RootsChat.Com

familydar posted:

Could we have a sticky somewhere (not sure whether this board or the techie one might be more appropriate) where people can post instructions on how to create a pedigree GEDcom from the various FH software packages out there?

and

If people knew how easy it was to extract a GEDcom, strip off everyone who's not a direct ancestor and anonymise the most recent generations they might be less nervous about sharing.

I have an extensive Tree on Ancestry.com, many people seem to harvest info from it and post facts that does not belong in ther Trees. Even when they are contacted, they don't correct it.

I am on Gedmatch. I hesitate to post a Gedcom there. I would consider it if I knew how to strip off everyone who's not a direct ancestor and anonymise the most recent generations.

I think that I would consider posting a Gedcom to Gedmatch if I could what you say above.

Good idea.

DavidG02,

You might want to try to contact your closer connections, in many cases with Autosomal DNA the connection is real, but too far back in time for people to know how and where they are connected.

You never know where new info will come from so it is a good idea to contact your connections and ask them if they have any info.

You should send emails to your DNA connections telling them all you know of your various ancestors' surnames and where they lived etc. You might get lucky.

You can also upload your results to Gedmatch. It is free and easy to do. You might have additional connections there.

Here is the link:

https://www.gedmatch.com/login1.php

Good luck!

RE:

My only experience is of Y DNA testing and I considered it to be an offshoot of traditional genealogy where, after many years of research, I have hit brick walls in every direction.  I am finding the results utterly compulsive and such a lot to enjoy and learn!

If you do become interested you will be looking at initial test costs and then in order to progress you will need to upgrade and then maybe upgrade again.  In order to minimise testing duplication current thinking is to order just the FTDNA Y DNA 12 STR marker test in order to give you a base haplogroup.  Then test FTDNA Big Y (v expensive) and have the results analysed by YFull ($49).  FTDNA have sales and promotions and you can get a discount by ordering your tests through a project e.g. surname project, British isles by County etc.  Big Y tests for hundreds/thousands of both STR and SNP markers hence my comment about testing duplication.  You don't want to pay for an 111 STR market test, then get hooked and decide you need Big Y after all.  It is not easy to find where you can order an FTDNA 12 STR marker test, but a project admin will help.

Good luck and have fun

I agree that Y-DNA testing can be very expensive. I have tested up to Y-111 and had the Big-Y. I had my Big-Y results analyzed at YFull, FCG, Alex Williamson & James Kane for his Matrix. The  latter 2 analyses are free.

I mentioned I also had an autosomal test and uploaded those results to Gedmatch for free.

Not everyone who has their DNA tested will go so deep into testing.

For Y-DNA results most people recommend the Y-37 test as the minimum level to show good results, but it depends on your particular DNA. I agree that joining surname projects helps in understanding Y-DNA results.

I have not been able to establish a connection with any of my Y-DNA matches other than my own family members who I have tested.

Most autosomal matches will be too far back in time to be able to know the connection. Knowing your ancestors names and place or origin helps figure out connections.

I have discovered a few new 3rd cousins from my autosomal test results and still recommend it as a place to start DNA testing.

RE:

"My suggestion would be to also upload your data to Gedmatch.  It has some good tools for analysing where you match on segments.  In general I have had a better reply rate from people on Gedmatch, as it is more likely to have people who are into genealogy."

&

"I have done that, but to be honest I have not had very good results from there, only had the one response to an email, out of sending about 5 so far :-("

I agree about uploading results to Gedmatch.

Not everyone that you email will respond.

I include the Gedmatch info showing a connection and I list my oldest known relatives and where they lived from each branch of my Family and ask if any of them match the person that I am emailing.

Most of the time the relationship will be too far back in time to be able to establish a connection. That is the problem with autosomal DNA.

The more people that you email, the better chance that you have of making a connection.

I have come into contact with a few 3rd cousins this way and learned a few things by doing it. 

Good luck.

If anyone is interested FTDNA is having a DNA Day sale from April 21 through April 26, 2016.

https://www.familytreedna.com/