Great video! Not sure you'll see this comment as this is an old video, but I love it. I have a similar brick wall... actually, my cousin does. Through our ancestry profiles we uncovered a shocking family secret: my cousin's grandfather is not mine. I know mine. I'm helping my cousin discover hers. We never knew our grandmother had a child with another man. We always believed our grandfather fathered all of the children. Our grandparents have passed. So, now, only DNA can determine the who my cousin's grandfather was. Doing this type of DNA genealogy is daunting but exciting... each step of progress made is pretty thrilling.
Hi Gary Edward, thanks so much for stopping by! We're delighted to hear that you enjoyed the video, we hope it was helpful for your research! We have also popped a link below to an article with a few tips for when you come up against a brick wall in your research: support.ancestry.com/s/article/Brick-Wall-Solutions We wish you the very best of luck as you and your cousin continue on this journey! 🙂
A couple of points: 1. What I like about the match search for surname is that you can broaden the search by checking the "include similar surnames" box. That is how I found relatives to my grandmother's Graber family who spelled their name Grejber. 2. This is also how I proved that my 3rd great grandfather moved to Washington after his first wife died in Illinois in 1860. He married a native Duwamish (chief Seattle's grand daughter) and now has a whole other line of descendants, one of whom was willing to take the test I provided. WIN!!
Crista have you solved this yet? I have the same brick wall! really interested to find out what you have found or how far you have got along with this.
Another great video, Christa. Unfortunately, not many people still alive in my family to test so this would probably not help me, but it is interesting to see the process. Enjoyed meeting you at the NGS Conference!
more case studies please! enjoyed the follow through on the findings & your process. I am working on finding who my grandfathers father is. I have a hypothesis family but have yet to find any dna matches. The most challenging aspect is getting any info from dna matches. However I was able to find my grandfathers mother through dna matches, and I hope to learn more about her and other descendants. My grandfather was adopted and no one from his birth family knew of him except his parents. Hoping some genetic dna research will help.
Oh my goodness, I just found this video and it's nice to know I'm not alone. I have the same situation. My husband's great gpa born 1850 can not be found on a census until a state census in 1875. He died in 1894. Luckily we aren't dealing with multiple spouses like you. I merely want to know who the great great grands are. My husband has a not real common last name and no DNA matches with that last name in their direct lines so our issue now is that the great gpa likely changed his name.
It would be nice if Ancestry.com would give us the use of folders that we can place people in after we have researched them and know what family line they belong to so we could have a working data base of those we don't know. It would also require that when you used the search button it would pull from all the people you have placed in files also. I find that after putting my notes on each person it would be nice if I could just keeping moving down the line and the next time I had time to work on my DNA file it would be people I have not worked.
Thanks for the feedback. I will pass it along. In the meantime, make use of the tools available. I use the NOTES feature on my matches extensively. You can see that NOTES exist from the main match page and even click to view it. I use the STAR to indicate that I have discovered the connection and entered the individual in my tree. And I leave the BLUE DOT on the match if I haven't figured it out or want to work with it some more. This way, I can filter my list by NEW and all the blue dots show up and everything else is filtered out. Hope that helps! (Crista)
My 3rd gr. grandfather is my brickwall. I haven't found his family in NJ before landing in OH right before the Civil War. I have no siblings or parents for him. I have followed his 9 children forward, but can't seem to get past 1816 NJ. I believe I read somewhere that his father was born in NJ which make s me very excited because I believe this family might have been in the US since the Revolutionary War. Any suggestions other than church records.....not having much luck there either. Thanks
One thought. How many "John's" do you know that have taken the nickname of "Jack?" I've never understood why, they're both four letter names. My biggest for instance would be John F Kennedy, who was frequently referred to as Jack by his friends and family.
Figure the reason is that whereas John sounds staid, Jack is 'a bit of a lad'. This explained why my grandfather John Roberts Casewell was always known as Jack. :]
I have an ancestor who was John and went by Jack. His children told me that he didn't like that a 'john' was a toilet, so chose to go by Jack. I have no idea if this is a common reason, but thought I would share.
