I wish more people would be more willing to grant cousins viewer access to their DNA on Ancestry. As sharing tends to make genealogy that little bit easier 😉 But kutgw Jonny and great video Connie.
I used the "what are the odds" tool a couple years ago to try to narrow down my wife's biological grandfather. We have a most likely candidate and just waiting on a YDNA test at FTDNA to match her brother. That tool was instrumental in finding a prospective tester. Hopefully within a month or so we will know for sure. Great video. Thank you!
Gosh I don’t know how so many people have so many relatives who have tested. I feel like I was dropped here by a stork. Very few tested relatives and parents are dead. You’re tutorials are invaluable and I’m so grateful. I would appreciate a notice at the beginning of these saying what level (beginner, easy, difficult, very difficult, advanced) so I know what to spend my time watching. This one probably won’t be possible since my “family” is so small and nobody tests 😢
This is an excellent tool and a must for all serious genealogists. I use it almost every day and has allowed me to break down brick walls on family lines that were previously unsolvable and allows you to find the greater family of your up to GG Grandparent.
Wow he has added so much to this site. I'm so out of the loop now. My favorite has always been the chromosome painting and WATO. Thanks for this update.
When I first started using WATO, I found the term "target" confusing. In most cases, the target is the person you want to know, typically the deceased ancestor, not yourself. This terminology puzzles other people as well. Maybe the term "Key" would help clarify that the person who has taken the DNA test is the key to solving the mystery of the unknown ancestor that you're seeking.
I noticed that there are now companies that will do autosomal DNA testing from artifacts, such as a licked envelope or stamp, allowing individuals who are now deceased in your tree, but who are higher in generation to advance your DNA research further up the tree. Question - does this really work?
Hi - did you ever receive a response? I am very curious about this, too. My aunt had her mom (my maternal grandma) do an Ancestry DNA kit & I heard that they let her take a take a sip of Sprite soda cuz she couldn't get enough saliva to fill the tube. I had ordered kits for my children to do & they had just arrived, so knowing hers would not work I had her do one of my kits, but she was in kidney/heart/lung failure & could not get enough saliva to fill to the line. The bubbles touched the lone, but barely/still just a little under. I sent it in anyway. Of course, the test did not work & she passed away. I feel like if they keep these on file, maybe some day they will be able to retest. There are no siblings of hers still alive to test from her generation.
Do you know of an sources that lists statistics for large segments. For example DNAPainter's "Shared cM Project" is based on total cM, not longest segment. Is there a similar tool that will give cousin relationship probabilities for large segments? Largest segment of 100cm 130cm 150cm? Does the particular chromosome matter in that situation?
I don't know about statistics for segments. DNAPainter has a couple areas that might help answer your question in a different way. For example the WATO tool... (What Are The Odds) is rather interesting.
I have just started getting more into the DNA match part of genealogy am very interested in the DNA Painter. I have only tested with Ancestry. I am figuring out my next step, should I test with 23 and Me, upload to FTDNA, or upload to MyHeritage. I don't want to be overwhelmed at the start and in the end I will probably do all of it but am looking for the next best site to go to. I don't have any immigrant ancestors (through my 3rd ggps). Is 23 and Me the best option to start due to the common location of testers?
23 and me is the second largest testing company. However, I don’t know that they necessarily are focused on Genealogy as they are on health results. MyHeritage might be a good option to upload since you can do it for free. And family tree DNA also has a free upload. One step at a time pick one and go slow. If it were me, I would probably go to my heritage next since they have some very cool DNA tools. Also, you’ll have to pay for a test at 23 and me.
I'm getting nearly 1/3 Spanish (Santander, Cantabria) result (fathers fathers side) with a surname that 23andme says could be sephardic, but I have paternal haplogroup R-P311 and Maternal V. Neither one of these haplotypes are consistent with Sephardic Jews are they? Like it's pretty much a disqualifier isn't it?
I’m hoping that dna painter might reveal some answers with the chromosome painter but those ‘unknown matches’ I have need to understand that they have to download raw data, they can’t seem to look past the cM share and just shrug their shoulders because we don’t have the same names in out trees. As these matches have higher cM figures than my known 1c2r and half 2c matches (and don’t link to them despite them all being maternal links) they are the key to solving several mysteries.
Hi, I have a few mysteries. one of the main ones I just have to figure out, are a group of cousins I have tons of matches for. Im pretty sure they are my moms paternal side due to numerous cousin who have tested. I believe they belong to her maternal grandmother and ofcourse they dont match any of the known names. My theory is she wasnt her fathers child. I do have a half great aunt who has a granddaughter who hasn't tested ive asked but she hasn't responded. How can I use the site to help narrow down these cousins who have triple digit CM's to us?
I am a dna puzzle because I share no dna at all with my 2nd cousin. Working with other matches and people who should have matched and did not he is likely a half cousin. I still I share no dna with him at all even as a half cousin😮 But I do his dad, full brother and half sister but even my amounts with them are small. My 1rst cousin matches the one I don't at 123 cM, the brother at 26cM and the half sister at 49cM. My cousin matches their dad at 193cM but I only match at 46cM. The dad is my dad's 1rst cousin. No one has been able to solve why I match so low. Yes, I match my 1rst cousin at 833cM and his dad, my uncle 1575cM. My dad is deceased so I cannot test him. Likely what happened is my Granny had a different father than any of us knew even her. It still does not explain why I match so low to her brother's descendants. There is 1 other descendant that tested at 23 and Me, he is the son of a sister of the 1rst cousin mentioned above. I match him at 60 some cMs.
