Updated Family Finder DNA Results

Last Month I talked about the changes that Family Tree DNA was making to their popular Family Finder test. They have been converting their Family Finder test results from Build 36 to the NCIB industry-standard Human Genomic Build 37 – the latest version of the autosomal DNA reference data set being used - for the past two months in order to refine their matching algorithms and provide better matches to their customers.  Many customers saw the following message from Family Tree DNA on their homepage this month:

You may notice that some of the matches you had previously are no longer listed. In almost every case, those matches are in the distant and speculative range. Some may be legitimately related, but many were likely “noise”—small coincidental matching segments that create the illusion of matching. The more distant the relationship, the less likely a match can be predicted with confidence. We are aware that you may have spent a significant amount of time researching those matches, but Family Finder was specifically designed to find matches within the past 5-6 generations.

As the field continues to advance, we're obligated to continually apply the latest scientific advances not only to current and future tests, but to those that have already been performed. Sometimes this will involve changes to your results. Because this particular field is still evolving, it is likely that future adjustments will be made to refine your results.

Fortunately, I wasn’t one of the few who completely lost their matches, but I know some people who were.  Before the upgrade, I had 341 matches. At the time I wrote my last blog post on the 25^th of February outlining these changes, I had dropped down to 298 matches. Today I have 304 matches, however 57 of them are new.

How can I tell that they are NEW, you ask?

Prior to the change to the new build, I had assigned a known relationship to every single one of my matches. This is necessary to do in order to look at your In Common With (ICW) matches.  The ICW feature consists of a list of matches that you have in common with at least one other match. So if I am a match with my mother and I want to know who of my matches is also a match to my mother, or In Common With her, then I can use the ICW feature in the drop down box of my Family Finder matches page, select my mother, and then get this list and export it to a file.

At this time, you have to have a known relationship assigned to each person in order to get an ICW list for them. This is the little orange button beside each match’s name that says “Assign.” You do not have to assign a specific relationship, especially if you do not know what it is. I assign “distant cousin” to everyone. And they do not have to “confirm” or accept it for it to work. Family Tree DNA has promised to eliminate this requirement in the future, however we are not sure yet when this will happen.

Once I have assigned “distant relationship” to all of my matches, I can either pull up each match, all 300+ of them one by one in the drop down box and then download their list of ICWs to excel or I can use a nifty tool created by Rob Warthen that is accessible on www.DNAgedcom.com.

To use this tool, all you have to do is register once, then enter your ftDNA kit ID and password (or 23AndMe) and select to download your data. Three files will be downloaded:

1. Your raw chromosome data – this is similar to your chromosome browser data except you don’t have to go through the painstaking task of selecting 5 matches at a time to download, then compiling 40 or 50+ csv files into one excel spreadsheet – this tool does all of this for you automatically
2. Your In Common With file – again, saves you the time by automating the task of selecting your matches one by one in the drop down box and downloading their ICW matches – these are all compiled into one spreadsheet
3. Your list of matches – this is the same file you would download from the list of matches which includes their name, email address and surnames

The download can take up to thirty minutes to download, so let it rip. Also, it only works if you have every single one of your matches assigned as a distant cousin or some known relationship.

So going through my list of matches again, anyone who has an orange “Assign” button beside their name I have labeled as a new match. In last month’s post I also mentioned that Family Tree DNA was allowing people from other companies such as 23AndMe to transfer their test results to the ftDNA database (which is one of the reasons they had to upgrade to the latest genomic build). So some of these new matches might be 23AndMe matches.

I am excited to be back on track with my matches and to finally be able to work with 23AndMe matches. I am also hopeful that the new algorithms will results in better quality matches. Genetic genealogy is a time consuming “hobby.” Any and all tools that can help to streamline the process of building connections are welcome.

