Tag Archives: FamilyTreeDNA

Lineages Versus Ancestors – How to Find and Leverage Yours

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Today, we’ll explore how a single direct test can uncover insights into an entire ancestral lineage, shifting our focus from individual ancestors to the broader concept of lineages.

When we work with either Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA, we’re using a type of DNA that is specific to one ancestral line – or lineage. However, it’s not limited to just one ancestor. In fact, it applies to many.

Autosomal DNA, on the other hand, can be and is inherited from multiple ancestral lines. Of course, autosomal DNA is a bit like a jigsaw puzzle because YOU have to figure out WHICH line is the source of your match to someone.

You don’t have to do that with Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA, plus, there’s a LOT more information available about both of those types of DNA.

Inheritance – How Parts of Your Ancestors Descend to You

I’ve put together a chart to explain the difference in the amount of autosomal DNA that you inherit from your ancestors versus the amount of either Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) that you inherit from specific lineages of ancestors.

Generation Autosomal Ancestors % DNA # Ancestors Y (males) & mtDNA Ancestors – %
7 GGGG-grandparents 1.5625 64 1 – 100%
6 GGG-grandparents 3.125 32 1 – 100%
5 GG-grandparents 6.25 16 1 – 100%
4 Great-grandparents 12.5 8 1 – 100%
3 Grandparents 25 4 1 – 100%
2 Parents 50 2 1 – 100%
1 You 100 1 – 100%

If you look at the amount of autosomal DNA inherited from each ancestor back seven generations, with you as the first generation, you’ll see that, on average, each of your GGGG-grandparents contributes 1.5625% of their DNA to you. In some cases, you might receive none at all, and in other cases, you might receive more – thanks to the uncertainty of recombination in each generation which I explained, here.

That’s not the case, though, for either Y-DNA (for males) or mitochondrial DNA for everyone. You always inherit 100% of the mitochondrial DNA carried by the entire lineage of your direct maternal line ancestors. Males always inherit 100% of the Y chromosome of their direct paternal line ancestors. Neither type of DNA is divided, recombined, or washed out over the generations. With the exception of an occasional mutation, the Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA that your most distant ancestor in that line inherited is exactly what you receive.

Everyone can test their mitochondrial DNA, and males can take the Y-DNA test. Women give their mitochondrial DNA to both sexes of their children, but only females pass it on.

While you can only test for your own direct lines, you can test other people for their lineages which are also your ancestors.

Test Family Members

By testing family members who descend appropriately, you can obtain that same information for any ancestor.

For example, your father can test his mitochondrial DNA to receive the mitochondrial DNA information for his mother’s direct matrilineal line, or lineage. If you’re a female, having your father test both his Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA provides you with valuable information about two ancestral lines that you can’t obtain from your own DNA.

Your mother’s brothers (or paternal uncles) can test their Y-DNA for your mother’s father’s line, and so forth.

Y-DNA is always the direct patrilineal line for males, and mitochondrial DNA is always the direct matrilineal line for everyone, so males can provide the DNA for both types of DNA for their ancestors. Men carry both types of DNA, the Y-DNA of their father and the mitochondrial DNA of their mother.

Lineages

The great news is that once you obtain that information by locating an appropriate tester, it’s conclusive in the sense that you typically don’t need to find someone else in that line to test – especially if they match someone else who descends from an ancestor in that same line. I say typically because, especially with Y-DNA, you may well want to test multiple men in different generations to track mutations that identify twigs and even leaves on their haplotree branch.

Essentially, both Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA represent entire lineages, not just individual ancestors.

Once you obtain that information, you can:

  • Identify ancestors further back in time
  • Confirm lineages
  • Disprove lineages
  • Learn when your common ancestors with other testers lived
  • Learn where your ancestors and their ancestors lived
  • Discover which ancient and notable people you’re related to
  • Utilize match maps
  • And more

Click on any image to enlarge

There’s an entire world of information just waiting to be revealed – beyond matching for both Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA and the half dozen great tools provided on your dashboard at FamilyTreeDNA.

The free Discover tool (currently for Y-DNA but very soon for mitochondrial too) provides a dozen extra reports. Between your dashboard reports and the Discover reports, there are about 20 chapters to your lineage story waiting for you.

There’s even a customized Discover experience for Big Y-DNA testers and full sequence mitochondrial DNA testers.

If you take the Big Y-700 test or the full sequence mitochondrial DNA test, your Discover experience includes:

  • Globetrekker
  • More Ancient Connections
  • More Notable Connections
  • The Match Time Tree
  • If you join projects, the Project Time Tree

For my Estes research, the Match Time Tree and Project Time Trees have been critically important.

Time Trees provide a genetic structure for how you and your matches are related over time. In the Match Time Tree above, you can see how my cousin is related to his matches, and when important branching of the tree that defines lineages occurred. The earliest known ancestors (EKA), provided by testers, are shown as well. This branching information correlated within 25 years of the births of the ancestors whose DNA split those branches.

For example, the mutation, R-ZS3700 was formed when Moses Estes was born in 1711 and was then passed to his descendants. If you test as a member of haplogroup R-ZS3700, we know you descend from Moses Estes. Some of his descendants have downstream haplogroups too, such as R-BY154184.

The Group Time Tree shows the same type of things but for members within Group Projects.

It’s truly exciting what lineage tests can reveal and how they can demolish brick walls.

Finding Testers

After you’ve exhausted your supply of close family members, then known aunts, uncles and cousins, how do you find testers to represent your lineages?

Most of us don’t know our third or fourth cousins, but they may carry that golden DNA that represents that entire lineage.

I’ve written about using both Relatives at RootsTech and WikiTree to find people who descend appropriately from the line you seek, but you’ll be most productive if you get organized first.

Let’s begin with organizing your lineages. Since this type of DNA is passed through that entire line of ancestors, you want to have those ancestors gathered together so it’s easy to find someone who has descended from any of those ancestors in that lineage appropriately.

For Y-DNA, that means each direct male line, and for mitochondrial DNA, that means every matrilineal line.

Lineage Spreadsheet

In my Ancestor Birthday Spreadsheet, where I track pertinent information about each of my ancestors individually, one row per ancestor, I created a lineage sheet for mitochondrial DNA and another one for Y-DNA. If you don’t want to create a spreadsheet, you can always make a chart or list.

It’s easier to recognize Y-DNA testing candidates because the surname (generally or often) doesn’t change.

Surnames generally do change in each generation in mitochondrial lineages.

Everyone can test their own mitochondrial DNA, so let me start with the tester (me) as an example. If I test my mitochondrial DNA, the results automatically apply to my ancestors in my direct matrilineal line – or lineage.

So, one test represents a dozen of my direct-line maternal ancestors. Your test represents however many ancestors you have on your direct matrilineal lineage.

Beginning with my mother, I’ve been able to track my matrilineal line beyond the six generations shown in my desktop genealogy software.

For purposes of clarity, while only six generations are displayed here, the entire lineage continues with Anna Elisabetha Mehlheimer on the next page. That line includes each female, mother-to-mother, as far back as I can go, consisting of all 12 generations.

I’ve entered all of those ancestors into their generational position in the first row on the Lineage Spreadsheet that begins with me.

Click any image to enlarge

The entire spreadsheet looks like these first few rows. I don’t expect you to read the small print. I just want you to get the idea so that you can follow the process.

The entire mitochondrial lineage of each “first of line” ancestor is shown in the “Upstream” generation columns at right. In other words, the person closest to current in the lineage is listed by last and first name (me), and all of their mitochondrial lineage ancestors are shown to their right.

My mother, Barbara Jean Ferverda is shown in the column “Upstream 1”, because she is one generation upstream from me, or the ancestor listed at far left. “Upstream 2” is her mother, Edith Barbara Lore, and so forth.

The haplogroup, once discovered, applies to ALL of those people – the entire lineage. Those ancestors don’t need to be shown on the spreadsheet again because you’ve checked them off the list when you find someone to represent all of them. Of course, in this case, that person is me.

My mitochondrial DNA represents 12 known generations, and countless unknown ones, some of which may yet be discovered. But there are other lineages that I need to discover that I can’t personally test for.

Identifying Lineages That You Need

I created this fan chart in my genealogy software and placed a red star for each pink mitochondrial DNA line that I need – beginning with the “first of line” ancestor. For example, Ollie Bolton is my “first of line” ancestor whose mitochondrial DNA represents all of her direct-line matrilineal ancestors.

Of course, each generation back in time provides more ancestors whose DNA we need – including each male who carries the mitochondrial DNA of his mother.

By the way, if I only have a partial haplogroup from either an autosomal test that provides base haplogroups, or a predicted haplogroup from an older HVR1 or HVR1/2 test, I leave them in the “need” category. In other words, I’m still seeking a full-sequence tester.

I started with each female in my tree and created their lineage backward in my spreadsheet.

More Distant Ancestors in Your Tree

My genealogy software shows a maximum of 6 generations on one page.

When I reached the point in my tree where I needed to go to the “next page,” other lineages began there. I began losing my place, so I color-coded the lineages in my spreadsheet so I could identify them at a glance. Additionally, the red-colored text indicates that the line begins with a female, and the black text means that the line “bookmark” begins with that man’s mother. Remember, every man had a mother whose mitochondrial DNA we need as part of that family’s story.

The “bookmark” ancestor is the person where I was when I advanced to the next “page” in my genealogy software, so I don’t lose my place.

You can see that Johanna Fredericka Ruhle is the bookmark ancestor for Maria Margaretha Krafft. Johanna Ruhle’s direct line is listed in the Upstream columns for her, and Maria Margaretha Krafft’s direct line is listed in the upstream columns for her. Please note that Maria Margaretha Krafft is NOT in the direct matrilineal line for Johanna Ruhle, but a different lineage that I need.

In my desktop genealogy software, Johanna Fredericka Ruhle is the last person in her line on page one. She’s the bookmark that leads to the next page, so I need to begin with her on page 2.

Now Johanna is the first person on the next page, with her pedigree chart showing. You can see that Johanna’s OWN mitochondrial lineage continues through Margaretha Kurtz (red arrow), but this page also includes 11 NEW mitochondrial lineages that begin with a female in each line.

Maria Margaretha Krafft’s lineage is labeled as #11 here.

If your bookmark or “page turn” individual is a male, then he goes in your bookmark field so you can figure out how to get that lineage in the first place. Bookmarks are kind of like breadcrumbs.

You don’t need to worry about “page 2” and more distant if you are just beginning.

However, this process will encourage you to check each end-of-line individual. As you search, you’ll know that when you find descendants of any one of these people, their mitochondrial DNA test will represent all of the ancestors in that entire lineage.

