How to Crack a Genealogy Brick Wall Using AncestryDNA's Enhanced Shared Matches

[@LawdyMizClaudy]

OMG! 💡💡💡. I have a large cluster of more than 100 matches of around 20-30 cms and have been looking for ONE MCRA to tie them all together. I know there is endogamy (18th C NY) and have identified many connections, but have been searching for that ONE couple or person from which we are all descended. I can see I need to think laterally! I think this group involves one of my 3 brick walls, so is worth pursuing. Thanks for the eye opener.

[@DanaLeeds]

@@LawdyMizClaudy, Yay!! And thanks for sharing. Wishing you the best and hope you are able to solve this! 😁

[@JeanAnzalone]

Hi Dana. Can you describe how you went about Step #1 "identifying the relevant DNA matches" (ie. Jason) to begin this process on?

[@DanaLeeds]

Thank you for your question about how I identified the relevant matches. In this case, I used a combination of factors to determine that Jason and Corrina were the most relevant matches for our research: First, it helped that Jason and Corrina were 2nd cousins once removed to the test-taker. Jason had a small family tree, but it traced back to a child of James E Payton and Mary Ella Gilbert, our target couple. Corrina's tree was very small, but she had enough details about a grandparent that I was able to create a tree for her. Her tree also traced back to James and Mary. Also, I had previously assigned colored dots (i.e. Custom Groups) to these matches based on Jimmie's 8 great-grandparents. Both Jason and Corrina fell into the color group associated with the Payton and Gilbert branch, further supporting their relevance. Since we were looking for descendants of James and Mary through a child other than Benjamin (Jimmy's ancestor), these two matches fit our criteria perfectly. Jason and Corrina's shared matches with Jimmie should either be other descendants of James and Mary, or relatives connected to James's line, or relatives connected to Mary's line. That's how I identified Jason and Corrina as relevant DNA matches. I hope this helps!

[@bevleeming6703]

Thanks, case studies are helpful to understand procedures.

[@DanaLeeds]

You're welcome! 😊

[@Rexag]

Great information ....some of the steps I had figured out. I will be coming into someone's research as an illegitimate. I don't see it as a problem since the people that it would affect were my great grandparents - their secret...nobody is alive now that should matter....but it does. I've reached out to three asking if they have information they can share to help find an adopted grandfather's parents - not disclosing I already know it's their family through DNA. They don't return the message and one blocked me. So, I haven't found it to be too friendly in Ancestry ...I go it alone. Thanks for your information.... helps a lot!

[@DanaLeeds]

@@Rexag, Sorry to hear that people aren’t willing to help, but these new enhanced shared matches do exactly that - help you figure out connections even when people don’t answer your questions! Best wishes!

[@Rexag]

@@DanaLeeds I just found your channel and looking forward to your videos and adding the Pro so I can get extra DNA info. Thanks for sharing what you know.

[@DanaLeeds]

@@Rexag, You’re very welcome!

[@sharell814]

I have a case I've been working for 3 years NPE. Would love your help.

[@DanaLeeds]

Unfortunately I don’t have time to help one-on-one, but I hope some of my videos can point you towards solving it! And I am working on a DNA course for early next year that might help.

[@MSgt_D]

Thank you for doing this video Dana; I'm hoping it will help me in researching my 3x great grandmother. I don't know her maiden name; I only know her two married names, as her Revolutionary War widow's pension application lists her children. I have DNA matches with descendants of her and both of her husbands, and my only hope of finding her info is through DNA. I know of one living woman who descends in her female line, but was unable to convince her to do a MtDNA test.

[@DanaLeeds]

You're welcome! Since you've already identified descendants of both her and her two husbands, I recommend focusing on the Shared Matches for each group. Some of these matches will be descendants of both her and one of her husbands, while others will be related only through her side (e.g., her parents) or only through his side (e.g., his parents). This approach might lead to the breakthrough you're looking for!

[@Jay-zi9ls]

Very informative video! I have two big brick walls. One being a 2nd GGF and the other being a 3rd GGF. Thankfully I have family elders who tested so I use their DNA matches to my advantage. But so far, no luck haha. Seems like I need to find a target match within the shared known/established matches that descend from known common ancestors. The target match/es are expected to not descend from the known common ancestors, correct? Then I analyze those dna matches, looking for common surnames, common locations, expected cm ranges and relationships, and conduct traditional genealogy.. Right? Lol I feel like I’m doing something wrong but I’m probably not. It’s just that a good number of matches I’m dealing with are labeled as unassigned or both sides. That’s confusing me. Sorry so long. Just looking for some validation lol.