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To Cite This Post:

Ginger R. Smith, "Updated Family Finder DNA Results" Genealogy By Ginger, 24 March 2013, (http://www.genealogybyginger.blogspot.com : accessed [date])

Elijah McCoy - An Inventor

Last weekend I went through the list of keywords people entered into their search engines that brought them to my blog. One person searched for Elijah McCoy and another person (maybe the same person?) also searched for David McCoy. David McCoy was the grandfather of my great-grandmother, so I can understand why they would have landed on my blog after typing that into their search engine. But I don’t have any ancestors that I know of named Elijah McCoy. This prompted me to post the estate files of David McCoy on my blog. You can read about them here.

I figured I would eventually come across an Elijah McCoy in my research and when I did, I would post something about him on my blog. When I was working at the library later in the week I was helping a patron select some juvenile non-fiction books on Sacajawea and on the shelf display was a book about Elijah McCoy! Evidently he was the son of slaves who loved to work on steam engines and even studied as a mechanical engineer in Scotland. However, when he came to Michigan the only job he could get was shoveling coal into the train’s firebox. He didn’t let that discourage him though. He rose above his situation and became an inventor. He invented an oil cup that would oil the train’s engine while it was running!

Monica Kulling’s biography, All Aboard! tells about Elijah McCoy’s invention of the oil cup. This book offers reader between the ages of 6 and 12 a look through pictures and descriptive text into the life of a boy given very little opportunity who makes the best of it. 

You can read more about Elijah McCoy on his Wiki page here.

So, I wonder if the person who entered “Elijah McCoy” into their search box and land on my blog was looking for the young inventor described in this book or were they looking for an ancestor by that same name?

Distribution of Property of David McCoy of Greenville, SC

My great-grandmother, Blanche Kathryne Hill, was the granddaughter of Josephine F Cox and Joseph Watson Hill of Greenville, South Carolina. Josephine and Joseph Hill moved from Greenville, South Carolina to Center Point, Howard County, Arkansas in 1869.

Josephine had been left an orphan at a young age. Her father, Robert Cox, died when she was just 8 years old and her mother, Basheba McCoy Cox, followed a couple of years later in 1852.  Josephine's mother, Basheba McCoy, had also been left without a father at a young age. Her father, David McCoy, had died when Basheba was only 16 years of age. However Basheba and her sisters were already married off with husbands by the time their father passed away.

The following distribution of property from David McCoy's estate file provides a list of names of his 4 daughters - Louisa, Teeley, Shaloma and Basheba in addition to their husbands' names:


Amount of Property Advanced in the lifetime of David McCoy late deceased:

Ezekial Spriggs Husband of his 1st Daughter Louisa
4 Negros $975
and other property to the amount of $55 -- total $1030

Benjamin McKenzie Husband of his 2nd Daughter Teeley
2 Negroes & other property $553 - 2 = $551
deduct $2 for bedsted

Robert Cox Husband of his 3 Daughter Barsheba
2 Negroes & other property to the amt $774

Asa May Husband of his 4 Daughter Shaloma
2 Negroes and other property to the amount $755

Estimated by us this 29th of November 1822

Geo Salmon
Joseph Cobbs
Thos Blyth

David McCoy died around 1822 in Greenville County, South Carolina. No will was found for him in Greenville County. He preceded his wife Susan McCoy in Death (last name unknown). 

His estate was managed by his administrator, Robert Cox (husband of his daughter, Basheba McCoy Cox). David McCoy's estate files were downloaded from the FamilySearch.org website, "South Carolina Probate Records, Files and Loose Papers, 1732-1964." These records were microfilmed by FamilySearch at the Greenville County Probate Court. David McCoy's estate papers were contained in File no. 339. 

From this page, we learned the following: 

Basheba McCoy married Robert Cox

Louisa McCoy married Ezekial Spriggs

Teeley McCoy married Benjamin McKenzie

Shaloma McCoy married Asa May

I have several Family Finder DNA matches to people with the Cox surname in their family trees. I also am a match to a couple of McKenzies. This might be the connection to them.

