Tag Archives: Sale

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?

____________________________________________________________

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

MyHeritage: Upload Your DNA and Receive All DNA Tools Free, Forever

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From now through October 6th, you can upload your DNA file from Ancestry, FamilyTreeDNA’s Family Finder, or 23andMe and receive all of the MyHeritage DNA tools for free, forever.

Normally, the unlock for advanced tools costs $29.

This limited-time offer ONLY pertains to new uploads, not files already uploaded to MyHeritage. This is better than a sale, it’s free.

MyHeritage has a garden of great features, but three exceptional reasons to upload your DNA file now are:

  • More European matches – they have the best European database
  • Great way to leverage your 23andMe DNA files, given what’s going on over there
  • Their genealogy tools, aside from DNA

Everyone receives DNA matching for free at MyHeritage, but if you upload your DNA file this week, the advanced features are free too:

  • Ethnicity Estimates including Genetic Groups
  • Chromosome browser with triangulation
  • AutoClusters
  • Theories of Family Relativity

AutoClusters and Theories of Family Relativity are my personal favorites. I utilize a very easy 4-step process.

Step 1 – I use Theories of Family Relativity to see potential trees of how another match and I might be related.

Step 2 – I use AutoClusters to determine who else might fall into that same relationship group.

Step 3 –  I use triangulation, that little purple button, below, to see if the people in the AutoCluster share a common segment of DNA. Of course, I can then compare them and others from the autocluster in the chromosome browser.

Click to enlarge any image

Step 4 – I follow that with Shared DNA Matches to view an estimate of how one of my matches is related to another DNA match.

The Shared Matches feature displays the estimate of how they are related to me, on the left, and how they are related to my match, on the right, along with how much DNA is shared. By the way, this isn’t new – it’s been there all along.

Using these combined tools, I can connect lots of dots together and not wander around aimlessly in my matches.

Upload Your Tree, Too

To reap the maximum benefit, be sure to upload your tree for free, too.

MyHeritage uses trees to connect you with others in Theories of Family Relativity who share common ancestors, and also to provide information in the DNA match summary, above, provided for every match.

Without trees, MyHeritage can’t provide important information such as Ancestral Surnames and Ancestral Places, plus maps. Clicking on “Review DNA Match” shows hints, maps, and a whole lot more.

OK, it’s time to get started.

Upload Instructions

I wrote articles about how to download files from all vendors.

Click here to upload your DNA file to MyHeritage.

I hope you make lots of new discoveries!

_____________________________________________________________

Follow DNAexplain on Facebook, here.

Share the Love!

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

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

You Can Help Keep This Blog Free

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

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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Thank you so much.

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FamilyTreeDNA Summer Sale Ends Soon

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Rarely does FamilyTreeDNA put all of their products on sale at the same time, but this Summer Sale is a notable exception.

Not only are all new tests on sale, but so are upgrades, including mitochondrial and Y-DNA STR to Big Y-700 upgrades. So, if you’ve tested at the Y-DNA 37, 67, or 111 marker level, this is the perfect opportunity to discover more.

Plus, there are GREAT prices on bundles of multiple tests. If you aren’t sure which tests are beneficial for what, the article, 4 Kinds of DNA for Genetic Genealogy will help you sort things out.

If you’ve been considering a test or an upgrade for yourself or another family member, now’s a great time. I asked permission to upgrade a cousin’s Y-DNA just this morning, and he gladly agreed. I added a Family Finder test, too, because knowing who else in our study group he matches will help determine how closely people are related.

This sale ends in 5 days, August 31st at 1:59 am CDT, so don’t miss this opportunity.

Just the Facts, Please

Here’s the non-marketing “just the facts” list of regular and sale prices for comparison.

Are you seeing someone over the upcoming holiday weekend that would be a good testing candidate? What brick walls might be broken down?

