Saturday, October 19, 2013

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Birthday and Anniversary Calendars

It's Saturday Night - 
time for more Genealogy Fun! 



Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible! music) is to:


1)  Do you know which of your ancestors were born on your birthday?  Or married on your anniversary?  


2)  Use your genealogy software program to find out who was born on your birthday, or married on your wedding anniversary.  

3)  Tell us how you determined this.  Write it in your own blog post, or in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook or Google+ post.

4)  NOTE:  If you have no one born on your birthday or married on your anniversary, do it for one of your parents or for all of the children of your ancestors.  

Here's mine:

1.  Here are my charts created using RootsMagic:

a)  October birthdays for ancestors (up to 13 generations):

With over 2,000 ancestors in my genealogy database, you would think that there would be someone other than myself born on October 23rd.  Or someone born on on October 21, 24 and 25! The average number should be 6 or 7 for 2,000 persons.  Oh well...

b)  March Anniversaries (13 generations):

March 21 has only one other ancestral couple married on that date - Michael Metcalf and Lydia White (7th great-grandparents, in 1705 in Mendon, Mass.).

c)  October birthdays for Relatives (13 generations, children of ancestors):

This chart shows 8 persons born on 23 October.  There are 4 additional names on the "overflow" pages.  So 12 out of about 7,500 ancestral families children.  The average should be about 20 for 7,500 persons.

2)  I did these charts using RootsMagic 6, in Reports > Calendar, then selected 13 generations of Ancestors Only using myself as the key person.  When the chart was created, I used the Windows Snipping Tool to capture the chart, saved it to a file, and then uploaded the file to Blogger.

3)  I just did!

I will be interested to see how other software programs do this task.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/10/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-birthday.html
Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver


Surname Saturday - LNU (England > colonial New England)

It's Surname Saturday, and I'm "counting down" my Ancestral Name List each week.  


I am in the 7th great-grandmothers and I'm up to Ancestor  #727, who is Mary LNU (1688-????) 
[Note: the earlier great-grandmothers and 7th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts].

My ancestral line back through one generation in this LNU family line is:

1.  Randall J. Seaver (1943-living)

2. Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983)
3. Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002)

4. Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942)
5. Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962)


10.  Thomas Richmond (1848-1917)
11.  Julia White (1848-1913)

22.  Henry Arnold White (1824-1885)
23.  Amy Frances Oatley (1826-1864)

44.  Jonathan White (1806-1850)
45.  Miranda Wade (1804-1850)

90.  Simon Wade (1767-1857)

91.  Phebe Horton (1772-????)

180.  Simon Wade (1731-1790)
181.  Deborah Tracy (1731-????)

362.  John Tracy (1695-1751)
363.  Mary Hawkins (1710-1767)

726.  William Hawkins, born 1676 in Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States; died about 1752 in Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States.  He was the son of 1452. John Hawkins and 1453. Sarah Daniels.  He married before 1710 in Rhode Island, United States.
727.  Mary, born about 1688 in Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States.

Children of William Hawkins and Mary are:

i. Mary Hawkins, born about 1710 in Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States; died 1767 in Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States; married John Tracy 02 January 1728 in Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States.
ii. John Hawkins, born about 1711 in Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States.
iii. Josiah Hawkins, born about 1713 in Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States; died 02 June 1751 in Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States; married Amey Olney 07 September 1735 in Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States.
iv. Job Hawkins, born 1715 in Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States; died 22 May 1790 in East Greenwich, Kent, Rhode Island, United States; married (1) Catherine Turpin February 1745 in Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States; born 25 October 1719 in Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States; died 30 December 1749 in Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States; married (2) Hope Hopkins 05 September 1752 in Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States; born 03 March 1716 in Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States; died before 20 August 1803 in Johnston, Providence, Rhode Island, United States.
v. Rufus Hawkins, born about 1717 in Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States; died 12 April 1788 in Johnston, Providence, Rhode Island, United States; married (1) Elizabeth Sanders; married (2) Martha Waterman 08 November 1761 in Johnston, Providence, Rhode Island, United States.

vi. Sarah Hawkins, born about 1719 in Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States;  married Richard Smith 19 June 1738 in Smithfield, Providence, Rhode Island, United States; born 02 April 1714 in Providence, Rhode Island, United States; died 03 January 1774 in Providence, Rhode Island, United States.