Christa, I really enjoy all of your videos. You are a very good teacher. Watching your videos have made me a better more effective researcher. I recommend your videos to others. I have an interesting case study. I know who my g. grandfather is. I know when and where he was born, married, raised his children and died. I know this through his marriage, death, cemetery records and his obituary. Unfortunately, these records do not identify his parents names. I know I'm on the right track up to my g. grandparents because I have a DNA match with a known cousin sharing the same g. grandparents. Now have gotten two DNA matches that are common matches to me. One of these matches also is a common cousin match to my known cousin the other is not. The cousin match who matches me and my known 2nd cousin does not know who her paternal grandparents are because her father was adopted. Anyone have any ideas how to work this one out?
I'd have to see the details to provide any real assistance. Please send me a message on Facebook and I'll see what I can do. You can find me by searching for Crista Cowan. Thanks!
I know, this a five year old post, just stumbled over it now. Wondering, if you solved the riddle or not. If not: Did this 2nd cousin's dad take a DNA test? Can this 2nd cousin separate matches into mother's and father's side?
John O'Brien only had daughters. So, we are working with the (autosomal) AncestryDNA results of several of his great-grandchildren and we are getting closer to some answers. (~Crista)
Very interesting video. I'm just starting to try to use ancestry DNA to help with my research, so this information will be quite useful. Regarding John O'Brien ... company H of the 7th Iowa Infantry was enrolled at Washington County Iowa in 1861. Might be a way to narrow down the portion of the state he was living in around 1860. There is a John O'Brien of the correct age living in the adjacent county (Henry County) with a farmer named Fielding Turner in the 1860 Federal census. Don't know if that John O'Brien is one of your candidates, or if you have been able to eliminate him as a possibility with some other piece of evidence.
Crista, at the end of the video you said we could comment on the public Ancestry Facebook page at the end of your link there to this video. I couldn't find it, so I'm here commenting. The minute you started the story my brain started clicking. I realize you very very likely have already checked out the following, but figured my thoughts might be helpful to others researching this type of brick wall. #1 Searching John's enlistment list to see if another O'Brien had enlisted at the same time. Maybe a sibling or cousin? #2 Searching the 1880 census with him as the hired hand, to see if there were any other O'Briens on the same census in the same area. Maybe family? #3 Searching to see if perhaps there is an O'Brien family that is related to one of his wife's 2 previous husbands. Maybe he came to work for the family because he was a relative? #4 Searching those new North American Family Histories that came online, to see if there is any reference to him, his wife, her family, her previous husbands, or her children. #5 Checking his wife and her family's earlier censuses, to see if an O'Brien family was living near them. I look forward to your next video and to getting updates on how this brick wall is going. Char
+Char B Thanks for the great suggestions, Char! I have done 1, 2, and 5. I had not considered 3 and haven't gotten around to 5 yet. I'll keep you all posted. (Crista)
If a case of illegitimacy or adoption is found in one's tree, what is one to do about them? Should the nonbiological parents be listed in one's tree in some way? What of the rest of their nonbiological family? If not somehow included, how is one to record their existence so their contribution to that member of your tree isn't forgotten. What of other individuals who were somehow significant to the ancestor's life like close friends? Is there some function available to record them?
Good luck with your brick wall. Aren't you working near the limits of the usefulness of DNA for genealogy? For one thing, after 4 or 5 generations back, you are probably related to just about everyone in an entire region. For example, my parents are both from Georgia, and unrelated. There are people who match both sides of the family with DNA as distant cousins. Also, isn't it right that 4th cousins only have about a 50% chance of sharing "matchable" amounts of DNA? So you are looking for a very weak signal in with a lot of noise. One thing that would help is if there was an option to limit the number of generations back when searching your matches for a surname or location. Ancestry DNA revealed a deep family secret for me. I posted a video on my channel about this. I don't know who my actual paternal grandfather was! I am still working to solve this.
