Community Chat

[Oznell]

Thanks for considering my question, @Icegoddess .   I will have to check w/ my sister to see if there's been any tweaking.  You're making a reasonable supposition of the possible dearth of genetic info in their database, but it just seems hard to imagine that they don't have enough in both the general "English" category, and then the "Northwestern Europe" category, to be able to broadly distinguish between them, even if there is a lot of overlap...

That is absolutely fascinating about the Native American data too.

[skatting44]

@Icegoddess 

 Yes, agree that it takes the old detective approach and find  actual records . Yes, one needs to really scrutinize  info in other trees  before  adding  the info  to your own tree.  Yes, I have spent many hrs at  court houses looking for  official records . Like you I do look for records or email tree owners as to where or what record they have to support familial connections.  I scan some outside records and attach to my tree, however alot of people do not do the same . 

[shoesnbags]

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@Oznell wrote:

Thanks for considering my question, @Icegoddess .   I will have to check w/ my sister to see if there's been any tweaking.  You're making a reasonable supposition of the possible dearth of genetic info in their database, but it just seems hard to imagine that they don't have enough in both the general "English" category, and then the "Northwestern Europe" category, to be able to broadly distinguish between them, even if there is a lot of overlap...

That is absolutely fascinating about the Native American data too.

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@Oznell 

My Ancestry.com results include 17% "England and Northwestern Europe" so I went to the website and looked at their map again.  The map lights up an area when you click on that part of your results. 

For England and Northwestern Europe not as big an area lights up as you might expect.  It's not complete countries, for example just the very most northern tip of France lights up but all of Belgium and Luxembourg are included.  So it's actually more specific than it sounds.  I have separate percentages given for Ireland, Scotland and Wales.  Also separate percentage for Germany. 

Someone asked about updates and yes, I received 2 or 3 updates in the three years since I first did the test.  They are constantly refining their methods which can change your percents or add a new area to your ancestry.  My last update added the Balkans, specifically Croatia, to my profile.  There was a detailed explanation as to why this was added.  You get these updates whether you remain a paying member or not.

I only decided to do Ancestry.com after my son did it and was matched with 3 of my first cousins.  They are the children of my father's three different sisters and so had different last names than my maiden name.  No way to connect them to my son except by dna.  So I became a believer. 

Absolutely no surprises in my results except that I have a lot more Irish blood than I thought, which pleased me.  And seeing where all of my ancesters came from, it's no wonder that I'm so pale I almost glow in the dark lol.

[Duckncover]

Two of my daughters used 23 and me and got very different info...still haven't figured out how reliable it really is. My sister in-law is really into genealogy and uses the gravefinder site to get birth or death dates when she doesn't know them. She says it is quicker than trying to research records for one date and it can help get a search started faster. 

[shoesnbags]

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@Duckncover wrote:

Two of my daughters used 23 and me and got very different info...still haven't figured out how reliable it really is. My sister in-law is really into genealogy and uses the gravefinder site to get birth or death dates when she doesn't know them. She says it is quicker than trying to research records for one date and it can help get a search started faster. 

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@Duckncover 

This is from the Ancestry.com website:

Siblings share 50% of their DNA.

Because only half of a parent’s genes are passed on to each child, your siblings received some genes you didn’t, and vice versa.

If your parents’ genes were each a deck of 52 cards, you'd receive exactly 26 cards from each of them to form your own deck of 52. If you had a younger sibling, he or she would also receive 26 cards from each parent, and about half of that sibling's 52 cards would end up being the same cards you received. If a third sibling were born, that sibling would share about 26 cards with each of you as well. This pattern would continue with each sibling born. Due to the random nature of inheritance, some siblings inherit more of some ethnicities than others do, and some siblings may not inherit certain ethnicities at all.

[Lucky Charm]

Another helpful place to look for family info is Newspapers.com.

Obituaries from a hundred years ago can help you with last names and especially maiden names, hometowns, etc.

Plus articles you may find pertaining to your relative.  You'd be surprised, even little snippets they would print as a story are so interesting to read about your ancestors.

[Oznell]

Oh, that's so helpful, thanks, @shoesnbags ,  it's good to know that at the site, at least, they are able to pinpoint more specifically.

And the differentiation among siblings is something I wondered about, but didn't know for sure.  So, my sister's results from Ancestry may only roughly represent what mine would be, and in some ways could be markedly different-- to get the exact skinny, I'll have to submit my own sample.

Thanks again!

[goldensrbest]

I did quite a bit of research a few years ago on my family,on my dad side ,his mother  is from american Indian, i even went to  the church of later day saints,had appointment ,to find information, very little on American  Indians.

[hayseed00]

@PickyPicky3  Ancestry.com isn't cheep but I sign up for a few months every winter to work on my family tree.  I also did the DNA test through Ancestry and have had some relatives from other countries contact me through Ancestry's message service.  I really enjoy researching my family.