Here is my line to my Great-Grandmother Blanche (father's side):
Me
Dad (Tim Smith)
Grandmother (Barbara Binns)
Great-Grandmother (Blanche Hill)

Changes Coming to Your Family Finder Test Results

For the past couple of months, ftDNA has been in the middle of upgrading from build 36 to build 37 in reporting their Family Finder autosomal DNA results. This means they are refining their matching algorithms, specifically based on how the centimorgans values, or the length of DNA shared, are determined and reported. This refinement will reduce the amount of false positives between you and your matches and hopefully result in more accurately predicting relationships between you and your matches.

We are just starting to see the results of these changes come through. But unfortunately, as of ftDNA's announcement on February 24th, 2013, there were some problems with the new build and some kits are having to be re-run.

What does this mean?

If you log in to your account and see a significant decrease in the number of matches it could be for one of two reasons:

1) Their tests are being re-run and when they pass QC will be uploaded back into the database. If they are a true match they will show back up again

2) These matches were refined, identified as false positives, and removed from your results

There is hope!

You may not know this, but at the same time ftDNA is trying to convert to this new build, they are also allowing for test results from other companies such as 23AndMe to be uploaded to their system. This is beneficial because now testers from 23AndMe will be matched up with matches in ftDNA's database and ftDNA testers will receive additional matches from people who took the 23AndMe test. It is a win-win situation for all parties.

In case you are wondering, people who took the 23AndMe test are able to transfer their test results to the ftDNA database for $89.00!!!

Here is a snapshot of my match results for the various tests I manage. I currently manage 6 tests on ftDNA:

Name	#Matches on 2/16	# Matches on 2/25	Change
Me	341	298	- 43
My Mom	376	345	- 31
Grandmother	467	396	- 71
Friend	299	247	- 52
Cousin	292	205	- 87
Cousin’s Half-Sister	351	276	- 75

I’m very excited that our results will be better refined and false positives will be reduced by this new build. I’m equally excited about our match database being opened up to 23AndMe uploads. I’m sure the 23AndMe testers are the most excited as they will now have the advantage of being matched from two databases, not just one. Likewise, integration with the ftDNA database will ensure a much higher success at match interaction and building genealogical connections as these testers did not join for health reasons, like many at 23AndMe did.

What can you do?

I would refrain from spending a lot of time analyzing your chromosome data or looking at your list of In Common Withs until the build has been completed and the 23AndMe data has been uploaded. Continue working with the folks you have been in contact with. Re-run your data after the new build to ensure they are still a match to you, especially if you have not yet found a connection.

Let me know in the comments below how your numbers are progressing. You can look up the number of matches you have by clicking on the chromosome browser. In the list of names, it shows 1 of 10 of ____ total matches.

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To Cite This Post:

Ginger R. Smith, "Changes Coming to Your Family Finder Test Results" Genealogy By Ginger, 25 February 2013, (http://www.genealogybyginger.blogspot.com : accessed [date])

Downloading Someone Else’s Online Tree and then Uploading it as My Own

I have been testing the waters with Family Tree Maker 2012 lately in order to collaborate more easily with some of my cousins and fellow family history researchers.  Mostly I have been helping them enter their genealogy into their online Ancestry.com family trees so they can share with their ftDNA Family Finder autosomal test matches. The Family Finder test produces hundreds of matches to 1^st – 5^th cousins around the country and in some cases, around the world. These are people you share some common DNA and ancestry with.  This test is usually most valuable to folks who have a pretty complete family tree and can be used to verify ancestral lines or to fill in holes in their trees. Some people are using this test to find missing relatives or adoptive parents as well. Success in finding or verifying relatives with this test hinges on the validity and completeness of one’s family tree.

Ancestry.com’s new Family Tree Maker 2012 software has a new unique syncing capability which allows the tree owner to sync between their desktop version of their Family Tree Maker software and their Ancestry.com online family tree.  Photos, source citations and historical records are also synced and downloaded to each file during the sync. (Stories and comments stored in the online tree, however, are not downloaded during the sync.)

