Genealogy Proof Series: Surname Searching

Posted on June 29, 2024 by Roberta Estes

This is the third article in the Genealogy Proof series, in addition to the introduction.

In the article titled Gathering Location Resources, we focused on locations where you know your ancestor lived – but what if you’re looking for books or information about a particular family or surname?

Maybe you’d like to know if an article or book has been written about that family, either generally or maybe a branch more specifically. Many early books are no longer in print.

Maybe you can find information about your family in resources not typically checked by genealogists.

Of course, there are lots of resources, but I’m including several here that you can use and might otherwise miss. Feel free to add more in the comments.

Recording Your Findings

Don’t forget to record your search results and which resources you used on the spreadsheet we created in the Extracting and Recording Data article.

If you find that the information in the book or resource is too long for the text field in your spreadsheet, record and index the item anyway. Then, transcribe or copy/paste the entire text version in one of two places, but don’t forget to note in your spreadsheet where you put it.

Your genealogy software under that person’s name
A Word document under that person’s name

When I write my 52 Ancestors articles, everything I know about that person is gathered into a Word document and then organized and arranged into a cohesive story. The pieces have been gathered over the years in various locations and I have to be able to find them to be able to use them.

Book List

I have also created a list of books that I own.

This list needs to be updated because I moved and I would like to more accurately detail the locations of books I still have. It’s nice to know what you already have and where to find it. Tell me I’m not the only person who has purchased the same book twice!

Ok, now for surname resources where you just might find your ancestor!

Cyndi’s List

Cyndi’s list has a HUGE number of resources generally, but it also includes a surname category.

Under each letter of the alphabet, available resources are listed.

Be sure to check out everything for your surnames of interest.

BookFinder

At Bookfinder.com, you can enter a name in the title field.

That query produced a significant list. Remember that this list changes often, based on availability.

I now have another book on the way!

Higginson Book Company

The Higginson Book Company has long been known for carrying heritage books – both by location and for genealogy.

You can search by surname or any keyword.

Higginson reprints copies of original books out of print in addition to maps and a few other things. Note that sometimes you can find the text version of copyright-free books free at other locations.

State Archives

Check the website of every state’s archive where your ancestors lived.

If in doubt about what might be available, call the State Archives and ask a librarian. You might not believe what’s there.

In Tennesee, for example, there’s an index of Supreme Court cases that can be searched for the entire state, or by county, or year.

Cases that appear in the Supreme Court Index will not be recorded in the county records, because the case was appealed from there to the Supreme Court. It’s worth noting that the Hancock County, Tennessee courthouse burned (twice), so the Supreme Court records in the archives reflect lawsuits that we don’t even know existed today.

In many cases, local courts no longer retain case packets, if they ever did. They often only have the names of plaintiffs and defendants in an index book – not even an outcome. However, the county clerks faithfully copied the case packets when the case was appealed and sent to the Supreme Court, where this valuable information resides today – including depositions and receipts.

I’m entering the surname of every ancestor that was found in Hancock County. Sometimes, I search for their in-laws and neighbors too, just in case my ancestor is mentioned.

Look – paydirt! In an estate dispute – you know there are relationships explained and maybe also the source of the dispute.

When utilizing archives, be sure to search the archives of parent-states and parent-counties, meaning states and counties your state/county was formed from. The same goes for descendant states/counties formed from your state/county.

But wait, there are more resources.

Librarians

In addition to resources shown at the Tennessee Archives website, you can also click to chat with a librarian.

Librarians are an encyclopedia of knowledge.

Thanks to a librarian, I recently discovered that the Michigan State Archives holds an obscure collection – prison newspapers published by the inmates over the years, reaching back into the 1800s and early 1900s. It’s not evident from the collection information, but a call to the archives and a lovely discussion with a research librarian revealed that those publications have recently been scanned and OCR indexed, which makes it possible to search by surname or topic.

I love librarians. They have saved my bacon so many times over the years, as have volunteers at local museums, and historical and genealogy societies.

Chronicling America

Chronicling American is provided by the Library of Congress. This link is for the newspaper collection which spans 1756-1963, but there are also other collections

In the photo collection, you can search generally or very specifically.

I had always wondered why my grandparents chose to move to a tiny out-of-the-way farming community outside very rural Fowler, Indiana. I found my answer in the Library of Congress. My grandfather’s cousin, who lived up the road in Tennessee, had moved to Indiana, was running a farm for an absentee owner and needed assistance.

The rest, as they say, is history.

FamilySearch

FamilySearch has an extremely robust and easy-to-use search functionality.

Select “Search,” then “Books.”

I entered the word “Estes” under the Books search and found this:

Notice that full text results are available, which means that either the book is out from under copyright, or they have obtained permission to image. It’s also worth noting that this is one of the books available for print-on-demand from Higginson Books.

Another option, the “Images” search, searches for information by historical location.

Searching “Genealogies” and “Family Trees” is obvious.

I find the “Catalog” search particularly productive.

You can filter your Catalog search in any number of ways, but, as luck would have it, the very first entry is where my Estes family lived.

Oh, look, it’s my lucky day…

If a desired book or article isn’t available for viewing, start a list and look to see if it’s available through your local Family History Center or check elsewhere.

FamilySearch New Full Text Search

I just love this new full text feature that automatically transcribes and indexes entire handwritten collections, such as the will or deed books in a particular county.

On the search page, scroll down until you see the FamilySearch Labs image and click on “View Experiments.”

Click on “Go to Experiment”

I detailed how to use FamilySearch full-text search in this article, but I want to remind you here that you can search by surname.

One of my huge brick walls is identifying the parents of James Lee Claxton (Clarkson/Clarkston) 1775-1815.

All of our Y-DNA matches are spelled Claxton and are found in North Carolina, but that group of Claxton researchers and my line are both stuck at about the same time in history. It’s very likely that the common ancestor of both groups came from Virginia, but where? And who?

I’m searching for Claxton with the hope that there is some mention of a Claxton we don’t already know about – or something connecting my ancestor to Lee County, VA in about 1795.

There are thousands of entries in this database, but I can filter to restrict my search to Virginia.

Remember that FamilySearch is adding to the collection of books and records that are digitized and indexed daily, so if you don’t find what you’re looking for today, check back often.

Google

A general Google search for “Estes genealogy” produced a list. I’m not showing their generative AI result here, because it’s half right and half wrong. It’s fine to use AI for hints, but verify absolutely everything. AI is not ready to be relied on and may never be.

Here is a list of Estes resources from Google.

Always beware of internet links. “Fly” over them first. If the link address even looks questionable, just don’t click.

That said, there are a HUGE number of legitimate resources here.

Google Books

Google books can help you locate books that may not be found elsewhere.

Some are available as an eBook at Google Books, but if not, you can use these as leads to search elsewhere, including AbeBooks and sometimes, Amazon. I usually use Bookfinder after finding a book I’m interested in through Google, because they include other sites such as AbeBooks, Amazon and many more. Bookfinder is an aggregator, not a reseller.

You can also request to “Find in a library,” which might be useful if your local library participates in interlibrary loans, although often heritage books are not eligible for loan.

Internet Archive

I love the Internet Archive, the same company that provides the Wayback Machine, which also allows you to search by surname. The two sites provide different results, so be sure to try both.

You’ll find all kinds of information at the Internet Archive.

Under eBooks and Texts, I often enter “<surname> genealogy” so that their metadata will use both terms to narrow the search. Metadata is data about data, and in this case, it means which keywords they used to index these entries.

Many records aren’t relevant, but some assuredly are.

You can also narrow the results by many features – including the Allen County Public Library which has one of the largest genealogy holdings in the US.

Keep in mind that I’ve selected only items with text, meaning that I can read or download for free. There are certainly other items available that aren’t free.

I sometimes struggle with their search feature, so I often just search at Google using the term “Estes books at internet archive.”

Allen County Public Library

At the Allen County Public Library website, you want to search in the research collection

Please note that you can filter your results in many ways.

One of the wonderful features is that they actively collect newsletters. Estes Trails has been published for decades.

These newsletters are in their physical holdings, but if you know they exist, you can track them down in other ways. In this case, the publisher’s name is included in the full display.

Many newsletters are no longer published, so, fortunately, there’s another way to obtain an article.

PERSI

PERSI, an index for periodicals, such as Estes Trails, above, is also hosted by the Allen County Public Library.

At PERSI, you can search by surname

I searched for Estes, and look what I received. I absolutely must read these Civil War letters.

This is a GOLDMINE. No, Aaron Estes isn’t my ancestor, but again, he’s related, and I just have to read these.

Scroll to the very bottom to order the items.

WikiTree

WikiTree is one of my favorite resources. You can enter your ancestor’s name, or a surname.

WikiTree is a collaborative tree where different individuals add information and sources to the profiles of ancestors. They have a small army of helpful volunteers that are willing to help too.

As with all shared resources, some information can be incorrect. Treat all trees as information to be verified and sources to be checked.

One of the great things about WikiTree is that individuals who descend from ancestors in a specific way can connect themselves and their Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA test information.

Descendants who have taken an autosomal test can list the testing company and information. While testing companies use the DNA of the tester to connect to other testers – it’s up to those two people to determine their common ancestor.

WikiTree works the other way and is ancestor-driven, meaning that you see who descends from the ancestor, and you can go to the testing company indicated to see if you’re an autosomal DNA match.

Furthermore, if you’re working on your genetic tree, you’ll want the Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA information for each of your ancestors. If other testers have entered the information, you can find it here. Please enter yours as well.

Be sure to check the sources for each ancestor. There may be information and resources not found elsewhere. Add sources if you can. Collaboration is a good thing, and a rising tide lifts all ships.

Newspapers

After you’ve wrung out the more traditional records, such as deeds and wills and census schedules, you’ll want to turn to newspapers. Not all local newspapers have been scanned, OCRed, and indexed yet, and some quality is better than others.

Licensing and processing old newspapers is ongoing, so just because the location where your ancestor lived doesn’t have an indexed newspaper available today doesn’t mean they won’t soon.

Newspaper articles put meat on the bones of our ancestors as they reveal their everyday lives. Who visited whom after church for Sunday dinner, who hit someone’s cow, who had company from out of town, who was having a family reunion, who moved and to where, who caught a big fish, who went on vacation, who was “visited by the stork,” and much more. Some make you say “awww,” and some are downright juicy and scandalous!

News about neighboring counties and even neighboring states can be found in locations where you may not have thought to look for your ancestor.

Virginia Chronicle

The Virginia Chronicle is a historic newspaper collection curated by the Library of Virginia that produces amazing results.

What? A murder? You know, I just HAVE to go down this rabbit hole and read these stories.

Ok, so, here’s the skinny for those who are curious.

Theodore Estes was dating Miss Loving, the daughter of a judge who shot and murdered Theodore. As it turns out, Theodore’s father was the sheriff, so this story is particularly rich and full of intrigue.

It seems that Miss Loving, the judge’s daughter, drank whiskey, and one thing allegedly led to another, which Theodore, his family, and friends denied. However, the young woman’s father didn’t believe them and sought revenge. Some reports said that she only drank “one swig” of whiskey, and nothing happened. Others said that the whiskey was drugged, and “something” did happen. A third group said she asked for the whiskey and drank a whole lot more than a swig. Theodore took her home (to her house) in his buggy, to her parents, but clearly intoxicated.

It gets even more complex because it appears the families were related. I had to draw a chart to get this straight.

Theodore’s brother had married the Judge’s wife’s sister. I’m telling you, this trial was a humdinger. Whoo boy! Eventually, the charges against the judge were changed to something less severe than murder. This high-profile case was covered by several regional newspapers like the latest soap opera.

As I read through these articles, I noticed that some Estes family members had arrived from Danville, VA, which is in close proximity to where my Estes family was from. So, while this is not my ancestor, it involves my ancestor’s descendants.

Ok, enough of this rabbit hole, but you get the drift. You may never get anything resembling chores done ever again!

The National Genealogical Society membership now provides access to NewspaperArchive as a benefit of membership. As far as I’m concerned, this alone makes the membership worthwhile.

NewspaperArchive offers a notification service for subscribers, or did when I subscribed separately, so you’ll receive an email when the name of a saved search is found in a newly indexed newspaper.

I keep discovering previously unknown things!

Ancestry owns Newspapers.com for accessing newspapers and Fold3 for military records. I discussed the nuances of using Newspapers.com at Ancestry in this article. You’ll need to search in the Historical Newspapers Collection at Ancestry and/or in Newspapers.com. Ancestry is reimaging the newspapers and using AI to create associations between people – for example family members mentioned in a wedding announcement. The results will not all be found in one place. The newspaper itself will be found at Newspapers.com but the associated family grouping will be found at Ancestry itself in their collections.

You can now reference the Birth Index, Marriage Index and Auctions of Enslaved People and Bounties on Freedom Seekers Index, here. The larger Newspapers and Publications category can be found here, and the Historical Newspapers Collection can be found here.

MyHeritage includes a large newspaper collection for their subscribers, much of which is unique and not found elsewhere.

This collection is where I found hundreds of items about my mother’s family in rural Northern Indiana. I found previously unknown photos of my grandfather, and that he attended the “Normal School” to become a teacher. He never taught, instead going to work for the railroad, moving away, and meeting the woman who would become my grandmother.

MyHeritage actually has newspapers in two places. This search is on the MyHeritage site itself, available with a subscription. MyHeritage has a second, independent site too – OldNews.

OldNews is big news!

At RootsTech 2024, MyHeritage announced a separate subscription site called OldNews, which essentially doubles the number of newspapers that they’ve digitized and made available. Take a look!

I found information about my mother, such as when she had her tonsils removed, when and where she danced in plays as a child, and the amount of my grandparents’ estate. Newspapers reported things back then that would be considered privacy violations today. Check OldNews to see what’s there for you.

Colonial Williamsburg has made the earliest Newspapers in the colonies available, here. Some are through a subscription site, and others aren’t. It was through these old newspapers years ago that I discovered the name of my ancestor’s indentured servant who ran away. Now, DNA seems to point to a potential relationship. There are no records other than that “runaway” notice to connect these people together, anyplace.

Check Cyndi’s list for more Newspaper services

MyHeritage Surnames

MyHeritage offers many ways to search, but you can start by entering the name of your ancestor or even just a surname.

I could have simply entered the surname, but I entered James Lee Claxton.

I can filter by any of the collections, at left.

I check them all, but I particularly like the Books and Publications, and the Newspapers category. You just never know what you’ll find, and many of the books are digitized and free.

You can also just enter a surname. I entered “Estes.”

