AncestryDNA Shared Matches to Solve Genealogy Research Questions

[@daniellewilliams7916]

Hello, I just wanted to share I have connected 38 DNA matches to my tree NONE of which are 1st 2nd or 3rd cousins( 4TH -6TH & 5TH -8TH). For my DNA matches I didn't have many 1st and 2nd cousin matches only abt 3. I had tons of 4th ,5th and 6th cousins. Please don't ignore a match simply because they are not a 2nd or 3rd cousin. Especially if you are African American!!! These 5th and 6th cousin matches could be your missing link to connecting relatives that may have been sold off ,separated , passing etc. ( 5th or 6th and beyond puts you in that time frame). * You're going to have to do some foot work for this and build your tree out! I have found some great matches that have led to huge breakthroughs. I notice that some are distant and some not so distant just removed once or twice. Even matches with low cMs have been able to be linked into my tree .

[@GenealogyTV]

Agreed

[@bill90405]

I was introduced to an unknown first cousin through Ancestry DNA. We can’t replace the 56 years of missed relationship but have formed a nice connection. The relationship is not universally accepted in either family but satisfying to me nonetheless. People’s relationships with family are imperfect and in some cases painful. Other times the family member is just uninterested. This can cause dead ends or in some cases brick walls in your search. It’s all part of the hobby.

[@GenealogyTV]

So true. Well said.

[@TimTheHermit]

Thanks again for your awesome tips. You are such a great teacher of Genealogy. The counting "g's" in grandparents to keep track of 2, 3, 4 cousins etc is simple yet brilliant. Thank you!

[@GenealogyTV]

Thanks for that!

[@Jay123hollis]

I have been using the common ancestor feature in the ancestry DNA matches to see what side of the family and what grandparent they are from and it helped me out a lot. I would encourage someone to do that also it is a feature that is in the filter above your DNA matches.

[@GenealogyTV]

Stay tuned. Ancestry is working on filters now that will help with maternal vs. paternal.

[@dreamawhatley9609]

I used both this method and the LEEDS method and broke through a brick wall with my 2nd great grandmother. Wilkinson, Davis, and Lequire kept showing up. Turns out, my grandmother was a Wilkinson and not a Stewart as she told everyone in her life. She was from TN and they lived in Arkansas at this time. She'd been twice married and twice widowed within ten years. A child from both marriages. Now the fun part has been convincing the family about this.

[@caseyzahn3226]

Great video as always! I have my matches sorted by my parents- blue for dad, pink for mom and then the four common surnames with individual colors. I use yellow when I discover a match that might be a cousin from both sides. In some cases I have found someone who is related to me through my dad’s New England side and mom’s French Canadian lines. This has also allowed me to find quickly my mom’s great grandparents who had siblings that married...three brothers married three sisters. That has been fun figuring out which line is which!

[@GenealogyTV]

Good idea Casey, using a different color for someone who might be on both sides. Thanks for sharing.

[@schadesloth7933]

I use a colour for each great grandparent as well as a colour each for unknown matches by locality eg. Ireland, Belgium etc.

[@GenealogyTV]

Smart idea

[@arlindanelson7928]

Thank you Connie. This is very helpful. Must watch several times to better understand some things. Color coding is a top to do for me.

[@GenealogyTV]

Wonderful!

[@patnoble466]

Rather than approach tagging as a tool to answer a particular research question, I think many people face a large data management issue. The new tags and Common Ancestor recommendations have given me more of an opportunity to confirm research and to broaden my tree than to dig my roots. I for one processed all my Common Ancestor recommendations and tagged our shared matches. Those discoveries, confirmed through census and vital records searches, allowed me to broaden my tree exponentially and at the same time provided more data for additional Common Ancestor recommendations from Ancestry. I created an Undetermined tag to be paired with a lineage tag. If I see that sky blue tag it tells me I know the line but have not yet identified the individual. In Ancestry I add those undetermined DNA matches to my Ancestry file. They are not anchored to the tree but some are linked to others in my list. I eventually hope to link many to my tree. For now the are tagged as DNA Floaters.

[@GenealogyTV]

DNA Floaters... I like it.

[@thehistoricallyadequatesea4395]

I use the floater tag as well, so I can keep track of the ones with "brick bridges" until I figure out the path. I have done so many cousins now I sometimes find the person is already in the tree, or almost in the tree, when they pop up as a dna match. When I have a difficult match I ask the profile manager if they can tell me if our match is on their paternal or maternal line. That halves the research for me!

[@LanceHall]

Great video.. Ancestry just posted a notice saying they are improving matches. That's nice. The bad news is they STILL won't give us a chromosome browser. **** I've already identified the majority of my 2nd, 3rd and 4th cousins at Ancestry and put them in categories. I had 25 years paper research before getting on Ancestry in 2015 so I had a good head start on the distant branches. I have so many identified now I can now click just "shared matches" and identify mystery cousins and fill in the gaps in people's research. I'm also now using Gedmatch segment data to triangulate further back and have made major breakthroughs on multiple lines. I use a cluster of like 1st or 2nd cousins to triangulate to a cluster of 1st or 2nd cousins (to themselves) that are like 3rd, 4th, 5th cousin levels away. It's basically as if you are using DNA matches to find your 2nd cousins but instead you are actually using the spread out DNA of the great grandchildren of those 2nd cousins. It works. Also clusters of blind Ancestry autosomal matches produces results. Besides Ancestry matches I use a spreadsheet of Gedmatch data with select match segment data from the other sites added to spotlight target areas. If I'm curious about a segment match I then look for them at Ancestry or the other sites.

[@GenealogyTV]

If you’re not using it already, you should look at the Leeds method of clustering.

[@dbsf2429]

I find not that many people at GEDMatch and never anyone new. Do you not find that?

[@madreep]

I don't like the new update and it hasn't even rolled out yet. They're no longer going to show anything below 8cm which isn't a huge deal but I've actually gotten good information from some really low matches.

[@suelane3628]

I have finally subscribed. It was a lot quicker than I expected and there are no adverts interfering with U-Tube relaxation videos. Anyway, my question is 'How does Ancestry deal with False Positives?' I think this was dealt with in this wonderful video as it didn't go beyond 4th cousinship. Yet I have 8th cousins with a meagre 9cM 1 segment, but no obvious percentage of possible false positives (due to the shuffling of DNA). In the UK the system has been changed twice since I have taken the Autosomal Tests. The original estimate on my first DNA test was that there is a c95% of Dad being related to a DNA 8th cousin, which backed my hypothesis that we are descended from a particular couple in Midlothian Scotland (via my illegitimate GG Grandad). Luckily, I did always claim I needed closer DNA cousins, as further DNA results didn't back this up and now appear to be backing different hypothesis involving surrogacy, but no Scots ancestry. possibility

[@GenealogyTV]

9cM is pretty small. I personally don't look at anything less than 15-20 cM, but I have plenty of cousin matches to play with. Like anything, use it for clues. You'll need more evidence to prove or disprove lineage. That one cousin match is just one possibility.

