Did you like today's video? Don't miss Organizing DNA Cousin Matches using Excel Spreadsheets to learn cousin matching from the beginning! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mlzAoiwSWIE.html -Diana, Genealogy TV Team
This is the best Ancestry Video I’ve ever seen. Very understandable even though I have to watch it a few times. Really happy you grouped all this together rather than separately
Thanks, Connie! As always, I learned some new things from your really informative videos. I have used filtering for cousin matches quite a bit, and somehow never thought to filter by tree types. That is a real gem! I learned a few other cool tricks in this one, too. - Debbie J from Phoenix, AZ
I received a gift for a year all-access subscription to Ancestry, from my daughter for an early Christmas present. I'm so excited that maybe now I'll finally be able to move forward with my family tree. Thank you for all your videos.
Closer matches are often more interesting than distant ones, but matches more distant than 4th cousins can be perfectly reliable and quite essential for brick wall research.
Excellent, Connie. Thanks! Exploring all the filtering methods, and working any clues possible on interconnections is sheer gold. Had to recommend, and will further. Nice job!!!
Did you enjoy this week's video? Want to learn more about DNA matching? Check out what happens when cousins intermarry and what pedigree collapse is with Connie! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Ilgl5707iP4.html -Diana, Genealogy TV Team
I will need to go back and rewatch. There was so much information. Thank you. Your explanations have helped me sort my wife's tree DNA tree to find the biological family she never has known.
Thank you Connie! I had no idea how to go about getting information from private trees - what a gem! Nor did I know that I could filter by tree type! I've whole new playgrounds awaiting me! Thanks again!
I’ve taught myself a lot of what you shared but I didn’t know about that search by type of tree function! Thanks for that tip. The more ways to search, the better!
What a brilliant video Connie, you have a big heart sharing all this knowledge, your passion for this is contagious, you also seem to have the same inquisitive mind that I have, I wonder if we are related haha!! Thank you for the hours and hours of time you put into these videos. x
One thing I am finding is that the match is often some sort of code. If it gave even a first name it may be possible to find out exactly who they are but with a code and a person who doesn’t communicate it can be tough going.
I really do enjoy your videos - they often get me to go a step further in my research than I previously have - thus fulfilling the exhaustive search. I meant to ask you, however, I've seen you have family in Wayne, Wayne, West Virginia. I have a lot of family from there as well...primarily from the Watts and Ferguson families. Maybe we are cousins!
You are so welcome! I do have Fergusons in that area. Ensign Samuel Ferguson might have died in Wayne County, WV. I have conflicting evidence on him. I have not really worked this line at all. He would be my 5th Great Grandfather.
Please explain what you mean by "cluster-to-cluster" method for deep triangulation. I have a brick wall at the 2nd great-grandmother level, born approximately 1862/63. Thank you.
@@GenealogyTV Connie, could you please tell me what Lance meant when he said "cluster-to-cluster" method for deep triangulation? I understand what clusters are, though mine are all over the place. I just am not familiar with the cluster-to-cluster method. Is it just another name for the Leeds chart? Thank you.
Thank you for the pvt. tree but with common ancestors trick. I was able to nail down a 4th cousin on my first usage. I'm sure I'll be able to find more.
Thank you for this, this is very informative and well explained I think is also important to mention to take in consideration pedigree collapse and endogamy, this has made my re-search so hard to figure out, especially when my highest known DNA matches, matches none of my other high ones and they know nothing about how we could be related (probably lots of NPE in addition to endogamic [sp?] population and or pedigree collapse as for what I've been able to see from their family tree)
Great point! If you have not seen it... I did a video with Diahan Southard on Endogamy called... DNA - When Cousins Marry: Pedigree Collapse vs Endogamy ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Ilgl5707iP4.html
Thanks for another great video, Connie. I'm going to try the filter stacking with private trees now. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. :) Have a blessed weekend.
@@GenealogyTV Thanks, Connie. I have been able to place several more DNA cousins in my tree thanks to stacking the filters. I had never tried the tree filter with the other filters before. I'm a natural "snoop" and being able to uncover what is hiding behind "private" is the best part of this. :)
This was a fab video. I’ve been ‘stuck’ as I’ve sorted all the ‘easy’ ones but the unlinked trees and no tree people baffled me. Now I have a good idea of what to do! Which generation do you match to i.e your Booth-Simmons line - are they your G-Grandparents?
