Love the tip about the cousin level being equal to the # of Gs of grandparent for most common recent ancestor! Example: 1st cousin (1) = grandparents (1 G) , 2nd cousin (2) = great grandparents (2 Gs) for most common ancestors. This helps so much!!!
I had almost exactly this very situation happen on my maternal side. TWICE. Not only did I use DNA cousin matching (supplemented by targeted historical research) to determine that my Mom had a different biological father, but I also found that the same thing had happened some 40 years earlier with HER Mom as well. The result being that 75% of my Mom's tree is now totally new to us. We're still dealing with the emotional fallout. ... But what I want to stress here is that I have been exceedingly CAREFUL and RIGOROUS. And that the evidence, IMO, is both compelling and incontrovertible. I'll be happy to explain the details if asked. (And BTW, I'm no novice when it comes to analyzing genetic science. I figured all of this out entirely on my own, without the aid of any helpful videos or articles.)
Only a third of the way through and I can tell I will want to rewatch it regularly. Such a beautiful presentation. Apart from the really superb information, can I just mention that, esthetically, I LOVE the slightly grey background! Such a small thing, but when people have those stark white backgrounds in videos, I have to adjust my brightness down a great deal to not be blinded. This video is so easy on my eyes and I can focus on the details I need. Did you use PowerPoint? Side note: I looked up your photography and I was immersed in your landscapes. There is no doubt you should have been and still should be taking all the photos you can. Your eye is impeccable.
Thank you for this very informative video. I'm researching for a friend who was subject of a private adoption between her adoptive parents and their MD. Other than her birth certificate I've been able to find no adoption records from the early 1960s but this may help me move forward. Watching from Staffordshire, UK. Have a wonderful new year.
Watching from Oregon. My Son purchased me an Ancestry test kit for my birthday, March 2018, and when I received the results. I started to dig, and filled out the first few generations on my parents then I began to working primarily on my Mothers side of the family tree. I spent several months searching and filling out the tree. Then I hit a wall. I was burnt out and decided to take a couple months off. Plus I am no genealogist, so I was basically learning by doing... I am glad I found you. Going to view several of you videos before I start up again... I have also noticed Ancestry has added new features so I need to look them over too... Thank you for your video...
Ah thank you. I hope we can inspire you to take it up again. If you want to learn genealogy from the beginning check out the playlist called Learn Genealogy here czcams.com/play/PLiMXWjHlj5RR12Cc859K76dLKP14t8sAo.html. Also, I offer group coaching (5 people max) if it helps... you can find that at GenealogyTV.org/Insiders.
@@GenealogyTV Thank you too. I will check out the playlist you shared. Taking next week off from work so I will have time to view them. Also joined the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society and will be attending a meeting next Wednesday in Spokane, Washington. I am originally from Spokane, so decided to see what resources are available in the area where I grew up... I do surf on YT quite a bit, and your channel popped up one day, and I started watching your videos... I am learning so much I did not know, and with all the new features Ancestry has added. I am able to view DNA matches I have never seen before (or I just didn't notice them all), which will help with filling out my family tree further. I have been amazed how far back I have gone so far. I have 8th Great-Great Grandfather listed with hints, I just need to research to verify, but I have so many ancestors to verify first before I go that far back. This could turn into a full time job... :-) Enuf of my babbling... :-P Take care, and thank you again.
Aloha from Hawaii. I was able to use DNA matches to determine who one set of great grandparents were. Fortunately, my GGF was an Ohio Quaker who descended from Virginia Quakers. That gave me loads of information. I recently confirmed my theory when I got my grandfather's death certificate. Happy dance!
Fantastic. Quakers are some of the best kept records. If you’ve not done a quaker research you should see my episode on Quakers. I have Quakers in my family too. If you ever get into the original quaker record books, they’re awesome.
Loved this! It helped to realize how much DNA comes from parents, grandparents & great grandparents. And to know that we research cousins. I am in San Antonio Tx. Thank you again! Deana Reich
I'm watching in New Orleans. My Churchill line lived in North Carolina in the 18th century. I'll check out your other series to help answer some questions. Thanks for your video. Your graphics help illustrate your topic for better understanding.
Thank you so much for this great video. Southeast Texas checking in! My brother and I are trying to find out if we are infact related to the Lee's of Virginia. We were both born to the same Lee father and so far everything we've grown up knowing about our ancestry and line of parentage has been spot on with a few surprises. It has been exhausting trying to find the exact line that doesn't lead us to the male that didn't sire male heirs. The Y-DNA test is the next test to help make that connection. It's a little expensive but it is necessary.
+Oriana Hdz Ah I used to vacation there with my family when I was a kid. Great memories of camping and waterskiing. Thanks for the comment and watching GTV.
Hi Connie, Thank you very much for your very informative videos. Now that I'm retired and have more time I decided to recommence my family search. I was adopted in 1955 and know very little about my family. I was able to find my mother's name and that she had put 3 children up for adoption - a shock! So, back in 2001, I put a message out asking if anyone recognised my mother's rather unusual name... a few years later my half-brother got in touch. I was too busy to carry out further research but I've now begun again and am finding your videos a great help. I'm eagerly awaiting my DNA test results at the moment. Thanks again for your great videos - with kind regards from Kathy - West Sussex, UK
Thanks for the note. Once you get your DNA results back, make sure you look at the videos I’ve done on grouping your DNA. That will help you separate your DNA Cousin matches.
Hi Connie, I'm watching from the great state of Washington. Once again you taught me a new trick! Thank you for the tip about how to remember the G's vs cousins!
