DNA and Ancestry – Your Matches

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Genealogy tip for the day: DNA and Ancestry – Your Matches

Among all the DNA information one can get, finding matches to other cousins (or closer) is the most exciting. You may have seen or read stories in the news of people finding siblings, or other relatives they didn't know existed or didn't know where they were. Often times this was because of adoption or other similar situations. Since DNA has been discovered it has opened the door to many exciting family reunions. More and more people are using this method in assisting their searches.

On Ancestry, through either your DNA homepage or on the DNA menu button, you can click on “Matches/Last Viewed Match” to see what matches are suggested. This is where you find the good stuff.

On the page with the list of matches you will see a blue dot and an empty star outline. The blue dot means it is new. Everything will have a blue dot until you click on it. Once you have looked at that match, the dot is no longer blue. This helps you keep track what you have looked at and what you haven’t. If this match is something you are interested in, or want to keep track of, you can click on the star here, (or on the individual’s page). The star will turn yellow.

On the first page you will see the suggestions are divided into potential levels of cousins: 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th-8^th. This breaks down your possible matches into what the relations may be.

At the top of the page of suggested matches you will find filters across the top: a leaf, a yellow star and a blue dot. You can click on one of these and it will list only the ones that meet that criteria.  Say you have reviewed all or a lot of the matches and you've marked some of the stars. You can click on the star filter and look just at those matches. When you click on the blue dot, it will filter all the ones you have left that you haven’t looked at. As you go through the matches and come back to the list you will see the blue dot is gone. The leaf may be the most important filter. So we will talk more about that later.

Let’s “look” at a person’s page that is suggested as a match. Across that entry you will see there are three places you can click on to go to their page. Also on each entry you will see one of the following 4 options:

          “no family tree” (in gray) or

“### people” or
“### people – with a padlock” or

“### people – with a leaf”

“no family tree” means they have not uploaded or created a family tree on ancestry.com. But according to the DNA database they are a possible match. You have the option of contacting them if you wish. In order to find the match you would have to make contact.

“### people” - The entries that just list a number with no following icon are people that have some of the same surnames as you do, but there is no common ancestor found in Ancestry’s database. You can look at their page and see the surnames they list. When you click on one of the surnames like yours it will reveal all of the people in your tree and in theirs that have that last name. You may or may not be able to tell if there is a connection. It most probably depends on who has gone back far enough to find a connection. Sometimes your line goes back further and their line does not or vice-versa. Again, you would need to contact them to find out.

“### people – with a padlock”: this person has a family tree but has chosen to keep it private. There is no way to see if you have any commonalities or not. Again you have the opportunity to contact that person to see if they would be willing to allow you to look at their tree. This is no guarantee. You can however choose to skip it for now. The padlock icon gives you the option of skipping them, or go to their page and click on the trash can; or contacting them if you wish.

If you choose to delete a person/match, Ancestry puts it into a “removed list”. So it doesn't totally delete the information forever. It just puts it in another place, out of your way. You can always retrieve the list later, if you wish. In this way the various entries can help you determine what you want to do. If you wish to removed them, doing so from here could save time or help you chose how you want to handle this connection.

“### people – with a leaf”: Of these suggested matches, whether 3^rd or 8^th cousins, Ancestry has found a common ancestor between you and the other person. We will talk about this next time in more detail. These are the ones that are the most exciting.

Your humor for the day.

“History is who we are; Genealogy is who I am” sg

If any of these posts are helpful drop us a line in the comments section below. We just want to know if the information we provide to you is beneficial in anyway.

