31. Distant DNA Connections

 

Wow!  Your DNA results have finally arrived and identified some interesting information about your ancestry.  You might learn that you are 58% Irish.  That means you can feel totally justified in “wearing the green” at next year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

 

You might also be able to see the geographical path that your ancestors took out of the Rift Valley in Africa, all the way to the Emerald Isle of Ireland. 

 

Also, the DNA website folks have been sending notices about your “cousins” that match your DNA. Dozens of people are now listed but you do not recognize most of the names that you see.  

 

What to do?  Well, the first suggestion is to see if your newfound cousins have a family tree listed.  Hopefully, their family tree is “public” as you can then view it.  Search through their tree for a shared surname, one that also exists in your family tree. Next, send the person a note to verify your possible connection.  Suggestion – be kind and do not be demanding.  Also, we suggest that you be flexible in your assessments.  Yes, even the best of us can make a mistake in spelling, dates, or labelling of our ancestors lives.  These communications can often prove to be a major boost to your genealogy research.  You might possibly build on the hard research work of others.  

 

What not to do?  Probably not a good idea just to fire out messages to every cousin asking them how you might be related.  Better to do some preliminary research to identify possible connections.  Happy hunting.  You might find someone in the DNA database that has researched your ancestors back to Charlemagne with all the source documents to prove your amazing royal lineage.

 

 

Ron Gilmore

Email:         rvg3@me.com

Website:     https://www.rgenealogy.ca