AncestryDNA for Newbies (Including Me)

So you have DNA tested with Ancestry. Now what?

My husband and I first had our DNA testing done in 2012 using an autosomal test offered by Ancestry. My two brothers and my 83-year-old mother tested the next year, which turned out to be the year before she died. Dad's dementia did not enable him to understand spitting into a vial. But earlier this year his 89-year-old brother tested. Currently, I administer the results of 11 DNA tests and another 6 are at the lab being processed. I still consider myself a DNA research rookie.

Several of the tests are first cousins on my maternal side. None of us know much about our grandfather, the family Gustav Lange (1888-1963), and more than half of my 11 Lange cousins are helping me in my research by agreeing to DNA test. I have uploaded Mom's raw DNA test results and a gedcom version of her tree to GEDMATCH.com because there is a group of Society of German Genealogy in Eastern Europe (SGGEE) members who share DNA with Mom who understand chromosome matching. I do not. Therefore, this post is about how someone with a limited understanding of DNA can use Ancestry DNA-related tools to further their research.

And I will attest to the success I've had using DNA even with a limited understanding of the science. Some successes:

1. Confirming my 4X great grandfather Samuel Beard, (1750-1814) was the brother of Capt. David Beard and the son of Adam Beard (1725-1777), which proved my previous research and enabled me to have him re-instated as a Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) patriot.
2. Identifying a new Beard cousin (descended through Capt. David Beard), whose uncle had written a book which described the family's wagon trip from Iowa to Colorado and California in the late 1890s.
3. Learning about my previously unknown great great grandmother Barbara Ann Mitchell, who descended from Robert Mitchell "the Immigrant," who was alive and living in Londonderry, Northern Ireland during the Seige of Derry in 1688-1689.
4. Having the opportunity to interview my first cousin once removed who was the son of Grandpa Lange's youngest brother about the family's experience during and between World War I and World War II
5. Proving that I had correctly identified the siblings of my great grandmother, Caroline (Ludwig) Lange.
6. Discovering a five times great grandfather was Robert Mitchell "the Elder" (1714-1799) and finding a book about one of his sons which included a personality profile about Robert Mitchell.

And more...

In order to take full advantage of what little I do understand about DNA, I needed to develop a process to follow when viewing, identifying, and managing the results of the tests as well as how I communicate with the people who have so graciously spit into the tube for me! I thought for my bi-monthly Worldwide Genealogy -- A Genealogical Collaboration, I would detail my DNA process. 

I maintain a master DNA spreadsheet in which I record matches, common shared ancestors, pedigree charts and ethnicity information. 

On the ethnicity worksheet, I have the people who have taken the test arrayed on rows and the global regions Ancestry uses to categorize ethnicity are arrayed in columns.

Column A = Name of person who DNA tested (not shown)

Column B = Relationship to me

Columns C through AB = Ancestry's 26 global regions (some are not shown)

Ethnicity worksheet in my Master DNA spreadsheet; created using
Microsoft Excel

I find that the people who have tested for me are most interested in their ethnicity. I can make their eyes glaze over when I talk genealogy. So I usually send them a copy of the information Ancestry includes about each region when I send them their ethnicity results.

The pedigree charts look like the example below. I include them as I know many of my relatives will be unfamiliar with the names of some of their direct ancestors.

Example of a pedigree chart I create for each person whose DNA test I
administer; created using Microsoft Excel

I annotate the chart to include whether the information was new to me based on DNA testing and which lines have been proven using DNA testing. My relatives enjoy seeing how their DNA tests have helped further my research into our shared family history.

The "meat" of my spreadsheet is the worksheet where I capture information about DNA matches. I organize the information in the following manner:

• Column A = the name of the DNA match (not shown): Sometimes I cannot determine their name, but note them as Daughter [Surname] for example. Frequently, if one of their parents are deceased I can locate an obituary online and determine the name of the DNA match.
• Column B = M/F (not shown): This is the sex of the person who took the DNA test
• Column C = the name of the DNA test (not shown): This will be an Ancestry username unless it is a test of a third person administered by an Ancestry member. In that case, I enter the initials in this column.
• Column D = the username of the test administrator (not shown): If the test was taken by an Ancestry member, it will be the Ancestry user name. In my case "sdagutis." Using my mother's test as an example, the name of which is D. J. (administered by sdagutis), I enter DJ in Column C and sdagutis in this column.
• Column E = the surname of the common shared ancestor (not shown). This column was added for sorting purposes.
• Column F = name of the common shared ancestor. This is the person from which the DNA match and the test I administer descend. I use the name of the male as frequently we descend from children of different wives. I've learned wives are complicated! ;)
• Column G = birth year of common shared ancestor. I use red font if it is an estimate.
• Column H = death year of common shared ancestor. I use red font if it is an estimate.
• Column I = relationship of common shared ancestor to me. If this column is blank the row is related to a DNA test to a by-marriage relative who is not related to me by genetics or blood and this information is included in a different column for only those non-relatives.
• Columns J through whatever = the names of the people whose DNA test I administer and their relationship to me. I have tested some by marriage ancestors who were curious about their family history so their columns are organized at the far right and are not shown.

A snippet from my DNA matches worksheet; created using Microsoft Excel

When I'm working with new DNA matches I usually sort the spreadsheet by the Test Administrator column. This enables me to insert a new row alphabetically by the Ancestry username. When I am analyzing the DNA matches I sort by the common shared ancestor columns. I have observed that while my brothers and I share many DNA matches there a few that unique to one sibling and those seem to fall into particular surnames. One brother has more matches where the common shared ancestor's surname was Beard for example.

I always research the ancestry of the DNA match. Occasionally, I find, especially when dealing with U.S. Colonial-era ancestors that the research can be incorrect. Often, I can make what I believe to be the correct amendments and I will note that on the DNA match itself. I also use this field to indicate who the person is and a link to their facts page in my tree.

An example of how I use the Note field on the DNA match page; courtesy
of Ancestry

As I complete my process for each match, I click the star to the left of the image so I know I have worked on this match and know who the common shared ancestor was even if Ancestry did not identify one. I also note the DNA match on the two relevant fact pages in my tree using the DNA Markers fact option.

The fact about Uncle Marvin's DNA match on my facts page; courtesy of
Ancestry.com

Corresponding fact about our match on Uncle Marvin's fact page;
courtesy of Ancestry.com

I will mention that I am not generally a fan of using icons on my tree but have found it extraordinarily helpful when working with DNA. I create an icon for each person who has tested and as I resolve each match, I associate that person to the icon in my relative's gallery.

When I solve a match, especially one without a known shared common ancestor, I will click the Shared Matches button to see which other matches are shared between the person who took the DNA test for me and the match on which I am working. Usually, I can figure those out as well, using the research I just completed on the current match.

Buttons that appear on every DNA match detail pages; courtesy of
Ancestry.com

I'll talk about DNA Circles another day!

Incorporating Evernote into My Research Process

I'll admit it. I'm lazy, especially when it comes to transcribing records and creating source citations. Yet, when I begin to write a blog post or a magazine article, I rue the fact I haven't transcribed the associated records. Typically, if I have not already transcribed a record I do so in preparation of writing a blog post. This is when I create the source citations as well. Thankfully, I am good about noting where I found the record.

Since Ancestry revamped its interface, I have been dissatisfied with how transcriptions of documents are displayed. I find them very hard to read. (I'll admit I wasn't thrilled with "old" Ancestry, but new is definitely a step backwards.)

This is a source citation I created from a non-Ancestry.com document I found on ScotlandsPeople. When I click the source link from the Sources column on the facts tab, the text is all jumbled and difficult to read:

Citation details of Robert Orr Muir's 1917 death registration; citation created by
me; image courtesy of Ancestry.com

If I go to the Gallery, where I used to be able to easily read the text transcription, I can no longer do so. I have to click the edit button and scroll through a small text screen.

Death Registration document in the Gallery; image courtesy of Ancestry.com

Transcription is the bottom field. Certainly cannot see much!
Image courtesy of Ancestry.com

So I am beginning to incorporate other tools into my research process. The first one with which I began experimenting is Evernote. Currently, I am using it only for transcriptions and I quite like it. I can also see where the Web Clipper functionality will be very useful for staying on task. If I see something I want to investigate further, I merely have to clip it and add it to my To-Do Notebook to work on later.