Watching from South East Queensland in Australia. This is a great video, thank you Connie. I found it explained the strategy clearly and realise I have a lot if work ahead of me to find my Irish grandmothers grandparents. I have many groups of matches using Ancestry's colour coding but despite having a reasonable tree done already I cannot work out where these clusters fit.
Good hints. I’m in Canada and researching Ireland, England, Scotland, and North America for my relatives. My relatives didn’t have large families (think 2 or 3 children) until great-great grandparents! Thankfully I found a 3rd cousin who is a genealogy nerd (like me) and we filled in a lot of gaps in one family!
Watched video from Western Australia.👍 I have a few unresolved family mysteries over parentage going back a couple of generations. I guess as more people take the DNA test, the better are my chances of getting some 2nd Cousin matches. I don’t have very many to date.
+Elaine Williams awesome. All the way from Australia. Hang in there on the DNA thing, it took me two years to wait for the right match to show up to resolve one problem I was working on. Cluster research also helps. Thanks for watching Genealogy TV.
Really puts this into perspective.. thanks.. Looking at a first or second cousin to my children who is looking for her father and I hadn't been able to discover any connection within our family ..I have to look deeper
Hi Connie. This is a great video, gave me some direction. Do you have a video on how to find a common ancestor with DNA matching cousins? I have quite a few cousin matches but as yet have not found the missing linking ancestor. I have looked at their trees and records and no common surnames pop up. I just need direction on where and how to start searching. Thanks, you are amazing and your videos are so good, informational on a level everyone can understand.
Hey Naomi. Try these two videos... in order here... AncestryDNA Shared Matches to Solve Genealogy Research Questions czcams.com/video/vm9WRkyaE14/video.html Then Watch AncestryDNA Cousin Matches: Next Steps czcams.com/video/N1pP-KRKCWU/video.html See if that helps, Thanks again for your support. Connie
I’m watching from Montgomery ..al I took the Ancestrydna test ..and I will now go over to North Carolina ancestry ..because this is the Area my family ‘s ancestors migrated to..thx for the video..I did not know about the NC site..
I've watched this video a couple of times now and have told a couple of people to watch it as well. A second cousin and I have 2 Ancestry DNA 3rd cousin matches, neither of whom have trees and don't answer messages, that we can't place in our trees. We know they are on my maternal side and her paternal side. I'm hoping this video will help place them. Love all of your videos that I've watched! I'm going to recolor code my matches.
Using the Shared Matches tool on Ancestry will help group your cousins along family lines, even those without trees. Here is an episode AncestryDNA Grouping Cousin Matches: Clarified czcams.com/video/YOGarVcxLRQ/video.html
Thanks. This was great information. I pretty much used the techniques and was able to identify several brothers one of which is my grandfather. I have two DNA 2nd cousin matches that have lead me to this conclusion. Now I’ll need to contact the ancestors of these brothers to see if they would be willing to take a DNA test. None of the brothers lived in Maryland but three did live in surrounding states. My grandmother unfortunately sold us a myth regarding who fathered our father. Birth certificate list the father as N/A and only lists my grandmother’s surname so we’re at a dead end.
I found this to be a great video explained in detail - espcially like the segment about finding an parents of adoptive, foundling etc. Also I can personally vouch for testing with multiple companies as I originally tested with myheritage, and when I tested my ancestry I was blown away to find parents who forgot they did a test in 2016. BTW I live in Australia but my parents are from Europe, and as an extra twist my parents lived in in USA for 35 years before moving back to Europe.
This is the exact process, well almost the exact process I followed to identify biological parents for my adopted wife. I was doing it before this, this just puts it into context for me.
Thanks for this interesting insight! I'm fascinated and excited about the possibilities, and totally overwhelmed with much sleuthing ;0) This York county Pennsylvania girl is watching from Aix-en-Provence France. My husband's job has us living outside the US for the past 30 years--can I tell you how much family history research has changed in that time?!!
Hi Connie, lovely presentation as usual. I am aware that the US & UK Ancestry sites are different. Here in the UK my DNA cousins go up (or is it down to) 8th cousinship and as low as 7cM. You have already sensibly said you won't look at anything below 15cM. I learnt the hard way about the proportion of false positives with an 8th cousin (8cM) match with the right genetic distance to a Scottish couple I thought I had in my tree! Lol.
Yes. This video is a couple of years old. I recommend you watch the Grouping DNA Cousin Matches czcams.com/video/ErWHYCLjjxM/video.html and another one called AncestryDNA Clarified czcams.com/video/YOGarVcxLRQ/video.html. They are more recent. I typically don't go below about 20 cM's because I don't have to. I have plenty of cousins to work with above that. The industry standard cutoff now is 10 cM's.
Great insight Connie and i like your suttelty in the suprise! One which i have just found out from Ancestry that i have a close cousin with a 25% match 😄WRONG😄😄😄 Turns out through contacting the tree owner and a bit of WW2 research my father was a busy man apart from blowing the shit out of Germany he was fraternising with the female locals and producing unknown to him my step brother.😄Sadly 70 years to late I find him in a care home in OZ with early demensia.As yet unable to contact him to let him know who his late father is. Perhaps you should make them aware 25% can mean step family. Keep up the great work Regards Will
Yet another Great video !! - I have done my DNA on both Ancestry and Family Tree DNA. I did my Y test on Family Tree but I find it very confusing on how to understand the results. Is there any chance you have covered this? - watching from Windsor, Ontario, Canada -
Happy 2021 New Year !!! You can tell it takes a while for me to answer your Tou Tube. Hey, this information is ageless. I am responding to your excellent presentation from Minneapolis, MN 55379.