Single Products
Product Regular Price Sale Price
Family Finder $79 $49
Autosomal Transfer Unlock  $19 $10
Mitochondrial mtFull Sequence  $159 $129
Y-37 $119 $99
Y-111 $249 $209
Big Y-700 $449 $399
Bundles
Bundle Regular Price Sale Price
Family Finder + mtFull Sequence  $238 $169
Family Finder + Y-37 $198 $139
Family Finder + Y-111 $328 $249
Family Finder + Big Y-700 $528 $439
mtFull Sequence + Y-37 $278 $219
mtFull Sequence + Y-111 $408 $329
mtFull Sequence + Big Y-700 $608 $499
Family Finder + mtFull Sequence + Y-37 $357 $259
Family Finder + mtFull Sequence + Y-111 $487 $369
Family Finder + mtFull Sequence + Big Y-700 $687 $507
Upgrades
Upgrade Regular Price Sale Price
Y-12 to Y-37 $79 $59
Y-12 to Y-67 $149 $139
Y-12 to Y-111 $199 $159
Y-12 to Big Y-700 $399 $339
Y-25 to Y-37 $49 $39
Y-25 to Y-67 $119 $109
Y-25 to Y-111 $189 $139
Y-25 to Big Y-700 $389 $339
Y-37 to Y-67 $89 $69
Y-37 to Y-111 $139 $119
Y-37 to Big Y-700 $339 $299
Y-67 to Y-111 $89 $79
Y-67 to Big Y-700 $279 $229
Y-111 to Big Y-700 $239 $189
Big Y-500 to Big Y-700 $209 $189
Mitochondrial mtDNA to mtFull Sequence $119 $79
Mitochondrial mtDNA+ to mtFull Sequence $119 $79

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RootsTech 2024 Synopsis – Plus the MyHeritage Keynote is Online Now

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RootsTech isn’t entirely over yet.

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

Relatives at RootsTech

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

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

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

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

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

The RootsTech Travel Journal Articles

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

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

RootsTech 2025

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

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

They do, and then I sign up anyway.

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

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

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

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

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

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FamilyTreeDNA Provides Y DNA Haplogroups from Family Finder Autosomal Tests

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Big News! FamilyTreeDNA is delivering holiday gifts early!

Y DNA haplogroups are beginning to be delivered as a free benefit to men who took the Family Finder test at FamilyTreeDNA. This is the first wave of a staggered rollout. Haplogroup results will be delivered to several thousand people at a time, in batches, beginning today.

This is no trivial gift and includes LOTS of information that can be used in various ways for your genealogy. Please feel free to share this article. The new Family Finder haplogroups are another reason to take a Family Finder test and to encourage other family members to do so as well.

How is this Even Possible?

Clearly, Y DNA is not autosomal DNA, so how is it possible to obtain a Y DNA or mitochondrial DNA haplogroup from an autosomal test? Great question!

Many autosomal DNA processing chips include a limited number of targeted Y and mitochondrial DNA SNP locations. Generally, those locations are haplogroup predictive, which is how haplogroup information can be obtained from an autosomal DNA test.

Compared to the actual Y DNA and mitochondrial DNA tests, only a small fraction of the information is available through autosomal tests. Only the full sequence mitochondrial DNA test or the Big Y-700 test will provide you with the full story, including your most refined haplogroup, additional information, and matching with other customers.

Having said that, haplogroups obtained from Family Finder provide important clues and genealogical information that will hopefully whet recipients’ appetites for learning even more.

Delivery Schedule

This first group of men to receive haplogroup results consists of testers who have purchased the Family Finder test since March 2019 when the most recent chip was put into production.

FamilyTreeDNA will be rolling haplogroups out in batches of a few thousand each day until everyone’s is complete, in the following order:

  • Family Finder tests purchased since March 2019 (their V3 chip)
  • Family Finder tests purchased between the fall of 2015 to March 2019 (their V2 chip)
  • Family Finder tests purchased from 2010 to the fall of 2015 (their V1 chip)
  • Autosomal uploads from other vendors for customers who have unlocked the advanced Family Finder features for $19

Uploaded DNA Files from Other Vendors

After the results are available for all males who have tested at FamilyTreeDNA, haplogroups will begin to be rolled out to customers who uploaded autosomal DNA files from other companies, meaning MyHeritage, Vitagene, 23andMe, and Ancestry.

To receive haplogroups for files uploaded from other vendors, the Family Finder advanced tool unlock must have been (or can be) purchased for $19. In addition to haplogroups, the unlock also provides access to the chromosome browser, myOrigins (ethnicity), Chromosome painting for myOrigins ethnicity, and ancient Origins.

Both MyHeritage and Vitagene tests are performed in the Gene by Gene lab. Those “uploads” are actually a secure business-to-business transaction, so the file integrity is assured.

Ancestry and 23andMe DNA files are downloaded from those companies, then uploaded to FamilyTreeDNA. Some people build “composite” files in the format of these companies, so FamilyTreeDNA has no way to assure that the original DNA upload file hasn’t been modified and it is a legitimate, unmodified, file from either 23andMe or Ancestry. Hence, in some situations, they are treated differently.

Both Ancestry and 23andMe utilize different chips than FamilyTreeDNA, covering different SNPs. Those results may vary slightly from results available from native FamilyTreeDNA tests, and will also vary from each other. In other words, there’s no consistency, and therefore haplogroup accuracy cannot be confirmed.