A search through Ancestry Member Trees and on Google reveals no positively known surname for Mary LNU, the wife of William Hawkins.  Several trees on Ancestry say Mary Ann Dodge, with no supporting information.  

The URL for this post is:  
http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/10/surname-saturday-lnu-england-colonial.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver


Friday, October 18, 2013

Will FindMyPast.com Images be Available Through FamilySearch?

I was away at appointments when the DC Thomson Family History (which includes FindMyPast) partnership with FamilySearch was announced on Thursday.  The full press release can be read at DC Thomson Family History and FamilySearch.org to Make Billions of Records Available for People to Search.  There are also Frequently Asked Questions (with answers) in Frequently Asked Questions about the DC Thomson Family History/FamilySearch Press Release.

Inquiring minds want to know what FamilySearch.org will get from this partnership.  The press release says:

"DC Thomson Family History, formerly known as brightsolid online publishing, is collaborating with FamilySearch, which has the largest collections of genealogical and historical records in the world, to deliver a wide range of projects including digital preservation, records search, technological development and the means to allow family historians to share their discoveries. "

That's pretty nebulous as to the benefits that accrue to FamilySearch in this partnership.  I have many questions:

*  Will they receive access to more indexes and records images currently available on FindMyPast? 
*  Will the FindMyPast record indexes be searchable on FamilySearch?
*  Will the record images be available to FamilySearch users at home, or only at FamilySearch Centers?
*  Will FamilySearch access include all branches of FindMyPast, or only FindMyPast.co.uk?

I decided to check to see the current status of English Census records on FamilySearch.  Here is a search in the 1851 England and Wales Census for John Richman:



The search results in FamilySearch provides 23 matches:


I clicked on the first match on the list, and saw the record summary for John Richman, age 35, birthplace of Hilperton Marsh, Wiltshire:



On the screen above, the outlined box on the right side notes: "The image is viewable at findmypast.co.uk. By clicking here you will be leaving FamilySearch.org (fees and other terms may apply."  There is also a blue "Visit Partner Site" button to click on.

I clicked on the blue "Visit Partner Site" button and saw:


I have a free account at FindMyPast.co.uk but not a subscription.  So at this time, I would have to pay credits or a subscription fee to see the record at home.  I know that patrons at FamilySearch Centers can find the record images using the links to FindMyPast.co.uk for free.

However, I have a paid FindMyPast.com subscription - as shown below.  I'm signed in, and can search any database, and see record images, in the FindMyPast collections (US, UK, Ireland, Australia, etc.) with this subscription.



However, I cannot use that FindMyPast.com subscription to access content through the FamilySearch link.

I realize that FindMyPast and FamilySearch have just made this partnership and they have issues to work out between them.

Some concerns:

*   The search in the 1851 England and Wales Census was a very primitive search - only names and birth year are allowed.  Not even a location field is available.

*  The search result  I found on FamilySearch doesn't even tell me where this enumeration occurred, or what other persons are in this family.  I hope that FamilySearch improves the indexes for this census and any other England and Wales census that does not include more indexed information (especially critical information like family members and location of the enumeration).

*  Mu hope (and desire!) is that FamilySearch will be provided access to the FindMyPast indexes for England and Wales Census records (and other databases unique to FindMyPast).

*  My hope (and desire!) is that FamilySearcj will make access to FindMyPast.com available so that I can search all FindMyPast records on FamilySearch and am able to access record images on FindMyPast using my FindMyPast.com subscription.