@@GenealogyTV I just saw a Babbitt in the Dunbar match list evaluate list. Have you come across another way to access trees linked to DNA matches like a list you showed us? Once someone is evaluated and added to my tree, that list isn't available
This is Great Connie. I can't wait to finish setting up my third monitor. After my monitor and new monitor mount came it, I found the back of my desk, which is a separate surface, became front heavy. I had to rebuild that part of my desk bc now it will be holding 55 lbs. Then I'm going to watch all these videos again.
Whilst I agree with you, at least in part, about how much effort or even if it's possible to link up very distant matches I would say it depends. Sometimes surnames, dates, and locations can make it easier to match up these people than those with higher cM amounts so sorry if there isn't a tree, it's very basic, or nowhere or no one looks familiar then I would spend much time on it, unless it's in combination with another match of theirs (and yours) that can fill in the gaps. I feel the videos I've seen so far are want locking picking off the low hanging fruit, which sure is necessary, but once you've got past this stage and no one looks familiar, the links are through female descendants of female descendants of the common ancestor, who take the surname of their husbands after marriage (as do their children) then I think just going back to the initial research done on those who are closest to you then going back to them over and over doesn't bring up any solutions, you need more than this. Looking at the shared matches of the shared matches is a great way of doing this, and you briefly showed this, but again you do have to be careful because it your ancestors were in quite closed rural communities (and they haven't moved from these areas much) then as you get down to the smaller cM ranges they could pick up DNA from many different branches of your tree, which makes using these techniques a lot more difficult. Great video though and I hope there's another one building on this one as I am enjoying them.
I wonder if you have tips on contacting DNA matches, and even just reaching out to living relatives who haven't tested but we've just recently discovered them through our tree work? Best practices and ways to not be too disappointed if they prefer not to reply. Thanks!
Less is more. Don't give them the entire family history. Offer that you have info to share and see if they respond. Keep it brief and happy. Here is an episode that might help. 3 Reasons Why People Don't Respond to Your Messages & How to Find Living Family ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oUtYtFgKdx8.html
I always love your videos, but... I'm wondering why you use BOOTH multiple times? I know it's personal preference but it seems like a waste of the limited colors. Have you thought about a system based on the ahnentafel system? - e.g. 16 - SCOTT, 17 - BREWER, 18 - REED...
No offense... but I'm not a fan of the ahnentafel system. To really understand my color coding and why Booth shows up in a couple of groups is because as I step back another generation... I add a group when I discover what specific line they come from.
Hello Connie, I truly enjoyed this video. I have a question that I'm hoping you can give me some insight on the topic of cousin matches. I currently have over 25 cousin matches whom I've determined their common ancestor but I cannot determine how I am related to them other than it being on my maternal side. The maternal side of my tree is built out to the great-grandparents only and beyond them is a complete mystery. I have a lot of maternal matches and I have no ideal how they are connected. I think I am stuck until I can find more info on the great-grandparents and their immediate families. Am I looking at this correctly?
Another great question. The short answer is you need to research from the common ancestor downward toward present day researching the descendants using traditional genealogy methods (using records). ThruLines might help give you clues as to how you are related to them, but don't rely on it, use records to help verify those records.
Connie, I have a question...When I look up a surname, sometimes I will get people that when I look at their tree it doesn't show that surname. I figure the name for them is so far back that I can't see it. I have a great grandfather "Unknown" who had a child with my Great grandmother. Her mother and stepfather raised the child which was a boy. I can find children of the mother and children of the stepfather, but can't find "Unknown" because I am a girl. I recently came across a cousin that didn't show her tree, but had one, that said we don't share any cousin matches...Could she be descended from Unknown?