[@sandispringfelch1317]

On both Ancestry and 23 and Me, I share significantly more DNA with my paternal cousins than with my maternal cousins. This applies to 1st & 2nd Cousins through multiple aunts and uncles.

[@GenealogyTV]

Interesting.

[@lauraz2896]

Sandi Spring Felch You get 50% of DNA from each parent. It’s just the luck of the draw.

[@sabrinaalston1243]

@@GenealogyTV How can I find out if I have other sisters and brothers out there please share Thanks

[@sr2291]

Did your paternal cousins marry other family members or marry closer in their family than your maternal side? That might cause the higher DNA.

[@ShawnaRN]

Got a long car ride today, so excited to do some of this!!! Thank you, this is excellent content!!!

[@GenealogyTV]

More like this coming tomorrow.

[@billybergendahl3515]

Two years ago I did the My Heritage DNA Test. The result for me showed that I am of Scandinavian, Iberian, Greek and West Asian ançestry. It seems to me this is a rather broad generalization. In the near future I would like to do the Ançestry DNA Test just to see any differences.

[@GenealogyTV]

You should. You’ll get more cousin matches.

[@esterherschkovich6499]

Yes,its a puzzle someone did try to explain it to me and as you say broad generalization.My friend and I did ours,we both have Celtic/Irish family,as we are both dark we thought we came originally from Spain..lol..she had Spain and then they updated it and lost Spain...mine was pure Celt,yet my biological father was of East European origin..interesting..

[@tanelise4673]

What. An. Awesome. Video! This has opened up a whole new world! I’ve never used the shared matches but 10 minutes into your video I was able to reach out to one of my matches! I do have a question tho. One of my matches and I have two of the same ancestors in our trees but Ancestry indicates that we do not have any ancestors in common. I first thought it was because his tree isn’t sourced but I recall receiving a hint that originally led me to his tree in the first place.

[@GenealogyTV]

I wonder if his DNA is attached to the same tree you’re looking at. Also, the common ancestor hint is only good if both trees show a direct line to that ancestor.

[@GenealogyTV]

And thank you for. The. Awesome. Compliments. 😀

[@MKB0720]

Hands down..the best video on this subject!!! Thank you so very much!

[@GenealogyTV]

Why thank you!

[@averildaniels7479]

I am totally going to use the groups and color matching. I love it

[@GenealogyTV]

Me too

[@BethJacksonkd4ypb]

This video could not have come at a better time. I am wanting to separate my parents sides of my DNA matches. I started a Facebook group for my dads side of my family. I invited one of my 2nd cousins that I found due to the DNA matches part of Ancestry. He is a wealth of information about that side of the family. We(my 2 sisters) only knew of 2 cousins and our personal families. Then I met Mike. And our family has grown. Turns out there's a whole bunch of us. I want to use what I learned today from you to invite more of that side of the family into the FB group. We are at 47 right now. I see it blowing up here in the next couple of weeks. Thank you so much for what you do.

[@GenealogyTV]

Thank you Beth. You made my day!

[@BethJacksonkd4ypb]

Just wanted to update you... I spent Saturday color coding my 4 grandparents and also my husband's 4 grandparents. Next will be inviting my cousins to the one Facebook group that has been started(my dads side). The goal will be a FB group for each last name common ancestor so a total of 8 groups. Slowly. Thank you again for such a great video that was very clear on how to color code.

[@jessethewestie22]

This technique was working so well for me, i was starting to narrow down further to the 8 great-grandparents. Then, found the connection between two great-grandmothers, on both paternal and maternal sides!! Distant cousins from 5 generations. Ugh. Resetting my colours...

[@GenealogyTV]

If it were me I’d leave the colors alone. it’s an indication that you have distant cousins and besides your family.

[@ramonaklassen9280]

A cousin contacted me and we worked on this very same thing, because she believed my Father was father's my another man and not my grandfather. My fist cousin who helped me find my father matches with me and my father because her father was the twin brother of mine. When I got to the second cousin, she only matched with my grandmother. Crazy stuff. So now this new cousin and I are trying to find the Ancestor who is the father of my dad and his brother. You help me to clarify so much. Thanks.

[@GenealogyTV]

Good. It's a fun puzzle to figure out sometimes.

[@donnabeard9344]

I have a fun one for you. My father was a Miller. My mothers maiden name was Miller. My paternal grandmother’s maiden name was Miller. My maternal grandmother’s maiden name was also Miller. As far as we know my paternal grandparents were not related. My paternal grandparents were third cousins but NOT through the Miller line. Oh and we are of German descent so they loved to use the names Daniel, John, Jacob, and William. All this makes research fun

[@GenealogyTV]

Oh boy, you're not kidding. If it is any consolation, you're not alone. I hear this a lot.

[@cjohnson033]

Helpful and Informative, thank you

[@BlueMoonShelly]

Thanks so much! You are an absolutely wonderful teacher ♥💫☮🌻

[@GenealogyTV]

You are so welcome!

[@paulineaitman698]

Thank you for the very easy to understand explanation I will go back and redo mine as I’m up to about 12 colours last time I did it I could have gone over 24 , so I have def gone wrong somewhere, I only have 2 x2-3 cousins 6 x 3-4 cousins and 100s of 4-6 below 70 cms no close family matches. I did find some matches that were untagged but matched lower colour groups so gave them another colour group. I don’t understand why yet as I have only just had dna results about a month so watching videos to help understand it all in I’m the uk

[@GenealogyTV]

Pauline... before you continue to recolor your groupings... I suggest you watch these two videos... about grouping DNA cousins... that are little more recent. They build on this video you watched. I think it will help you. Grouping DNA Cousin Matches on Ancestry kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6O6eYx5gc-drq8, AncestryDNA Grouping Cousin Matches: Clarified kzbin.info/www/bejne/j4CqkqWMmN1_iLM

[@GenealogyTV]

And thanks for joining the channel membership

[@KentPetersonmoney]

It is interesting when your matches are different races. Anyone on here had a friend show up as a match?

[@sarahightower7997]

Yes I had a boss who is my boss

[@TNmike0309]

How is that interesting? It is to be expected, Europeans as well as other people were mixing with minorities. It is sort of frustrating cause a lot of white matches find out when you not same race as them tend to not be interested and make you feel bad for not being white smh.

[@lindapayne1595]

@@TNmike0309 find that sad. I am pleased to find I have matches world wide, including mixed race, life can be so interesting.

[@001islandprincess]

Kent Peterson Greetings. You do realize that race has nothing to do with DNA as race is not a genetic, biological or genetic term. It is a socio-political term. Western European enslavers invented human races to rationalize their crimes against humanity. The continent of Africa contains the most genetic diversity than all other continents combined. All human beings have the same alleles (AGCT) but due to environmental pressures give rise to different frequency of genes which in turn give rise to the various population groups we see worldwide. Also, Europeans are genetically closest to Africans whereas some population groups (e.g., The Sentinels, South Pacific Islanders) who may physically resemble Africans are genetically farthest. The worldview of “race” cannot and does not explain these facts.