Obviously, I could use the search fields at the FindMyPast.com website, but I was hoping to use the source citations at the FamilySearch site to add source links to persons in the FamilySearch Family Tree, ideally with the UK record terminology included.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/10/will-findmypastcom-images-be-available.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver


Searching on Mocavo.com Using a Mocavo Gold Account

I've posted several blogs about searching on www.Mocavo.com using a Free account (the same as with a Basic Account), including:

*  
Finding Mocavo.com Record Collections for Free Searching (posted 11 Oxtober 2013)
*  Doing a Global Surname Search on Mocavo.com for Free (posted 14 October 2013)
*  Doing a Free Specific Name Search on Mocavo.com (posted 15 October 2013)

This post will address doing a search for a specific person in a Gold Account (currently $60 per year) on Mocavo.com:

1)  After signing into my Mocavo account and seeing the Home Page, I clicked on the "Advanced Search" link to see the Advances Search fields:


The Search fields are:

*  Ancestor's First Name (with a "Nicknames & Alternates" check box)
*  Last Name (or maiden) (with a "Similar Settings" check box)
*  Keywords
*  Event Type - choose Any, Birth, Marriage, Death
*  Year
*  Month
*  Day
*  Range (select from Exact up to =/- 10 years)
*  Location
*  Exclusions (names, websites)

There is a link to "Add Another Event"

I added information to the search fields:

*  Ancestor's First Name =   frederick (I checked the "Nicknames & Alternates" box)
*  Last Name = seaver (I kept the "Similar spellings" box unchecked)
*  Event = Birth, Year = 1911, Range = +/- 2 years, Location = massachusetts
*  Event = Death, Year = 1983, Range = Exact, Location = california

Here is the filled in search box:

After clicking on the green "Search" button, I received two matches:


They are:

*  Social Security Death Index for Frederick Seaver (1911-1983)
*  Genea-Musings post for My Dad - Fred Seaver (1911-1983)

Those appear to be the only two indexed records that Mocavo.com found.  I'm not surprised, because I specified both a year and a place for the birth and death entries in the search field.

Below those two matches is a box that says "We found more results using the following variations:"
Here's the screen shot of it:


I clicked on the green "2 Results" button and saw:


It actually found 3 more results by searching for only some of the search field requests.  The next 3 matches are:

*  A Genea-Musings post in the 11/30/08 - 12/7/08 archive
*  A Genea-Musings post in the 11/23/08 - 11/30/08 archive
*   A sketch in the Mocavo Family Trees (in Randy Seaver's Trees) collection for Betty Virginia Seaver (Frederick Seaver's wife)

2)  I decided that I had over specified my search terms, and I wondered what I had missed by specifying a birth year and location and a death year and location.

So I kept the First Name and Last Name settings, but added:

*  Keywords = san diego
*  Event Tyope = Any, Location = california

The search field (before the search) looked like this:

I clicked on the green "Search" button, and received 479 results:


I'm not going to list all of them, but here are the first 10:

*  Social Security Death Index for Frederick  Seaver (1911-1983)
*  Genea-Musings: My Grandfather, Frederick W. Seaver, 1876-1942
*  Frederick Walton Seaver , Born Oct 15, 1911 in Mocavo Family Trees
*  Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983) -  Find A Grave Memorial
*  Genea-Musings: My Dad, Fred Seaver (1911-1983)
*  Genea-Musings: My Grandfather, Frederick W. Seaver, 1876-1942)
*  Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery - Surnames S: San San Diego County, California
*  Genea-Musings: California Voter Registration Lists - 1900 - 1944
*  Genea-Musings: Surname Saturday, Lamphier >Smith (NY>WI>IA>MO>KS>NE>CA)
*  Genea-Musings: It's Too Late...

I looked at the first 50 matches, and they all respond accurately to my Search criteria.  Most of them are, of course, my own blog posts because I've written so much about my father.  