Sandra, you can search other peoples tree for that Surname in both their tree (when expanded fully) and in the DNA Match list. Check all variations. As for the rest of your question, I would need to see your tree and DNA results to help try to understand your question. I have private coaching if you want to try that. That way we can jump on a Zoom call, share computer screens, and I can see your family tree. Here is a link with more information. genealogytv.org/virtual-private-coaching/
I have used 80% of everything covered in this video. Bet you can guess what the 20% is. Color Matching. I loved using the private trees and circling around and getting hints in all the ways you used as well. Using the dashed line to get clues to names and then research based on those names to get facts. Treat ThruLines as an "opinion" and you'll be good. It certainly isn't gospel. I'm 49 darn years old and for whatever reason, I can't grasp the concept of grouping yet. I'm not sure if I'm over-thinking it? Or trying to endgame the solution and how to make it work for me before understanding the purpose. I work as an engineer and this is what confounds me. Go figure. LOL On to the last video! I googled dna grouping on my lunch hour, I may see if there's some graphical representations that grab me.
My sister has done her ancestry DNA but since i have the family tree on my Ancestry account I thought it might be more convenient to work if i did a DNA test and had the identified matches on my account to do the thru lines etc. On second thoughts if i give full access to my sister to the tree can she do thru lines against her dna and my tree. Also rather than i having a test it might be more useful for my parents to do tests so we know how the matches split. They are too old to manage online etc and i wondered how i can manage their dna accounts in a way that i can use against the tree. Is there a video about doing this ? Can you do one? I'm not sure how i go about getting a dna test on their behalf to run their accounts and i dont really want to load up my tree against each dna account duplicating what's on Ancestry again and again either
I like this question. May I use it for this Friday's live show? It's kind of complicated to break down here. The short answer is have your sister share her DNA with you (yes there is a video on sharing DNA tests with another... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QeJoNKy1ocA.html)... and if your parents are willing, have them take a DNA test ASAP... and you manage it under your account. Also here is a video about how to share your tree with your sister... I recommend it just for legacy reasons. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8Z0WTeK7x2g.html
When you were showing how to add someone to a genetic group, you picked cousin Stephanie. She is in 3 groups. How can you be certain that all of those that match both of you are only in the target group (Booth-Simmons) and not in a different group?
Hello, do you have or can you make a video for adoptees? I only have my adoption papers with my parents names on it but other than that no more info. Ancestry DNA says I have one “close family-1st cousin” then it says nephew. Is that in fact my nephew? It shows a lot of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th cousins TIA
I've made two videos so far... but many on grouping your DNA matches too. Start with these two. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2jaIpEKb74M.html and ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7IDUIZ9ifwE.html
Great question. I think I will use it in an upcoming video. You can find the longest segment by clicking on the cM for any match. It will open up a new window and it will show the longest segment at the top of the page.
Gosh, there's so much in this one video. Will need to watch again to take it all in. So frustrating as an adoptee, as I only know my birth mothers first name but not her surname. She is alive but doesn't want any contact as she is scared her family will find out that she had a baby out of wedlock back in the early 60's (ie, me!). I am linked on Ancestry to a lady by 1830cM, (so she could potentially be my aunt) but she has no idea how I'm related to her. I could be her deceased brothers child and he might not have even known I was conceived if my birth mother didn't tell him. I am so dissapointed in my birth mother. I get that she doesn't want her family finding out about me, but all I wanted her to do was to confirm whether this man was my birth father or not, as all of his side of the family have been so nice and welcoming to me but they too have no idea if he was my father or not. He does have 6 children but I would never ask them to do a DNA test as that would be too intrusive. All I can do is wait and see if any of them or their children ever do a test and if they did, then I would show up as being related to them. It's hard being an adoptee where you are made to feel like a second class citizen, denied even knowing the names of the people who created you because they are embarrassed that they had sex outside of marriage and you are their "secret" that must not come out.
Ok in you explanation you say that 2nd cousins would only descend from the direct line. I thought they would also be your second cousin if they were through any one of the 3rd gparents… this confused me a little but also makes sense in a way. I just can’t separate this new info lol. I’m might edit later on being I’m just under 7 min in.