Find One, Get the Entire Dozen! BOG12

BOGO might be an American saying, and it means Buy One Get One, so essentially two for the price of one. In my case, it was buy one test, get information for 12 ancestors, or BOG12.

So, find one tester/haplogroup and get that information for the entire lineage! In my case, I got 12 for the price of one.

In Johanna Fredericka Ruhle’s case, she is the grandmother of Evaline Miller, my mother’s grandmother. Evaline Miller’s line includes 8 generations, so when I found someone who carried Evaline’s mitochondrial DNA, it applied to all 8 generations of her direct matrilineal ancestors – BOG8. The great news is that it doesn’t have to come from a descendant of Evaline herself, it can come from a direct female descendant of, say, Margaret Elisabeth Lentz, or her mother, Johanna Fredericka Ruhle – or more distant in the tree.

More distant ancestors may have more descendants that carry their Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA.

You can see that in my desktop software (and only there,) I’ve added Evaline’s mitochondrial haplogroup as a middle name. I don’t ever do this in a public tree because it confuses the search algorithm. Besides that, haplogroup names evolve and change over time as the phylogenetic trees become more specific.

Follow That Line

For purposes of this exercise, let’s use one of my lineages to see if I can find someone who descends appropriately from either that ancestor, through all females to the current generation, or from any of her matrilineal ancestors upstream.

Let’s use Curtis Benjamin Lore’s mother as an example. His mother was Rachel Levina Hill, so that lineage begins with her since only females pass mitochondrial DNA to their offspring.

I’m going to search for someone who carries the mitochondrial DNA of Rachel.

Rachel is the fourth generation back from me, and according to my lineage spreadsheet, there are a total of 11 generations from me to the last person in her direct mitochondrial lineage.

  • Rachel Levina Hill – (born 1815 Addison Co., VT, died after 1870 Warren Co., PA, married Antoine “Anthony” Lore)
  • Abigail “Nabby” Hall – (born 1792 Mansfield City, Tolland Co., CT, died 1874 Waukegan, Lake Co., IL, married Joseph Hill)
  • Dorcas Richardson – (born 1769 Willington, Tolland Co., CT, died c 1840 Addison Co., VT, married Gershom Hall)
  • Dorcas Eldredge – (born 1739 Mansfield City, Tolland Co., CT, died 1772 Willington, Tolland Co., CT, married James Richardson)
  • Abigail Smith – (born 1718 Massachusetts, died 1793 Willington, Tolland Co., CT, married Jesse Eldredge)
  • Abigail Freeman – (born 1693 Eastham, Barnstable Co., MA, died 1737 Wellfleet, Barnstable Co., MA, married Samuel Smith)
  • Mary Howland – (born 1665 Dartmouth, RI, died 1743 Eastham, Barnstable Co., MA, married Nathaniel Freeman)
  • Abigail (surname unknown) – (born about 1635, married October 1656 to Zoeth Howland)

In order to obtain Rachel Levina Hill’s mitochondrial DNA, I need to find someone who descends from either her or her matrilineal lineage ancestors through all females to the current generation, which can be male. Women give their mitochondrial DNA to both sexes of their children, but only females pass it on.

In order to be “safe,” meaning less likelihood of a genealogical error, I prefer to find two descendants through different children who match each other. However, to begin, I’m always happy to locate any one descendant. They may match someone from this line who has already tested.

This is a good place to insert a cautionary note about the accuracy of other people’s genealogy. Always verify as best you can that the person you’re relying on for a critical test actually descends appropriately from the ancestor whose DNA you seek.

Autosomal Match List

When searching for testers, I always check my own autosomal match list first to be sure someone with that surname or who descends from that ancestor isn’t already lurking there. That includes both ThruLines at Ancestry and Theories of Family Relativity at MyHeritage.

It’s not always easy to tell because, at most vendors, you can’t search for (mitochondrial or other) matches by ancestor.

However, I enter the various surnames, beginning with the closest first, to see if maybe the right person is already there. The further back in time, the less likely you’ll have an autosomal match from any ancestor.

After you view one of your matches’ trees and determine that they are NOT an appropriate tester for what you seek, be sure to make a note on that match so you don’t check over and over again. You can make notes at every vendor on your matches.

FamilyTreeDNA Projects

If you’re searching for a particular surname, especially a Y-DNA lineage, checking the surname Group Projects at FamilyTreeDNA is always a wonderful first step to see if someone has already tested.

You can check group projects for surnames here.

Unfortunately, due to generational surname changes, surname projects often aren’t relevant to mitochondrial DNA lineages, although there are some lineage projects. If your ancestor is connected to a particular group of people, like the Acadians, for example, you can search or browse that group. The Acadian project and some others have both mitochondrial DNA and Y-DNA pages.

The Group Project search results will show any project where the administrators have entered that surname as potentially of interest to that specific project, so always check that resource.

WikiTree

Next, I go to WikiTree. If someone enters their mitochondrial DNA information, WikiTree propagates it through the tree to the appropriate descendants and ancestors. I love this feature.

Let’s see what we find for Rachel Levina Hill.

Look here!!!

Tim Prince has entered his mitochondrial DNA haplogroup, which was automatically associated with Rachel. It’s my lucky day. She is haplogroup H2a2a1e.

I can click through to Tim and view his tree.

Sure enough, Tim’s ancestor is Bathshua Smith, the sister to my Abigail Smith, four generations upstream from Rachel Levina Hill.

How cool is this?!!!

If no one is listed for Rachel’s mitochondrial DNA, I can click on the Descendants link on any ancestor, then click on DNA Descendants.

Next, click on which type of DNA you’re looking for.

At this point, I’d suggest contacting the profile owner or checking your autosomal matches for people with these surnames—in this case, Wickwire or Chain. You can also view the entire descendants list, which I’ve truncated here for brevity.

Relatives at RootsTech

While you can check WikiTree anytime, you can only access Relatives at RootsTech for a short time, typically about a month before and after RootsTech  – which means right now. Signing up for free virtual attendance works just fine as your key to accessing Relatives at RootsTech.

I wrote about Relatives at RootsTech here. Once you’re set up, you can access your list of cousins attending RootsTech by:

  • Location
  • Ancestor
  • Family Line

By selecting “Ancestor,” I can see who is attending that descends from Rachel Hill, according to the FamilySearch tree. Scanning further down the list, I see her mother, Abigail “Nabby” Hall. Two people descend from Rachel, while 3 descend from Abigail.

By clicking on “Relationship,” you can see how you and that person are related. In this case, what I’m really interested in is how they descend from Rachel Lavina Hill.

Rachel contributed her mitochondrial DNA to her son, William, but he didn’t pass it on, so that mitochondrial DNA line stops right there. If it hadn’t stopped there, it would have stopped a few generations later with another male – Gladys’s son.

Any male in the line is a blocker for mitochondrial DNA, unless it’s a current generation tester who descends from all females.

Sometimes, when the line is interrupted by a male in the last couple of generations, it’s worth reaching out to that cousin to see if they know of anyone who descends appropriately. Ask if the last female in the line has daughters or sons who are still living and might be willing to test – or if their daughters had children and so forth.

Each Relatives at RootsTech selection shows a maximum of 300 people, but you can choose the applicable grandparent’s family line to see 300 people in that line. You’ll need to click through each person to see how they descend, but that’s fine because you have 300 opportunities for success!!

Check back, too, because more people register up to and even during RootsTech.

Create Those Lineage Spreadsheets

Now, we’re back to why creating those lineage spreadsheets is essential. I don’t know about you, but I can’t remember exactly how family members descend from each other beyond 3 or 4 generations.

I actually need a tester from my paternal grandmother’s line, so I’m focusing on that line for this next example.

When I look at the list of who is related to me through my paternal grandmother’s line, I want that spreadsheet readily available, so I know precisely which lineages I need to find cousins to test for both Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA.

I have a partial haplogroup for Ollie Bolton based on a very old HVR1 test. There is no DNA left to upgrade, and the tester is deceased, so I need to find someone else.

I’ve made a list of all of the women in that lineage. Unfortunately, it’s pretty short.

  1. Ollie Florence Bolton – (1874 born Hancock Co., TN, died 1955 in Chicago, married William George Estes)
  2. Margaret N. Claxton or Clarkson – (1851-1920 Hancock Co., TN, married Joseph Bolton)
  3. Elizabeth “Bettie Ann” Speaks – (1832 Lee County Va, died 1907 Hancock Co., TN, married Samuel Claxton/Clarkson)
  4. Ann McKee – (1804/5 Washington Co., VA, died 1840/1850 Lee Co., VA, married Charles Speak)
  5. Elizabeth (surname unknown) – (born about 1768, died 1839 Washington Co., VA, married Andrew McKee)

I’m brick-walled, so if I can obtain Ollie’s mitochondrial DNA, through matching, I may be able to identify Elizabeth, Ollie’s great-great-grandmother. This line is one of my most frustrating, and mitochondrial DNA testing and matching hold a lot of promise for giving Elizabeth a surname and parents.

I’ve already checked my matches and WikiTree, so I’m going to see if any of the “Family Line” Relatives at RootsTech descend through all females.

I have 300 opportunities to find a tester.

As more people sign up, the most distant cousins will roll off the list, so start at the bottom.

Cross your fingers for me!

DNA Testing Scholarships

If I find someone, the first thing I’ll ask is if they have taken any kind of DNA test. If so, where? Then, I’ll ask if they have taken a mitochondrial DNA test at FamilyTreeDNA and explain why that’s important and what it can potentially do for us.

If yes, I’m golden because the next question will be about their haplogroup, and I’ll invite them to join a project that I manage so I can view the results.

If the answer is no, but they’ve tested their autosomal DNA elsewhere, I’ll invite them to upload for free and join the project. You can also establish a private family project for this purpose, if you wish.

I tell them I have a DNA testing scholarship for someone who carries that DNA lineage. I explain that with the scholarship, the test is entirely free, including postage, and that they’re in complete control of their kit and results. All I ask is some level of access.

I always explain the results when they arrive. I’ve never had anyone object to this arrangement, and often we research collaboratively. I’ve met wonderful cousins this way.

Get Started!

Whose Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA do you need to find?

Make your lineage spreadsheet or chart, and take this opportunity to find a testing candidate and learn more about your ancestors! Not just one at a time, but entire lineages.

They are waiting for you!

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FamilyTreeDNA’s New Matrix Shows How Your Matches Are Related to Each Other

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Click on any image to enlarge

FamilyTreeDNA’s new reworked Matrix includes relationships, in other words, how your matches are related to each other. But there’s more. It also includes the number of shared segments and the number of cMs shared between your matches.