Recently found one match that was listed as a possible 3-4th cousin. I figured maybe we shared a great great grandparent. His daughter respond and said her dad age which is the same as my grandmother so now I'm suspecting he's a 1st cousin to my grandmother. I would imagine a first cousin to my grandmother would probably show as a 3rd cousin for me.
Watching from The Netherlands. Nice presentation. The way you present it, it looks so simple. Real life is different, however. You need to do the work for all (G)GGP as you most of the time you don’t know to which line you link to. Secondly, it is not easy to find ALL cousin due to privacy concerns. So, you might come close(r), but may miss some siblings. Thirdly, if your parents are unknown you may only find one of them, the mother or the father, when the child is not born out of wedlock. Nevertheless the presentation is a good framework. Thx.
Connie, I am having much trouble with Endogamy......Ashe/Alleghany/Surry Cty NC..The Lost Province.....I may match a cousin 10 ways or more through DNA. Confusing to me. Love to see a pointer show on Endogamy. Also have Native American DNA.......
Oh boy. That’s a complicated subject. I’ll have to think about how to clearly explain that one. The trick is to have a lot of DNA samples to work with in combination with some really thorough cluster research. Lots of DNA samples helps so that you can figure out the degrees of separation from each other to narrow the focus. Don’t think you’re alone. Every family has this issue in one line or another... or many in some clans. Blaine Bettinger is the real expert I this area.
Good explanation on finding info for adoptees. How about how to find out who the parents of your great great grandfather or great great grandmother were? Especially when most of the DNA matches don't even have any trees to look at? So many are taking the test just for the ethnicity results and don't even care about the family tree information. I am finding lots of possibilities....thousands actually....but no trees. They haven't even started a tree! It is impossible to just start contacting people when there are so many. Some of those I have tried to contact who share at least the surname of the people I am looking for, don't even respond when I do contact them. Many did the test years ago and haven't even been back on Ancestry in years. I was hoping this video would help with this. Where do I go next?
Keep in mind that DNA is only one clue or resource against thousands of other resources. You may have to use traditional research chasing the paper trail until new DNA matches pop up
After my mom, my 2nd closest match is an estranged 2nd cousin. I’ve had to work with the 2.5th, 3rd, & 4th cousins. Based on the hard work of tracing through paperwork i found another great uncle and there may be more.
Oh, sorry I didn’t answer your question of the day. I am watching from Birmingham, Al. I do have some strong roots with the names Lee, Rogers, and DeVane in New Hanover County, NC. This is why I keep a look out for genealogy related NC sites. Have a great day!
+MsCybervamp I have a CZcams channel devoted to North Carolina called NC Ancestry and a website to match NCAncestry.com... If I haven’t told you all of this already. You should also know that I’ve done a series of videos about New Hanover County and the resources found in the North Carolina room in the downtown branch of the New Hanover county public library. New Hanover County Public Library, North Carolina Room czcams.com/play/PLTl9rsU6sNH0M8eZ-3CJvz7Q9PEHXvNnw.html
I have my family tree on Ancestry, and currently I’ve followed my paternal grandmother’s adopted family. I did a dna test hoping to find info on her birth family. She had some strong suspicions. Should I go back and change her ancestors to unknown to save confusion?
I love DNA! I have found several "bonus" family members, but still can't quite prove who 3rd Greatgrandfather was! I'm in South New Jersey, just over the bridge from Philadelphia PA
You mention the various relationships being determined by the number of cMs, but am wondering if the ranges are calculated the same on all companies? Thank you so much.
Hi Connie! I’ve watched others cluster their DNA matches into family lines, but I can’t seem to wrap my mind around how to do it factually. Even with the color coding available now, I worry (so much) that I’m not doing it right. Do you have any videos highlighting grouping your matches? TFS ~Linda :)
Linda, Not Yes the new ThruLines does that for you. See those videos if you’ve not seen them already. Look for the DNA playlist. The video called “ThruLines, Are They True Lines?” Is a good one... if you’re an Ancestry user.
At about 9 minutes into this video it shows the tree and trying to connect the dots. Using the 3rd cousin in that graph as an example, if they don't have a tree... it kind of doesn't matter, because you're researching toward them from your direction toward that 3rd cousin match. While it helps if they have a tree, you want to prove every link in the chain for yourself anyway. Now having said that, I highly recommend you reach out to that 3rd cousin (in this hypothetical situation) and collaborate with them (if they're willing) and work together to connect your lines to each other. If they don't have a tree, they're likely very interested in helping and in your line... especially if you're... say... 2nd cousins or closer. That's a really close match in my opinion. I may have to do another video with a real life case example. It may be a while, I have a ton of videos in the queue right now.
Hi Connie, my maternal grandfather was from Turkey (apprx. 120 years ago). We never knew his real name or anything about his family due to an accident where he lost his memory. With DNA we have several 5-8 Cousins from Turkey that all mostly tie to each other. I have been on contact with several of them. Only 1 appear to have the same history story as ours. Our problem is, several generations married 1st and 2nd cousins. Thereby some cousins appear to be closer to each other than they should be. Also, we appear to be further away than we should be. We believe we found our family but unable to confirm with the Ancestry.com DNA results. Do you have any suggestions to confirm our family line? Thank you, Brenda!
Oh boy. That's a loaded question. So this would take deep study. You might consider hiring a Genetic Genealogist to help you figure that one out. You can have changes in the genetic relationships for a variety of reasons. It could be that there is some pedigree collapse. This is often found in cultures that encouraged marrying within their own race, religion or clan. So if cousins marry cousins, the cM count could be higher than the expected range. As for people being farther apart than expected, could be broken genetic links somewhere in the tree, such as someone in the traditional family tree is not really a biological parent and thus it is unknown parentage causing less than expected DNA (cM range). I hope that helped. If you want to learn genetic genealogy and are new to this, a great book that I highly recommend is The Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy by Blaine Bettinger. I've read it several times. Here is my affiliate link to his book... amzn.to/2l8ySDb. You can also follow him on Facebook on the web at thegeneticgenealogist.com/
DNA matched 49% from an unknown person to my Uncle. I was contacted because of my posted family tree. Unfortunately my Uncle had passed in 2021 at 93. Very awkward on how to approach your cousins. and protect your 88 year old Aunt.