I checked every one of these categories and, among other things, found some fascinating historic maps.

I love my MyHeritage subscription. If you don’t have one, you can try one free for 14 days.

Ancestry Message Boards

Ancestry discontinued the RootsWeb-hosted websites, WorldConnect Trees, and RootsWeb mailing lists last year, but the message boards are still functional.

After signing in to Ancestry, scroll down until you see Tools and Resources in the right margin.

Click on “Message boards.”

These boards reach back at least 20 years and many of the original posters are deceased now. I know that I often posted information as I found it while traveling.

There’s an advanced search function, too.

I was shocked to discover that you can still initiate a thread, but I’m not at all sure that other people on that board are notified today. I had no idea these boards even still existed.

Another feature that’s helpful at Ancestry is the Card Catalog, one of their Special Record Collections.

You can enter a surname in either the Title or Keyword box.

Of course, you’ll get different results, but both are certainly worth checking.

Genealogy.com

GenForum was the message board for Genealogy.com. Ancestry purchased it years ago, and while you can no longer post messages, you can still search for messages that were previously posted, here.

American Ancestors

American Ancestors holds a large database that includes periodicals such as the New England Historical and Genealogical Register and the Virginia Genealogist, which you can search by name, here.

Additionally, they have a number of immigration and naturalization records not available elsewhere.

HathiTrust

HathiTrust has indexed millions of documents, including many governmental records and publications.

Select any publication or narrow by categories. Then you can search within the text and also view the text on the relevant pages.

DNA Projects

FamilyTreeDNA offers surname projects, along with geographic, haplogroup, lineage, and regional DNA projects.

You can find surname projects in one of two ways.

The first way is to Google “Estes DNA Project.”

You’ll see two links, either of which will take you to the project.

I administer this project and welcome everyone who has an Estes ancestor, regardless of whether their surname is Estes or something else.

By clicking on “DNA Results,” you’ll see multiple options.

Clicking on the “Classic Chart” shows groupings of males who have taken the Y-DNA test, along with additional information, including their Earliest Known Ancestor (EKA) and, in the final column at right, their haplogroup.

If you take a DNA test and match other people, you can contact them to collaborate through matches on your personal page. Not everyone can test for every ancestor – and women can’t test for Y-DNA lineages (because they don’t have a Y chromosome,) so we depend on being able to check for our ancestors in Y-DNA projects.

If your ancestral line is shown, you can use the confirmed haplogroup (green) in the free Discover tool, here, to learn more about your ancestor’s heritage.

Here’s the “Haplogroup Story” tab for R-BY490 that represents a number of Estes lineages. There are 11 other tabs in the left sidebar just waiting for you to read about your ancestry.

Note that “Suggested Projects” is one tab. The suggestions are based on projects other men with this haplogroup have joined.

Y-DNA information through Discover, and soon, mitochondrial DNA information through MitoDiscover, is the ONLY place you can find this kind of information. Be sure to check out all of the tabs at left, including Ancient Connections.

If you click on the Group Time Tree, you’ll see a different view of the results of the project members who have taken the advanced Big Y-700 test.

By selecting the relevant groups, you can see the surname of the testers, their earliest known ancestor (if known and entered), at right, along with the haplogroup genetic tree at left.

The genetic tree shown at left confirms the genealogy of these testers, at least as far as the genetic tree is able to distinguish. I wrote about the Estes Group Time Tree, here, as an example,

If you are a male and have not taken the Big Y-700 test, please do. It unlocks your history in a way nothing else can.

A second way to find DNA projects that might be relevant to your surname is to navigate to the very bottom of the FamilyTreeDNA main page in the footer.

Click on “Group Projects.”

You can enter any surname and see the projects in which the project administrator listed Estes (or your surname of choice) as a surname that might be interested in their project.

If you’re a customer and signed on to your account at FamilyTreeDNA, you can find this same information at the top of your personal page under “Group Projects.” You can also join projects from there.

Social Media

I often overlook Facebook or other social media as a surname resource, but it is.

Today, many, if not most, genealogy and historical societies have pages, and so do many genealogists with an interest in a particular surname line.

Searching for “Estes” on Facebook shows several individual people, PLUS, two groups that might be very interesting.

Once you’re a member of a group, you can search within the group for a keyword.

This search gave me everything with either Moses or Estes, so I narrowed it by just using “Moses” or just searching for “Halifax” which is the county in Virginia where Moses Estes lived.

Facebook, especially groups with a genealogical focus, is a wonderful way to find men for Y-DNA testing.

I often ask if someone has already DNA tested, and if so, where.

If they have already tested at Ancestry, or 23andMe, but not at MyHeritage or FamilyTreeDNA, they can upload to both companies for free. Matching is free after uploading, and so are other basic tools. Advanced tools require an inexpensive unlock, which costs far less than retesting. The unlock at FamilyTreeDNA for advanced tools costs $19, and it’s $29 at MyHeritage.

Next Topic – The Proof Table

Our next topic in this series will be the Genealogy Proof Table.

What is a Proof Table, how do you construct one, and why?

We will assemble a Genealogy Proof Table for one of my lines as an example. You’ll need one for every ancestral lineage.

After that, we have four more articles in this series.

Genealogy Proof Standard
DNA
Leveling up
Writing it Up

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DNA for Native American Genealogy – by Roberta Estes, for those ordering the e-book from anyplace, or paperback within the United States
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Legacy Tree Genealogists – Professional genealogy research

Genealogy Proof Series: Gathering Location Resources

Posted on May 23, 2024 by Roberta Estes

This is the first article in the Genealogy Proof Series.

Most genealogists, even if they don’t realize they are genealogists yet, begin by creating a small tree of their known ancestors. Most people know who their grandparents are, and by asking a few questions, can probably complete another generation or two.

If your parents were born in 1950, your grandparents would have been born about 1920, and your great-grandparents may have been born around 1890. You probably have concrete facts about your parents. Their birthdates, birth location, marriage location, and so forth. They probably have the same information about their parents. However, with each generation reaching back in time, the information becomes less precise and less reliable. Memories fail people, and the information they were provided may not have been accurate in the first place.

For example, my mother told me what she knew about her maternal grandfather, which wasn’t much. He died when my grandmother was 20, several years before my mother was born.

As the information becomes thinner, the need for additional information and confirmation of facts becomes crucial. Furthermore, when utilizing new resources, you may discover information not previously known about close generations. One of the best resources for that is old newspapers.

Our ancestors are more than birth and death dates. I like to piece their life together, complete with historical events, both national and local, and how they influenced and affected their lives.

This first article explains how I gather and utilize location resources for each ancestor.

Before we start, let’s talk for a minute about where we are going and how this series will be organized.

The Genealogy Proof Series Roadmap

It’s difficult to put the steps in a specific order because often, I get very distracted and go right down a rabbit hole.

In other words, I’ll be working on gathering resources for a specific county, but then I find a listing for what I think is my ancestor, and before you know it, I’m off on the chase. I really, really try NOT to do that because it’s actually very distracting to the process as a whole.

It’s also difficult for me to select an order to write these articles. For example, do I write about Leveling Up, determining what you need for each ancestor, first or last?

I’ve chosen to write about that topic last because I want to step through how to gather and use the resources before we get distracted by what you need to do with individuals in your tree. It’s way too easy to go after that bright, shiny object:)

Gathering and Organizing Location Resources: This article is about how to find location resources for the area where your ancestor(s) lived. I suggest starting at the beginning, meaning your closest ancestors. You know where your parents and grandparents lived, so start there.

If you think there’s nothing there that matters because you know everything about your family – I guarantee you surprises are waiting. They may surprise you, touch your heart, or even shock you, and they are just waiting to be discovered. But before you can logically extract everything to do with your family and surname, you need a comprehensive list of what is available for your county and region.

You’ll also need to keep a record of what you looked for in that county, and when, because you may very well need to go back and access those records again in the future.

Recording Your Data: After you have a list of what’s available for your specific counties, in the next article, we’re going to talk about extracting information and recording it in a spreadsheet. If you don’t like spreadsheets, you can do the same thing in a table. But it’s critical that you record it someplace.

You’ll also index and transcribe it as you go so you can reasonably retrieve it. This is why I utilize spreadsheets – they are made for filtering and sorting.

Surname Searching: You’ve found location resources, but where do you find surname resources? For example, what about books written about the Estes surname, or internet resources? Some will be in books or webpages about the location, but certainly not everything.

How do you find additional resources?

Proof Table: Now that you HAVE data about all the people in a region or regions where your ancestors lived, how do you prove that the Moses Estes or George Estes in Halifax County, Virginia is YOUR Moses or George Estes? What about men with the same name? What if there is no definitive proof in ONE document?

We will discuss the Genealogy Proof Standard and create a proof table for every single generation because you need proof for every single generation.

Including DNA.

(If you’re beginning to think you might dislike me by the time this series is finished – I fully understand. If it helps any, some days I’m tired and mad at myself.)

DNA: How and when can you use DNA as part of your proof argument? What about the different types of DNA? When are they useful? Are they conclusive? How do they bolster or refute other evidence?

Can you resolve conflicts between DNA and a paper trail, and if so, how?

Leveling Up: Leveling up is a methodology of determining where you are in the process of evaluating EVERY PIECE OF EVIDENCE available about each ancestor.

You don’t know what you don’t know.

For those of us who have been working on genealogy for a long time, it’s easy not to think about using new resources when they become available. For example, the 1940 and 1950 census, new full-text AI from FamilySearch, and new newspaper resources like OldNews.

What do you need to do yet for each ancestor to bring them to current?

Writing It Up: Now that you HAVE this information assembled, what will you do with it? I fervently hope you’re going to write or record it for posterity. I’ve chosen the 52 Ancestors series that I’ve been writing weekly for several years, but there are other ways, too. Genealogy is about resurrecting and honoring the lives of our ancestors. The more factual information you can saturate the airwaves and internet with, the less “bad information” can take hold. Genealogy is a team sport.

Gathering and Organizing Location Resources

This article is focused on gathering and organizing resources for where your ancestor lived, NOT on retrieving the records in those resources for your ancestor and their surname. The next article will cover retrieving and recording the data using a consistent methodology.

If you’ve followed my blog for some time, you’ll know that I’m a spreadsheet person, but I also use MSWord documents to organize and utilize resources from time to time, especially if the text is long. I have one Word document for every ancestor.

I’m going to use a chart as an example, understanding that you will create your own resource-tracking tool that you’re most comfortable with.

The first consideration is that you probably have at least three ancestors in any specific location. By that, I mean at least two parents and one child. You may have significantly more ancestors and family members from that location.

Conversely, those same ancestors may have moved from location to location – even state to state or cross-country, so you may have multiple locations for the same ancestor(s).

In my family, I have clusters of ancestors in the same county. For example, my early Estes line, along with their wives’ lines including Combs, Younger and Moore, resided in Halifax County, Virginia for about 4 generations or more than 50 years. The first generation, Moses Estes (1711-1787) who moved to Halifax County by 1771 came from someplace else, and the last generation, John R. Estes (1787-1885), moved to Claiborne County, TN about 1820, not long after his marriage.

I searched Halifax County records for at least four surnames and multiple generations.

This means I needed to compile the various resources for Halifax County across a significant amount of time.

Resources for Resources

There are multiple places to find available resources for a specific county and state.

We will use these to complete our own research list by county. In the next article, we’ll be checking each one of these resources for surnames.

FamilySearch Wiki

The first thing I do when beginning to compile resources is check the FamilySearch wiki.

Googling “Halifax County, Virginia FamilySearch wiki” brings up a lovely compilation of resources.

You’ll find general information by category, followed by very specific information and multiple resources for each category.

Click on any image to enlarge

Also note that the county website link is given, along with the county formation history further down the page. Don’t neglect to check each county’s individual resources and parent county, if relevant.

If you’ve checked the wiki, or any resource list before, check back often because things change.

I enter each of the resources into a spreadsheet for that county. This is NOT the same thing as making a list of information discovered for an individual ancestor or surname. We’ll get to that later.

Don’t limit yourself to just the years that you know your ancestor was living in that county because records pertaining to that family may exist before your ancestor arrived and long after they left. Other family members may have preceded them, while lawsuits, deeds, and other records may refer to them decades after they left or died.

Here’s the beginning of a list for Halifax County,

Resource	State	County	Link	Year Range	Surnames	Findings
Virginia Bible Records	Virginia	Halifax	http://usgwarchives.net/va/halifax.htm		Estes, Younger, Combs, Moore	One was donated by the Tune family.
Halifax Biographies	Virginia	Halifax	http://usgwarchives.net/va/halifax.htm		Estes, Younger, Combs, Moore
1782 tax list	Virginia	Halifax	http://usgwarchives.net/va/halifax.htm, http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/halifax/census/1782/1782tax.txt	1782	Estes, Younger, Combs, Moore	5 Estes, 1 Combs, 2 Younger 6 Moore
Slave Draft for Defense of Richmond	Virginia	Halifax	http://usgwarchives.net/va/halifax.htm http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/halifax/court/1862slavedraft.txt	1862	Estes, Younger, Combs, Moore	2 Younger, 2 Moore

I enter the county and state in two fields, so it’s sortable. If I’m checking multiple counties using the same resource, I enter the resource twice, one for each county and the surnames in that county that I searched for.

For example, this link for Virginia Bible records takes you to a link for Halifax County Bible records on the USGenWeb site. I listed the surnames I checked for. I also noted the Tune donation because I know from prior research that the Tune home is on the old Marcus Younger land and the families intermarried. When you search any county for another surname, be sure to add it to the list so you don’t have to wonder later if you checked for that surname.

For county histories and biographies, check to see if they are available digitally. In the next article, you’ll want to search for and record all instances of your surname, even if it’s NOT your ancestor, because of the FAN club, Friends and Neighbors (thank you ,Elizabeth Shown Mills). Those people may or will help you identify which ancestors are yours. Not to mention fleshing out their lives.

Tax lists are often used to replace or supplement the census. You should be able to determine if the lists are recorded in procession order or alphabetical order. Clearly, procession order is much more relevant because it shows who lives nearby or are neighbors. This may help you identify specific individuals, especially when there are multiple people with the same name. In the case of John Estes in Halifax County, Virginia, the tax list placed “my” John by his father, George, which was a huge clue. Eventually, on a tax list that was stuffed in the back of a deed book in the Clerk’s Office, I found another tax list with the note, “S. G.” by my John’s name, and another note on the “other” John that lived in the north end of the county. “S.G.” meant son of George, as that designation had been used and spelled out for other people elsewhere in the same tax list. I’ve never been so grateful to the taxman in my life!