Haplogroups resulting from tests performed in the FamilyTreeDNA lab will be visible to matches and on the SNP pages within projects. They will also be used in both Discover and the haplotree statistics. This includes Family Finder plus MyHeritage and Vitagene DNA file uploads.

Tests performed elsewhere will receive haplogroups that will only be visible to the user, or a group administrator viewing a kit within a project. They will not be visible to matches, used in trees or for statistics.

At their recent conference, FamilyTreeDNA provided this slide during an update about what to expect from Family Finder haplogroups.

Today, only Y DNA haplogroups are being provided, but after the new mitochondrial tree is available, customer haplogroups are updated, and MitoDiscover (my name, not theirs) is released, FamilyTreeDNA is planning to provide mitochondrial DNA haplogroups for Family Finder customers as well. The current haplogroup estimate is late 2024 or even into 2025.

Unfortunately, some of Ancestry’s DNA files don’t include mitochondrial DNA SNPs, so some customers who’ve uploaded Ancestry files won’t receive mitochondrial haplogroups.

STR Haplogroups to be Updated

All FamilyTreeDNA customers who have taken Y DNA STR tests, meaning 12, 25, 37, 67, or 111 markers, receive predicted haplogroups. Often, the Family Finder extracted results can provide a more refined haplogroup.

When that is possible, STR test predicted haplogroup results will be updated to the more refined Family Finder haplogroup.

Furthermore, while STR results are quite reliably predicted, Family Finder results are SNP-confirmed.

Notification

When your Family Finder test has received a haplogroup or your STR-derived haplogroup has been updated, you’ll receive an email notification with a link to a short, less than 2-minute video explaining what you’re receiving.

You can also expect emails in the following days with links to additional short videos. If you’d like to watch the videos now, click here.

You can also check your results, of course. If you should have received an email and didn’t, check your spam folder, and if it’s not there, notify FamilyTreeDNA in case your email has managed to get on the bounce list.

Group project administrators will receive notifications when a haplogroup is updated for a member in a project that they manage. This doesn’t just apply to Family Finder haplogroup updates for STR results – notifications will arrive when Big Y haplogroups are updated, too.

Emails about haplogroup updates will include both the old and the updated haplogroup.

Haplogroups may change as other testers receive results, forming a new haplogroup. The Big Y-700 test is evergreen, meaning as the Y tree grows, testers’ results are updated on an ongoing basis.

New View

Let’s take a look at what customers will receive.

In one of my surname projects, one male has taken a Family Finder test, but not the Y DNA test.

Several other men in that same paternal line, who are clearly related (including his brother), have taken Y DNA tests – both STR and the Big Y-700.

We have men who have taken the Big Y-700 test, STR tests only (no Big Y), and one with only a Family Finder test, so let’s compare all three, beginning with the man who has taken a Family Finder test but no Y DNA tests.

He has now been assigned to haplogroup I-BY1031, thanks to his Family Finder test.

Before today, because he has not taken a Y DNA test, he had no haplogroup or Y DNA Results section on his personal page.

Today, he does. Of course, he doesn’t have STR results or matches, but he DOES have confirmed SNP results, at least part way down the tree.

He can view these results on the Haplotree & SNPs tab or in Discover. Let’s look at both.

Haplotree & SNPs

By clicking on the Haplotree & SNPs link, you can view the results by variants (mutations,) as shown below, or by countries, surnames, or recommended projects for each haplogroup.

Of course, as more Family Finder results are rolled out, the more names and countries will appear on the Haplotree.

Recommended Projects

It’s easy to determine which haplogroup projects would be a good fit for people with these new haplogroups to join.

Just view by Recommended Projects, then scan up that column above the selected haplogroup. You can even just click right there to join. It’s that easy!

Results still won’t show on the public project page, because these testers don’t have STR results to display. Perhaps this will encourage additional testing in order to match with other men.

Download SNP Results

If you’re interested, you can download your SNP results in spreadsheet format.

I’m only showing four of my cousin’s positive SNPs, but FamilyTreeDNA was able to extract 358 positive SNPs to assign him to haplogroup I-BY1031.

Are Family Finder Haplogroups Better Than STR Test Predicted Haplogroups?

How do Family Finder haplogroups stack up against STR-predicted haplogroups?

Viewing the Y DNA results of related cousins who have taken STR tests, but not the Big Y-700, we see that their Y DNA haplogroup was predicted as I-M253.

We also know that the haplogroup determined by the Big Y-700 for this line is I-BY73911.

How can we use this information beneficially, and what does it mean?

