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FOCUS Step 2: Finding the Y-DNA and Mitochondrial DNA of Your Ancestors

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This is the third article in our FOCUS series, providing step-by-step instructions for identifying brick-walled ancestors.

These two articles detail the initial steps:

By now, you will have selected the ancestor you want to focus on identifying, and you have tools in your toolkit for working with DNA matches who have no trees.

You may have ordered DNA tests from multiple vendors and are waiting on results, so while you wait, we’ll start with finding the Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA of your ancestors and identifying DNA testing candidates.

While it may sound counterintuitive, we’re going to be working with all of the major vendors, including FamilyTreeDNA, who actually tests for Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA, plus WikiTree, 23andMe, MyHeritage, Ancestry, GEDmatch and FamilySearch. They are all quite useful in different ways.

This Type of Searching Is Different

Normally, when we search for brick-walled ancestors, we are searching backward in time. In other words, we begin with the last person we know and work back from there, hoping to identify the previous generation.

If we don’t know Lucy’s birth surname and she was born about 1750, and married William Moore in the late 1770s, we begin with what we do know in that timeframe.

Searching for our ancestor’s Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA, and testers who carry that DNA, is fundamentally different because we begin with that ancestor and work forward in time.

In other words, if we want to find Lucy’s mitochondrial DNA, we begin with her daughters and track forward in time to the present. Hopefully, someone has already tested, and we can locate that result, but if not, we need to find people who descend through a specific path that carry Lucy’s mitochondrial DNA.

If we were searching for the Y-DNA of William Moore, we would look for his direct paternal descendant males who would carry the Moore surname.

Chicken or Egg?

I’ve been debating whether I should show you:

  1. How to locate and identify the Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA of your ancestors first, or
  2. How to use Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to help break through your brick wall first

I decided to write the “how to locate” article first because I don’t want you to skim over and ignore the ‘how to use’ article, thinking it’s irrelevant to your research because you don’t carry the Y-DNA and/or mtDNA of your brick-walled ancestor.

There are lots of avenues to locate the Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA of your ancestors, something you definitely want to do. You’ll soon see that Y-DNA and mtDNA information can also assist with autosomal DNA results.

These are all pieces of your ancestor’s puzzle, and you never know which one will be the one to topple that wall.

Plus, you don’t know what you don’t know about that ancestor.

Let’s jump right in!

Who Carries the Y-DNA and Mitochondrial DNA of Your Ancestor?

As a quick refresher, only men can test for Y-DNA because only men have a Y chromosome which is inherited from their father. It’s passed in a direct paternal line from father to son, never mixed with DNA from the mother. Because it’s never divided during recombination like autosomal DNA, it’s uniquely useful for connecting lineages both recently and back in time hundreds and thousands of years.

Both Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA incur occasional mutations that function as genetic breadcrumbs, making them incredibly useful for reassembling those specific family lines where genealogy paper trails have broken or been interrupted.

Mitochondrial DNA is passed from mothers to their children of both sexes, but only daughters pass it on. This means that in the current generation, males and females can both test for the mtDNA of their direct, mother-to-mother, matrilineal line.

Anyone, including males, who descends from an ancestor through all females can test for that ancestor’s mitochondrial DNA.

If you’re lucky, you’ll carry the Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA of the ancestor you are seeking. If not, you’ll need to do one of two things:

  1. Determine if someone has already tested for that ancestor
  2. If not, find candidates to test

Y-DNA is generally easier because you at least (hopefully) have a surname to work with that has been passed from father to son, along with their Y chromosome.

Mitochondrial DNA is more challenging since surnames change each generation, so I’ve included several mitochondrial examples. Don’t skip over them, because the same research techniques apply to Y-DNA too, especially difficult cases.

If you’re a male, I strongly recommend that you order:

If you’re a female, you can only order the mtFull test, but you may be able to ask your father or brother or a male relative (with the surname in the lineage you seek) to take the Big Y-700 to represent your father’s family line. In other words, if you’re looking for a male Estes, you can ask your 2C Estes male who descends in a direct paternal line of all Estes men from your common ancestor.

Complete Versus Partial Tests

Haplogroup-only results derived from autosomal tests are fine as far as they go – but they don’t go very far. Most are what I would call midrange, providing testers with a haplogroup from maybe 2000 years ago, and some are much more distant than that. That isn’t to say they can’t be useful in a limited capacity, but Y-DNA and mtDNA have so much more potential.

You need comprehensive Y-DNA and mtDNA test results that identify all your haplogroup-defining mutations and can be refined as more people test and match family-level mutations.

Haplogroups are important, but you also need to match with other testers. Additionally, you’ll want the most complete haplogroup possible, because it will help you genealogically by providing a complete breadcrumb trail with the ability to identify your most recent common ancestor (MRCA).

FamilyTreeDNA is the only vendor that offers these complete tests that include matching with other testers, plus additional genealogy tools.

The Big Y-700 test scans for mutations in the stable portion of the Y chromosome and is the only way to obtain that personal-level information. It’s those recent mutations that will help place you within a biological family – or eliminate you from other lines, which prevents barking up the wrong tree.

The benefit of taking the test yourself, or sponsoring a test for someone willing to share their results with you, is that you have ready access to information through FamilyTreeDNA’s tools such as:

  • Matches with other Y-DNA and mtDNA testers
  • Matches Map (ancestor locations)
  • Advanced Matching, which provides a filtered list of people who match you on BOTH your Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA AND your Family Finder autosomal test
  • Haplotype clusters (for mtDNA)
  • Your mutations
  • Block Tree (for Y-DNA)
  • Customized Discover tools

Click any image to enlarge

  • Discover’s Advanced Tools like the Match Time Tree, shown above, which displays your matches with their earliest known ancestors (EKA) together on the Time Tree
  • Globetrekker™ (for Y-DNA with mtDNA coming soon)
  • Up to 30 Ancient Connections
  • Up to 20 Notable Connections

FamilyTreeDNA’s free Discover tool, here, provides public information for everyone about haplogroups, but if you haven’t taken the test, you won’t receive matching and customized information described above, which is essential to genealogy.

Upgrades for Partial Tests

You may have previously tested at a lower level at FamilyTreeDNA.

For mtDNA, the early mtPlus test examined a portion of the mitochondria and provided matching at lower levels, as do the 12-111 marker Y-DNA tests. Both provide a predicted high-level basic or midrange haplogroup based on the mutation information available in those limited tests.

If you took an earlier, partial test, you can sign on to your account to upgrade by clicking on the “Big Y,” even though it’s greyed out. Grey simply indicates that you don’t currently have that level of test.

Click on “Full” to upgrade to the mtFull test.

Test Features at Various Levels

Depending on the type of test you take, and at which vendor, you may have a fully refined or partial haplogroup.

Discover provides a substantial amount of information if you receive a partial haplogroup:

A partial haplogroup is better than no haplogroup, but it’s also like working with one hand tied behind your back. If at all possible, you need to work with a full haplogroup and matches.

Testers who click through to Discover from their own test, or a test they manage, can view additional features not available in the free version.

The table below shows the four different ways you can access and view your ancestor’s haplogroup. Based on the testing level and/or how they tested, the haplogroup level will vary.

Clearly, the best scenario is when you either take the Big Y-700 or mtFull test yourself, or you have access to the test results of someone who takes that test to represent your ancestor’s DNA. Primary access confers the greatest amount of information, but you can still glean information in other ways.

Feature Introductory Level Test at FamilyTreeDNA* Tester’s Big Y-700 or mtFull Test – Full Access Partial Haplogroup from Autosomal Test Your Ancestor’s Haplogroup but without Full Access
Matching Yes, at that lower level Best – at all levels No No
Matches Map Yes, at lower level Yes No No
Mutation Values Yes, STR markers at lower Y-DNA level Yes, STRs (Y-DNA) and SNPs Not directly but through Discover Not directly but through Discover
Haplotree & SNPs with surnames (Y-DNA only) Yes, at lower level Yes No No
Block Tree (Big Y test only) No Yes No No

 
Advanced Matching (multiple types of tests) Yes, at that level Yes No No
Ability to Join Group Projects Yes Yes Only test owner or manager can join Only test owner or manager can join
Discover Reports Yes, same information as the free version due to lower coverage Yes, when clicking through from your FamilyTreeDNA account Free version Free version
Haplogroup Story Yes, at lower haplogroup level Yes – best and highest level Yes, at lower haplogroup level Yes, at lower haplogroup level
Country Frequency Map and Table views Yes, at lower haplogroup level Yes, at most refined haplogroup level Yes, at lower haplogroup level Yes, at most refined haplogroup level
Notable Connections Same as free version About 20 for Y-DNA, 11 for mtDNA About 10 for Y-DNA, 3 for mtDNA About 10 for Y-DNA, 3 for mtDNA
Migration Map Yes, at lower level Yes, at advanced level Yes, at lower level Yes, at advanced level
Globetrekker (Y-DNA only, mtDNA coming soon) No Yes No No
Ancient Connections Same as free version About 30 About 10 for Y-DNA, 3 for mtDNA About 10 for Y-DNA, 3 for mtDNA
Time Tree Yes, at lower haplogroup level – generally 2,000 years or older Yes, at most refined haplogroup level, often within genealogical timeframe Yes, at lower haplogroup level – generally 2,000 years or older Yes, at most refined level
Match Time Tree No Yes – your matches & their EKA on the Time Tree including WikiTree Connections and Ancient DNA No No
Ancestral Path Yes, at lower haplogroup level Yes Yes, at lower haplogroup level Yes
Suggested Projects Yes Yes, at more refined level Yes, but must test with FamilyTreeDNA to join Yes, but must test with FamilyTreeDNA to join
Scientific Details, ages and variants Yes, at lower level Yes Yes, at lower level Yes
Compare Haplogroups Yes Yes Yes Yes

*Note that often your ancestor’s haplogroup as reported by the Family Finder (autosomal) test is more refined, meaning closer in time, than the Y-DNA haplogroups predicted by STR tests, but both are always substantially less specific than the Big Y-700 test. As of the publication date of this article, Family Finder does not yet report a mitochondrial DNA haplogroup, but that is planned for the future.

This chart only includes features you would specifically use to identify an ancestor or ancestral lineage. There are other reports provided with your test that will be of interest. Discover provides about 14 reports that include various options.

Now we can envision:

  • The benefits of finding our ancestors’ Y-DNA and mtDNA
  • The benefits of obtaining the most refined haplogroup possible
  • The benefits of being able to view the results directly

You may not be able to achieve all of these, but even a partial haplogroup is better than no haplogroup at all, and a fully refined haplogroup, even if you can’t see everything in another tester’s account, is better than a partial haplogroup.

So, let’s see how to find your ancestors’ haplogroups. I collect them all, not just for brick-walled ancestors, but because they tell a part of our story not available through any other means.

Finding Your Ancestor’s Mitochondrial and Y-DNA

If you are the DNA tester for your brick-wall ancestor, then you’re golden, but chances are that you’re not.

If you’re searching for Y-DNA, and you don’t carry that Y-DNA yourself, you’ll need a male relative who carries that Y chromosome to test.

Males carry the Y-DNA of their direct patrilineal ancestors, shown in the image below on the left side in blue, plus the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of their mother, shown with yellow hearts at far right.

At the 4th generation level, we have 4 Y-DNA lineages to collect (light blue, dark green, medium green, and teal), and a total of 8 mtDNA lineages.

Let’s say you’re searching for your father’s mother’s mother as your brick-wall ancestor.

Your father (and his siblings) carry the mtDNA of his mother, shown above in fuchsia, as do her grandchildren through her daughters. That’s why your father has a fuchsia heart. If close family members test, chances are you can arrange to manage their test or view their results. (Be sure they take the autosomal Family Finder test too. You’ll need that later.

If you don’t manage their test for them, you’ll need to ask to see their results to view matches and work with trees.

I have a family project at FamilyTreeDNA that I manage. I ask people who have tested for a particular ancestor to join that project so I can easily view their results while they continue to manage their test, and can select how much they want me to see or do.

FamilyTreeDNA is currently working on a multi-kit management feature that will address the challenge of sharing results.

But I Don’t Know of Any Cousins…

Let’s say you don’t know of and can’t readily identify anyone who descends from your ancestor appropriately.

If the ancestor you seek is a male, mitochondrial DNA is probably not going to help you because men don’t pass their mitochondrial DNA on to their descendants. In order to obtain a male ancestor’s mitochondrial DNA, you’d need to be able to identify a sister or someone known to descend from his mother (or sisters) through all females to the current generation. Needless to say, if you know who his mother is, you probably already know who he is.

If your brick wall is a female ancestor, your first order of business is to find someone who descends from her through all females to the current generation, where the tester can be male or female.

Why is this so important?

Mitochondrial DNA isn’t admixed with the father’s DNA, so it’s not divided in each generation. This means that mitochondrial DNA is the only direct line-of-sight we have that bypasses both changing surnames and genetic recombination for females.

Who Has Tested for Your Ancestor?

If you’re NOT the tester for your brick-walled ancestor or aren’t the curator of the test, your first step is to see if someone else has already tested.

This can sometimes be challenging.

It’s impossible to obtain mitochondrial DNA for an unknown ancestor if there are no known daughters, and for Y-DNA if there are no known sons. You may need to review genealogical resources to make sure you’ve identified all of that ancestor’s children.

Barring those scenarios, there are a surprising number of resources available to find descendants.

WikiTree

The first place I check to see if someone has already tested for a particular ancestor is WikiTree.

WikiTree is the one place where you find the ancestor along with the people who have taken DNA tests who descend from that ancestor. It’s invaluable.

Normally, you have to work with matches to identify your common ancestor. WikiTree works the other way around. Your starting place is with the ancestor.

You can’t Google your mystery ancestor’s name because if you knew their name, they wouldn’t be a mystery ancestor – but you can Google their spouse or a child.

I’m using an example from my own line because my mitochondrial DNA results are connected to her.

I’m Googling:

Barbara Mehlheimer born 1822 died 1906 in Indiana at WikiTree

Google was slightly confused but the results got me to where I needed to go.

Barbara Mehlheimer married George Drechsel and her daughter was Barbara Drechsel who married Jacob Kirsch.

First, check Barbara’s WikiTree profile card to confirm you’ve found the correct person.

Next, click on the DNA tab beneath her profile information (or just scroll down). She has four DNA Connections.

You can see that one person, me, who carries Barbara’s mitochondrial DNA has connected their DNA to Barbara’s profile. I did this by entering my DNA information on my WikiTree profile, then WikiTree connects my DNA haplogroup information from mother to mother to mother to Barbara and propagates my DNA haplogroup to her, her matrilineal ancestors, and their female descendants. If you click on the haplogroup, it takes you directly to that haplogroup in Discover.

Three people have connected their autosomal results to Barbara. This information can be very important, and not just for mitochondrial DNA. It allows us to identify autosomal testers we may match at different testing companies who descend from Barbara.

In your research journal, make notes of these names, testing companies, and kit numbers. Remember that this doesn’t mean the company noted is the only place someone has taken an autosomal DNA test. I’ve tested at all of the major companies, but only GEDmatch and FamilyTreeDNA are listed here.

For Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA, the haplogroup is shown, although when testers receive a new Y-DNA or Mitotree haplogroup, they seldom think to revise it in WikiTree. This means their current haplogroup may be more specific and improved since the WikiTree information was entered.

Some people may have tested at different levels too. In this case, Buster Estes, who is now deceased, was one of the earliest testers, long before the Big Y tests were available. He only took a 25-marker test, so his haplogroup was predicted as R-M269. Garmon, on the other hand, was able to upgrade his Y-DNA test to the Big Y-700, and his haplogroup is much more refined at R-ZS3700. Their haplogroups don’t match exactly due to the levels at which they tested, but they also don’t preclude the two testers from belonging to the same genetic line.

This screenshot of Discover’s Compare function illustrates how important the Big Y-700 test is when compared to the STR test’s predicted haplogroups. The man who developed the mutation that defines R-ZS3700 lived about 1750 CE, and the man who developed R-M269 lived about 4450 BCE, or 6,450 years ago. That’s a big difference.

Using a combination of multiple testers and genealogy, we’ve identified the man who developed R-ZS3700 and passed it on to his sons. Moses Estes was born in 1711 in Virginia and all of his descendant testers carry R-ZS3700.

Now that’s extremely useful information, because we know that any man with haplogroup R-ZS3700 descends from Moses Estes in a direct paternal line, and any man whose haplogroup is not R-ZS3700 or doesn’t include R-ZS3700 upstream of his haplogroup does not descend from Moses Estes in that way.

Please add your DNA tests, including haplogroups and your kit number, to your profile at WikiTree so that the haplogroup information can be populated appropriately to your ancestors.

Searching for a Test Candidate Using Autosomal Descendants

When you’re searching for a testing candidate at WikiTree, you can click through to the tester’s profile and view exactly how they descend from the ancestor shown.

Let’s say that no one has linked a mitochondrial DNA test to the ancestor you’re searching for, but several people have linked autosomal tests to that ancestor’s profile card.

Click on the tester’s name and then on the DNA Ancestors tab to see how they descend from that ancestor. If you’re lucky, you’ll find someone in the autosomal list who is a mitochondrial DNA testing candidate.

If you’re looking for a Y-DNA tester, begin by looking for a male with the same surname as that ancestor. If you’re looking for a mitochondrial DNA tester, you’ll need to view each tester’s ancestors.

Regardless of whether they are a mitochondrial or Y-DNA testing candidate, you’ll identify your most recent common ancestor (MRCA) for each person, information that will become essential for the autosomal tools that we’ll be discussing in future articles.

In your research journal, I suggest that you record all of their descent information now, including their names, where they tested, your MRCA, kit numbers and any other relevant notes.

If you’d like to ask them to take a specific test, or if they already have and you’d like to know more, you can message WikiTree users by clicking on their profile, and then on the little envelope beside the profile manager’s name.

Finding Your Ancestor’s DNA Descendants at WikiTree

Let’s say that no one in the DNA list of people who have already taken tests descends from your ancestor matrilineally. Don’t worry, there are still more options!

At the top of the WikiTree page for that ancestor, click the down arrow, then on DNA.

The default tab shows the DNA Ancestors of the profile you’re viewing. You’ll see Y-DNA for males, and both mitochondrial and X-chromosome ancestors for everyone.

You may notice that there’s an ancestor listed for your brick wall ancestor. That’s wonderful, but don’t jump for joy quite yet. Remember, WikiTree is a one-world tree, and you need to verify the underlying genealogy in every tree here, and at every vendor.

Always confirm using multiple sources, meaning resources other than trees. The great thing about WikiTree is that there are often several sources listed in each person’s profile, and other resources that can help immensely. I love WikiTree, but I’m always skeptical of information in any tree, and I prove everything to my own satisfaction. I wrote several articles about that topic in the Genealogy Proof Series, here.

To find testers, you’ll need to view your ancestor’s DNA Descendants.

Click on the DNA Descendants tab.

The Mitochondrial DNA Descendants view shows potential candidates for mtDNA testing. Remember, in the current generation, males and females can both test so long as they descend from that ancestor through all females.

In the case of Barbara Mehlheimer Drechsel and her descendants, there are several males who are immediately eliminated because they’ve been deceased for more than a century, and several daughters who didn’t have children.

Not every person’s line on WikiTree has been added or developed. You can see that three daughters’ lines that might hold candidates don’t list all their children, and I still need to research two additional people. That means I still have five candidate lines to extend that have potential mtDNA testers.

So, in summary, if Barbara was the ancestor I was seeking:

  • One person has already tested
  • Three daughters don’t have their families extended.
  • Two have daughters that I need to research.

For both Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA, I like to have at least two people who descend from different children of the ancestor, and whose tests match at a level that does not preclude that lineage. This helps confirm both the genetic line and the genealogy of both testers.

With male ancestors, having more than one tester for each line through different siblings is essential.

Kit Numbers, Earliest Known Ancestors and Google

When DNA kit numbers are included at WikiTree, you’ll want to Google to see if that kit number is shown in a public Group Project at FamilyTreeDNA where you may find more information.

The exact search string to use to find a specific kit at FamilyTreeDNA within projects is:

“9993” site:familytreedna.com

Replace 9993 with the kit number you’re interested in. You can also add the word “projects”, without quotes, to the end of that string to omit forums and limit the search to within projects. This string both focuses and limits the search, filtering out most noise.

By clicking on “read more,” you’re taken directly to the Estes Family Surname Project Y-DNA page.

The green haplogroups are SNP-confirmed, unlike the red predicted haplogroups from the lower-level 12, 25, 37, 67 or 111-marker tests. The R-ZS3700 haplogroup was obtained from the Big Y-700 test, so it is the most granular and specific. If this is your line, you’ve just found your ancestor’s haplogroup. It’s also possible that, by testing, you could receive an even more specific haplogroup.

Please note that haplogroup R-M269 is the most common haplogroup in Europe, and isn’t specific enough to use for anything other than very basic information. It can rule out two people with different base haplogroups, like haplogroup I or J, for example, as descending from a common patrilineal ancestor.

Project administrators are all volunteers, and each administrator groups their Group Project members differently, so take a few minutes to review the project pages. You may find additional testers who have joined this project who descend from your ancestors or your ancestral line.