The Slave Draft for the Defense of Richmond is a fascinating document transcribed by a volunteer from the court minute book.

From Minute Book 20 page 169 Halifax County, Va

At a Court Held for Halifax County on Monday the 4th day of April 1862. Present Beverly Sydnor, Howell Chastain, John M. Craddock, William Moorewell, James Kent, Henry C. Logan, James Richardson, E. A. Coleman, Archer A. Farmer

The court in consideration of the Draft from the Governor of the Commonwealth for laborers on the Public Defense near Richmond do order and direct that the Sheriff of this County do proceed for ___ to require the following named persons to deliver to him the said Sheriff at News Ferry Depot, Boston Depot, Clover Depot and as may be convenient to the parties on ___ the day of ___ at such see hours as he may designate the Slaves between the ages of eighteen and fifty five years directed to be furnished by each person in the said following list and proceed with them to the City of Richmond and deliver them to the Agent of the Confederate Government and take receipt for the Slaves furnished by each person.

Then, by district, the name of the owner, and the number of enslaved persons sent.

This information may provide insight into who enslaved others at that time, which may provide insight into families that were slaveholders historically. Additionally, it may provide important hints and clues for African American researchers who seek their family and may have adopted the surname of their former enslaver after the war.

Also, please note that these records may not be entirely accurate. For example, there’s a list of ministers who performed marriages, and my Rev. William Moore is not listed, but I actually have the list of his marriages, returns made in his own handwriting obtained in the courthouse in Halifax County.

If you remember, I found my way to GenWeb through the FamilySearch Wiki. When I finish listing the GenWeb resources, I need to return to the FamilySearch wiki to list any further resources.

You may find lists of out-of-print books for land and property records and other record types. I sometimes find out-of-print books for sale at www.bookfinder.com.

If you own the book, note that it’s in your own library.

To locate books, check the WorldCat entry, but also check both the FamilySearch Catalog by county, the Fort Wayne Public Library and other book resources as well.

Surnames

While the goal of this exercise is to document and record location resources, if you stumble across surname resources, certainly don’t ignore them and think you’ll find them later – you might not.

I suggest starting either a second spreadsheet, or new tab on this spreadsheet for each surname.

I maintain a separate spreadsheet for each location and one for each surname or group of surnames on the same migration path. For example, my Combs, Estes, Moore, and Younger families are migrating from the Virginia Colony into the new frontiers, so I track them together from Amelia and Prince Edward Counties, where they are first found through Halifax County.

Ok, back to searching for our county resources.

FamilySearch Catalog

To search the FamilySearch Catalog by county, sign in and then click on Search, Catalog, and Place.

I was given the choice of British Colonial America or the United States. I’ll check both to be sure I have all available resources.

Selecting “Land and Property,” one of the items displayed is the Antrim Parish Vestry book. By clicking on that entry, you can see that it’s available in the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City. Maybe it’s available elsewhere too. I’ll check in a bit.

I build research lists from these resources routinely.

The entry for deed books shows that some are available online only at either the FamilySearch Library or a Family History Center (camera with key), which may be located near you. Other images are available online with no location requirement, indicated by the camera without a key, just by clicking.

These may or may not be indexed, and an index may be available elsewhere or by using the new FamilySearch Labs AI full text transcription tool. AI is not available for all records yet.

FamilySearch Labs

Next, try FamilySearch labs for additional assistance. I wrote about this new AI full text transcription tool, here.

You’ll see two features which may help you.

Using the “Find Help with AI Search” feature, type in what you’re searching for. I find the Full Text Search” to be much more helpful.

Click on “Go to Experiment.”

Typing “Halifax County, VA” into the search box returns resources from unexpected places. For example, county histories from elsewhere that reference Halifax County, or a Divorce degree, or a deed book from another county.

These are unexpected gold mines that you’d never find otherwise.

Note that this search is literally an exact match, so Halifax County, VA, is NOT the same as Halifax County, Virginia.

However, adding a surname to the location narrows the results substantially.

While normal deed and other books are indexed by the grantor and grantee, the FamilySearch full text search reveals EVERY instance of that name, including when referenced in another document. This feature is an absolute game-changer!

I can hardly wait to revisit my earlier work to see what’s new, but that’s part of the Level Up process.

It’s important to note that FamilySearch is adding new types of records to the AI collection almost daily, so check back often. Not everything uses the full-text transcription feature today, and while it’s quite accurate, it’s not 100%, so read carefully for yourself.

FamilySearch Book Search

You can also search for books by location or surname.

Allen County Public Library

The Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana is one of the largest genealogy libraries in the US. You can search their site for locations, keywords, or surnames, here.

While these resources are generally not available online at this library, they alert you that they exist, and you may be able to find them elsewhere.

The one HUGE exception is the one-of-a-kind PERSI index.

PERSI

The PERSI, or Periodical Source Index is maintained by the Allen County Public Library as well, here.

You can search by location.

Click on a category that displays the results.

At the bottom of each page, you can open a form to request a copy of the article.

Ancestry.com Card Catalog

At Ancestry.com, you can search their Card Catalog by title or location.

Be sure to try different spellings and abbreviations, like VA for Virginia, or remove the word county, etc.

The results display a list of records for Halifax County in their collection.

You can click on the link to this book to search by surname or keyword.

These local histories are wonderful tools for fleshing out your ancestor’s stories because they tell us what was happening in their community during different time periods that would have affected and influenced their lives.

For example, in one of these histories, I discovered that one of the Revolutionary War generals and his troops marched right down the road in front of my ancestor’s home. It’s no wonder that he “contributed” brandy, food, and fodder for their horses.

Newspaper Sites

At Newspapers.com, you can see which papers were available and when.

You can also add a surname or first and last name.

Unless there’s a story about someone’s ancestors, there’s no point in looking for people who lived there in the 1700s and early 1800s. These are the publication dates, so an earlier ancestor could have been included in a 25 or 50-year history column in the local paper.

This same technique works with other genealogy Newspaper sites, too, including MyHeritage with a subscription and separately, their new OldNews site which contains newspapers not included in the MyHeritage subscription.

Also check out the Library of Congress digitized newspaper collection, here.

Newspaper Archive is available with an NGS membership, here.

Fulton County (not limited to Fulton County) and GenealogyBank are two additional newspaper resources.

MyHeritage

At MyHeritage, you can search by location or Newspapers as well.

MyHeritage has one book about Halifax County.

By clicking on the book, you can add additional search criteria.

Estes is mentioned 16 times in this book.

Library of Congress

Don’t forget about the Library of Congress, which has its own Historical Newspapers section, here.

You can also search by county or surname in the search box at the top. The images are all copyright-free.

State Archives

Don’t forget about your state archives.

Most have wonderful search capabilities and specific collections.

For example, the Library of Virginia has been indexing individual county chancery records dating back to the county’s formation. Chancery suits are where you find all the juicy stuff because people are asking for remediation and explaining why.

The index is here, and you can search by a combination of county and surname.

There are 59 records in Halifax County fitting this description, mentioning Estes in any capacity, reaching back as far as 1795.

Don’t neglect later cases because many times later cases tend to be lawsuits filed about much earlier estates and property divisions. They also tend to provide relationships in their narrative.

You’ll also notice that often, the plaintiff and defendant aren’t Estes, but they are clearly mentioned somewhere in that case, perhaps in a deposition.

Clicking on “View Details” displays the entire case file.

The resources at each state library are different and vast, so take a look and check back for new offerings and features.

Google is Your Friend

Google can turn up amazing resources, but it can also lead to some unsafe sites, so be careful and don’t just click without thinking.

Google “Halifax County Virginia genealogy society.” You’ll receive eight results that may have databases, members, or donated materials, but these resources may not be complete. For example, I wrote and donated a Moore genealogy to the local museum, which doubled as a genealogy society, and that “book” isn’t listed anywhere in any resource list.

You’ll often find multiple groups focused on the county of interest. These groups will likely have dedicated and interested volunteers and other researchers.

RootsWeb

Ancestry shut down the RootsWeb mailing lists, but they are still out there even though you can no longer add information.

If you Google “Halifax County, Virginia Rootsweb,” you’ll be shown several pages and entries, some of which may or may not be useful to you.

One link provides a list of the 1860 slaveholders compared to the 1870 African Americans on the census. This could be extremely useful!

Google Books

Another underutilized tool is Google books, found here.

Some of these resources you’ll not find elsewhere.

Also, check out the other Google features, such as Images, Maps, and more, which may lead you to other resources.

I love old maps where sometimes you’ll find old stream names, landmarks, or even settlers’ homes with their name.

Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg is an initiative found at the Internet Archive to digitize out-of-copyright books for public consumption.

You can read more here.

Genealogical.com and American Ancestors

Don’t forget about book publishers that specialize in genealogy books like Genealogical.com and American Ancestors. Both are searchable, offer both hardcopy and e-books, and American Ancestors sells used books too.

Facebook

Last but not least, Facebook has many groups, including county-focused genealogy groups.

Some groups maintain a list of resources.

Be sure to check both “Files” and “Features,” then use the Facebook search function to search for your surname(s) or other relevant locations or keywords in the Discussions.

In Summary

As you step through this process, it’s easiest if you include links to the various sites so that you can extract names in the next step. Links make it easy to return in the future and quickly review to see if anything has been added.

Even if you don’t find anything relevant at the site, be sure to NOTE THAT. That way, you never have to wonder and replow that same infertile ground. For example, if you determine that none of your four surnames are in a book written in 1937, they will never be in that book. If you don’t record that you looked, you’ll be left to wonder a few years from now and you’ll find yourself looking again.

However, a new book about that county might be written in the future, so it’s important to continue to look for new resources.

It’s also important to know that you searched for Estes, Moore, Younger, and Combs in Halifax County because you might, someday in the future, need to search for a new surname, like Hart. This way, you know what you did and did not search for in the past.

Why might you need to search for a new surname? Brick walls fall. Sometimes, the FAN Club turns out to be an important key to unlocking relationships that may extend back in time to earlier locations. People did not live or move in a vacuum.

I’ve made every one of these mistakes and nothing makes me unhappier than having to look something up, AGAIN, because I failed to record what I did.

The same advice holds for hard-copy books in research libraries. If nothing else, I take a picture of the front or inside cover and the index so I know what to record and that nothing was found. I wish I had done that from the beginning. Live and learn.

The biggest lie I’ve ever told myself is, “Of course I’ll remember that!”

Your Turn

It’s your turn now. Happy hunting!

Our next articles in this series will discuss how to record data from these resources so that it is both useful and findable again.

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Why Don’t Our Y-DNA Haplogroups Match?

Posted on May 2, 2024 by Roberta Estes

I’ve been asked this question several times recently, and the answer is resoundingly, “it depends.” There are several reasons why Y-DNA haplogroups might not match and most of them aren’t “bad.”

How Haplogroups Work

Haplogroups are the 79,000+ branches of the Y-DNA phylogenetic tree which you can view here, along with countries where those haplogroups are found. You can think of haplogroups as genetic clans of either closely or distantly related men. Major haplogroup branches have unique letters assigned. Downstream or younger haplogroups are designated by a letter-number sequence that is always preceded by the main haplogroup letter.

Image courtesy FamilyTreeDNA

Major haplogroups were formed tens of thousands of years ago, with more recent haplogroups added as they’ve been discovered. Haplogroups are discovered and added every day thanks to the Big Y-700 test. You can read more about that process, here.

As you look at the pie chart above, you’ll notice that haplogroup R represents about half the men who have tested and has several major subbranches. Every haplogroup R man belongs to all of the branches above his own that lead back to the root of haplogroup R.

Using haplogroup R, which is R-M207, its identifying SNP, as an example, it immediately splits into two branches: R-M173, which has 37,000+ more branches, and R-M479, which has 313 branches. My Estes men fall into a haplogroup several steps beneath R-M173, but they are still members of haplogroups R-M173 and R-M207, even though their descendant haplogroup is R-BY490, which was formed by a mutation that occurred 20,000 years later.

Haplogroup R-M173, then, in turn, leads back to Y-Adam, the first man to have lived and has descendants today.

As we approach the question of why haplogroups of two men might differ, we will review tools to use and how to interpret your findings to reach the appropriate answer for your situation.

What is Your Goal?

You may be looking for a very specific answer, or this may be a more general question.

If you’re evaluating closely related men who have different haplogroup assignments, not matching can be very disconcerting. Breathe. There are several perfectly legitimate reasons why they may not match, and we have easy, free analysis tools.
If you’re looking at your Y-DNA match list at FamilyTreeDNA, you may or may not match other men closely, but you do “match” at some level if they are on your match list. You may see several different haplogroups in your match list. How closely you match those men is a different question.
If you’re looking at autosomal results at FamilyTreeDNA, you may see haplogroups listed for males. You may or may not “match” the haplogroup of men with the same surname. What does this mean, and why don’t you match? Your autosomal match may have nothing to do with your paternal line, or it may be because of your paternal line.

We will cover all of these scenarios.

Where Did You Both Test?

Are you comparing apples and apples?
Did you both test at the same company?
Did you both take the same type or level of test?

These factors all make a difference.

Which Test Did You Take?

There are four types of tests that will provide males with some level of Y-DNA haplogroup.

Autosomal Tests – Some companies include a few Y-DNA location probes in their autosomal test, meaning that they test a few haplogroup-specific Y-DNA locations. LivingDNA, 23andMe, and FamilyTreeDNA’s Family Finder test provide a mid-level Y-DNA haplogroup to customers. The haplogroup that can be determined from these tests depends on a variety of factors, including the vendor, the probes they selected for their chip, the test version, and if that location is successfully read in the test.

Note that FamilyTreeDNA supports autosomal uploads from MyHeritage and Ancestry who do not provide Y-DNA haplogroups to customers, but who do test some Y-DNA locations. Therefore you can upload your autosomal test from those companies to FamilyTreeDNA for free and receive at least a cursory Y-DNA haplogroup.

FamilyTreeDNA is currently processing all of its Family Finder tests, followed by tests uploaded from other vendors, to provide all genetic male testers with a Y-DNA haplogroup at some level. Different vendors and test versions test different Y-DNA SNPs, so your mileage may vary. Y-DNA haplogroups are a free benefit at FamilyTreeDNA.

STR Tests – At FamilyTreeDNA, you can purchase both Y-37 and Y-111 STR (short tandem repeat) Y-DNA tests that provide matching at the number of locations you purchased, plus a predicted haplogroup based on those results. These haplogroup predictions are accurate but are often relatively far back in time.