Discover

Family Finder haplogroups can access Discover, which I wrote about, here.

Clicking on the Discover link takes you to your haplogroup story.

Let’s look at the new Family Finder Haplogroup Story for this tester.

Haplogroup I-BY1031 is about 3100 years old and is found in England, Sweden, the US, and 14 other countries. Of course, as more Family Finder haplogroups are provided to customers, this information will change for many haplogroups, so check back often.

Of course, you’ll want to review every single tab, which are chapters in your ancestral story! The Time Tree shows your haplogroup age in perspective to other haplogroups and their formation, and Ancient Connections anchors haplogroups through archaeology.

You can share any Discover page in several ways. This is a good opportunity to excite other family members about the discoveries revealed through DNA testing and genealogy. Prices are reduced right now with the Holiday Sale, too, so it’s a great time to gift someone else or yourself.

Compare – How Good is Good?

Ok, so how much better is the Family Finder haplogroup than the STR-predicted haplogroup, and how much better is the Big Y-700 haplogroup than the other two?

I’ll use the Discover “Compare” feature to answer these questions.

First, let’s compare the STR-predicted haplogroup of I-M253 to the Family Finder haplogroup of I-BY1031.

I clicked on Compare and entered the haplogroup I wish to compare to I-BY1031.

I-M253 I-BY1031 I-BY73199
Haplogroup Source STR Predicted Family Finder Big Y-700
Formation Year 2600 BCE 1100 BCE 1750 CE
Age – Years ago 4600 3100 270
Era Stone Age, Metal Age Metal Age Modern
Ancestral Locations England, Sweden, Germany, UK, +100 Sweden, England, US, +14 Netherlands
Tested Descendants 26,572 121 2
Branches 6779 69 0 – this is the pot-of-gold end leaf on the branch today

I created this chart to compare the major features of all three haplogroups.

The STR-predicted haplogroup, I-M253, takes you to about 2,600 BCE, or about 4,600 years ago. The Family Finder haplogroup shifts that significantly to about 1100 BCE, or 3100 years ago, so it’s about 1500 years more recent. However, the Big Y haplogroup takes you home – from 3100 years ago to about 270 years ago.

Notice that there’s a LOT of room for refinement under haplogroup I-M253. A Big Y tester might wind up on any of those 6779 branches, and might well be assigned to a newly formed branch with his test. The Family Finder haplogroup, I-BY1031, which was, by the way, discovered through Big Y testing, moved the autosomal test taker forward 1500 years where there are 121 descendants in 69 branches. The Big Y-700 test is the most refined possible, moving you directly into a genealogically relevant timeframe with a very specific location.

I-M253 is found in over 100 countries, I-BY1031 in 17 and I-BY73199 is found only in one – the Netherlands.

Based on confirmed genealogy, the common ancestor of the two men who have Big Y-700 haplogroup I-BY73199 was a man named Hendrik Jans Ferwerda, born in 1806 in the Netherlands, so 217 years ago. Of course, that haplogroup itself could have been born a generation or two before Hendrik. We simply won’t know for sure until more men test. More testers refine the haplotree, haplogroup ages, and refine our genealogy as well.

Haplogroup Comparison and Analysis

Let’s look at the Discover “Compare” feature of the three haplogroups from my family line from the Netherlands. Please note that your results will differ because every haplogroup is different, but this is a good way to compare the three types of haplogroup results and an excellent avenue to illustrate why testing and upgrades are so important.

The haplogroup ages are according to the Discover Time Tree.

Y-Adam to Haplogroup I1 I-M253 STR Haplogroup  to I-BY1031 Family Finder Haplogroup I-BY1031 Family Finder Haplogroup to BY73199 Big Y Haplogroup
Y-Adam (haplogroup A-PR2921) lived about 234,000 years ago
A0-T
A1
A1b
CT
CF
F
GHIJK
HIJK
IJK
IJ
I
M170
Z2699
L840
I1 I1
I-M253 lived about 4600 years ago
DF29
Z58
Z2041
Z2040
Z382
Y3643
Y2170
FT92441
FT45372
PH1178
BY1031 I-BY1031 lived about 3100 years ago
FT230048
BY65928
BY61100
I-BY73199 lived about 270 years ago

 All of the base haplogroups in the first column leading to Haplogroup I span the longest elapsed time, about 230,000 years, from Y-Adam to I-M253, the STR-predicted haplogroup, but are the least relevant to contemporary genealogy. They do tell us where we came from more distantly.

The second column moves you about 1500 years forward in time to the Family Finder confirmed haplogroup, reducing the location from pretty much everyplace in Europe (plus a few more locations) with more than 6700 branches, to 69 branches in only 17 countries.