You can then push those matches through to the chromosome browser to see exactly which segments overlap between you and your matches.

This is a game-changer!!

Why Are These Features Important?

For genealogists, knowing how your matches are related to each other, or not, is a HUGE clue about your common ancestor. Clusters of people who match each other are an important road sign directing you to a specific ancestor who contributed the same DNA segment or segments to all of you.

FamilyTreeDNA just released several VERY cool updates for their Matrix comparison tool. Plus, you get to select a group of 10 people to compare.

The purpose of the Matrix tool is to select Family Finder autosomal matches who are then displayed in a grid matrix for comparison, showing if and how those matches match each other.

Specifically:

  • Do your matches match each other?
  • What is their estimated relationship to each other?
  • How many segments of DNA do they share with each other?
  • How many cMs (centiMorgans) of DNA do they share with each other?

You can then push 7 matches through to the chromosome browser to see if they match on any of the same segments.

Automated Triangulation

If you are comparing bucketed (maternal or paternal) matches, or matches known to belong to the same side of your tree, the shared segments are automatically triangulated.

How cool is this?!!!

Keep in mind, though, that you may be related to someone through multiple ancestors, and they could be from both parent’s sides, so pay attention to the ancestral segment history.

Remember, every segment has its own unique history.

Let’s step through the new Matrix features and see how they work.

Select the Matrix

Navigate to the Matrix tool under “See More” under Autosomal DNA Results and Tools.

Under “Select Matches” you can select “All Matches” to choose from all of your matches, or you can select a grouping of matches to be displayed in the menu, below.

These groupings are shortcuts for you so you don’t have to pick everyone individually. You can also search for a name.

Click on the individuals you want to compare in the Matrix. The people you’ve selected from the group, at left, will appear in the box, at right. That’s who will be compared to each other.

Next, select which type of data will be compared.

I’m selecting “Close Relatives” for this example and “Relationship range.” First, I added my mother so I could see who matches with her.

Then I added the rest of the people I want to compare. In this case, I’ve added my closest matches, even though they are from both sides of my tree.

Relationship Range

I’ve selected “Relationship range,” which will show me how my matches estimated relationships to each other.

Based on the identity of these matches, and how they match each other, I can now determine their ancestral connection.

If I didn’t know who was related maternally and paternally, this grid would remove all doubt became I’m comparing to one of my parents.

If you don’t have a parent, adding close, known relatives on one or both sides will help immensely.

Be sure to make notes about what you’ve discovered on your matches page, and paint to DNAPainter if that’s how you’re tracking your segments to ancestors.

Number of Segments Shared

Now, I’ve selected “Number of segments shared” to compare the same group of people.

You can see the number of shared segments between Mom’s matches. Donald and Cheryl are full siblings.

The display shows how these people match Mom, and each other.

Melissa is Mom’s paternal second cousin. I was able to piece this together with the help of how she matches Mom and Mom’s known paternal first cousins, Cheryl and Donald.

Total cMs Shared

Next, I’m selecting “Total cMs shared” for comparison.

Looking at the number of shared cMs, even if I didn’t know that Donald and Cheryl were full siblings, I would now.

You can also push these through to the chromosome browser. I’ll illustrate in a minute.

Bucketed or Parental Side Matching

My favorite groupings for the new Matrix are the bucketed, meaning parental or maternal “side” matching.”

When your matches are already bucketed, thanks to having linked known matches to their profile card in your tree, the system does a lot of the “side” work for you behind the scenes.

When you select “Maternal, “Paternal” or “Paternal and Maternal” matches, the people who have been bucket to either side, or those related to you on both sides, are listed in the selection box.

I’m selecting 7 of my maternal bucketed matches because I’m going to push them through to the chromosome browser for additional evaluation. I’m not including my mother because I already know these people are related to both me and her, because they are bucketed maternally.

They’re compared in the various matrix configurations.

From the Shared cM comparison table, I can easily click to display matches in the chromosome browser.

If you’re comparing more than 7 people, you’ll need to reduce it to 7. I excluded my Mom because I already know she matches all of them.

Click on the Compare Chromosome Browser at the bottom for the 7 people selected.

I know that cousin Charles descends from Mom’s paternal Lentz line, and has no other connection, so I know that these other cousins who also match me on that same segment are also from Mom’s Lentz line.

I can also tell that the shared segments on chromosome 1 are from Mom’s maternal Lore line.

Shown here are the common ancestors in Mom’s pedigree chart. They are 4 and 5 generations back in time for me.

Look how easy that was!

I love this new Matrix tool.

Triangulation

Because three or more people, including me, match on the same segments, this means they also triangulate.

In the example above, we have two distinct triangulation groups. I’m only showing chromosomes 1-3 for illustration purposes, but there are also more triangulation groups on the other chromosomes. If I add other people, new triangulation groups will form!

Of course, these are my maternal bucketed matches, so I’m safe to reach that conclusion. If my father’s matches were also loaded here, I would have to check the matrix and see if these people also matched each other before I could determine that they triangulate.

Check Your Matches and Upload

Be sure to upload any tests to FamilyTreeDNA that you manage at other vendors, and encourage your cousins to upload too.

This combination of features is unique to FamilyTreeDNA. The more relatives you have available to match, especially when you already know the common ancestor, the better. Be sure to link your matches to their placard in your tree so that FamilyTreeDNA can do the bucketing for you.

Even if you don’t link people, you can still benefit greatly from the new matrix tool by just having your DNA available for matching. The matrix will help you sort out matches and identify who is related to whom, and how.

Take a look! What are you discovering?

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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.

DNA Purchases and Free Uploads

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Welcome to 2025! – Opportunities and New Genetic Genealogy Articles

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It’s a new year with new opportunities. Lots of ancestors to find and others to confirm.

For me, the best part is actually learning about my ancestors’ lives. If you’re a subscriber, I’m sure you’ve already noticed that.

These adventures and misadventures are what inspire my blog articles. What works well, what doesn’t and how to use multiple tools to unveil more about our ancestors.

That’s what motivates me. I hope it motivates you, too.

New Articles in the Works

I’d like to share some of the articles and educational events I have planned for 2025, then ask what topics you’d like to see.

Articles on the drawing board include:

  • MyHeritage DNA File Download Instructions Update
  • Mitotree – when released
  • Mitochondrial Discover – when released
  • Genealogy Proof Series – The series continues with autosomal, Y-DNA, and mitochondrial DNA proof.
  • The Forest of the Trees – Lots of different kinds of trees for both Y and mitochondrial DNA at FamilyTreeDNA. How to use them, for what, and when. This will probably be written as a series.
  • New features and developments from vendors as they occur
  • Acadian Ancestors – I hope to complete my Acadian 52 Ancestors articles. For those who don’t know, “52 Ancestors” is a challenge to write about one ancestor each week for a year. You can sign up with Amy Johnson Crow here to learn more and receive weekly prompts. It’s fun and allows you to focus on one ancestor at a time, and the history that occurred in their lifetime.

Other Learning Opportunities

In addition to those articles, I’ll be at RootsTech in person presenting:

  • DNA Academy – the 2025 version, soup to nuts
  • DNA for Native American Genealogy
  • Reveal Your Maternal Ancestors and Their Stories Using Mitochondrial DNA
  • Guide to FamilyTreeDNA – Using Y-DNA, Mitochondrial DNA, Autosomal, X-DNA and Associated Tools

I’ll also participate in other educational events with Legacy Family Tree Webinars, WikiTree, the North Carolina Genealogy Society, and FamilyTreeDNA. I’ll provide more information about them later.

Finding Information

Remember, you can always use a keyword search on this blog to find any topic I’ve written about previously.

Also, Google’s AI has apparently trained itself using my blog articles, as have a couple of other AI tools. I know this because my blog comes up as a resource when I google questions. You can try that, too.

Your Turn – What Do You Want?

There are always new topics, new features, or different ways to explain things.

  • What would you like to see covered in 2025?
  • Are there any hot genetic genealogy topics that you’d love to learn more about?

Please make your suggestions in a comment on this article.

Here’s wishing you a wonderful 2025 with lots of ancestor discoveries.

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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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2024 Retrospective – Plus New Color Version of Complete Guide to FamilyTreeDNA

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I hope 2024 was a great year for you.

2024 was an amazing year that included the release of my new book, Complete Guide to FamilyTreeDNA, and two genealogy-focused trips. I was also able to use Y-DNA to extend multiple paternal lines and break down a mitochondrial brick wall. It hardly gets better than this, but I have a focus list for 2025 already – and I hope you do, too.

But before we move on to 2025, let’s take a look at what was popular in 2024. Did you miss anything? Now is a great time to review, and I’ve assembled a list of this year’s top ten articles for you.

2024 in Review

Each year, I look back at my blog’s end-of-year statistics to see which articles were the most popular. I published 75 articles in 2024, which is an article about every four and a half days.

The Top 10 List isn’t just compiled from this year’s new articles, but the top 10 articles read this year from all 1738 articles that I’ve published over the past 12.5 years. I’ve noted the publication year by the article name.

Four of this year’s top 10 also fall in the all-time top 10. Of course, articles that have been published longer have more time to accrue views.

Article 2024 All Time
Concepts – Calculating Ethnicity Percentages (2017) 1 2
442 Ancient Viking Skeletons Hold DNA Surprised – Does Your Y or Mitochondrial DNA Match? (2020) 2
Ancestral DNA Percentages – How Much of Them is in You? (2017) 3 5
Proving Native American Ancestry Using DNA (2012) 4 1
23andMe Trouble – Step-by-Step Instructions to Preserve Your Data and Matches (2024) 5
DNA Inherited from Grandparents and Great-Grandparents (2020) 6
Ancestry’s ThruLines and Shared Matches Now Require a Subscription (2024) 7
Native American Mitochondrial Haplogroups (2013) 8 10
FamilyTreeDNA Tree Integration with MyHeritage – Step-by-Step Instructions (2024) 9
Y-DNA: Step-by-Step Analysis (2020) 10

Consistently, Native American DNA, ethnicity, and inheritance prove to be overwhelmingly popular topics. This probably explains the success of my book, DNA for Native American Genealogy. It’s timeless, and there are always new people searching! Thank you to everyone who has purchased it.

Of course, articles about this year’s announcements in the genetic genealogy world are always popular. The articles that didn’t make the Top 10 List but are in the 11-20 category include articles from RootsTech, two more Native American articles,  determining full or half-siblings, pedigree collapse, the Washington family burial article, plus one about my Acadian ancestors and their DNA.