Preesi, We love the enthusiasm you have for building your family tree! However, we'd caution against relying too heavily on the shaky leaves as these are simply possible matches based on the information you provided but they are not guaranteed matches so don't accept them without reviewing them critically to confirm information like exact names, dates, approximate age, locations, etc. If you have a very uncommon surname, it may be easier to find this information than if you were search for a 'Smith' or 'Jones' but it's still important to look carefully at all details contained in the records. Family history is a marathon, not a sprint so racing through your tree too quickly may introduce errors in your tree or worse, you might be climbing the wrong family tree. Good luck in your search and keep us posted on your results!
Thanks for sharing this Crista. I just sent off samples for each of my parents for ancestrydna, but have not done so myself. If I have my parents done why would I want to do the test for myself?
If you have tested both parents there is no genealogical need to test yourself. The only reason at that point would be if you were interested in learning what portions of each of their DNA you inherited. (Crista)
Thanks so much. My grandfather had no ancestral history at all that we can prove. I wonder if a dna test on me would help narrow down HIS ethnicity as a clue to his ancestry..
I am from Batesville Arkansas My dads family Branscum or Branscomb is from Stone county and Arkansas. My moms side Stephens and freemans side is from Akron, Ohio
Christa, I made my daughter Editor for my DNA, as she has been doing research for many years. I can "see" her tree, she attached my DNA to "my family tree" on her Ancestry account ... how to continue? ALSO we know the 4th great paternal grandparents came here with one son in 1847 - 1849 THOSE three born in England, the next child, born in 50 was born in Ohio! ... they must have been dropped in by stork, cause in spite of MANY searches we cannot find any ships list, immigrants with their names! There are SOOOO many errors in "other" trees! Some have this 4 great grandmother having babies born in the US and England the same year! and tho census records show the couple having 13 children...some folks have them with 18 ... a real mess! Thanks for reading!
If this couple are your 4th great-grandparents, then those who descend from them through another one of their children would be your 5th cousins. Do a surname search in your DNA matches for their last names (husband's name and wife's maiden name) to see if any of your matches have them in their trees. That's going to give you a more solid connection. Hope that makes sense. (Crista)
I'm stuck on my Watson line my 3rd great grandfsther randomly shows up for marriage then disapared after last one was born I have matches for this line all stuck on same person. His wife was married 4 times her 3 child with the Watson was named after her First husband.
Aren't families messy, Ashleigh? I have a great-great-grandmother who was similarly married multiple times and we weren't sure which children belonged to which husband until DNA testing helped us straighten it all out. Start collecting all of those DNA Matches on this line (I use a spreadsheet or chart to keep track of them all). Then pay close attention to Shared Matches between you and those individuals. This should lead you to the family of this 3rd great-grandfather. Hope that makes sense! (~Crista)
I have a brick wall because my great great grandfather in Eastern Kentucky was a moonshiner who murdered several people in a dispute. He changed his last name a bunch of times because he was wanted dead or alive. Not much anyone can help on that lol
Make a timeline of what you know about his life. Look for records (newspaper articles, criminal records, etc.) to fill in the gaps. Pay close attention to his associates. And, consider taking an AncestryDNA test. (Crista)
1.William wickenden died 2-23-1670 in providence RI. His daughter Hannah born about 1638 died 1705 in RI. Think of the Pink Floyd Album Brick in the Wall. My cousin William Shayne Lincoln comes to mind. I was visited by him. All good there. Thumb up. 2. Hannah married in 1660 to John Steere. He was born 1634 in Oakley Surrey England. He died1-5-1726 in Wionkheige Hill, RI. John Deer the tractor 🚜. Their daughter, Jane was born 1668 in Providence, RI. She died after 1852 Coventry or RI. Jane Sikkenga come to mind. She went to Plainwell high school and she graduated in 1986. I have pictures to show but I can't deal with this phone anymore. 3. Jane Steere married William Blanchard,. William died after 1757 RI. They had a son William. Blankenship come to mind. One here in cooper township, Kalamazoo mi. He's on my neighbors page. 4. William Blanchard married Sarah. William Blanchard married Sarah. William died 5-25-1751 in Scituate, RI. They had a son Issac (Issac Newton comes to my mind) born about 1746 in Providence Co.RI. Died 1816 Foster,RI. (Melanie Foster Plainwell 💖 high school my graduating class 1986 the Plainwell Trojans. I'll do more later.