[@KentPetersonmoney]

@@001islandprincess I'm just now seeing this after 2 years. Skin tone can change over generations so if a white person tells me their part African I don't instantly assume thier a liar and rule it out.

[@cleocat54]

Wonderful, I need to go back to basics sometime. Tks

[@GenealogyTV]

Have fun!

[@TheRoadLessPaved]

On my maternal side of the family the majority of my ancestors lived in the same community, and were also buried in the same cemetery. Several years ago, during earlier research, I found an immigrant arrival list with the names of two sisters. The elder sister carried the name of my ancestor, the younger that of the other branch. Her brother lived with my great grandparents on one census. He then fell off the radar. I got my DNA results last week and I have relatives with the same their name. Neither link has answered my inquiries so I don't know if they're her brother, or a member of 'other family' from the area. I was also able to solve a brick wall; turns out my 2xGGM is actually my GG aunt. Their arrival document has three people on it. The first was Caroline, followed by my GGF and his brother. I assumed it was mother and sons. Looks like the age 48 was actually 18 with an accidental slash through it. She was their sister who raised the boys. They arrived a year before the 'Great Chicago Fire'. From the census date they lived in the area destroyed by the fire. She later married and had several children. An entire branch just appeared I didn't know existed. Still nothing on her missing brother, or parents other than unverified first names. This puzzle was important because in my line alone five children were named in her honor! It took 20 years to find this info, lol! Thank you for the research hints to give.

[@janes8863]

Thank you so much, this is very helpful.

[@GenealogyTV]

Glad it was helpful!

[@KnocOut]

I've got 300 4th Cousins or closer, the closest matches are from my fathers side and mainly come from one line, I've found doing my mother's side ( half welsh/ half irish) almost impossible apart from separating the Irish side but still can't figure out common ancestors! Also I find the common matches feature to be inconsistent and doesn't always give you all common matches available. But I do think the colour markers to be a good feature and have been using them for a few months.

[@GenealogyTV]

Excellent. Thanks for sharing.

[@raymondschneider1414]

Great video as are all of yours. At the end, you mention law enforcement in relation to Gedmatch. Explain what you meant, possibly in a separate video.

[@GenealogyTV]

Good idea.

[@esterherschkovich6499]

Hello I am new today from the UK!I went through Ancestry but its still good to learn from others and these helpful videos.I wonder if others have had the same problems,not all,so you write to someone,you ask questions etc but they never reply,even putting the message with good manner,they never answer??So why be on the Ancestry sites??

[@GenealogyTV]

There are several reasons why you might not get a reply. They may have died, they may not have notifications turned on, they might just be a DNA tourist and only took the test for fun to see ethnicity and then don't care after that, or they may be nervous about responding to a stranger.

[@sr2291]

Everybody doesnt have a separate mothers and fathers side. Both sides of my family came from the same country and area so they know each other and some cross family lines.

[@geneticaffairs345]

Nice editing and great video. If only an automated method was available to employ the shared matches on Ancestry and their trees!

[@GenealogyTV]

Would love to talk to you @GeneticAffairs about your service.

[@Qwondi]

Thank you!

[@jwebbtx1961]

While matching cousins, I had dismissed Ethnicity Estimates, UNTIL I saw a EE that was 100% European Jewish!! In my EE, I had 1 % E Jewish. I started looking at Shared Matches with that 100% Jewish cousin. NOW, I have 34 Jewish cousins that are 14 to 100% Jewish and dozens of 1, 2 and 3% Jewish. The old story, most do not have Trees. Several of the 100% E Jewish, are only one generation US. I CAN NOT see how I can be connected to 100% Jewish. I understand that in early 1800s, a large number of Jews lived in Charleston, SC. That jives with GGgrandmother that I suspect is my connection....of course her sir name: Smith. I feel like I am not understanding DNA fast enough to solve my questions. My DNA is on Ancestry, MyHeritage and GedMatch. Unfortunately, these sights offer me more information than I understand!! Thanks for listening.

[@GenealogyTV]

I hear you.

[@sr2291]

Amazing! Have you used the GEDMatch Calculators? Have you asked the 100 Percent Jewish match to upload their data to GEDMatch? There are a lot of videos on KZbin that show you how to use it. Look up how much each generation before you shares DNA. At 1 percent you most likely have a full blooded Jewish ancestor 5 to 8 generations back. 23andme explains it in their timeline.

[@aha1200]

So Thankful DNA Don't Lie Just The People's Who Lie But The Truth Of Family Research Matter Forever 💯 % Amen .

[@lanareich]

I have no first cousins on either maternal or paternal side, whichI think makes cousin tracking a little less effective.

[@GenealogyTV]

All cousin matches up to and including 4th cousins can be useful.

[@Suzyfromtheblock]

I don’t have my fathers surname so can’t do the tree

[@ginagaladriel]

This is very interesting and helpful, however, it's based on the knowledge of the common ancestor between DNA relatives.... The majority of my closest DNA relatives (2 cousins especially) are from unknown links, I have managed to form a tree of how they are related to each other, but not how they are related to me, have asked them all, and all have no idea of a common link (my parents are not willing to test which makes things even harder), do you have any tips to people that are in my position or that are NPE's or Adoptees/Findlings?

[@GenealogyTV]

Be patient. If people don’t want to test, that is their right. We need to respect that. You May find new cousins that match those two unknown matches with time that may help solve the problem. Eventually you’ll figure it out.

[@ginagaladriel]

@@GenealogyTV Thank you for you kind and encouraging words! Yes, I respect their decision, and hope that someone that knows the true story appears soon

[@jeanksiazek9223]

Connie... Loved this video. I started color coding, but didn't know what I was doing in the groups. How do you delete a group, that I made before, that makes no sense. I think one I titled possible matches.

[@jeanksiazek9223]

Thanks.... I figured it out.

[@nafarispeaks2135]

I have to keep telling people that Dna matches matter much more then regions

[@SuperAndreagt]

This is great thanks a lot

[@GenealogyTV]

You're welcome!

[@ginasink1356]

I’m looking for the handout. I’m a channel member so I’ve gone to the community tab and see a long list. Is there a way to search the list or do I have to scroll down to videos 2 years ago, then scroll to this particular video? Pretty time consuming.

[@GenealogyTV]

Just reposted it for you. See either the member tab or the community tab.

[@volkstouareg5620]

In your example with the cousin once removed. If you didn't already know, how could you tell if you were related to her from only one great grandparent and not both?

[@anniesshenanigans3815]

So somewhere along the line I had ancestors that were cousins that had kids together.. It has made my tree a nightmare!!

[@jamiemeade5786]

This is quite common, going back several generations. Especially in remote areas that were sparsely populated. A lot of this in the Appalachia Region.

[@Noblebird02]

this reminds me of the trouble the DNA Doe Project had in identifying Belle in the Well (Louise Virginia Peterson Flesher) because of her background in West Virginia where there was a lot of consanguinity.

[@GenealogyTV]

Yes... it can be a real challenge figuring it out... and sometimes you can't. Sometimes using good old fashioned genealogical research methods can help.