If you match someone on STR tests, your match may be very recent or before the advent of surnames. For a more specific haplogroup, you need to purchase the Big Y-700 test, which provides at least 700 STR match locations but, more importantly, sequences the entire gold-standard region of the Y-chromosome for the most precise haplogroup and matching possible.

When viewing matches of two men who ONLY took STR tests, STR marker matches are more important for genealogy than haplogroups because the haplogroups were formed thousands of years ago.
When viewing matches on the Big Y-700 test, haplogroup matching is much more specific and reliable than STR matches because the mutations (SNPs – single nucleotide polymorphisms) that form haplogroups are much more stable than STRs which mutate unpredictably, including back mutations.

SNP Confirmation Tests – Historically, FamilyTreeDNA customers could purchase individual SNPs to confirm a haplogroup, or SNP packs or bundles to do the same for a group of SNPs. With the advent of both the Family Finder haplogroup assignments, and the Big Y-700, these individual tests are no longer necessary or advantageous and are being discontinued.

Big Y-700 Test – At FamilyTreeDNA, the Big Y-700 test provides the most granular and specific haplogroup possible, most often well within a genealogical timeframe. You may be able to tell, based on previously undiscovered mutations, that two people are brothers or father and son, or, depending on who else has tested and when mutations formed, testers may match further back in time. Here’s an example of using the results from multiple testers in the Estes DNA Surname Project.

You can also match men who took the Big Y-500 test which is less specific than the Big Y-700. In the now-obsolete Big Y-500 test, a smaller portion of the Y chromosome was sequenced and testers only received about 500 STR locations. The Big Y-700 test has been enriched to provide a wider range of more specific information. Men who originally took the Big Y-500, then upgraded to the Big Y-700, will very probably have a new haplogroup assignment based on the expanded coverage and increased resolution of the Big Y-700 test. The Big Y-700 ferrets out lineages that the Big Y-500 simply could not, and continues to provide additional value as more men test, which facilitates the formation of new haplogroups.

What Do You Mean by Match?

Matching doesn’t mean you have to have the exact same haplogroup. A perfectly valid match can have a different haplogroup because one haplogroup is more specific or refined than the other. Matching exactly as a result of a predicted STR haplogroup is much less useful than matching closely on a much more recent Big Y-700 haplogroup.

Not all haplogroups are created equal.

I know this is a bit confusing, so let’s look at real-life examples to clarify.

STR to STR or Autosomal to Autosomal Haplogroup Match

Two males might match exactly on a mid-range Family Finder autosomal haplogroup or on a STR-predicted haplogroup like R-M269, which is about 6350 years old.

This haplogroup “match,” even though it might be exact, does not confirm a close match and really only serves to eliminate some other haplogroups and confirm that a closer match is possible. For example, R-M269 men don’t match someone in haplogroup J or E. You may or may not share a surname. You may or may not still “match” if you both upgrade to the Big Y-700.

In this case, a father/son pair would match exactly, as would two men with different surnames whose common ancestor lived 6000 years ago.

Note that if you’re comparing autosomal-derived haplogroups across different vendor platforms, or even different DNA testing chip versions on the same platform, you may see two different haplogroups. Different vendors test different locations. Please note that second cousins and closer will always match on autosomal DNA, but relationships further back than that may not. Y-DNA very reliably reaches far beyond the capabilities of autosomal DNA due to the fact that it is never mixed with the DNA of the other parent – so it never divides or is watered down in time. When comparing two autosomally-generated haplogroups of men who are supposed to be closely related, always check their autosomal match results too.

Use the free Discover Tool to find various categories of information about any haplogroup, including its age. Take a look at R-M269 here.

Using Discover to Compare Haplogroups

You can always use the Discover tool to compare two haplogroups.

Go to Discover (or click through if you’re signed on to your FamilyTreeDNA Y-DNA page), then enter the first haplogroup you’d like to compare.

Click search to view information about that haplogroup.

On the menu bar, at left, click on Compare.

Add the second haplogroup.

I’m selecting E-M35, a completely different branch of the phylogenetic tree.

R-M269 was formed about 6350 years ago, while E-M35 was formed about 25,000 years ago. Their common ancestor was formed about 65,000 years ago. Clearly, these two paternal lineages are not related in anything close to a genealogical timeframe.

These two men would never match on an STR test, but could easily match on an autosomal test on any line OTHER than their direct paternal line.

Now let’s compare two haplogroups that are more closely related.

Haplogroup R-M222 is very common in Ireland, so let’s see how closely related it is to R-M269 which is very common in western Europe.

We see that R-M222 descends from R-M269, so there is no “other haplogroup” involved.

R-M222 was formed about 2100 years ago, around 4250 years after R-M269 was formed.

There are 17 steps between R-M222 and R-M269.

The bottom block shows the lineage from R-M269 back to Y-Adam.

How cool is this??!!

Big Y-700 to Autosomal or STR Haplogroup Comparison

Joe took the Big Y-700 test and discovered that he’s haplogroup R-BY177080.

Joe noticed that his son, who had initially taken an STR test, had been assigned haplogroup R-M269. Then, his son took a Family Finder test and his haplogroup changed to R-FGC8601.

Joe was confused about why he and his son’s haplogroups didn’t match.

First, let’s check Family Finder to confirm the parent/child relationship. Joe’s son is clearly his son.

So why doesn’t Joe’s son’s haplogroup match Joe’s haplogroup? And why did Joe’s son’s haplogroup change?

Joe’s son had not taken a Big Y-700 DNA test, so Joe’s son’s R-M269 haplogroup was initially predicted from his STR test.

Joe’s son’s updated haplogroup, R-FGC8601 was generated by the Family Finder test. Think of this as a bonus. If you’re a male and haven’t yet, you’ll soon receive an email telling you that you’ve received a Family Finder Y-DNA haplogroup. It’s your lucky day!

Family Finder haplogroups always replace STR predicted haplogroups since they are always more specific than predicted STR haplogroups. Big Y-700 haplogroups always replace STR-generated haplogroup predictions and Family Finder haplogroups because they are the most specific.

Let’s compare these results using Discover.

Joe’s son’s original predicted haplogroup was R-M269.

Discover Compare shows us that Joe’s Big Y-700 Haplogroup, R-BY177080, is a descendant of R-M269.

So, they actually do “match,” just several branches further up the tree

Joe’s son’s more precise Family Finder haplogroup was assigned as R-FGC8601.

Discover Compare shows us that Joe’s Big Y-700 haplogroup also descends from R-FGC8601.

You can see that the haplogroup generated by Family Finder is more precise by about 4700 years and improves that comparison.

R-M269 was formed about 6350 years ago, but R-FGC8601 was formed about 1700 years ago.

Joe’s Big Y-700 haplogroup, R-BY177080 was formed about the year 1900, improving the family haplogroup by another 1600 years or so.

Joe’s son’s Family Finder haplogroup moved down the haplotree 21 branches and 4650 years, for free! If Joe’s son were to upgrade to the Big Y-700, they might very well be assigned a new haplogroup that, for the time being, only they share.

Of course, Family Finder doesn’t provide Y-DNA matching so you still need the Y-DNA tests for that important aspect of genealogy.

Big Y to Big Y Comparison

In our next example, a group of men, including a father and son or other very close relative may take the Big Y-700 test and have different haplogroups. If you’re saying, “Whoa Nelly,” hear me out.

George took a Big Y-700 test and discovered that he is haplogroup R-FGC43597. His son and grandsons tested, and they are haplogroup R-FTC50269. What happened? Shouldn’t they all match George?

On George’s Big Y-700 block tree, you can see that a mutation, R-FTC50269, occurred between George and his son. George doesn’t have it, but his son does.

A haplogroup isn’t “named” until there are two men with the same mutation in the same lineage. Therefore, when George’s son initially tested, he would have been assigned to the same haplogroup as George, R-FGC43697, but with one extra variant, or mutation.

Of course, that extra mutation was passed from George’s son to both of his grandsons, so when the first grandson tested, the new haplogroup, R-FTC50269 was assigned as a result of that mutation. Now, George has one haplogroup and his son and grandsons have a different haplogroup, one branch downstream.

Using Discover to check the haplogroup ages and path, we find that indeed, these haplogroups are only one step apart.

Checking Family Finder results can always verify that the match is close or as close as you expected.

Haplogroup Assignments

Haplogroup assignments range from good to better to best.

	Good	Better	Best
STR predicted	Yes – but further back in time
SNP Packs (now obsolete)	Between good and better
Family Finder autosomal		Yes – generally midrange between STR predicted and the Big Y-700
Big Y-500 (need to upgrade)		Usually between better and best
Big Y-700			The best – usually within a genealogically relevant timeframe unless your DNA is rare

Where Are You?

Older haplogroups, such as the STR-predicted haplogroups are useful for:

Eliminating some potential matches
Identifying where that haplogroup originated at that specific point in time. In other words, where your ancestor lived when that haplogroup was born.

If your Y-DNA matches another Y-DNA tester at FamilyTreeDNA, your haplogroups will fall someplace on the same haplogroup branch, although they may be thousands of years apart. STR-predicted haplogroups are “older,” meaning they range in age from about 6500 years to tens of thousands of years ago. They can tell you where the haplogroup originated at that time.

Autosomal haplogroups will be newer, or more recent, than STR-predicted haplogroups, but still (sometimes significantly) older than the Big Y-700 haplogroups..

FamilyTreeDNA provides Y-DNA haplogroups for free for every biological male who either takes the FamilyTreeDNA Family Finder test or uploads an autosomal result from either Ancestry or MyHeritage. Soon, 23andMe uploads will be resumed as well. This means that you will be able to view other men with a similar surname in your Family Finder results and:

Rule them out as a paternal line match.
Check your STR matches if they have taken a Y-DNA test
Check your Big Y-700 test for matches if both men have taken a Big Y test.
Encourage your matches to take a Big Y-700 test so you can see how closely you match on your paternal line.
Use the Discover Compare and other tools to reveal more information.

Family Finder haplogroups are relatively new, so currently, all new Family Finder testers are receiving haplogroups. Older Family Finder tests are being processed and will be followed by autosomal tests uploaded from other vendors. Haplogroups from autosomal tests are confirmed and will be newer, or more recent, than STR-predicted haplogroups.

The only test that can bring your haplogroup to current, meaning the most refined, recent, personal haplogroup, is the Big Y-700 test. Without taking the Big Y-700 test, you’ll forever be stuck with an older, less informative haplogroup branch. The Big Y-700 allows us to reliably sort families into lineages based on branching mutations.

The Big Y-700 haplogroup is:

The most detailed and granular possible.
Determined by sequencing the Y chromosome.
A test of discovery that continues to provide additional value as more men test and new haplogroups are formed.

Big Y-700 haplogroups generally fall into a genealogically useful timeframe and can be very recent.

The Discover tool and Time Tree provide a wealth of information about your ancestors, including locations, migration paths, ancient DNA, and more.

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

Now that you understand how to compare and interpret haplogroup matches, what additional information can you learn?

If you haven’t taken a Y-DNA test, you can order one here.
If you have taken an autosomal test elsewhere, upload it to FamilyTreeDNA and wait for your haplogroup assignment. Upload/download instructions for all vendors are available here.
For the best autosomal haplogroup, or if you don’t want to wait, take the Family Finder test here.
If you have already taken a Y-DNA test, upgrade to the Big Y-700 if you haven’t taken that test, then check your STR matches.
Join a surname project at FamilyTreeDNA to be included in that project’s Group Time Tree.

I always encourage Y-DNA matches to upgrade to the Big Y-700. Why? You don’t know what you don’t know. The article, Bennett Greenspan: Meet My Extended Family & Discover Extraordinary Deep Heritage illustrates the benefits of the Big Y-700 for all matches. Upgrading 12-marker matches is exactly how he made his big breakthrough.

The Big Y-700 test answers many questions beyond simply matching by using Discover and the Group Time Tree.

Where were your ancestors?
Who do you match, and who were their ancestors?
Genetically and genealogically, how do your surname matches fit together?
Where were your matches’ ancestors, and when?
Which ancient DNA results do you match, and where were they located?
What is the history of locations where your ancestors were found along their journey?
How closely or distantly are you related to other Big Y-700 matches?
Can your matches’ information break down your paternal line brick wall, or at least move it back a few generations?

Where are your Y-DNA results along the spectrum of useful haplogroup information? Do you or your matches need to upgrade? Click here to upgrade or order a Big Y-700 test.

______________________________________________________________

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DNA Purchases and Free Uploads

FamilyTreeDNA – Y, mitochondrial and autosomal DNA testing
MyHeritage DNA – Autosomal DNA test
MyHeritage FREE DNA file upload – Upload your DNA file from other vendors free
AncestryDNA – Autosomal DNA test
AncestryDNA Plus Traits
23andMe Ancestry – Autosomal DNA only, no Health
23andMe Ancestry Plus Health

Genealogy Products and Services

MyHeritage Subscription with Free Trial
Legacy Family Tree Webinars – Genealogy and DNA classes, subscription-based, some free
Legacy Family Tree Software – Genealogy software for your computer
OldNews – Old Newspapers with links to save to MyHeritage trees
Newspapers.com – Search newspapers for your ancestors
NewspaperArchive – Search different newspapers for your ancestors

My Book

DNA for Native American Genealogy – by Roberta Estes, for those ordering the e-book from anyplace, or paperback within the United States
DNA for Native American Genealogy – for those ordering the paperback outside the US

Genealogy Books

Genealogical.com – Lots of wonderful genealogy research books
American Ancestors – Wonderful selection of genealogy books

Genealogy Research

Legacy Tree Genealogists – Professional genealogy research

RootsTech 2024 Synopsis – Plus the MyHeritage Keynote is Online Now

Posted on March 18, 2024 by Roberta Estes

RootsTech isn’t entirely over yet.

Many vendor videos remain available
FamilyTreeDNA show pricing specials are still in effect until March 29^th. Don’t miss out.
Relatives at RootsTech is still available through March 29th
Recorded RootsTech speaker videos are available and will remain available indefinitely.
Gilad Japhet is the founder and CEO of MyHeritage, and his wonderful keynote has only become available in the last day or so. I always attend his keynote, but unfortunately, I was presenting a session at exactly the same time, so I couldn’t this year. Gilad revealed an incredible discovery that every genealogist will both understand and enjoy. You can watch, here.

Relatives at RootsTech

People have continued to sign up to view the free sessions, so don’t neglect to check back. Here’s the link.