by the way christa, if ancestry had a chromosome browser it would be easier to do this analysis. I have a hard time getting users to upload to gedmatch.
I think where it would be useful are on some of these distant DNA circles. Say if you have 4 matches in a circle of 8. If all or most of the people in a circle had the same bit of DNA shared then you'd be more confident in the circle however if most have different bit of dna, maybe we're all matches because we're of northern Scottish ancestry. Also helps compare to those whom tested with a different company.
Crista, I am proponent of the AncestryDNA product and the helpful tools Ancestry does provide, but I am disappointed in your response. By being familiar with, but choosing not to use, a chromosome browser you are not adhering to the very first element of the Genealogical Proof Standard; a reasonably exhaustive search. You are purposefully avoiding information that is both readily accessible (for free) and necessary for proof in the world of genetic genealogy. Positively identifying ancestors from matches is just not possible without a chromosome browser to confirm shared segments. Without it, you're just guessing. Yes, most of those can be very educated guesses that are probably correct and they can be extremely helpful clues, but they are guesses all the same, and they can still be wrong sometimes, leading one to climb someone else's family tree.
Really I could have never been sure or would never have known where to look if it was not for a chromosome browser. I had a complete break through using Gedmatch, Ancestry and Google books. And the match was strongest on my Aunt's X chromosome and her 1st cousin and a match on Ancestry who was a 5th to 8th cousin and I was able to work on his mother line until I was able to connect our family trees. I would have never been able to connect the right ancestor if not for a chromosome browser. All I am saying is Christa You are missing out!
Wonderful, keep us posted on your results! We encourage you to visit our AncestryDNA playlist as you start digging into your results. You can find the playlist here: czcams.com/video/5nuQ3INsqJk/video.html to
Received, filled and sent..My mom and her tree had zero leaves (Im elated, cause I dont wanna contact her) but my paternal tree has leaves, but we are a prominent family so I knew that.
Pressi, It's possible the records you're seeking either aren't online or aren't available. We recommend visiting Cyndi's List for alternate resources for Ukraine: www.cyndislist.com/eastern-europe/
Excellent video !
Great video
Great video! Not sure you'll see this comment as this is an old video, but I love it. I have a similar brick wall... actually, my cousin does. Through our ancestry profiles we uncovered a shocking family secret: my cousin's grandfather is not mine. I know mine. I'm helping my cousin discover hers. We never knew our grandmother had a child with another man. We always believed our grandfather fathered all of the children. Our grandparents have passed. So, now, only DNA can determine the who my cousin's grandfather was. Doing this type of DNA genealogy is daunting but exciting... each step of progress made is pretty thrilling.
Hi Gary Edward, thanks so much for stopping by! We're delighted to hear that you enjoyed the video, we hope it was helpful for your research! We have also popped a link below to an article with a few tips for when you come up against a brick wall in your research:
support.ancestry.com/s/article/Brick-Wall-Solutions
We wish you the very best of luck as you and your cousin continue on this journey! 🙂
A couple of points:
1. What I like about the match search for surname is that you can broaden the search by checking the "include similar surnames" box. That is how I found relatives to my grandmother's Graber family who spelled their name Grejber.
2. This is also how I proved that my 3rd great grandfather moved to Washington after his first wife died in Illinois in 1860. He married a native Duwamish (chief Seattle's grand daughter) and now has a whole other line of descendants, one of whom was willing to take the test I provided. WIN!!
