If you are adopted and you are
trying to build a Mirror Tree, finding a common surname or set of grandparents
among all the names in the trees on AncestryDNA can seem a daunting task. This
is what I do to find and sort common ancestors (CA) and knock down brickwalls. This
saves having to print out numerous trees and looking at all the different
pages. (We will bounce back and forth from spreadsheet to View all Matches to
do this.)
The view match page displays the person tested and five more generations of grandparents. If your match shares little as 14 cM avg for 4th cousin 2x removed the info from this page should often be enough to provide the information you need.
The view match page displays the person tested and five more generations of grandparents. If your match shares little as 14 cM avg for 4th cousin 2x removed the info from this page should often be enough to provide the information you need.
You are going to be making a
spreadsheet of your closest matches closest matches. Got that?
Don’t worry about how to work
with spreadsheets at this point. Just understand: cells are all the little
rectangles. Rows are numbered and go horizontally across the page. Columns are identified
by letters and go vertically down the page. Got that? You’re good to go. (Youtube
search spreadsheet basics if you don’t “get it”.)
You can use any spreadsheet . (Excel,
Open Source…)
1.
Open a spreadsheet.
2.
Go to AncestryDNA and open View all matches.
3.
Enter the name of your closest match as a
heading in row 1, column A. (You can adjust the column width as needed by
hovering your mouse on the lines between the alphabet letters until you see a
cross with an arrow on each end. Click and slide to the right.)
4.
If they don’t have a tree, skip to step 9.) If
they do have a tree, proceed to the next step. (Note: Sometimes you cannot see
that a tree is available until you click on the View Matches page. There may be
a link to a tree at the bottom of the info screen that allows you to see one or
more trees.)
5.
On the left side of the View Match page is a
list of all of their surnames. Click on the greater than symbol (>) and open all the surnames.
Do this all the way down to the bottom of the page. Depending on the amount of DNA you share with your match
6.
Starting from the bottom of the page, left click
your mouse and hold down as you scroll up the list and highlight all the names
in the surname list. Right click to copy.
7.
In the
first empty cell under your closest match’s name, row 2 Col A, right click
and paste.
8.
Next, you will repeat what you have just done,
with one change; you will not be
working with your next closest match, but with the Shared Matches of your
closest match.
9.
View All Matches page your closet (top) match click
View Match, find Shared Matches tab and click. You are now looking at your
match’s matches.
10. Find
the first person in their shared matches list that has a tree. Use this person’s
name as the heading for row 1 column B
in the spread sheet. Repeat steps 5, 6,7,8. Copy and paste at least four shared
matches trees in the spreadsheet of your closest match. Now you can compare all
of the surnames in alphabetical order side by side.
11. I
start with the first surname and do a search. (click in any empty cell in your spreadsheet
and press control+f). Type a surname into the pop-up box. Click find. If there are no matches go to the next surname
on the list. Continue until you find a common surname shared in different
columns.
Update: On the spreadsheet you can also highlight each column by clicking on alphabet letter at the top of the column, then go to the A-Z sort and click. This will make it easier to see common ancestors.
Update: On the spreadsheet you can also highlight each column by clicking on alphabet letter at the top of the column, then go to the A-Z sort and click. This will make it easier to see common ancestors.
12. Highlight any repeated surnames that show up
in different columns. If you find more than one repeated given+ surname, you may
want to highlight it in a different color. Go back to Ancestry and check trees
to find the name of the spouse for the most recent (by dates) common ancestor.
13. Create
spreadsheets for each of your top twenty
matches shared matches. You will find different sets of common surnames.
One may be a surname you have already identified with a different spouse. These
are most likely linked together in one side of your tree. A different set of surnames may (not always) indicate the opposite side
of your tree. Mark these different sets
of linking common surnames into Group A and Group B.
14. Use
the closest matching couple (amount of dna and segment size) and begin building
your Mirror Tree.
If you have a tree (gedcom)
program. (many free online) You can build different trees on your computer
based on a different set of surnames without uploading them on Ancestry.
For adoptees seeking assistance you will want to join the private FB group DNA Detectives. When you request to join, tell them "Hi" from Barbara.
Use Caution with this note below. Some people have huge trees.
Note: I was just informed by a very savvy Ancestry user at DNA Detectives; if you have a full Ancestry membership (not limited to AncestryDNA) you can go to the tree of your match and click on Find Person then select "list all people." Thank you Sharon!
For adoptees seeking assistance you will want to join the private FB group DNA Detectives. When you request to join, tell them "Hi" from Barbara.
Use Caution with this note below. Some people have huge trees.
Note: I was just informed by a very savvy Ancestry user at DNA Detectives; if you have a full Ancestry membership (not limited to AncestryDNA) you can go to the tree of your match and click on Find Person then select "list all people." Thank you Sharon!