Great presentation but my problem is trying to discover 3rd and 4th great grandparents during slavery. It’s hard because you don’t know if they changed their names after slavery or if they relocated.
I am watching from the Texas Gulf Coast. My research question is "Who are the parents of my 2nd great-grandmother?" Her daughters' obituaries have different maiden names listed for their mother. The 1900 and 1910 census have yet another maiden name (via her unmarried sister that lived with her). It is my thought that the sister's maiden name should also be hers. However, neither census taker had the best handwriting, so I'm still left with the choices of Robinson(my hypothesis), Robeson, Robison, or Roberson. One census and her death certificate (informant, her son-in-law, my great-grandpa) lists her birth place as Gaston, Alabama(possibly a misspelling of Gadsden). Another census lists South Carolina, which is where she died. I've just ordered the FTDNA mtDNA full sequence test in hopes of unlocking the mystery of her parents. I am also working on your suggestions for the FAN club. Thank you for all you do for those of us searching!
Sounds like you're working your research plan. Don't get hung up on the different spellings of Robeson. People sounded out the names, some didn't know how to spell. Also... if there are totally different maiden names, could it be that she was married several times... thus having several last names...plus her true maiden name?
@@GenealogyTV You're brilliant! As long as I've been researching, I should have thought to consider the possibility that she could have been married several times. I've never heard anything about other husbands, but maybe my grandma didn't know either. Grandma was only 8 yrs old when her maternal grandma died. It is my understanding that she did not remarry after my 2nd great-grandpa died, but maybe she was married before she married him. One of the daughters has the name Frazier listed as her mother's maiden name. Thank you! I will be looking for a marriage to a Frazier man(in SC and Alabama) and will certainly check my match lists for Fraziers. I am so glad to have found your channel. :)
Love the tip about the cousin level being equal to the # of Gs of grandparent for most common recent ancestor! Example: 1st cousin (1) = grandparents (1 G) , 2nd cousin (2) = great grandparents (2 Gs) for most common ancestors. This helps so much!!!
Yeah I had to figure out some way to remember it quickly.
I had almost exactly this very situation happen on my maternal side. TWICE. Not only did I use DNA cousin matching (supplemented by targeted historical research) to determine that my Mom had a different biological father, but I also found that the same thing had happened some 40 years earlier with HER Mom as well. The result being that 75% of my Mom's tree is now totally new to us. We're still dealing with the emotional fallout. ... But what I want to stress here is that I have been exceedingly CAREFUL and RIGOROUS. And that the evidence, IMO, is both compelling and incontrovertible. I'll be happy to explain the details if asked. (And BTW, I'm no novice when it comes to analyzing genetic science. I figured all of this out entirely on my own, without the aid of any helpful videos or articles.)
Only a third of the way through and I can tell I will want to rewatch it regularly. Such a beautiful presentation. Apart from the really superb information, can I just mention that, esthetically, I LOVE the slightly grey background! Such a small thing, but when people have those stark white backgrounds in videos, I have to adjust my brightness down a great deal to not be blinded. This video is so easy on my eyes and I can focus on the details I need. Did you use PowerPoint? Side note: I looked up your photography and I was immersed in your landscapes. There is no doubt you should have been and still should be taking all the photos you can. Your eye is impeccable.
Thank you for this very informative video. I'm researching for a friend who was subject of a private adoption between her adoptive parents and their MD. Other than her birth certificate I've been able to find no adoption records from the early 1960s but this may help me move forward. Watching from Staffordshire, UK.
Have a wonderful new year.
Watching from Oregon. My Son purchased me an Ancestry test kit for my birthday, March 2018, and when I received the results. I started to dig, and filled out the first few generations on my parents then I began to working primarily on my Mothers side of the family tree. I spent several months searching and filling out the tree. Then I hit a wall. I was burnt out and decided to take a couple months off. Plus I am no genealogist, so I was basically learning by doing... I am glad I found you. Going to view several of you videos before I start up again... I have also noticed Ancestry has added new features so I need to look them over too... Thank you for your video...
Ah thank you. I hope we can inspire you to take it up again. If you want to learn genealogy from the beginning check out the playlist called Learn Genealogy here czcams.com/play/PLiMXWjHlj5RR12Cc859K76dLKP14t8sAo.html. Also, I offer group coaching (5 people max) if it helps... you can find that at GenealogyTV.org/Insiders.
@@GenealogyTV Thank you too. I will check out the playlist you shared. Taking next week off from work so I will have time to view them. Also joined the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society and will be attending a meeting next Wednesday in Spokane, Washington. I am originally from Spokane, so decided to see what resources are available in the area where I grew up... I do surf on YT quite a bit, and your channel popped up one day, and I started watching your videos... I am learning so much I did not know, and with all the new features Ancestry has added. I am able to view DNA matches I have never seen before (or I just didn't notice them all), which will help with filling out my family tree further. I have been amazed how far back I have gone so far. I have 8th Great-Great Grandfather listed with hints, I just need to research to verify, but I have so many ancestors to verify first before I go that far back. This could turn into a full time job... :-) Enuf of my babbling... :-P Take care, and thank you again.