After transcribing the record, and attaching an image of the record, I click Share >> Copy Public Link:

Image courtesy of Evernote

Then I add the link to the transcription to Ancestry as a web link:

The link to the Evernote transcription of Robert Orr Muir's death registration
I added to his Ancestry.com facts page

This is not the entire Evernote "note" but it should give you an idea of how much better the display of the transcription information is than the two options Ancestry.com provides.

My Evernote public note about the death of Robert Orr Muir; image
courtesy of Evernote

I know I'm late to the Evernote party, but I would very much like to know how are you integrating Evernote with your your family tree software?

12-Step Program for New Online Collections

I recently learned that FamilySearch had a collection of Ohio death certificates for 1908 through 1953. This was news to me so I wanted to take maximum advantage of the collection. To do so, I have a workflow I use when I discover new online collections that may be relevant to my genealogy research.

My 12-step process for taking maximum advantage of new online document collections;
created using Microsoft Powerpoint

Preparation Steps

These are important steps for saving time and creating efficiency. They let me target specific individual, eliminate duplicate entries, and improve my knowledge of the availability of online sources.

Searching and Recording Steps

These are the actual "meat" of the process. The order of Steps 6 through 11 is just my personal preference. I find I get in a rhythm of search, discover, switch browser windows or tabs, record findings, etc. If I add too many different steps, I lose my rhythm and make mistakes. (I'm a terrible dancer, too!)

Wrapping-up Steps

These steps enable me to easily pick up where I left off if I have to end my research for the day. By updating my custom report of people with new findings, I can easily record where I stopped if I run out of time. I prefer to create source citation creations for many documents from one repository all at once (as it has its own unique rhythm). But it's totally up to you!

The Steps in Detail

1. Run a custom report from my family tree software filtering in whatever parameters will capture the names and vital dates of people in my tree who should be included in the new collection of documents. Do I have enough relevant people to follow my workflow? If so, I usually export this custom report to Excel and add a Y/N column to the spreadsheet in which to record my findings.
2. Add the bibliographic information about the general collection to my family tree software. At a minimum, I create a title for the collection; the author (what organization created the records); date or range of dates; the URL for the home page of the collection, and notes about the collection, for example, why were the records created. A personal preference is to prepend a unique identifier to the title of the repository. All of the specific source citations I create later in the process will be attached, or associated with this repository information.
3. Add the website address, or URL, of the new collection to my spreadsheet of online document sources. I include the unique identifier on this spreadsheet. This prevents me from creating a duplicate repositories when working with the collection months or years later.
4. Search the collection for each name on the report. As I find a document, I save it to my computer, using a standard filename.
5. Add Y=Yes or N=No to my spreadsheet of names. Yes, obviously denotes I found the document and No means even though the document should have existed, I didn't find it.
6. Upload the document from my computer to the person in my family tree software and enter the date I added the record and the URL where I found it. Unlike, many I do not create the source citation or analyze the record at this time. I'm simply in collection mode and I'll explain why I do it this way later.
7. Upload the newly discovered record to my Google Drive genealogy area. (How that is organized is another post. Maybe I'll write it one day.)
8. Continue working through the list until I looked up every name.
9. Search collection again for people I could find no documents, using as many different search permutations as possible. If no document is found, I may have an error in my tree that needs to be investigated in more depth sometime in the future.
10. Look up the person/people in my family tree software for which I should have found a document but did not. Add an explanation of my activities and that I didn't find anything to my Research Notes about that specific person. By doing so, I'll know that I may need to re-examine the data I have recorded about that person's death (if I was searching a new collection of death certificates, for example.)
11. Look up each person for which I found a document in my family tree software. Create the necessary source citation for the new document and attach it to the document. Don't forget to also associate the new source citation to the collection repository created in Step #1.
12. Upload the Excel spreadsheet of the people for which I searched for a document in the new collection, using a standard filename format, which is R-OH Death Cert 1908-53 200160325.xlsx. The file name tells me that it is a report of Ohio death certificates between 1908 and 1953 which I conducted today. If I run this search at some point in the future, perhaps after finding a new branch of my tree in Ohio during the relevant time period, I can use this report to eliminate searching for the same people over again.

I have found creating this process has saved much time, added consistency to my work, and reduced the errors I make in my tree. Do you have a workflow process for taking maximum advantage of new or newly discovered online document repositories? If so, I'd love to hear about it.

Journeying Back to Your Ancestor's Time; My Person Journey

The process of journeying back to your ancestor's time has been the discussion in many videos lately, which brought me post this.