+mtpokit Great job using those DNA results to further your family history research!
+Ancestry consider using dna test results as relationship proof citations.
Thank-you for the presentation. I find the case studies really helpful.
Yes it's like that with those really common surnames.
Wow what a revelation listening to you. Patience is obviously the thing when searching for my family tree. Thanks for the information you presented
Crista have you solved this yet? I have the same brick wall! really interested to find out what you have found or how far you have got along with this.
I also have a similar wall however have even less info. He has been my focus for the last year!
No she hasn’t sadly as I’ve checked her tree.
Another great video, Christa. Unfortunately, not many people still alive in my family to test so this would probably not help me, but it is interesting to see the process. Enjoyed meeting you at the NGS Conference!
I test my theories all the time..I love it!
more case studies please! enjoyed the follow through on the findings & your process. I am working on finding who my grandfathers father is. I have a hypothesis family but have yet to find any dna matches. The most challenging aspect is getting any info from dna matches. However I was able to find my grandfathers mother through dna matches, and I hope to learn more about her and other descendants. My grandfather was adopted and no one from his birth family knew of him except his parents. Hoping some genetic dna research will help.
Oh my goodness, I just found this video and it's nice to know I'm not alone. I have the same situation. My husband's great gpa born 1850 can not be found on a census until a state census in 1875. He died in 1894. Luckily we aren't dealing with multiple spouses like you. I merely want to know who the great great grands are. My husband has a not real common last name and no DNA matches with that last name in their direct lines so our issue now is that the great gpa likely changed his name.
I was able to use DNA to give me the parents of my John Williams 1811-1888.
That's great Lance! We are happy to hear that you are having success with your family history research.
It would be nice if Ancestry.com would give us the use of folders that we can place people in after we have researched them and know what family line they belong to so we could have a working data base of those we don't know. It would also require that when you used the search button it would pull from all the people you have placed in files also. I find that after putting my notes on each person it would be nice if I could just keeping moving down the line and the next time I had time to work on my DNA file it would be people I have not worked.
Thanks for the feedback. I will pass it along. In the meantime, make use of the tools available. I use the NOTES feature on my matches extensively. You can see that NOTES exist from the main match page and even click to view it. I use the STAR to indicate that I have discovered the connection and entered the individual in my tree. And I leave the BLUE DOT on the match if I haven't figured it out or want to work with it some more. This way, I can filter my list by NEW and all the blue dots show up and everything else is filtered out. Hope that helps! (Crista)
My 3rd gr. grandfather is my brickwall. I haven't found his family in NJ before landing in OH right before the Civil War. I have no siblings or parents for him. I have followed his 9 children forward, but can't seem to get past 1816 NJ. I believe I read somewhere that his father was born in NJ which make s me very excited because I believe this family might have been in the US since the Revolutionary War. Any suggestions other than church records.....not having much luck there either. Thanks
One thought. How many "John's" do you know that have taken the nickname of "Jack?"
I've never understood why, they're both four letter names. My biggest for instance would be John F Kennedy, who was frequently referred to as Jack by his friends and family.
+Steve Jarrett I have considered that in the past. But, thanks for the reminder.
Figure the reason is that whereas John sounds staid, Jack is 'a bit of a lad'. This explained why my grandfather John Roberts Casewell was always known as Jack. :]
Steve Jarrett its JUST like Margaret being called peg or. Peggy
I have an ancestor who was John and went by Jack. His children told me that he didn't like that a 'john' was a toilet, so chose to go by Jack. I have no idea if this is a common reason, but thought I would share.
What about the sailor's grouse: "Get up Jack let John sit down."
We have an O'Brien brick wall too!
+KaosReigns Where are your O'Briens?
