I can't not stress enough how much more efficient this has made my workflow.ĥ. In other words, every time you identify the shared ancestor of a DNA match, make a note of that ancestor in the notes section, then every time that match is a Shared Match with someone else who doesn't have a tree, you will know it without having to open up additional match's details. It has the option to "always show notes", which means any notes you make on a DNA match will show up in the list of matches, including the list of Shared Matches. This process can be sped up greatly by using a Chrome extension called MedBetterDNA. The more shared matches who descend from the same branch or ancestor, the more likely the person with no tree does too.
If more than one are descended from the same branch, then it's very likely this person is too. If any of them are matches you've already determined your shared ancestry with, then it's possible this match is also descended from the same branch. If there really is no tree whatsoever you can make use of, and the person won't respond to your messages, all you can do is look at the DNA matches you have in common with each other. Which ancestors I share with matches I have in common Notes always showing in list allows me to quickly see Even on branches without endogamy, it can still be useful, just not as immediately apparent. In fact, in the screenshot above the match's father's name was Detwiler, immediately suggesting I should follow that side back until it linked to my own tree, and it did. So if I see names in someone's tree like Oberholtzer, Funk, Detweiler, Bergey, etc, even though none of these are my ancestors, I immediately know they are likely from my Mennonite branch just from seeing the surnames. This is especially useful for trees with endogamy - for example, I have a branch of Mennonites on my tree and after tracing many other descendant lines of my ancestors, it quickly became clear there are a number of surnames that are strongly associated with the colonial Mennonites who settled in Pennsylvania, especially when more than one appears in a tree. You won't have to research your match's tree back very far if you've already done the work on your own tree.
It really helps when you're trying to make a connection with a small 'shrub' of a tree such as discussed above. Research all the descendants of your known ancestors, as far down as you can. How do I know? Because I took this tiny tree and I researched the ancestors until I connected it to my own tree. This person's father is a descendant of my 4th great grandparents John Hendricks Godshalk and Barbara Kratz. In the example above/left, you might look at this family tree and think there is not enough information to find the most recent common ancestor, but you'd be wrong. As long as they have deceased ancestors in their tree (whose details are therefore public) you can do what genealogists do best: research! Build on that tiny shrub of a tree, researching further back than the tree owner did until you find your common ancestor. So definitely look for those unattached family trees, but don't make too many assumptions about them.ĭon't dismiss trees that seem too small to make any use of. In this case, there is a good reason the tree wasn't attached to the test. To anyone else who doesn't know them, they could mistake the wife's tree for his own. His wife has started her family tree, but not his, and I only know this because I know them well enough to know whose tree it is. For example, one of my close cousins has taken the test, but his wife is managing it. This one you do need to be careful with because while sometimes, people simply forget to attach their tree to their DNA test, it's also possible that the family tree doesn't belong to the person whose test you match (or the tree may belong to that person but they are not the "home person" for the tree, as is automatically selected). It's a small tree, but enough to identify our most recent common ancestor, since their grandfather was the brother of my great grandmother. Selecting it from the drop down menu brings up a preview. In the screenshot above, it shows how initially, it looks like this DNA match has no family tree, but they do have one unattached to their DNA results. When you open the match details page, if there is a family tree available but not attached to the DNA test, it will have a drop down menu where you can select the tree to preview (shown above and left). Look for a family tree, even if one isn't attached.
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