I limited that search only to San Diego and California.  I could limit the search to other locations and it will find content for the name and whatever Keyword I put in the Search form.

3)  However, I wanted to test the Exclusions box.  I kept the First Name and Last Name fields, and the Keyword and Locality entries, but I put "Genea-Musings" in the "Exclusion" field.  The search form is shown below:


With Genea-Musings excluded from the search, I received 21 search results:


All of the results found in this last search also match my search criteria.  Not all pertain to my specific person.  Several had the names in close proximity to each other, but they were not a "Frederick Seaver."

4)  I noticed the following during my searches using the Gold Account:

*  Entries in the "Basic" search form do not get included when the user chooses the "Advanced Form."  That is frustrating...
*  The "Advanced Search" provides more options (not available for Free searches)
*  There are no popups for subscriptions to frustrate users (a problem in Free searches)
*  The searches work very fast!
*  There is no apparent logic (to me, at least) for the presentation order of the results.  
*  For text, the searches appear to use a nearness factor for given and last names.
*  The search results match my search criteria.
*  Doing a search for a specific person with birth and death dates restricts results.
*  If the person has had a lot of blog or message board posts written about them, the Exclusion field works well.
*  The user can go back to the Search results and easily access another record database using the Gold account without re-entering the search terms (a problem in free searches).

The URL for this post is:

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Disclosure:  Mocavo provided me with a complimentary Mocavo Plus membership (now called Mocavo Gold) two years ago and I appreciate their generosity.  This has not affected my objectivity in reporting on Mocavo's capabilities and resources.

Follow-Up Friday - Helpful and Interesting Reader Comments This Past Week

Here are helpful and interesting comments from Genea-Musings readers this past week, plus my own response when appropriate:

1)  On Happy to Have More AncestryDNA Hints (posted 15 October 2013):

a)  Anonymous commented:  "When is Ancestry going to roll out the Real DNA results for the rest of us peons and not you 'celebrities'?"

My response:  They did it yesterday, 17 October 2013.  Did you see it?  Ask and ye shall receive...

2)  On AncestryDNA Updated Ethnicity Estimates Available for Everyone (posted 17 October 2013):

a)  Anonymous said:  "Just a question. If I have 3% Neanderthal, is there a site where Neanderthals upload their GEDCOMs? Or, mayabe FamilySearch.Neanderthal.org:-?"

My response:  Not yet, but surely someone with too much time on their hands is thinking about it.  That said, I note that AncestryDNA does not tell us our Neanderthal percentage like 23andMe does.

b) Cormac noted:  "It seems everyone is a comedian tonight.

"Thanks for letting us know that the update finally made it to everyone. I remember when you got the sneak peek. If I stopped by tonight, it would have been a while before I found out!"


3)  On Gleaning Information From a Record or Article (posted 14 October 2013):

a)  Geolover added:  "Randy, your notes regarding caution/suspicion of these accounts are spot-on. A factor in addition to the usual wishes for happy tales, in this case, is that the main subject was a politician, and maybe only some of his offices were listed. Persons don't get appointed and reappointed Postmaster for 'many years' without some fairly hefty connections. Such sketches and obituaries tend not to mention such items as might have been newsworthy, and the upshots of personal temptations might only be buried in court records. And even then such court items might have been sealed."

My response:  I think that you're saying "Go find more, less self-serving records for this person and family - such as newspaper records, land records, probate records, court records, government records, and the like."  Great advice - articles like this are stepping stones for finding further records that may shed more light on a person's life and times.

b)  Lisa Gorrell noted:  "Since I learned to make assertions in the program Evidentia, I have been listing assertions from sources when I record them in RootsMagic. 

"Here is an example of what I'm working on now: an obituary of Harry R. Gorrell.  

'What is learned from the obit:
--Harry was 64 when he died, making him born about 1880
--Harry was born in Jamestown, Ohio
--He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan university in 1903
--He taught school for 3 years in Bloomington, Illinois'

I then use these assertions to find additional sources."