Thank you to everyone who subscribes, reads, and comments. Please share this article or site link with another genealogist who you think might benefit. As you know, it’s easy to subscribe and completely free.

You can also search for keywords in articles throughout the year to answer questions when you see them on social media or elsewhere. It’s easy and educational to post or send an article link.

Complete Guide to FamilyTreeDNA – Now Available in Color

Are you ready for a good laugh?

As I was reviewing these articles, I thought to myself, “where’s the announcement of the new color version of my book, “The Complete Guide to FamilyTreeDNA”?

I literally forgot to publish that article. How could I?? I mean…seriously. (My excuse is that I was traveling, plus conferences and back-to-back hurricanes.)

So, here’s the (slightly late) mini-announcement.

Initially, in May, The Complete Guide to FamilyTreeDNA was released in a full-color e-pub version, which is available from the publisher here. You can take a look at the table of contents here.

That was followed shortly by the release of the black and white print version, available in the US from the publisher, here, and worldwide from your country’s Amazon. Selling outside the US through Amazon removes the issues of expensive international shipping, VAT tax, and customs, which significantly increases the cost of the book and delays its delivery.

The decision was made to publish initially in black and white due to printing costs, but lots of people requested a color book.

For those who have already purchased the black-and-white version, the publisher has provided a free downloadable PDF with 26 of the most critical pages in color. We really had no idea that people would be eager to purchase a color version, but that has proven to be the case, and we didn’t want earlier purchasers to be disappointed.

Drum Roll

You spoke, and we listened.

In the fall, we released a full-color print-on-demand version of The Complete Guide to FamilyTreeDNA. Again, in the US, the book is available from the publisher, here, and at Amazon elsewhere.

This book truly is comprehensive and includes both DNA education, along with how to use the FamilyTreeDNA tools, many of which are unique in the industry. For example, no other vendor offers either Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA testing and matching.

You don’t know what you don’t know, and I encourage you to find out!

Thank You!

Thank you so much for your ongoing support. Twelve years strong, going on 13.

Be thinking about what you’d like to see in 2025, because I’m going to be asking you tomorrow!

_____________________________________________________________

Sign Up Now – It’s Free!

If you appreciate this article, subscribe to DNAeXplain for free, to automatically receive new articles by e-mail each week.

Here’s the link. Just look for the black “follow” button on the right-hand side on your computer screen below the black title bar, enter your e-mail address, and you’re good to go!

In case you were wondering, I never have nor ever will share or use your e-mail outside of the intended purpose.

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Share the Love!

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

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

You Can Help Keep This Blog Free

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.

DNA Purchases and Free Uploads

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

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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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Dave Vance Joins FamilyTreeDNA as Senior VP and General Manager

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Great news! Dave Vance has joined FamilyTreeDNA as the Senior VP and General Manager of the FamilyTreeDNA products.

I’ve known Dave for several years as a fellow genetic genealogist, as a fellow group project administrator, and as a fellow speaker at events.

Dave’s interest in genealogy began about the same time as his 30-year career with IBM – a choice that eventually led him to test through the Genographic Project back in 2005. IBM was one of the Genographic partners. That was a fortuitous, life-changing intersection of events for many, Dave included – opening the door to revelations genealogists could only dream about before.

Dave retired about 18 months ago and has since been quite busy focusing on his passion – genetic genealogy. He told me that there was one, and only one, position that even MIGHT have lured him out of retirement – and this was it. An opportunity to make a difference, maybe even a paradigm shift in the field he loves.

Dave certainly has all of his ducks in a row and knows exactly what he’s doing!

Dave’s book, The Genealogists Guide to Y-DNA Testing for Genetic Genealogy explains Y-DNA testing, soup to nuts. I guess it won’t come as a surprise, then, that David is the administrator of the Vance surname project at FamilyTreeDNA.

Dave has recently been the editor of the Journal of Genetic Genealogy for ISOGG, and published the book, The Genealogist’s Guide to Y-DNA Testing for Genetic Genealogy.

Most recently I saw Dave at the East Coast Genetic Genealogy Conference where he delivered the keynote, as well as other sessions and a joined a group of genetic genealogists for a panel discussion.

As if this isn’t enough, Dave has a YouTube Channel called “Dave Vance Genetic Genealogy Videos,” here.

Dave has also written a Y-DNA tool, SAPP, which several of his videos explain.

When does this man sleep?

For those of you who don’t know Dave, I’m sure you’ll be seeing and hearing from him soon – at RootsTech and at FamilyTreeDNA events.

I can think of few people in this industry with just the right mix of genealogist, tech geek, project management experience, and ambassador to fulfill this role and propel FamilyTreeDNA to the next level.

Actually, I can only think of one, and thankfully, he’s accepted the position, along with the inherent challenges. I’m confident that Dave knows what needs to happen and how to get it done.

Congratulations, Dave – and congratulations to our collective family of genetic genealogists, too, because we now have one of our own at the head of the table. Pedal to the metal! Let’s GO!!!

FamilyTreeDNA made a wonderful selection.

_____________________________________________________________

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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.

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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.

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Genealogy Proof Series – Creating Genealogy Proof Tables

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This is the fifth article in the Genealogy Proof Series.

For maximum advantage, I recommend reading these articles in publication order.

In earlier articles, we’ve detailed how to gather resources for specific locations, how and where to search for surnames and the process of extracting and recording information from those sources.

Now, it’s time to use that information and assemble it in a logical way to provide “proof” that the person by the name of “John Smith,” or whoever you’re seeking, is actually YOUR John Smith.

I use a technique that I call Genealogy Proof Tables. We will cover two types here. You’ll need the first one to complete the second one.

Genealogy Proof Tables

Genealogy proof tables have two purposes:

  • Individual Proof Tables – For an individual ancestor, to compile the various pieces of evidence to prove a connection to their parent or parents and their child or children.
  • Lineage Proof Table – Evidence for an entire lineage, proving connections between all of the individuals in the lineage, one by one in both directions. For a lineage proof table we prove a connection to the parent and also to the descendant that is your ancestor for each generation.

Please note that sometimes you actually wind up disproving a relationship, or realizing you need more information, but that’s equally as important. Nothing worse than wasting time by barking up the wrong tree.

A genealogy proof table is a working document that can be used to focus on each ancestor in every ancestral line. What’s included in a proof table varies by which records are available, the timeframe and circumstances.

You may want to prepare proof tables to help yourself focus and evaluate your data. Proof tables can be sent to someone who asks questions like:

  • How do you know that?
  • What is your proof?
  • What are your sources to identify John as the son of George?

People should be asking those questions, and researchers should be able to answer them. You need to answer them for yourself for your own ancestors, even if no one asks.

The answer to these questions may well be that you’re still working on “proof,” but you’ll at least want to have documented everything available to date. For me, doing these exercises helps me think about what’s still missing and looking for additional sources if I actually don’t have “proof.”

Generally, I create a proof table for a specific ancestor, which I then roll up into a comprehensive proof table for the line. This approach helps me identify which pieces of evidence are conclusive and which ones are not.

The purpose of a proof table is to compile and rank information about that ancestor’s connection to their parents, including negative evidence. It’s not meant to be “everything I know” about that ancestor, just the things that relate to proving that this ancestor is in FACT the child of his parent or parents.

What is Proof?

Isn’t this the question of the ages for genealogists? I wrote an article, Ancestors: What Constitutes Proof?, here. In that article, I’ve provided a list of what isn’t proof and some challenges you may face.

Aside from what I’ll term normal genealogy roadblocks to be overcome, there are other challenges as well.

For example, you can have a birth certificate, a death certificate, a will, and personal knowledge that a person lived with their parents – but that child could have been adopted, or the father might not have been the biological father.

In this case, paper proof, no matter how compelling, isn’t actual proof. It can prove the identity of the person, but alone, cannot prove a biological relationship connection.

Sometimes, DNA evidence outweighs everything else, but without DNA evidence, paper proof is the closest we can get. The BCG defines the Genealogical Proof Standard, here.

We need our evidence to be as conclusive as possible.

What does Conclusive Mean?

Conclusive evidence means that any other evidence cannot reliably contradict it, or it’s so strong that it overbears any other evidence. (Thank you Bar Prep Hero.)

In a nutshell, that’s your goal – and all evidence is not created equal.

Evidence is Weighted

Some evidence is better or more solid than other evidence.

Furthermore, sometimes one single piece of evidence isn’t conclusive, but multiple pieces of evidence, taken together, create a body of work and are considered a “preponderance of evidence.” Having said that, I often cringe when I hear that term because sometimes it means there really isn’t good evidence or not enough research has been done.

How good is good enough? You can only work with what’s available and what you have. Unfortunately, one cannot unburn the courthouse!

Sometimes, you’ll need to use DNA evidence. From my perspective, you ALWAYS need to utilize DNA evidence to confirm at least the closest generations.

By closest, I mean that second cousins or closer always match, and you can often reliably use autosomal DNA within, minimally, 5 or 6 generations, but circumstances vary.

Many times I have solid matches to descendants of ancestors 9 or 10 generations in the past, but as you can see in this graphic created by Dr. Paul Maier at FamilyTreeDNA, beginning at eight generations, you may not inherit any DNA from a particular ancestor. Of course, to match someone else, you both need to have inherited the same DNA segment(s) from that ancestor.

You can almost always use Y-DNA to establish relationships beyond what autosomal can confirm, but with both Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA, you need someone who is appropriately descended from the ancestor in question, as illustrated in this three-generation chart. Sometimes, you need two people descended from that ancestor, preferably through different children, because their Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA needs to match.

Every situation is different.

How Much Evidence is Enough?

It depends.

Enough for what?

  • Enough to prove that your parent is the child of their parents?
  • Enough to prove to yourself that you’re searching in the right ancestral line?
  • Enough to prove that this John Doe is the same John Doe that moved from Virginia to someplace else, or conversely, the John Doe in Missouri is the one who moved from Virginia?
  • Enough to quality for a lineage society?

Again, from my perspective, enough is not enough until you have looked at every piece of evidence that even MIGHT be relevant for that ancestor.

Essentially, all of this is a bit fluid, so let’s look at an example.

Individual Proof Table

Let’s begin with a proof table for one person.

I’m going to create a proof table to attempt to prove that my paternal grandfather, William George Estes, is the son of Lazarus Estes and Elizabeth Vannoy.

I’ll be using actual documents and information from my files.

If you want to read my 52 Ancestors articles about these people, you can find William George Estes, here, Lazarus Estes, here, and Elizabeth Vannoy, here. I’m not specifically trying to prove that my father, William Sterling Estes, is the son of William George Estes, but some documents cover both men – plus, there’s the possibility of same-name confusion, given that both of their first names are William. I swear, every generation in this family has both Johns and Williams.