[@DanaLeeds]

Thank you! I'm glad you found it informative.🙂 You've pretty much got it. I will restate one part because I'm unsure if you understand the target match(es). Let's look at the 2x GGF. If you know who he is and are trying to identify his parents, you would be looking for other descendants of his - preferably through a different child than the one you descend from. (These are the "independent lines of descent." ) Their shared matches should either be other descendants of this 2x GGF, or related to his dad's side of the family (for example, descendants of his siblings or cousins), or related to his mom's side of the family (for example, descendants of her siblings or cousins). So, part of the work is dividing these matches into those 3 groups or buckets. And then looking for common surnames (or actual names!), places, etc. Best wishes! I have gotten a lot of questions about this, so I will make a video soon. 🙂

[@Jay-zi9ls]

@ Thanks for the feedback and I’ll be sure to tune in to your upcoming video!

[@jomeyer13]

Is the common ancestors search filter is it the enhanced source of common ancestors or is it the individual tree holders who have selected and shown it under ''common ancestor'' button. I need to know if this app does more common ancestor finding that what other wise there. does this make sense.

[@DanaLeeds]

I think I understand you. The common ancestor filter would highlight the same people you could access through those hints in other parts of Ancestry - or through ThruLines. But, here you are looking at a specific match and seeing which of their matches have these hints. That can help you pinpoint what part of your tree a mystery match is from OR confirm that you have probably identified someone correctly.

[@jennifer255]

I also have multiple brick walls on my dad's side (Polish), and it's his father's side that's not only mostly the brick walls, he only has a close cluster of matches on his paternal grandfather's line (I've confirmed some DNA matches here). His paternal grandmother's surname also appears in a tree that has a surname in his maternal grandfather's maternal line. I've seen a huge tree over on MyHeritage that has a cluster of a half dozen or so surnames (including the family name) that also match my grandmother's maternal grandmother's lines. In other words, my dad's 4th cousins seem to match him from both sides. I have a theory that sometime between the 1700 and 1905 there were a group of Polish-Ukrainian ancestors in the Ternopil and Moldavia regions. One group headed north to Lithuania and Latvia, then immigrated to the US in the 1880s (my great-great grandfather, who has Lithuanian, Finno-Russian, Belorussian, Volga-German and Ukrainian matches linked to this side in MyHeritage). The other group, along with the Krakow group, migrated to Warsaw (possibly Poznan, too), and immigrated in 1904/1905. The problem is that on my grandfather's side, the paper-trail dries up beyond the 1880s (my grandfather's mother also died when he was 3, so no family stories survived). To complicate matters, my dad's surname is found in both Kujawsko-Pomorskie (near Poznan, too, where my grandmother's maternal line is from, and surnames mix in there, too) and Krakow, and even in Ukraine in the 1600s and 1700s (geneteka). There seems to be a group of family trees that migrated to Warsaw from Ukraine and Krakow, too. Also, my dad's matches that Ancestry said were Paternal show up as distantly Maternal on MyHeritage. When the Maternal/Paternal matches was in beta, my dad only had 150 Paternal matches and 300 Maternal (all were 5th-8th cousins). He has about a dozen or so 1st or 2nd cousin matches (my aunt did have some as maternal/paternal). About 90% of my dad's closer matches (1st-4th cousins, and there's only a handful of 3rd and 4th cousins) are his mother's maternal line, 8% his mother's paternal line, and 2% seem to be his paternal line only. So, his paternal grandmother is completely a brick wall (only clue are distant German/Ukrainian/Russian matches that show up on his paternal side, but also maternal on MyHeritage). Is Ancestry's ProTools up for this mess of nomadic migration with virtually no paper trail? 😅 Then there's my mom's side (German-Italian, both sides immigrated around 1914). Very few matches and family trees, and if they do, they don't know their Italian or German ancestor. She only has 2500 matches.

[@DanaLeeds]

@@jennifer255, Hi! Wow! That does sound like a challenge. Some parts of the world don’t have many DNA testers making it difficult to make progress. And it’s also more difficult when you have matches who match you in more than one way. So, I’m honestly not sure how well it would work in your case! I would try to identify your top matches, if you haven’t already, and then look at their shared matches and try to identify more of them. For example, do they have siblings, parents or children, or first cousins as matches? If so, even though they don’t have a tree, you should be able to place them on your tree. Best wishes!

[@MusicInMotion_67]

Hi Dana, great video. However how would this work if the person your looking for is suspected of being adopted? For example: My great grandfather Paul Hammond (I believe he was adopted) None of his parents surnames (Hammond/Sortor), neither his father nor his mother's surnames show up in my matches, other than a few who I also share a Turple/Estabrook GG Grandparents. Three families are pretty heavily entwined Turple and Estabrook (my GG Grandparents on one line,) and Hammond. I have matches who I should according to documentation be double 2C1R to. We are connected through the Turple/Estabrook line and should be connected through the Hammond/Sortor line, however, they have matches to that Hammond line who I should also share. These people should be second cousins to me, but I don't match ANY of them. This is why I suspect my G Grandfather was adopted. I seem to be the only descendant from him to this point that has tested. This Great grandfather Paul Hammond was married twice. I descend from his second marriage. I was able to track down a second cousin that descends from Paul Hammond's first marriage and have asked him to test in which he has agreed to do, but still hasn't done so just yet. How can I use my DNA matches to find his birth parents when Paul Hammond, doesn't have any descendants who have tested other than myself, and I've not a clue who they are? I know a descendant of the Turple/Estabrook family adopted a child from a Hammond/Sortor Descendant. I'm suspecting that "in return" the Hammond/Sortor Family adopted a child (my G Grandfather) from the Estabrook family. I say them, because I have a lot of matches to the Estabrooks. Any suggestions for finding my G Grandfather Paul Hammond's biological parents when I'm not positive on what surname to search for?

[@DanaLeeds]

@@MusicInMotion_67, Hi! This sounds like a challenging problem, but I do have some suggestions. First of all, I would create clusters of your matches. (Are you the oldest generation that has or can test? If there’s an older generation, that would be helpful.) If this is actually an adoption, you are hoping to find some groups (or clusters) of matches that you don’t have any known connection to. My channel is very new, so I don’t have a lot of videos on it yet. I do have a video on Legacy Family Tree Webinars called “One Man, Multiple Names: A DNA-Based Case Study” that might be helpful. In this case I was trying to identify the biological parents of a grandfather. I wasn’t finding the surname I expected. Instead, I found that he had lived his adult life under an alias! I wouldn’t have been able to solve this without DNA. I’m hopeful that if your great grandfather was adopted that it is outside of these “entwined” families. Best wishes! And I’ll keep making video so there’s more to help. :)

[@MusicInMotion_67]

​@@DanaLeeds thank you, I'll try to find that video.

[@tonyweston5049]

Fantastic strategy for finding a Brick ancestors, however; can the same be used to find how a NPE DNA Match that is matched to 150+ DNA Matches in Canada that are matched to my NPE Match in Wales UK? There is a complete separation of UK based DNA Matches to those in Canada.

[@DanaLeeds]

@@tonyweston5049, I’m not sure how far back in time this NPE is, but I would suggest trying to determine how some of those Canadian matches are related to each other. Then try to determine how some of the Wales matches are related to each other. And finally seeing how the two groups are connected to each other. It’s possible one is the father’s side and the other is the mother’s side. Best wishes!

[@vancraven7688]

Gosh you are so awesome. !

[@DanaLeeds]

Thank you! 🥰

[@VincenzoCapodivento-kl1ek]

Ciao ti seguo sempre.ho un gruppo triangolazione su mhyeritage con me e tra di loro il segmento uno contro due di loro ha volte e 9cM ha volte e 8cM poi 7,5 cM e poi 7,1cM poi quando inserisco 7 matches il segmento triangolati diventa 7,1cM loro hanno origini di gruppi genetici dei rom popolazione .che significa?

[@DanaLeeds]

Hi! Thank you for following me! I had Google translate what you wrote, which was a little unclear. I hate to give this answer, especially when I'm not exactly sure what you are saying, but small segments like this may be false. Or they may be so distant as to not be genealogically relevant. In other words, you all inherited those segments from someone who lived many generations ago. If you'd like to try to reword your question, I'm happy to give it another try! Dana

[@jomeyer13]

my research is about usa families that might descend from german ancestors family in germany. Cause dna mostly is from americans.. They will have entirely different surnames as descendants. They might not have done the research and have no idea. I go lower cm's than anything you have covered.. I not sure yet if this can help me. Cause most related to that family down through the years will not know a thing. I have what i have without going off to hamburg or hannover at great cost to get more information or paying piece by piece. My hope is the low cM's come from some of them. Sadly, i get too much of maternal and not enough of paternal where i hope to get more information on the unknowns. So many are listed as unassigned.

[@DanaLeeds]

You are right that most DNA testers are from the U.S. I'm starting fairly simple, but following this methodology can help you reach further back in time. :)

[@sforman2911]

Great video. However, I have a question. My great grandmother had 3 illegitimate children. There are rumors that they may not have the same father. All kids have her last name. If my father and uncle all descend from her son, who would I start with as the best match? Should I go ahead and use one of his siblings even if they may have different fathers?

