Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

Understanding genetic genealogy (finally!)

By 8 Comments

Understanding genetic genealogy (finally)I attended Diahan Southard’s series of DNA lectures on July 28 as part of the St. Louis Genealogical Society’s Summer Speaker Series. As I mentioned in a blog post last month, I’ve had a hard time using DNA in my genealogical research, mostly because I have a difficult time understanding and retaining what I try to learn about DNA.

Diahan is an expert on making this information understandable to non-scientists like me. I’ve heard her speak before but this time, a door in my brain cracked open. It may have been because at the seminar we had the privilege of listening to Diahan for four straight lectures, each of which built on the prior one. It was really a brilliant program and Diahan is an excellent speaker.

So I came home and started applying what I’ve learned and I now feel that genetic genealogy is part of my tool box. Hooray!!

Here are some of the revelations from her talks that really helped me:

  • A DNA match with a person whose tree has no familiar surnames is cause for celebration, not frustration. The DNA shows you’re related. When you figure out how you’re related, you’ll add names to your tree.
  • The Shared Centimorgan (cM) Project can help you understand how you might be related to someone, based on how much DNA you share. Here’s Diahan’s explanation of centimorgans and the Shared cM Project. It’s a great resource.
  • The solution to most DNA is quandaries is (drum roll): Do genealogy! DNA evidence can bridge gaps or open holes in brick walls. But traditional genealogy is how you build your family tree.
  • Create a list of your 32 great great great grandparents’ surnames to help you find commonalities with DNA matches. I had not compiled a list like that before and I see how it will help recognize how I might be related to those DNA matches that are fourth cousins or closer.
  • On Ancestry, even if a DNA match has not linked a tree to his/her DNA results (so you see “no family tree”), click on the “View Match” button and see if there’s a drop-down list of trees you might look at under the Pedigrees and Surnames tab. There may be a tree (or a few trees) for you to look at.

One thing I noticed when I took a look my Ancestry DNA results the day after the Diahan’s seminar is that the shared centimorgans don’t necessarily accurately reflect the relationship. For example, my mother’s first cousin, whom I know personally, shares only 183 cM with me, rather than the 439 that first cousins once removed usually share, according to the Shared cM Project. So Ancestry guessed that she was my third or fourth cousin. The Shared cM Project is a great tool, but obviously just a guideline.

Today in my research session, I explored the public tree linked to someone with whom I share 158 cM. This is a huge tree but I was able to easily focus in on a shared surname. The tree is beautifully sourced, so even though I had only a few minutes left of my 30-minute research session this morning, I was able to add a fact and supporting document to my great great grandfather’s record in my family tree software. Tomorrow I’ll go back and explore that tree more.

I finally understand how DNA can help me in my genealogy research. Better yet, I understand how to use it. This is such a revelation.

If using genetic genealogy eludes you as it did me, I heartily encourage you to check out Diahan’s website, Your DNA Guide, and to listen to Diahan speak when you have the chance. She’s speaking at the Federation of Genealogical Societies conference later this month and I know she’ll be speaking at the 2019 NGS conference in St. Charles, Missouri, next May. (I’ll plan to be in the front row!) You can also do a consultation with her where she explains your DNA results to you. She’s a terrific resource.

Unmodified photo by Michael Knowles via Flickr. Used under Creative Commons License.

Giving DNA another chance

By 6 Comments

Confession time: I have the hardest time understanding genetic genealogy. I have spent hours in seminars at various conferences. I even had a one-on-one consultation about my DNA results with genetic genealogist and consultant Diahan Southard, Your DNA Guide.

For some reason, these concepts are hard for me to grasp and retain. As a result, I do very little with my DNA results. I occasionally check matches to my autosomal test (which I did through Ancestry DNA and transferred the results to Family Tree DNA) but that’s pretty much it. Every year I hope (but don’t plan) that this is going to be the year that I harvest the power of DNA in my genealogy research.

An opportunity to learn more was just handed to me on a silver platter. Diahan Southard is coming to St. Louis for a Summer Speaker Series event put on by the St. Louis Genealogical Society on July 28. I just registered. (If you’re in St. Louis and interested in going, today July 10, is the early-bird deadline. Tomorrow the price goes up by $10.)

