My Process – Finding Shared Ancestors

I was telling my sister how I’ve made some progress recently and I quickly realized that she had no idea what I was talking about and I think it’s because she’s not on Ancestry.  So I’m going to show how I make connections – mainly for my family that has no idea how I do what I do. Here goes…

1. DNA Results

First things first. My mom had her DNA tested through AncestryDNA.  When we got the results back – this is what her DNA match pages look like.  This a short list of 3rd cousin matches to my mom.  

2. Create a Mirror Image Tree

I then view their tree and create a tree that looks just like theirs – with the DNAmatch as the home person.

3. Link DNA

Instead of spending HOURS on one DNA match’s tree and trying to find how we’re connected, I create their tree, and link my mom’s DNA to the home person in the mirror image tree I created.  Here is a screenshot of how I can link my mom’s DNA to different people in different trees.   The tree has to be a tree that I manage – that’s why I have to create a tree or get the DNA match to send the ged file.  In this screen shot,  I have my mom’s DNA linked to someone (a potential bio-dad) in a tree of a 2nd to 4th cousin match. I normally start with the home person in the tree, the actual 2nd-4th cousin and then once I find which portion the family we link to, I can change the linked person – read a little further and you’ll understand why.  I name my trees with either the last name or username of the cousin match plus the predicted relationship.  A little lower, you can see how I can use a drop down menu to change trees and find someone new.

4. Let AncestryDNA do the Work

Once my mom’s DNA is linked to the DNA match’s tree, AncestryDNA will scan through my mom’s match list their trees and try to find common ancestors.

Alright – my mom’s DNA is linked to a someone in the 2nd-4th cousin tree.  I click on see matches and then click the button that says Hints.

If you are familiar with Ancestry, you are familiar with Leaf Hints related to records, pictures, trees but on AncestryDNA, hints are Shared Ancestor Hints.  So – the match’s shown below, are DNA matches to my mom AND have a shared ancestor – so these people are probably related to the 2nd-4th cousin that I have my mom’s DNA linked to.

Here is a screen shot of one of my mom’s DNA matches that has a shared ancestor when linked to the 2nd-4th cousin’s tree.   The predicted relationship between this cousin and my mom is 5th-8th cousins – which is pretty distant but fortunately for me, she has a shared ancestor with this 2nd to 4th cousin that I have my mom linked to.  Even more exciting – I have more than just this one DNA match that has Charles Fleming and Susannah Tarleton in their tree. I think I’ve found 3 or 4 other DNA matches with these people in their tree. 

Why does this work?

By taking a close DNA match’s tree and linking my mom’s DNA to their tree, I only see people that match my mom’s DNA AND have the same people in their tree – a shared ancestor.

Since my mom has no family records, this is the ONLY way I can figure out our biological family tree.  Once I find the branch that my mom is related to (shared ancestors on both sides)… I know I will not have shared ancestors on both sides of my 2nd-4th cousin’s tree BUT here’s a little preview of the tree…

The red dots indicates that I have found DNA matches with the same person in their tree (a shared ancestor).  Obviously, if there are holes in the tree, I can’t make connections but since I took a screen shot, I’ve been working on filling in the holes- If Druscilla Davenport’s father is Henry Davenport, which I think is true, than there would be a little red dot on his name because I have a few DNA matches with him in their tree .  

By looking at this, I think Matthew Bates and Amanda Clayton would be the closest common or shared ancestors between my mom and this 2nd-4th cousin match.  Since I don’t have shared ancestors for Isaac Bates mother’s family or Frances Donohoe’s family, it’s possible this may not be the case BUT ancestryDNA, in my experience will not give shared ancestor hints if you don’t have dates like birth dates or death dates.  I’m also thinking Donohoe could be a name that is easily transcribed incorrectly or it changed over time – like maybe Donahue, or Donaho, There may be variations in other people’s tree that is preventing the shared ancestor hint from popping up which would require a more detailed search on my part.

So – Katherine, if you are reading this, I hope your eyes don’t glaze over next time I talk to you about this.    😛

As for other adoptees looking for family… this is a really great starting point.  Once you can narrow down a branch, you can look at the children of the closest shared ancestors.  Look at who those children married and go as far back as you can on the spouses family.  Eventually you should find a shared ancestor among the spouses of the children.

For instance, I’ve looked at Matthew Bates and Amanda Clayton’s children – they have a daughter names Amanda Jane Bates and she married Albert Boone.  My next step is to go back on his family as far as I can.. His great grandparents are David McGee and Mary Cook which are the ancestors that pop up as a shared ancestor (yay) – I think I’m on the right track.

But just one shared ancestor hint is not enough to make assumptions. I’m stuck on Albert Boone’s family.  It’s like all records stop – they disappear… which makes finding shared ancestors nearly impossible.  So I’ve got to get back to work on finding records.  ❤