Don’t forget that Relatives at RootsTech is the perfect avenue to connect with cousins who descend from specific ancestors. Seldom do you know which ancestor you share before you know if you are a DNA match – so take advantage of this opportunity and ask your relatives if they have tested their DNA and, if so, at which company or companies. Then, take a look at that company, see if they match, and paint your segments at DNAPainter.

Relatives at RootsTech is also particularly useful for finding candidates for both Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA candidates since you can tell immediately if your cousin descends from your common ancestor through all females (mitochondrial DNA) or if they are a male and descend from a male ancestor through all males. Generally, the surname tells that story.

Close cousins may well have photos, stories, or other information that didn’t make their way down to you, so do reach out.

I write about Relatives at RootsTech, including instructions, in the article Relatives at RootsTech Returns!!! Don’t forget to take advantage of this while you still can.

The RootsTech Travel Journal Articles

I really had no idea how many people look forward to travel journal stories, for lack of another description. I know not everyone can attend, and I really wanted to give you a true flavor, like you were walking along with me.

For those of you who would like to be sure you read all of the RootsTech 2024 articles, or if you simply want to read them in order or check out the comments, here they are:

RootsTech 2024 Online Vendor Booth Videos & Resources – These are still available and free, so take advantage of them.
FamilyTreeDNA RootsTech Pricing Lowest Ever & Still in Effect – These bargain basement prices are still in effect until March 29^th, so don’t miss out.
RootsTech 2024 – Panic in the Cavern of Doom – Who needs an escape room??
RootsTech 2024 – MyHeritage is ON FIRE with 13 Announcements – Have you tried OldNews yet? Do you like the new Profile pages? I do and I like the hints too.
RootsTech 2024 Happy Dance – FamilySearch Library and RootsTech Setup
RootsTech 2024: Paradigm Shift – FamilySearch Knocks It Out of the Ballpark With Full Text AI Search, Transcription & Indexing – I’m making a list of each ancestor and running through each one. THIS IS AMAZING!!!
RootsTech 2024 – Celebrating 25 Years of Genetic Genealogy – I’m still in awe.
RootsTech 2024: DNA Academy and Ancestry Announcements
RootsTech 2024: Friends, Discover Tools, Highways of History and the Storm

RootsTech 2025

I always say I don’t know if I have another one in me. RootsTech, the presentation prep, planning, leadup, travel itself, the incredible show, and then returning home are both exhilarating and exhausting. I feel like I need to sleep for a week!

I tell my friends and my husband to remind me of this about mid-summer when I’ve forgotten the pain of childbirth, er, I mean RootsTech, and think this is a wonderful idea again.

They do, and then I sign up anyway.

Now they just roll their eyes at me. I don’t blame them one bit.

Did I mention that I don’t know if I have another one in me? 😊

I will say that RootsTech would be a WHOLE LOT MORE tempting if it didn’t take place in the winter.

I keep suggesting that FamilySearch purchase the hotel around the corner from the FamilySearch Library and rent rooms to researchers and conference attendees.

I sure hope you’ve enjoyed attending RootsTech with me this year!

_____________________________________________________________

Follow DNAexplain on Facebook, here.

Share the Love!

You’re always welcome to forward articles or links to friends and share on social media.

If you haven’t already subscribed (it’s free,) you can receive an e-mail whenever I publish by clicking the “follow” button on the main blog page, here.

You Can Help Keep This Blog Free

Thank you so much.

DNA Purchases and Free Uploads

FamilyTreeDNA – Y, mitochondrial and autosomal DNA testing
MyHeritage DNA – Autosomal DNA test
MyHeritage FREE DNA file upload – Upload your DNA file from other vendors free
AncestryDNA – Autosomal DNA test
AncestryDNA Plus Traits
23andMe Ancestry – Autosomal DNA only, no Health
23andMe Ancestry Plus Health

Genealogy Products and Services

MyHeritage Subscription with Free Trial
Legacy Family Tree Webinars – Genealogy and DNA classes, subscription-based, some free
Legacy Family Tree Software – Genealogy software for your computer
OldNews – Old Newspapers with links to save to MyHeritage trees
Newspapers.com – Search newspapers for your ancestors
NewspaperArchive – Search different newspapers for your ancestors

My Book

DNA for Native American Genealogy – by Roberta Estes, for those ordering the e-book from anyplace, or paperback within the United States
DNA for Native American Genealogy – for those ordering the paperback outside the US

Genealogy Books

Genealogical.com – Lots of wonderful genealogy research books
American Ancestors – Wonderful selection of genealogy books

Genealogy Research

Legacy Tree Genealogists – Professional genealogy research

RootsTech 2024 – MyHeritage is ON FIRE with 13 Announcements

Posted on March 7, 2024 by Roberta Estes

I’ve got to tell you, MyHeritage has outdone themselves.

I had a hard time just keeping track of their announcements, which totaled 13 – a baker’s dozen.

You can watch the MyHeritage RootsTech keynote by Aaron Godfrey, here.

However, there are a few things not in the video, so let’s take a look at a quick summary of what’s new.

DNA Uploads with Free Advanced Tools Forever Extended Until March 10th

MyHeritage just extended their DNA upload that includes ALL ADVANCED TOOLS FOR FREE, forever, to March 10^th so click here now to upload every kit you manage. This is a great deal. Hint – new ethnicity results are coming soon and you’ll be saving $29 on each kit you upload.

20+ Billion Records

MyHeritage has just passed the 20 billion record mark and is continuing to add. That’s billion, with a B. These records are available to customers with a MyHeritage subscription. If you don’t have a subscription, you can try a MyHeritage Subscription with a Free Trial, here.,

Additionally, right now, subscriptions are 50% off, but I don’t know how long that price lasts.

I love my MyHeritage subscription, and if you try it and don’t like yours, you can cancel and be charged nothing during the 14-day trial period.

I particularly like that the local newspaper where my grandparents lived is available on MyHeritage, and no place else. In addition, MyHeritage has integrated with FamilySearch, which is digitizing and indexing records like wildfire. That collaboration has provided me with information from European sources, including archives.

MyHeritage Wiki

MyHeritage has been working on their new Wiki, a community encyclopedia for genealogy and DNA, for almost a year now, although it was only recently released.

Photo courtesy of MyHeritage

I’ve been honored to write several articles for the newly announced MyHeritage Wiki, including the definition of DNA itself:

Take a look at the new Wiki, here.

You can filter in a number of ways, and you can even sign up to be a contributor.

Check out their blog article, here.

AI Record Finder

The AI Record Finder is the world’s first AI chat-based search engine for historical records.

I should probably tell you that, at this point in time, I do use AI, such as ChatGPT, very cautiously, and I’m inherently suspicious because AI tools sometimes hallucinate. It’s a new technology with lots of glitches and unknowns, so let’s see how MyHeritage is using this tool. It should be much more reliable since it’s in a controlled environment. I need to be convinced. 😊

The AI Record Finder is under the Research Menu. Just type your question about your ancestor.

I’m cheating and giving MyHeritage a tough one. I typed, “Please tell me about Solomon Ferwerda, who died in 1768 in Groningen, the Netherlands.”

MyHeritage returned three possibilities in their database, including their affiliated databases. One is a MyHeritage tree and two are records from FamilySearch.

Don’t limit yourself at this point.

I happen to know “my” Solomon is the first person, but I played around a bit before selecting the “right” Solomon. Why? Because there’s a lot that I don’t know about his life. It’s possible that the second and third records are ALSO the right person, so be sure to review everything.

Clicking on the middle or right record for Solomon shows that, indeed, this record from FamilySearch comes from the Dutch Archival Indexes, so it’s not “just someone’s tree.”

We do know the Ferwerda family is from Leeuwarden, but we don’t know when Solomon was born, nor if he was married twice. I only have the name of his second wife and one child, Jan, who was born the year he died.

The two FamilySearch Dutch archive records are from Leeuwarden, so maybe, just maybe, I’ve discovered something new about Solomon. How exciting!

I need to click through and check this out further.

I didn’t expect to like this tool, but so far, I really do. But wait – there’s more.

AI Ancestor Bio

You can click to have MyHeritage generate an AI bio of an ancestor for you.

The bio takes a few minutes to generate and will be available for download in the chat and will also be emailed to you. You can easily share with others. Getting other people interested in genealogy often encourages them to take a DNA test. DNA tests are still on sale for $39, here.

Solomon Ferwerda’s AI bio was completed quickly and arrived in pdf format. We know so little about him, I knew it would be short. I must say, I really enjoyed the “Historical Context” section that discussed the surrounding events that would have affected his life. That’s incredibly important and would have or could have influenced the decisions he made. Maybe the warfare and political unrest caused him to move from Leeuwarden to Groningen for some reason, where he died the year his son was born.

Here’s Solomon’s bio.

Here’s a link to the RootsTech lecture about the MyHeritage AI tools by Ran Snir, the VP of Product.

MyHeritage blog links for AI Record finder are here and here.

You can watch Telling Your Family’s Story with MyHeritage’s AI Features by Janna Helshtein at Legacy Family Tree Webinars, here.

I can’t wait to play with the MyHeritage AI tools more.

Updated Ethnicity Coming Soon

This is going to make a lot of people happy!

MyHeritage is in the process of updating their ethnicity results, increasing their regions from 42 to 80, with significantly optimized granularity in Europe. I initially misunderstood and thought the new results were available now, but they won’t arrive until summer.

I understand from talking to a Jewish friend involved in MyHeritage’s R&D effort that their own results are substantially improved and that they have now been placed in Armenia where their ancestors are from. They are no longer generically “Jewish.”

New Profile Pages with Hints

Daniel Horowitz said that everyone calls Smart Matches and Record Matches hints, so now MyHeritage has updated profile pages and is adding them to the profile page and officially calling them Hints.

You can still find Smart Matches and Record Matches listed separately under Discoveries, but on everyone’s profile, they are called Hints.

On Solomon’s profile page, scroll down to view his journey based on the information you’ve entered or accepted into your tree.

I did not yet add Leeuwarden, because I’m yet positive those records in Leewarden are his, but if I had, Leeuwarden would also be shown on his journey map. I’ll be incorporating these into my 52 Ancestors stories. I love maps! Maybe I can find old maps to include too,

You can read more about the new profiles and hints, here.

Tree Collaboration with FamilyTreeDNA

Aaron Godfrey announced tree collaboration with FamilyTreeDNA who pre-announced this at their conference in November.

I don’t have specific details about how it works, as this won’t happen for a few months yet, but FamilyTreeDNA customers will port their trees to MyHeritage which allows them to take advantage of MyHeritage’s record collections and such. Existing MyHeritage customers will simply connect their FamilyTreeDNA test to their MyHeritage tree.

FamilyTreeDNA has never been a “tree” company, so this means that users will have one less tree to maintain independently, and they can augment their research with records from MyHeritage.

I talked to Katy Rowe-Schurwanz, the Product Manager at FamilyTreeDNA to confirm that this is NOT a DNA transfer. FamilyTreeDNA matches still occur in the FamilyTreeDNA database, just like always, and MyHeritage matches still occur in the MyHeritage database. If you want matching in both databases, you still have to upload to or test at both. Only the trees are integrated, meaning when you click on a tree at FamilyTreeDNA, you’ll see the tree displayed on MyHeritage.

The great news is that FamilyTreeDNA features such as Family Matching (bucketing) where you link your DNA matches at FamilyTreeDNA to their profile cards so that maternal/paternal bucketing occurs will still work the same way. The only difference will be that your tree will actually reside at MyHeritage and not at FamilyTreeDNA.

You’ll be able to enjoy the best of both worlds.

We will know more in a few months, and I’ll provide more details when I have them.

Invite Another MyHeritage User to View Your DNA Results

Aaron Godfrey said in the keynote that 2FA (two-factor authentication) at MyHeritage will become mandatory later this month, and with it, MyHeritage is adding the feature of being able to invite another MyHeritage user to view your DNA results. This allows people to collaborate more easily, especially if a different person is managing someone else’s DNA test.

Reimagine Multi-Photo Scanner App

This photo-scanning innovation is for your phone and allows you to scan photos and entire photo album pages – automatically separating and improving the photos. Then, of course, you just tag them to the proper person in your tree like any other photo.

Oh, and did I mention that Reimagine is free? I expected to have to pay when I downloaded the app, but I didn’t, probably because I have a full subscription.

Based on this article, Reimagine is not meant for other types of images, like pages of text or albums of clipped newspaper articles. But guess what? I downloaded the app, and it works just fine for those items! Hallelujah. How I wish I had this last week at the FamilySearch Library when I was finding pages in books I wanted to associate with a specific ancestor.

If you have album pages of photos to scan, this is golden and integrates with the profiles of people into your MyHeritage tree.

I really, really like the idea of having the ability to scan in the palm of my hand. That way if someone has a photo, you don’t have to try to take a photo of it. Gone are the days of literally dragging a laptop and scanner around with me when I’m traveling – just in case. Yes, I actually did and now I don’t have to anymore.

I cringe to think how many opportunities were lost to me before the days of laptops – but not now.

Thank you – THANK YOU, MyHeritage. What a great gift!

You can find the QR code to download the app, here.

OldNews is New News

MyHeritage has introduced a new website for old newspapers called OldNews which you can find here.

This addition doubles the number of newspapers previously available on MyHeritage.

Users can also subscribe separately to Old News for about $99/year.

MyHeritage customers use their normal credentials to sign in to either site, but accessing newspapers not previously integrated into MyHeritage will require an OldNews subscription too.

I had to try it. I entered my mother’s name.

Look, my Mom had a tonsillectomy. I never knew that. It was just a couple of months after she graduated from high school.

I didn’t know Mom spent the summer in Philadelphia, either. She was 19 at that time, and I had heard rumblings that she studied with a “prima ballerina” at the School of American Ballet. Guess where that is? Yep, Philly.

My Mom was a professional tap and ballet dancer before she became my Mom.

Understanding that Mom spent the summer of 1942 on the east coast sheds new light on this and a few other photos in Mom’s photo album, which I can now scan.

Ok, I can’t help myself. I have to enhance this photo at MyHeritage.

Much better. Another tiny piece of Mom’s life brought into focus.

I wonder what else is in OldNews that I don’t know about. Hmmmm…

You can read about OldNews here.

New All-Inclusive Omni Subscription

MyHeritage is launching a new Omni all-inclusive subscription plan that includes most of the MyHeritage products and tools, except for Filae, unless I’m missing something. Omni reportedly costs less than half the price if you were to subscribe to all of these individually. I’ve asked for a comparison chart which I don’t have yet, but I’m told will be coming soon.