[@frankhooper7871]

I'd be more surprised to find a tree _without_ cousin marriages 🤔

[@johngavin1175]

@@frankhooper7871 I found a couple of trees with uncle/niece. 😫

[@mprrx]

I was using the color code, but as I have researched, well, blood lines have mixed 2 or 3 generations prior. (Small country). So I started writing the match names for each person's, so it gives me a better idea of what blood line the person comes from. Thanks for the G, I can make better sense. How do we start counting generations? The current live one as 1?

[@GenealogyTV]

Grandparents = one G, Great Grandparents = 2 G's. So 2 G's = 2nd cousins. So if you have a 2nd cousin DNA match, you'll have a Great Grandparents in common. It's up to you to figure out which Great Grandparents (couple) it is you have in common.

[@hemichallenger3643]

Just curious, did either of your parents do any ancestry? How did you develop your love of ancestry?

[@BrandonSmith84]

Took my Ancestry DNA Test. Haven't got the results yet. Trying to find out who's my grandfather is. My grandmother won't say who he is. He would be my dad's father. Hope my grandfather had children. My grandmother was 15 when she had my dad. Single teen mother in the late 50's. So my last name is my Great Grandfather's last name.

[@GenealogyTV]

You might also want to consider a Y DNA test... because you inherit 100% of the Y DNA for generations down the father's line. See this video for more info kzbin.info/www/bejne/jnLPcqGogsSFnsk

[@wildfox5184]

I took an Ancestry DNA test, results not back yet but been adopted I won't know where to start, my 28-year-old son wants answers, so I am trying to find them for him.

[@GenealogyTV]

You might consider my coaching service. genealogytv.org/virtual-private-coaching/

[@junepeasgood1907]

Hi - I have a question - is there a way, when you find an Ancestor common across multiple DNA tests that you manage, to be able to update that DNA Match just once and it show up on on your other managed tests? I have found that I obviously share DNA matches in my set with that of my mother (who's test I manage) and several of her siblings (who's tests I also manage). My big "PITA" is that, having updated and connected a confirmed DNA match in my set to my main tree, I then have to manually find that same DNA Match all the other tests that I manage and "connect" that same match again for each test. I also have to copy over the notes I make. Also I've found that on my mothers set, the results show a common ancestor, but that on my set there is no common ancestor - even though both myself and my mum are connected to the same family tree as the DNA Match!! I have submitted this as a suggestion to Ancestry for a future update (just in case I may get lucky), but I'm not holding out much hope for that to be soon. So - is there a quick way that, you, Christa or anyone else in the know, can think of to make the above achievable now without a major overwrite of the coding of Ancestry?

[@GenealogyTV]

Great feedback. Not that I know of off hand. I manage a lot of DNA test kits too, but I don't update anyone but my own. I use my DNA kit as the main working project. The other test kits show up in my cousin match list. I guess it depends on what you're trying to achieve, or your research question at the time. Regarding the common ancestors in your mothers and your kits... it could be that you did not inherit that part of the DNA from your mother. So she is a genetic connection with someone that you are not. Just thinking out loud here, but that might be the reason.

[@phyllisgovia4253]

How do you color match on the tree?

[@joefromravenna]

I am generally more interested in creating a vertical pedigree, because i do know all my first cousins, and most of my second cousins. I say most, because i recently discovered that my grandpa had a half brother from a first marriage of ggf, and great grandpa was married 3 times so there may be children from the third marriage I don’t know about. Being in Slovakia complicates my ability to search from a distance. Not ready to hire a PI just yet.

[@bernmcnicholl8345]

I am on a Canadian site it doesn't appear we have colour coding.

[@naomifron4545]

Excellent video Connie, thank you. You have a way of making things easy to understand, what a great way to "lump" all your cousins together in the appropriate family. I know I have mentioned this before but I did use this method of separating out paternal and maternal cousins. I only have 2nd , 3rd and 4th cousins as both my parents were only children. I have a group of 8 cousins ranging from 105-286 cM that I can match to my mother's side because they all match my half brother (same mother) but I can find only one common surname, none of the cousins I have contacted that replied have any clue as to who our common ancestor is. I suspect an NPE ( I am an NPE- unexpected father confirmed through DNA and half sister as he has passed) ; is there a way to solve this mystery? I have gone through several trees that have the one common surname, but none of their people match any of my people. Some of the same first names but the birth dates aren't correct. I know that the surname in my tree was very prolific, having a multitude of children. I have been trying to solve this mystery for over two years now. This method you went over in the video has at least helped me to separate out the two lines. I appreciate all that you do, thank you.

[@GenealogyTV]

Thanks Naomi. I’ve had cases that took a couple years to solve too. Hang in there. Sounds like you’ve got your work cut out for you. Sometimes it’s just one person in your genetic tree that you can research to find records to help fill in the blanks.

[@naomifron4545]

@@GenealogyTV Thank you for the encouragement. I have been discouraged but keep on pushing forward, I just have to find that ONE person among thousands, lol. On ancestry, I have 91,000+ DNA matches, it will take a while.

[@elizabethhanna6285]

What should I do if I can’t find any matches (and I mean any!!) for my paternal grandfather’s side?

[@GenealogyTV]

Be patient. Matches might show up later. It might mean that you didn't inherit DNA from him. Grouping your DNA matches by each grandparent. Then see who is left in your matches that are ungrouped and start studying their trees... for common names, time and place. See if the unknown matches somehow all relate to each other.

[@jllawrence35]

Hi! Do you have a video to help with half siblings? My mother was adopted. I found out that she was the product of an affair. And both parents had other children which would be her half siblings. My mom has passed so im trying to piece it together. I discovered who her mother is but am struggling to identify the father (my grandfather)

[@GenealogyTV]

I don't have a video for half siblings, but here's a tool that might help you figure it out. dnapainter.com/tools/sharedcmv4

[@jmk1962]

Wow, there is a lot to take in in this video. Will have to re-visit it when I have some names to look up. (I'm adopted and so far only know my date and place of birth). Social services won't even tell me my birth mothers name until they find her and ask if it's ok (assuming she is still alive) and I have been told it will be a year before they will do this because of the list of people waiting. It's tough being an adoptee. 🙁

[@anniesshenanigans3815]

can you try Parabon labs? they do this sort of thing. The match up your DNA on Gedmatch. Have you uploaded your DNA there?

[@jmk1962]

@Aunt Cynthia - Yes I know. I have done a DNA test with Ancestry and have been matched with a lady who is showing as my Aunt. We share 1808Cm in common. She has a younger sister and a younger brother, but they have not gotten back to me to say whether her sister might be my mother or not. I'm 58 and these people are in their late 70's and 80's. I was born in Ireland when having a baby outside of wedlock was a massive stigma, so I may well be a secret. Her sister might still be too embarrassed to admit to having had me, and if I am the child of the brother, he might not even be aware that he created me if my birth mother didn't tell him she was pregnant. This is why it's tough because social services won't even give me a name with the new GDP data protection laws in Ireland. They say even if my birth mother had left a letter for me in my file when I was born, (she didn't), they would still have to try and find her and ask her if it was ok to give it to me. So if neither of my DNA matches siblings admit to having had me or possibly fathered me, I will never know.

