MODULE 3: Building research trees at Ancestry

- February 15, 2024

These notes are for participants in the Society of Australian Genealogists' program, Analysing your AncestryDNA results. Others are welcome to use these notes for their personal research. Please contact me at chrisw9953[at]gmail[dot]com for other uses. I'll strive to update the notes as there are further developments or my understanding of the area grows.

In the following table, you'll see when I use private, unsearchable (Quick & Dirty) trees at Ancestry and when I do the research as a "floating branch" in the tree attached to my AncestryDNA test.

You can hear Blaine Bettinger speak about developing "Quick and Dirty trees" HERE.

The key to researching your DNA matches is finding the common ancestors that you share with the match or group of matches. The closest ancestors that you share with the match are called "most recent common ancestors" (MRCA). Here are some reason that you can’t find a MRCA with your match or a group of matches.

Many times there'll be a group of matches that you trace to a MRCA but can't work out how they fit into your pedigree. I do the research but think of them as "wait and act" until the link is found. Often these fall into the group where more complex research is required.

This chart is very important to me when researching DNA matches who are potential third cousins or more distant. We read about the more distant the relationship, the wider the range of shared DNA can be. Here's a comparison of the DNA Vicki and I share with cousins on our Feeney line. Vicki is my third cousin. We have Feeney cousins at AncestryDNA as distant as fourth cousins 1x removed. Vicki and I only share 7cM at AncestryDNA - not much for third cousins. However, when you look at this chart, you'll see that the DNA we share with other third cousins ranges from 10cM to 155cM! For example, I share 100cM of DNA with our third cousin Sue and Vicki shares 21cM. Look at Robert, our fourth cousin 1x removed, I share 54cM with him but Vicki doesn't share any DNA! Remember it's about recombination.

Please note that Vicki tested at AncestryDNA prior to the threshold for reporting matches being increased to 8cM!

Tips and techniques for getting the most out of you AncestryDNA test-

Link your AncestryDNA test to a public or private, searchable tree even if it's only your pedigree tree but it must be your generic and not social pedigree. You can have floating branches waiting to be attached to your tree but make sure the floating branch is researched.
Connect AncestryDNA matches to your tree. This makes it easy to move between your tree and the AncestryDNA matches. You can also connect the AncestryDNA matches for any of the AncestryDNA tests that you manage to your tree.
Check DNA relationships in Tree viewing options are linked to your profile on the tree connected to your AncestryDNA test.
You can connect the AncestryDNA tests for any that you manage to your tree.
If you show your social ancestors in your tree, make sure they aren't shown as your genetic ancestors.
You can search for an ancestral name or birth location for public or private searchable trees linked to your AncestryDNA matches.
Use DNA and other tags on your family tree. These are searchable and visible to others for deceased persons in your tree.
You can upload a GEDCOM to create a family tree at Ancestry.
Change privacy settings on an Ancestry tree to make it public, private or private and unsearchable.
Share AncestryDNA results with your "cousins" allows you to look at relationships through another lens and find new matches.
Use AncestryDNA custom groups to cluster your matches allows you to build on your know matches to possible relationships with unknown matches.