Here’s what’s included:

Complete MyHeritage Data and Records Plan
OldNews – access to all newspapers
Geni.com Pro plan
Legacy Family Tree Webinars – Genealogy and DNA classes
Reimagine Photo app – unlimited photo scanning

Additionally, I asked MyHeritage about whether or not the advanced DNA tools are included with Omni, and they are. So, add advanced DNA tools to that list.

The following information about the Omni Plan is a screenshot from the MyHeritage blog article, here.

I have not been able to determine the price of an Omni subscription. At RootsTech, you were interested in the Omni plan, you submitted a Google form and a day or so later, you received this email.

I suspect MyHeritage needs to talk to you because how much it costs initially depends on your existing subscriptions, and how much time is left on those.

I reached out to MyHeritage and asked when Omni will be available to purchase, and the answer is “soon.” You can’t sign up just yet.

I have never subscribed to Legacy Family Tree Webinars, even though I’m a webinar presenter and have several webinars available there. My gift to myself is going to be Omni when it’s available because I want Legacy Family Tree Webinars, and I’d love a subscription to OldNews. I already have a full subscription to MyHeritage, and I’d probably use Geni more than I do as a casual user if I had the Omni subscription.

Artifact Testing – Maybe

Unfortunately, I was not able to attend CEO Gilad Japhet’s RootsTech session because his session and mine were at exactly the same time.

However, I asked Aaron Godfrey after Gilad’s session what I had missed that was not in Aaron’s keynote, other than Gilad’s wonderful stories.

Aaron and others told me that Gilad stated that he was personally submitting personal artifacts, such as stamps, to a third-party lab once again, to test the waters to see if DNA can now be extracted from artifacts successfully.

MyHeritage tried this a few years ago, ultimately unsuccessfully. Perhaps this time will be different, but I would not hold my breath, truthfully. Degraded DNA has quality issues, not to mention that the DNA extracted might not be the DNA of the person expected.

I would personally love this, but I am also skeptical at this point. Kudos to Gilad for trying again with his own personal items.

MyHeritage Online RootsTech Booth

MyHeritage has provided several educational videos in their online RootsTech booth, at this link. Be sure to take advantage of this free resource.

Whew, I’m finally done! I told you that MyHeritage had been very, very busy, and I wasn’t kidding. I hope I didn’t miss anything.

_____________________________________________________________

Follow DNAexplain on Facebook, here.

Share the Love!

You’re always welcome to forward articles or links to friends and share on social media.

If you haven’t already subscribed (it’s free,) you can receive an e-mail whenever I publish by clicking the “follow” button on the main blog page, here.

You Can Help Keep This Blog Free

Thank you so much.

DNA Purchases and Free Uploads

FamilyTreeDNA – Y, mitochondrial and autosomal DNA testing
MyHeritage DNA – Autosomal DNA test
MyHeritage FREE DNA file upload – Upload your DNA file from other vendors free
AncestryDNA – Autosomal DNA test
AncestryDNA Plus Traits
23andMe Ancestry – Autosomal DNA only, no Health
23andMe Ancestry Plus Health

Genealogy Products and Services

MyHeritage FREE Tree Builder – Genealogy software for your computer
MyHeritage Subscription with Free Trial
Legacy Family Tree Webinars – Genealogy and DNA classes, subscription-based, some free
Legacy Family Tree Software – Genealogy software for your computer
Newspapers.com – Search newspapers for your ancestors
NewspaperArchive – Search different newspapers for your ancestors

My Book

DNA for Native American Genealogy – by Roberta Estes, for those ordering the e-book from anyplace, or paperback within the United States
DNA for Native American Genealogy – for those ordering the paperback outside the US

Genealogy Books

Genealogical.com – Lots of wonderful genealogy research books
American Ancestors – Wonderful selection of genealogy books

Genealogy Research

Legacy Tree Genealogists – Professional genealogy research

MyHeritage: Upload DNA Through March 4 & Receive All DNA Features Free – Forever

Posted on February 28, 2024 by Roberta Estes

MyHeritage is offering a free DNA upload and is including access to all DNA tools and features – forever.

This is a limited time offer though, so if you have tested elsewhere, and you have not yet uploaded to MyHeritage, click here to upload now.

I’ve found some of my best matches at MyHeritage. Who is waiting there for you to match?

_____________________________________________________________

Follow DNAexplain on Facebook, here.

Share the Love!

You’re always welcome to forward articles or links to friends and share on social media.

If you haven’t already subscribed (it’s free,) you can receive an e-mail whenever I publish by clicking the “follow” button on the main blog page, here.

You Can Help Keep This Blog Free

Thank you so much.

DNA Purchases and Free Uploads

FamilyTreeDNA – Y, mitochondrial and autosomal DNA testing
MyHeritage DNA – Autosomal DNA test
MyHeritage FREE DNA file upload – Upload your DNA file from other vendors free
AncestryDNA – Autosomal DNA test
AncestryDNA Plus Traits
23andMe Ancestry – Autosomal DNA only, no Health
23andMe Ancestry Plus Health

Genealogy Products and Services

MyHeritage FREE Tree Builder – Genealogy software for your computer
MyHeritage Subscription with Free Trial
Legacy Family Tree Webinars – Genealogy and DNA classes, subscription-based, some free
Legacy Family Tree Software – Genealogy software for your computer
Newspapers.com – Search newspapers for your ancestors
NewspaperArchive – Search different newspapers for your ancestors

My Book

DNA for Native American Genealogy – by Roberta Estes, for those ordering the e-book from anyplace, or paperback within the United States
DNA for Native American Genealogy – for those ordering the paperback outside the US

Genealogy Books

Genealogical.com – Lots of wonderful genealogy research books
American Ancestors – Wonderful selection of genealogy books

Genealogy Research

Legacy Tree Genealogists – Professional genealogy research

My RootsTech 2024 Schedule – Come Visit!

Posted on February 28, 2024 by Roberta Estes

This is lining up to be the busiest RootsTech ever.

My appearance schedule includes:

3 RootsTech sessions
2 presentations in the MyHeritage booth
5 AMA (ask me anything) panel sessions in the FamilyTreeDNA booth.
Book signings for my book, DNA for Native American Genealogy

Plus, there are some sessions I’d like to attend as well. I’m going to need roller skates!

RootsTech opens at 8 AM on Thursday, February 29^th. Yes, it’s a leap year, so leap into RootsTech!!

Here’s my appearance schedule:

Date/Time	Session	Location
	Thursday, February 29, 2024
9:30 AM	DNA for Native American Genealogy book signing	Booth 218-222
10:30 AM	Native American AMA (Ask Me Anything) with Janine Cloud, an enrolled Cherokee Nation member	FamilyTreeDNA booth
11:00 AM	DNA for Native American Genealogy book signing	FamilyTreeDNA booth
12:15 PM	Genetic Genealogy Turns 25: DNA Experts Tell Their Stories – Diahan Southard’s panel discussion	Ballroom B – also live-streamed and recorded
2:00 PM	Leveraging Triangulation – From Three to Many	MyHeritage booth
4:00 PM	Adoptee Research AMA Ask Me Anything with Courtney Eberhard	FamilyTreeDNA booth
6:30 PM	Jumpstart Y-DNA Research with New Family Finder Haplogroups	FamilyTreeDNA booth

	Friday, March 1, 2024
Noon	Leveraging Triangulation – From Three to Many	MyHeritage booth
1:30 PM – 4:00	DNA Academy – Pulling it All Together – Tests, Vendors, Tools and You	Room 355 D
5:30 PM	Mitochondrial DNA AMA Panel with Paul Maier, Goran Runfeldt	FamilyTreeDNA booth

	Saturday, March 2, 2024
10:30 AM	Y-DNA Ask Me Anything Panel	FamilyTreeDNA booth
1:30 PM	Highways of History – Fleshing Out Your Ancestors Using Discover Case Studies	Room 151

Lots of vendors have educational sessions in their booths. I encourage you to stop by the FamilyTreeDNA booth for these sessions. Please note that schedules at shows can be somewhat fluid.

The FamilyTreeDNA booth location is very near the show entrance.

My Heritage is to the right and will have more booth presentations too, but they have not released their schedule yet.

Books & Things where I’ll be signing books at 9:30 AM on Thursday is to the far left.

I’ve starred those locations on the final booth layout that we received this morning.

Hope to see you soon!

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Share the Love!

You’re always welcome to forward articles or links to friends and share on social media.

If you haven’t already subscribed (it’s free,) you can receive an e-mail whenever I publish by clicking the “follow” button on the main blog page, here.

You Can Help Keep This Blog Free

Thank you so much.

DNA Purchases and Free Uploads

FamilyTreeDNA – Y, mitochondrial and autosomal DNA testing
MyHeritage DNA – Autosomal DNA test
MyHeritage FREE DNA file upload – Upload your DNA file from other vendors free
AncestryDNA – Autosomal DNA test
AncestryDNA Plus Traits
23andMe Ancestry – Autosomal DNA only, no Health
23andMe Ancestry Plus Health

Genealogy Products and Services

MyHeritage FREE Tree Builder – Genealogy software for your computer
MyHeritage Subscription with Free Trial
Legacy Family Tree Webinars – Genealogy and DNA classes, subscription-based, some free
Legacy Family Tree Software – Genealogy software for your computer
Newspapers.com – Search newspapers for your ancestors
NewspaperArchive – Search different newspapers for your ancestors

My Book

DNA for Native American Genealogy – by Roberta Estes, for those ordering the e-book from anyplace, or paperback within the United States
DNA for Native American Genealogy – for those ordering the paperback outside the US

Genealogy Books

Genealogical.com – Lots of wonderful genealogy research books
American Ancestors – Wonderful selection of genealogy books

Genealogy Research

Legacy Tree Genealogists – Professional genealogy research

_____________________________________________________________

Follow DNAexplain on Facebook, here.

Share the Love!

You’re always welcome to forward articles or links to friends and share on social media.

If you haven’t already subscribed (it’s free,) you can receive an e-mail whenever I publish by clicking the “follow” button on the main blog page, here.

You Can Help Keep This Blog Free

Thank you so much.

DNA Purchases and Free Uploads

FamilyTreeDNA – Y, mitochondrial and autosomal DNA testing
MyHeritage DNA – Autosomal DNA test
MyHeritage FREE DNA file upload – Upload your DNA file from other vendors free
AncestryDNA – Autosomal DNA test
AncestryDNA Plus Traits
23andMe Ancestry – Autosomal DNA only, no Health
23andMe Ancestry Plus Health

Genealogy Products and Services

MyHeritage FREE Tree Builder – Genealogy software for your computer
MyHeritage Subscription with Free Trial
Legacy Family Tree Webinars – Genealogy and DNA classes, subscription-based, some free
Legacy Family Tree Software – Genealogy software for your computer
Newspapers.com – Search newspapers for your ancestors
NewspaperArchive – Search different newspapers for your ancestors

My Book

DNA for Native American Genealogy – by Roberta Estes, for those ordering the e-book from anyplace, or paperback within the United States
DNA for Native American Genealogy – for those ordering the paperback outside the US

Genealogy Books

Genealogical.com – Lots of wonderful genealogy research books
American Ancestors – Wonderful selection of genealogy books

Genealogy Research

Legacy Tree Genealogists – Professional genealogy research

Congratulations!!! – MyHeritage 20th Anniversary Documentary

Posted on February 26, 2024 by Roberta Estes

A full six-episode documentary about the history of MyHeritage has just been released. I hope you enjoy this as much as I have.

I am incredibly grateful for all of the MyHeritage tools and want to say a personal congratulations to Gilad Japhet. He personally started this company two decades ago and has literally changed the world.

I’ve been very privileged to be in the right place at the right time to be a part of launching these new technologies, some of which leverage DNA, but all of which benefit genealogists.

Congratulations Gilad – and thank you from genealogists around the world. What a leap – from pen and paper to DNA, AI and automation that does what we, individually, cannot. What an incredible legacy – and they are just beginning.

I can’t wait to see what’s next!

You can be a part of the MyHeritage genealogy family by purchasing a MyHeritage DNA test here or upload your DNA file from other vendors free here.

You also receive 14 days free when you sign up for a records subscription here. If you don’t like the subscription, just cancel at the end of 14 days to avoid billing. I use the combination of DNA and records nearly every single day. I can’t imagine genealogy without both.

What’s Changed? – Autosomal DNA Vendor Feature Changes Since the 23andMe Data Compromise

Posted on December 21, 2023 by Roberta Estes

The 23andMe customer data compromise has reverberated throughout the technology industry, not limited to DNA testing.

The 23andMe compromise has provided the impetus for reflection and security and policy reviews at each DNA testing vendor.

That’s a good thing.

What has been and remains challenging is keeping track of which features have been disabled and are no longer available at each vendor as the vendors, including 23andMe, attempt to right themselves from this blow. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, we can’t just return to “business as usual.”

Some of these feature removals may only be paused, and a few have already returned. Some may never be resumed.

We don’t really know yet.

If you’re having trouble keeping track, welcome to the club.

The features that have been disabled are features that were exploited at 23andMe or could have been exploited by bad actors who signed on “as you,” exposing not only your data but that of your matches in one way or another.

To be very clear, there was no data leak or compromise at any other vendor, but some other vendors provide(d) similar features for their customers. Every vendor offering DNA testing to genealogists had to stop, pause, and reevaluate their security measures. That’s exactly what they should have done. Genetic genealogy is a team sport where compromising one person’s account exposes at least some information about thousands more individuals.

Every company has proceeded somewhat differently based on how their features work.

I’ve compiled a chart listing the four primary vendors alphabetically, with affected features.

The Scorecard

In this chart, “Not available” means the feature was available before the 23andMe incident but is not currently available.

Feature	23andMe	Ancestry	FamilyTreeDNA	MyHeritage
Two-factor Authentication (2FA)[1]	Required	Required	Will be required for project administrators and available for all users[2]	Will be required soon.
Forced Password Reset	Yes	No	May be required for project administrators.	Yes
Match information download[3]	Not available	Never was available	Not available until after 2FA implementation	Not available
Matching segment download[4]	Not available	Never was available	Not available until after 2FA implementation	Not available
Shared matches[5]	Not available	Available[6]	Available	Available
Shared matches who match each other	Not available	Never was available	Available thru Matrix, but not segments	Partially available through triangulation
Shared matches match segments	Not available	Never was available	Never was available	Never was available
Shared matches relationship to each other	Not available	Never was available	Never was available	Predicted available
Triangulation	Not available	Never was available	Available[7]	Available
Chromosome Browser	Not available	Never was available	Available	Available
Daily matching or browse rate limited[8]	No	No	No	Yes
Shared ethnicity with matches[9]	Not available	Available	Available by opt-in	Not available
Filter matches by ethnicity	Never was available	Never was available	Never was available	Not available
Accepts 23andMe DNA file uploads	Not applicable	Never was available	Paused	Not restricted but not available because 23andMe does not currently allow the download of your raw data file

Other features remain unchanged, so they are not mentioned.