[@jmk1962]

@@anniesshenanigans3815 - No I've not uploaded to GEDmatch yet.

[@GenealogyTV]

I hear you. My mother was adopted and I found her bio family before DNA was a thing. You can also seek help from a professional genealogist or DNAngels on Facebook for free.

[@lauraz2896]

JMK Are you saying that the aunt won’t give you her name? If not, try to use your common ancestors that will give you their names and link it back that way, Use their family tree information.

[@thehistoricallyadequatesea4395]

I wish there was a list tool for 'add to group' so we wouldn't have to click on each match...

[@kinfolkslady]

okay, I watched your video on cousin matches. I marked my Dad's side and Mom's side. What comes next?

[@GenealogyTV]

That depends on what you want to know about your family history. Develop a research question. Then filter your matches to one side that you're wanting to learn more about. Then look at the trees of the cousin matches in your focus group for more clues.

[@nomore6939]

My Grand Mother never knew her father ... I ave noticed in my matches I have a 3rd cousin and lots of 4th cousins that I cannot link to any of my know ancesters .. They all seem to be a shared match with me and each other, so I think this line of DNA matches might be the missing DNA of my grandmothers father ... How do I confirm that and how do I move forward in trying to identify him ?

[@GenealogyTV]

Ok... so you have a great start. Take one of the closest unknown matches and do the Shared Cousin matches. Now you should have a list of all the unknown matches. Mark them with a new label/color code and call it something like "suspected maternal grandfather line" (or whatever the situation is). Then start looking in those trees (for those who have them) for common surnames and patterns. Use the note field to note the surnames in the families. Soon you will start to see patterns. Great question. Can I use this in an upcoming episode?

[@nomore6939]

@@GenealogyTV Hi yes of couse you can .. I did what you said ... and came up with a line that are common to most of the people who have a tree posted .. I know my great gran lived in Croydon ( she was 18 living with parents) so I looked at that line to find anyone who was living in Croydon near London at the same time ... I have found a man 10 years older than her living in Croydon "Charles English" he had a younger brother called Walter English only 3 years older than my geat gran ... its possible one of these are the missing Great grandfather .. but i need to look at a few more trees to see if there are anymore common links .. the sad thing is the closest DNA link to me the 3rd Cousin has only 3 names in his tree so I may try to contact him to get some more info ... if you want any info from me let me know

[@Chocktawkid]

is it possible to find out if two cousins have same father? My mother and an uncle possible united so my uncle could be my father?

[@GenealogyTV]

If your uncle or cousin (son of said uncle) have taken a DNA test, that would be the easiest way to find out.

[@susanclay6959]

I am struggling with finding my adopted son's father. His matches are mostly 3rd cousins and up. There is one that is a 2nd cousin but she has no tree and her name is only initials. She won't respond to me or my daughter. My son's father is one of 2 men a Vasquez or an Ochoa. I believe it is the latter because most his matches point to Ochoa and Silva. He is of Mexican descent. Also a lot of his cousin matches have no tree or a tree with only a few people in it. I have found some common ancestors and tried working down but I get to 1930 or early 1900 and can't find anything more (most of this is Mexican research). I do know his birthday father was in the US Navy and was born in the 70's. I could figure this out if I had information past the early 1900's. I have made charts like you showed, sorted the cousin matches, made quick and dirty trees, extended those trees the best I can, looked on Facebook for his matches, looked on white pages for more information on those living matches, and more and I still am no closer to an answer. Do you have any other ideas?

[@pearlbubbles6885]

Will the new Ancestry changes showing less matches in August 8cm and up matches be a good thing?

[@GenealogyTV]

I think it's a good thing. Less than 8 cM is a real stretch... and may not be viable.

[@jimtaylor4103]

@@GenealogyTV personally, not happy. I have a number of remote cases that low level cM matches are helping to clarify IMO. From the white paper released, one of their reasons (the first one) for the reduced support is simply data storage: "The cutoff of 8 cM was chosen after considering several factors. The first factor is data storage. Since the number of matching segments grows exponentially with decreasing length, we dramatically reduce the storage requirements of our matching database by increasing the cutoff. A second, and more critical, factor is that the accuracy of IBD detection drops rapidly with decreasing IBD length-that is, the shorter the length of the detected IBD segment (expressed in genetic distance), the less likely it is that the detected chromosome segment is truly inherited from a common ancestor." This makes me feel like I am loosing data so Ancestry does not need to upgrade servers. That data may never become available to me again. This is bad policy.

[@jimtaylor4103]

I would pay extra for more storage, how do we provide feedback to Ancestry?

[@patnoble466]

I'm concerned as well. I have identified Shared Matches at 4-6th cousin level who had a child at 7 cMs whose DNA kit was in my hits but didn't reflect back to the parent as a shared match. I certainly hope Ancestry doesn't dump the 7 cM links I've developed and annotated. Frankly the situation is a self fulfilling conundrum since they display no shared matches at 7 cMs. I have reviewed over a hundred and actually created a tag for zero shared matches to mark them.

[@CaomhanOMurchadha]

@@GenealogyTV no way. I have had several valid and very important matches below 8 cM. It is stupid for them to do this. I am very upset with their new decision.

[@theropesofrenovation9352]

How do you view your individual group (one color)

[@GenealogyTV]

At the top of the page, click groups and filter to the group you want (if you have created them.) There a bunch of more recent videos on grouping here on the Genealogy TV channel.

[@godisloveireland]

Connie do you have christian madsen(1842-1929) in your family? A dna match of mine has this man in his tree. From denmark.

[@GenealogyTV]

No I don’t think so.

[@monkeytom6322]

We have a ancestry that fought in the civil war and his brother died one day after he was born

[@sharonfoster4310]

That must have been terrible for their parents

[@byronwheeler4210]

Hi Constance, Wow! Do I have a question for you! My only daughter and I are on AncestryDNA, and, yes, we show up as father/daughter. In her matches, she has a 2nd cousin on her mothers side...likewise, the same man shows up on my matches as a 4th cousin. HELLO! I've contacted him, and we've traced our ancestry to the same 3rd great grandfather. My family follows one son and his follows another son. Does this mean, for sure, that my ex wife and I are biologically related? She won't take the test and shows no interest. We're all from the north central Texas area, so I guess it wouldn't be that startling if it is true. Love to know what you think. Thanks

[@GenealogyTV]

Well on the surface, without looking at the details is sounds like a good hypotheses. You need to confirm every link on both sides of the equation. However, it sounds like you have done much of this work... on the surface I'd say you are correct, but I reserve the right to be wrong given the limited amount of information I have here. I've seen stranger things.

[@byronwheeler4210]

@@GenealogyTV Thanks Constance. I guess my ex's DNA would confirm it one way or the other. No matter what, I am related to her first cousin!