Christa, I really enjoy all of your videos. You are a very good teacher. Watching your videos have made me a better more effective researcher. I recommend your videos to others. I have an interesting case study. I know who my g. grandfather is. I know when and where he was born, married, raised his children and died. I know this through his marriage, death, cemetery records and his obituary. Unfortunately, these records do not identify his parents names. I know I'm on the right track up to my g. grandparents because I have a DNA match with a known cousin sharing the same g. grandparents. Now have gotten two DNA matches that are common matches to me. One of these matches also is a common cousin match to my known cousin the other is not. The cousin match who matches me and my known 2nd cousin does not know who her paternal grandparents are because her father was adopted. Anyone have any ideas how to work this one out?
I'd have to see the details to provide any real assistance. Please send me a message on Facebook and I'll see what I can do. You can find me by searching for Crista Cowan. Thanks!
I know, this a five year old post, just stumbled over it now. Wondering, if you solved the riddle or not. If not: Did this 2nd cousin's dad take a DNA test? Can this 2nd cousin separate matches into mother's and father's side?
I know this is two years ago! I was wondering if testing some direct line males of your O’Brien line may help break down the brick wall.
John O'Brien only had daughters. So, we are working with the (autosomal) AncestryDNA results of several of his great-grandchildren and we are getting closer to some answers. (~Crista)
Very interesting video. I'm just starting to try to use ancestry DNA to help with my research, so this information will be quite useful.
Regarding John O'Brien ... company H of the 7th Iowa Infantry was enrolled at Washington County Iowa in 1861. Might be a way to narrow down the portion of the state he was living in around 1860. There is a John O'Brien of the correct age living in the adjacent county (Henry County) with a farmer named Fielding Turner in the 1860 Federal census. Don't know if that John O'Brien is one of your candidates, or if you have been able to eliminate him as a possibility with some other piece of evidence.
+Dorwin Black Thanks for the info. That John in Henry County is still on my list of candidates.
Crista, at the end of the video you said we could comment on the public Ancestry Facebook page at the end of your link there to this video. I couldn't find it, so I'm here commenting.
The minute you started the story my brain started clicking.
I realize you very very likely have already checked out the following, but figured my thoughts might be helpful to others researching this type of brick wall.
#1 Searching John's enlistment list to see if another O'Brien had enlisted at the same time. Maybe a sibling or cousin?
#2 Searching the 1880 census with him as the hired hand, to see if there were any other O'Briens on the same census in the same area. Maybe family?
#3 Searching to see if perhaps there is an O'Brien family that is related to one of his wife's 2 previous husbands. Maybe he came to work for the family because he was a relative?
#4 Searching those new North American Family Histories that came online, to see if there is any reference to him, his wife, her family, her previous husbands, or her children.
#5 Checking his wife and her family's earlier censuses, to see if an O'Brien family was living near them.
I look forward to your next video and to getting updates on how this brick wall is going.
Char
+Char B Thanks for the great suggestions, Char! I have done 1, 2, and 5. I had not considered 3 and haven't gotten around to 5 yet. I'll keep you all posted. (Crista)
I would like to see a video on desendancy research post 1940 brink wall. also techniques getting strangers to take dna tests.
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll add it to the list.
If a case of illegitimacy or adoption is found in one's tree, what is one to do about them? Should the nonbiological parents be listed in one's tree in some way? What of the rest of their nonbiological family? If not somehow included, how is one to record their existence so their contribution to that member of your tree isn't forgotten. What of other individuals who were somehow significant to the ancestor's life like close friends? Is there some function available to record them?
Great question! Crista has a helpful video on how to reflect accurate relationships in your tree here: czcams.com/video/IWz9oMcJJmU/video.html
Crista, Which Order do I do it in for the DNA?
+Nathan McAdam Hi there - Not clear on your question. Which order do you do what?
Nevermind, I was looking for a different video and I found the question.
6x7?
Triangulation by area within the particular years in question.