I think I accounted for everything that has changed, including some features already resumed at MyHeritage.

23andMe has not stated if or when they will return any of the functionality that has been removed.

FamilyTreeDNA plans to return their paused features after 2FA has been implemented in early 2024.

Please note that this information may change at any time.

_____________________________________________________________

Follow DNAexplain on Facebook, here.

Share the Love!

You’re always welcome to forward articles or links to friends and share on social media.

If you haven’t already subscribed (it’s free,) you can receive an email whenever I publish by clicking the “follow” button on the main blog page, here.

You Can Help Keep This Blog Free

Thank you so much.

DNA Purchases and Free Uploads

FamilyTreeDNA – Y, mitochondrial and autosomal DNA testing
MyHeritage DNA – Autosomal DNA test
MyHeritage FREE DNA file upload – Upload your DNA file from other vendors free
AncestryDNA – Autosomal DNA test
AncestryDNA Plus Traits
23andMe Ancestry – Autosomal DNA only, no Health
23andMe Ancestry Plus Health

Genealogy Products and Services

MyHeritage FREE Tree Builder – Genealogy software for your computer
MyHeritage Subscription with Free Trial
Legacy Family Tree Webinars – Genealogy and DNA classes, subscription-based, some free
Legacy Family Tree Software – Genealogy software for your computer
Newspapers.com – Search newspapers for your ancestors
NewspaperArchive – Search different newspapers for your ancestors

My Book

DNA for Native American Genealogy – by Roberta Estes, for those ordering the e-book from anyplace, or paperback within the United States
DNA for Native American Genealogy – for those ordering the paperback outside the US

Genealogy Books

Genealogical.com – Lots of wonderful genealogy research books
American Ancestors – Wonderful selection of genealogy books

Genealogy Research

Legacy Tree Genealogists – Professional genealogy research

[1] There has been a great deal of gnashing of teeth surrounding 2FA and how it’s implemented at each vendor. If you experience issues, please contact the vendor in question.

[2] At FamilyTreeDNA, testers utilize a kit number as their username, not their name or email. No place is the kit number publicly associated with the user’s name. In the 23andMe breach, the user’s email and passwords had been exposed in earlier breaches, so the hacker simply tried the same username and password at 23andMe, with great success. That scenario cannot occur at FamilyTreeDNA because the username is not their email address, which is why 2FA is not required for users. Administrators can select their username, so they will be required to utilize 2FA soon.

[3] This means information about your DNA matches other than your matching segments, such as email address, maternal or paternal matches, notes, surnames, and other relevant information.

[4] Matching segment information for each match. Used for triangulation, ancestor identification, and at DNAPainter.

[5] Shared matches between you and another match.

[6] Ancestry has recently announced that they will require a membership to view several features available with a DNA test, including Common Ancestors (ThruLines), Notes, Trees, Groups, and filtering matches by unviewed status. These features will not be available to DNA testers without an Ancestry subscription.

[7] Available if maternal/paternal matching is enabled. When matching, each individual who matches the tester and other testers and is bucketed on the same maternal/paternal side will triangulate on at least one segment.

[8] This is to prevent data scraping if a bad actor gains access to your account.

[9] The 23andMe data was reported to have focused on both Jewish and Chinese customers

FamilyTreeDNA 2023 Update – Past, Present and Future

Posted on December 11, 2023 by Roberta Estes

At the FamilyTreeDNA International Conference on Genetic Genealogy, held November 3-5 in Houston for group project administrators, product and feature updates were scattered across both days in various presentations.

I’ve combined the updates from FamilyTreeDNA into one article.

I’ve already written two articles that pertain to the conference.

15^th Annual FamilyTreeDNA Conference for Genetic Genealogy – Reunion, Reception and Keynote

FamilyTreeDNA has already begun rolling the new Y DNA haplogroups from Family Finder autosomal tests, which I wrote about here:

FamilyTreeDNA Provides Y DNA Haplogroups from Family Finder Autosomal Tests

I still have at least two more articles to publish from this conference that was chocked full of wonderful information from a wide range of talented speakers.

Past, Present, and Future with Katy Rowe-Schurwanz

Katy Rowe-Schurwanz, FamilyTreeDNA’s Product Manager, provided an update on what has been accomplished in the four and a half years since the last conference, what’s underway now, and her wish list for 2024.

Please note the word “wish list.” Wish list items are NOT commitments.

Recent Milestones

A lot has been happening at FamilyTreeDNA since the last conference.

Acquisition and Wellness Bundles

As everyone is aware, at the end of 2020, myDNA acquired Gene by Gene, the parent company of FamilyTreeDNA, which included the lab. As a result, the FamilyTreeDNA product menu has expanded, and wellness bundles are now available for FamilyTreeDNA customers.

If you’re interested, you can order the Wellness product in a bundle with a Family Finder test, here.

You can add the Wellness product for $39 if you’ve already tested.

New TIP (Time Prediction) STR Report

Did you notice that the old TIP report for Y DNA STR markers was replaced with an updated version several months ago?

To view the new report, sign on and select your Y DNA matches. At the far right of each match you’ll see these three icons representing a pedigree chart, notes, and the TIP (Time Predictor) report.

The updated TIP report includes wonderful new graphs and age estimates for each match category, which you can read about, here. Each category, such as 67-marker matches, has time estimates in which a common ancestor might have lived at each possible genetic distance.

Math is our friend, and thankfully, someone else has done it for us!

Please note that the Big Y SNP dates are MUCH more accurate for a variety of reasons, not limited to the instability and rapid mutation rate of STR mutations.

MyOrigins3

MyOrigins3, FamilyTreeDNA’s ethnicity offering, added over 60 new reference populations for a total of 90, plus chromosome painting. You can read about MyOrigins features here, and the white paper, here.

This is one of my favorite improvements because it allows me to identify the segment location of my population ancestries, which in turn allows me to identify people who share my minority segments such as Native American and African.

Due to a lack of records, these relationships are often exceedingly difficult to identify, and MyOrigins3 helps immensely.

Additional Releases

Additional products and features released since the last conference include:

Family Finder improvements include a User Interface (UI) update, matching changes, and loading improvement. You can read the new Family Finder matching white paper, here.
Y DNA match pages received a UI update, too.
Lots of information buttons and boxes were added on many pages.
Many new and updated articles in the Help Center, here.

Discover

Released in July 2022, Discover is the amazing new free product that details your ancestor’s Y DNA “story” and his walk through time and across the globe.

In the past 18 months, all of the Discover features are new, so I’m only making a brief list here. The great thing is that everyone can use Discover if you know or can discover (pardon the pun) the haplogroup of your ancestral lines. Surname projects are often beneficial for finding your lineages.

Haplogroup Story includes haplogroup location, ages derived from the earliest known ancestor (EKA) of your matches, and ancient DNA samples. Please be sure you’ve entered or updated your EKA, and that the information is current. You can find instructions for how to update or add your EKA here.
A recent addition to the haplogroup story includes Haplogroup Badges.
Country Frequency showing where this haplogroup is found with either a table view or an interactive map
Famous and infamous Notable Connections, including Mayflower passengers, Patriots from the American Revolution, US presidents, royal houses, artists, musicians, authors, pirates, sports figures, scientists, and more.

If you know of a proven connection to a notable figure, contact customer support and let them know! Notable connections are added every week.

One famous Discover connection is Ludwig von Beethoven which resulted from a joint academic study between FamilyTreeDNA and academic researchers. It’s quite a story and includes both a mystery and misattributed parentage. You can see if you match on Discover and read about the study, here.

Updated Migration Map, including locations of select ancient DNA sites
The Time Tree, probably the most popular Discover report, shows the most current version of the Y DNA phylotree, updated weekly, plus scientifically calculated ages for each branch. Tree node locations are determined by your matches and their EKA countries of origin. I wrote about the Time Tree, here.
Anticipated in early 2024, the EKA and block tree matches will also be shown on the Time Tree in Discover for individual Big Y testers, meaning they will need to sign in through their kits.
The Group Time Tree, visible through group projects, takes the Time Tree a step further by including the names of the EKA of each person on the Time Tree within a specific project. Information is only displayed for project members who have given permission to include their data. You can select specific project groupings to view, or the entire project. I wrote about the Group Time Tree here and here.
Globetrekker is an exclusive Big Y mapping feature discussed here, here, here, and here.
Ancient Connections includes more than 6,100 ancient Y DNA results from across the globe, which have been individually analyzed and added for matching in Discover. Ancient Connections serve to anchor haplogroups and provide important clues about matches, migration paths and culture. New connections are added weekly or as academic papers with adequate Y DNA coverage are released.
Your Ancestral Path, which lists the haplogroups through every step from the tester back to Y Adam and beyond. Additional information for each haplogroup in your path includes “Time Passed” between haplogroups, and “Immediate Descendants,” meaning haplogroups that descend from each subclade. New columns recently added include “Tested Modern Descendants” and “Ancient Connections.”
Suggested Projects include surname, haplogroup, and geographic projects. Katy said that people joining projects are more likely to collaborate and upgrade their tests. You can also see which projects other men with this haplogroup have joined, which may well be projects you want to join too.
Scientific Details provides additional information, such as each branch’s confidence intervals and equivalent variables (SNPs). You can read more here.
Compare Haplogroups is the most recent new feature, added just last month, which allows you to enter any two haplogroups and compare them to determine their most recent common ancestral haplogroup. You can read about Compare Haplogroups, here.

Please note that the Studies feature is coming soon, providing information about studies whose data has been included in Discover.

You can read about Discover here, here, here, and here.

If you’re interested, FamilyTreeDNA has released a one-minute introduction to Y DNA and Discover that would interest new testers, here.

Earliest Known Ancestor (EKA) Improvement

Another improvement is that the earliest known ancestor is MUCH easier to enter now, and the process has been simplified. The EKAs are critical for Discover, so PLEASE be sure you’ve entered and updated your EKA.

Under the dropdown beside your name in the upper right-hand corner of your personal page, select Account Settings, then Genealogy and Earliest Known Ancestors. Complete the information, then click on “Update Location” to find or enter the location on a map to record the coordinates.

It’s easy. Just type or drop a pin and “Save.”

Saving will take you back to the original EKA page. Save that page, too.

Recommended Projects on Haplogroups & SNPs Page

You’re probably aware that Discover suggests projects for Y DNA testers to join, but recommended haplogroup projects are available on each tester’s pages, under the Y DNA Haplotree & SNPs page, in the Y DNA STR results section.

If there isn’t a project for your immediate haplogroup, just scroll up to find the closest upstream project. You can also view this page by Variants, Surnames and Countries.

This is a super easy tool to use to view which surnames are clustered with and upstream of your haplogroup. With Family Finder haplogroups being assigned now, I check my upstream haplogroups almost daily to see what has been added.

For example, my Big Y Estes results are ten branches below R-DF49, but several men, including Estes testers, have been assigned at this level, thanks to Y DNA haplogroups from Family Finder testing. I can now look for these haplogroups in the STR and Family Finder matches lists and see if those men are receptive to Big Y testing.

Abandoned Projects

Sometimes group project administrators can no longer function in that capacity, resulting in the project becoming abandoned. FamilyTreeDNA has implemented a feature to help remedy that situation.

If you discover an abandoned project, you can adopt the project, spruce things up, and select the new project settings. Furthermore, administrators can choose to display this message to recruit co-administrators. I need to do this for several projects where I have no co-admin.

If you are looking for help with your project, you can choose to display the button
through the Project Profile page in GAP. For non-project administrators, if you’d like to help, please email the current project administrators.

New Kit Manager Feature

FamilyTreeDNA has added a “Kit Manager” feature so that an individual can designate another person as the manager of their kit.

This new setting provides an avenue for you to designate someone else as the manager of your DNA test. This alerts FamilyTreeDNA that they can share information with both of you – essentially treating your designated kit manager the same as you.

If you’re the kit manager for someone else, you NEED to be sure this is completed. If that person is unavailable for some reason, and support needs to verify that you have legitimate access to this kit, this form and the Beneficiary form are the ONLY ways they can do that.

If your family member has simply given you their kit number and password, and for some reason, a password reset is required, and their email address is the primary contact – you may be shut out of this kit if you don’t complete this form.

Beneficiary Page

Additionally, everyone needs to be sure to complete the Beneficiary page so that in the event of your demise, FamilyTreeDNA knows who you’ve designated to access and manage your DNA account in perpetuity. If you’ve inherited a kit, you need to add a beneficiary to take over in the event of your death as well.

What is FamilyTreeDNA working on now?

Currently in the Works

Katy moved on to what’s currently underway.

Privacy and Security

Clearly, the unauthorized customer data exposure breach at 23andMe has reverberated through the entire online community, not just genetic genealogy. You can read about the incident here, here, here, and here.

FamilyTreeDNA has already taken several steps, and others are in development and will be released shortly.

Clearly, in this fast-moving situation, everything is subject to change.

Here’s what has happened and is currently planned as of today:

Group Project Administrators will be required to reset their password soon.

Why is this necessary?

Unauthorized access was gained to 23andMe accounts by people using the same password for multiple accounts, combined with their email as their user ID. Many people use the same password for every account so that they can remember it. That means that all a hacker needs to do is breach one account, and they can use that same information to “legitimately” sign in to other accounts. There is no way for the vendor to recognize this as unauthorized since they have both your user ID and password.

That’s exactly what happened at 23andMe. In other breaches, this information was exposed, and hackers simply tried the same username and password combination at 23andMe, exposing the entire account of the person whose account they signed in “as.” This includes all of their matches, genetic tree, shared matches, matches of matches, ethnicity, and segments. They could also have downloaded both the match list and the raw DNA file of the compromised account.

At FamilyTreeDNA, project administrators can select their own username, which could be their email, so they will be required to reset their password.

Additional precautions have been put in place on an interim basis:

A pause in the ability to download match and segment information.
A pause in accepting 23andMe uploads.

Administrators will also be required to use two-factor authentication (2FA.) To date, two of the four major vendors are requiring 2FA. I would not be surprised to see it more broadly. Facebook recently required me to implement 2FA there, too, due to the “reach” of my postings, but 2FA is not required of everyone on Facebook.

Please note that if you received an email or message that is supposedly from any vendor requiring 2FA, GO DIRECTLY TO THAT VENDOR SITE AND SIGN IN. Never click on a link in an email you weren’t expecting. Bad actors exploit everything.

Customers who are not signing in as administrators are not required to implement 2FA, nor will they be required to reset their password.

Personally, I will implement 2FA as soon as it’s available.

While 2FA is an extra step, it’s easy to get used to, and it has already literally saved one of my friends from an authorized hack on their primary and backup email accounts this week. Another friend just lost their entire account on Facebook because someone signed in as them. Their account was gone within 15 minutes.

2FA is one of those things you don’t appreciate (at all) until it saves you, and then, suddenly, you’re incredibly grateful.

At this point in time, FamilyTreeDNA users will NOT be required to do a password reset or implement 2FA. This is because customers use a kit number for sign-in and not a username or email address. I would strongly recommend changing your password to something “not easy.” Never reuse passwords between accounts.

I really, really want you to visit this link at TechRepublic and scroll down to Figure A, which shows how long it takes a hacker to crack your password. I guarantee you, it’s MUCH quicker than you’d ever expect.

Kim Komando wrote about this topic two years ago, so compare the two charts to see how much easier this has become in just two years.

Again, if you receive an email about resetting your password, don’t click on a link. Sign in independently to the vendor’s system, but DO reset your password.

FamilyTreeDNA also engages in additional security efforts, such as ongoing penetration testing.

New Permissions

Additionally, at FamilyTreeDNA, changes were already in the works to separate out at least two permissions that testers can opt-in to without granting project administrators Advanced rights.

Download data
Purchase tests

The ability to purchase tests can be very important because it allows administrators to order and pay for tests or upgrades on behalf of this tester anytime in the future.

Family Finder Haplogroups

FamilyTreeDNA has already begun releasing mid-level Y DNA haplogroups for autosomal testers in a staggered rollout of several thousand a day.

I wrote about this in the article, FamilyTreeDNA Provides Y DNA Haplogroups from Family Finder Autosomal Tests, so I’m not repeating all of that information here – just highlights.

The Family Finder haplogroup rollout is being staggered and began with customers on the most recent version of the testing chip, which was implemented in March of 2019.
Last will be transfers/uploads from third parties.
Haplogroups resulting from tests performed in the FTDNA labs will be visible to matches and within projects. They will also be used in both Discover and the haplotree statistics. This includes Family Finder plus MyHeritage and Vitagene uploads.
Both MyHeritage and Vitagene are uploaded or “transferred” via an intracompany secure link, meaning FamilyTreeDNA knows that their information is credible and has not been manipulated.
Haplogroups derived from tests performed elsewhere will only be visible to the user or a group administrator viewing a kit within a project. They will not be visible to matches or used in trees or for statistics.
Any man who has taken a Y DNA STR test will receive a SNP-confirmed, updated haplogroup from their Family Finder test that replaces their predicted haplogroup from the STR test.

Please read this article for more information.

New Discover Tools and Updates

Discover content continues to be updated, and new features are added regularly, creating an increasingly robust user experience.

Soon, group administrators will be able to view all Discover features (like Globetrekker) when viewing kits of project members who have granted an appropriate level of access.

Ancient and Notable connects are added weekly, and a new feature, Study Connections, will be added shortly.

Study Connections is a feature requested by customers that will show you which study your academic matches came from. Today, those results are used in the Y DNA tree, but the source is not detailed.

Anticipated in early 2024, the EKA and block tree matches will also be shown on the Time Tree in Discover for individual Big Y testers (not publicly).

Big Y FaceBook Group

FamilyTreeDNA has ramped up its social media presence. They launched the Big Y Facebook group in July 2023, here, which currently has just under 9000 members. Several project administrators have volunteered their time to help manage the group.

FamilyTreeDNA Blog

In addition, FamilyTreeDNA is publishing at least one blog article each week, and sometimes more. You can view or subscribe here. Some articles are written by FamilyTreeDNA staff, but project administrators and customers author other content.

Multi-Language Support

Translation of the main FamilyTreeDNA website and results pages to Spanish has begun, with more languages planned soon.

Paypal, Payments, and Gift Cards

Paypal has been added as a payment selection, along with a PayPal option that provides the ability to make payments.

Additionally, a gift card can be purchased from the main page.

Million Mito Project & Mitotree

Work on the Million Mito Project is ongoing.

The Million Mito Project was launched in 2020 as a collaborative effort between FamilyTreeDNA’s Research & Development Team and the scientific portion of the Genographic Project. I’m a team member and wrote about the Million Mito Project, here.

We’re picking up from where the Phylotree left off in 2016, analyzing 20 times more mtDNA full sequences and reimagining the mtDNA Haplotree. By examining more mtDNA data and applying the processes that allowed FamilyTreeDNA to build the world’s largest Y DNA Haplotree, we can also create the world’s largest Mitotree.

In 2022, the first update was released, authored by the Million Mito team, with the discovery of haplogroup L7. You can read about this amazing discovery rooted deep in the tree here, here, and here. (Full disclosure: I’m a co-author.)

Not only that, but “Nature Scientific Reports” selected this article as one of five named Editor’s Choice in the Mitogenomics category, here. In the science world, that’s a HUGE deal – like the genetic Emmy.

Here’s one example of the type of improvements that can be expected. Currently, the formation of haplogroup U5a2b2a reaches back to about 5000 years ago, but after reanalysis, current branches originated between 500 and 2,500 years ago, and testers are clustered more closely together.

This is SOOO exciting!!!

Just as Discover for Y DNA results was built one feature at a time, the same will be true for MitoDiscover. That’s my name, not theirs.

As the new Mitotree is rolled out, the user interface will also be updated, and matching will function somewhat differently. Specifically, it’s expected that many more haplogroups will be named, so today’s matching that requires an exact haplogroup match to be a full sequence match will no longer work. That and other matching adjustments will need to be made.

I can hardly wait. I have so many results I need to be able to view in a tree format and to place in a timeframe.

You can be included in this exciting project, learn more about your matrilineal (mother’s) line, and hopefully break down some of those brick walls by taking the full sequence mitochondrial DNA test, here.

After the new Mitotree is rolled out and the Y DNA Family Finder haplogroups are completed, Family Finder customers, where possible, will also receive at least a basic-level mitochondrial haplogroup. Not all upload files from other vendors include mtDNA SNPs in their autosomal files. The mitochondrial Family Finder haplogroup feature isn’t expected until sometime in 2025, after the new tree and MitoDiscover are complete.

The Future

What’s coming later in 2024, or is ongoing?

Privacy Laws

Most people aren’t aware of the new privacy laws in various states, each of which has to be evaluated and complied with.

The effects of these changes will be felt in various areas as they are implemented.

New Kits Opted Out of IGG

Since late August, all new FTDNA kits are automatically opted OUT of Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG) by default.

Regular matching consent and IGG matching consent have been separated during onboarding.

Biobanking Separate Consent

Another consent change is to have your sample biobanked. FamilyTreeDNA has always maintained your sample for “roughly 25 years.” You could always ask to have your sample destroyed, but going forward, you will be asked initially if you want your sample to be retained (biobanked.) It’s still free.

Remember, if someone declines the biobanking option, their DNA will be disposed of after testing. They can’t order upgrades without submitting a new sample. Neither can their family after they’re gone. I ordered my mother’s Family Finder test many years after she had gone on to meet our ancestors – and I’m incredibly grateful every single day.

MyHeritage Tree Integration

An exciting change coming next year is tree integration with MyHeritage.

And no, before any rumors get started, FAMILYTREEDNA IS NOT MERGING WITH MYHERITAGE. It’s a beneficial marriage of convenience for both parties.

In essence, one of the primary focuses of MyHeritage is trees, and they do that very well. FamilyTreeDNA is focused on DNA testing and their existing trees have had issues for years. MyHeritage trees are excellent, support pedigree collapse, provide search capabilities that are NOT case sensitive, SmartMatching, and much more.

If you don’t have a MyHeritage account, creating one is free, and you will be able to either port your existing FamilyTreeDNA tree, or begin one there. If you’re already a MyHeritage member, FamilyTreeDNA and MyHeritage are planning together for a smooth integration for you. More detailed information will be forthcoming as the integration progressed and is released to customers.

You’ll be able to connect multiple kits to your tree at MyHeritage, just like you can at FamilyTreeDNA today, which enables family matching, aka bucketing.

You can also have an unlimited number of different trees at MyHeritage on the same account. You’re not limited to one.

After you link your initial FamilyTreeDNA kit to the proper person in your MyHeritage tree, you’ll be able to relink any currently linked kits.

MyHeritage will NOT receive any DNA information or match information from FamilyTreeDNA, and yes, you’ll be able to use the same tree independently at MyHeritage for their DNA matching.

You’ll still be able to view your matches’ trees, except it will actually be the MyHeritage tree that will be opened at FamilyTreeDNA in a new tab.

To the best of my knowledge, this is a win-win-win, and customers of both companies aren’t losing anything.

One concern is that some FamilyTreeDNA testers have passed away and cannot transition their tree, so a view-only copy of their tree will remain at FamilyTreeDNA so that their matches can still see their tree.

Big Y Infrastructure

Katy mentioned that internal discussions are taking place to see what changes could be made to improve things like matching and test processing times.

No changes are planned for SNP or STR coverage, but discussions are taking place about a potential update to the Telomere to Telomere (T2T) reference. No promises about if or when this might occur. The last part of the human genome to be fully sequenced, the T2T reference model includes the notoriously messy and unreliable region of the Y chromosome with many repeats, duplications, gaps, and deletions. Some data from this region is probably salvageable but has previously been omitted due to the inherent problems.

I’m not sure this shouldn’t be in the next section, the Wishlist.

Wishlist

There are lots of good things on the Wishlist – all of which I’d love.

I’d have difficulty prioritizing, but I’d really appreciate some Family Finder features in addition to the items already discussed. I’d also like to see some GAP (administrator) tool updates.

Which items do you want to see most?

Katy said that FamilyTreeDNA is NOT planning to offer a Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) test anytime soon. So, if you’re holding your breath, please don’t. Based on what Katy did say, WGS is very clearly not a consideration in 2024 and I don’t expect to see it in 2025 either unless something changes drastically in terms of technology AND pricing.

While WGS prices have come down, those consumer tests are NOT scanned at the depth and quality required for advanced tests like the Big Y or even Family Finder. Normally consumer-grade WGS tests are scanned between 2 and 10 times, where the FamilyTreeDNA lab scans up to 30 times in order to obtain a quality read. 30X scans are in the same category as medical or clinical grade whole genome scans. Significantly higher quality scans mean significantly higher prices, too, so WGS isn’t ready for genealogy prime time yet.

Additionally, commercially available WGS tests are returned to the customer “as is,” and you’re left to extract the relevant SNPs and arrange them into files, or find someone else to do that. Not to mention, in order to preserve the integrity of their database, FamilyTreeDNA does not accept Y or mitochondrial DNA uploads.

Recently, I saw two WGS files with a 20-25% no-call rate for the autosomal SNPs required for the Family Finder test. Needless to say, that’s completely unacceptable. Some tools attempt to “fix” that mess by filling in the blanks in the format of either a 23andMe or Ancestry file so you can upload to vendors, but that means you’re receiving VERY unreliable matches.

The reason none of the major four vendors offer WGS testing for genealogists is because it’s not financially feasible nor technologically beneficial. The raw data file alone won’t fit on most home computers. WGS is just not soup yet, and it won’t be for the general consuming public, including relevant tools, for at least a few years.

I’ve had my whole genome sequenced, and trust me, I wish it were feasible now, but it just isn’t.

Suggestions Welcomed

Katy said that if you have suggestions for items NOT on the wishlist today to contact her through support.

I would add that if you wish to emphasize any specific feature or need above others, please send that feedback, politely, to support as well.

Katy ended by thanking the various teams and individuals whose joint efforts together produce the products we use and enjoy today.

Lab Update

Normally, DNA testing companies don’t provide lab updates, but this conference is focused on group project administrators, who are often the most dedicated to DNA testing.

A lab update has become a tradition over the years.

Linda Jones, Lab Manager, provided a lab update.

You may or may not know that the FamilyTreeDNA lab shifted gears and stepped up to handle Covid testing.

Supply-chain shortages interfered, but the lab ran 24×7 between 2020 and 2022.

Today, the lab continues to make improvements to processes with the goal of delivering the highest quality results in a timely manner.

On Monday, after the conference, attendees could sign up for a lab tour. You might say we are a rather geeky bunch and really enjoy the science behind the scenes.

Q&A and Thank You

At the end of the conference, the FamilyTreeDNA management team answered questions from attendees.

Left to right, Daniel Au, CTO; Linda Jones, Lab Manager; Katy Rowe-Schurwanz, Product Manager; Clayton Conder, VP Marketing; Goran Runfeldt, Head of R&D; and Andrew Gefre, Development Manager. Not pictured, Jeremy Balkin, Support Manager; Kelly Jenkins, VP of Operations; and Janine Cloud, Group Projects Manager. Janine is also responsible for conferences and events, without whom there would have been no 2023 FamilyTreeDNA conference. Janine, I can’t thank you enough!

A huge thanks to all of these people and many others, including the presenters, CSRs, IT, and other FamilyTreeDNA team members for their support during the conference, enabling us to enjoy the conference and replenish the well of knowledge.

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DNA Purchases and Free Uploads

FamilyTreeDNA – Y, mitochondrial and autosomal DNA testing
MyHeritage DNA – Autosomal DNA test
MyHeritage FREE DNA file upload – Upload your DNA file from other vendors free
AncestryDNA – Autosomal DNA test
AncestryDNA Plus Traits

Genealogy Products and Services

MyHeritage FREE Tree Builder – Genealogy software for your computer
MyHeritage Subscription with Free Trial
Legacy Family Tree Webinars – Genealogy and DNA classes, subscription-based, some free
Legacy Family Tree Software – Genealogy software for your computer
Newspapers.com – Search newspapers for your ancestors
NewspaperArchive – Search different newspapers for your ancestors

My Book

DNA for Native American Genealogy – by Roberta Estes, for those ordering the e-book from anyplace, or paperback within the United States
DNA for Native American Genealogy – for those ordering the paperback outside the US

Genealogy Books