My response:  Evidentia has taught some of us how to be more analytical and critical.  

c)  bgwiehle said:  "You didn't explain what you do with the text of the article.

"In my database, I put a copy of the full text in the primary person's Notes, and include specific excerpts with the source citation for each event. I put name and relationship information with the name citation and I add events to document people referenced in the article that I can't definitely identify yet or won't be researching extensively. As I enter the new citations, I review existing citations for conflicts and questions and may add or revise comments and explain deductions. As the various facts are documented, new research approaches or gaps are noted in the appropriate location."


My response:  If the text is not under copyright protection (and this particular text was not), I will copy and paste it into the Notes for the person, attributing the information, and adding a source citation for the Events/Facts gleaned from the text.  I add persons referenced in the article into my database, and events/facts/sources for them also.  I summarize the information in my Research Log for the persons involved, and add items to my To-Do list to research further.  I may even write a blog post about the item.


a)  Geolover opined:  "Randy, you say you think this is win-win for both outfits.  That may be true, but this statement in the FAQ is laughable: 

"'FamilySearch will share with MyHeritage a massive number of international records and family tree profiles which are key to researching family history.'

'The Family Tree should have been omitted from the sentence. Maybe in about 10 years, ~if~ very large numbers of excellent researchers consider it worth the time and effort to make major repairs, the FamilySearch Family Tree could be around 30%-50% accurate.

"Every tree-hosting operation has its own reasons for promoting these trees as major tools for research."


My response:  I agree with you in principle.  However, there are many families included in the FamilySearch Family Tree system that  are not found in any other family tree system because of the LDS orientation of FSFT.  It also has the potential, as you described, to be the most accurate universal (connected) family tree, if sources are attached and collaboration is performed.  Or not.  We'll see.  

b)  Any Hatchett groaned:  "...AAARRRGGGHHHHHHHHH!

"Family Tree Profiles have never been, are not presently, and hopefully never will be, 'key' to researching family history!"


My comment:  To be fair, the press release sentence included "...a massive number of international records..."  I think that MyHeritage users will benefit more from the international records to be available to them through FamilySearch than from the Family Tree profiles.  

c)  JUDYRUM210 said:  "So Ancestry is buying up all the other genealogy sites, I have already noticed that you can not get into images on most of Family Search records already from Ancestry buying them, even though the site remains free, while we input information free to Ancestry."

My response:  Um, no, not really.  Ancestry does not own FamilySearch, MyHeritage or DC Thomson (FindMyPast), and probably never will.  Ancestry.com has acquired a number of other content providers over the years (Genealogy.com, Fold3, Find A Grave, etc.), just as MyHeritage has (Geni, WorldvitalRecords, etc.).  

There have always been some record collections on FamilySearch that have only indexes and links to images on Ancestry.com (an example are the 1880, 1910 to 1930 US census records).  To my knowledge, FamilySearch has not removed images from their site to please Ancestry, If you know of some, please tell me what they are.

 Some of the indexed information on FamilySearch may be used on Ancestry.com to find records for their subscribers, but it is still free for everybody to find and access on FamilySearch.  Nothing has been taken off FamilySearch, except for record collections at the request of the original content provider (FamilySearch has to abide by its agreements with content providers).  


a)  Geolover commented:  "One great element of Luke Bigelow's narrative is description of how the deed was made: the granting parties went to the local storekeeper to have him write the instrument, then the storekeeper and the parties went to the nearest Justice of the Peace to have him authenticate the document as their respective acts and deeds. This is a gem in the rather small inventory of such back-stories."