To begin, there are a few mandatory categories on every chart. For example, I always use the census when it’s available. You should include these categories even if you don’t have evidence for them, because it reminds you if you’ve searched and the search came up with nothing.

Some categories would be expanded, such as Organizational Societies. For example, if there’s a separate History and Genealogy Society for that county, you would want to check both, as well as the local library and regional or state organizations.

You’ll notice that I’ve assigned a weight to each piece of evidence. Weighting is subjective. Aunt Margaret was the daughter of Wiliam George Estes, so she should know – but often, she didn’t provide any source, like a document or Bible, and she was a bit “eccentric.” In some circumstances, I might weigh what she provided as a 5, but in the first item, I only gave it a 4 because she provided other dates that I found to be erroneous. Memories do fail people.

Red items are direct, confirming evidence of the relationship and that the William George Estes, my grandfather, is the same William George Estes who is the son of Lazarus Estes. Names are spelled or misspelled the way they are in the original source.

William George Estes Information Source Weight (1-5) Comments
Birth March 30, 1873 Aunt Margaret 4 Birth certificates not available in 1873
Father Lazarus Estes
Mother Elizabeth Vannoy
Identity of Parents From letters and discussions 1980s, 1990s Aunt Margaret, Aunt Minnie, children and grandchildren of William G. Estes 5 They knew their grandparents
1880 Census Wm. G. Estis age 7, listed with parents Lazarus and Elisibeth Estis, and siblings, including sister Cornie Claiborne County, TN Dist 8, page 107 on Ancestry 5 Family lives between William G.’s future wife’s uncles
1890 Census destroyed
Marriage Ollie Bolton, Sept 26, 1892. Claiborne County Marriage Index, page 382 5 No parents given
1900 census William G. age 27, with wife, Ollie, and two children Claiborne County, TN Dist 8, page 113 5 Lives next door to Lazarus and Elizabeth Estes and next to his sister Cornie and her husband
1910 census Age 38, with Ollie and two children, Estle and Robert Claiborne County, Civil Dist 4 5 Lives beside sister Cornie and her husband, three houses from Lazarus
Home Location – 1913 Family photos taken in 1913 and labeled “Fowler” Provided by Margaret 5 Written on the back of the family pictures
Home Location Fowler, Indiana Sept 1915 Newspaper article 5 Sons Wm. and Joe ran away and were returned to parents in Fowler
William G. Estes’s divorce from Ollie Fowler, Indiana Aunt Margaret 3 Ollie caught him cheating with her cousin Joyce Hatfield, who was visiting them in Indiana
Divorce from Ollie Unknown, maybe 1916 or 1917 Inferred
Children William S. and Joe “run away” to their grandparents 1915/1916 Fowler, Indiana to Claiborne County, TN Aunt Margaret’s letter, Uncle George, 1915 newspaper articles stated that they tried to run away but got caught 5 Margaret said that when William G. and Ollie divorced,  neither wanted sons Wm. and Joe, 13 and 11, and the boys jumped trains to make their way back to their grandparents, Lazarus and Elizabeth
William George returned to Claiborne County 1916/1917 ish Uncle George Estes, family historian 5 Lazarus was furious when William G. returned after cheating on Ollie and abandoning the boys and threw William G. out of Estes Holler
Move to Harlan County, KY After being thrown out of Estes Holler when he and Ollie divorced Uncle George, Aunt Margaret, Estel’s daughter 5 Settled in Harlan County, KY, just over the border from Claiborne Co., TN
Divorce from Ollie Unknown, about 1916/1917ish Fowler, Ind newspaper August 30, 1917 2 Ollie listed without Wm G and as visiting where she used to live
Marriage Joyce Hatfield, unknown if or when/where married Census, daughter Virginia’s birth Nov. 1918. 3 Inferred, no document found
Child Irene’s Death* August 1, 1916 – Irene Estes, mother Joyce Fury Shawnee, Claiborne Co., TN Informant of the death of daughter, Irenia.

*Please note that this has since been disproven. This William B. Estes who married Josie Fury is not our William G. Estes who married Joicie Hatfield.
Military/draft Registration – signed Sept. 12, 1918, gives birthdate as March 30, 1873 Tazewell, Claiborne County, TN 5 Wife is listed Joisce Estes.
1920 census Age 47, lives with Joise and daughter Virginia Claiborne Civil District 4 5 Future third wife, Crosha Brewer, and her child are living with them as lodgers
Divorce Joice Hatfield Unknown, approx 1921 or 1922 inferred Based on Crosha’s children’s ages
Son William S. Estes’s marriage to Martha Dodder Dec. 12, 1921 Calhoun County, MI 5 Parents are given as Ollie Estes and W. G. Estes
Wm G. Estes child with Croshia Brewer Josephine born March 19, 1923 Springdale, Arkansas 5 Birth certificate, death certificate, census
William George Estes Marriage Croshia Louise Brewer, Feb. 3, 1925, Wise County, VA VA Marriage Registers, page 171 5 Parents given as Lazarus & Elizabeth Estes
1930 census Cannot find the family
1940 census Age 67, living with Crochie and their 2 daughters Harlan Co., KY Lynch dist 5
1940s or 50s Photo with “his sister Cornie” and also one with “Worth Epperson” Claiborne County, TN 5 Photo is labeled and provided by Cornie’s family, who knew him
1950 census 76, lives with Crocie, daughter and boarder Harlan County, KY 5 My mother visited William G. and Crocie with my father in the 1950s.
Cornie Estes Epperson’s 1958 death certificate Born June 22, 1878 to Lazarus Estes and Betty Vannoy, age 79, died Feb. 18, 1958 Death Certificate 5 Correlates to census dates and other data indicating she is the daughter of Lazarus and sister of William G.
Cornie Epperson Obituary Gives Will Estes, of Lynch, KY as her brother. Newspaper clipping 4 Does not give her paents
William Sterling Estes obituary Aug. 28, 1963, Star Press in Muncie, Indiana, page 3 Residence Dunkirk, IN 4 Lists surviving father as W. G. Estes, Cumberland, KY
William George Estes’s death Nov 29, 1971, lived in Harlan Co., KY Kentucky Death Index 5 Parents not given
Obituary Parents not given, living children include Estil, Virginia, Margaret, and Minnie, their locations provided Nov. 30, 1971, Middlesboro Tribune 4 His nephew, Cornie Estes Epperson’s son, Kermit Epperson is a pallbearer
Social Security Claims Index for William G. Jan. 15, 1972 claim, birth 1873 Ancestry 5 SS # given, but no parents given
Social Security Claims Index for my father, William Sterling Estes No claim filed
Will No, rechecked film at FamilySearch 7-8-2024.
Legal No, checked court index in Harlan County
Land Tax No tax lists
Personal Tax No tax lists
Deeds Yes, 1915 deed from Lazarus to Cornie and Worth Epperson where they must pay his other heirs Claiborne County deed book, in person 5 Cornie Estes Epperson to pay William Estes $120
William George Estes signed receipt and release On July 22, 1957, Will signed on the edge of the above deed, releasing the claim on the deed and stating that the $120 had been paid. 5 Confirms his relationship to Lazarus Estes and Cornie Estes Epperson
Sibling Documents Have not looked extensively beyond Cornie
Newspapers Need to revisit when Claiborne County, TN newspapers are digitized
Organizational Searches such as Historical Societies Have not looked recently, need to recheck local libraries
DNA ThruLines to John Y. Estes, father of Lazarus Estes Ancestry 5 Proven via 35 cousin connections to Lazarus’s parents through 3 of John’s siblings
DNA Lazarus Estes ThruLines at Ancestry through Lazarus’s children Ancestry 5 20 matches, 9 through William George, 7 through Cornie, 5 through Charlie Thomas Estes
DNA at FamilyTreeDNA My autosomal matches to Buster Estes, Lazarus’s grandson FamilyTreeDNA 5 Including 556 matches in common and many triangulated segments to descendants of Wm. G., Lazarus, John Y. Estes and upstream ancestors
Other Relationship to wives and children Letters from Aunt Margaret 3 or 4 Clearly states relationship of William G. and Lazarus
Other Relationship to wives and children Letters from William G. to my father 3 or 4 Clearly states relationship of William G. with his siblings and family members

Some types of information are notably unreliable. For example, obituaries may omit people or confuse relationships. William George Estes’s obituary omits his daughter and incorrectly notes her husband, his son-in-law, as William’s child.

Death certificates often give parents incorrectly, especially the mother’s birth surname.

The names of parents in both obituaries and on death certificates are often third-hand information provided by people who are at least two generations removed and are under significant stress at that time. My mother’s obituary was republished two times due to errors made AFTER I provided correct information.

We have several pieces of information that strongly suggest that the William George Estes who was born to Lazarus Estes and Elizabeth Vannoy is the same William George Estes that married Ollie Bolton, but there’s more.

We know for sure that William Estes, who married Croshie/Crosha Brewer, is the same person because his parents are given in the county marriage record book. This is first-hand information and judged to be more reliable because we can reasonably expect that William George knew who his parents were, or at least who they were supposed to be.

If we discount entirely the fact that my aunts personally knew Lazarus as their grandfather, and look only at the paper evidence, we just need to tie William George in his later life to the same William George in his earlier life.

Here’s a photo passed from William George’s daughters to me. Cornie Epperson’s grandchildren had this same photo showing William George Estes with his sister, Cornie Epperson.

Here’s another with Will Estes and Cornie’s husband, Worth Epperson.

Cornie’s children told many stories about their Uncle Will, who rode the bus from Harlan County to Claiborne County, as he didn’t drive. The legendary favorite story was about the time that Will had a bullet in his shirt pocket. It accidentally got mixed into his pipe tobacco, which he put into his pipe and was smoking on the bus.

Yes, the bullet blew up. No one was hurt, and miraculously, the driver didn’t crash. Nevertheless, Will was banished from riding the bus forever thereafter.

That story alone connects the William George Estes living in Lynch, in Harlan County, as the same person, as do his children from all three wives. So do letters from my aunt to family members discussing several people involved, and letters from Will himself in the early 1960s detailing some pretty spicy antics.

However, we’re looking for more than oral history. What other documents do we have?

The Smoking Deed

This deed serves, in essence, as the will of Lazarus Estes and his wife, both of whom conveyed this deed.

Thankfully, it identifies both Cornie and William as their heirs, along with several other children, although it never actually states that the people mentioned are their children. The census confirms that these people, Cornie and William George, along with Martha (Estes) Norris, Charlie Estes, and Lum (James Columbus) Estes mentioned, are their children.

