Where to start?

It was suggested to me that I share my passion for genealogy and family history. Great idea, I thought! But where do I begin? Should I start with how I got started in learning about my family tree? Or, should I begin with how the ability to find matches using DNA has expanded my connections and searches in my family?

Let’s just dive right in! We can talk about the backstory later. Earlier this year, I decided to send in for my DNA results. there are several highly recommended programs from which to choose from when submitting DNA. These include 23 and Me, Family Tree DNA, My Heritage, and Ancestry.com. Each has their pros and cons, which we will discuss in future posts. For me, Ancestry was the obvious choice as I have a membership with Ancestry and have several trees, including my main tree with over 5, 000 individuals.

The test came in a small box, complete with a tube for your saliva, a special envelope, and a mailer box. After being sure to wait at least 30 minutes after eating or drinking anything, I registered the test number on Ancestry, spit into the tube, and packaged it up to mail out. One note here is that Ancestry requires you to create a free profile unless you already have a profile or are submitting a test for your minor child.

My results came about 7 weeks later with an email telling me I could view them online. (What? No balloons or parade?) Logging on and clicking on the DNA section I was excited to see that I had over 240 4th cousins or closer that were matched with my DNA! This number has grown to over 290 matches and my granddaughter’s results which just came last week show that she has well over 1000 4th cousin or closer matches!!

Over the next few weeks, I will share with you how these matches help me with my family tree and how you might use matches in your research.