Good luck with your brick wall. Aren't you working near the limits of the usefulness of DNA for genealogy? For one thing, after 4 or 5 generations back, you are probably related to just about everyone in an entire region. For example, my parents are both from Georgia, and unrelated. There are people who match both sides of the family with DNA as distant cousins. Also, isn't it right that 4th cousins only have about a 50% chance of sharing "matchable" amounts of DNA? So you are looking for a very weak signal in with a lot of noise. One thing that would help is if there was an option to limit the number of generations back when searching your matches for a surname or location. Ancestry DNA revealed a deep family secret for me. I posted a video on my channel about this. I don't know who my actual paternal grandfather was! I am still working to solve this.
Crista? Ive almost finished my entire tree! 4 days of work.
Preesi, We love the enthusiasm you have for building your family tree! However, we'd caution against relying too heavily on the shaky leaves as these are simply possible matches based on the information you provided but they are not guaranteed matches so don't accept them without reviewing them critically to confirm information like exact names, dates, approximate age, locations, etc. If you have a very uncommon surname, it may be easier to find this information than if you were search for a 'Smith' or 'Jones' but it's still important to look carefully at all details contained in the records. Family history is a marathon, not a sprint so racing through your tree too quickly may introduce errors in your tree or worse, you might be climbing the wrong family tree. Good luck in your search and keep us posted on your results!
I’m still not done, it’s been 2 yrs
Thanks for sharing this Crista. I just sent off samples for each of my parents for ancestrydna, but have not done so myself. If I have my parents done why would I want to do the test for myself?
If you have tested both parents there is no genealogical need to test yourself. The only reason at that point would be if you were interested in learning what portions of each of their DNA you inherited. (Crista)
Thanks so much. My grandfather had no ancestral history at all that we can prove. I wonder if a dna test on me would help narrow down HIS ethnicity as a clue to his ancestry..
I am from Batesville Arkansas
My dads family Branscum or Branscomb is from Stone county and Arkansas.
My moms side Stephens and freemans side is from Akron, Ohio
any updates?
To what?
I would say if you have any direct male lines from John O'Brien might help you find the O'Brien descendants!
Unfortunately, he only had daughters. (Crista)
Christa, I made my daughter Editor for my DNA, as she has been doing research for many years. I can "see" her tree, she attached my DNA to "my family tree" on her Ancestry account ... how to continue? ALSO we know the 4th great paternal grandparents came here with one son in 1847 - 1849 THOSE three born in England, the next child, born in 50 was born in Ohio! ... they must have been dropped in by stork, cause in spite of MANY searches we cannot find any ships list, immigrants with their names! There are SOOOO many errors in "other" trees! Some have this 4 great grandmother having babies born in the US and England the same year! and tho census records show the couple having 13 children...some folks have them with 18 ... a real mess! Thanks for reading!
If this couple are your 4th great-grandparents, then those who descend from them through another one of their children would be your 5th cousins. Do a surname search in your DNA matches for their last names (husband's name and wife's maiden name) to see if any of your matches have them in their trees. That's going to give you a more solid connection. Hope that makes sense. (Crista)
I'm stuck on my Watson line my 3rd great grandfsther randomly shows up for marriage then disapared after last one was born I have matches for this line all stuck on same person. His wife was married 4 times her 3 child with the Watson was named after her First husband.
Aren't families messy, Ashleigh? I have a great-great-grandmother who was similarly married multiple times and we weren't sure which children belonged to which husband until DNA testing helped us straighten it all out.
Start collecting all of those DNA Matches on this line (I use a spreadsheet or chart to keep track of them all). Then pay close attention to Shared Matches between you and those individuals. This should lead you to the family of this 3rd great-grandfather.
Hope that makes sense! (~Crista)
I have a brick wall because my great great grandfather in Eastern Kentucky was a moonshiner who murdered several people in a dispute. He changed his last name a bunch of times because he was wanted dead or alive. Not much anyone can help on that lol
Make a timeline of what you know about his life. Look for records (newspaper articles, criminal records, etc.) to fill in the gaps. Pay close attention to his associates. And, consider taking an AncestryDNA test. (Crista)
1.William wickenden died 2-23-1670 in providence RI. His daughter Hannah born about 1638 died 1705 in RI. Think of the Pink Floyd Album Brick in the Wall. My cousin William Shayne Lincoln comes to mind. I was visited by him. All good there. Thumb up.