[@aworkinprogress2]

Thank you for all your helpful videos . My research question is difficult and so far I have had much trouble finding anyone who can help me with it. First, it is not dealing with common ancestors or direct line ancestors at the moment. I am attempting to find my 2x great grandfather's and great grandmother's parents. The great grandmother is part of an intermarrying group of people and that has made finding her parents difficult. But the great grandfather was apparently an only child of a deceased father. His mother remarried and he had two half brothers by that marriage. But I have not been able to find the parents of his true father or his mother. I already know my 1st-3rd cousins and some of the 4th cousins. My DNA results are bringing up people on all branches except for my 2x great grandfather. Ancestry's ThruLines has my 2x great grandmother's connections all wrong as per their suggestions. I realize those are set up using other people's trees which could very well have multiple mistakes in them. I rarely even use ThruLines anymore except to check for new additions. What I need are the 4th and further back cousin matches that would be connected to my 2x great grandfather's father and his parents. So far I have found not one connection. I do have thousands of matches without trees. But none of those with trees seem to have any connections. The problem is, the man I am looking for was an immigrant to NJ from Ireland. His siblings, or uncles, or any other close relative could have come to America or not, and ended up in very different locations. My 2x great grandfather was born in NJ but ended up in Ohio. His father could have died anywhere in between. I am at a loss on what to do. Nobody I have contacted in various gene groups seem to even understand my question and only give me answers I already have. Would you be able to do a video using this problem? I would even be willing to let you use my case as an example. Thanks.

[@GenealogyTV]

Aworkinprogress2... love your handle BTW. I can't do a video on this but I have a suggestion. Have you uploaded your tree to the other services (MyHeritage, FindMyPast, and FamilySearch)? FindMyPast might be a good one for you.

[@aworkinprogress2]

@@GenealogyTV Actually, no. I don't know much about My Heritage or FindMyPast, but I know others are able to edit whatever I put on FamilySearch. I started years ago trying WikiTree and found that they also have that option. I've put over 22 years of work into my tree and have no plans to allow others to edit it.

[@aworkinprogress2]

@@GenealogyTV I really just want someone to show me how to use my DNA results to accomplish this goal. I have every other branch traced back much further than these two lines. It is very frustrating to not be able to take this line back further as well.

[@lauraz2896]

It’s very possible that no one from that ancestors family has taken the test. This happened on my grandma’s family. She had a very small family. You didn’t mention the extent of your other types of research such as newspapers or birth records, etc.

[@jamiemeade5786]

My paternal uncle is 83 and has taken the Ancestry DNA kit test. Since he has done it, is there a benefit to me (I have done it too), to have my dad submit his DNA sample since his brother has? I can currently go back 3X grandparents on both sides.

[@GenealogyTV]

YES! You should. Unless they're identical twins they have differences in their DNA. I encourage all siblings to test while they can, we're not getting any younger. By comparing siblings DNA we can slowly rebuild the DNA of their parents. Remember we only inherit 50% from each parents DNA (autosomal is what Ancestry does). But with the combination of siblings DNA we can rebuild parts of that. So two siblings... you can create about 65%... three siblings... about 85%. YES! Get him tested today! Here's my affiliate link if you want to use it. I'd appreciate it. prf.hn/click/camref:1101l4aFW/creativeref:1011l28282

[@veronicasamms7893]

Great video. Please can you help. I have tried what you said and had two groups going nicely. As i contiued i found a match thats related to me on both sides so now I'm confused. For eg. The cross member do not have sylvester as a match and none of her siblings but the new person has them both and to make it worse they all come up as my 1st cousins.

[@GenealogyTV]

If you are on Ancestry... Here is a playlist I recommend you watch in order to understand how to group your DNA cousin matches on Ancestry into branches of the family tree. kzbin.info/aero/PLiMXWjHlj5RSR-KaPX0jLYC-zFxpqU6OJ

[@dbcooper9935]

I've had my results since last year, but didn't know what to do with it. Thanks for the help. Do know why none of my DNA matches say "Common ancestor" even though some are first cousins? When I use the "Common ancestors" filter, it comes up zero.

[@GenealogyTV]

Do you have your DNA results attached to your tree? If your DNA results are not attached to your tree, then Ancestry can't compare it to other member trees in an attempt to line up the two trees to find the common ancestor. The common ancestor is only going to show if that person shows in both trees.

[@lautaroaguilar9584]

How do you color code your family tree on ancestry? I don’t see that option.

[@GenealogyTV]

This is in the DNA cousin matches. For your regular tree, you can add colored emojis in the Suffix field that will show if it's not too long of a name. Here is an episode I did on it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gWrCoJasg9qljKs

[@johngavin1175]

I have a question. I know it's a bit late. I have a paternal first cousin on my match list. Everyone from my paternal grandmother's side shows up on the shared list. As for my paternal grandfather's side,only two out of at least 200 people show up on the match list. Other than the obvious reason(possibly infidelity on my grandmother's part,though they did divorce then remarried),could there be a rational reason why my first cousin has my grandmother's relatives show up but only two out of a crapload of of my grandpas folk show up? Sorry if my question and the way I asked it is off putting. If you see and read this, thanks.

[@GenealogyTV]

Without examining the entire thing, it would be hard to say in a comment here. You would really benefit from Diahan Southards DNA course. She has it on sale today. Here is my affiliate link www.yourdnaguide.com/ref/6/

[@allenwaters3945]

Hi in the video at '11.25' you show the predicted relationship of Carol to you. It is showing 'Herman Madsen' as the father of 'Donald Madsen' and 'Frances Johnson' as his mother! Is this correct? Looks like 'Frances Johnson' is male!

[@GenealogyTV]

Wow Allen, good catch. I had to go look to see what you're talking about. That is a male in Carol's tree as a profile picture for Frances Johnson... at least the image is. It was Frances Johnson' half brother. Because it was the only image in Frances' gallery, I'm assuming that either Ancestry put it in there as the profile picture or Carol did. I get so focused on doing the presentation sometimes, I don't see those little details. Thanks for the heads up.

[@allenwaters3945]

@@GenealogyTV No problem! Can I ask a question? In your video 'Quick start to your DNA on ancestry - 5 Jan 2019' there seems to me lots of functionality you show that does not appear in the version of Ancestry I am using. I appreciate you may have been using a Beta at the time of the video, but if it has changed so much could you do an updated video of the same subject but using the current Ancestry version? Thanks.

[@madreep]

I went down the DNA rabbit hole two years ago to find my African ancestry and ended up being a NPE. My closest matches were low 3rd cousins. I tested through every other company and uploaded to Gedmatch and I finally got a couple of first and second cousins. My highest match is in the high 900s. And through research I'm pretty positive that he is an uncle. I believe that I have identified his father and brother. His son gave me the name of his grandmother. The problem is that there's really no info on the brother except for his death record. Not the death certificate. No birth certificate. And I found one census record for the possible grandmother and a marriage certificate and her death record and besides that it's a dead end. Her mother is as well. What would you suggest?

[@GenealogyTV]

This is a tough one without spending some time knowing everywhere you looked. You might consider one of my coaching sessions. My first thought was, where was this guy that he doesn't show up in any records? It's not unheard of but rather unusual. Could there be other nicknames? Do you have enough data for a good search (date, place and name of an event or events)?