Thank you, listening from Atlanta! Glad I can see the video, it’s helpful!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Watching from Paducah, Kentucky. I'm glad I found your videos on CZcams, you are very helpful. Thanks for doing these to help us figure it out!
My pleasure. Welcome.
Aloha from Hawaii. I was able to use DNA matches to determine who one set of great grandparents were. Fortunately, my GGF was an Ohio Quaker who descended from Virginia Quakers. That gave me loads of information. I recently confirmed my theory when I got my grandfather's death certificate. Happy dance!
Fantastic. Quakers are some of the best kept records. If you’ve not done a quaker research you should see my episode on Quakers. I have Quakers in my family too. If you ever get into the original quaker record books, they’re awesome.
Loved this! It helped to realize how much DNA comes from parents, grandparents & great grandparents. And to know that we research cousins. I am in San Antonio Tx.
Thank you again!
Deana Reich
Super. This is one of my favorite videos.
I'm watching in New Orleans. My Churchill line lived in North Carolina in the 18th century. I'll check out your other series to help answer some questions. Thanks for your video. Your graphics help illustrate your topic for better understanding.
Thanks for the comments. I also have the NC Ancestry channel and website NCAncestry.com, if it helps. Where in NC were your ancestors?
Watching from St Paul MN. Thanks for the discussion.
Most helpful video ever! Thank you!
You're welcome!
Thank you so much for this great video. Southeast Texas checking in!
My brother and I are trying to find out if we are infact related to the Lee's of Virginia. We were both born to the same Lee father and so far everything we've grown up knowing about our ancestry and line of parentage has been spot on with a few surprises. It has been exhausting trying to find the exact line that doesn't lead us to the male that didn't sire male heirs. The Y-DNA test is the next test to help make that connection. It's a little expensive but it is necessary.
Outstanding/very organized presentation of a complicated topic.
Thank you for sharing this video!
You break everything down in an easily understandable way. Love your channel ❤
You are so welcome!
Very informative... thanks... I'm watching from Niagara, Ontario, Canada!
Very helpful video! Thank you for the good instruction. Williamsburg, VA
Thanks David.
Thank you for the visual...watching from Sacramento, California :)
Used to live there
Thanks for the video. I'm watching from Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
+Oriana Hdz Ah I used to vacation there with my family when I was a kid. Great memories of camping and waterskiing. Thanks for the comment and watching GTV.
Thank you, you made a tough concept for me easy to understand. Watching for California.
Awesome. It can be a complex problem.
Such a good informative video. I need to watch it again. I am watching from Cañon City, Colorado.
Thank you LeAllyson. And thank you for your continued support.
Hi Connie, Thank you very much for your very informative videos. Now that I'm retired and have more time I decided to recommence my family search. I was adopted in 1955 and know very little about my family. I was able to find my mother's name and that she had put 3 children up for adoption - a shock! So, back in 2001, I put a message out asking if anyone recognised my mother's rather unusual name... a few years later my half-brother got in touch. I was too busy to carry out further research but I've now begun again and am finding your videos a great help. I'm eagerly awaiting my DNA test results at the moment. Thanks again for your great videos - with kind regards from Kathy - West Sussex, UK
Thanks for the note. Once you get your DNA results back, make sure you look at the videos I’ve done on grouping your DNA. That will help you separate your DNA Cousin matches.
Thank you for the information. Watching from Atlanta Georgia.
Thanks for watching!
Watching from Brighton, MI. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
You are so welcome
Thankyou so much. I found this really informative.
You are so welcome!
What a great resource. Watching and learning from San Diego, Ca
Thanks Linda. I try.
This topic is fascinating! I want to learn all about this. I live in Miami, Florida.
Thank you for very helpful video. Watching from North of England.
Thanks!
I find your youtube genealogy lectures so interesting and very understandable . I'm in the uk. Thankyou for your teaching.
Glad you like them!
Hi Connie, I'm watching from the great state of Washington. Once again you taught me a new trick! Thank you for the tip about how to remember the G's vs cousins!
You are so welcome!
I am watching from northern California. Your videos are very informative, thank you!
Glad you like them!
Great simple explanations for beginners
Glad you think so!
Watching from South East Queensland in Australia. This is a great video, thank you Connie. I found it explained the strategy clearly and realise I have a lot if work ahead of me to find my Irish grandmothers grandparents. I have many groups of matches using Ancestry's colour coding but despite having a reasonable tree done already I cannot work out where these clusters fit.
Thanks Nan… all the way from from Australia.
Good hints. I’m in Canada and researching Ireland, England, Scotland, and North America for my relatives. My relatives didn’t have large families (think 2 or 3 children) until great-great grandparents! Thankfully I found a 3rd cousin who is a genealogy nerd (like me) and we filled in a lot of gaps in one family!
Meeting new cousins is always fun.
Thanks and all your videos are presented informatively and easy to comprehend. Watching from the Derby City in Kentucky
Glad you like them! Thanks for watching from Kentucky! Beautiful state.
Great presentation. Watching from the Ozarks in Missouri.
Thanks
Great. Watching from Georgia.
Thanks for watching.
Watching from Reidsville, NC. I will check out NC too.
+Judith Henline yay! Another North Carolinian.
This video really helps.
Super. Glad to hear it.
Love your channel! I’m in Illinois
Fantastic. Stay warm up there!
From Melbourne Australia. Great show Connie
Thanks
Watching from northern Idaho…thanks for another great video. I am working on cousin matches to prove a ggg.
Excellent. Enjoy the journey.
Your very good I appreciate the way you explain and your ease
Thank you
Thanks for sharing it is going to help me with the family tree I am working on thanks again
Yep. My pleasure. Happy hunting.