I know what a great speaker Diahan is and it couldn’t be more convenient for me to go. So I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to hear her speak. (Plus Diahan holds a special place in my heart because she was one of the first people to consent to being interviewed for my How They Do It series.) I’ll be attending her talks on July 28 with an open and curious mind and I’m hoping that they will help me incorporate more genetic genealogy into my research.

If you’re in St. Louis and going, please let me know so we can meet!

Unmodified photo by Alf Melvin via Flickr. Used under Creative Commons License.

How They Do It: Diahan Southard

By Leave a Comment

I’m so happy to present the fourth installment in my How They Do It series, in which I ask well-known genealogists how they organize their own research. The series runs the first Tuesday of each month, though this week I forgot! (Yes, even professional organizers mess up their schedules sometimes.)

This month I interview Diahan Southard, Your DNA Guide. Diahan is an expert in genetic genealogy and is a regular speaker at genealogy conferences. She manages to make the confusing topic of using DNA in genealogy understandable, no small feat, in my opinion. I’ve  had the pleasure of doing a consultation with her about my own autosomal DNA results, which was a very valuable experience! For this interview, we focused on Diahan’s genetic genealogy research.

How They Do It: Diahan Southard

How long have you been doing genealogy?

I have been involved in genetic genealogy since the beginning, so about 17 years.

What’s your favorite part of doing genetic genealogy?

My favorite part about genetic genealogy is the unexpected tangible connection that I feel with my DNA cousins that I have never met.

Do you consider your genealogy research well organized?

I honestly spend more time helping others than I do on my own research at this point, so while I feel like I have some good organization in the DNA realm, I know my traditional research could use some help.

What type of software do you use for organizing your genetic genealogy research?

Each testing company does offer some limited means for keeping track of your matches in the form of notes. When I look at a match, I just make a quick note in that person’s profile about what I did and what I found, especially if I was able to find the common ancestor. This makes it easy for me to remember when I go back weeks later.

Do you have a tree on Ancestry? If so, is it public or private? Why?

I do have a public tree on Ancestry as it gives me access to all of the best genetic genealogy tools at AncestryDNA. With a public tree I get access to the DNA circles and New Ancestor discoveries features, as well as the shaky leaf hints. Having my tree public also allows me to take advantage of other people’s research time, meaning that my tree is out there for them to peruse so that my DNA matches might be able to identify our connection even if I haven’t had a chance to look yet.

What’s your biggest challenge when it comes to organizing your genetic genealogy?

The biggest challenge in genetic genealogy is figuring out what to do with all of those fourth cousins! Most of us have so many. The best thing to do is to pull your Best Matches out of the longer list and focus on those. Your best matches have shared surnames, shared locations, or are your best genetic matches.

What’s your biggest piece of advice to beginners in genetic genealogy in terms of keeping track of their research?

If you are just getting started in genetic genealogy, please don’t get overwhelmed by the more experienced people telling you that you HAVE to have this fancy tool or you HAVE to transfer your data to another database. Spend at least a year getting to know the database you were tested in and don’t worry about anything else for now.

What do you think is the most important thing for people to do to stay organized when it comes to family history research?

Stay focused on one goal. Don’t get distracted by other shiny objects.

If you were starting out new in genetic genealogy what would you do differently?

I would test more of my ancestors before they passed away. If you have parents or grandparents, or aunts or uncles still around, go order them a DNA test!!

Do you keep paper or electronic files (or both)?

All my genetic genealogy is electronic.

Do you use Evernote, One Note or any other electronic organizing system for your genealogy? If so, how do you use it?

I do use Evernote to clip particularly helpful articles or charts to help me make sense of my genetic genealogy results. I also use it to save screenshots of DNA circles and New Ancestor discoveries, or important matches.

Do you have anything to add?

While the ins and outs and ups and downs of genetic genealogy can take you down many paths with many twists and turns, keep in mind that it really comes down to a simple concept: if you share DNA, you are family.

Diahan obviously has a lot to teach those of us struggling with knowing what to do with our DNA results! I really love her advice to stayed focused and to spend a year getting to know the database you’ve tested with before branching out to other databases or trying new tools. And, of course, her advice to test your older relatives now, while they’re still with you, is so important.