[@madreep]

I've looked everywhere. He supposedly lived his entire life in Seattle. I think that I'm going to have to wait for the city to open back up so that I can drive up and dig through the archives. I'm in Oregon so that's no big deal.

[@GenealogyTV]

Canada?

[@madreep]

@@GenealogyTV I'm not sure what you're asking. As far as I know he never lived in Canada nor did his parents

[@laurelmoon2]

Thanks Connie. I wish Ancestry.com left room/modified for more complex family trees. I have 1 adoption 1 unknown father with a mother who was “married” multiple times and 1 NPE. Yeah they all got around way to much. It’s so hard to toggle between adopted parents and bio parents. NPE situation is very hard to put in too. The father is not a spouse. Frustrated.

[@GenealogyTV]

I agree. Ancestry needs to figure out a way to label father and mother vs. husband and wife or spouse... depending on where you are in the system

[@roberthopgood1894]

When looking at a DNAMatch, why doesn't ancestry include other of my dnamatches that also match the person i am looking at??

[@GenealogyTV]

They do in the Shared Matches tool. This episode might help. AncestryDNA Grouping Cousin Matches: Clarified kzbin.info/www/bejne/j4CqkqWMmN1_iLM

[@roberthopgood1894]

@@GenealogyTV Can't believe i didn't see it - mea culpa

[@bullekanel]

Thanks This was very useful information for me. trying to find my fathers real father.. My fathers sister took a dna test and didn't match as a aunt to me... she was 1st - 2nd cousin.... And an another in my family took a dna test.. My fathers oldest sisters daughter.. = my cousin was after test matching with me as a 2nd cousin???????? I wonder if maybe my grandmother did meet one of the person i always thought was my grandfather..s brothers.. or maybe with an uncle or a cousin to my to my grandfather? My head is spinning. I have asked Ancestry for support.. .. Its too blurry for me and i feel that my aunt and cousin might be sad of all this new situation.... I live in Sweden..

[@GenealogyTV]

Ancestry Support is not going to help you here. Go to dnapainter.com/tools/sharedcmv4 and bookmark it for future use. Then plug in the cM to any relationship you have on Ancestry... and see all possible relationships.

[@tanelise4673]

I was wondering if you have any tips on how to bring up this awkward and sticky subject. Maybe you can do a video on it? My mom and her twin brother are biracial and were born in 1924 Mississippi. Up until recently they believed they were African American, based on what their mother told them. We discovered not long ago of their European ancestry through a DNA test. They have a DNA match who shares 564 cM and I believe that I’ve determined who their father is. How do I reach out to the DNA match? Not sure what to say. My cousin who does research on my father’s side is often met with denial and resistance from Whites when told they have African American cousins - especially when they’re illegitimate and nobody is even aware of their existence. I’d appreciate any direction you could give me. Thank you.

[@GenealogyTV]

I would not approach anyone until you're sure of your findings. It is a sticky situation. Consider all the possibilities and all people who could be affected by your "reaching out" to the DNA match. 564cM is likely going to be an uncle/aunt or niece/nephew... or a half relationship. There is a lot to think through before you approach. Use good records research, right place - right time... and eliminate all other possibilities. Then think it through again. Do you even need to have this conversation? Who benefits from it? Fuel for thought.

[@tanelise4673]

@@GenealogyTV thanks for the advice. There’s a lot to think about for sure. My mom surely doesn’t want to know. She’d kill me if she even thought I was researching this. I never gave it a thought actually until one of my moms matches from this family line reached out to me to introduce himself. That’s how I knew about this family. Most likely, I’ll never get up the nerve. Thanks again for your input.

[@ahmyself1]

I have some shared matches with my great half uncle (paternal grandpa half brother)that i dont have with my aunt (my dads sister ) why is that ?

[@tanyaj1137]

Great grandmother married two cousin trying to find out 2 cousin father

[@hollywalker3132]

I have tried to join you channel to keep getting no My question is where can we find how to add marriages to family search and what about couples that have changed partners? this may not be the right place to ask but I am getting very tried of looking and finding nothing also I am 75 and my be missing the information. but I really enjoy your vidios

[@GenealogyTV]

Thank you Holly. Here is how to add a marriage on FS. Steps (website) Sign in to FamilySearch, then click Family Tree. Navigate to the Person page of the individual whose spouse you want to add. If you do not see Vitals near the top of the page, click Details. Scroll down to the Family Members section. Under Spouses and Children, click Add Spouse.

[@hollywalker3132]

@@GenealogyTV Thanks for the help holly

[@diannedotson8139]

How do you resolve where the cousin marrying cousin happens in a family? I need to separate one line from another and find the right family connections to blend them together. My husband’s paternal grandparents are related somewhere, his maternal gggrandparents are related also. My maternal ggrandmother and ggrandfather are also related. I cannot seem to find the common ancestor for the cousins marrying each other. Please help if you can or please consider doing a class on how to use the dna and cousin matches to sort these issues out. Thank You, Dianne

[@GenealogyTV]

This is when I go back to the traditional research for each one of those cousins and build a tree out for all of them... until they connect.

[@diannedotson8139]

Genealogy TV Thank you for your response. I have been doing the traditional genealogy but many of the names are common. I didn’t know if you had any ideas/tricks on how to use the dna cousin matches to help this process along.

[@GenealogyTV]

Those common names might be a clue. What I do is I take a spreadsheet and I line up all of the different cousins and their surnames and see where there’s patterns between cousins in common surnames. Those common surnames are going to end up lining up being your great grandparents or whoever the common ancestors are. From there you can build a tree of descendants down to present day. It’ll help you connect the dots.

[@diannedotson8139]

Genealogy TV Great, I will try the spreadsheet idea. Thank you!

[@sherrikataylor5891]

Genealogy TV: Connie, may I please ask u a question and cashapp you for the answer?

[@GenealogyTV]

You might consider my coaching service. genealogytv.org/coaching-options/

[@DougVerona]

I am just curious as to why AncestryDNA lists my Great Aunt (My maternal grandmother's sister) as my 1st-2nd cousin.

[@GenealogyTV]

Go to this website and plug in the cM you have fun n common with this person and see all the possible relationships you might have for that level of dna you share. dnapainter.com/tools/sharedcmv4

[@sr2291]

@@GenealogyTV That is a good site. Thank you.

[@GeraldineHughes-oj9fs]

What does it mean if my dna comes back 36% Italian? We have no Italian family

[@angelastrickland2472]

Hi Connie. I have a different father from my siblings but the same mother. I also have siblings from my father. Will all my DNA matches be listed as "half"? Please explain

[@GenealogyTV]

Not exactly, in your case knowing that you are a half sibling helps narrow down your possibilities when you are trying to figure out the relationship between you and any DNA match. For any relationship you're looking at between you and another DNA match, go to DNA Painter here... dnapainter.com/tools/sharedcmv4 and type in the amount of cM in the top box from you and the DNA Match. It will show you all the possible relations to you. Since you know you are a half to any relationship, then you can eliminate many other full relationships. Once you have narrowed down the possible relationships, try to follow it up with traditional genealogical research to confirm or deny the hypothesis.