Watched video from Western Australia.👍 I have a few unresolved family mysteries over parentage going back a couple of generations. I guess as more people take the DNA test, the better are my chances of getting some 2nd Cousin matches. I don’t have very many to date.
+Elaine Williams awesome. All the way from Australia. Hang in there on the DNA thing, it took me two years to wait for the right match to show up to resolve one problem I was working on. Cluster research also helps. Thanks for watching Genealogy TV.
Really puts this into perspective.. thanks..
Looking at a first or second cousin to my children who is looking for her father and I hadn't been able to discover any connection within our family ..I have to look deeper
Sometimes it takes time. Sometimes you have to wait for the DNA matches to show up.
Hi Connie. This is a great video, gave me some direction. Do you have a video on how to find a common ancestor with DNA matching cousins? I have quite a few cousin matches but as yet have not found the missing linking ancestor. I have looked at their trees and records and no common surnames pop up. I just need direction on where and how to start searching. Thanks, you are amazing and your videos are so good, informational on a level everyone can understand.
Hey Naomi. Try these two videos... in order here... AncestryDNA Shared Matches to Solve Genealogy Research Questions czcams.com/video/vm9WRkyaE14/video.html
Then Watch AncestryDNA Cousin Matches: Next Steps czcams.com/video/N1pP-KRKCWU/video.html
See if that helps,
Thanks again for your support.
Connie
Thanks for your hard work. Really appreciated. From Norfolk in England 🇬🇧 🙌
Fantastic. Thank you.
Thanks so much. Watching from near Atlanta, Georgia. 👍
Thanks! Summerville SC here
Very cool!
That was awesome. I’m trying to find my grandfather and how I’m related to a cousin
I’m watching from Montgomery ..al I took the Ancestrydna test ..and I will now go over to North Carolina ancestry ..because this is the Area my family ‘s ancestors migrated to..thx for the video..I did not know about the NC site..
Thanks for the comment. I’m not as active on the NC site but work in new stuff about once a month.
Yes.. my family line is the McDougald line..from the NC area..and yes we are the black descendants..wow..am I having a hard time navigating my 🌲..
Watching from New Zealand
I've watched this video a couple of times now and have told a couple of people to watch it as well. A second cousin and I have 2 Ancestry DNA 3rd cousin matches, neither of whom have trees and don't answer messages, that we can't place in our trees. We know they are on my maternal side and her paternal side. I'm hoping this video will help place them. Love all of your videos that I've watched! I'm going to recolor code my matches.
Using the Shared Matches tool on Ancestry will help group your cousins along family lines, even those without trees. Here is an episode AncestryDNA Grouping Cousin Matches: Clarified czcams.com/video/YOGarVcxLRQ/video.html
Enjoyed very much from Newfoundland Labrador.
Fantastic. Thank you.
Thank you, Very Good! I'm watching from Gig Harbor, Washington.
Thanks for watching!
Thank you. This is so timely. Step grandson's father is unknown. Now I have a better process.
You are so welcome
This is helpful.
from The Netherlands
Thank you!
North Carolina gal enjoying the show !!!
Yay!
Watching from Greenville, South Carolina!
Excellent. Thanks for watching!
Watching from Penrith NSW Australia
Wow. Execellent
Thanks. This was great information. I pretty much used the techniques and was able to identify several brothers one of which is my grandfather. I have two DNA 2nd cousin matches that have lead me to this conclusion. Now I’ll need to contact the ancestors of these brothers to see if they would be willing to take a DNA test. None of the brothers lived in Maryland but three did live in surrounding states. My grandmother unfortunately sold us a myth regarding who fathered our father. Birth certificate list the father as N/A and only lists my grandmother’s surname so we’re at a dead end.
Interesting. Good luck.
I found this to be a great video explained in detail - espcially like the segment about finding an parents of adoptive, foundling etc. Also I can personally vouch for testing with multiple companies as I originally tested with myheritage, and when I tested my ancestry I was blown away to find parents who forgot they did a test in 2016. BTW I live in Australia but my parents are from Europe, and as an extra twist my parents lived in in USA for 35 years before moving back to Europe.
Interesting
And thanks
This is the exact process, well almost the exact process I followed to identify biological parents for my adopted wife. I was doing it before this, this just puts it into context for me.
Yes... this one is kind of a high level overview.
Thanks for this interesting insight! I'm fascinated and excited about the possibilities, and totally overwhelmed with much sleuthing ;0) This York county Pennsylvania girl is watching from Aix-en-Provence France. My husband's job has us living outside the US for the past 30 years--can I tell you how much family history research has changed in that time?!!
Thanks for the compliment Apryl... and all the way from France.
Watching from Perth, Western Australia. 🙂
Yay!
Hi Connie, lovely presentation as usual. I am aware that the US & UK Ancestry sites are different. Here in the UK my DNA cousins go up (or is it down to) 8th cousinship and as low as 7cM. You have already sensibly said you won't look at anything below 15cM. I learnt the hard way about the proportion of false positives with an 8th cousin (8cM) match with the right genetic distance to a Scottish couple I thought I had in my tree! Lol.
Yes. This video is a couple of years old. I recommend you watch the Grouping DNA Cousin Matches czcams.com/video/ErWHYCLjjxM/video.html and another one called AncestryDNA Clarified czcams.com/video/YOGarVcxLRQ/video.html. They are more recent. I typically don't go below about 20 cM's because I don't have to. I have plenty of cousins to work with above that. The industry standard cutoff now is 10 cM's.
I'm in Chicago. Thanks!
Good luck!