2. Hannah married in 1660 to John Steere. He was born 1634 in Oakley Surrey England. He died1-5-1726 in Wionkheige Hill, RI. John Deer the tractor 🚜. Their daughter, Jane was born 1668 in Providence, RI. She died after 1852 Coventry or RI. Jane Sikkenga come to mind. She went to Plainwell high school and she graduated in 1986. I have pictures to show but I can't deal with this phone anymore.
3. Jane Steere married William Blanchard,. William died after 1757 RI. They had a son William. Blankenship come to mind. One here in cooper township, Kalamazoo mi. He's on my neighbors page.
4. William Blanchard married Sarah. William Blanchard married Sarah. William died 5-25-1751 in Scituate, RI. They had a son Issac (Issac Newton comes to my mind) born about 1746 in Providence Co.RI. Died 1816 Foster,RI. (Melanie Foster Plainwell 💖 high school my graduating class 1986 the Plainwell Trojans.
I'll do more later.
by the way christa, if ancestry had a chromosome browser it would be easier to do this analysis. I have a hard time getting users to upload to gedmatch.
I don't use GEDMatch or a chromosome browser and I'm solving adoption cases every week AND identifying most of my own DNA matches as well. (Crista)
I think where it would be useful are on some of these distant DNA circles. Say if you have 4 matches in a circle of 8. If all or most of the people in a circle had the same bit of DNA shared then you'd be more confident in the circle however if most have different bit of dna, maybe we're all matches because we're of northern Scottish ancestry. Also helps compare to those whom tested with a different company.
Crista, I am proponent of the AncestryDNA product and the helpful tools Ancestry does provide, but I am disappointed in your response. By being familiar with, but choosing not to use, a chromosome browser you are not adhering to the very first element of the Genealogical Proof Standard; a reasonably exhaustive search. You are purposefully avoiding information that is both readily accessible (for free) and necessary for proof in the world of genetic genealogy. Positively identifying ancestors from matches is just not possible without a chromosome browser to confirm shared segments. Without it, you're just guessing. Yes, most of those can be very educated guesses that are probably correct and they can be extremely helpful clues, but they are guesses all the same, and they can still be wrong sometimes, leading one to climb someone else's family tree.
Really I could have never been sure or would never have known where to look if it was not for a chromosome browser. I had a complete break through using Gedmatch, Ancestry and Google books. And the match was strongest on my Aunt's X chromosome and her 1st cousin and a match on Ancestry who was a 5th to 8th cousin and I was able to work on his mother line until I was able to connect our family trees. I would have never been able to connect the right ancestor if not for a chromosome browser. All I am saying is Christa You are missing out!
Mayhap IBS and IBD are too complicated for the ancestry user base.
Ireland lost most of their records, so good luck.
Irish research is certainly tough due to lots of record loss. But, it's not impossible. Loads of parish records available in Ireland for research.
Crista I bought a kit
Wonderful, keep us posted on your results! We encourage you to visit our AncestryDNA playlist as you start digging into your results. You can find the playlist here: czcams.com/video/5nuQ3INsqJk/video.html to
Received, filled and sent..My mom and her tree had zero leaves (Im elated, cause I dont wanna contact her) but my paternal tree has leaves, but we are a prominent family so I knew that.
Okay, I can not resist to ask this question: are you really barefoot?
I am. Most all of the time. I wear flip-flops year round because I can get them on and off easily. ;-)
is there a way to send you an email?
Ask [at] ancestry [dot] com.
Ive hit a brick wall on my paternal great great grand father AND my Moms great grandparents in UKRAINE! Ill never get anything.
Pressi, It's possible the records you're seeking either aren't online or aren't available. We recommend visiting Cyndi's List for alternate resources for Ukraine: www.cyndislist.com/eastern-europe/