If you’re still wondering if William George Estes is their son, notice the release of lien, stamped on the upper left-hand side of the page decades later, in 1957, with his signature.

This signature matches Will’s other handwriting on letters that he sent in the 1960s, in my possession, and on my father’s delayed birth certificate signed in 1952.

This document provides their relationship, the type of evidence submitted, and both of their addresses and signatures. Evidence doesn’t get much better than this.

For additional signature confirmation, William G. signed his 1918 draft registration in Claiborne County. In Harlan County, KY, in 1957, he signed the delayed birth certificate for his son, Estle, who was born in Springdale, Arkansas, in November of 1894.

When Evidence Isn’t Conclusive

Unfortunately, this situation happens often, especially with generations further back in time where less information is available. Let’s look at an example.

Genealogists tried for years, decades actually, to identify the parents of John R. Estes.

His son was named John Y. Estes.

No one knew what the R. stood for, nor what the Y. stood for. Truthfully, we still don’t, at least not for sure.

Here’s what was said:

  • John R. Estes’s mother was Mary Younger, who was married to George Estes. This claim was made because John R.’s son was named John Y. Estes, the Y. standing for “Younger.” That was the hypothesis, but it was stated as fact.
  • The middle initial R in John R. Estes stands for Regan or Reagan because his grandson, John Reagan Estes, son of John Y. Estes, was “named for his grandfather.” This was told to me by his grandchildren who were living in the early 1990s, as information they were told.

I fully understand why one would think those are possibilities or why conclusions might be drawn. They are clearly possibilities, but without additional evidence, that’s all they are. Eventually, that possibility begins to be passed along as a fact. Then, people don’t want to question what was passed down from “people who should know.”

So, let me play devil’s advocate here.

The Y in John Y. could stand for any number of things. For example, the surname Yancey is also found in Halifax County, Virginia. Y could have come from anyplace. At that point in time, we were searching for the parents of John R. Estes, so Mary Younger seemed to make sense.

Having said that, we now know that John Y. Estes’s grandmother WAS Mary Younger, BUT, that does NOT mean that the Y. stands for Younger, nor does it serve as any kind of concrete evidence.

Might it stand for Younger? Yes, of course. But the Y itself serves only as a potential hint.

Can you use it for evidence? Nope, not without more information. I’ve searched high and low, so if you find “Younger” in a reliable record for this man, by all means, let me know. While confirmation would be wonderful, we really don’t NEED to know like we do with Reagan.

John Reagan Estes (1871-1960), the son of John Y. Estes, could well have been named for his grandfather, John R. Estes (1787-1885). John was his father’s first name as well as his grandfather’s. That does NOT mean that that Reagan was John R. Estes’s middle name. We have no idea where Reagan comes from. If I had a letter from John Reagan’s mother or sister, for example, saying John Reagan was named for his grandpa Estes, who was also named John Reagan, that would be evidence because we have a contemporaneous source and know the information wasn’t assumed or constructed later to “fit” the question about John R. Estes’s middle name.

I have dug for years for any Reagan connection to the Estes line, or to the wives’ lines in upstream generations in Virginia, hoping to prove that Reagan genealogical connection. I have never found it, although that clearly doesn’t mean it’s not there. For all we know, Reagan could have been the name of the preacher or the doctor who delivered someone. It may or may not have anything to do with John R. Estes, and even if it does, Reagan may not be an ancestral surname.

So, if you’re taking yourself down the path of ascribing too much weight to information that may or may not be evidence – don’t. What you can do that’s beneficial is more research. If you think the Y or the R might be a hint, DIG!!! You just might find that evidence. If you haven’t utilized the new FamilySearch full-text AI search, by all means, do. These are the perfect types of situations to research using this amazing tool.

Treat everything as a hint, but it’s not evidence until it’s confirmed.

While we’ve since proven that, indeed, John R. Estes is the son of Mary Younger using other types of evidence, the middle initial R. and the middle name Reagan two generations later still is and may remain a mystery.

In the Weeds

At this point, you might be thinking that we are SO FAR DOWN IN THE WEEDS, and you’d be right, but the answers to our specific question are found here.

Our original goal was to prove that William George Estes was the son of Lazarus Estes and Elizabeth Vannoy.

The items bolded in red in the Individual Proof Table for William George Estes, above, individually and certainly cumulatively “prove” that relationship, as far as a paper trail can go.

The other information, especially taken together, supports that and, more importantly, does not dispute or provide contradictory or conflicting evidence about any of the other evidence. In other words, we have concensus.

Lineage Proof Table

The table below is designed to document the proof that the individual listed under the name column is, in fact, the child of the father and mother below. Other information from the Individual Proof Table that we completed above is omitted because it’s not needed in a Lineage Proof Table.

The Proof rows between the child and their parents are the proof, or the best evidence we have, that connects the child conclusively to the parent or parents. Sometimes that proof can arrive indirectly, such as a sibling’s obituary that lists your ancestor as their sibling – allowing you to connect the sibling who died and your ancestor both to their parents through the census or other documents.

Proof listed will vary and could be personal knowledge (someone you knew within your lifetime), a Bible, a will, a deed, an obituary, a church baptismal document, a pension application, census records, and more.

The best proof, of course, is multiple contemporaneous pieces of evidence.

Proof can also be negative proof. For example, if there was a will but this person was missing, that should be noted. However, that alone is NOT negative proof, as sometimes a child who had already received their inheritance was not mentioned. It does need to be listed because, when combined with other evidence, it may become very important. So is the wording of the will. For example, does it say “all my children,” but omit the person you’re searching for?

Proofs also must take into consideration things like individuals with the same name. In other words, we need to prove that THAT particular John was the son of THAT particular George.

There are times when one must dig deeply as well as far and wide, using siblings and the FAN (friends and neighbors) methodology to reveal a nugget or put enough information together from multiple sources to prove a relationship collectively. For example, I have found proof two generations downstream in Virginia chancery suits that detail the descendants of someone who died and left a will two or three generations earlier.

If this Lineage Proof Table was for my own use, I would utilize a spreadsheet, and I would provide links and more detailed information. For ease of use in this article, I’ve constructed a chart here.

The entire purpose of this lineage document is to unquestionably connect the generations. If these proofs are strong and unquestionable, the only piece of evidence that could upend all of them, together, is an unknown DNA event where a parent or parents are not the individuals reflected in the non-genetic proofs.

Name Birth & Loc Death & Loc Father Mother DNA Confirmed
Me William Sterling Estes Separate lineage proof for mother’s line Father confirmed via paternal half-sister’s children and cousins’ autosomal DNA matches..
Proof My birth certificate, newspaper announcements
Proof Father’s obituary
Proof Social Security application after my father’s death
Proof Personal knowledge, photos, and memories
Proof DNA match at the expected level to my half-sister’s descendants and our upstream Estes relatives
William Sterling Estes Oct. 1, 1902 or 3, Tazewell, TN Aug. 27, 1963, Jay County, IN William George Estes 1873-1971 Ollie Bolton 1874-1955 Autosomal DNA matches to multiple Estes cousins & half-sister’s children
Proof Census and newspaper articles identifying my father as his parents’ child
Proof My father’s marriage license, personal knowledge, and his delayed birth certificate
Proof Death certificate and obituary
Proof Aunts’ knowledge and family letters
William George Estes March 30, 1873, Tazewell, TN Nov. 29, 1971, Harlan Co., KY Lazarus Estes 1845-1916/1918 Elizabeth Vannoy 1846-1918 Autosomal DNA triangulated to multiple descendants of both Lazarus Estes and Elizabeth Vannoy.
Proof Deed to Worth and Cornie Epperson where Lazarus lists William George Estes as one of his heirs – Claiborne Co., Deed Book M2, page 371.
Proof Various censuses showing parents and siblings, including sister Cornie Estes Epperson
Proof Marriage license to Crocie Brewer lists his parents
Proof Cousin George Estes knew these people and was at the funeral of Lazarus when he was a child, plus Aunt Margaret’s letters
Lazarus Estes May 1845, Claiborne Co., TN 1916-1918, Claiborne Co., TN John Y. Estes 1818-1895 Rutha Dodson 1820-1903 Y-DNA confirmed to haplogroup of Moses Estes, autosomal triangulated to descendants of Lazarus and Elizabeth and upstream ancestors through multiple matches.
Proof 1850 and 1860 census with his parents, 1870 census where he lives one house from parents with wife and children, 1880 census where his wife is still living a few houses from his parents, with their children, and John is found in Montague Co., TX
Proof October 1865 deed where John Y. Estes deeds all his possessions to his eldest son, Lazarus. Claiborne Co., Deed book B1, page 37
John Y. Estes December 29, 1818, Halifax Co., VA Sept. 19, 1895, Montague Co., TX John R. Estes 1785/88-1885 Nancy Ann Moore c 1785-1860/1870 Y-DNA confirmed through multiple sons. Autosomal triangulates to several descendants through multiple lines of other children.
Proof Personal written knowledge of Claiborne County attorney, P. G. Fulkerson, published in the local newspaper who listed parents, wife, siblings, and children of John Y. Estes and wife and children of John R. Estes
Proof John R. Estes signed as a witness for John Y. Estes in 1865 when he deeded goods to son Lazarus “for natural love and affection.” In 1850 census John R. Estes lives near sons Jechonias and John Y. Estes
Proof John Y. Estes’s and John R. Estes’s death conveyed in letters between family in Claiborne County, TN, Texas, and Oklahoma
John R. Estes 1785-1788, Halifax Co., VA May 1885, Claiborne Co., TN George Estes 1763-1869 Mary Younger  ~1775-1820/1830 Y-DNA confirmed through multiple lines. Autosomal confirmed triangulation of multiple lines of his children and his ancestors. Descendants’ DNA triangulates to that of Nancy Ann Moore’s ancestors.
Proof Halifax County 1812 personal property tax list where John R. Estes is listed as the son of George Estes and lives next to him.
Proof Halifax Co., VA chancery suit dealing with property of Moses Estes, father of George Estes, lists John R. and his wife’s name and location in Tennessee as Moses’s descendants.
Proof War of 1812 pension application
George Estes Feb. 3, 1763, Amelia Co., VA July 1859, Halifax Co., VA Moses Estes Jr. 1742-1813 Luremia Combs c1742-1820/1830 Y-DNA haplogroup descended from Moses Estes Sr. 1711-1787 and autosomal from his maternal and paternal lines, both.