Watching from Sweden
Great insight Connie and i like your suttelty in the suprise! One which i have just found out from Ancestry that i have a close cousin with a 25% match 😄WRONG😄😄😄 Turns out through contacting the tree owner and a bit of WW2 research my father was a busy man apart from blowing the shit out of Germany he was fraternising with the female locals and producing unknown to him my step brother.😄Sadly 70 years to late I find him in a care home in OZ with early demensia.As yet unable to contact him to let him know who his late father is. Perhaps you should make them aware 25% can mean step family.
Keep up the great work
Regards
Will
Yet another Great video !! - I have done my DNA on both Ancestry and Family Tree DNA. I did my Y test on Family Tree but I find it very confusing on how to understand the results. Is there any chance you have covered this? - watching from Windsor, Ontario, Canada -
Thank you. Yes I did... about two years ago. czcams.com/video/XAlAnrM_Rhg/video.html
Thanks - Salinas, CA
You're welcome.
Happy 2021 New Year !!! You can tell it takes a while for me to answer your Tou Tube. Hey, this information is ageless. I am responding to your excellent presentation from Minneapolis, MN 55379.
Thanks Neill
Wayching from Växjö,Sweden
Recently found one match that was listed as a possible 3-4th cousin. I figured maybe we shared a great great grandparent. His daughter respond and said her dad age which is the same as my grandmother so now I'm suspecting he's a 1st cousin to my grandmother. I would imagine a first cousin to my grandmother would probably show as a 3rd cousin for me.
Watching from The Netherlands. Nice presentation. The way you present it, it looks so simple. Real life is different, however. You need to do the work for all (G)GGP as you most of the time you don’t know to which line you link to. Secondly, it is not easy to find ALL cousin due to privacy concerns. So, you might come close(r), but may miss some siblings. Thirdly, if your parents are unknown you may only find one of them, the mother or the father, when the child is not born out of wedlock. Nevertheless the presentation is a good framework. Thx.
Connie, I am having much trouble with Endogamy......Ashe/Alleghany/Surry Cty NC..The Lost Province.....I may match a cousin 10 ways or more through DNA. Confusing to me. Love to see a pointer show on Endogamy. Also have Native American DNA.......
Oh boy. That’s a complicated subject. I’ll have to think about how to clearly explain that one. The trick is to have a lot of DNA samples to work with in combination with some really thorough cluster research. Lots of DNA samples helps so that you can figure out the degrees of separation from each other to narrow the focus. Don’t think you’re alone. Every family has this issue in one line or another... or many in some clans. Blaine Bettinger is the real expert I this area.
From Belleview, Florida
Good explanation on finding info for adoptees. How about how to find out who the parents of your great great grandfather or great great grandmother were? Especially when most of the DNA matches don't even have any trees to look at? So many are taking the test just for the ethnicity results and don't even care about the family tree information. I am finding lots of possibilities....thousands actually....but no trees. They haven't even started a tree! It is impossible to just start contacting people when there are so many. Some of those I have tried to contact who share at least the surname of the people I am looking for, don't even respond when I do contact them. Many did the test years ago and haven't even been back on Ancestry in years. I was hoping this video would help with this. Where do I go next?
Keep in mind that DNA is only one clue or resource against thousands of other resources. You may have to use traditional research chasing the paper trail until new DNA matches pop up
Watching from Washington, D.C.
+Denise Payne oh so you’re in the heart of the best area for researching genealogy, near the national archives.
@@GenealogyTV Yes a lot of places to research. I really liked Martin Luther King Library for local newspapers and City directory
Bonjour de Montréal, Québec! Just opened my Gedmatch account! Trying to figure out who my father's parents were. Merci Connie!
My pleasure... Suzanne from Montreal. Best of luck!
After my mom, my 2nd closest match is an estranged 2nd cousin. I’ve had to work with the 2.5th, 3rd, & 4th cousins. Based on the hard work of tracing through paperwork i found another great uncle and there may be more.
I hear you. It does take work sometimes. Second cousins are the best for this kind of work... because you share a great grandparent couple in common.
Oh, sorry I didn’t answer your question of the day. I am watching from Birmingham, Al. I do have some strong roots with the names Lee, Rogers, and DeVane in New Hanover County, NC. This is why I keep a look out for genealogy related NC sites. Have a great day!
+MsCybervamp I have a CZcams channel devoted to North Carolina called NC Ancestry and a website to match NCAncestry.com... If I haven’t told you all of this already. You should also know that I’ve done a series of videos about New Hanover County and the resources found in the North Carolina room in the downtown branch of the New Hanover county public library. New Hanover County Public Library, North Carolina Room
czcams.com/play/PLTl9rsU6sNH0M8eZ-3CJvz7Q9PEHXvNnw.html
Thank you! I will be sure to check them out. 😊
Hi from Canada.
Well Hi Canada.
Watching from Michigan
Wonderful. I hope it’s not too cold up there. Spring is springing here. Thanks for the comment.
Also, in Michigan. Very much enjoyed your presentation, Constance.
Kay Schmid Gosh. Thanks! I appreciate it.
I have my family tree on Ancestry, and currently I’ve followed my paternal grandmother’s adopted family. I did a dna test hoping to find info on her birth family. She had some strong suspicions. Should I go back and change her ancestors to unknown to save confusion?
Yes Mark them as unverified if you’re not sure.
I love DNA! I have found several "bonus" family members, but still can't quite prove who 3rd Greatgrandfather was! I'm in South New Jersey, just over the bridge from Philadelphia PA
Turn off sounds just keep close captioning for us hearing impaired people. Thanks
Use Census Records.
@@sr2291 unfortunately it's a "sperm donor " situation so census isn't working
@@msforemny6481 Then DNA on one of the major sites. Then upload Genome to every site thats free or low cost to get matches.
You mention the various relationships being determined by the number of cMs, but am wondering if the ranges are calculated the same on all companies? Thank you so much.