First I started at home.  I was wanting to know about the pictures I saw in my mother's picture box of men on horses that were obviously military, but I did not know who or where. I started by asking my mom about this. She said they were her father's, he served in the Spanish American War and her mother received a pension from that. She emphasized that he died when she was 2 months old, and so he did, which was why she didn't have any stories.

Picture owned by Fran Ellsworth 

My second step was looking for his military pension. I did not find it in the Spanish American War files.  I found their pension indexes mixed in with the Civil War indexes from the NARA T289. Pension applications for service in the US Army between 1861 and 1900, grouped according to the units in which the veterans served.   This discovery was on Fold3. I now knew that he was in Company B of the 38th Infantry Battalion.  I also had his muster in and muster out dates, as well as his death date. He enlisted September 11 1897 in the U.S. Army Volunteer Infantry and fought in the Philippine American War,
If you are wondering about your ancestor and the Spanish or Philippine Wars this site Spanish American War Vs Philippine American War is a great one to read.

On Ancestry.com, I found him and his 2 brothers, Robert C Whitson, and Oscar Whitson on the 1900 US Federal Census at Battalion at Batangas, Philippine Islands, Military and Naval Forces in the same battalion.

Ancestry.com, Online image, Year: 1900; Census Place: Batangas, Philippine Islands, Military and Naval Forces; Roll: 1841; Enumeration District: 0191; FHL microfilm: 1241841

My next move was to go to my favorite newspaper sites, Newspapers.com ,  GenealogyBank.com , and Chronicling America to search the newspapers of that time to see what was being said.  Sad to say, the press was very negative about this war and coverage wasn't great, but the political cartoons were rampant.

Newspapers.com clipping Decatur Daily Republican
(Decatur, Illinois)25 Apr 1898, Mon • Page 1

Chronicling America, The Houston daily post., May 31, 1902, MAILABLE EDITION

The worse article to read was about a battalion being charged with atrocities. I breathed a sigh of relief that my grandfather was not in that battalion.  His service summary card said service Honest and Faithful.  A description I would not mind to have. Finally I found an article that told of the end of the volunteer army. It described when they would come home, and the transports that would be involved.

I also used Google search where I also found the book Annual Report of the Secretary of War, Volume 1, Part 3 US Gov. 1901.  In there was the chart that gave the exact ship ‘Thyna’ that his battalion came home on, the date in port and the date they were discharged on which matched his pension card.   I then searched for the names of the transports which gave me the dates and places that they arrived in.
Someone (there wasn't a name) had transcribed two Oregonian Daily articles that included the arrival of the ship.

THE MORNING OREGONIAN, THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 1901. Thyna And KINTUCK.

Two Big Transports Will Return to Portland From Manila.

“The United States transports Thyra and  Kintuck will both return to Portland
from Manila, and the former has already sailed for Portland with a company of
volunteers, which will be mustered out in San Francisco. The Thyra was turned over
to the Government in this city, and It is supposed that she Is coming back to Port,
land to be returned to her owners. Otherwise, she would probably go direct to
San Francisco with the troops. Just why the troops should not be mustered out In
Portland is a matter which is not easily explained, except that the San Francisco
pull is heavier than that of Portland. The Kintuck will probably bring a few
soldiers when she returns. She had excellent luck with her outward cargo of
horses and mules from Portland, losing but four animals on the voyage.”

THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, JUNE 30, 1901. ASTORIA:  June 29. Arrived at 8:50 A.M. and left up at 12:30 P. M.

 Norwegian steamer Thyra, from Manila. From San Francisco.

“The Norwegian steamship Thyra, which has been In the Government transport
service for several months, arrived at Astoria yesterday morning, and after a
short stay at quarantine, proceeded up the river. She brings 237 passengers,
nearly all, of them returning volunteer Infantrymen. The officers on board were
Captain D. F. Allen, Captain Ross A. Nichols, First Lieutenant A. J. Brown,
Second Lieutenant A. C. Davis, First Lieutenant S. Friedman and Captain W.
G. Fleischhauer. The present trip of the Thyra will be her last
 in the Government service, and she will probably drift back
into the merchant service.”