With the fewest haplogroups, the third column spans the most recent 2800 years, bringing you unquestionably into the genealogically relevant timeframe, 270 years ago, in only one country where surnames apply.

If we had more testers from the Netherlands or nearby regions, there would probably be more branches on the tree between BY1031 and BY73199, the Big Y-700 haplogroup.

The second column is clearly an improvement over the first column which gets us to I-M253. The Family Finder upgrade from I-M253 to BY1031 provides information about our ancestors 3000-4500 years ago, where they lived and culturally, what they were doing. Ancient Connections enhance that understanding.

But the third column moves into the modern area where surnames are relevant and is the holy grail of genealogy. It’s a journey to get from Adam to the Netherlands in one family 270 years ago, but we can do it successfully between Family Finder and the Big Y-700.

Family Finder Matching

Given that these new haplogroups result from Family Finder, how do these results show in Family Finder matching? How do we know if someone with a haplogroup has taken a Y DNA test or if their haplogroup is from their Family Finder test?

  • All Family Finder haplogroups will show in the results for people who tested at FamilyTreeDNA as soon as they are all rolled out
  • All MyHeritage and Vitagene uploads, because they are processed by the Gene by Gene lab, will be shown IF they have purchased the unlock.
  • No Ancestry or 23andMe haplogroups will be shown to Family Finder matches

To determine whether or not your matches’ haplogroups result from a Y DNA test or a Family Finder haplogroup, on your Family Finder match page, look just beneath the name of your matches.

The first man above received the Family Finder haplogroup. You can see he has no other tests listed. The second man has taken the Big Y-700 test. You can see that he has a different haplogroup, and if you look beneath his name, you’ll see that he took the Big Y-700 test.

For other men, you may see the 67 or 111 marker tests, for example, so you’ll know that they are available for Y-DNA matching. That may be important information because you can then visit the appropriate surname project to see if they happen to be listed with an earliest known ancestor.

After the rollout is complete, If you have a male Family Finder match with no haplogroup shown, you know that:

  • They did not test at FamilyTree DNA
  • If they uploaded from MyHeritage or Vitagene, they did not unlock the advanced Family Finder features
  • Or, they tested at either 23andMe or Ancestry, and uploaded their results

You can always reach out to your match and ask.

How to Use This Information

There are several great ways to utilize this new information.

I have a roadblock with my Moore line. Moore is a common surname with many, many origins, so I have autosomal matches to several Moore individuals who may or may not be from my Moore line.

I do know the base haplogroup of my Moore men, but I do not have a Big Y, unfortunately, and can’t upgrade because the tester is deceased. (I wish I had ordered the Big Y out the gate, but too late now.)

As soon as the results are complete for all of the testers, I’ll be able, by process of elimination to some extent, focus ONLY on the testers who fall into Family Finder haplogroup of my Moore cousins, or at least haplogroup close for Ancestry or 23andMe upload customers. In other words, I can eliminate the rest.

I can then ask the men with a similar haplogroup to my proven Moore cousins for more information, including whether they would be willing to take a Y DNA test.

  • Second, as soon as the Family Finder processing is complete, I will know that all male Family Finder matches and uploads from MyHeritage and Vitagene that have paid for the unlock will have haplogroups displayed on the Family Finder Match page. Therefore, if there’s a male Moore with no haplogroup, I can reach out to see where they tested and if a haplogroup has been assigned, even if it’s from Ancestry or 23andMe and isn’t displayed in Family Finder.

If so, and they share the haplogroup with me, I’ll be able to include or exclude them. If included, I can then ask if they would consider taking a Y DNA test.

  • Third, for lines I don’t yet have Y DNA testers for, I can now peruse my matches, and my cousins’ matches for that line. See items one and two, above. Even if they don’t reply or agree to Y DNA testing, at least now I have SOME haplogroup for that missing line.

Discover will help me flesh out the information I have, narrow regions, find projects, look at ancient DNA for hints, and more.

  • Fourth, the haplogroups themselves. I don’t know how many million tests FamilyTreeDNA has in their database, but if we assume that half of those are male, some percentage won’t have taken a Y DNA test at all. We’ll be able to obtain Y-DNA information for lines where there may be no other living descendant. I have at least one like that. He was the end of the surname line and is deceased, with no sons.

I’m literally ecstatic that I’ll be able to obtain at least something for that line. If it’s anything like my example Netherlands lineage, the Family Finder haplogroup may be able to point me to an important region of Europe – or maybe someplace else very unexpected.

The Bottom Line

Here’s the bottom line. You don’t know what you don’t know – and our ancestors are FULL of surprises.

I can’t even begin to tell you how MUCH I’m looking forward to this haplogroup rollout.

To prepare, I’m making a list of my genealogical lines:

  • If the paternal line, meaning surname line, is represented by any match in any database
  • If that line is represented by a known person in the FamilyTreeDNA database and by whom
  • If they or someone from that line has joined a surname or other FamilyTreeDNA project, and if so, which one
  • If they’ve taken a Y DNA test, and what kind – watch STR results for an updated haplogroup
  • If they’ve taken a Family Finder test – my cousin is a good example of a known individual whose kit I can watch for a new haplogroup
  • Old and new haplogroup, if applicable

If my only relative from that line is in another vendor’s database, I’ll ask if they will upload their file to FamilyTreeDNA – and explain why by sharing this article. (Feel free to do the same.) A Y DNA haplogroup is a good incentive, and I would be glad to pay for the unlock at FamilyTreeDNA for cousins who represent Y and mitochondrial DNA lines I don’t already have.

One way I sweeten the pie is to offer testing scholarships to select lines where I need either the Y DNA or mitochondrial DNA of relevant ancestors. It’s a good thing these haplogroups are being rolled out a few thousand at a time! I need to budget for all the scholarships I’ll want to offer.

I feel like I won the lottery, and FamilyTreeDNA is giving me a free haplogroup encyclopedia of information about my ancestors through my cousins – even those who haven’t taken Y DNA tests. I can’t even express how happy this makes me.

What lines do you want to discover more about, and what is your plan? Tests are on sale now if you need them!

_____________________________________________________________

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Holiday DNA Sales Are Here!!!

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I apologize for the brevity of this posting, but I came home from the FamilyTreeDNA Conference this past weekend with “conference crud.”

I’ll catch you up on that great conference later, but sales won’t wait, and the holiday sales have already begun. This is a great time to order. These prices are the lowest ever.

MyHeritage

The MyHeritage autosomal test is only $36, and shipping is free if you order two or more DNA tests. That’s a GREAT deal. Click here to order.

If you’ve already tested elsewhere, you can upload your raw DNA file from that vendor to MyHeritage, here. I’ve provided step-by-step instructions, here. After you’ve uploaded, be sure to purchase the $29 unlock for advanced autosomal features, including the MyHeritage chromosome browser and Theories of Family Relativity, which shows you how you connect with DNA matches who share the same ancestor in MyHeritage’s collection of 52 million trees.

If you’re new to MyHeritage, you can also purchase a data or records subscription here, including a free trial.

I use this combination of DNA, trees, and tools almost daily and love that MyHeritage sends me regular record matches from their billions of genealogy records.

FamilyTreeDNA

Every test is on sale at FamilyTreeDNA.

As you know, FamilyTreeDNA provides Y-DNA, mitochondrial, and autosomal testing through their Family Finder test. They also accept autosomal DNA file uploads from Ancestry and MyHeritage. You’ll find easy download and upload instructions for each vendor, here. The advanced feature unlock is on sale now for just $9!

You can order each test individually or bundle tests for a better price.

Note that the introductory Y-DNA 37-marker test is available for $99, and can later be upgraded to the Big-Y test. However, the Big Y-700 is on sale for $399 which is a great price. Y-DNA testing unlocks your paternal ancestor’s history revealed in FamilyTreeDNA‘s world-class Discover tools.

If you’ve already tested at FamilyTreeDNA and would like to add another test for yourself or upgrade, say to the Big-Y test, just click here, sign on, and click on the Add Ons and Upgrade button in the upper right-hand corner.

I hope I’m not spilling the beans, but all sale prices, including upgrades and autosomal transfer unlocks, are shown below:

Genealogy Goals

The holidays are coming! Take a look at what you need for your genealogy.

I decided a long time ago it’s absolutely fine to “gift myself” with purchases and upgrades for my cousins. Especially the Big Y-700 at FamilyTreeDNA and the mitochondrial DNA test, which is vastly underutilized. This helps my genealogy immensely, as well as theirs. Most people are happy to swab, especially if you’re doing the genealogy work.

My goal is to:

  • Have the autosomal DNA of each of my family members and cousins in both databases that provide chromosome browsers so that I can confirm ancestors at FamilyTreeDNA and MyHeritage.
  • Find male cousins to test for the Y-DNA, the surname lineage of each of my ancestral lines. Males who descend paternally from each male ancestor can usually be tracked by their surname.
  • Mitochondrial DNA for each of my ancestors. For mitochondrial DNA testing, we need testers descended through all females from each female ancestor, although males in the current generation can test. Everyone has their mother’s direct matrilineal line mitochondrial DNA.

To find testing candidates for your lineages, check projects at FamilyTreeDNA, autosomal matches at all vendors, your ancestors at WikiTree, ThruLines at Ancestry, even though ThruLines is still having issues, and Theories of Family Relativity at MyHeritage.

With DNAtests on sale right now, this is a great time to purchase tests at MyHeritage and FamilyTreeDNA.

_____________________________________________________________

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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.

Thank you so much.

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MyHeritage DNA Uploads This Week – Free Access to ALL DNA Features, Forever

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MyHeritage has announced that DNA files uploaded this week, through October 8th, will receive all DNA tools and features, free, forever. This means no unlock fee, not today, not next month, not next year, not ever.

The DNA file upload, matching, and basic DNA features are always free. Normally, unlocking the advanced tools costs $29 – but not now. All DNA features, including advanced ones, are free if you upload this week.

It’s always a good thing to fish in multiple genetic ponds. You’re sure to match some of the 7.3 million testers at MyHeritage. In my case, I have more than 16,600 matches, many of whom are found nowhere else. That’s true for my European ancestral lineages and some US cousins who tested there and not elsewhere, including two close matches.

When you upload, you’ll receive these tools:

What a great value!

Click here to upload now.

Who will you match?________________________________________________________

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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 the price you pay but helps me to 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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AARP Member? Save 30% On Your Ancestry Membership

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If you’re an AARP member, you are eligible to receive a 30% discount on your subscription at Ancestry.com.

My subscription was going to expire. It couldn’t auto-renew because my credit card had expired which turned out to be a happy accident. I waited until about 10 days before expiration to call and renew. I wanted to see if any discounts were available.

You can see when your subscription expires by clicking on the down arrow by your name, then Account Settings.

The AARP Discount

Here’s how the AARP discount works:

  • You need to call Ancestry at 800-401-1789 in the US and talk to a customer service representative. The person I spoke with was very helpful but neglected to mention that my current subscription was not allowed to run its course BEFORE the new subscription took effect. I lost the remaining days.
  • If you’re calling from outside the US, you’ll probably need to connect via chat with a Virtual Assistance to obtain a phone number that will work for you.
  • You need to provide your AARP membership number – and they do verify the number.
  • If you don’t have your card handy, you can find your account number above your name on the AARP correspondence and/or their membership newspaper/flyer.
  • If you pay for your AARP membership for either three or five years at a time instead of one year, you’ll need to contact AARP to get a new number yearly. Yea, I know this doesn’t make sense, but that’s how AARP works, apparently. I was fortunate because I joined last fall.
  • I don’t know if this discount applies to partial-year memberships or if you select monthly payments. You can discuss that with the Ancestry representative.
  • If you select auto-renew, at this same time next year your membership WILL RENEW AT THE THEN-CURRENT RATE. This means Ancestry does NOT renew your membership at the AARP discount rate. You’ll need to call Ancestry before your membership auto-renews to obtain that discount every year.

Is what you’ll save worth it? It was for me. I subscribe to the World Explorer Membership and saved a little more than $100. I also took advantage of this opportunity to make sure my other account information was up to date.

Don’t Cheat Yourself

After I paid, I made an unpleasant discovery.

My subscription expired the following week, during the first week of June, and what I didn’t realize was that the new membership took effect on the day I called and made the payment – May 27th. So, I essentially got cheated out of about ten days of the subscription I had already paid for. That’s not right, and I was not informed of that “detail.”

Apparently, I should have let the subscription expire or at least waited until the last day to call. Don’t make my mistake.

My subscription renews on May 27 of next year. I’m putting a note in my calendar to check on this a month in advance to ensure this will NOT auto-renew. I attempted to simply remove my credit card information to prevent auto-renewal from occurring, but the system would not allow me to remove my current credit card information without replacing it with a different card.

I can probably have them remove it if I call again.

I suspect I’ll need to cancel my subscription next year when I call, then resubscribe using my AARP number. If you’re thinking to yourself, “This is a pain,” it surely is.

It’s too bad this is so challenging, but regardless, with a little perseverance, if you have an AARP number, you can obtain a significant discount. Don’t let this benefit go unclaimed.

You’ll save enough to buy another DNA test at Ancestry or maybe elsewhere.

If you aren’t an AARP member but are a member of other organizations, genealogy, or heritage societies, you may qualify for a discount via that membership. Some of those might even result in a larger percentage discount than AARP. You’ll need to contact Ancestry to see. They won’t give you the membership list. You have to provide them with a list of your memberships.

I’ve also been told, but can’t verify, that when Ancestry has a 50% off special for gift subscriptions only, you can call, cancel your subscription, purchase a gift subscription, and gift it to yourself.

If you know of other Ancestry discounts for specific organizations or other ways to obtain discounts, please post them in the blog comments.

Good luck!

_____________________________________________________________

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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 the price you pay but helps me to 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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DNA Black Friday is Here

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Yes, I know it’s not Friday yet, but the DNA Black Friday sales have started, and sale dates are limited, so here we go.

These are the best prices I’ve ever seen at both FamilyTreeDNA and MyHeritage. If you’ve been waiting to purchase a DNA test for that special someone, there’s never been a better time.

Remember, to jump-start your genetic genealogy, test close or targeted relatives in addition to yourself:

  • Parents, or if both parents are not available, full and half-siblings
  • If neither parents nor siblings are available, your siblings’ descendants
  • Grandparents or descendants of your grandparents – aunts, uncles, or their descendants
  • Cousins descended from great-grandparents or other known ancestors
  • Y and mitochondrial DNA descendants of specific, targeted ancestors

For yourself, you’ll want to fish in all the ponds by taking an autosomal test or uploading a DNA file to each of the four vendors. Upload/download instructions are available here.

Everyone can test their own mitochondrial DNA to learn about your mother’s direct matrilineal line, and males can test their Y-DNA to unveil information about their patrilineal or surname line. Women, you can test your father’s, brother’s, or paternal uncle’s Y-DNA.

I’ve written a DNA explainer article, 4 Kinds of DNA for Genetic Genealogy, which you might find helpful. Please feel free to pass it on.

Vendor Offerings

FamilyTreeDNA

Free shipping within the US for orders of $79 or more

FamilyTreeDNA is the only major testing company that offers multiple types of tests, meaning Y-DNA, mitochondrial and autosomal. You can also get your toes wet with introductory level tests for Y DNA (37 and 111 marker tests), or you can go for the big gun right away with the Big Y-700.

This means that if you’ve purchased tests in the past, you can upgrade now. Upgrade pricing is shown below. Click here to sign on to your account to purchase an upgrade or additional product.

At FamilyTreeDNA, by taking advantage of autosomal plus Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA, you will get to know your ancestors in ways not possible elsewhere. You can even identify or track them using your myOrigins painted ethnicity segments.

FamilyTreeDNA divides your Family Finder matches maternal and paternally for you if you create or upload a tree and link known testers. How cool is this?!!!

MyHeritage

The MyHeritage DNA test is on sale for $36, the best autosomal test price I’ve ever seen anyplace.

MyHeritage has a significant European presence and I find European matches at MyHeritage that aren’t anyplace else. MyHeritage utilizes user trees and DNA matches to construct Theories of Family Relativity that shows how you and your matches may be related.

Remember, you can upload the raw data file from the MyHeritage DNA test to both FamilyTreeDNA and GEDmatch for free.

Free shipping on 2 kits or more.

This sale ends at the end-of-day on Black Friday.

You can combine your DNA test with a MyHeritage records subscription with a free trial, here.

Ancestry

The AncestryDNA test is $59, here. With Ancestry’s super-size DNA database, you’re sure to get lots of matches and hints via ThruLines.

You can get free shipping if you’re an Amazon Prime member.

If you order an AncestryDNA test, you can upload the raw DNA file to FamilyTreeDNA, MyHeritage and GEDmatch for free. Unfortunately, Ancestry does not accept uploads from other vendors.

23andMe

The 23andMe Ancestry + Traits DNA test is $79, here. 23andMe is well known for its Ancestry Composition (ethnicity) results and one-of-a-kind genetic tree.

The 23andMe Ancestry + Traits + Health test is now $99, here.

You can get free shipping if you’re an Amazon Prime member.

If you order either of the 23andMe tests, you can upload the raw data file to FamilyTreeDNA, MyHeritage, and GEDmatch for free. Unfortunately, 23andMe does not accept uploads from other vendors.

Can’t Wait!!

This is always my favorite time of the year because I know that beginning soon, we will all be receiving lots of new matches from people who purchased or received DNA tests during the holiday season.

  • What can you do to enhance your genealogy?
  • Have you ordered Y and mitochondrial DNA tests for yourself and people who carry the Y and mitochondrial DNA of your ancestors?
  • Are you in all of the autosomal databases?
  • Who are you ordering tests for?

_____________________________________________________________

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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 email 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 the price you pay but helps me to 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 Book

Genealogy Books

Genealogy Research