Technology Thursday – Triangulating DNA Matches

Oh boy! The last few days when I’ve had a chance, I’ve been working in Gedmatch and figuring out how to triangulate my DNA+Gedcom matches. After finding several articles on Google – notably from Roberta Estes of DNAeXplained (Triangulation for Autosomal DNA) and a few others, I figured out my own system.

I am attempting to figure out which chromosome each of the matches correspond as well as how many of my other matches on the same chromosome match each other. Then I go in to each gedcom to look for shared ancestors.

Here is my step by step guide – just in case this system might be something you would like to try.

1. Upload your raw DNA from Ancestry, 23andMe, Family Tree, or any of the others, to Gedmatch.com. Make sure your raw data is in a .zip file. (Gedmatch is FREE!!)
2. After doing that, upload your gedcom file preferably with BOTH maternal and paternal pedigree lines. (My personal note: There have been so many matches I’ve found where one or the other side is not part of the gedcom – kind of hard to figure out a match if you don’t put the whole thing up there!)
3. On the Gedmatch home screen, you will want to click on Gedcom+DNA matches.
4. On the next screen you will input your DNA Kit number (which you will receive upon uploading your raw DNA data).
5. The results page will show a spreadsheet type of chart that will include the following information for your matches: the DNA kit number, the different types of shared & etc. cMs (centimorgans – DNA language!), the Gedcom ID, DNA name, Gedcom name, and an email address of your match. Do NOT start emailing your matches or use the emails in a batch file. Abuse of emails is not what Gedmatch users want, need, or expect. (I have “sanitized” my results example.)
6. Now – open a new spreadsheet on your computer (I used Excel). I input the chromosome number from #1 all the way to #22 (the X-Chromosome – #23 – is a whole different ballgame so for this instruction, I’m not going to mention it).
7. Go back to your Gedmatch results page and click on the first kit number (left hand side) of your first match. This brings up the autosomal comparison. What you are looking for is the chromosome with a lot of blue.
8. Once you find that chromosome (or more), open your snipping tool and snip that entire line. Instead of saving that as a .jpg, just right click directly on that snipped image of the chromosome and “copy”. Switch back to your spreadsheet and “paste” it in the correct chromosome position. Now go back to the autosomal comparison and snip the information box above the chromosome you snipped (it should have the chromosome number, start location, end location, centimorgans, and SNPs). Do the same to copy that box and then paste it on the same line as the copy of the chromosome string. Do that however many times you need (if there are more than one matching chromosome). Before you finish, you will want to go to the top of the autosomal comparison and copy and paste the information for the DNA kit number and name of the person you match. Then paste that to the side of your chromosome string in your spreadsheet.
9. Now the really tedious part is clicking on the Gedcom ID for the match you were just working on. A new tab (or window) will open with the Individual detail. At the top of that, click on pedigree. The default is 5 generations (shown at the top left). Unless you can automatically see who the shared ancestor could be, I suggest entering 10 in the box for the number of generations and click submit. (Personal note: I’ve been entering 15 generations). Once that very lengthy pedigree chart opens, carefully go through it to find your shared ancestors. If you are lucky and find them, go back to your spreadsheet and enter the names of the shared ancestors under where you have pasted the DNA kit number and name. It also helps if you list if the ancestors are on your paternal or maternal side.
10. Now the fun begins – do that with every single one of your matches. Pretty soon, you will see some chromosomes that appear to be shared between your matches. In order to see if they really do share DNA with each other (as well as you), go back to the Gedmatch Home screen (I usually have several tabs open so I don’t lose my Gedcom kit match screen). Under DNA raw data, click on “One-to-One compare”. On the next screen, you will enter the DNA kit number from one of the matches and another kit number to compare (you will have to refer to your spreadsheet for this information). Before you click “submit” – make sure you have clicked on “Yes” for “show graphic bar for each chromosome.” When the results appear, check if the two that matches you – also match each other. They may not. If they do, you will want to create some sort of key on your spreadsheet in order to see at a glance that they match. I do this by changing the color of the font over the name/kit number. Notice above that the first three rows of my Chromosome #1 are all close to the same cMs. Those three also match each other as well as matching me (I have colored the names/kit numbers blue). My biggest problem – not finding a shared ancestor in any of them! The graphic below shows four matches to me on Chromosome #2. Even though the bottom two appear to be close to the same string and cMs – they do not match each other – nor do they match the top string – and I can’t find shared ancestors on any of them! Then the following graphic for Chromosome #10 shows three matches to me and all three match each other. I did find the shared ancestors of Richard Lyman and Sarah Osborne on all three! 
11. How this can help you is if two of your matches do not match each other but are for the same cMs, one could be on the paternal part of that chromosome and the other the maternal part.

Disclaimer: I am not a scientist. I am not very literate when it comes to DNA and triangulation. I do not have the answers. I am still scratching my head about some of the matches – same string, different shared ancestors. I do not know who many of my 3rd-4th great-grandparents are and therefore am sure that it’s not that I can not find the matches, but I just don’t know who to be looking for! Just because you “find” the shared ancestor(s), does not mean their (or your) Gedcom is accurate. A wrong spouse’s name, wrong parents’ names, or wrong dates can throw you off as well.

What I have discovered: I found matches on people that up until now were only relatives because they “adopted” or “fostered” an ancestor so I’m left wondering if there really was a familial connection to begin with or I’m just missing something. I’m also finding many matches that are in parts of the country where I can’t place my ancestors. I have many more matches on the paternal side of my family than on my mom’s side but I think the reason is because not many people on the maternal side have A) Not taken a DNA test, B) Not uploaded their raw DNA data to Gedmatch or C) Have not uploaded a Gedcom even if uploading raw DNA data.

I hope this helps some of you who are curious about “what else you can do” with your DNA information. It’s been very eye-opening and interesting and fun for me!

 

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Baby Mary

By the time I was born, the only set of grandparents still living were my mom’s parents – Glen R and Vesta (Wilt) Johnson. Forget about great-grandparents. My grandmother had four siblings still living: John and Clifford lived in Oregon, Nellie lived in Washington, and Clarence lived in Indiana. John Wilt died before I was old enough to meet him. As far as Clifford, I don’t remember meeting him but I may have as a small child. I knew Nellie from staying at her home in Washington when my parents and I toured the western states and because Aunt Nellie and her husband John Lilly visited Dayton many times. I also remember visiting Uncle Clarence in Indiana almost every year.

It wasn’t until I was almost a teen, that I even learned that my grandfather had an older brother who had died young as well as a younger foster sister, Eva. Apparently, everyone thought Eva had died as well (later I found out that Eva outlived my grandfather). But it never dawned on me until many years ago, even when I had seen her gravestone, that my grandfather had a baby sister named Mary who died before she celebrated her first birthday.

Several days ago, Ancestry published three new databases – Indiana marriage, birth and death records. I immediately began going through them for any new or correct information. Mary appeared on the 1910 census and the Indiana death index (no images) listed her date of death as July 1910. The search term of Mary Johnson 1910 did not bring her up. I tried various ways to find her until I gave up and just entered the month and year of death. Finally, her death certificate was located under Marry L Johnson (her gravestone reads: Mary A Johnson). She is buried at Maplewood Cemetery in Anderson.

Mary died at home – 432 W. 17th street – in Anderson, Indiana at the age of 8 months and 14 days on July 17, 1910. The cause of death was listed as brain tumor and contributory cause was cholera infantum. I had to look that up. Merriam-Webster online defines it as “an acute noncontagious intestinal disturbance of infants formerly common in congested areas of high humidity and temperature.” I am left wondering if the brain tumor killed her or if she had become so dehydrated that her condition deteriorated rapidly.

An interesting thing to note is that my mother’s sister, Genevieve, died from a benign brain tumor. My aunt’s tumor was not cancerous but it was inoperable and 48 years after her baby aunt breathed her last, so did my Aunt Genevieve.

I am also left to wonder if my mother was named after my grandfather’s baby sister. I never heard him speak about his sister or how he felt at her death. He had just turned 11 when Mary was born so he was old enough to remember her short life.

Years ago, I found a crate of large pictures. One of them was of a baby that my mom thought was baby Mary. I don’t know if it is but I have included it above. It seemed that for so many years, she wasn’t talked about. Perhaps my Grandad thought about her when he lost his own daughter, Lois Evelyn, at just six weeks old or when Aunt Genevieve was so ill. But documents pertaining to Mary’s short life have been found – she did live, she did breathe, and she was loved.

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Follow Friday – 3 June 2016

When I run across amazing blog posts or articles, I want to share with my readers. Most of the time the articles I find may not be from just the week of my Follow Friday post, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go “back in time” to read them or perhaps find a new-to-you blog! So without further ado –

Broughton Images has two new posts from this past month (including one celebrating Memorial Day): Just Follow the Flags and Bonham Heritage Day Festival. The photographer truly captures the atmosphere and stirs emotions whether it’s photos of a Veterans Memorial surrounded by flags from each branch of military or Bonham’s courthouse on the square during the annual festival.

Becky Jamison has caught the Trello bug! She has started to use Trello to organize many items pertaining to her genealogy research. So please visit her Grace and Glory website and read what happened when she Brought Hidden Emails to Light.

And if you need something else to “spark” your creativity, visit Amy Johnson Crow’s site and read Creating Family History Videos Easily for Free using Adobe Spark. On top of that article, you’ll also want to read Amy’s suggestions for researching the new Indiana Vital records that Ancestry recently added. You can find that informative article here: Indiana Vital Records on Ancestry: Good & Bad. As I spent some time yesterday going through these records, I know of what Amy speaks!

The other day I had 28 New Ancestor Discoveries on Ancestry. Yesterday it dwindled to six. I knew why after I read Roberta Estes’ article on her DNAeXplained blog: Ancestry Refines New Ancestor Discoveries (NADs). Perhaps her explanation will help you in what has perplexed many researchers.

Do you find it difficult to organize everything you need in order to be more productive at research (whether it is for family history, work/school project, or to run a household)? Diane Haddad at the Genealogy Insider shares some tips with her article The Big Picture: Using Mind Mapping to Organize Research Ideas. See if it helps you!

These are just some of my favorite articles lately! What are you reading?

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New Images from Indiana on Ancestry

Thanks to a Facebook post on the Indiana Genealogy page yesterday, I learned that three new databases were added to Ancestry.com – Indiana Birth Certificates (1907-1940), Indiana Marriage Certificates (1958-2005), and Indiana Death Certificates (1899-2011). At first, I figured it was just transcriptions of these documents (and we all know that there can be errors in transcribing documents!). Imagine how thrilled I was to find out that these three databases all included scanned images of the records!

After spending almost an hour going through some of the records pertaining to my family and ancestors, I realized that if I didn’t set a time limit for myself, I would be up all night! I found the birth certificates for my mom, aunt and uncle! I found death certificates for some of my extended Wilt relatives. And even though I had said that I had found the last piece of the Johnson/Kirkpatrick puzzle, I was wrong! On Ellen Ora Johnson Moffitt’s death certificate, her mother’s name was listed . . . (drum roll please) . . . Nancy J Kirkpatrick!!! Oh, happy, happy dance!!!

I’m sure I will find even more details that I’ve missed when I go through these documents and some are even sad. I decided to look for the death certificate for Albert Wilt. He was my maternal grandmother’s younger half-brother, son of Joseph Napolean Wilt and Anna Park. Albert’s gravestone bears the years 1917-1933. I did find his death certificate and the cause of death listed was horrible: head crushed by railway tram as he walked along the tracks. His death was ruled an accident. My great-grandfather Joe was the informant but he listed his birth date as August 1, 1914. So was Joe correct and the incorrect birth year was put on the head stone? Whatever the case, Albert was too young and his death was tragic.

So if you have family and ancestors from Indiana, please go check out these three new databases. Perhaps you’ll find some information that can help break down some brick walls.

(Image: Indiana Flag 1903 from Wikimedia Commons; public domain)

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