You may also find other lines with the same surname and a substantially different haplogroup, which tells you that there are multiple genetic lines with the same surname. I have one example of this in the same county, at the same time, found in men by the same exact name – think John Smith. So frustrating. Without DNA testing, we would NEVER have sorted through those two same-name but completely different lines.

However, finding people who match your ancestor’s DNA but don’t have your earliest known ancestor (EKA) may be just the clue you need to knock down that brick wall. How are your ancestor and that other person’s EKA connected, and in what timeframe? Do they share a surname? A location? Are there other clues?

It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to use a kit number to Google unless you find one at WikiTree, but you can still search using the oldest name in that line that you know.

nicholas ewstas site:familytreedna.com

Replace the kit number with your EKA, in this case, “Nicholas Ewstas” in the search string, either with or without quotes. This takes you to the same page and any other projects that someone may have joined using exactly that earliest known ancestor’s name. Keep in mind that you’re only looking at their oldest ancestor, not every ancestor between them and their EKA. Your brick wall may lie someplace in there, which is why you need to check matches and view their trees.

Since women’s surnames change in every generation, they generally won’t be found in specific ancestral surname projects like men. This makes Googling using the ancestor’s name even more important.

catherine lejeune site:familytreedna.com

We don’t know who Catherine LeJeune’s mother is, so finding that someone has entered Catherine as their EKA may be critically important.

This is especially important for female brick-walled ancestors, since using this Google string with their daughters’ names may reveal someone else’s EKA in that genetic line within a project.

After clicking through to the project page, be sure to enlarge the page to display the full project, and use your browser search since partial results with predicted haplogroups may not be grouped with full mitochondrial sequence results.

Multiple people who descend from Catherine LeJeune have tested. The first six only took the partial test years ago. The bottom two testers took the full sequence test and have a new Mitotree haplogroup – U6a7a1a. We know that Catherine was born about 1633, in France, and we can see that other people have also tested and list different EKAs. Next, it’s time to research the other ancestors shown, or check WikiTree to see if any of these testers are listed there so you can contact them.

Now that you have found your ancestor’s haplogroup, you can use the free version of Discover to learn more. I wrote about using mitochondrial DNA and Discover in the article Mitochondrial DNA A-Z: A Step-by-Step Guide to Matches, Mitotree, and mtDNA Discover.

Now, let’s move to the DNA testing companies to see how we can find our ancestors’ Y-DNA, mitochondrial DNA, or testers, at 23andMe, FamilyTreeDNA, Ancestry, and MyHeritage.

At 23andMe

23andMe is not a genealogy company. That said, if you can figure out how people are related to you, you might be able to obtain a partial haplogroup for an ancestor. 23andMe shows both Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA haplogroups to autosomal matches, but there is no Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA matching, or associated tools.

23andMe caps matches without a subscription at only 1,500, and they don’t support trees, so I struggle to find useful haplogroups without an associated surname.

Browsing or searching your 1,500 allowed matches (you can have around 5,000 with a subscription) for a particular surname may provide you with an abbreviated haplogroup for both male and female ancestors.

Despite my best efforts, while my maternal grandfather’s mother is not unknown, nor are her ancestors for several generations reaching back into Germany, I’ve been unable to find her mitochondrial haplogroup. Evaline Miller (1857-1939) was born and died in Kosciusko County, Indiana, where she married Hiram Bauke Ferverda, an immigrant from the Netherlands.

Ferverda is an unusual surname, so let’s use it for our example. Thankfully, I’m not dealing with something like Smith.

I entered Ferverda in the 23andMe search bar and it shows four results, two of which are in the 2C-3C range, and one that’s further distant.

I already have the Ferverda Y-DNA, so I don’t need that, but I do need the mitochondrial DNA of Eva Miller Ferverda, and I really don’t want to sift through Miller surnames.

I know who Mr. Ferverda is on my match list, and which ancestor we share. His mitochondrial DNA is not Eva Miller’s.

Fortunately, I know who Eva’s parents were, as shown above on my MyHeritage tree, so I can search for Ferverda, Miller, Lentz, Ruhle, Wolflin, and Heubach, several of which are unusual. Reaching back into Germany is difficult.

It’s likely I match all four of those people at 23andMe through a common lineage that descends from either Hiram Ferverda, Eva Miller, or both. Let’s see what I can put together.

Emily is estimated to be a 2C2R. She is younger than I am based on the birth year she provided in her profile which I am not showing for privacy reasons. Emily also stated that her maternal grandmother was born in Warsaw, Kosciusko County, Indiana, and provided family surnames that include Ferverda, Miller, Glant, Zimmermann, and others.

Kosciusko County is where Evaline Miller lived with Hiram Ferverda, and their daughter, Margaret, married Chester Glant. Margaret Ferverda Glant’s daughter, Joyce, was born in Kosciusko County and married a Zimmerman.

But now, I was stuck. That’s all I had in my desktop genealogy software.

I shifted to Ancestry, where I discovered a death certificate and other information that provided what I needed to close the gap.

This information confirmed Emily’s statement that her maternal grandmother was born in Warsaw, Kosciusko County, Indiana.

Therefore, drum roll…Emily carries Eva’s mitochondrial DNA haplogroup, which is T2b.

Let’s move on to the other two matches, both of whom carry haplogroup T2b.

Ian’s maternal grandmother’s birthplace is Leesburg, Kosciusko County, Indiana, and his surnames include both Ferverda and Robison.

Eva Miller Ferverda’s daughter, Chloe Ferverda, married Rolland Robison and had a daughter, Charlotte, whose daughter married a man with Ian’s surname. Their information allowed me to connect the dots appropriately. Ian’s mitochondrial haplogroup is also T2b, which confirms Eva Miller’s mtDNA haplogroup through a second child.

Shirley, the third match who carries haplogroup T2b, also shows the surnames of Ferverda and Robison, and tracks back matrilineally to Eva Miller.

In spite of the many challenges at 23andMe, and thanks to the rare surname of Ferverda, I’ve identified Eva Miller’s partial haplogroup, but not her full haplogroup. A partial haplogroup is much better than nothing and gives me something to work with.

I checked at Ancestry, MyHeritage and FamilyTreeDNA to see if any of those three people have tested there and have trees. Indeed, Ian tested at FamilyTreeDNA and I had corresponded with him and made a note that he is a matrilineal descendant of Eva Miller Ferverda, but he has not taken a mitochondrial DNA test there.

We know that if Emily, Ian, Shirley, or another appropriately descended person were to take a full-sequence mitochondrial DNA test, we would learn a LOT more about Eva’s mitochondrial DNA. If I can’t locate someone who has already tested, I’ll reach out to these people at 23andMe and offer a scholarship for a full-sequence mtDNA test.

It’s ironic that at the most restricted and least likely testing company, I found three people descended from Eva Miller. Hope springs eternal.

Unfortunately, T2b was formed about 8450 years ago and is a very broad haplogroup made up of many subclades, but at least I have something now – and this partial haplogroup may be just the seed I need to lead to more.

Now, let’s move to FamilyTreeDNA and hope that someone there has already taken the mtFull test.

At FamilyTreeDNA

There are multiple ways to find the Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA of your ancestors at FamilyTreeDNA.

Project Search

You can search for surname projects along with other types of projects.

On FamilyTreeDNA’s main page, without signing in, scroll all the way to the very bottom footer where you will see the Group Projects link.

If you’re searching for a surname, enter that surname in the search box.

The next screen shows projects that people with the Estes surname, including females, have joined. This includes all types of projects and does NOT mean that these projects are relevant to your line, but it does include two surname projects you may find useful.

Scrolling down shows you how many people with the surname of Estes have tested. Keep in mind that some will be females, some use married names, and sometimes people use an alias, so they aren’t included in this count.

Surname projects for females aren’t terribly helpful since the surname typically changes in each generation, at least in Western cultures.

You can also search for keywords, such as Acadian. If you know that ancestral line is Acadian, you may find clues there, including descendants of your brick-wall ancestor.

Group Project Time Tree

Many Group Projects at FamilyTreeDNA have enabled the Y-DNA Group Time Tree feature. When visiting the project, if the administrator has the Group Time Tree enabled, click on that link under the DNA results tab.

The Group Time Tree is a genetic tree of Y-DNA testers within that project based on the groups created by the project administrator.

The groups constructed by the administrator are shown at left, the Time Tree in the middle, and the testers with their EKAs and country of origin flags at right. I’ve added the red text to reflect the Estes genealogical lineage.

Based on the timeline at the top, you can see how closely these Y-DNA testers are related in time. Each haplogroup shown represents a different branching genetic lineage – breadcrumbs at work. If you are a genetic Estes male who descends from the Estes family that originated in Kent, England, and you take the Big Y-700 test, you’ll be a member of R-BY482 or its descendant haplogroups.

Keep in mind that not all testers join group projects, so it’s likely that there will be matches on your match list that aren’t here. Furthermore, only Big Y testers appear on any Time Tree.

The Group Time Tree is public, but when you sign in to your account and click on the Match Time Tree from your account, you’ll be able to view more, including testers’ trees and WikiTree connections if your matches have connected themselves to WikiTree.

Click to enlarge

I’ve converted the Estes genetic tree into a genealogical tree in a spreadsheet based on the trees of DNA matches. I’ve also included STR testers, because they are good candidates to upgrade to Big Y tests, and they are shown in the Estes Group Project. They can’t be included in the Time Trees because they don’t have the SNPs discovered with the Big Y tests. Please note that not all testers were included in this spreadsheet.

You can follow the paths of the various haplogroups. All of the red-background, black-outlined cells are Big Y-500 or Big Y-700 testers. The Big Y-500 was obsoleted several years ago in favor of the much more informative Big Y-700 test, which reveals additional haplogroups because it tests more of the Y chromosome. I’m still hoping that people will upgrade, although some testers are deceased and can’t.

The Big Y-500 tests with red stars are candidates to be upgraded to the Big Y-700 to potentially receive a more specific haplogroup. The balance of the tests in red cells are Big Y-700 tests, which identify several additional Estes haplogroup paths.

Let’s look at an example.

Beginning at the top, we know that R-BY482 is present in Nicholas Ewstas, born in 1496 in Kent, England, because all of his descendant testers carry that haplogroup too. Additionally, three generations later, in Silvester’s generation, he developed the additional mutation named R-BY490. We know it developed in Silvester’s generation for two reasons:

  • The descendants of Silvester’s brother, Robert, born in 1603, do NOT carry R-BY490. Robert’s son Matthew’s descendants only carry R-BY482.
  • The descendants of both of Silvester’s sons, Richard (pink column) and Abraham (the entire green row), all carry R-BY490.

All of the descendants of Silvester’s son, Abraham, born about 1647, the Virginia settler, who have taken the Big Y test carry R-BY490. Additionally, descendants of several of Abraham’s sons, color-coded columns beneath the green row, have developed additional haplogroups. Several more testers would likely have new haplogroups if they took the Big Y-700 test. A new haplogroup requires at least two men with the same unique mutation (breadcrumb), in addition to R-BY490 (in this case), to identify a specific lineage and assign it a new haplogroup name.

Abraham’s son, Moses Estes, born in 1711, is a good example. We know that Moses developed the mutation R-ZS3700 because four of his descendants have taken the Big Y-700 test and have that mutation that is not found in Moses’s brothers’ lines. All four Moses descendants carry R-ZS3700, and two, in the James Carroll Estes line, have developed an additional mutation, haplogroup R-BY154784.

Until Big Y testing became available, descendants of the R-BY154784 lineage didn’t know where they fit in the Estes tree, because the connecting genealogical records between Missouri, where their ancestors are found, and Virginia, where they came from, were missing.

Therefore, if you don’t carry the Estes Y-DNA, but you can find your ancestral line in projects, you can potentially do two things:

  1. Identify the specific lineage to which you belong, especially if you have access to your relative’s test results, including matches and trees.
  2. Without matches, you may still be able to identify at least some haplogroup levels, such as R-BY482 or R-BY490, which opens the door to:
    • Using autosomal results to find matches with Estes-specific haplogroups
    • Using Discover to utilize the dozen+ public reports available for everyone
    • Asking people to upgrade

While I’ve been using the Estes DNA results because it’s a project I administer and the one with which I’m the most familiar, this same approach works for mitochondrial DNA as well, especially if you can identify your ancestor’s DNA in a project.

Finding Projects in Discover

The public version of Discover provides surname and project searches as well, but works a little differently.

Select Group Project and enter the term you wish to search for.

Clicking on the project takes you directly to that project’s Group Time Tree where you can identify your ancestral line.

People who have tested at FamilyTreeDNA can join projects. Many projects accept autosomal testers who descend from that family line.

To join projects, sign in, then from your home page, click on “Group Projects” in the header, and make your selection.

Search for Surnames in Family Finder Autosomal Matches

Now that you’ve identified your ancestor’s haplogroup, you can use that information to find, rule in, or rule out various people in your Family Finder match list as your ancestors’ haplogroup carriers.

FamilyTreeDNA displays the haplogroups of your autosomal matches who have taken the:

The Family Finder test doesn’t test either the Y chromosome or mitochondria fully, but it target-tests a selected number of non-autosomal haplogroup-defining locations. The haplogroups that Family Finder identifies are typically midrange, meaning they are from roughly 2,000 to 5,000 years old. Furthermore, different tests on different chips at different times didn’t always test the same locations. This relatively new Family Finder haplogroup feature is free.

Uploaded DNA tests from other vendors may or may not receive a haplogroup, but regardless, it will NOT be displayed to their matches. Not all other vendors test or include Y-DNA or mtDNA SNP locations in their upload files, and your mileage may vary widely.

My cousin David has taken the mtFull test, so his mitochondrial haplogroup is the most refined possible, but his Y-DNA haplogroup of R-L151 was derived from his Family Finder test. Haplogroup R-L151 is about 5,000 years old. If I needed his haplogroup, it’s useful to rule out other major haplogroup branches that might be found in other men by the same surname. Plus, I can learn quite a bit from Discover.

Haplogroups are displayed in your Family Finder match list for everyone who has taken a Y-DNA or mtDNA test, but currently, only Y-DNA haplogroups are provided for Family Finder results. Midrange mtDNA haplogroups are planned for sometime in the future.

There are several methods to search for either a specific surname or haplogroup within Family Finder matches.

Let’s use my Ferverda/Miller/Lentz haplogroup T2b revealed at 23andMe. That haplogroup would almost assuredly be broken down further with full-sequence testing, and it might have been renamed as a different subgroup of haplogroup T in the new Mitotree.

Let’s begin with searching for haplogroup T2b.

The search bar allows users to select Name, Ancestral Surname, mtDNA Haplogroup or Y-DNA Haplogroup.

You’ll notice that there are a total of 59 results that include T2b as a part of the haplogroup. The mitochondrial lineage I’m seeking is my mother’s paternal grandmother, so the matches should be on my mother’s side, although there is no guarantee I don’t match someone autosomally on my father’s side too.

I checked the trees of all 59 people in the T2b category, and unfortunately, none descended from the line I need.

If you change search terms or categories, be sure to clear your filters.

Under the Filter option, you can filter for several options in addition to searching.

For our next example, I’ve selected both the Big Y-500 and Big Y-700 tests, and searched for Ferverda.

I already have the Ferverda Big Y-700 haplogroup, but if I didn’t, I would now!

Don’t forget that you can sort by any number of fields, and you can download your entire match list into a csv file. I find that easier because I can search, sort and filter at will.

Don’t forget to check back from time to time as more matches are added.

Utilizing Haplogroup Projects

Under the Group Projects header, or by Googling for a haplogroup T2 (or T, or T2b, etc.) at FamilyTreeDNA, you can view the haplogroup T2 project, and filter for haplogroup T2b or any subclade.

Be sure to expand the project’s page size to display the entire project. It defaults to displaying 25 rows at a time, but you can see the number of pages at the bottom of the page. I expanded the page size to 5000 so that I can use my browser search for known surnames in the mitochondrial line.

By using my browser search and searching for each known surname by generation, I searched for Ferverda, Miller, Lentz, Ruhle, Wolflin and Heubach.

I was VERY excited for a minute when I found a Lydia Lentz listed as a tester’s EKA.

Because the female’s surname changes in every generation, there’s only one family in this lineage that Lydia Lentz could have been a member of to represent the mitochondrial DNA of Eva Miller whose mother was Margaret Elizabeth Lentz.

So, the question is whether or not Lydia Lentz is the sister of Margaret Elizabeth Lentz.

Shifting to my desktop software, it’s easy to see that Jacob Lentz and Johanna Frederica Ruhle had four Lentz daughters who lived to marry and have children. None of those daughters were named Lydia, so the Lydia Lentz EKA in the haplogroup T2 project is not representative of Eva Miller’s mother and grandmother.

Margaret Elizabeth Lentz is Eva Miller’s mother, and I had already searched within the project for Miller. I added Yost, Gallagher, and Overlease to the browser search in the haplogroup T2 project with the hope that someone might have listed a woman with one of those surnames as their EKA, but no such luck.

Not everyone joins projects, or provides their earliest known ancestors, but I didn’t find the surnames of any of the females in my known line here.

Let’s see if Ancestry can help.

At Ancestry

Ancestry doesn’t do Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA testing, so you won’t find your ancestors’ Y-DNA or mtDNA at Ancestry, but their trees can help you find testers.

Let’s shift to Louisa Drechsel, one of the daughters in the Mehlheimer/Drechsel line we were working with earlier that needed more research.

I looked at the hints for Emma Louisa Drechsel, who was always called Louise or Aunt Lou in my family, and discovered another Ancestry member with Emma in their tree.

I clicked through to the tree to discover that the tree’s home person does not descend from Barbara matrilineally, which means they are not a candidate for Barbara’s mitochondrial DNA.

I then clicked on the tree owner’s name to see whether they happen to be an autosomal DNA match to me. They are not. Without messaging them, there’s no way to know whether they have taken a DNA test, and there’s really no point since they are not a mitochondrial DNA candidate.

While I’m at Ancestry, I’m going to check ThruLines to see if anyone who is an autosomal DNA match to me also descends matrilineally from Barbara. There are no autosomal matches shown who have our common ancestor in their tree, and who are mitochondrial candidates.

Remember, a male between the ancestor and the testing candidate always blocks the mitochondrial DNA path.

These people are all autosomal DNA matches.

There may be descendants who either aren’t DNA matches or who haven’t tested who might be mitochondrial candidates. They can be located by checking Ancestry’s trees for our common ancestors and determining how the tree owner relates to that ancestor, if they do.

Compare Trees is New

Ancestry recently introduced “Compare trees”, a new beta feature. It may not be fully rolled out to everyone yet, and because it’s in beta, the feature may change.

To access this feature, go to your tree, not their profile card.

I clicked on Barbara Mehlheimer’s link in my tree, which displays this little mini-profile. Then click on “Compare trees” at the bottom.

Ancestry displays your tree, at right, and the other tree, at left. You can select another tree to compare at top right.

Ancestry’s comparison only shows a total of three generations – the selected person, their parents, and their children.

The person I actually want to follow is Louisa, but if you click on Louisa’s card here, it simply compares the two Louisas – it doesn’t shift down a generation.

This means that to follow more recent generations, you have to go back to your tree, select someone further down in the tree and repeat the process.

This process is cumbersome, but doable thanks to the new Compare Tree function. I’ll come back to this after checking the rest of the “easier to harvest” fruit from other resources. Remember to make notes in your research journal so you don’t forget where you left off – although trees are always changing.

MyHeritage has one of my favorite tools.

At MyHeritage

Recently, MyHeritage has begun providing midrange Y-DNA haplogroups for some of their DNA testers. If you’re one of the lucky testers, you can use the free Discover tool to learn about your haplogroup, but a haplogroup alone won’t help you much with genealogy. You need matching and advanced tools for that.

Unfortunately, you can’t see the haplogroups of your matches, so you can’t search or filter using that criterion. You can, however, ask any men with the surname you’re seeking if their haplogroup is displayed.

Cousin Finder

MyHeritage has an ingenious tool called Cousin Finder that I wrote about here. Cousin Finder helps you find cousins who share common ancestors with you, regardless of whether or not you are a DNA match.

MyHeritage found 531 people in their database that share ancestors according to both their and my trees.

This list of matches doesn’t page; it scrolls, so I made a spreadsheet of the people who are relevant to my search for my brick-walled ancestor. Scrolling becomes difficult and very slow as you proceed down the list. I didn’t want to have to do this twice.

You can improve performance by using the relationship side filter. Because your ancestors match, MyHeritage knows on which “side” of your tree your common ancestor is found.

At this point, I’m interested primarily in identifying Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA candidates for a specific ancestor.

Using the Drechsel/Mehlheimer line as our example, I’ll search on my mother’s mother’s side.

We already met Patty at WikiTree, but let’s pretend we don’t know Patty. I can click on “View her tree” to see Patty’s whole tree, or I can click on “View Relationship,” which shows how we are both related to our common ancestor.

As we know, for mitochondrial DNA, any male in the line between the ancestor and the testing candidate blocks the mitochondrial DNA path. Patty inherited her mother’s mtDNA, not her father’s.

I didn’t forget about Eva Miller Ferverda either.

I searched for cousins who descended from my mother’s father’s side to find mtDNA candidates for Eva Miller and didn’t find any. But I did find an entirely unexpected bonus.