My response:  I also found that interesting.  Those who suffer from "presentism" think that our ancestors could read and write well.  Most 19th century (and before) men did not, and had to find those who could read and write and do simple arithmetic to help them with tasks such as writing an agreement or notes that they could take to a Justice of the Peace or a judge to create and enter it into a legal record.  A store keeper had to keep accounts for all of his suppliers and customers, and was an excellent candidate to help them write agreements and notes.  The social network was very active as a result - he knew everyone in his area, and they knew and trusted him.  

b)  familyfolklore challenged:  "There is a great deal more information is this record than just the 'facts' you have extracted about your Seaver ancestors. Land records are fabulous for their richness, but as you said, not entirely straight forward.

"I am working through an English example at http://familyfolklore.wordpress.com/2013/10/14/claverley-property-document-analysis-part-1-transcript/, and will extract all the information in my next post. Can I challenge you to do the same for this document?"


My response:  I didn't really extract the Facts one at a time - I tried to group them in a chronology so as to provide background and summarize the record contents, based on information in the record and in other records.  

You can challenge me...I'm assuming that you mean to itemize facts and analyze my Amanuensis Monday document.  I will try to do it in a future Genea-Musings post.  

I like your transcription methods and look forward to your data extraction and analysis of your Claverly documents.

6)  On Legacy Family Tree 2013 Cruise - Post 1: Highlights (posted 8 October 2013):

a)  Julie said:  "Wow Randy sounds like you had a wonderful time! You made me tired just reading all the wonderful side trips you took!

"Glad you got to meet a lot of good folk! Any cousins?  Good to see you back!"


My response:  Thanks!  The only "for sure" cousin" I found was Geoff Rasmussen, who mentioned Stephen Hopkins from the Mayflower, noted that he was his ancestor, so I shouted out "Cousin."

b)  CARDENAS NAIDA offered:  "My name is Mr Cardenas, my wife was having affair with a senior secretary in her office. I love this woman so much that i would not want to share her with any body. i told her to retire from the job and i would take care of all her needs but she would take it because she is been embraced by everybody in her office, this normally leads to quarrel every-time. i tried all i can to please her and she will promise to be good, some days later she will turn back to her normal way.

"i was nearly loosing out, i could not focus in my job, my whole life was full of sorrow and i was thinking i should kill the other man my self and put an end to all this until i saw a testimony from a blog on how DR EDIONWE could cast a love spell to bring lovers back no matter what is behind the disappointment. so i decided to write him via email edionwesolutiontemple@yahoo.com and now all my wishes are exactly as i wanted. She told me everything that has happened secretly in the past and i forgave her as DR EDIONWE instructed me to and she loves me and care for me as i ever wanted. i know there are many spells that do not work but i want to assure all you out there no matter what you have been trough to have faith and believe that this is the final solution to your problem.

"Even if my job is taking most of my time, the little free time i have, i will share the good news to everyone in the world because i know that with love brings happiness and hope for a long life."

My response:  Yes, now the genealogy world knows all about your wife's affair and your forgiveness...were you on this same cruise?  Was Dr. Edionwe on the cruise?  Or is he a genealogist?

I'm not sure why you wrote this on my blog post, and I don't think that I have any problem that Dr. Edionwe can help me with, other than who Jane (Haslam) Morley's lover was in 1821 that produced Rachel Morley.

7)  Thank you to all of my brilliant readers and commenters for their wise thoughts and analysis, and their compliments too.  I appreciate all comments, and congratulate the commenters for defeating the Captcha trap.


Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver


Thursday, October 17, 2013

AncestryDNA Updated Ethnicity Estimates Available for Everyone

This press release rolled across my email this morning (and landed in my Spam folder for some reason) while I was away at the doctor's office:


AncestryDNA™ Now a More Comprehensive DNA Test
for Exploring Ethnic Origins

Update to AncestryDNA gives a deeper level of insight with expanded information for twenty-six regions

(PROVO, Utah) – October 17, 2013 – Ancestry.com DNA, LLC announced today an update to its popular DNA test. Armed with one of the most comprehensive collections of location based DNA samples from around the world and the latest DNA testing technology, AncestryDNA now maps a test taker’s ethnic origins to 26 global regions, including expanded regions for people of European and West African descent.