Today in History

February 25

1570		Pope Pius V issues the bull Regnans in Excelsis which excommunicates Queen Elizabeth of England. (She is responsible for introducing Protestantism to England.)
1601		Robert Devereux, the second Earl of Essex and former favorite of Elizabeth I, is beheaded in the Tower of London for high treason.
1642		Dutch settlers slaughter lower Hudson Valley Indians in New Netherland, North America, who sought refuge from Mohawk attackers.
1779		The British surrender the Illinois country to George Rogers Clark at Vincennes.
1781		American General Nathaniel Greene crosses the Dan River on his way to attack Cornwallis.
1791		President George Washington s a bill creating the Bank of the United States.
1804		Thomas Jefferson is nominated for president at the Democratic-Republican caucus.
1815		Napoleon leaves his exile on the island of Elba, returning to France.
1831		The Polish army halts the Russian advance into their country at the Battle of Grochow.
1836		Samuel Colt patents the first revolving cylinder multi-shot firearm.
1862		Confederate troops abandon Nashville, Tennessee, in the face of Grant's advance. The ironclad Monitor is commissioned at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
1865		General Joseph E. Johnston replaces John Bell Hood as Commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee.
1904		J.M. Synge's play Riders to the Sea opens in Dublin.
1910		The Dalai Lama flees from the Chinese and takes refuge in India.
1919		Oregon introduces the first state tax on gasoline at one cent per gallon, to be used for road construction.
1913		The 16th Amendment to the constitution is adopted, setting the legal basis for the income tax.
1926		Poland demands a permanent seat on the League of Nations council.
1928		Bell Labs introduces a new device to end the fluttering of the television image.
1943		U.S. troops retake the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia, where they had been defeated five days before.
1944		U.S. forces destroy 135 Japanese planes in Marianas and Guam.
1952		French colonial forces evacuate Hoa Binh in Indochina.
1956		Stalin is secretly disavowed by Khrushchev at a party congress for promoting the "cult of the individual."
1976		The U.S. Supreme Court rules that states may ban the hiring of illegal aliens.
Born on February 25
1841		Pierre Auguste Renoir, French painter and founder of the French Impressionist movement.
1856		Charles Lang Freer, U.S. art collector.
1873		Enrico Caruso, Italian opera tenor.
1888		John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State to President Eisenhower.
1894		Meher Baba, spiritual leader.
1895		Rudolf von Eschwege, German fighter ace in World War I. .
1905		Adele Davis, nutritionist.
1917		Anthony Burgess, English writer (A Clockwork Orange).

Word for the Day

chiral

PRONUNCIATION:

(KY-ruhl)

MEANING:

adjective: Not superimposable on its mirror image.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek cheir (hand). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ghes- (hand), which also gave us cheiromancy/chiromancy (palmistry), surgeon (literally, one who works with hands), and enchiridion (handbook). Earliest documented use: 1894.

USAGE:

"She handed me chopsticks, left hand to left hand. The knot I always had inside me seemed to loosen. Her other-handedness, my true inheritance. Back in Eden's Prairie, it had been an abnormality, an asymmetricality, like a chiral molecule, one that has the same basic structure as others, but doesn't fit in anywhere."
Marie Myung-Ok Lee; Somebody's Daughter; Beacon Press; 2005.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

It is the final proof of God's omnipotence that he need not exist in order to save us. -Peter De Vries, novelist (1910-1993)

Today’s Recipe

February - Chocolate Lover’s Month

Texas Sheet Cake

Ingredients

Cooking spray

2 teaspoons all-purpose flour

9 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2 cups)

2 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa, divided

1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract, divided

2 large eggs

6 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup fat-free milk

3 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Coat a 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan with cooking spray; dust with 2 teaspoons flour. Set aside.
3. Weigh or lightly spoon 9 ounces (2 cups) flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 9 ounces flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl. Combine 3/4 cup water, 1/2 cup butter, and 1/4 cup cocoa in a saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Pour into flour mixture. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add buttermilk, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and eggs; beat well. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 375° for 17 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack.
4. Combine 6 tablespoons butter, fat-free milk, and 1/4 cup cocoa in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Gradually stir in powdered sugar; stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla and pecans. Spread over hot cake. Cool completely on wire rack.

February’s Recipes: (Do you like have a list of past recipes here?)

3^rd Molten Chocolate cake

4^th Chocolate Chip cookies – Alton Brown’s

5^th Chocolate Truffles

6^th Slow Cooker Chocolate Fondue

8^th Chocolate Sheet cake

10^th Brownie Tart

11^th Gooey, Decadent Chocolate cake

12^th Chocolate Covered Strawberries

13^th Chocolate Baklava

18^th Mexican Chocolate Cream Pie

19^th Chocolate Chunk Bread Pudding

20^th Marbled-Chocolate Banana Bread

22^nd Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse

24^th Classic Fudge-Walnut Brownie

25^th Texas Sheet Cake

ENJOY!

Now You Know!