My mother’s father’s line shows all the connections on that side. While clicking through each one, I quite serendipitously discovered a mitochondrial DNA candidate for Eva Miller’s husband’s great-grandmother, Anna Elizabeth Jonker, AND, separately, a potential Camstra Y-DNA tester too. Oh, happy day!

It was only later, while working on my genealogy for Frederica Ruhle and hoping to discover where she actually lived in Pennsylvania, that I discovered that MyHeritage has put a Cousin Finder link in each ancestor’s profile.

Who doesn’t love a pleasant surprise?!

You no longer need to sift through all of your cousins on a particular side, but remember, had I not done that, I wouldn’t have found either the mitochondrial descendant of Anna Elizabeth Jonker nor the Camstra Y-DNA candidate.

At FamilySearch

FamilySearch is more challenging and is best for fleshing out trees where not much research has been done. Remember that FamilySearch has access to records that are not available at either Ancestry or MyHeritage.

FamilySearch is a one-world tree. Like all trees, it’s subject to errors, so caution is always advised.

At FamilySearch, from your profile card in the tree, locate the ancestor whose Y-DNA or mtDNA you seek.

Then click on that person. Their profile card will pop up. Click on “Tree,” then, at the top right, select Portrait.

Now you can expand their children downward. Note that the little “two people” in the top left corner of the profile card means there are multiple spouses. The only way to view all of the children is to click on that person’s placard, then select the alternate spouse.

Living people have no placeholders on this tree.

You can contact contributors who provided information on a profile in the tree.

Click on the source provider’s name to see if they are related, and click on the little tree icon to see how.

However, once a year, there’s a great way to contact interested descendants.

Relatives at RootsTech

RootsTech is the largest genealogy conference in the world, and it’s sponsored by FamilySearch.

About six weeks before RootsTech takes place each year, and for about a month after, you can participate in Relatives at RootsTech.

During that time, you can select an ancestor and see which other people who have signed up for RootsTech also descend from that ancestor. I wrote about how to do that in the article, Relatives at RootsTech Reveals Cousins and Provides DNA Candidates. I almost always find someone who descends from an ancestor whose Y-DNA or mtDNA I need for my tree.

It’s a wonderful opportunity to meet new cousins and collaborate.

At GEDmatch

GEDmatch is an autosomal DNA upload site that offers a variety of matching and display options. While they don’t attempt to calculate a haplogroup, uploaders can enter their mtDNA and Y-DNA haplogroups, if known.

GEDmatch isn’t normally a resource we think of for either Y-DNA or mtDNA, but it can be useful under some circumstances.

In the One-To-Many limited free version and the Tier 1 subscription model, you can view haplogroups if someone has entered their haplogroup name, but you can’t filter without the Tier 1 version.

I filtered for haplogroup T2b and found one person in the match list with haplogroup T2b4. I then viewed the GEDCOM that this person has also uploaded, but they do not descend from Eva Miller Ferverda’s line.

GEDmatch isn’t built for haplogroups, but sometimes, if you have a known haplogroup that isn’t terribly common, you can catch a lucky break there.

Where AM I?

OK, so where am I in all of this?

I feel like I’ve searched the corners of the earth!

I’ve primarily used two examples.

  • My own mtDNA line which is the Drechsel/Mehlheimer line that I chose because it’s a great example that I knew well.

If I had actually been searching for a testing candidate, we would easily have eliminated several possibilities. Five female lines remained as possibilities that need additional research, plus my own test if someone were actually searching.

  • Then there was Eva Miller Ferverda (1857-1939), whose partial haplogroup, T2b, was discovered at 23andMe in three matches. I was able to reconstruct their trees, confirming that this was her line, but I was unable to find any testing candidates elsewhere.

Each of the DNA testing and genealogy vendors provides a way to communicate with other users of their platform.

  • At both 23andMe and MyHeritage, you can message through their platform.
  • At FamilyTreeDNA and GEDmatch, you can email your matches.
  • At WikiTree, you send an email through their platform to the profile card manager.
  • At FamilySearch, you cannot see placeholder cards for living people, so you need to check to see if people making changes to that ancestor’s profile are related. Then check their children closest to the present day for the same information. You can message through the FamilySearch platform.
  • During Relatives at RootsTech, you can message your cousins through their platform. The great thing about these folks is that you know they are interested and engaged, because they’ve just signed up for RootsTech.

Communicating With Testing Candidates

I’m fortunate that there are three mitochondrial descendants of Eva Miller Ferverda at 23andMe, one of whom is also at FamilyTreeDNA. I will message or email all three of them individually with a short, customized message that contains:

  • How I am related to our common ancestor.
  • A question about whether they have taken the mtFull test, or any test, at FamilyTreeDNA. If they have taken any test there, it’s easy to upgrade.
  • A sentence about how FamilyTreeDNA was the original genetic genealogy founder of this industry and the only company to offer the full mtDNA and Y-DNA tests.
  • Why they can benefit from taking the mtFull test and how it can help us learn more about our common ancestor.
  • An offer for a full-sequence mitochondrial DNA testing scholarship if they have not already taken that test.
  • I ask if they are interested and provide my email in case they have questions or want to discuss further.

Depending on how much space I have for the message, there are two articles I often provide links to in case they are unfamiliar with either Y-DNA or mtDNA testing.

  1. 4 Kinds of DNA for Genetic Genealogy is a very basic article for people who might be unaware that there is any type of DNA testing other than autosomal. This is often the case with Ancestry.
  2. The article Mitochondrial DNA A-Z: A Step-by-Step Guide to Matches, Mitotree, and mtDNA Discover is an in-depth article about using mtDNA. This is a wonderfully educational how-to article, but I always hesitate before sending this one because I don’t want their eyes to glaze over.

Scholarships

I gladly and eagerly offer scholarships for both Y-DNA and mtDNA testers from lines I need to represent my ancestors.

I equate scholarships to finding a rare out-of-print book about that exact family line, with only one or two copies still in existence, and only one accessible in a rare book shop in Podunk, Idaho. I would book a flight tomorrow at 5 AM to go and pick it up in person even if I had to eat beans and hot dogs for the next six months to pay for it. If you know me, you know I’m not kidding! I’ve gone on many wonderful road trips to meet with and collect DNA samples from cousins.

A Y-DNA or mtDNA test doesn’t cost nearly as much as that excursion and is even more reliable, because we know the DNA results are accurate – assuming the tester’s genealogy is accurate, which you should verify, and no undocumented adoptions or broken lineages have occurred.

Good luck on your treasure hunt!

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FOCUS: Step 1 – Seven Solutions for DNA Matches with Absent or Shrunken Trees

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This is the second article in the FOCUS series.

You can read the first article, FOCUS – A New Series Focused on Breaking Down Brick Walls, here.

DNA matches without trees, or bare-bones shrunken trees, can be a significant roadblock whether you’re looking at autosomal, Y-DNA, or mitochondrial DNA matches. To help resolve that issue, I’ve listed seven ways you can create or expand those trees. Not every methodology works every time, but none will work if you don’t invest the effort to try them.

I’ll probably say this in every article because it bears repeating. Everything we are working with is a hint. Breadcrumbs along the way. Sometimes they lead to the next wonderful breadcrumb. Sometimes to a dead end. Sometimes they look like useful breadcrumbs, but they are red herrings and not relevant. And sometimes they are simply wrong. Do not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Also, do not think every hint is accurate, because they aren’t, and many rely upon other people.

Our goal in the FOCUS series is to accrue evidence from multiple sources, tools and methodologies that leads us to our ancestor. So let’s start with trees.

Trees, Trees, But Not Everywhere

DNA testing relies on trees to identify our common ancestors, at least with matches beyond the closest generation or two.

This is true at all vendors, which is why all of the main vendors, except 23andMe, integrate with or provide trees as part of their platform.

Because we need to work with trees for all types of DNA testing and matching, I’m going to share various ways to overcome partial trees or even no tree at all. I’m intentionally using examples from multiple vendors throughout this series.

23andMe is omitted in this article because they don’t support trees, although testers can include a link to a tree elsewhere.

GEDmatch is omitted in this article because they are not a testing company. They are a DNA upload and matching site, so everyone at GEDmatch has tested elsewhere and probably has a tree there. You can upload a GEDCOM file to GEDmatch, though, so it never hurts to check and see if your match is there too.

Some of these techniques are vendor specific, and others can be applied broadly.

What Is a Shrunken Tree?

A shrunken tree is a small tree in which your DNA match has included only a few people. Small or missing trees tend to frustrate genealogists – a lot. I remind myself that these folks maybe seeking their family or new genealogists, trying to piece their tree together themselves.

This is a tree provided by one of my matches. Their mother is deceased, but it’s recent enough that I’ve chosen to obfuscate her name as well, and it’s not relevant to the next steps.

There’s not a lot to work with here, but as it turns out, there’s enough.

Based on this tree, we have no idea where in their tree our Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA) is found, so let’s look at a few ways to indirectly expand their tree in order to find our common ancestor.

Step 1 – Check Your Own Tree

I know this sounds like a “duh” moment, but always remember to check your own tree to see if you’ve expanded that branch to include your match’a ancestors and completely forgotten about it. I maintain my primary tree on my computer with lots of notes and information that I’m not comfortable uploading to a public space. I maintain smaller public trees with a couple thousand people at both Ancestry and MyHeritage, along with a link to my ancestors at WikiTree.

If your match is a female, they may be using a married surname, so always keep that in mind. I try their complete name first. Then I search for their surname to see if it’s a “married-in” name – and cross my fingers that it’s not Smith. If they have any ancestors in their tree, I try their oldest generation next.

Step 2 – Reach Out to Your Match

Every vendor provides some way of communicating with your matches. You can either message or email, depending on the vendor, and your match may be very willing to share more about their genealogy. They may have a better tree elsewhere that they will share with you, or may know more than is in their tree.

An Ancestry survey showed that about 53% of Americans can’t name all four grandparents, and only 47% can correctly name all four. Only 4% can name all eight great-grandparents. In the Rolland tree, the tester knew more about their mother’s side, and only knew the first name of their paternal grandmother.

So while shrunken trees are exasperating, they are probably more normal that we think, and we all have to start someplace. Your match might well appreciate some help.

Step 3 – Check Other DNA Testing Sites

If your match has a real name (meaning not just initials or something indecipherable), such as Heather Jacobs (made-up name), who is predicted to be your third cousin and shares 100 cM of (unweighted) DNA at one vendor, sign on to your accounts at the other vendors and see if Heather is a match there.

You’re looking for a Heather, or maybe HJacobs or something similar, who’s approximately a 3C with roughly the same amount of shared DNA. The exact relationship prediction may not match, but it should be close, and the amount of shared DNA may not be identical either. If it varies substantially, it may not be the same person, so exercise care.

Every vendor provides the ability to search for matches by name, and if you can’t find them by name, begin paging until you reach matches at the approximate predicted relationship level. In Heather’s case, that’s third cousins. Beyond third cousins, this paging technique quickly becomes too laborious.

At Ancestry

Only one vendor, Ancestry, “downweights” your DNA with your matches, meaning that they may remove some amount of DNA that they consider “too matchy.” In my case, this is often DNA from my Acadian lines, which collectively forms pileup regions. This does NOT mean those aren’t useful, but that’s not relevant for this discussion other than to alert you that you need to check both the assigned amount of DNA and your unweighted shared DNA with a match when you’re trying to verify that the match is the same person at two vendors.

Assuming you find “HeatherJ” at Ancestry, you’ll want to verify that it’s the same person as Heather Jacobs at the other vendor.

Is your amount of shared DNA roughly the same?

Click on the relationship link to view the amount of unweighted DNA. In this case, weighted and unweighted is the same, and Heather Jacobs matches you with 100 cM at the other vendor.

Heather has a public tree here, and it’s the same size. It’s probably the same person, but check anyway.

Heather’s tree at Ancestry is exactly the same as it was at the other vendor, so this confirms it’s the same person.

There’s an important hint here, and let me emphasize the word HINT.

While Heather’s actual 15-person tree does NOT extend to our common ancestor, Ancestry has pieced together other trees that include and extend beyond her ancestors to show my (purported) common ancestor with Heather. Click on Common Ancestor, which takes you to ThruLines.

This new version of ThruLines has now replaced the older version. Unfortunately it does not show Heather’s path back to our common ancestor, Hiram Bauke Ferverda.

Click on “View all ancestors” in the upper left-hand corner.

Click on any image to enlarge

After clicking on “View all ancestors,” click on Hiram Bauke Ferverda to see the DNA matches who descend from him. Despite what Ancestry provided under my “Common ancestor” with Heather, she isn’t shown anyplace here. This could be a bug, given that I later confirmed this common ancestor using other techniques.

Regardless of the problem, this IS a hint, so don’t disregard it entirely. Just keep your “skeptic” hat handy and wear it liberally. You’ll need to use Ancestry searches and hints, including possibly Quick and Dirty Trees, to piece together the possibilities.

Make a note on Heather’s match at Ancestry so that you know what you found this time through. We’re not done with Heather. Move on to another vendor to see if Heather has tested and has a better tree elsewhere. We’re gathering evidence.

At MyHeritage

Heather is not at MyHeritage, so I’ll use a different example.

Let’s look for Cathy, a 3C match who has no tree at another vendor. I found her at MyHeritage with the same first and last name and approximately the same amount of shared DNA, so I’m confident it’s the same person.

Fortunately, at MyHeritage, Cathy has a tree, which is the first step, of course, but no common ancestor is shown in her tree.

MyHeritage has a wonderful feature called Theory of Family Relativity which are often based on “Smart Matches.” Click on “View theory.”

Click to enlarge

MyHeritage has found five possible paths to a common ancestor based on multiple documents and trees. In this case, Surrilda Claxton in my tree is the same person as Surelda Clarkson in Cathy’s tree, and MyHeritage made that connection correctly.

I confirmed this Theory at MyHeritage as accurate, and now I know how Cathy at the other vendor with no tree is related to me. I made a note about Cathy at MyHeritage on my match with Cathy at the other vendor too about our common ancestor AND where Cathy’s tree can be found. Add Cathy to her proper place in your trees.

Step 4 – Sleuth at the Same Vendor

At FamilyTreeDNA, when I find a match with no tree, I do two things.

Looking at Patricia’s profile, I immediately see that she has been assigned to the maternal side of my tree. I’ve linked other known matches which allows FamilyTreeDNA to use triangulation to assign Patricia to the proper side.

Then, I notice that even though Patricia doesn’t have a tree, she has provided her ancestral surnames.

Clicking on “View Details,” I can see if any of them match my surnames, or I can view all of her surnames.

Given that this is my mother’s side, these shared surnames give me an idea of a shared lineage.

Next, look for your closest shared match WITH a tree. Clicking on the two little people at far right displays your shared matches which are labeled “in common with.”

I share 122 matches in common with with Patricia, and our closest shared match, other than my mother who is not shown here, is Dennis. Dennis happens to be a known relative, which is why he already has a note.

But for purposes of this exercise, let’s say that I haven’t already figured out how Dennis and I are related. Viewing Dennis’s tree, I see that our common ancestors are Anthony (Antoine) Lore and Rachel Levina Hill. Hmmm, Hill is on Patricia’s list of surnames.

Sleuthing at the same vendor is MUCH EASIER when your matches have at least a couple of generations in a small tree. Having no tree is the most difficult situation at every vendor, but there are multiple ways to begin building a tree for your DNA match, or to expand a shrunken tree.

Step 5 – Google Is Your Friend

Google is your friend. Google cannot reach behind paywalled sites, so you won’t find records other than records from free indexes at Ancestry or MyHeritage in Google searches, but you will find information about people from other genealogy sites.

Let’s go back to Rolland Robison who died in 1963 and his wife, Chloe. And let’s also consider that his surname is often spelled RobiNson. We know from our match’s tree that Rolland’s wife’s first name is Chloe.

Look closely at the search box in the image below. By structuring the query as “rolland robison died 1963 wife chloe”, we combine a full name, a specific vital event year, and a spouse’s first name. This gives Google just enough precise detail to hopefully filter out (most) noise.

That’s interesting. It looks like Rolland can be spelled two ways too.

Not only is there an article (yes, I wrote about this previously), BUT there’s also an obituary and estate distribution in a local newspaper that I have never seen before.

Rolland’s wife’s birth surname is given in his obituary, even though her first name is misspelled. This is the link I need to establish our common ancestor, because Chloe is my grandfather’s sister.

Google can provide you with important links to information and articles that are not yet in genealogical databases, such as:

  • Facebook accounts for individuals: Useful for finding the tester, relatives or family connections.
  • Facebook groups and pages: Forums that contain local historical information and shared community memories.
  • LinkedIn & Instagram accounts: Social footprints that often reveal professional histories, geographic locations, and birth surnames.
  • Mentions elsewhere: Local newspaper archives, digital press releases, and published legal notices regarding estate partitions or land records.
  • Obituaries: Printed family notices that explicitly list surviving family names and relationships along with the Legacy.com tribute archives.
  • Public websites & genealogy blogs: Independent sites where genealogists sometimes publish deep-dive ancestral lineages. Always verify.

Google also provides an easy way to find free resources in public databases without having to search each one individually, including:

  • Collaborative family trees: WikiTree, FamilySearch, and Geni trees.
  • Cemetery registries: FindAGrave and BillionGraves.
  • Digital libraries: Internet Archive and Google Books, which hold a vast assortment of historical information like out-of-print town and county histories.
  • Open-Access portals: The Library of Congress (LOC) and the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), which pulls photos, maps, and civic documents from libraries across the US.
  • Volunteer projects: Regional repositories like GenWeb.
  • Directories: Local alumni directories and digitized historical yearbooks.

Pro Tip: Resurrecting Old RootsWeb and Genealogy.com Breadcrumbs

RootsWeb was a wonderful resource for genealogists until Ancestry began systematically dismantling it in 2023.

While Google is fantastic at finding obscure text, it will occasionally point you to an old, broken RootsWeb link. Because Ancestry has frozen or removed much of the old platform, don’t let that 404 error stop you in your tracks. Copy the dead URL from Google and paste it into the Internet Archive Wayback Machine where you can sometimes resurrect the exact information you need!

The same methodology applies to the old message board, Genealogy.com.

Step 6 – Search Old Emails and Files On Your Own Computer

I know this probably sounds either ridiculous or incredibly obvious, but if you’re a typical genealogist, you probably have a quarter century of emails on your computer, not to mention reams of photos that you saved because someone gave them to you and you “might need them someday.”

I’ve never thought of myself as the family archivist, but I clearly must be, which is another name for the family packrat. Long live the packrats.

I’ve learned that I need to search all of my email folders for the names in someone’s shrunken tree. I’ve been shocked at what I’ve found there.

Don’t just search for full names. For example, Rolland Robison or Chloe Ferverda. Search for the names individually too. So, Rolland, Roland, Robison, Robinson, and Chloe. I didn’t know Chloe was a Ferverda yet when I was initially searching for her identity.

A middle-of-the-night insomnia-induced epiphany struck – “search your emails.” Who needs sleep? It’s overrated! I hopped right up, searched my emails and my computer and found even more.

As it turns out, I attended a Ferverda family reunion in 2010 where I only knew two people. Thankfully, cousin Cheryl thought to invite me, because someone brought an old photo album AND an old Ferverda family Bible. I took photos of everything in the album even though I had no idea who most of those people were and neither did the album’s owner.

Many photos had no surnames at all, or they were recorded as Mr. and Mrs. SoAndSo.

Here are “Chloe and Rolland” as they were named in the photo, with no last name or additional information.

Here are Mr and Mrs. Rolland Vincent Robison. I carelessly saved this one as Rolland RobiNson. My bad.

A search for just “Rolland” found both, which is exactly why you need to search creatively.

Finding those initially still wouldn’t have told me who they were, but I would have at least had some family context, given that a Ferverda descendant brought the album to the Ferverda reunion.

However, this article about Rolland and Chloe’s 50th wedding anniversary from that same album would have provided that missing context.

My emails revealed now-deceased cousin Cheryl referring to Aunt Chloey, but with nothing else to identify her. A search for simply “Chloe” found Cheryl’s emails.

More tidbits of evidence.

I did a very poor job of saving these images with useful names because they weren’t relevant at the time, although I did store them in a “Ferverda Reunion” folder. Now, I’m going to attach them to Chloe and Rolland’s profiles in my tree at both Ancestry and MyHeritage to make sure they don’t disappear forever.

I’m also going to send them to my match with the abbreviated tree. As Rolland and Chloe’s grandchild, if they don’t have these pictures, I’m positive they will want them.

I’m sure you’ve noticed that I got VERY squirreled during this process, but utilizing all of our resources is exactly how we make discoveries – and sometimes that includes chasing squirrels.

This is also why our research journals are important – so we don’t chase the same squirrel over and over.

Step 7 – Quick and Dirty Trees

I used the Robison example in an earlier article discussing how to build a “quick and dirty” tree. I use quick and dirty trees often because it’s the easiest way to keep track of informational tidbits from different places, including multiple vendors, during the research process.

I’ll say it again here. Quick and dirty trees aren’t meant to be public. They aren’t gospel. They are a structure for you to work through the various hints provided and to evaluate them to see if they are of sufficient quality for you to identify a common ancestor with a DNA tester who provided a minimal tree.

You can read about these investigative workbenches in the article, What is a Quick and Dirty Tree, and When Might I Need One?