They are not calculated exactly the same... but they are close.
the sample set is usually only hundreds from what i am seeing, very lucky to have a thousand in a country and hapllogroup
Hope you will speak on half siblings, 1st cousin marriages ect effects on cms.
Got it. Good to know. Thanks.
East Hartford, Ct.
Excellent. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Connie! I’ve watched others cluster their DNA matches into family lines, but I can’t seem to wrap my mind around how to do it factually. Even with the color coding available now, I worry (so much) that I’m not doing it right. Do you have any videos highlighting grouping your matches? TFS ~Linda :)
Linda, Not
Yes the new ThruLines does that for you. See those videos if you’ve not seen them already. Look for the DNA playlist. The video called “ThruLines, Are They True Lines?” Is a good one... if you’re an Ancestry user.
Genealogy TV what about the ones without trees etc? I am an Ancestry user.
At about 9 minutes into this video it shows the tree and trying to connect the dots. Using the 3rd cousin in that graph as an example, if they don't have a tree... it kind of doesn't matter, because you're researching toward them from your direction toward that 3rd cousin match. While it helps if they have a tree, you want to prove every link in the chain for yourself anyway. Now having said that, I highly recommend you reach out to that 3rd cousin (in this hypothetical situation) and collaborate with them (if they're willing) and work together to connect your lines to each other. If they don't have a tree, they're likely very interested in helping and in your line... especially if you're... say... 2nd cousins or closer. That's a really close match in my opinion. I may have to do another video with a real life case example. It may be a while, I have a ton of videos in the queue right now.
Minnesota
Northwest Wales, UK
Watching from Belfast northern ireland but originally from wicklow
+John Tyner Wow awesome. Thanks for Watching GTV!
+Genealogy TV just curious where you learned about my videos/channel?
@@GenealogyTV i am subscribed to family history fanatics and other dna channels. Came across you that way.
Hi Connie, my maternal grandfather was from Turkey (apprx. 120 years ago). We never knew his real name or anything about his family due to an accident where he lost his memory. With DNA we have several 5-8 Cousins from Turkey that all mostly tie to each other. I have been on contact with several of them. Only 1 appear to have the same history story as ours. Our problem is, several generations married 1st and 2nd cousins. Thereby some cousins appear to be closer to each other than they should be. Also, we appear to be further away than we should be. We believe we found our family but unable to confirm with the Ancestry.com DNA results. Do you have any suggestions to confirm our family line? Thank you, Brenda!
Oh boy. That's a loaded question. So this would take deep study. You might consider hiring a Genetic Genealogist to help you figure that one out. You can have changes in the genetic relationships for a variety of reasons. It could be that there is some pedigree collapse. This is often found in cultures that encouraged marrying within their own race, religion or clan. So if cousins marry cousins, the cM count could be higher than the expected range. As for people being farther apart than expected, could be broken genetic links somewhere in the tree, such as someone in the traditional family tree is not really a biological parent and thus it is unknown parentage causing less than expected DNA (cM range). I hope that helped.
If you want to learn genetic genealogy and are new to this, a great book that I highly recommend is The Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy by Blaine Bettinger. I've read it several times. Here is my affiliate link to his book... amzn.to/2l8ySDb. You can also follow him on Facebook on the web at thegeneticgenealogist.com/
Arizona
Yay!
DNA matched 49% from an unknown person to my Uncle. I was contacted because of my posted family tree. Unfortunately my Uncle had passed in 2021 at 93. Very awkward on how to approach your cousins. and protect your 88 year old Aunt.
Very carefully.
Great presentation but my problem is trying to discover 3rd and 4th great grandparents during slavery. It’s hard because you don’t know if they changed their names after slavery or if they relocated.
Here is a playlist I created specific to African American research. czcams.com/play/PLiMXWjHlj5RQzojKOI1FmaCQDOXUeUd3C.html
I am watching from the Texas Gulf Coast. My research question is "Who are the parents of my 2nd great-grandmother?" Her daughters' obituaries have different maiden names listed for their mother. The 1900 and 1910 census have yet another maiden name (via her unmarried sister that lived with her). It is my thought that the sister's maiden name should also be hers. However, neither census taker had the best handwriting, so I'm still left with the choices of Robinson(my hypothesis), Robeson, Robison, or Roberson. One census and her death certificate (informant, her son-in-law, my great-grandpa) lists her birth place as Gaston, Alabama(possibly a misspelling of Gadsden). Another census lists South Carolina, which is where she died. I've just ordered the FTDNA mtDNA full sequence test in hopes of unlocking the mystery of her parents. I am also working on your suggestions for the FAN club. Thank you for all you do for those of us searching!
Sounds like you're working your research plan. Don't get hung up on the different spellings of Robeson. People sounded out the names, some didn't know how to spell. Also... if there are totally different maiden names, could it be that she was married several times... thus having several last names...plus her true maiden name?
@@GenealogyTV You're brilliant! As long as I've been researching, I should have thought to consider the possibility that she could have been married several times. I've never heard anything about other husbands, but maybe my grandma didn't know either. Grandma was only 8 yrs old when her maternal grandma died. It is my understanding that she did not remarry after my 2nd great-grandpa died, but maybe she was married before she married him. One of the daughters has the name Frazier listed as her mother's maiden name. Thank you! I will be looking for a marriage to a Frazier man(in SC and Alabama) and will certainly check my match lists for Fraziers. I am so glad to have found your channel. :)
Thank you Suzanne. Sometimes it just takes an other set of eyes to think about other possibilities. Good luck!
@@GenealogyTV You're welcome. Then, I'm glad that I came across your eyes. :) Thank you!
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