I’ll stop here because you clearly understand the process. If I were applying for membership in a lineage society, I would simply continue this chart until I reached the individual in question. In this example, George Estes is a Revolutionary War soldier, so I could apply for DAR membership, assuming I meet their various criteria.

Another aid in documenting your ancestors is lineage organizations and their records, but keep in mind that their evidence, especially that submitted decades ago, may not be sufficient today.

DNA Confirmation

DNA can either confirm this relationship, even without a paper trail, or conversely, it can burn it all down.

The closer in time a DNA relationship is, the more likely you’ll be able to confirm it using autosomal DNA.

Sometimes, Y-DNA is a consideration, and it certainly would be in this circumstance, except that I’m not a male, and we don’t have a living Estes male descended directly from William George Estes (through all males) to test.

Mitochondrial DNA can’t be used in this circumstance either since William George Estes’s children have their mother’s mitochondrial DNA, not his.

For the purposes of today’s proof, I used the Family Finder autosomal DNA test.

Buster Estes, now deceased, grandson of Lazarus Estes through his son Charlie Tomas Estes, is my 1C1R, (first cousin once removed). He tested both his Y-DNA and took the autosomal  Family Finder test for me many years ago.

Additionally, Cornie Epperson’s grandchild and great-grandchild, my second cousin and 2C1R, agreed to autosomal DNA testing for me as well. Cornie’s grandchild agreed to test their mitochondrial DNA, which descends from Elizabeth Vannoy – for which I remain immensely grateful.

All of these cousins match me, as well as each other, appropriately, as would be expected for their respective relationships to me and to each other.

Since then, additional descendants of Lazarus Estes and Elizabeth Vannoy have tested and match others at the appropriate, expected level.

I also match other descendants of Elizabeth Vannoy’s parents, as do my cousins, so I can literally walk both Estes and Vannoy segments back in time.

In this case, NOT matching close Estes relatives would conclusively prove that I’m NOT related to the more distant Estes family.

However, if I didn’t match, it’s also possible that my father would not have matched those people either. I don’t have a full sibling through my father, but I do have a half-sibling whose descendants I match appropriately for the expected relationship. That proves that I’m my father’s biological child.

My half-sister died before DNA testing. NOT matching my sister’s descendants would confirm that we were not sisters, meaning we did not share the same father. One or the other of us would probably match Estes descendants, such as our second cousins. Fortunately, we match each other and Estes descendants.

Unfortunately, my half-brother Dave did not match me, nor any Estes family members, providing that we did not share a biological father – a heartbreaking discovery. He’s still my brother though, just not biologically, and I loved him dearly. (For the record, I found Dave’s father and his family after his death.)

I can prove that my father descends from his father because I also match the descendants of my father’s paternal half-siblings, as expected.

I also match (and triangulate with) the descendants of my grandfather’s sibling, Cornie Epperson, as expected, which proves my connection back to Lazarus and, therefore, my father and grandfather’s connection to Lazarus, too.

By the time we reach John R. Estes, son of George Estes, we can also use Y-DNA. While I personally can’t test for the Estes Y-DNA, a descendant of John R. Estes has taken the Big Y-700 test, needed for this level of detail, and they match the unique mutation (R-ZS3700) that occurred between Abraham Estes and his son Moses Estes Sr., then descended through Moses Jr. to George to John R., then on to our tester, confirming this paternal lineage.

Furthermore, I and other descendants of Lazarus Estes autosomally match Y-DNA descendants of John R. Estes as would be expected of 3rd or 4th cousins.

Therefore, by proxy, using both Y-DNA and Family Finder, we are all confirmed to descend from this entire Estes lineage, to and including Lazarus Estes and his son, William George Estes, through my father to me.

Whew!!!

Summary

Yes, it was a long, detailed path to get here using both traditional genealogical research and DNA results, but we did, and that’s really all that matters. I probably provided more examples than I really needed to, but I’m trying to answer as many “what about this” questions as I can, in advance. The Proof Table methodology isn’t cast in concrete and is easy to replicate and adapt based on your situation and the records at hand.

My final word of caution would be to make sure you don’t discount or omit negative evidence inadvertently. I made that mistake when I was less experienced because I didn’t realize the importance of negative evidence.

I’ve seen situations where a resource was not recorded because there “was nothing there,” when the fact that “nothing was there” is in itself important negative evidence that needs to be weighed and considered.

That’s one reason why preparing a list of all the resources in a particular area is so important. When you discover new resources or they become available, be sure to record and check those resources. For example, if a tax list for a particular county or district is uncovered, record that resource, even if the person you’re seeking isn’t listed there. The next question to ask is why they would not be listed, which may lead you to seek out or perhaps reevaluate other information.

Future Topics

I have three more articles planned in this series and expect to publish the next one in the winter.

  • DNA as Proof – or Not
  • Leveling up
  • Writing it Up

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Three Hurricanes and One Conference

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Ironically, this started out to be the shortest blog post ever from me, but became a little more lengthy. I don’t think I have it in me to be brief.

This article is quite different from “normal,” and I’m writing stream of consciousness, like we’re talking over coffee and I‘m showing you photos from my phone, which I literally am, plus a few others from the conference.

People have noticed that I haven’t posted as much recently and are asking if I’m alright, especially with the devastation from Hurricane Helene.

First, thank you for caring.

Let me make a long story short and let you know what’s going on.

I’m Fine – Others Aren’t

Compared to other people, we are fine right now.

So, here’s what happened.

I went on a business trip in early July and came home with Covid. I was sick for a week. Trust me, Covid can still kick your behind.

A week later, I went on a long-planned ancestral journey to Nova Scotia, escaping Florida just before they closed the airport for Hurricane Debby. I had tested negative for Covid by then, more than once, but I was still very tired.

Having said that, I was not going to forego any opportunity in Nova Scotia to tread where my ancestors had. So yes, I did too much and pushed too hard. No regrets. You’ll read about those adventures soon.

I returned home in time to prepare for Hurricane Helene.

Helene

I will never be able to hear that name for the rest of my life without PTSD.

Once again, aside from trees down and some missing shingles, our property is fine.

But the devastation very near where we live is unimaginable. Our coastline took a 10-foot storm surge that inundated areas never before affected.

The area North of us took the direct hit and an even higher storm surge. Entire houses floated away and collapsed.

Millions without power. Incredible devastation. Loss of life.

Our local Facebook feed is filled with horrific stories, people literally begging for assistance, as well as incredible generosity.

Here are a couple of photos taken days later.

My heart breaks for these people.

If you’re wondering why people don’t just dry things out, they are unsanitary. Think dead and rotting things and fecal matter. By the time the flood waters have receded and people can actually get back into their homes, mold has already set in.

Yet, there were trash pickers here, as people were literally carrying their ruined items, which together comprise their lives, to the curb.

Not only that, electrical wiring does not get along with water. Insulation wicks water up the walls. To say it’s a heartbreaking mess is an understatement.

And it’s like this for miles and miles and miles!

Appalachia

And then there’s Appalachia.

To give you a visual of how large the impact of Helene is, here’s a satellite view at night of the lights in the US. Above is normal. Below is after Helene – and it doesn’t even show the west coast of Florida which was dark too.

If you follow my blog, you know my father’s family is from eastern Tennessee and western North Carolins, which means I have a LOT of cousins. Not close cousins, as in the family tree, but close to my heart cousins.

Many of the communities in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina where my family lives were either entirely inundated and devastated, or washed away entirely. I still cannot make contact with one cousin and his wife, or their adult daughter.

Yesterday, a service dog group that I follow called for more cadaver dogs—retired ones, dogs in training, and anyone who can help. Many people are still missing and may never be found.

One of my cousins said it’s “like the apocalypse,” and another said they still can’t grasp what they are seeing. A third said that everyone knows people who died and that it’s a “literal hellscape.” And yet a fourth found an upside-down casket, washed out from some cemetery upstream, caught and lodged in the tree rooms of their stream that became a raging river. It’s worse than photographs and words can even begin to convey.

Wide-Ranging Effects

One thing I never fully realized before was that these types of disasters don’t just affect the people whose homes were destroyed or damaged but have effects spread much more widely. Let me give you an example.

I got sick again after I came home from Nova Scotia and needed antibiotics. This was actually the day that the hurricane struck here.

For two days, we endured the actual hurricane. They evacuated our hospitals and closed the emergency rooms, which they absolutely should have. Most, if not all, urgent cares were closed, too. That meant that those types of services further inland were entirely swamped. Not to mention people hurt in the hurricane, those injured trying to rescue people (and animals,) and survivors injured trying to salvage anything of their life in filthy flood waters.

Then, during and after the hurricane, there was no power, and an even larger area was non-functional.

As power was restored, slowly, most places were still closed. Damage – no staff – a myriad of reasons.

Power, internet, and cell service bounced up and down unreliable like a crazed ball, and it took days before all three functioned at the same time. In many locations, they still don’t.

Five days later, I finally found a telemed doctor that would take me. They wrote a prescription for the medication I needed. BUT – getting the prescriptions filled was another matter entirely.

Of the three pharmacies we have available to choose from, one had no power, one was flooded, and one had no pharmacist. They were trying to shuffle resources, including prescriptions for people. I finally got two of the three medications, but many others weren’t so lucky.

Think about it. The mail service wasn’t running. Neither was Fed-Ex here. People couldn’t get their life-saving medications. Insulin needs to be refrigerated. Local pharmacies couldn’t get shipments either. And it was even worse in Appalachia, where roads are entirely gone. Thankfully, people with private helicopters created a network and were dropping supplies and evacuating the desperately ill.

And yes, despite what the misinformation fear-mongers would have you believe, FEMA is here, on the ground, and fully staffed. All of the misinformation out there is only hurting people who need it most. Not only does it keep people outraged as a political ploy, but people who really need the funds don’t bother to apply because they believe the misinformation. Check rumors here.

Aftermath

Now, we’re living in the aftermath. Locally, hundreds of businesses are closed and may never reopen. All of those places employed people who need their income. With many fewer businesses, where are they going to find employment? How are they going to make their car and house payments?

This isn’t just physical devastation, it’s economic too and is affecting far more people than just people whose homes flooded.

The scope of the devastation, both physical and economic, is mind-boggling.

And I haven’t even mentioned the psychological effects.

East Coast Genetic Genealogy Conference

Months ago, I committed to presenting at the East Coast Genetic Genealogy Conference in Maryland this past weekend. Not only had I made a commitment, I really wanted to attend to see people, my family of heart, and meet new people – not to mention the great sessions being offered.

But – I was sick. And tired.

By Wednesday, I had to make a go-no-go decision. I had been on my antibiotics for a couple of days by then, was not contagious, and decided to go, even though I was not 100%. I hate more than anything to let people down.