What’s Next?

Have you decided which of your brick walls you’re going to focus on? Last week’s article discussed some of the criteria you might want to consider and how to prepare.

Select your ancestor, because next week, we’re going to begin using a variety of tools and techniques to track that ancestor. Bit by bit, we’re going to gather evidence that will hopefully lead to a breakthrough.

FOCUS – A New Series Focused on Breaking Down Brick Walls

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When I teach about genetic genealogy, people often ask, “What’s next? How can I break down my brick wall?” Sometimes I can reply that a Y-DNA test or mitochondrial DNA will help them under specific circumstances. But more often than not, what they really need is a precise, step-by-step methodology that includes autosomal DNA and utilizes multiple tools and techniques across vendors.

Even after people have taken Y-DNA and/or mitochondrial DNA tests PLUS autosomal tests at the major vendors, we still need a methodology to work with combinations of those results. Often, the answers we need aren’t just sitting there like a pretty rock, waiting to be picked up and admired, but depend on us using the results and matches as tools to help focus our search in the right direction.

It’s more like a scavenger hunt than a single discovery.

Focus

Sometimes I feel like a fish out of water – flip-flopping from ancestor to ancestor, match to match and hint to hint, hoping that the magic bullet will fall into my lap, but that almost never happens.

By this point in my research, I’ve perused all the easy records and many of the not-so-easy ones. If you don’t have a surname, or you don’t have a first name, or worse yet, you don’t have either, how is one supposed to search for records?

The good news is that you still carry at least one record in your own body and/or the bodies of your relatives. The DNA of your ancestors.

This is where we’re going to focus our efforts – hence FOCUS, the name of this new series.

Everyone is going to select their closest, or one of their closest, brick-walled ancestors, and we’re going to use several methods and tools to focus on identifying that ancestor.

Prepare

Before I publish the next article in the series, there are a few things that I’d like you to think about and do in preparation.

  • First, there’s no guarantee that you’ll break through your brick wall during this series. You might, and you also might not. You stand a much better chance of breaking through that brick wall if you focus and follow these steps than if you don’t.

Keep in mind that even negative evidence is evidence, and just because you don’t break through right away doesn’t mean you won’t. New people test everyday and new records become available too. If nothing else, your ancestor will have more meat on their bones, and you’ll have a process to build upon.

  • Second, if your brick wall is very close in time, meaning parents or grandparents, you’ll want the already-written “In Search Of Unknown Family” series, which you can find, here.
  • Third, you’ll need to keep a research journal or log by ancestor, family or location, which will also include your other related ancestors. For example, if you’re looking for Lucy whose surname you don’t know, but you know that she married William Moore, then your research journal will apply to William Moore too, and other people including their children and either spouse’s parents and siblings, whether that was your intention or not. The neighbors are probably relevant as well.

That “it takes a village” saying is particularly relevant here. People didn’t tend to move to the next location alone, and often their community consisted of their cousins and relatives – who are also your relatives, and hold clues to the identity of your ancestor. When I’m extracting records for the Moore surname in Halifax County, VA, for example, I extract everything for that and similarly spelled surnames, not just one particular person, so I don’t have to replow that field.

Tracking and Recording Your Research

If you don’t already have a research journal methodology, I would suggest a spreadsheet.

Here’s a screenshot of two rows in my “Halifax County” spreadsheet where I’ve recorded separate rows for each person in every record. Note that I started this spreadsheet years ago and omitted some columns that I later wished I had included, like the access date.

You’ll want to record:

  • Item number beginning with 1. In the example above, the item number is 6, and it’s 6 for every person in that record. Each person in this transaction gets their own separate row, with the same item number. The next record I extracted would be item 7.
  • Access date (date you found and retrieved the record)
  • Last name
  • First name
  • State (add a column for country if multiple countries are relevant for this family)
  • County
  • Town, township or city
  • Geographic places like road or creek names (these can be VERY important)
  • Year, month and day that the record occurred
  • Record repository or source (including a link if applicable – you may want to add a separate column for the link)
  • Record type (deed, will, tax list, etc.)
  • Role of individual (buyer, seller, witness, etc.)
  • Names of additional people in the record (I retain the same item number and other information, changing the name of the person, their role and sometimes an associated comment)
  • Transcribed text of the record itself
  • Comment, which can include things like the name of an image, something about what you were searching for when you found the record, links, or anything else relevant

You will want to be able to sort and filter this spreadsheet when you are finished. Hint – be sure your date fields and formats are sortable in the way you wish. I normally use filters instead of the sort feature.

The goal isn’t just to record your findings, but to make this spreadsheet as useful as possible to make discoveries that are only available by comparing and incorporating multiple records.

For example, let’s say that you’re extracting all of the Moore records in a Halifax County, VA deed book, and you want to know how many times the surname Henderson is found in the Moore deeds or in conjunction with the Moore family. Is there a pattern? You won’t recognize a pattern from any ONE record, but you may eventually wonder if the Henderson’s are related to the Moore family, and if so, how.

You’ll also want to record nonproductive or negative evidence. For example, let’s say you searched the Halifax County Plea Book for William Moore (including More and Mohr) and found no occurrences. That’s important, because otherwise you‘ll eventually search again, so enter that as a record item.

Note that with the full text search feature introduced by FamilySearch a couple of years ago, if you extracted records from a book that did NOT include every-name indexing including property lines, creek names and witnesses – you’ll want to redo that search using the full text feature at FamilySearch. There’s often LOTS of valuable information buried in records that won’t be found if you’re only viewing records indexed by buyer and seller, for example.

Your To-Do List Before the Series Begins

The In Search Of Unknown Family Series introduces important concepts, so reading that series is your first assignment in preparation for the upcoming FOCUS articles.

Test Your DNA With the Major Vendors

It’s important to test with the major vendors. Each vendor has matches and tools that the others don’t, and we need to identify and work with as many relevant matches as possible.

If you have NOT taken an autosomal DNA test at the first three following vendors, order these tests now so you have results to work with.

  1. AncestryDNA
  2. FamilyTreeDNA – Purchase a Family Finder test or upgrade an earlier Family Finder test to the new Family Finder NGS test. You should upgrade if you uploaded your autosomal DNA file from another vendor at any time, or tested at FamilyTreeDNA directly before March of 2026. The upgrade is only $29.
  3. MyHeritage DNA
  4. A fourth vendor, 23andMe, is optional, but testing there certainly won’t hurt.

23andMe Sidebar

I have an issue with 23andMe’s policy of forcing customers to repurchase a DNA test at $199 PLUS a subscription at $149 for the first year, renewable at $69 per year, in order to obtain any of their latest tools. This happened around the time of their data breach and subsequent bankruptcy.

I would feel much better about the situation as a whole if a new owner had taken the wheel, but the original owner resigned from the 23andMe board, formed another corporation, and was allowed to buy 23andMe out of the bankruptcy that occurred on her watch.

Furthermore, 23andMe does not support genealogy trees, nor do they have Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA testing and matching, or research records.

I have (begrudgingly) ordered an upgrade for my own 23andMe test in order to include accurate information in these articles, but I won’t be focusing on 23andMe specifically aside from any unique feature. You can apply the same concepts and techniques to results at 23andMe where possible.

Test Your Relatives

If you have close upstream relatives, such as parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who also descend from your brick-walled ancestor, please ask them to test too.

I explain what I’m trying to achieve, why their test is important, and offer scholarships to sweeten the pie. I view purchasing their DNA tests in the same way I view purchasing a rare research book that I KNOW includes my ancestors but it not available anyplace else.

Your shared matches are extremely important and may provide that brick-wall-breaker. Perhaps even more importantly, they will have relevant matches that you don’t.

So how do you know who to test? You certainly want to test everyone relevant, without wasting money.

Let’s look at this example where Lucy is the brick-walled ancestor I’m seeking to identify. Her children (labeled siblings) and grandchildren (1C) are all deceased, but second cousins (2C), Rhonda, Charles and Sally are all available to test. Test each of them because they will all have some different segments of DNA from Lucy that the others don’t have.

Lazarus is also a second cousin, but he’s deceased. However, William, my father (in this example, not my real pedigree), and his sister, Jane are both available to test.

You ALWAYS want to test both of your parents and every available grandparent or direct ancestor. In this example, I’ll only inherit some portion of Lucy’s DNA that my father has, but Jane, my aunt, will carry segments of Lucy’s DNA that my father didn’t inherit from Lazarus. Jane’s matches on those segments that neither my father nor I have may be just what we need to identify Lucy.

If Lazarus has other children not shown in this example, we certainly want to test them too.

If the relevant parent has tested, you don’t need to test any of their children. However, if the parent hasn’t tested, absolutely test as many of their children or descendants as possible.

In this case, Rhonda, Jane, Charles and Sally have all tested, so I don’t need to test their children. Their children can only have as much of Lucy’s DNA as their parents had.

However, if any of them had been deceased, then I should test as many of their children as I can to “gather up” as much of Lucy’s DNA as possible.

If any of the people upstream of the bold red people have other children, those children or their descendants would be testing candidates too. Ideally, you want as many descendant testers as possible to increase your chances of identifying that ancestor.

Selecting Your Brick-Wall Ancestor

I want you to be successful, so you’re going to select your closest brick-walled ancestor within certain parameters. If you have multiple brick-walled ancestors at the at the same genealogical distance, you’ll choose one to focus on.

Why your closest brick-walled ancestor? If your brick wall is 5 generations back from you, and they are 5 generations back from your DNA match as well, that means you’re dealing with a 4th cousin match.

This also means that ancestor’s DNA has been divided a total of 10 times – five times on the path of descent to you, and five times on the path of descent to your match.

A 4th cousin match is likely to be in the 35 cM range. You can view the matching ranges for various relationships at DNAPainter, here.

The entire 4th cousin (4C) matching range is 0-139 cM. You won’t match all of your 4th cousins and are likely to match only 50-70% of your 4th cousins.

That said, the average person has between 1,500 and 4,000 4th cousins. At the 4th cousin level, you have 32 ancestors, so only between 46 and125 4th cousins will descend from any given ancestor, and of those, only a few will have taken a DNA test. The more children that ancestor had that lived to marry and have children of their own, the better your chances of more matches.

The Selection Process

I’m going to be stepping through the ancestor selection process with you, discussing who is and isn’t a good candidate, and why. I’m also going to be using this same methodology to (hopefully) identify one of my own mystery ancestors too.

I have no brick walls closer than 4th cousins. If I did, I’d choose the closest brick wall. You should too in order to have the best chance of solving this puzzle. The further back in time, the more difficult the solve will be.

In my tree, I have four mystery ancestors at the 5X great-grandparent level on my father’s side, and one on my mother’s side.

Those will be the four ancestors I consider selecting. And no, before you do it, I don’t recommend working on all four of them at the same time. Remember, the purpose is to FOCUS.

  • Select an ancestor as close generationally as possible, because it’s more likely that both you and other people will carry at least some of their DNA, and the same segment(s) of DNA. Matches closer in time generally carry more total DNA in common, which means better matching and more shared matches.
  • Given that the majority of testers are from the US, and assuming you are from the US too, I don’t recommend selecting an ancestor from another country unless you are very comfortable with that language and working with those records. Generally, there will be fewer people who have tested from other countries. If you are going to work with an ancestor from another country, be sure you are in both the MyHeritage and FamilyTreeDNA databases.

My mother’s entire paternal line is either Dutch or German Brethren, and her Dutch ancestors only immigrated in the mid 1800s, so have few descendants in the databases.

My closest brick wall on her paternal line is Traut Enterlein, a German man who was named in an out-of-wedlock baptism for his daughter in Germany in 1823. He is not found in any other records in that part of Germany, so actually identifying “who he is”, even with a name, would be extremely difficult, and I have nothing to “anchor to” here.  He is eliminated as a candidate because he’s found in a country where I don’t speak the language, where fewer people have taken DNA tests, and we’ve already spent a substantial amount of time trying to identify him in the records.

Brick-walled ancestors on Mom’s maternal side are two generations further back in time. Half are German and the other half are a combination of English and Acadian.

  • Avoid both endogamy and pedigree collapse, if possible. I don’t recommend a line with baked-in challenges that will make DNA more difficult.

Acadians are heavily endogamous and often suffer from pedigree collapse since there were so few founding families in the mid-1600s. The same goes for Brethren families who immigrated in the early 1700s. Those lines are too far back generationally anyway, so they have already been eliminated, but if they weren’t, I’d eliminate them because of heavy endogamy and pedigree collapse, both, not to mention record loss.

My father’s side has much better candidates.

  • Try to select an ancestor where you have some familiarity with the location, the culture, and the records. If you have printed resources at the ready, possibly ones that are not online, that’s a plus.
  • When you’re trying to decide between ancestors, select one whose spouse you are sure of, and who has children you can document. Do you know important things about them like their religion, where they lived during specific times, and who their neighbors were? If not, take some time now to brush up on what you do know about their spouse and children.
  • Check back at all of the records vendors and resources, including Ancestry, MyHeritage, WikiTree, and FamilySearch, to see if anything new is easily available for either your brick-wall candidate or their spouse.
  • I do NOT recommend selecting an ancestral couple, neither of whom you can identify, unless you’re “lucky” enough to have no other brick-walled ancestors to choose from. It’s possible to solve this “double-blind” couple, but it’s substantially more difficult because you have no same-generation anchor.

My Candidates

I’m selecting one of my brick walls and hope to solve it during this process. Let’s run through the decision-making process so you’ll understand some of the considerations and why they weigh as factors. I wish I didn’t have so many choices, and I’d like to solve them all, but my best chance is to work on one at a time.

Most candidates are women because their birth surnames tend to easily become lost after they marry, and with their surname, their parents are lost too. Given how little we know, we have to presume (dangerous word), at least for now, that your missing female ancestor was the mother of all of their husband’s children, unless we know or subsequently prove otherwise.

Let’s review my candidates.

  1. Lucy was born about 1754, probably in Virginia, and died in 1832 in Halifax County, VA. She married William Moore between 1772 and 1774, who may or may not have been a circuit-riding minister at that time. She is found under her own name on the 1830 census, there’s an 1826 chancery suit, and I know who her children and neighbors are, so she might be a good candidate. One vote against selecting Lucy is that I don’t know where she was born, nor do I know where they were married, although there’s a very strong possibility that it took place in Halifax County. The fact that he was a circuit-rider means he could have met her anyplace. If they were married in Halifax County, their families could have been allied before arriving there. William Moore’s family came from Prince Edward County about 1770, and we know who his parents were. One good thing is that Lucy is a fairly uncommon name, but there are multiple William Moores in Halifax County, and there are two other Lucy Moores. One is her daughter, and one is her daughter-in-law. The fact that Lucy and William Moore had 12 known children, with at least 8 who married, means there is a good chance of matching at least some descendants. Unfortunately, I don’t have her mitochondrial DNA, which removes one possible tool unless I can find a tester.
  2. Jane, born about 1760 in an unknown location, but probably Virginia, was the wife of Lazarus Dodson. They moved across multiple frontiers into what would become early Tennessee, an area that sustained substantial record loss. Jane died between 1830 and 1840. There’s a lot of uncertainty about Jane’s life. She probably had at least 8 children, and we know something about six of them. Given that we already have a better candidate with Lucy, I’ll eliminate Jane for now.
  3. William Crumley’s wife, whose name I don’t know, was born around 1765 or 1770, possibly in Virginia. She was married to William Crumley around 1786 or 1787, probably in Frederick County, VA, or nearby. I do have her mitochondrial DNA and we know the family was Quaker which are both benefits. I’ve been working with a cousin who has delved deeply into Quaker records, and I have some records from a trip to the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City that I have not yet processed. She and William had at least 10 children who married, and I know quite a bit about them. She would probably be an excellent choice. For lack of another name, I’ve been calling her H2a1, her legacy mitochondrial haplogroup before Mitotree, but she has a much more complete haplogroup now. She would be a good candidate, and I REALLY want to identify her.
  4. Mary, wife of John Harrold (by various spellings), was born about 1750, possibly in Ireland, although it would be unusual for a first-generation Irish immigrant to end up deep in the Appalachian frontier. Mary died in 1826 in Wilkes County, NC. We know nothing about John’s background, other than he served in the Revolutionary War, in Virginia. He may have been living in Botetourt County, although we don’t know for sure, and there are multiple men by that name. Mary had at least 7 children, six of whom were married. We do not have her mitochondrial DNA. Given that we know so little about John, and we have better candidates with both Lucy, William Moore’s wife, and William Crumley’s wife, I’m eliminating Mary for now.
  5. Isabel, the wife of Michael McDowell – another couple from Wilkes County, NC. Their daughter married the son of Mary and John Harrold. Isabel was probably born about 1750, someplace in Virginia. We don’t know where they were married, but it could have been in Franklin County, VA. They lived in Wilkes County for several decades before moving on to Claiborne County, TN. We know very little about Michael’s early life, other than his Revolutionary War service, although I’ve written about him four times as additional information dribbles out. They had at least 8 children, and a deposition after Michael’s death tells us where they moved and settled, which is a very big plus. We know her first name thanks to a 1793 deed. Isabel is a reasonable candidate, but I eliminated her after comparison to the other candidates, in part because of multiple frontier moves with few records and no known point of origin.
  6. Elizabeth, wife of Andrew McKee, was born about 1767, possibly someplace in Virginia. They were in Washington Co., VA by 1789, although we don’t know where either originated. They may have married before they moved to Washington County, where we find several records. They had 14 children. Twelve are known to have married, and the other two probably did as well. We know who their neighbors were. We also have Elizabeth’s mitochondrial DNA. Unfortunately, we know nothing about Andrew McKee’s family or where he was from. However, Elizabeth is a strong candidate because so many records exist in Washington County, they had a large number of children, and many continued to live in Washington County or nearby, making them easier to track.
  7. If I didn’t already have good candidates, there’s one more ancestor I’d consider, even though James Lee Claxton/Clarkson is a generation further back in my tree, born about 1775, and his unknown parents are the brick walls. I know I just told you NOT to do this, so I won’t either, but the reason I might have considered his parents, or more specifically his father, as a strong candidate is because we have several Y-DNA matches, including Big-Y testers, and we know the ancestors of his matches came from NC. We also have many autosomal testers and matches, which would help immensely, and there’s a Clarkson/Claxton DNA Surname Project. A contiguous surname is a HUGE benefit not available with female ancestors, and I just feel that I’m SO CLOSE to solving this mystery. For now, James’s parents are eliminated because they are two generations further back in time than our other candidates, we know nothing about either of them, except Y-DNA results, and we have better candidates for this exercise.

After evaluation, I still have two candidates in the running – Lucy, wife of William Moore, and H2a1, William Crumley’s wife. I haven’t decided for sure yet, but right now, William Crumley’s wife is leading because I have an amazing collaborator along with some unprocessed records that may hold important information. I know there probably aren’t any smoking guns there, but when combined with DNA, we may well ignite that gunpowder.

FOCUS

Are you ready to focus?

Let’s get our ducks in a row.

  • Order any DNA tests you need to order for yourself and relatives now.
  • Select your ancestor.
  • Prepare your research journal by reviewing which records you’ve already researched and record what you have.
  • Refamiliarize yourself. Take a look at those results again with fresh eyes. It helps when reviewing match results to be able to view surnames in your matches trees and recall that you’ve seen that name before, and where.
  • Check to see if any new records or resources are now available.

Who do you want to find?

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2025 Genetic Genealogy Retrospective: Wow – What a Year!

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2025 has been quite a year in genetic genealogy. Genetic genealogy, per se, really isn’t a separate “thing” anymore. DNA testing is now an integral part of genealogy, with the potential to answer questions that nothing else can!

The 76 articles I wrote in 2025 fall into multiple categories and focus on different topics based on what was happening in the industry.

From my perspective, here are the most notable announcements and trends in genetic genealogy, and genealogy more broadly.

#1 for 2025 – Mitochondrial DNA: The Million Mito Project Released the New Mitotree, Updates, and mtDNA Discover

The biggest genealogy news items this year, both industry-wide and genealogy-changing are definitely the release of the new Mitotree, plus two tree updates. But that’s not all.

In addition, full sequence mitochondrial DNA testers received new Mitotree haplogroups, if appropriate, and everyone received a haplotype – a new feature. Along with Mitotree, FamilyTreeDNA introduced mtDNA Discover which provides 13 individual reports based on your haplogroup and matches.

It’s no wonder that mitochondrial DNA articles led the pack with the most views based on the eleven articles about that topic. If you haven’t yet tested your mitochondrial DNA at FamilyTreeDNA, there’s no better time! You never know what you’re going to discover and the more testers, the more matches for everyone.

You don’t know what you don’t know, and you’ll never know if you don’t test. Remember, mitochondrial DNA is for both males and females and tests your mother’s direct matrilineal line (mother to mother to mother, etc.) – reaching beyond known surnames.  Click here to order or upgrade.

#2 – MyHeritage Low Pass Whole Genome Sequence Test Charges into the Future

Another big hitter is the new MyHeritage low-pass whole genome test (WGS) test. It’s new and innovative, but we haven’t seen comparative results yet.

My results from the new low-pass whole genome test just came back, and I haven’t had the opportunity to review them yet, as compared to the earlier tests. That said, I do have roughly the same number of matches, but I need to determine if they are the same matches, and how well they track. I’ll be working on that review soon.

The new whole genome test may be more about future proofing and preparedness than additional current benefit – but we will see. I definately wanted to take the whole genome test so I can receive and benefit from whatever new is coming down the pike.

MyHeritage allows you to maintain multiple DNA tests on your account, so the new whole genome won’t “replace” your older or uploaded test. That way, you can easily compare the results of the whole genome against any DNA test that you curently have at MyHeritage.

Click here to order the new test.

#3 – 23andMe Experiences Problems

On a less positive note, but still quite newsworthy is the bankruptcy of 23andMe and subsequent repurchase of 23andMe by the original founder after setting up a new nonprofit. I have real mixed feelings about this topic. However, 23andMe was really never about genealogy, and now, matching segment information is no longer available. Those searching for unknown parents or family may want to test there if they are unsuccessful elsewhere.

Best Genealogy Tool

The FamilySearch full text search continues to have a HUGE impact for genealogists. This tool is not one-and-done, but provides increasing amounts of rich information as more records are added to the “fully scanned” collection. If you haven’t tried it, please do. It’s a game-changer and continues to improve.

A Cautionary Word About AI – Artificial Intelligence

AI is such a hot topic right now that I feel it needs to be included.

The FamilySearch full text search uses a form of AI. However, you’ll quickly notice that it can’t read everything, gets words and names wrong, and if you actually need to fully depend on it for accuracy, you cannot. (That said, it’s still an amazing tool, and I’m not picking on FamilySearch.)

Aside from FamilySearch, AI in its current form is both wonderful and terrible. I’ll be writing about AI in the new year, but for now, don’t ever rely on AI for anything that you can’t verity. It’s your assistant, not an expert, no matter how insistent it is. Never trust and always verify.

This is ESPECIALLY TRUE WHEN RELATED TO GENETICS and genetic related topics. I can’t even begin to tell you how very wrong it has been, and how much people fall in love with inaccurate results. No, just no – at least for now.

You need to know your AI tool, your skill set, your understanding of AI broadly, the tool’s limitations, and yours, and that’s all before verifying the actual AI results. If you want to educate yourself, and everyone should, treat yourself to anything, anyplace by either Mark Thompson or Steve Little, the dynamic AI duo. They offer YouTube videos and classes in a wide variety of places – but keep in mind that AI tools and technology literally change every few weeks.

AI is, indeed, a specialty all unto itself, much like genetic genealogy. And right now, it’s not soup yet, but it is cooking.

Tried and True Genetic Genealogy Staples – DNAPrint and Genetic Affairs

I haven’t written about either one this year, but I use both DNAPainter and Genetic Affairs regularly.

I consistently paint segments from matches at both MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA, and GEDmatch that are newly identified to an ancestor or ancestral couple at DNAPainter.

Unfortunately, neither Ancestry nor 23andMe provide matching cM location information for your matches (chromosome browser), but you may find some people who have tested at those companies at both FamilyTreeDNA and GEDmatch if they have uploaded to either of those vendors. Both vendors provide segment information and a Chromosome Browser, enabling you to paint that information to DNAPainter when you can identify your common ancestor.

MyHeritage also provides a Chromosome Browser, but unfortunately, no longer accepts uploads from any other vendor. You can paint segments from MyHeritage, but no longer upload DNA files to MyHeritage.

Thanks to DNAPainter, I have 90% of my segments identified to specific ancestors – which is actually rather remarkable given that my mother’s grandfather was a Dutch immigrant, and her great-grandparents on her other side were German immigrants, meaning we don’t have many matches on either of those lines.

Genetic Affairs continues to develop new, advanced clustering tools, one of which I’ll be reviewing soon.

Major Vendor Releases

Aside from what’s listed above, most of the major vendors released new features.

MyHeritage released a VERY COOL new tool called Cousin Finder that finds your relatives in the MyHeritage database, whether they match you on a DNA test, or not. They may not have even taken a DNA test. Cousin Finder identifies your common ancestor and shows your relationships. It’s a wonderful way to initiate communications, discuss your common ancestors, and ask about DNA testing.

Of my 378 Cousin Finder matches, only 23 (about 6%) are on my DNA match list, so that leaves 355 people to message, several of whom represent Y-DNA and mtDNA lines I don’t have. You can bet I’ll be offering testing scholarships.

Additionally, MyHeritage released a new ethnicity version.

FamilyTreeDNA, in addition to the new Mitotree, Discover, and associated features, released a new match matrix so you can see if and how selected matches are related to each other in a grid format. In other words, you can create your own cluster.

A new built-in “Share” feature blurs private information to make sharing easier both on the website and in Discover.

Discover improvements include thousands of new Y-DNA and mtDNA tree branches, plus thousands of new Ancient DNA samples. Discover is evergreen, so once you’ve taken that Big Y-700 test or the mitochondrial DNA test, your learning never stops as more content is added.

Tree integration with WikiTree is super-easy and means you don’t have to choose between trees. You can choose to retain your archived tree at FamilyTreeDNA, or move your tree to MyHeritage, PLUS link yourself to your family at WikiTree.

Ancestry released match clustering and a new beta pedigree view of ThruLines, but that’s back in the shop for more work. I’d expect to see it rereleased in 2026.

Conferences

RootsTech is the granddaddy of genealogy conferences, and it’s always fun to attend and write about the experience. Many vendors release new tools or products during the conference.

The ECGGC (East Coast Genetic Genealogy Conference), held in the fall, is the only conference that focuses entirely on genetic genealogy, new tools, how to use existing tools, and more. The 2025 conference was virtual and provided a great deal of focused content. Attendees particularly appreciate the deep dive in a particular topic presented in DNA Academy.

I’ll be at RootsTech in 2026, will write about that soon, and hope to see you there.

Concepts, Techniques and Plain Old Genealogy

In the past, my Concepts series and genealogy “how to” articles have been very popular, so, in 2025, I penned a half-dozen articles focusing on frequently asked questions about relationships and DNA.

For example, how does one go about finding DNA testing candidates? The number of options may surprise you and includes both Cousin Finder and Relatives at RootsTech.

By testing ONE PERSON for either Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA that represents an ancestor, you actually receive information about that entire lineage of ancestors. So, on my Estes line, by locating an Estes male from my line to test, I received relevant information for every Estes male in my line, back to and beyond the progenitor.

Eventually, we hit a brick wall in every line, and those tools are the perfect way to break through those brick walls.

Other articles discuss things like how to use Discover’s Ancient Connections, and the difference between half and full relationships, both in your tree and genetically. Plus, what does a cousin “once removed” mean anyway? And why do I care?

Another question I receive is how far back, based on the shared amount of DNA, should I look in my matches’ trees for our common ancestor? In other words, how many generations back should I click? That article was fun and produced some unexpected results.

Memorial Articles

Because we are part of a community, I write memorial articles when one of our friends passes on. This year, sadly, Schelly Talalay Dardashti, well-known Jewish genealogist, and another very close friend joined the ancestors, so I’ve recognized the best in both of their lives which constitutes their legacy.

Be the Storyteller

Last, but not least, I wrote about my ancestors in the “52 Ancestors” series, which launched several years ago with Amy Johnson Crow’s challenge to write about one ancestor per week. She hosts this every year, and you can join (free) now.

I’m now on ancestor #467, so yes, it’s addictive, but it’s also AMAZING how many wonderful cousins I’ve met who have information that I did not. Not only that, but after publishing about an ancestor, I’ve discovered that I’m related to people I’ve known for years. We were SOOOooo excited!

I’ve been writing about the lives of my ancestors for several years now, and the articles include attempts to identify Y-DNA and mtDNA testers for each ancestor, where appropriate. There’s so much to learn that can’t be revealed any other way.

Plus, people seem to like the “mystery” and “short story” aspect, and I salt each story with the history of the region and relevant historical events of the timeframe. You might find your ancestors here too, or other helpful information.

Find a way to share about your ancestors!

Do You Have Suggestions for 2026 Topics?

Do you have suggestions or requests for article topics in 2026? If so, please comment on this article and let me know.

Check Out the 2025 List

Here’s the list of the 2025 articles. Did you miss something fun? Enjoy!

  Title Category Date Link
1 Welcome to 2025 – Opportunities and New Genetic Genealogy Articles Welcome, general 1-2-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/01/02/welcome-to-2025-opportunities-and-new-genetic-genealogy-articles/
2 Anne Doucet (1713-1791), Oceans, Rivers, and Perseverance – 52 Ancestors #438 52 Ancestors 1-4-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/01/04/anne-doucet-1713-1791-oceans-rivers-and-perseverance-52-ancestors-438/
3 Register for RootsTech 2025 Now RootsTech 1-16-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/01/16/register-for-rootstech-2025-now/
4 What IS the McNeil Family History, by George Franklin McNeil – 52 Ancestors #439 52 Ancestors 1-19-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/01/20/what-is-the-mcneil-family-history-by-george-franklin-mcneil-52-ancestors-439/
5 Jean Garceau dit Tranchemontagne (c1785-1711), Soldier from Saint Marseault – 52 Ancestors #440 52 Ancestors 1-29-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/01/29/jean-garceau-dit-tranchemontagne-c1785-1711-soldier-from-saint-marseault-52-ancestors-440/
6 Memories Resurface When the Old Family Home Gets a Facelift Genealogy 2-3-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/02/03/memories-resurface-when-the-old-family-home-gets-a-facelift/
7 MyHeritage Introduces Ethnicity v2.5 MyHeritage 2-6-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/02/06/myheritage-introduces-ethnicity-v2-5/
8 Relatives at RootsTech Reveals Cousins and Provides DNA Candidates RootsTech, techniques 2-8-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/02/08/relatives-at-rootstech-reveals-cousins-and-provides-dna-candidates/
9 FamilyTreeDNA’s New Matrix Shows How Your Matches Are Related to Each Other FamilyTreeDNA 2-12-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/02/12/familytreednas-new-matrix-shows-how-your-matches-are-related-to-each-other/
10 René Doucet (c1680-c1731), Lifetime of Incessant Upheaval – 52 Ancestors #441 52 Ancestors 2-15-2024 https://dna-explained.com/2025/02/16/rene-doucet-c1680-c1731-lifetime-of-incessant-upheaval-52-ancestors-441/
11 Lineages Versus Ancestors – How to Find and Leverage Yours Techniques 2-23-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/02/23/lineages-versus-ancestors-how-to-find-and-leverage-yours/
12 Mitotree is Born Mitochondrial DNA 2-25-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/02/25/mitotree-is-born/
13 RootsTech 2025 – The Year of Discover and the New Mitotree RootsTech, Mitochondrial DNA 3-14-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/03/15/rootstech-2025-the-year-of-discover-and-the-new-mitotree/
14 Pierre Doucet (c1621-1713), Walking History Book Lived to Nearly 100 – 52 Ancestors #442 3-16-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/03/16/pierre-doucet-c1621-1713-walking-history-book-lived-to-nearly-!100-52-ancestors-442/
15 Welcome to the New FamilyTreeDNA mtDNA Group Mitochondrial DNA 3-17-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/03/17/welcome-to-the-new-familytreedna-mtdna-group/
16 23andMe Files for Bankruptcy – What You Need to Know! 23andMe 3-24-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/03/25/23andme-files-for-bankruptcy-what-you-need-to-know/
17 New “Share” Features at FamilyTreeDNA Blur Match Information and Make Sharing Easy FamilyTreeDNA 4-1-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/04/01/new-share-features-at-familytreedna-blur-match-information-and-make-sharing-easy/
18 The Chauvet Cave: Trip Back in Time with Prehistoric European Humans – Are We Related? History, DNA 4-6-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/04/06/the-chauvet-cave-trip-back-in-time-with-prehistoric-european-humans-are-we-related/
19 DNA for Native American Genealogy Webinar & Companion Book Native American 4-8-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/04/08/dna-for-native-american-genealogy-webinar-companion-book/
20 Marie Levron (c1686-1727), Tragedy from Cradle to Grave – 52 Ancestors #443 52 Ancestors 4-14-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/04/14/marie-levron-c1686-1727-tragedy-from-cradle-to-grave-52-ancestors-443/
21 Mitochondrial DNA: What is a Haplotype Cluster and How Do I Find and Use Mine Mitochondrial DNA 4-14-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/04/14/mitochondrial-dna-what-is-a-haplotype-cluster-and-how-do-i-find-and-use-mine/
22 New Mitotree Haplogroups and How to Utilize Them for Genealogy Mitochondrial DNA 4-23-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/04/23/new-mitotree-haplogroups-and-how-to-utilize-them-for-genealogy/
23 Sir Francois Levron dit Nantois(c1651-1714), and Acadia’s Pirate – 52 Ancestors #444 52 Ancestors 4-26-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/04/27/sir-francois-levron-dit-nantois-c1651-1714-and-acadias-pirate-52-ancestors-444/
24 Catherine Savoie (c1661-c1722/25), Whispered Threads Weave a Tapestry of Life – 52 Ancestors #445 52 Ancestors 5-4-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/05/04/catherine-savoie-c1661-c1722-5-whispered-threads-weave-a-tapestry-of-life-52-ancestors-445/
25 Discover’s Ancient Connections – How Are You Related? Discover, Ancient DNA 5-8-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/05/08/discovers-ancient-connections-how-are-you-related/
26 Mother’s Day and Legacies 52 Ancestors, Genealogy 5-10-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/05/11/mothers-day-and-legacies/
27 The Mystery of the Blue Fugates and Smiths: A Study in Blue Genes and Pedigree Collapse Genetics, Genealogy 5-18-1015 https://dna-explained.com/2025/05/19/the-mystery-of-the-blue-fugates-and-smiths-a-study-in-blue-genes-and-pedigree-collapse/
28 Regeneron Wins Bid for Bankrupt 23andMe – Wedding Planned 23andMe 5-19-2023 https://dna-explained.com/2025/05/19/regeneron-wins-bid-for-bankrupt-23andme-wedding-planned/
29 Francois Savoie’s Homestead Rediscovered – 52 Ancestors #446 52 Ancestors 5-24-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/05/24/francois-savoies-homestead-rediscovered-52-ancestors-446/
30 Memorial Day – Some Gave All Memorial 5-25-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/05/25/memorial-day-some-gave-all/
31 Mitotree Webinar – What It Is, How We Did It, and What Mitotree Means to You Mitochondrial DNA 6-4-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/06/04/mitotree-webinar-what-it-is-how-we-did-it-and-what-mitotree-means-to-you/
32 Catherine LeJeune (c1633-1671/1686), Meet Your Grandchildren – 52 Ancestors #447 52 Ancestors 6-7-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/06/07/catherine-lejeune-c1633-1671-1686-meet-your-grandchildren-52-ancestors-447/
33 Mitotree Q&A for Everyone Mitochondrial DNA 6-11-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/06/11/mitotree-qa-for-everyone/
34 Father’s Day: Bravery and Love 52 Ancestors, Genealogy 6-14-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/06/14/fathers-day-bravery-and-love/
35 Francoise Bourgeois (c1659-1693/1697), High Drama in Beaubassin and Terror at Port Royal – 52 Ancestors #448 52 Ancestors 6-16-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/06/16/francoise-bourgeois-c1659-1693-97-high-drama-in-beaubassin-and-terror-at-port-royal-52-ancestors-448/
36 Requesting Suggestions for RootsTech 2026 Topics RootsTech 6-18-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/06/18/requesting-suggestions-for-rootstech-2026-topics/
37 FamilyTreeDNA and WikiTree Collaboration – In Two Easy Steps!! FamilyTreeDNA, WikiTree 6-25-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/06/25/familytreedna-and-wikitree-collaboration-in-two-easy-steps/
38 Jacques Bourgeois (c1620-c1700), Surgeon of Port Royal – 52 Ancestors #449 52 Ancestors 7-1-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/07/01/jacques-bourgeois-c1620-c1700-surgeon-of-port-royal-52-ancestors-449/
39 TTAM, a Nonprofit Formed by 23andMe’s Founder Now Plans to Buy 23andMe 23andMe 7-1-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/07/01/ttam-a-nonprofit-formed-by-23andmes-founder-now-plans-to-buy-23andme/
40 Jacques Bourgeois: Complex Acadian, Founder of Beaubassin – 52 Ancestors #450 52 Ancestors 7-6-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/07/06/jacques-bourgeois-complex-acadian-founder-of-beaubassin-52-ancestors-450/
41 How to Use Ancestry’s New Match Clusters and What They Mean Ancestry 7-10-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/07/10/how-to-use-ancestrys-new-match-clusters-and-what-they-mean/
42 Walk with Your Ancestors: Peace, Light and Healing in an Abandoned Medieval Village History 7-21-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/07/21/walk-with-your-ancestors-peace-light-and-healing-in-an-abandoned-medieval-village/
43 Jeanne Trahan (c1629-c1699), Life in Chinon, La Heve, Port Royal, and Beaubassin – 52 Ancestors #451 52 Ancestors 8-2-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/07/28/jeanne-trahan-c1629-c1699-life-in-chinon-la-heve-port-royal-and-beaubassin-52-ancestors-451/
44 Wherefore Art Thou, Oh Ancestor – New Generation Tree Chart Suggests Where to Look in Your Matches’ Trees Techniques, Genetics, Genealogy 8-2-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/08/02/wherefore-art-thou-oh-ancestor-new-generation-tree-chart-suggests-where-to-look-in-your-matches-trees/
45 Guillaume Trahan (c1601-1625), More Than Meets the Eye – 52 Ancestors #452 52 Ancestors 8-13-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/08/13/guillaume-trahan-c1601-c1684-more-than-meets-the-eye-52-ancestor-452/ 
46 The East Coast Genetic Genealogy Conference – ECGGC – Register Now for the Best of the Best ECGGC Conference 8-14-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/08/14/the-east-coast-genetic-genealogy-conference-ecggc-register-now-for-the-best-of-the-best/
47 Schelly Talalay Dardashti – May Her Memory Be a Blessing Memorial 8-17-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/08/17/schelly-talalay-dardashti-may-her-memory-be-a-blessing/
48 Francoise Corbineau (c1609-c1665), Bride in Chinon, Founder of Acadia – 52 Ancestors #453 52 Ancestors 8-25-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/08/23/francoise-corbineau-c1609-c1665-bride-in-chinon-founder-of-acadia-52-ancestors-453/
49 Nicolas Trahan (c1570->1632), Life in the Heart of French Wine Country – 52 Ancestors #454 52 Ancestors 8-31-2015 https://dna-explained.com/2025/08/31/nicolas-trahan-c1570-1632-life-in-the-heart-of-french-wine-country-52-ancestors-454/
50 Mitochondrial DNA A-Z: A Step-by-Step Guide to Matches, Mitotree, and mtDNA Discover Mitochondrial DNA, Discover, Genealogy, Techniques 10-2-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/09/02/mitochondrial-dna-a-z-a-step-by-step-guide-to-matches-mitotree-and-mtdna-discover/
51 Renée Desloges (c1570-1627/1632), Fragments of Life in Montreuil-Bellay – 52 Ancestors #454 (this is actually 455) 52 Ancestors 9-6-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/09/06/renee-desloges-c1570-1627-1632-fragments-of-life-in-montreuil-bellay-52-ancestors-454/
52 Best Mitochondrial DNA Presentation EVER – You’re Invited to DNA Academy!! Mitochondrial DNA 9-9-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/09/09/best-mitochondrial-dna-presentation-ever-youre-invited-to-dna-academy/
53 Unfillable Shoes Memorial – Douglas Rhodenbaugh 9-14-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/09/14/unfillable-shoes/
54 Concepts: What Does a Cousin “Once Removed” Mean? Concepts, Genealogy 9-24-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/09/24/concepts-what-does-a-cousin-once-removed-mean/
55 Daniel Vannoy (1752-after 1820), “Lived in the Boundary of the Cherokee Indians” – Say What??? 52 Ancestors 9-29-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/09/29/daniel-vannoy-1752-after-1820-lived-in-the-boundary-of-the-cherokee-indians-say-what/
56 Daniel Vannoy and the Strange Case of the Two Sarahs – 52 Ancestors #457 52 Ancestors 10-5-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/10/06/daniel-vannoy-and-the-strange-case-of-the-two-sarahs-52-ancestors-457/
57 Cousin Finder – MyHeritage’s Innovative New Tool Finds Your Relatives MyHeritage 10-9-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/10/09/cousin-finder-myheritages-innovative-new-tool-finds-your-relatives/
58 Sarah Hickerson Vannoy (c1761 – after 1826), Threw More than Shade – 52 Ancestors #458 52 Ancestors https://dna-explained.com/2025/10/13/sarah-hickerson-vannoy-c1761-after-1826-threw-more-than-shade-52-ancestors-458/
59 MyHeritage Introduces a Low-Pass Whole Genome Autosomal DNA Test & Why It Matters MyHeritage 10-14-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/10/14/myheritage-introduces-a-low-pass-whole-genome-autosomal-dna-test-why-it-matters/
60 Henriette Pelletret (c1640 – before 1694), Life Death in the Shadow of the Fort – 52 Ancestors #459 52 Ancestors 10-21-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/10/21/henriette-pelletret-c1640-before-1694-life-and-death-in-the-shadow-of-the-fort-52-ancestor-459/
61 Cheat Sheet: Mitochondrial Matches, Haplotype Clusters, and Haplogroups Mitochondrial DNA 10-22-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/10/22/cheat-sheet-mitochondrial-matches-haplotype-clusters-and-haplogroups/
62 Simon Pelletret (1610-1642/1645): A Walk Through Port Royal – 52 Ancestors #460 52 Ancestors 10-27-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/10/27/simon-pelletret-c1610-1642-1645-a-walk-through-port-royal-52-ancestors-460/
63 Perrine Bourg (c1626-1693/1698): Phoenix Rising from the Ashes – 52 Ancestors #461 52 Ancestors 11-2-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/11/02/perrine-bourg-c1626-1693-1698-phoenix-rising-from-the-ashes-52-ancestors-461/
64 Concepts: What is a Half Relationships, Life Half First Cousins, Anyway? Concepts, Genealogy 11-4-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/11/04/concepts-what-is-a-half-relationship-like-half-first-cousins-anyway/
65 Marie Broussard (1686-after 1752), Life Across the River from Port Royal – 52 Ancestors #462 52 Ancestors 11-10-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/11/10/marie-broussard-1686-after-1752-life-across-the-river-from-port-royal-52-ancestors-462/
66 Francois Broussard (1653-1716), Intractable Acadian – 52 Ancestors #463 52 Ancestors 11-22-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/11/22/francois-broussard-1653-1716-intractable-acadian-52-ancestors-463/
67 Mitotree Sprouts 12,773 New Branches and Includes Ancient DNA Mitochondrial DNA 11-24-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/11/24/mitotree-sprouts-12773-new-branches-and-includes-ancient-dna/
68 Catherine Richard (c1663 – after 1714), Mother of Beausoleil, Acadian Freedom Fighters – 52 Ancestors #464 52 Ancestors 11-29-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/11/29/catherine-richard-c1663-after-1714-mother-of-beausoleil-acadian-freedom-fighters-52-ancestors-464/
69 Ancestry’s ThruLines Has a New Pedigree View Ancestry 12-2-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/12/03/ancestrys-thrulines-has-a-new-pedigree-view/
70 Ancestry Reverts ThruLines to the Original View Ancestry 12-6-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/12/06/ancestry-reverts-thrulines-to-the-original-view/
71 Michel Richard (c1630-1686/1689), Carefree Acadian – 52 Ancestors #465 52 Ancestors 12-7-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/12/08/michel-richard-dit-sansoucy-c1630-1686-1689-carefree-acadian-52-ancestors-465/ 
72 Mitochondrial DNA: How Do I Know if I’m a Candidate to Receive a New Haplogroup? Mitochondrial DNA 12-9-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/12/09/mitochondrial-dna-how-do-i-know-if-im-a-candidate-to-receive-a-new-haplogroup/
73 Heavens Ablaze: the 1833 Leonid Meteor Storm and Your Ancestors History, Genealogy 12-15-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/12/15/heavens-ablaze-the-1833-leonid-meteor-storm-and-your-ancestors/
74 Madelaine Blanchard (c1643 – 1678/1683), Gone Too Soon – 52 Ancestors #466 52 Ancestors 12-20-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/12/20/madelaine-blanchard-c1643-1678-1683-gone-too-soon-52-ancestors-466/
75 Soar Inspiration 12-24-2025 https://dna-explained.com/2025/12/24/soar/

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TTAM, a Nonprofit Formed by 23andMe’s Founder Now Plans to Buy 23andMe

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Remember the article, Regeneron Wins Bid for Bankrupt 23andMe – Wedding Planned?

Well, guess what – that arranged marriage got called off before the wedding. Now 23andMe has made up with their founder, but under a different name – and they are getting married.

Does this sound like a soap opera to you? That’s because it is.

Ok, so what’s happening?

Anne Wojcicki, 23andMe’s founder, took 23andMe public in 2021, and received stock shares worth 1.3 billion dollars – that’s billion with a B.

The company experienced severe financial difficulty, including a massive data breach in 2023, followed by lawsuits. Anne tried to buy the shares back, in essence, trying to take 23andMe private again, for $42 million, just pennies on the dollar. The board of directors rejected her offer, citing several concerns, then resigned en masse in September of 2024. Think of this as “the divorce” in the soap opera.

Stock prices continued to plummet, and the company filed for bankruptcy protection from its creditors in March of 2025. Wojcicki then stepped down as the CEO.

In May 2025, Anne founded the nonprofit TTAM Research Institute (is TTAM a wink and a nod to 23andMe?), about which little is known.

The assets of 23andMe were put on the auction block, and pharmaceutical company Regeneron won the sealed bidding at $256 million. TTAM had submited a bid of $146 million. 

After Regeneron won the bid in June, TTAM apparently said, “woah there, I have a bigger engagement ring and I can do better,” and the bidding was reopened. Frankly, that surprised me, but the entire point of a bankruptcy sale is to maximize the sale price and terms for the creditors and investors. I guess this would be equivalent of shopping for the largest dowry.

TTAM then offered $305 million, and Regeneron declined to best their offer.

Now, the bankruptcy court has authorized the sale of 23andMe to TTAM for $305 million, barring complications. Which might include the neighbor showing up with another cow and some chickens.

So, yes, Anne is positioned to purchase the company back, just under a different name.

The following email was sent to 23andMe customers from the company overseeing the bankruptcy. Unfortunately, this email has been relegated to the spam filter for many people, so if this applies to you and you did not receive the email, here are the contents in their entirety.

This message is for current customers of 23andMe – if you are a former customer or a customer who has deleted your information, please disregard this notice.

On June 27, 2025, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri approved the proposed purchase of all of the assets of 23andMe by TTAM Research Institute (“TTAM”), and we anticipate that the sale will close on or as soon as reasonably practicable after July 8, 2025.

TTAM is a nonprofit medical research organization founded by Anne Wojcicki (Co-Founder and former CEO of 23andMe). TTAM’s charitable mission is to continue the innovative research and scientific discoveries that were core to 23andMe, while expanding its active conduct of medical research and educational activities to empower individuals to learn about their own genomes and advance our knowledge of human health.

Customer privacy is at the core of TTAM’s mission of helping individuals gain insight into, and benefit from, their genetic information.  TTAM is committed to adhering to 23andMe’s existing privacy policies of always honoring customers with choice and transparency.  To see your individual privacy settings you can click here.

We have seen how important genetic information is to all of our lives and we are committed to continuing to serve our customers, deliver meaningful genetic insights to them and the broader community and expand medical research that unlocks the power of human genetics.

We plan to continue providing the same types of products and services 23andMe has provided  and we also look forward to expanding the innovative research and scientific discoveries that were core to 23andMe, now as a nonprofit research institution with a mission of collecting and analyzing genetic data on an unprecedented scale in pursuit of education, medical research and scientific discovery for the benefit of all.

What this means for you:

No action is required by you. Your account and personal data remain intact and will continue to be safeguarded under 23andMe’s privacy commitments to you. Your personal information has not been physically or electronically moved from the control of 23andMe. TTAM is legally obligated to maintain and honor the privacy policies, user consents, and data protection measures that have been put in place by 23andMe. TTAM will be operating with the same employees and privacy protocols that have protected your data and is committed to continuous improvement of those policies. You will continue to be able to exercise your choices on how your data and collected samples are used, including opting into or out of research and deleting your account by going to Account Settings and clicking the “Permanently Delete Data” button. If you have any issues, you can contact customercare@23andme.com for further assistance. If you have previously chosen to delete your data, no further action is necessary.

Looking Ahead

We are incredibly excited to build on 23andMe’s legacy. 23andMe pioneered the ability for individuals to learn valuable genetic insights and to contribute to advancing our knowledge of human genetics. TTAM, as a non-profit dedicated to education and the active conduct of medical research, will be best positioned to accelerate our understanding of genetics, empower individuals through knowledge and advance research that benefits all.

My Commentary

I have really mixed feelings about this sale, and I don’t even pretend to know what is “best,” and best for whom. Investors, creditors, customers, genealogists, Anne – I don’t know. Every entity has different interests in the outcome.

Anne’s leadership is what caused this fiasco in the first place. 23andMe increasingly ignored genealogy and genealogists. Her passion has always been medical testing and research. Given that she will be back at the helm as soon as the check clears, assuming everything goes well during the brief engagement, I imagine it will be back to “business as usual” at 23andMe.

But business as usual is what got them where they are today, so something in their business model has to change.

Right now, I sure wish we knew more about TTAM. Is it just a holding company created so Anne could repurchase 23andMe, or is there more? Who is on the board? What are the nonprofit’s goals, and how do existing 23andMe customers fit in? Do they have a business plan, or IS this the businss plan? Why did Anne form this company instead of submitting a private offer? Was it the tax advantage of donating to the nonprofit, in order for the nonprofit to purchase 23andMe, or is there another reason? I’m assuming that the bankruptcy court had these same questions, and they were answered satisfactorily.

The good news in all of this is that if this sale goes through, 23andMe won’t be dismantled, and the remaining genealogical features that survived the changes made after the data breach can still be enjoyed.

If? What do I mean by “if”?

Not everyone is happy with this sale, and at least five states have concerns and are still actively opposed, according to NPR reporting.

So, yes, 23andMe is now betrothed again, to her original partner who changed their name, and nuptials are being planned. Will 23andMe actually get married this time, and will it take the new married name? Genealogists want to know these things!

Regeneron is yesterday’s news – but we might not have seen the last episode in this series. Is there another suitor in the wings?

Is someone going to step forward and object at the last minute?

“Speak now or forever hold your peace.”

Apparently, that “last minute” is midnight on July 7th. Anyone opposed to the sale has until then to apply to the court to grant a stay.

Stay tuned. They aren’t married yet!

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Regeneron Wins Bid for Bankrupt 23andMe – Wedding Planned

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Today, it was announced that Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is the winner of the bankruptcy auction for 23andMe, having submitted a $256 million bid. 23andMe went public with a value of 3.5 billion in 2021, reaching 6 billion shortly thereafter. Regeneron’s bid is a highly discounted 4.27% of its highest value.

The second highest bid of $156 million was placed by a nonprofit research institute founded by 23andMe’s founder and former CEO, Anne Wojcicki, representing 2.6% of the company’s highest value.

The purchase will include all of the 23andMe assets, including customer data, except for 23andMe’s Lemonaid “on demand” health division, which will be discontinued. 23andMe will be operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Regeneron.

Regeneron has offered employment to all 23andMe employees and has committed to comply with the existing 23andMe Privacy Policies, protect customer privacy, and safeguard their genetic data.

Currently, an ombudsman appointed by the bankruptcy court is evaluating the impact, if any, on 23andMe customer privacy, and will report back to the court by June 10th.

A date of June 17th has been set for a Sale Hearing for the court to finalize approval of the sale, with the actual transaction to occur sometime in the third quarter of 2025.

23andMe has secured a loan to continue operations to bridge the gap between now and the closing of the sale transaction.

What Does This Mean to Genetic Genealogy?

Aside from the statements about privacy, we don’t know how this will affect the 23andMe genealogy products and features.

Regeneron’s announcement includes this statement:

23andMe will be operated as a wholly owned direct or indirect subsidiary of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and continue operations as a personal genomics service. Regeneron’s purchase does not include 23andMe’s Lemonaid Health business. Additional details about the company’s operating plans will be shared at time of closing.

Regeneron’s focus is clearly on genetics-driven pharmaceuticals.

While that certainly aligns well with 23andMe’s mission, the future of genetic genealogy under that umbrella is uncertain.

Essentially, 23andMe used genetic genealogy to entice people into paying to test, and hopefully to opt-in for research. For some reason, their partnerships with pharmaceutical companies had expired and were apparently not renewed, causing the company to lay off workers twice in 2023.

Regeneron, according to their website, uses the DNA of consented volunteers, and provides a list of projects and collaborations, here.

In January 2023, Regeneron announced that they had access to more than 2 million sequences, followed by a collaboration in January 2025 with Truveta that provided access to another 10 million de-identified sequences.

If 23andMe started out with 15 million testers before the combined effects of the breach and bankruptcy, and let’s say that an estimated 2 million of those people deleted their accounts, based on how many matches disappeared, that leaves 23andMe with 13 million customers. 23andMe has said in the past that 80% of their customers opt-in for research, so that’s about 10.5 million consented people available to Regeneron for research purposes. The fact that 23andMe customers are not de-identified and may have answered innumerable questions probably makes the 23andMe database even more valuable to them.

Plus, 23andMe customers pay to test, unlike the volunteers that Regeneron uses today.

It’s unclear how many of the existing 23andMe customers tested for the purpose of genealogy, or for the purpose of health, or how many people would have tested anyway if 23andMe didn’t have a genealogy aspect.

Unfortunately, since the data breach in 2023, many of the features and tools important to genealogists were removed and never returned. Furthermore, 23andMe was already deficient due to the lack of trees and a cap on the number of your matches. It was evident that genealogy wasn’t a high priority for them – but until the breach, they seemed to be willing to provide some genealogy services to genealogists. That leads me to believe that a nontrivial number of their customers tested for genealogy, or a combination of genealogy plus health.

More recently, their subscription offerring provided additional matches and other features, but also required customers to test again. That was a nonstarter for me. I suspect that this wasn’t terribly successful, given that you have to pay to test again, then additionally for a subscription, but don’t receive matching segment data anymore, or triangulation, or trees.

Of course, Regeneron might decide to invest in returning the discontinued tools and creating more. They certainly have the resources to do so. On the other hand, they could just as easily decide that genealogy tools are far outside of their realm of expertise, and not broadly attractive.

Truthfully, I was really, REALLY hoping that a genealogy-focused company like either MyHeritage or FamilyTreeDNA, both of whom accept DNA file uploads, would purchase (at least) the genealogy aspects of 23andMe and work to improve them.

Sadly, that wasn’t to be.

Now What?

For now, just “save the date” while we wait for the ombudsman report, for the court to approve the sale, and then information from Regeneron about what it plans to do with, about, or for genealogists.

Resources:

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23andMe Files for Bankruptcy – What You Need to Know!

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I dreaded this day, but 23andMe has filed for bankruptcy protection from their creditors. 23andMe announced this turn of events publicly with an open letter to their customers, here, and the attorney general for the State of California, where 23andMe is located, has issued an urgent consumer alert, here, suggesting that customers may want to consider deleting their data at 23andMe.

Let me be very clear – this is ONLY related to 23andMe and no other DNA testing company.

What is Going On?

With 23andMe filing for bankruptcy, the assets of 23andMe now fall under the supervision of the bankruptcy court. The court’s job is to oversee the planning of a “fresh start” by liquidating assets and/or creating repayment plans for fair and orderly debt payment to 23andMe’s creditors.

From the 23andMe blog article:

Filing for Chapter 11 protection under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code is a reorganization process that allows for a company to restructure its finances and operations, including though (sic) a sale of certain or all of its assets, while continuing to operate its business.

I wrote about the problems at 23andMe last September in the article, “23andMe Trouble – Step-by-Step Instructions to Preserve Your Data and Matches.”

I strongly recommend that you read that article, because it includes additional information that I’m not repeating here, such as how to preserve your data and how to download your DNA files. It also includes other resources and articles that detail the history of what has occurred.

When I wrote that article, I calculated the $ burn rate based on financial information provided by 23andMe. I’m not a financial analyst, so I didn’t share that calculation, but unless something changed dramatically, they would be out of money about now. And indeed, they are.

Some people interpreted 23andMe’s presence at RootsTech, combined with their promises about features they are planning to resuscitate, as a good sign, but I suspected it was a last gasp and an attempt to generate immediate revenue via sales. New features or even old features redesigned and re-released require developers and staff. A company on the threshold of bankruptcy would be running very lean.

There’s nothing wrong with attempting to generate revenue, of course, and I’m glad they are/were trying to stay in business, but it appears it may have been too little, too late.

Having said that, the bankruptcy court may restructure their debt without selling (all of) their assets. We simply don’t know.

Therein lies the problem. We simply don’t know.

What Does This Mean to Genealogists?

23andMe’s focus has never been about genealogy, but on health, medical research, and big pharma. That means they never developed the tools that genealogists requested, as genealogy did not align with their corporate goals. At one point, 23andMe partnered with MyHeritage for trees, but when that relationship was discontinued, 23andMe never offered trees – a foundation of genealogy.

23andMe welcomed genealogists to test, of course, hoping that a substantial number of their 16 million customers would opt-in to sharing their DNA for research.

Many genealogists, me included, made important discoveries at 23andMe – particularly people who were looking for close relationships, given that 23andMe was the first company to offer autosomal testing in 2007. Often people who tested at 23andMe, specifically for medical or health results, are not found in genealogy databases, making 23andMe a unique and important resource for adoptees and people searching for unknown close relatives.

Unfortunately, after their data breach in the fall of 2023, many of the features enjoyed by and critical to genealogists were removed and never returned.

DNA is a Non-Repeat Business

One of the challenges facing 23andMe is that without other features and benefits, such as trees or records data, or at least multiple types of DNA testing with features genealogists want, DNA testing is a one-and-done proposition. That’s why companies update their ethnicity and come up with cool new genealogy features – to keep you coming back.

23andMe introduced some features behind a subscription wall, which generated ongoing revenue, but most of those are health-focused. For a genealogist, they hold little allure, and given that you can’t just subscribe, but are required to retest – well – for me, it just wasn’t going to happen.

The bottom line is that 23andMe’s current financial situation, especially since the expensive $30 million data breach settlement, is untenable. Hence, the bankruptcy.

Your DNA is an Asset

I don’t know what’s going to happen, but your DNA file, the fact that you opted-in for research (if you did), and you as a customer are all considered part of their corporate assets which are now available for sale, under bankruptcy protection. In other words, another company, with court approval, could purchase their database or some portion thereof.

23andMe is officially for sale, in whole or in part.

From the 23andMe blog article:

  • 23andMe has made the decision to facilitate a sale of its business by initiating voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings. 23andMe intends to continue operating its business in the ordinary course throughout the process.
  • If approved by the Bankruptcy Court, the Company will actively solicit qualified bids to acquire all or parts of 23andMe.

It’s also important to note that they are not just turning the lights off. From their blog:

  • All orders and subscriptions will continue as normal, and any recent purchases or genetic testing kits sent in for processing will be handled without disruption.

Review Your Account

Regardless of what you decide to do, now would be a good time to review your 23andMe account to be sure you understand:

  • If your DNA is stored for future use. If so, you can request to have your biological sample destroyed, regardless of whether you maintain your account at 23andMe or not.
  • If you have opted-in to allow 23andMe and/or third-party researchers to use your genetic data and stored sample. If so, you can opt-out, even if you decide to keep your test active at 23andMe.

You can also delete your results and close your account, but if you make that decision, please do so AFTER downloading anything you want, including your DNA file, which you can safely upload, for free, to:

You’ll find instructions here.

I’m not saying that the sky is falling, but I am suggesting that you take few minutes and evaluate your relationship with 23andMe, why you tested, your goals, and any current or potential benefits you may receive from your DNA being at 23andMe.

You’ll need to weigh your personal goals against the unknown, meaning who may purchase the 23andMe assets and your comfort level.

Step by Step Instructions

Let me begin this section by saying that the 23andMe website has been either exceedingly busy/slow or unavailable today, for obvious reasons.

Many people are probably signing in that haven’t done so in a long time. So, if you can’t get in right away, please don’t panic. Just try again later.

Please note that one of the steps to delete your information is by verifying your birthday and year, so if you have not added that information, do so before you attempt to delete your kit.

You can do this in Step 1.

Step 1 – Check Your Birth Date

Select Settings at upper right when you sign on.

Scroll down to Date of Birth and then click on View/Edit.

While you are there, review the rest of your settings to be sure they are what you want.

Step 2 – Check Your Sample Storage (Biobanking)

Under settings, scroll down to Preferences.

If you’ve given 23andMe permission to store your sample, that authorizes them to run additional tests if you also authorize genetic research.

Your current selection is displayed. To edit your choice, click on edit and make your changes. You can read more about biobanking at 23andMe here.

If you previously elected to store your DNA sample, you can change that preference and any remaining DNA sample will be destroyed.

Making this decision does NOT close your account and does not affect your ability to use your account. That is a completely separate action.

Step 3 – Check Your Status for Participating in Genetic Research

To check your consent settings for research, under Settings, scroll down to “Research and Product Consents.”

Review your answers and click Edit to make changes.

If you previously elected to participate in research, you can change that preference at any time without affecting your ability to use your account. Changing this preference at 23andMe does NOT close your account, which is a completely separate action.

Step 4 – Download Your Data

Regardless of whether you delete your data or not, this is a good time to download your data. Under Settings, scroll all the way to the bottom to the section titled 23andMe Data.

Click on View to read more or to either download your data or delete your data/account.

Please do NOT delete your account until you read Step 5, below.

23andMe generates several types of data that you may wish to download.

Step 5 – Deleting Your Data (if that’s your decision)

I’m not saying you should delete your data. In fact, I’m not making a recommendation either way. That decision is entirely up to you.

Here are some additional factors to consider.

  • Any data download or deletion requests will be verified by sending an email to your email address on file, so if your email isn’t current, you won’t be able to do either of those activities. You can update your email, which is found under Account Information, under Settings, but your new email must be verified and that is a 2FA (two-factor authentication) process.
  • If you manage other people’s profiles under your account, and you delete your account, their profiles are deleted too. If you want to save their profile, you can create a new account and transfer a profile to that account.
  • You can also delete a single profile from your account without affecting the rest of the profiles in your account, but if you delete your entire account, ALL profiles IN your account are deleted as well.

Here’s what 23andMe says about an account closure request:

If you participated in 23andMe Research, your Personal Information will no longer be used in any future research projects. If you asked us to store your genetic samples, they will be discarded. We will retain limited information about you, including records of this deletion request, and other information as required by law and otherwise described in our Privacy Statement.

If you have questions about your privacy, contact privacy@23andme.com, and if you have issues with account settings or data deletion, contact  customercare@23andme.com, or use their chat feature.

To be clear, data deletion and account closure is one action, occur together, and are permanent and irrevocable. If you change your mind, you can always choose to retest later, which you would have to do anyway if you ever wanted to subscribe to their updated features.

The Big Question

Now, everyone is going to be asking themselves if they want to update their permissions or delete their account – or maybe some people aren’t concerned at all.

I want to reiterate that this situation solely involves the uncertainty surrounding the status of 23andMe and its asset distribution during bankruptcy.

No other DNA testing company is affected.

I know you’re all wondering what I’m going to do.

Truthfully, I haven’t entirely decided, but at least one of my consideration is probably different from yours.

Were it not for my blog and my desire to provide you with the best up-to-date quality information, both here and in presentations, I would have deleted my data from 23andMe some time ago.

I have already revoked all research consents and have never stored my DNA at 23andMe because they never had multiple DNA products, so there was never any possibility of upgrading. In other words, my DNA storage would have been for their benefit, not for mine.

Here’s what the 23andMe website says under “Delete Data”:

What happens to my data if the company is sold or otherwise changes ownership?

If the company does change ownership in the future, your data will remain protected under the current 23andMe Privacy Policy unless and until you are presented with materially new terms, with appropriate advanced notice to review those material changes as required by law.

I don’t know how much comfort this brings you. It appears we would receive notice.

We’ve all thought of the negative scenarios, but there’s another side to this coin too.

As you ponder the situation, remember that the primary candidates to purchase 23andMe, or the database, would be other DNA testing companies. I have my fingers crossed, personally, because I’d love to preserve these matches AND obtain better tools. That could be a win-win for everyone.

And if 23andMe does not survive as a company, and another genealogy DNA company doesn’t purchase the database, you can always delete your data and close your account when we have a better handle on the outcome.

So, for now, I’m waiting but I’m also monitoring the situation VERY closely! You can read more about the court proceedings and bankruptcy restructuring as it progresses, here.

So, what’s your decision? Stay, go, or wait?

If you go, I hope you at least make lemonade out of this situation by uploading to both FamilyTreeDNA and MyHeritage if you haven’t already done so or haven’t yet tested there directly.

_____________________________________________________________

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

I receive a small contribution when you click on some of the links to vendors in my articles. This does NOT increase your price but helps me keep the lights on and this informational blog free for everyone. Please click on the links in the articles or to the vendors below if you are purchasing products or DNA testing.

Thank you so much.

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Leave No Stone Unturned, No Ancestor Behind: 10 Easy Steps to Capture DNA Clues

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5

There’s a lot, a whole lot that DNA testing can tell you. Not just your own tests, but the genetic information carried by your relatives that you do not.

Recently, I’ve been reviewing my brick walls, which led me to realize there are several ancestors who are missing their mitochondrial DNA and/or Y-DNA  results. I need these to learn more about my ancestors that can’t be revealed any other way – and to break down those pesky brick walls.

I’ve solved two mysteries recently, one thanks to a Big Y-700 test, and a second very unexpectedly thanks to mitochondrial DNA – both thanks to cousins who tested. These revelations were very encouraging, especially since there’s no way other than DNA for me to break through these brick walls. The mitochondrial test had been sitting there, waiting for what seemed like forever until just the right other person tested.

I am in the process of unlocking several brick-walled ancestors by providing testing scholarships to people who are appropriately descended from known ancestors in those lines.

Don’t leave information on the table. If I were to tell you there even MIGHT be a book available about your family, you’d overturn Heaven and Earth to find it – but you don’t need to do that. All you need to do is order DNA tests for cousins.

All cousins can provide useful autosomal DNA results, but you do need to find appropriate cousins for Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA testing.

I’m sharing the steps for how I accomplish this! You’ll be amazed at what’s out there – and someone may already have tested!

Take Advantage of the Holidays

I’m sharing NOW because it’s the holidays and you’re likely to gather with people you don’t see any other time – and because the best sale of the year for both Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA lasts from now through the end of the year.

These two factors combined mean strike while the iron is hot.

Prices for new tests and bundles are at an all-time low.

If you or your relatives have already taken a lower-level test, now is the time to upgrade to either the Big Y-700 or the mtFull Sequence test.

Step 1 – Test Yourself and Your Known Family

If you’re a male, order both the Big Y-700 test and mitochondrial DNA tests.

Be sure to click on “See More” for more useful tools.

When you receive your results, be sure to click on all of the tabs in your results, and do the same by clicking through to Discover from your account. Discover has 13 more goodies for you to help with your genealogy.

Both your personal page and Discover are essentially chapters of your own personal book about your DNA results. 25 very interesting chapters, to be precise, that are uniquely you.

I’ve written about understanding Y-DNA results here, and mitochondrial results here. My book, Complete Guide to FamilyTreeDNA, covers both along with Discover.

Discover provides robust information for Y-DNA haplogroups. If you’ve taken a Big Y-700 test, you’ll want to click through from your page to receive additional, personalized and more robust information than is available through the free public Discover tool. That said, the public version of Discover is an amazing tool for everyone.

After the new Mitotree is released for mitochondrial DNA, mitochondrial haplogroups will be available in Discover too.

I can’t even begin to stress how important these tools are – in particular the Time Tree, the Group Time Tree for members of group projects, and the Match Time Tree for your own matches.

Who Can Test For What?

Once you’ve tested yourself, you will want to take a look in your pedigree chart at branches further up your tree to see who can be tested to represent specific ancestors.

Let’s begin with my father’s side.

A mother contributes her mitochondrial DNA to all of her children, so your father carries the mitochondrial DNA of his mother.

If you’re a female, and your father is available to test, you’ll want to test BOTH his mitochondrial DNA and Y-DNA, because there’s no way for you to obtain that information from your own test. Females don’t have a Y chromosome, and men don’t pass on their mitochondrial DNA.

If you’re a male, you can test your own mitochondrial DNA and Y-DNA, but you’ll need to test your father’s mitochondrial DNA to obtain his mother’s. You might still want to test your father’s Y-DNA, however, because you may discover a personal family haplogroup. How cool is that??!! Your own tiny branch on the tree of mankind!

Your father’s mitochondrial DNA provides you with mitochondrial matches and haplogroup information for your paternal grandmother – in this case, Ollie Bolton.

If your father and his siblings can’t test, then all of the children of your paternal aunts carry your paternal grandmother’s mitochondrial DNA.

If they have no children or they can’t test, then the children of Ollie Bolton’s mother, Margaret Claxton/Clarkson all carry her mitochondrial DNA, and the children of Ollie’s sisters continue the line of descent through all daughters to the current generation.

The male children of Joseph “Dode” Bolton and Margaret Claxton carry his Y-DNA. Fortunately, that’s not one of our missing haplogroups.

Yes, you may have to climb up your tree and climb down various branches to find a testing candidate.

One of the reasons I’m using this example is because, while I have a high-level haplogroup for my grandmother, Ollie Bolton, we need a full sequence tester – and I’m offering a mitochondrial DNA testing scholarship for anyone descending from Margaret Claxton (or her direct female ancestors) through all females to the current generation, which can be male.

Ok, now let’s switch to the maternal side of your tree.

On the other side of your tree, your maternal grandfather or your mother’s brothers will provide the Y-DNA of your mother’s father’s line. Your mother’s uncles or their sons will provide your grandfather’s Y-DNA line, too. In this case, that’s John Whitney Ferverda, who carries the Y-DNA of his father, Hiram Bauke Ferverda/Ferwerda.

Your maternal grandfather or his siblings will provide the mitochondrial DNA of their mother, Evaline Louise Miller.

If they are deceased or can’t test, for mitochondrial DNA, look to the children of Evaline Miller’s daughters or their descendants through all females to the current generation, which can be male.

And yes, in case you’re wondering, I do need Evaline Miller’s mitochondrial line too and am offering a scholarship.

You might have noticed that I’ve been inching my way up my tree. All of my immediate relatives have passed over already, so I’m now looking for testers that I don’t know but who I’m related to.

If you’re seeing family members anytime soon, figure out if their Y-DNA, mitochondrial DNA, or autosomal DNA would be useful for your common genealogy. Take advantage of the opportunity.

Next, you’ll want to figure out which ancestors need haplogroups and locate appropriate cousins.

Step 2 – Identify Ancestors Who Need Haplogroups

Peruse your tree to determine which of your ancestors you need haplogroup information for. To make it easy, on my computer, but never in a public tree anyplace, I store the haplogroup of my ancestor as a “middle name” so I can easily see which ones I have and which ones I need. Sometimes, I have a high-level haplogroup and either need a new tester or someone to upgrade.

Sometimes, I have one tester from a line but need a second for confirmation.

In this example, I’m not missing confirmation on any Y-DNA haplogroups (although I am further upstream on different lines,) but I do need four different mitochondrial DNA lineages.

For easy reference, make a list of all of the lines you can’t confirm with two testers from different children of the same ancestor.

You just might get lucky and discover that someone has already tested!

Step 3 – Check FamilyTreeDNA Projects

Check FamilyTreeDNA Projects to see if someone has already tested to represent those ancestors on your list.

Click here for the Group Project Search. It’s located at the very bottom of the main FamilyTreeDNA page in the footer.

I’m going to use Estes as an example since I’m the volunteer administrator of that project and am very familiar with the lineages.

I’m searching for projects that include the surname Estes.

The projects displayed on the list are projects where the volunteer administrators listed Estes as a possible surname of interest. It doesn’t mean those projects will be of interest to everyone or every line with that surname, but evaluate each project listed.

You probably want the surname project, but if there’s not a surname project for your surname, try alternate spellings or consider checking other projects.

You can see at the bottom that 384 people of both sexes by the surname of Estes have tested at FamilyTreeDNA.

Now, let’s look at the Estes project. Note that not everyone with the Estes surname has joined the Estes project.

I’ve clicked on the “Estes” link which takes me to an additional information page where I can read a description and click to view the project.

For the Estes project, you do not have to join to view the results. Nor does your surname have to be Estes. All Estes descendants of any line are welcome. Everyone can benefit from the Advanced Matching within project feature to see who else you match within the project by selecting a wide range of individual and combined filters.

Click on the Project Website link shown in the search results.

If you’re searching for a male Estes ancestor, you’ll want to review the project’s Y-DNA Results and the Group Time Tree, for sure, and possibly the Map as well.

Let’s pretend I’m trying to determine if anyone has tested who descends from my ancestor, Abraham Estes, the founding Estes ancestor in Virginia who arrived in the mid-1600s.

In the Estes project, the volunteer administrator has divided the Estes male participants by sons of Abraham, the immigrant. Only three are shown here, but there are several.

Some of the participants have completed their Earliest Known Ancestor information, in the red box. Sometimes people don’t think to update these when they make breakthroughs.

If you descend from Abraham’s son, Sylvester, three men have taken the Big Y-700. That’s the test results you need.

If you descend from Abraham’s son, Abraham, no project participants have taken the Big-Y test to represent that line, although six people have tested, so that’s great news. Maybe you can offer an upgrade scholarship to one or some of those men.

In other words, to establish the haplogroup for that lineage, at least two men need to test or upgrade to the Big Y-700, preferably through two different sons of the common ancestor. A new, more defining haplogroup is often formed every two or three generations for Y-DNA.

Your genetic pedigree chart looks a lot like your genealogy pedigree chart.

Click any image to enlarge

The project Group Time Tree shows selected groups of men who have taken Big Y tests, along with their Earliest Known Ancestor, if they’ve provided the information. This is one of the reasons why the Big Y-700 is so critically important to genealogy. The time granularity is amazing and can answer the question of whether men by the same surname descend from the same common ancestor – and when.

If you’ve taken a Family Finder autosomal test at FamilyTreeDNA, or uploaded an autosomal file from another vendor, you may match one of these men or another male that descends from the Estes line if they, too, have taken an autosomal test.

This same process applies to mitochondrial DNA, but generally surname projects aren’t (as) relevant for mitochondrial DNA since the surname changes every generation. However, sometimes other projects, such as the Acadian AmerIndian Project are quite beneficial if you have Acadian ancestry, or a geographic or regional project like the French Heritage Project, or something like the American Indian Project.

Another great way to find testers is by utilizing your Family Finder test.

Step 4 – Family Finder at FamilyTreeDNA

The next step is to see if you match anyone with the surname you’re searching for by using your autosomal test results, so select your Family Finder Matches.

At FamilyTreeDNA you’ll want to search your matches by the surname you seek. This surname search lists any tester who has that surname, or anyone who has entered that surname in their surname list. Please note that this search does NOT read ancestors in your matches’ trees. You’ll still need to view trees.

Reviewing the 32 Estes Family Finder matches reveals several men, but one man with the Estes surname has already taken a Y-DNA 25-marker test, so he would be an excellent candidate to offer a Big Y-700 upgrade scholarship. If he’s not interested or doesn’t respond, there are several more men to contact.

Click on your match’s name to display the profile card, along with the Earliest Known Ancestors, both Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA haplogroups if they have tested, and the assigned haplogroup based on their testing level.

Craft an email and offer a testing scholarship. This will help both of you. I’ll provide a sample email at the end of this article.

If you match a female with an Estes surname, her father, brother, uncle or cousin may either have already tested or be willing.

If you match someone who has a different surname, that means they have an Estes surname in their surname list and may know a potential tester. If your match has a tree, click to check.

I’ve found that matching through a company where you’ve both tested is the easiest way to encourage someone to take an additional test, but certainly, it’s not the only way.

Step 5 – WikiTree

WikiTree is a quick and easy way to see if anyone has taken a Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA test that should reflect a particular ancestor’s Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA.

I just googled “Moses Estes 1711-1787 WikiTree” and clicked to view.

Each ancestor includes both Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA information, in addition to people who descend from that ancestor through only autosomal lines.

In this case, two men have provided their Y-DNA results that pertain to Moses Estes. They have tested at different levels, which is why they have different haplogroups. That doesn’t mean either is “wrong,” one is just more refined than the other. You can correlate their kit number with the Estes surname project. People often don’t update their haplogroup information at WikiTree when it’s updated at FamilyTreeDNA.

Please note that if the genealogy is wrong, either at WikiTree or individually, the haplogroup may not reflect the appropriate lineage for the ancestor. Check to be sure that there’s no conflict showing between two testers for the same ancestor. For example, the same ancestor clearly can’t have two different base haplogroups, like E and R. The Discover Compare tool can help you evaluate if two haplogroups are in the same part of the Y-DNA tree.

When possible, it’s always best to test a close family member to represent your lineage even if someone else has already tested.

Scan down the list of autosomal testers for that ancestor to see if there’s someone with the Estes surname.

WikiTree provides additional tools to find descendants.

Sign in to WikiTree. You’ll see the ID of the profile you’re viewing – in this case – Estes-167. Click the down arrow and select “Descendants.”

This view shows all descendants through five generations, but you can click on DNA Descendants to see only Y-DNA descendants, X-DNA, or mitochondrial DNA descendants for female ancestors.

You may find people who are living and have added themselves who you can contact to offer a DNA testing scholarship.

Step 6 – MyHeritage

At MyHeritage, you can also search your DNA matches by surname.

Click on “Review DNA Match” to view more detail, including locations. Look to see if you have a Theory of Family Relativity Match which suggests how you may be related. That’s golden!

There’s no Y-DNA information at MyHeritage, BUT, you can search by surname and view DNA matches that either carry that surname or have that surname in their tree as an ancestor.

I have a total of 75 “Estes” matches, and other than the kits that I manage, searching through my matches shows:

  • Two Estes men connected to the same small tree, but that’s OK, I’m a genealogist!

  • One Estes male match with a Theory of Family Relativity. My lucky day!

You can contact your match easily through the MyHeritage messaging system and offer a DNA testing scholarship at FamilyTreeDNA. You may also want to share your email address.

MyHeritage customers may not be familiar with Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA testing, so you might want to share this article about the 4 Kinds of DNA for Genealogy.

MyHeritage testers can also upload their DNA file to FamilyTreeDNA for free to receive autosomal matches plus a complimentary mid-range Y-DNA haplogroup. This free haplogroup is not even close to the detailed resolution of a Big Y-700 test, but it’s something, and it may well be an enticing first step for people who are only familiar with autosomal testing.

Step 7 – At Ancestry

At Ancestry, select DNA Matches and then search by surname.

You can search by the surname of the tester, which is very useful, or by people who have Estes in their trees.

I started with the surname Estes, because it’s the most straightforward and I may find a perfect male candidate for Y-DNA. If someone’s “screen name” doesn’t show as Estes, they won’t appear in the results of this search. In other words, if your Ancestry screen name is “robertaestes” you won’t show in this search, but “Roberta Estes” will.

For mitochondrial DNA, you would want to search for the surname in your matches’ trees. Unfortunately, you cannot search for the specific ancestor in someone’s tree, at least not directly.

Of my 19 Estes surname matches, ten are males, and of them:

  • Three have unlinked trees
  • Three have very small linked trees, but I can work on extending those if need be
  • Three have public linked trees AND a common ancestor, which means ThruLines

I can review which ancestor we share by clicking on my match’s name

The Estes side of this man’s tree has only one person and is marked “private,” but Ancestry has suggested common ancestors based on other people’s trees. (Yes, I know trees are dicey, but bear with me.)

It’s also worth mentioning that you can be related through multiple lines. I share surnames from Acadian lines with this man, but that really doesn’t matter here because I’m only using autosomal matching to find an Estes male.

Click on “View Relationship” to see our common Estes ancestor’s ThruLine.

The ThruLine shows how Ancestry thinks we’re related on the Estes line.

I can also click on “View ThruLines” to see all Thrulines for John R. Estes, which shows four additional males, some of which did NOT appear in the Estes surname search, and some of which don’t appear further up the tree. In other words, check all Estes ThruLine ancestor generations.

Don’t rely solely on Ancestry’s surname search.

Go directly to your ThruLines on the DNA menu.

Ancestry only reaches back seven generations, which for me is Moses Estes and Luremia Combs. Moses has 95 matches, but he has been given some incorrect children. Again, for this purpose, it doesn’t matter. Within all ThruLine matches, I found three Estes males who all descend through John R. Estes. Check every generation.

However, Luremia Combs shows promise for mitochondrial DNA descendants. Unfortunately, only two of her daughters are represented in ThruLines, and both of their descendants descend through Luremia’s grandsons. That’s too bad, because I need Luremia’s mitochondrial DNA line.

It’s easy to message your Ancestry matches. You may want to mention that they can upload their DNA file to FamilyTreeDNA for free where they will receive more matches and males will receive a complimentary mid-level Y-DNA haplogroup.

Please note that, in general, ThruLines need to be evaluated very carefully and are prone to errors, especially if you accept Ancestry’s suggestions of ancestors instead of carefully building out your own tree. Regardless, you can still find Estes cousin matches in your match list and by using ThruLines to find people that do not show up in an “Estes” match search.

Step 8 – At 23andMe

At 23andMe, you can search for anyone who either has the Estes surname or has included that surname in their “Family surnames” list. Keep in mind that your matches at 23andMe are restricted to either 1500 if you don’t have a subscripition, or about 4500 if you do have a subscription.

On my match list, I have two males with the Estes surname.

23andMe provides a mid-level Y-DNA haplogroup. You can’t use this to confirm the lineage when comparing with FamilyTreeDNA, especially given that 23andMe provides no genealogy or user-provided tree, but it is a clue.

Both Estes men at 23andMe have Y-DNA haplogroup R-CTS241. You could use this in some cases to potentially eliminate these matches at 23andMe. For example, if men in your lineage in the Estes project are in haplogroup R and your 23andMe matches are showing as haplogroup E, or any other base haplogroup, their common ancestor is tens of thousands of years ago.

Comparing the 23andMe haplogroup, which in this case is about 4500 years old, to contemporary testers who have taken the Big Y-700, which reaches within a few generations, isn’t terribly useful. These matches are extremely useful to identify individuals to reach out to for further information and potentially offer a Y-DNA testing scholarship at FamilyTreeDNA.

Remember, this also applies to females who have included Estes in their family surnames, given that they may have Estes male relatives.

By clicking to view your match, you can see if they have provided Family Background information, including a link to a family tree someplace.

Sometimes, there’s great information here, and other times, nothing.

You can’t verify this lineage without genealogy information.

I suggest leaving a genealogy-focused message, including where they can see your tree in addition to your Estes connection. Also include your e-mail.

You may want to say that if they descend appropriately, you have a Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA testing scholarship, or you may want to wait to see how they descend. You can also ask if they have already taken a Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA test at FamilyTreeDNA.

Step 9 – FamilySearch and Relatives at RootsTech

We’re getting ready for RootsTech 2025 which takes place in March. In the month or so before the last two RootsTechs, FamilySearch provided an absolutely wonderful tool called “Relatives at RootsTech.”

I’ve written about this several times, but essentially, you can see, by ancestor, other people who are registered both in-person and virtually for RootsTech, and how they descend.

Here’s an example.

In both years, I’ve found several people who descended from common ancestors AND were very willing to take the relevant DNA test. That’s a huge win-win for everyone.

The best part is that because these people have freshly registered for RootsTech, the reply rate is almost 100%.

I’ll write about this as soon as RootsTech makes it available this year. Fingers crossed that they do!

Step 10 – Social Media

Social media wouldn’t be my first choice to find DNA testers, but I have found perfectly willing cousins this way. You may be less successful on Facebook or other social media platforms, but if you’re striking out elsewhere, there’s absolutely no downside to trying.

You can enter a surname and search on Facebook, but I prefer to do a Google search like “Estes genealogy on Facebook” or even just “Estes genealogy,” which will produce far more widespread information, some of which may be irrelevant.

That Facebook Google search provided the names of two groups. People join groups because they have an interest, and I’ve had good luck in Facebook genealogy groups.

A Search of “Estes” on Facebook itself, then selecting “people” provided a list of Estes Facebook users.

I’ve had far better luck by joining a group that is focused on Estes genealogy, or even a county genealogy group that includes Estes families, than individuals. People who join any Estes group or project likely have an interest in that surname.

If you have a common surname, or there’s a park named after your surname, like Estes Park, you’ll probably want to focus by using Google searches for Estes genealogy.

The Descendants of Abraham Estes Facebook group has 222 members, of whom at least 31 are males with the Estes surname. Facebook just might be an underestimated resource.

If there isn’t a genealogy-focused group for your surname, you might want to consider starting one and encouraging people to join.

It can’t hurt, and it just might help. Before you start reaching out to random people on Facebook, please do a privacy checkup – I wrote about how, here.

Sale Prices

Remember, the sale prices at FamilyTreeDNA for new tests and upgrades last through year-end.

In my experience, it’s best to test as soon as someone agrees. You never know what will happen otherwise. I’ve had people pass away before they could swab. And yes, we’ve done funeral home swabs, too.

There’s no one-size-fits-all, but here’s a rough draft contact letter.

Potential Contact Letter

You’ll want to include several critical pieces of information.

Essentially:

  • Introduce yourself
  • Say their full name on their test AND the testing company in the title of an email. I manage many tests and if I receive an email that says, “Hi, can you tell me how we match” without telling me which person they match, I can’t even begin to answer.
  • Explain your genealogy connection
  • State your purpose in writing
  • Explain how a specific test will help them too
  • Offer to answer questions

Be sure to modify this letter to reflect your own voice and circumstances. You don’t want this to read like a form letter.

Dear cousin (insert their full name here,)

It was so nice to find our DNA match at <company name> (or we share a common ancestor, or appropriate circumstance.) (If you are managing someone else’s kit, say the name of who they match and explain that you manage their DNA kit.)

I descend from (ancestor plus birth and death date) who lived in Halifax County, Virginia and was married to (spouse.) You can view my tree at (insert link that does not require a subscription for viewing unless you match them on that platform. I use MyHeritage because everyone can view their trees)

I would very much like to confirm that our line descends from Abraham Estes (or relevant information meaning your reason for wanting them to test.)

Given that my surname is x (or I’m a female), we need to test the Y-DNA of a male who is descended from (ancestor) through all males to the current generation. (Or mitochondrial DNA descended through females to the current generation which can be male.)

FamilyTreeDNA provides this testing and shows who you match on that specific line using the Y chromosome (mitochondrial DNA).

This testing may connect us with earlier ancestors. Genetics can be used to determine when we share common Estes ancestors with others who test, where we come from overseas, and when. Even if we match ancient DNA samples that may tell us where our ancestors lived before surnames. In other words, where did we come from?

(Include a nice paragraph, but not a book about your ancestral lineage here.)

I have a DNA testing scholarship for someone from this line and you are the perfect candidate. I would like to take advantage of the current sales. If you’re interested, I only need two things from you.

First, permission so that I can order (or upgrade) and pay for the test, and second, an address where to send the test (unless it’s an upgrade). (If it’s an upgrade at FamilyTreeDNA, they can use a stored sample or will sent them a new kit if there’s not enough DNA.)

If you have any questions, please let me know. I’m very excited that we may be able to learn more about our heritage.

Please email me at xxx or call me at xxx if you have questions.

Your name

I know one person who offers to review results over Zoom. Someone else stresses that the tester’s email is attached to their test and they are always in control of their results. Another person asks them to join a project they manage to assure that they can follow their matches over time.

Customize this communication in your own voice and to fit the circumstances of each match.

It’s just me, but since I’m ordering while the tests are on sale, unless the person uploads their DNA file from another vendor, I add on a Family Finder test too and explain why. You never know if they will match you or another cousin, and they may have that match that eventually breaks down the next brick wall. Shared matches are powerful evidence and it’s a lot easier to add that test on now than try to contact them again later.

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

Which ancestors do you need Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA results for? Methodically check each line.

There’s so much to learn. Don’t leave information on the table by virtue of omission.

Leave no stone unturned!

You don’t know what you don’t know.

Who’s waiting out there for you?

____________________________________________________________

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23andMe Trouble – Step-by-Step Instructions to Preserve Your Data and Matches

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I don’t know what the future holds for 23andMe, but the financial floodwaters are rising. I’ve been torn about whether I should risk alarming people, perhaps unnecessarily, by writing about this, and if so, exactly what to say.

I’ve decided that the responsible action is to share my concerns with you and suggest that you act proactively – just in case.

Contrary to linking within this article which is what I normally do, I’m placing a list of relevant articles about what’s happening at 23andMe at the end for your reference. There are quite a few. I’ve located reputable articles without paywalls. There are even more publications today.

What’s Going On?

If you’re following the saga of 23andMe, you’ll know that they have been in financial trouble for some time, worsened by their data breach in October 2023. Not only was customer information accessed and downloaded, but 23andMe reacted extremely slowly, which made the situation worse. Lawsuits followed. I’ve written about the deteriorating situation several times.

Their financial situation has continued its decline ever since.

Recent developments, including the inability of Anne Wojcicki to raise funding to take the company private again, the $30 million data breach settlement this week, a further drop in their stock price, and just yesterday, the resignation of the board of directors in its entirety (except for Wojcicki), makes their future increasingly uncertain if not outright bleak.

Concerns

I am very concerned about the future of 23andMe. Never having experienced anything like this in our industry, I have no prediction about exactly what will happen, or when. That’s unknowable. I do know that I’m quite worried as are other professionals in this field.

I am strongly considering deleting my 23andme accounts. My personal hesitation is that I author this blog and I can’t write about 23andMe if I don’t have an account there.

Were it not for that, I would strongly consider deleting my account after recording my matches and downloading my data. 23andMe has ceased to be useful for me and has increasingly become a liability.

Please do NOT panic and run over there and delete your account without thoughtful consideration and taking these preservation measures first. Truly, I will tell you if I think you need to act on something immediately, as I have in the past.

I am NOT specifically recommending deleting your account. Everyone’s circumstances and goals are different.

For example, if you’re an adoptee fishing in all the ponds, you may want to wait. If your focus is health, you’re probably not reading this article, but that might be justification for people to wait. Or, if you’re a genealogist who wants as many matches as possible, you may want to wait and see how things shake out.

Regardless, the following recommendations ARE for everyone. Being prepared is better than being surprised.

Recommendations

Whether you choose to delete your account at 23andMe in the near future, wait, or maybe never, I have the following recommendations, just in case.

  1. Download your raw DNA data file.
  2. Preserve your matches in some fashion.
  3. Save your ethnicity segments file.

Here are step-by-step instructions for each item, plus several tips and hints.

Download Your Raw DNA File

Download your raw DNA file so that you can upload it elsewhere if you wish.

To download your raw DNA file, click on Resources, then “Browse Data.”

Select “Download” at the top of the next page where you will be prompted for your birth date.

You will then see a full page of “Important Warnings to Consider.”

Scroll to the bottom

Check the “I understand” box and then click on “Submit Request.”

You will receive an email when your file is ready to be downloaded.

If your email is not current, you will need to call or contact 23andMe support for assistance.

You can upload your 23andMe DNA file to MyHeritage, here, to GEDmatch, and to FamilyTreeDNA again soon. I’ve written instructions for uploading and downloading data to/from each vendor in the article DNA File Upload-Download and Transfer Instructions to and from DNA Testing Companies, here.

Preserve Your 23andMe Matches

Next, review and preserve your matches shown under DNA Relatives. You may want to use screenshots or create a spreadsheet, which is my recommendation. You’ll be able to retain and preserve a LOT more information using a spreadsheet, including how your matches are related to each other.

The good news, or bad news, depending on your perspective, is that unless you have paid for a subscription, you’ll only have 1500 matches to deal with. With a subscription, you’ll have up to about 5,000.

Match Information Spreadsheet

I suggest working with your closest matches first.

You’ll find your matches under “Ancestry,” then “DNA Relatives.” Matches are listed in the closest match order.

For each match you can view information, including:

  • Birth year and location
  • Your predicted relationship
  • If they are in the genetic tree that 23andMe has created for you
  • Their ancestors’ birthplaces, if they have provided that information.
  • Their family surnames
  • An important link to their family tree if they have provided that link
  • Their ethnicity which may be important if you share a common ethnicity that suggests or precludes lineages
  • High level Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA haplogroups
  • Relatives in Common which are shared matches – and how much DNA your two matches share with each other
  • Any notes you’ve made

Other features previously available at 23andMe were discontinued after the breach.

If you downloaded your matches file before the October 2023 breach, you’re in luck because you can simply update that file with your new matches except for segment information. That’s what I’m doing. Your download file will be a CSV file styled “roberta_estes_relatives_download” where your name replaces mine.

If you didn’t download your matches before the breach, you can’t today, as that’s one of the features they removed after the breach.

Recording your matches’ information is the first step, but there’s an important second step too that will help you piece all of this information together.

Relatives in Common Relationship Grid

I strongly suggest creating a relationship grid detailing who matches whom for your shared matches. Yes, I know that’s a LOT of work, but it may well be worth it to wring every ounce out of your DNA matches. Plus, you can then keep it current as new matches arrive. Right now, I’ve set a goal for myself to complete 100 per day. That’s do able.

The “Relatives in Common” feature is extremely useful and facilitates constructing your tree and fitting your matches into their relative places in your tree. Relatives in Common tells you not only how much DNA you share with your matches but also their estimated relationship to each other and how much DNA they share.

To begin the process, you really only need to be able to identify “someone” and then chain people together based on shared matches and estimated relationships. I’ll show you.

To find Relatives in Common information and how much DNA they share with each other, click on a specific match, preferably one that you know, under DNA Relatives, then scroll down to “Find Relatives in Common.”

Here’s the list of matches shared between DH and me.

Here’s the beginning of the relationship spreadsheet I created.

This example shows the amount of DNA I share with my matches in the left column, then how much they share with each other. I’ve color-coded the results. Blue is my father’s paternal line. His mother’s line is not represented in these matches. Purple is my mother’s maternal line, and apricot is her paternal line.

DH is estimated by 23andMe to be my second cousin and shares 7.13% of my paternal DNA across 17 segments. DH also shares DNA with James, George, Daniel, RA, and Joyce.

You can see how much DNA any match shares with me, as well as with any other match, which I’ve entered into the chart.

Unfortunately, only one person, Patricia, has included a link to a tree, but our common ancestor was shown there. In two other cases, surnames provided information, as did previous communications. I can fit almost every one of these people into my tree, at least tentatively, using this information. Sometimes I match them at other vendors too, providing additional information.

If you used Genetic Affairs to cluster your 23andMe matches before the breach, you may already have at least part of your match and shared match information. I save everything to my computer, and I hope you did too.

I happen to know how two of these people are related to me, so I can begin my “shared tree” there, adding other people as I figure out their shared relationships. For example, if a match is my second cousin and also a second cousin to another match, chances are really good that we all share great-grandparents. Remember that 23andMe has taken a stab at genetic tree construction on their genetically created (now nearly unreadable) Family Tree, found under “Family and Friends.”

This tree may or may not help you.

Please note – if you wish to message any of your matches, you need to do that through the 23andMe internal platform, so don’t wait, do it now by clicking on your match, then “Message.”

Download Your Ethnicity Results and Segments

Download your ethnicity results and segment information so that you can use your segment location information to compare to matches from other companies that provide matching segment information.

Your ethnicity information is available under Ancestry, then Ancestry Composition, then Select Scientific Details.

Scroll all the way to the bottom – which is a LONG way.

Select the confidence level and then click on Download Raw Data.” I use 50%, but you can download each one if you want.

The resulting file holds the locations on your chromosomes of your various estimated ethnicities. You can upload that file to DNAPainter to correlate with your matches from any testing company, and with ancestors whose DNA you’ve identified.

I wrote about that, here, and have discussed how to “walk ethnicity segments back in time” using DNAPainter in several presentations. This technique is how I identified my Native American ancestor on my mother’s side, which was then confirmed by mitochondrial DNA testing on an appropriately descended individual.

Prognosis

If 23andMe remains viable, you’ll be ahead of the game. You’ll have preserved your information and may have identified some new matches and their ancestors.

However, if 23andMe doesn’t survive or is sold, you’ll have protected your investment and won’t be caught by surprise.

If you’re thinking about deleting your account, take the steps set forth above, first. The reason I’m providing this information now is so that, in case something happens, you have time to complete these tasks to protect your important information and matches.

If you choose to delete your 23andMe account, you’ll have preserved as much of your investment as possible. Remember, think before deleting because once you’ve deleted your account, you can’t undo it without testing again. This is especially important if you’re managing the DNA of someone who is now deceased. In that case, delete is irrecoverable.

Let’s just hope this all blows over, and you’ll have benefitted by finding new genealogy information.

Recent News Articles

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/31/23andme-ceo-anne-wojcicki-files-proposal-to-take-company-private-.html

https://investors.23andme.com/news-releases/news-release-details/23andme-special-committee-responds-ceos-take-private-proposal

https://www.reuters.com/technology/cybersecurity/23andme-settles-data-breach-lawsuit-30-million-2024-09-13/

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/17/23andme-independent-directors-resign-from-board-read-the-ceo-memo.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/09/18/23andme-board-turmoil-dna-test/

https://www.axios.com/2024/09/18/23andme-resignations-anne-wojcicki

https://investors.23andme.com/news-releases/news-release-details/independent-directors-23andme-resign-board

https://investors.23andme.com/node/9531/pdf

My Articles

https://dna-explained.com/2023/08/17/23andme-and-glaksosmithkline-partnership-ends-sparking-additional-layoffs/

https://dna-explained.com/2023/10/07/23andme-user-accounts-exposed-change-your-password-now/

https://dna-explained.com/2023/10/24/the-23andme-data-exposure-new-info-considerations-and-a-pause-strategy/

https://dna-explained.com/2023/10/29/23andme-dna-relatives-connections-event-history-report-and-other-security-tools/

https://dna-explained.com/2023/12/07/23andme-concludes-their-investigation-6-9-million-customers-data-exposed/

Six Ways to Figure Out How We’re Related

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In my latest Webinar, Six Ways to Figure Out How We’re Related, I discuss the various tools from Ancestry, FamilyTreeDNA, MyHeritage, and 23andMe – plus clusters from Genetic Affairs and the amazing DNAPainter.

This webinar lives in the Legacy Family Tree Webinar library, but as part of the “webtember” lineup, you can view it for free through the end of September.

It’s always exciting to discover a new match at one of the DNA testing companies, which, of course, begs the question of how you’re related.

So, what are the six ways to figure out how you’re related, and how do you use them?

Come along for a step-by-step guide!

Shared Matches

We begin with how each vendor handles shared matches, what that feature is called, where to find the information, and how to interpret what they are telling you.

23andMe goes a step further and creates a genetic tree, of sorts, although that functionality has changed since their breach last October.

Bucketing and Sides

Two vendors go a step further and provide unique tools to divide your matches maternally and paternally.

FamilyTreeDNA buckets your matches maternally and paternally (or both) based on matches you link to their profile cards in your tree. FamilyTreeDNA then uses your linked matches to triangulate with other matches and assign your matches accordingly, providing a maternal and paternal match list. Bucketing, also known as Family Matching, is one of my favorite tools.

Note that linking matches at FamilyTreeDNA requires that you have transferred your tree to MyHeritage. I wrote about that and provided instructions here and here, and produced a complimentary webinar, too.

Ancestry also divides your matches by parent, but they use a different technique based on their Sideview technology and either ethnicity or shared matches.

Surnames and Locations

Surnames and locations, either separately or together, provide HUGE hints!

MyHeritage provides a nice summary for each of your matches that includes ancestral surnames, a map of locations in common, and “Smart Matches” which shows you people in common in both of your trees. There are several ways to use these tools.

FamilyTreeDNA also provides a list of surnames. You can view either the surnames in common with a match, or all of their ancestral surnames, with locations if provided. The tester enters these surnames, and we review how to complete that step.

Ancestry also provides shared surnames, with clickable links to the number of people in your matches tree with that surname, plus common locations.

X-DNA

X-DNA is probably the most underutilized DNA matching tool. While each of the vendors actually test the X chromosome, only one, FamilyTreeDNA, provides X-matching. You can obtain X-matching results by uploading your DNA file to FamilyTreeDNA. I’ve provided upload/download instructions for all companies, here.

X-DNA has a very unique inheritance pattern because males only inherit an X chromosome from their mother which limits the number of potential common ancestors for any two testers. In other words, X-DNA matching does half your work for you!

Clustering Technology – AutoClusters, the Matrix and DNAPainter

In the past few years, match clustering has become a very useful tool. Clustering shows which of your matches match you and each other.

Genetic Affairs offers several flavors of these clusters, and both MyHeritage and GEDmatch have incorporated Genetic Affairs clusters into their product offerings.

If you haven’t used AutoClusters yet, by all means, try them out.

FamilyTreeDNA offers the Matrix, a slightly different version of clustering. You can select 10 people from your match list to see if they also match each other. Shared matches don’t automatically mean triangulation between you and those two people, or even that all three people descend from the same line. However, if the people are bucketed to your same side (parent) and they share common segments with you in the chromosome browser, they triangulate.

You’ll want to paint those matches to DNAPainter to determine which ancestor you share, especially if they haven’t provided a tree.

DNAPainter provides your chromosomes as the “canvas” upon which to paint your matches in order to correlate segments with ancestors and identify common ancestral lines with mystery matches.

Three vendors, FamilyTreeDNA, MyHeritage, and GEDmatch provide segment information with matches for you to paint. I illustrate how I walk segments back in time, identifying our most distant common ancestor possible.

Theories of Family Relativity and ThruLines

Both MyHeritage and Ancestry provide a combination of DNA matching and tree triangulation, where they search the trees of your DNA matches to find common ancestors with you – although their implementation is different.

MyHeritage’s Theories of Family Relativity provides varying theories about common ancestors for you and a specific match using both trees and historical documents. You can review the various pathways and confirm or reject theories. I love this tool.

Ancestry’s Thrulines functions a bit differently, showing you all of your matches that descend from a common ancestor in all your matches’ trees. Sometimes, the trees are incorrect, but Theories of Family Relativity and ThruLines should still be used as hints.

I showed how ThruLines helped me discover what happened to one of my ancestor’s grandchildren who was lost to the family at his mother’s death – and to all of us since. Not anymore.

Bonus – Y-DNA and Mitochondrial DNA at FamilyTreeDNA

Only FamilyTreeDNA offers both Y-DNA and Mitochondrial DNA testing and matching. All of the tools above pertain to autosomal DNA testing, which is named Family Finder at FamilyTreeDNA. Illustrated by the green arrow below, autosomal DNA testing measures and compares the DNA you inherited from each ancestral line, but that’s not the only game in town.

Y-DNA, in blue, for males, tracks the direct paternal line, which is the surname line in Western cultures. Mitochondrial DNA, in red, is passed from mothers to all of their children. Therefore, everyone can test, revealing matches and information about their mother’s direct matrilineal lineage.

Y-DNA testing includes the amazing Discover tool with a baker’s dozen different reports, including ancient DNA. Mitochondrial DNA will soon have its own MitoDiscover after the rollout of the new Mitotree.

Both tests include “Matches Maps” to help you determine how you are related to your matches, as well as where your ancestors came from before the advent of surnames.

The Advanced Matching feature allows you to select multiple tests to see if your matches match you on combined types of tests.

Tune In

Now that you know what we cover in the webinar, please tune in to see how to use these awesome tools. Be sure to fish in all four “ponds” plus GEDmatch, where you may find people who didn’t test at a company that provides a chromosome browser or matching segment information.

Tools provided by the DNA testing vendors facilitate multiple ways to determine how we match and which ancestor(s) we have in common.

You can watch the webinar, here.

Additionally, subscribers to Legacy Family Tree Webinars have access to the 25-page syllabus with even more information!

A Legacy Family Tree Webinar subscription normally costs $49.95 per year, but through the end of September, there’s a coupon code good for 20% off. Just click here, then enter webtember24 at the checkout.

Enjoy!

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