“We are rapidly advancing DNA testing for family history,” said Dr. Ken Chahine, Senior Vice President and General Manager of AncestryDNA. “The greatest benefit of this test is that it provides an easy way to help explore one’s ancestral background and discover your family’s past in amazing detail never before available.”
Whether you’re just getting started researching your family history or you are an advanced genealogist tracking down a specific portion of a family tree where records are going cold, the new update to AncestryDNA can help people explore their ancestry beyond historical records.

The new update to AncestryDNA includes:

·        Increased number of ethnic regions to 26 from across the globe.
·        More detailed African ethnicity – a total of 10 African regions, including 6 different countries/regions within Western Africa including Benin/Togo, Cameroon/Congo, Ivory/Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal.
·        More detailed European ethnicity, including Ireland, Great Britain, the Iberian Peninsula and Italy/Greece.
·        A complete user interface redesign with improved visualization tools, regional educational materials and a detailed description of the science behind the results.
·        Improved science, including extensive testing, validation and an increase in the number of reference populations.
·        A database of more than 200,000 customers.

“Five years ago, a genealogical DNA test would predict the rough proportions of a person’s ancestry from Europe, Asia, or Africa – but most people could determine that without the aid of a DNA test,” said Dr. Catherine Ball, Vice President of Genomics and Bioinformatics for AncestryDNA. “Today, the AncestryDNA science team has examined more than 700,000 DNA markers to create a genetic portrait for groups of people around the world. By comparing someone’s DNA to this core reference set, we can calculate an ethnicity estimate based on 26 global populations.”

Updates to AncestryDNA Further Advances Family History Exploration

Last year, with the initial launch of AncestryDNA, a test taker was able to receive results that mapped back to 22 different ethnic regions. Today’s announcement marks an expanded range of genetic ethnicity and geographic origins that is currently not available in other consumer DNA tests on the market.

·        The journey of many African American’s ancestors can be difficult to research using historical records alone, as most lose the paper trail around the 1870s or before. But now thanks to expanded capabilities that detail African ethnicity into 10 regions, including 6 different countries/regions within Western Africa, AncestryDNA will help people of African descent better understand where their ancestors came from and the cultures of those places, in a way never before possible.

·        Previously identified as one ethnicity group, the British Isles is now broken down to expanded regions, divided into Great Britain and Ireland. This development provides additional insight to the approximately 21% of Americans who claim Irish or English heritage.

·        Southern Europe is also now separated into two groups including, the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and Italy/Greece, providing more detail for those with Mediterranean heritage where historical records are less likely to be available.


In May 2012, Ancestry.com launched AncestryDNA, a service that analyzes a person’s genome at more than 700,000 marker locations. It is available at www.ancestrydna.com for $99, plus shipping and handling. The price includes a DNA testing kit, genetic lab processing, online results delivered in a private and secure account, as well as continual ethnicity and cousin matching updates. Additional information on AncestryDNA can be found at www.ancestryDNA.com.

Astute Genea-Musings readers will recall that I wrote about my AncestryDNA test results back in September in:

*  Happy to Have More AncestryDNA Hints (15 October 2013)

For a complete review of the AncestryDNA offerings, check out CeCe Moore's post on her Your Genetic Genealogist blog today titled AncestryDNA's New Ethnicity Predictions Rolling Out to Customers.

I wanted to bring you a full set of screen shots from the revised Ethnicity Estimates (thinking that my previous posts might be out of date), but I got this screen when I checked the AncestryDNA site over the past 30 minutes:


I guess the site is overloaded with genealogists eager to see where their ancestral roots began.  I'm sure that thousands of them will be surprised!  I certainly was...but I'm not sure that I believe the percentages given for my deep ancestry.

UPDATE:  4 p.m. PDT.  The site is back up...here's my ethnicity summary:



Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver