where have you already looked? If you haven't found a record, how do you know they died 14 years ago?
I found a record that said she had died in 2011. Also one other record of her marriage. I can’t verify who her parents or grandparents were. I tentatively attached a line of ancestors to her but there are discrepancies and I don’t know if those are the right people. And that’s only on her mother’s side. Her father’s side is blank.
What a timely video, today I clicked on a random match. She matches both my grandfather and I at the 5-8th cousin match. But whether I look at her through my test or my grandfather's no shared matches come up. And she was adopted and only knows her biological mother. She also lives across the pond and that side of the family I have not been able to follow back to my immigrant ancestor. I can only get back to my grandfather's great-great grandparents. Any suggestions on what I can do to figure out how we are related. (We share 9.3 and 9.2 centimorgans over 1 segment respectively with her.)
With that little amount of Shared DNA, I would venture to guess that the connection is much further back than you will be able to ascertain. If she shares her match list with you, you might be able to see if you can tell, from her side of things, which side of your grandfather's family tree she might connect on.
Just as an FYI (I rarely - if ever) look at matches who share less than 20 cM of DNA unless there is a Shared Ancestor Hint and we both have extensive family trees (enough to rule out multiple lines of relationships). Or, unless that match appears on the match lists of multiple people/generations in my family cluster. (~Crista)
Of course, 90% of the world measure space in centimetres & metres 😀 - I shall certainly look into the shared centimorgan site.
LOL @ 'quick & dirty' trees. I definitely do this: lots of private trees labelled ''DNA-Track Joe Bloggs"
Pro Geni is high. I wish y'all had a deal for low in com people.
I don't want Ancestry to drop the 6-8 cm matches . I have cousins that match me at that amount that are common ancestor matches .
Upgrade your system if it's too much data to handle !
You said that second cousins can help you find your parent. My brother has a different father than I, that we are trying to find. He has 2 second cousins that match along with him 4 other people. I have built trees for all these people, but cannot find the answer. BTW my brother and one of these 2nd cousins do not know their father either. This cousin was born in the Philippines so we know her father is American. My brother and the 2nd cousin "A" share 320/19 and with 2nd cousin "B" 254/12. 2nd cousins "A" and "B" share 258/16. Now there are 5 other cousins with varying degrees of DNA between 179-93. Even though I have these trees that I had to make, I can't find the two men who are clearly 1st cousins that fathered my brother and 2nd cousin "B". I have spent over two years on this. I am ready to just quit. Any advice or direction to try? Please....
Let me make sure that I understand before I try to give you advice. :-)
You have a group of three 2nd cousins. Two of them (one being your brother) do not know who their biological fathers are. I think I got that right. Now, you have 5 other DNA matches that connect to all three of these people? Have you figured out who the common ancestors are for the 2nd cousin that does know their biological parents and the other 5 matches?
Oh man...I had begun to write this answer back to you, but it is so convoluted without looking at a diagram and I don't know how to put it in that I just erased it. Thank you for responding so promptly to my question, but this is just so crazy with so many adoptees involved and trees that I built from what little info I had that I am just so discouraged. All I really wanted to do is help these two find their fathers. Something they both truly need right now in their life. Thank you for at least considering the question. Distressed!
Feel free to send me an email if you would like me to take a look at it and see if I can help out. You can reach me at ASK [at] Ancestry.com.
Very useful video to get out there. I've been doing this for years but I would LOVE it if ancestry would also include a NOT Shared matches to separate matches. fyi, I use draw.io (free) to do the dna comparison charts they talked about here.
@ Cathy Fahey do you use a template there or do your own thing? I was just looking at it, thanks!
I don't use a template because it's pretty easy and my trees aren't all the same. But you could save one with a basic structure to always use as a starting point. I put the main person on the left side in a box and draw a line down from that box and then across, underneath the tree noting the cm values shared with each ancestry cousin's kit so it easier to compare in a visual way. I can send you an example if you like
Why not call them Quick Research & Discovery trees since that is what they are.
Confused, if a female has a son does he get the X and Y chromosomes from his maternal grandparents?
His Y chromosome will come from his father, paternal grandfather etc always moving up the direct male line. His X chromosome will come from his mother, but could have come from either one of his maternal grandparents, if it came from his maternal grandfather then the maternal grandfather has to have got it from his mother, but if the son in question got it from his maternal grandmother then she could have got it from either of her parents.
In any case almost all AncestryDNA data, and thus matching, is done with Autosomal DNA, which is all the chromosomes except X/Y chromosomes.
[Edit to correct 'paternal grandmother' to 'maternal grandmother'.]
MrDannydoodah Thank you for clearing that up.
Now I've found my biological father...I'd like to help my dad find his...his first cousin has yet to repond... I'd like to find his biological family.
Thanks to this video and doing the research I've now found my dad's biological father
I call my research tree "Trial Tree".
40.00 per month is way too much for me.. family search is mostly free and you can access info there too.. I’m not saying they are wrong for charging that.. it’s just more than I can afford...
I pay $19.99 a month.
Dont use Ancestry.Dodgy.
been with Ancestry for years, nothing dodgy about it.
@@lisaspegal4248 their DNA tests are inaccurate and their advertising breaches consumer trade description laws.Thats dodgy in my book.Ja ,verstehen ?
what exactly is inaccurate? Are you talking ethnicity or the dna matching? It might be good to specify. The ethnicity is ESTIMATES from hundreds of years ago and changes periodically based on updates samples. Have been reading many discussions on it in groups.
support.ancestry.com/s/article/Viewing-Ethnicity-Results-from-AncestryDNA-US-1460088591488-2556
What was the name of the App that Angie mentioned that she uses to Chart ?
at 15:45, it was hard to understand, but I think she said "Lucidchart". See Lucidchart.com. I don't think there is anything magic about that -- it's not genealogy-specific. See also: draw.io , or as mentioned, you can do it in PowerPoint. I see people drawing these charts with all sorts of things. Pencils work.