[@DanaLeeds]

Thank you! And great question. The "best match" will depend on the research question. Are you trying to determine if the 3 children had the same father? (If so, you would need descendants of all 3.) Or do you have another mystery on this line you are trying to solve?

[@sforman2911]

@@DanaLeeds right now, just my line, although it would be great to know all three.

[@DanaLeeds]

@@sforman2911, If you want to work on your line, I would use your father as the best match.

[@sforman2911]

@@DanaLeeds Thank you!

[@nickmiller76]

No one likes a smart-arse I know, so apologies in advance, but this is all stuff I'd worked out for myself. Nevertheless, congratulations to the presenter for a really well put together summary of the process you need to follow when tackling this sort of project. Particularly useful for people who are just getting started and have no idea where to begin.

[@DanaLeeds]

@@nickmiller76, I get it that many people will have worked this out for themselves. 😁 And I just keep sharing things that I hope will help someone else. And I wanted to share my excitement that this tool has “cracked” a brick wall that I have made no previous progress on.

[@miask]

What can one do if they don’t wish to give a corporation their DNA? Is this the only way?

[@DanaLeeds]

@@miask, If you aren’t comfortable with DNA testing, there are other ways to tackle brick walls. I would suggest two steps. 1. Research the person whose parents you do not know thoroughly. 2. Use the FAN club - Friends/Family, Associates, & Neighbors (which was coined by Elizabeth Shown Mills). Basically, this means to research those people, too. The person who lived on the adjacent farm, signed as witnesses, or bought items at a person’s death could either be unknown relatives or people who migrated with your person. Hope this helps!

[@miask]

@@DanaLeeds Thank you very much! I appreciate the info❤️

[@DanaLeeds]

@@miask, You’re welcome!

[@BonnieDragonKat]

Hey Dana another awesome video! However somebody that has multiple brick walls in their tree and has done DNA sometimes DNA doesn't break the wall. Sometimes DNA creates the wall. I'll give you an example My second great-grandfather on my biological paternal Father's side. We can find nothing paper trail wise about who his parents are. Ancestry has suggested parents and 99% of the people out there have put him in the tree as gospel. I have one DNA match that suggests that my second great grandfather has a brother because the match is descended from his possible brother but yet still nothing in regards to their father. So in my tree I have absolutely nothing except it's your name for my third fourth and 5th paternal great grandfather on this line. And the DNA stops with my second great grandfather. There are no matches beyond my second great grandfather on this line. The reason why I have issues with the man that ancestry is suggesting is because my second great grandfather was born in Pennsylvania. The man that ancestry is suggesting as his father lived his entire life in New Jersey. And there are no paper trails suggesting that he even spent time in Pennsylvania. Keep in mind also that this is back of the 1700s and we all know that there was a war going on at that time. So it's very possible to records are just gone. And I'm not even sure how I'm supposed to proceed at that point.

[@DanaLeeds]

Hi, Bonnie. Thank you! I agree DNA doesn't always break the walls! This is particuarly true of the ThruLines or Common Ancestor hints, which can absolutely be wrong! (Especially when a lot of people have put an incorrect ancestor in their tree.) I'm curious what you mean about the DNA stopping with your 2nd great grandfather, though. I would expect you to have some. Thanks for the comment! :) Dana

[@BonnieDragonKat]

​​​@@DanaLeedsHi Dana to give you an answer to your question. I have DNA hints for the majority of my biological father's side of the tree. But there's nothing after my second great grandfather. Even if I put an unknown fox, yes by the way the biological last name is Fox, in the tree is a placeholder for his dad and the other missing great-grandparents, nothing happens. No DNA matches. In other words my second great grandfather and my great-grandfather had the exact same number of DNA matches for each one of them. I'm not gaining any and definitely not lost any.

[@kathleenkelley1299]

Another wonderful video - thanks for the Step by Step and examples. Your videos have really helped in using Enhanced Shared matches feature

[@MaureenTrotter]

@@BonnieDragonKat, you need to look beyond the common ancestor or Thrulines hints. They only show you connections that are already in people’s trees.

[@DanaLeeds]

@@BonnieDragonKat, Are you specifically talking about ThruLines? They are sometimes incorrect. I’d recommend you watch a presentation I recorded for Legacy Family Tree Webinars called “One Man, Multiple Names: A DNA-Based Case Study.” In that case, I was trying to determine the parents of a grandparent - but the surname was not what I expected! The man actually used 2 different aliases during his lifetime. And I would not have figured out his birth name without the use of DNA.

[@lynnscott9657]

Such great information, but you go too fast for me.

[@DanaLeeds]

Thank you so much for the kind words! I’m glad you found the information helpful. You can always rewatch the video or slow down the playback speed using the settings on KZbin. I hope that helps, and let me know if you have any other questions!