Preparing for GRIP 2019: Part 3

In my last two posts, Preparing for GRIP 2019: Part 1 and Preparing for GRIP 2019: Part 2, I described how I am preparing for the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) course, “Advanced DNA Evidence,” coordinated by Blaine Bettinger. I have been viewing and reviewing the many webinars covering DNA topics. I also want to add this link to RootsTech as they have grouped all their DNA webinars from the past few years together. It makes it much easier to find these webinars; thanks RootsTech!

Now, on to the next topic: I created a list of all the 3rd-party DNA tools I have tried using and which ones seem to work for my purposes. I'll share that list in a future post. For now, the one I use the most is the Chrome extension, MedBetterDNA. With all of the new announcements at RootsTech this year, my process will probably change over time, but I am still using this extension for now. 

Ancestry allows you to keep notes on your matches, notes that only you can see. If you create a note, you’ll see an icon of a notepad next to the person’s name. You can click on the note to read it. MedBetterDNA “pushes” that note to the match screen so you don’t have to click and you can see all your notes as you scroll through.

I use colored icons, depending upon the grandparent we are related through, as part of my note. I also include the relationship to me, if known, otherwise a red question mark icon. I include the number of cMs and the number of segments (ex: 189 cM/11). And then I try to find the most common recent ancestor or ancestral couple (MCRA) and add which child of that couple the person is descended from. I try to be consistent but it’s not always perfect.

Lynn's Ancestral Fan Chart

Color, instead of just words, seems to help me discern the matches more easily. Below is the key I use for my icons. I keep them on a notepad on my desktop so I can copy/paste. For close matches, I use multiple icons if they match on multiple lines. I use these specific colors for grandparents to match the Ancestor Fan Chart as created by my genealogy software program. There are also online charting tools to create similar charts. My chart is on shown on the right.

My Key:

💛   -    Descendants of ancestors of) Julia Moe (maternal grandmother)
♥️   -    Descendants of ancestors of Joseph Eken (maternal grandfather)

💚   -    Descendants of ancestors of Myrle Piper (paternal grandmother)

💙   -    Descendants of ancestors of Francis Puncochar (paternal grandfather)

❓   -    Not sure of the relationship

Here’s a sample page of some of my 3rd cousins with my notes. Youll have to look closely to see the colored icons. I’ve redacted the living people’s names:

So now I have most of the cousins I could identify all color coded. You can see on the 3rd cousin page above that all four colored icons appear.

When I get a new match, I look at their tree if they have one. If they don’t, I click on “Shared Matches” which tells me the matches we have in common. And, if all is right with the world, and the planets align, I get a page like this one:

And hopefully, you can see that every single one has a yellow heart icon which tells me they are related through my maternal grandmother’s line!

One problem is that even though I created the note, it doesn’t show up on other kits I manage. I have seven siblings' tests so I need to copy the note to for every match plus change the cMs shared. For paternal matches, I also need to add the information to my dad's and uncle's match list. They have a different color scheme (to match their ancestral fan chart) so I need to consider that as well.

So, after that lengthy explanation, one of the many items on my list of preparations is to keep updating the notes for all siblings and older generations. That should be a weekly task and will keep me busy all spring! It should also help me when I begin using some of the newly announced DNA tools from Ancestry and others.