[@angelastrickland2472]

@@GenealogyTV Thank you

[@Momtojoshcanpark]

Do you have a video of how to find a great great grandparent that you have a name but there is nothing beyond 3 cenuses and his grand daughter that was an orphan at about 12bI think that a cousin thinks moved to California? I can't find them anywhere and have no married name for the cousin.

[@GenealogyTV]

That's a pretty specific request. When you're stuck, back up a generation and make sure you are researching every record possible for the younger generation. In other words, make sure you have everything for all the children of this person.

[@Momtojoshcanpark]

@@GenealogyTV I have. And there's very little. It's my dad's dad I'm trying to find. And I cannot find much on my dad/siblings, and alot less on his grandparents line/cousins and virtually nothing the next set up. Shoot I can't even find my parents marriage certificate from around 1946. Been looking for about 5 years now.

[@not_today_satan_7]

My dad has a second cousin match. The match as they share are cousins from my dad's grandfather's sister. (So she is my dad's great aunt) my dad's grandfather also had 2 brothers so they would be my dad's great uncles. Both of the great uncles married. One had no children that we know of and tbe other had 2 daughter's and a son but none of them or their children have tested. So this second cousin match to my dad says he knows who his parents are but says he does not know how he is related to my dad or to the cousin matches they have in common. We have researched and my dad's only uncle and one of my dad's great uncles live very close to where this second cousins family lived. And not terribly far from where my dad's great aunt lived. All of these people (the uncle great uncles and great aunt) have passed away. So we're unable to ask them if they have known this second cousins family. How can we determine who the connecting person is?

[@GenealogyTV]

You might approach the living family members how have not tested and tell them you're trying to solve a family history mystery... and offer to pay for a DNA test if they'll share the results with you. Start with the elders first.

[@marilynshanks7189]

Have real mystery on my hands

[@GenealogyTV]

I hope you find it.

[@diannahughes9563]

As a person of color that is impacted by slavery...most of my cousins , 3/4th, I cant figure out how we are related. Ive spent hours trying every trick in the book and no luck. I'm on mostly every genetic platform and I consider myself very well versed across the various websites and platforms. HELP! I'm assuming I just need to allow for more people to test?!

[@GenealogyTV]

Don't rely just on DNA. There are a lot of great records out there for persons of color. I don't know your family tree or locations but researching all of those cousins trees... in their own separate space on Ancestry (if you're on Ancestry) can help you trace those cousins trees for yourself (based on their information) then keep tracing until you connect the dots. I know that's a simplistic answer for a complex problem, but I've done this over and over again. Here is a video I did about about this strategy (about 18 months ago) but the concept has not changed. It's called DNA Strategies the Pros Use kzbin.info/www/bejne/bWqViHuBd66Cr5Y

[@diannahughes9563]

@@GenealogyTV Thank you for responding. Ive been on Ancestry since 2000. Family Search since 2010. Gedmatch since 2016. Ancestry DNA since 2015. I'm also on FTDNA, Living DNA, 23NMe, My Heratige and I'm sure some that I can't quite remember.... Ive had the help from researchers and still having a hard time. Please, if you know someone who is looking for a challenge send them my way :) Again, thanks for the reply.

[@moiswatching6794]

myself daughter and 3 neices took dna tests.My mothers father was said to immigrated in early 1900 from Italy.He clearly looked like an Italian man.All 5 tests showed not even 1 % from Italy.All from scotland Ireland and england.Seems to us maybe the grandfather we knew was not my mothers father.I cannot figure how to go through my matches.so many are a one time no tree situation. Maybe a video as to how to seperate them out on a unknown grandfather side.My fathers family all had at least 5 children so there are a lot of people to go through.

[@GenealogyTV]

Watch this video called Grouping your DNA Matches on Ancestry kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6O6eYx5gc-drq8. Also make sure you see the one after it called AncestryDNA Grouping Cousin Matches: Clarified kzbin.info/www/bejne/j4CqkqWMmN1_iLM

[@Vortex_ICEcold]

I’m south Asian and I have multiple European matches with no shared ethnicity. Why is that?

[@lorrainemyers474]

I’m trying to find my biological grand father as ,my father never new who his dad was only a name ,but I came up as a cousin to this family with the same name ,but the don’t know me

[@GenealogyTV]

The reason why you are coming as a cousin is likely because the cM's overlap in range for a cousin and a grandparent. Go here and look at the graph... compare it to the cM's. You can enter the cM's in the box and see all the possible relationships. Ancestry is just guessing at which cousin bucket to put you in. dnapainter.com/tools/sharedcmv4

[@earthmoonstars2013]

is it ever possible to find how you're related to 5-8th cousins ?

[@GenealogyTV]

Yes. But it’s too long a process to write here.

[@johngavin1175]

Yes. You have to have a boatload of free time,and some aspirin. I have done it myself a couple times. As she said,its complex.

[@lorrainemyers474]

I have found a 1st2nd cousin that I don’t know anything about, I got in contact with this cousin and they couldn’t answer who I was

[@GenealogyTV]

Interesting.

[@madreep]

Gedmatch us currently down. They were hacked.

[@GenealogyTV]

Yes... I hope they get it back up soon.

[@miggyt8153]

Oh wat! Hackers stop at nothing lolz

[@yournanna866]

15% Jewish DNA does that mean one of my grandparents were Jewish ?

[@GenealogyTV]

That would take some digging to figure out. It could be a great grandparent or a combination of a couple of great great grandparents.

[@yournanna866]

@@GenealogyTV thank you so much

[@williamm8240]

Question: On my mothers side of the family, my grandfather was Martin Conway and he married Mary Conway. They were both born in Ireland and the church investigated both family's to make sure they were not 1st or 2nd cousins. I am having trouble finding the area in Mayo where they were born. How do I find the correct family. How do I check the parish where they may have been born? Having the same last name is a challenge to fine the correct family. Can you Help????

[@GenealogyTV]

William, I'm not an expert at Irish research. I did this video with someone who is... kzbin.info/www/bejne/pqq7oXh7iKukZ80

[@williamm8240]

@@GenealogyTV Thank you that was very helpful and I am so grateful for your help.

[@elizabethcody5989]

National library of ireland, Parish records online, no charge.

[@kristianbaff443]

Your name is not connie knox its constance knox

[@myrnafernandez1835]

My question is how do you find your biological father family if you never met your father or his side of the family is crazy when I asked my mother she has no idea of who he is no one does wow 😂

[@GenealogyTV]

Great question. What this video. It is a high level overview of how to do this. Solve Family History Mysteries with DNA Strategies the Pros Use kzbin.info/aero/PLiMXWjHlj5RR12Cc859K76dLKP14t8sAo Then start watching the DNA videos I did on Grouping Your DNA Matches. Here is the short list on Grouping DNA kzbin.info/aero/PLiMXWjHlj5RSR-KaPX0jLYC-zFxpqU6OJ

[@jillsmith705]

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