Thank you for mentioning the family tree with a large number of entries. I have over 36,000 in my tree. When possible, I research at least 3 generations of my ancestors, and the ancestors of my sibling's spouses (this helps when their children need help with projects), and the spouses of my first cousins. Since most of my relatives have lived in the same county since the early 1800s, I have found numerous pedigree collapsed trees. My father began the genealogy search in the 1960s, which amounts to about 640 additions per year, or 2 people per day. I don't trust trees over 100,000 which means those people are tree collectors, not researchers. I once had a DAR Registrar berate me, telling me there is no way I could have solid or accurate research, nor that many ancestors.
Why would they assume your tree is inaccurate just because it has a lot of people in it? Do they know how many years you have been researching or how much time you put into it daily? I doubt it. I also wonder how they figure that no one could have that many ancestors. Obviously the person berating you has never studied family history or taken the time to do the math. :)
Click on them anyway and then on the Shared Matches tool. You'll see all those DNA cousins you share in common with that DNA cousin... and some with trees... Those trees might have clues. Make sense?
@@GenealogyTV my problem is that i just can’t find the common ancestor in last 200 years. If i’m related to this cluster via both parents then the common ancestor may have been born as far back as 300 years ago.
Wow. Thank you, I hadn't tried cross-referencing private trees. This might help me with an enigma in my family since I was in a DNA triangle with 2 cousins who don't match up to my family tree. It appears that one of their ancestors was a soldier who had many affairs and his son lived in the same area as our Geeson family. There is no recorded illegitimacy in their ancestry or even 'shot gun weddings, so unfortunately I might be looking for an extra-maritial affair? The son then emigrated to the States and became a Mormon.
I have private coaching if you want to try that. That way we can jump on a Zoom call, share computer screens, and I can see your family tree. Here is a link with more information. genealogytv.org/virtual-private-coaching/
Had one match who I was trying to figure out how I was related to them. She said she never knew her dad so I suspect I'm related to her on her dad side. Suck her dad wasn't in her life. I think he was probably my great grandfather nephew. It's interesting seeing these matches and wondering how your related.
Ann, I'm not sure what you are looking at... but grab the cM number and plug it into this website to see the relationship posibilities. dnapainter.com/tools/sharedcmv4 It could be that you are looking at ThruLines which comes from other member trees. If they have it wrong, it might be causing an issue. Also, if your children are not listed in your main tree (that your DNA is attached to) then that might be the cause too.
If she has already registered the kit, then she can share the DNA kit with you. If she has not registered the kit, you can do so under your account... with her permission of course. Here is a video to watch... How to Share AncestryDNA Test Results (Why Share DNA Test Results) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QeJoNKy1ocA.html
EP must be alot older than you being a 2nd cousin to your grandparent then again age difference between 2nd cousins can be huge. Found out my mom has a 2nd cousin born in the 1920's but she was born in the 1960's.
Wow! I naturally grouped my cousins using shared matches! I must be a natural genealogist😁 Matching by Grandparents is a nice personal touch! Love your videos!😊💕💕
I've gotten a lot of ponies. Good for brick wall research. Don't forget that Ancestry's Timber can artificially turn a >20 cM match into a < 20 cM match.
I took a Ancestry DNA test,but I am not pleased with the outcome and results,because I didn't take the test to find out about cousins,and when I got my results back that's all Ancestry presented me with is just cousins. So I have not been pleased with Ancestry every since I took the test.
You get ethnicity estimates as well, presumably that's what you're interested in? I'm at a loss to imagine how on earth you might have missed this information; Ancestry make it all so straightforward.
@@ameliafroehlich2577 have you created a grouping for your ancestor families yet? That is how you get the colors. Watch her first video in this series.
When looking at matches, one has to be skeptical because many people are merely people collectors, pick up wrong information, and that wrong information seems to spread rapidly. Case in point. I have one ancestor in Allen County KY, b.1786 SC. Another man with the same name, b. 1786 TN (obviously wrong since TN was not a state until 1796), living in Roane Co, TN. People don't take transportation issues into consideration in the early 1800s. So many people descended from the KY person have arbitrarily connected their trees to the TN man because he has a documented parent and the KY man does not, that ThruLines are just screwed up. This also occurs in another family where people have attached a common ancestor to his step-mother (he was born 10 years prior to his father's 2nd marriage), that ThruLine is messed up also.
This is why we use these tools as clues to find the records that give us confirmation. Always review the records... and make sure they are correct too.