I’m glad I made the journey, even though I never got to attend even one session. The good news is that the sessions were recorded, and I can watch them through the end of the year. You can still register and watch too.

Another presenter became ill, and we covered their sessions for them. That’s what family does.

And yes, we are a family.

Yet another attendee had immediate family who suffered catastrophic loss during the hurricane and we were all there for that person too.

So many hugs all the way around. So many offers of help. So many people asking “what do you need” or “how can I help?”

My laptop was acting up on top of everything else. One of my friends I’ve known for years stepped in to help. I left him with my phone and laptop (that tells you just how much I trust him), communicating with my husband, as I went off to help someone else with something. That’s what we do as a community.

My immediate family and even most of my close family are gone now, except for my daughter and son-in-law. I’ve built an auxiliary family – not necessarily intentionally. It just happened. My sisters and brothers of heart. My “cousins” by blood or otherwise. I’ve met and come to love these people through genealogy.

And I do mean love.

That’s who we are in this community.

I made new friends who I really enjoyed spending time with. You know who you are!!

Normally, I’d write an article about the conference, taking you with me, but this time, just a few photos.

Mags Gaulden, (left) opened the DNA Academy, which is now a Saturday evening tradition, with somewhat of a fireside chat. Panelists are, left to right, me, Dana Leeds, David Vance, and Diahan Southard. (Thank you, Lois, for taking this photo.)

Mags’ question to the panelists was what brought us to where we are today. No one back in the day went to college to be a genetic genealogist, so how did it happen? You probably know most of my story, but you can watch the rest of the panelists’ replies on the videos. I have to say, this was incredibly interesting.

DNA Academy is supposed to be a deep dive into something.

I presented about X-DNA. I was trying to create my presentation when I was sick, as power came and went during Hurricane Helene, figuring I’d have more time to review the presentation on Friday after I arrived in Baltimore. So much for that idea – Murphy was visiting in multiple ways, including my new laptop. 

Thankfully, Dana Leeds was kind enough to put all of our presentations on her laptop, which made it easier for everyone and the transitions much smoother.

Dana Leeds presented about the Leeds Method, which, of course, is named after her. She’s using AI tools now to make it even easier.

David Vance presented about the types of DNA testing, but because he drew the short straw and went last, he didn’t really get his allotted time. Unfortunately, the speakers before him (me included) were naughty, very excited about their topics, and went a few minutes over. The audience didn’t seem to care, but Dave got shortchanged.

So Dave provided us with a QR code to a video where he explains more fully. I can’t wait to watch this!

Next, to the vendor exhibition area.

Vendors

I really like the vendor areas at conferences. So many cool innovations to be found there!

I thought someone took a photo of me with Barry Chodak (left) and Joe Garonzik, owner and Marketing Director, respectively, of Genealogical.com, but apparently not. Here they are at their booth, holding my books. I have to say this – they are both just so nice and it was lovely to finally meet them in person.

I had two scheduled book signings, but I signed books anywhere and everywhere and enjoyed hearing about everyone’s genealogical brick walls that they hope will fall. For anyone who wants one of my books, including the new color version of The Complete Guide to FamilyTreeDNA – Y-DNA, Mitochondrial, Autosomal and X-DNA , there’s a discount code, DNA24, good for 15% off for a limited time at Genealogical.com.

I also met several people who have common ancestors or common research areas. This is the best part of conferences.

Mark Thompson and Dr. David Mayer. I really enjoyed spending time with both of these gentlemen.

Kevin Borland with Borland Genetics. Check out his tools here.

Unfortunately, I never got a photo of Rob Warthen’s DNAGedcom, probably because he was so busy helping other people. He’s also on the ECGGC board and that of MitoYDNA too, I think, so he was very busy. I’m one of the people he assisted with tech challenges. You can check out DNAGedcom here.

Presentations

Janine Cloud and I presented about mitochondrial DNA. I felt awful that the scheduled presenter was ill, and it really broke my heart being forced to talk about mitochondrial DNA. Do you believe that? 😊

The most difficult presentations I’ve ever given are when I’m filling in for another presenter with their slide deck that I’ve seen exactly once, or maybe twice, to try to prep in a hurry. Since we both love this topic, Janine and I could probably have done an hour of just standup if we had to. I think Mark Thompson took this photo, too. Thank you.

Janine and I tag-teamed our other two presentations as well, but I don’t have photos of those. Nor of the FamilyTreeDNA booth.

I do have one “after” shot, though.

Camaraderie

No one planned this meetup event, but we all saw each other walking through the lobby and just organically gathered together after the last session on Sunday evening. We were all exhausted, but in a good way. Just look how joyful we were. Again, thanks to Mark Thompson for taking this photo. We should have recruited a passerby so that he could have been in the picture, too.

A huge thank you to Mags and the entire ECGGC crew, many of whom are in this photo wearing black shirts. It takes a village to pull this off, and these folks are all awesome volunteers.

They did an absolutely bang-up job, and I’m sorry I couldn’t cover this conference more comprehensively. Be sure to watch the videos.

It’s really, really difficult to travel in the evening after a long conference day because exhaustion is real. However, this time, I was very glad I was flying out Sunday evening because I had to go home and deal with Milton.

Milton, the Monster

I tried very hard to ignore the weather while in Maryland. From Friday to Sunday, things changed dramatically. Floridians don’t even think twice about a tropical storm, and a category one hurricane is concerning but not overly so. We know how to prepare. However, in 18 hours, Milton went from a category one hurricane to a category five hurricane. Say what?

The rapid intensification was unprecedented.

Now, just two weeks after Helene, I’m staring Hurricane Milton in the face. I’m trying my best stink-eye, but Milton doesn’t seem to be deterred. He’s not budging. Unless the path shifts, this hurricane is going to hit on Wednesday in much of the same area that suffered so much devastation along Florida’s western coast just two weeks ago.

The trajectory is different, which means we’ll take the bullseye instead of the side of this one. You can follow, here, if you wish.

Ironically, one of the dangers this time is all of the cleanout debris from Hurricane Helene, including appliances, drywall, and furniture that’s sitting at the curb, waiting for the haulers who are coming around to collect the belongings of the families who lived in those homes. That’s not debris in one location, but in all coastal areas from south of Tampa north to the panhandle. Milton will be throwing all that around like it weighs nothing, creating lethal projectiles.

A few minutes ago, Milton strengthened to a CAT 5 hurricane with winds of 155 MPH and a storm surge of 18 feet above normal tide. They are hoping Milton drops to a CAT 3 or 4 before landfall, but there are no guarantees about that or even exactly where the bullseye will be, other than near Tampa. Evacuations have already begun.

Hopefully, people in mandatory evacuation zones will – instead of being stubborn. If you’re in an evacuation zone, for all that’s holy, please at least EVACUATE TO SOMEPLACE INLAND! This is a monster storm approaching with unsurvivable winds and coastal surge up to 20 feet. Mother Nature is not messing around.

The challenge now is that the northbound roads are already clogged beyond capacity and local gas stations are already out of fuel. We were still short on supplies after Helene, and the stores and even the gas station are devoid of food now, too.

There’s only one way out of Florida—north. Many people are at least headed a few miles inland.

So, here’s the deal. Please hold us in your thoughts. You may not hear from me for a bit, depending on what’s happening here. I can’t exactly research and prepare articles right now. I need power and the internet, both. We had infrastructure damage to cross-country transmission lines and cell towers, not to mention water and sewer systems with Helene – and that hasn’t been completely repaired yet. The damage from this storm will be cumulative.

Chances are I’ll be fine, maybe with some damage. Fingers crossed. This is just a temporary hold on the articles we all love.

Ancestors

Because I’m a genealogist, I can’t help but think about our ancestors who had NO warning at all about devastating approaching weather. Granted, all of this has been exacerbated by climate change, but there were still tornadoes, blizzards, floods, and hurricanes in the past – and they somehow survived. Maybe by luck. Maybe they listened to ancestral stories about why you live on the hillside instead of in the valley. Maybe they watched the animals and were more in tune with nature.

And you know what, I’m exceedingly glad my affairs are in order, just in case, including a beneficiary for my DNA kits and those I manage at FamilyTreeDNA. I’m grateful that I have co-administrators for most projects as well. This is exactly why – when some type of disaster, either weather or personal, like a fire or health issue happens – we often have no warning.

Please hold all the people already suffering, along with the people facing Milton the Monster in the light, or whatever form of prayer you practice.

See Ya On the Flip Side

One of the things we do is let family members know when we’re going someplace, and when we’re OK. I’ve never met many of you personally, but after more than a dozen years together, I feel like you’re my circle of family too. Thank you.

I’ll be back soon.

Alright, I’m outta here for now. I need to see if we can find a gas station that still has fuel and make an evacuation decision. We do not yet have an evacuation order where I live, but we’re preparing.

See you overhome.

East Coast Genetic Genealogy Conference, October 4-6, Virtual or In-Person

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I hope you’ll join us for the East Coast Genetic Genealogy Conference at the Maritime Conference Center in Linthicum Heights, Maryland, just a shuttle ride from the Baltimore airport.

I just love conferences that specialize in genetic genealogy. The East Coast Genetic Genealogy Conference does precisely that, featuring 25 experts with a wide variety of expertise.

Take a look at the lineup, here and the sessions, here.

I can hardly wait!!!

You can register here to attend either virtually or in person, but hurry because the early bird discount is only in effect until September 15th.

My Presentations

I’m honored to present two sessions with Janine Cloud.

For those who don’t know, Janine is a registered member of the Cherokee Tribe and we both love talking about researching Native American heritage using DNA.

Janine manages the group projects for FamilyTreeDNA, so she is uniquely qualified to explain how they work and how you can make them work better for you.

One of the very cool new tools is the Group Time Tree. We’ll explain how to use the tree as a group administrator’s tool in addition to being a fantastic problem-solver for genealogists.

DNA Academy

Several years ago, a small group of genetic genealogists discussed creating a DNA Academy where experts offer advanced topics. Mags Gaulden will share more about that fateful discussion.

The manifestation of our dream will take place for the third time at the ECCGC on October 5th, from 6-8, virtually or in person, with five guest speakers.

Book Signing

Genealogical.com will have a booth at ECCGCs and will be selling both of my books, in addition to others.

I don’t have the book signing schedule yet, but it will be displayed in the booth.

Please come by and say hello.

Hope to see you at ECCGCs!

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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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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.

DNA Purchases and Free Uploads

Genealogy Products and Services

My Books

Genealogy Books

Genealogy Research