From this, I was able to see they had a long hard trip aboard a steamer.  They had to wait another
month before they were discharged to go home.  It was amazing to see they were transported to the upper North West of the United States to be able to get back to their homes.  The newspaper article said they still had to wait for their last 5 days of pay because of not being mustered out until 5 days after the expiration of the time the congress had set for the volunteer army.
I hope they got it. These men did not get a ticker tape parade or a pat on the back.

I know from my great uncle Ray Whitson, and from what my mother said, that my grandfather volunteered because he wanted to serve his country. During WWI, he couldn’t volunteer to go serve as a soldier, so he went and volunteered to drive a taxi at Fort Sill, Oklahoma to help the soldiers.  He apparently kept hitting his knee on the door. When his knee hurt enough, he went in to the doctors and they discovered he had cancer in his knee.  His service days were over. According to his Pension Index card, it was the 19th of June 1920 that they deemed him to be sufficiently handicapped to receive his military pension.  My grandmother, continued to receive this pension, thankfully, as a widow, It was a blessing because they had lost everything because of medical bills and she still had 6 children at home.

I close saying that I am grateful my grandfather was a man who stood for his country and desired to serve to help other’s be free.  He was a good man.  I made a scrapbook page to depict his military journey, from where he lived when he volunteered to where he returned to the United States.

Created utilizing facts found about his journey in newspapers, military records, Historical records of the time. by Fran Ellsworth

This was my journey. I love books on History such as Spanish-American war and battles in the Philippines that were written in the time period you are searching. The Internet Archive is a great source for all countries and wars. I also use Newspapers, and Military Records that give descriptions. All countries have their own newspapers that give their perspective of a war.  I even found articles written by other countries used by American newspaper companies.   By the time I was through, I felt I had had a moment to see what it was like for him, I am sure not his exact feelings but at least what the forces were that he was dealing with. 

The Genealogy Do-over and Genealogy Software

The Genealogy Do-Over has certainly been creating a storm of commentary.  Observing the comments has proved a shiny distraction that has lead me away from the research I had planned. 

The good stuff

Whether you are participating as a do-over, a go-over/review-over/do-better, have pressed the pause button, or are a spectator,  I think you cannot deny that the lively discussions, sharing of tips and resources, and learning something new are all good things.  I can't even begin to keep up with the volume of traffic of the Genealogy Do-Over Facebook Group. I am pleased to see Thomas MacEntee has created a Genealogy Do-Over Bag-the-web page  to bring together the now over 200 participant's blog posts, and Pintrest board but am not sure he has everything.

There has been some very interesting assessment and documentation of research processes going on:

• Jenny Lanctot shared her process map in Genealogy Do-Over: Prep Time, which involves using Dropbox, Evidentia, RootsMagic, and Wikitree.
  
• Claire Butler advocated using a research report template rather than traditional genealogy software in Genealogy Do-Over Week 1 or Why I’m Abandoning my Genealogy Software.
• Yvette Hoitink explained how she uses research reports as mini Do-Overs and argued against the full blown Do-Over in Why the Genealogy Do-Over is not for me.
  
• Sue McCormick converted Thomas MacEntee's research log spreadsheet into a database in Spreadsheets and Databases.
  
• Carrie Norwood compared the checklist capabilities Legacy Family Tree, Gensmarts and Google spreadsheet in Genealogy Do-Over - Week Something - Research Checklist.  She decided she preferred her own spreadsheet.
  
• Louis Kessler proposed the Source-Based Incremental Genealogy Fix in To Do- or Not To Genealogy Do-Over.  He lays blame at the door of traditional genealogy software, which makes source citation and documentation of reasoning onerous.

An indictment on the genealogy software industry?

Have you noticed the variety of tools used by authors of the above blog posts?  There has been an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with traditional genealogy software for some years now.  Back in 2009 I posted Data entombed in Family Tree Maker in which I described difficulties in transferring data from one program to another.  The outdated and unsupported GEDCOM data exchange format has still not been replaced.

As genealogical education becomes ever more widely available, it is not surprising that many researchers strive to do quality research.  Paradigms have shifted toward the Genealogical Proof Standard and source-centric methods.  Genealogical software lags behind the thinking of genealogists.

Tony Proctor's Hierarchical Sources explores how software might support research processes, which is much more than just a source citation.

Is your head spinning?  Yes - excellent, you have been thinking.  Welcome to the thinking person's pursuit - genealogy.