Managing a desktop file and online tree for a file that is accessed by multiple people has been a challenging project. This is just one in a series of posts that describes some of the issues I’ve run into – or quite the opposite – some of the cool things I’ve learned how to do with the software and the benefits of it.

In this post, I describe how to download my cousin’s online tree to my Family Tree Maker software that resides on my desktop and then export it as my own file to dropbox and upload to my own Ancestry.com online family tree.

Downloading The Tree:

One of the limitations to the syncing feature is that you cannot download a tree that does not belong to you from the online Ancestry.com ancestry member trees in any format other than a GEDCOM.

A GEDCOM only supports plain text which will not handle the transfer of photos and many custom fields that various genealogy software packages employ.

Even if you have editor rights to the tree, you cannot download it and sync to your own Family Tree Maker software.  The only way to get around this is to

1)    log into your Family Tree Maker software with the tree owner’s Ancestry.com account and download and sync that way or

2)    have the tree owner download their tree to their own copy of Family Tree Maker software and then save the Family Tree Maker software file to dropbox where you can have access to it and open it. The limitation of option 2 is that the tree owner has to have Family Tree Maker software installed on their computer and two or more people cannot open the Family Tree Maker software file at the same time.

Because my cousin, who is the owner of the tree I wanted to download and access with my Family Tree Maker software, does not have a copy of Family Tree Maker software, I went with option number 1 – to log into my Family Tree Maker software with her Ancestry.com credentials. Doing so allowed me to download and sync her tree to my Family Tree Maker software.

You can log in and out of your Family Tree Maker software by clicking on the “Plan” workspace across the top and then clicking on the “log out” link on the right side of the page under the Ancestry Web Dashboard.

I can make changes to her tree once it is downloaded into my Family Tree Maker software regardless of whose account I am logged in with.  We both have paid accounts, so I can add records from within my Family Tree Maker software using either account. If only I had a paid account, then I could stay logged in under my account and add records that would then be added to the online tree when it is next synced. However, in order to sync, I have to log in under my cousin’s account every time. This can be kind of annoying after a while.

Copying Family Tree Maker File:

Instead of having to log into my Family Tree Maker software with my cousin’s Ancestry.com account every time I want to sync her file with her Ancestry.com online tree, I could just create my own online tree and stay logged into my own Ancestry.com account whether I am using the Ancestry.com online trees or my desktop Family Tree Maker software.

Here’s how I created a new online tree:

1)    From my Family Tree Maker Software, I exported my cousin’s entire file. This is the file that was created from the Ancestry.com online family tree via the syncing process.

2)    I saved the file (with the *.ftmb extension) to dropbox

3)    I restored the file by going to File / Restore and selecting the *.ftmb file I saved to dropbox in step 2

4)    I gave it a new name and saved it to dropbox

Creating a New Online Family Tree:

A new Family Tree Maker file has now been created from the original tree file that was downloaded from Ancestry.com and synced with my Family Tree Maker software. I can log in with my own Ancestry.com account credentials and the “Upload and Link to Ancestry” button is now active within the Plan workspace in my Family Tree Maker software.  

Clicking this button will then upload my new tree to my Ancestry.com online account and create a new online family tree for me. This will be viewable to the public. My citations and photos will upload to the online tree as well.

The tree summary on the top is what the original tree that I downloaded from my cousin’s site looked like. The summary on the bottom is what the tree looked like that I downloaded from my cousin’s Ancestry.com site, exported to my Family Tree Maker software, restored, and uploaded to my own Ancestry.com site:

The stories and comments were lost when I created the new tree. They were probably lost when the tree was synced with my Family Tree Maker software. They weren’t “lost” per say; these two functions of the Ancestry.com online family trees do not transfer from the online tree to the desktop Family Tree Maker software tree version as they are only a function of the online tree. All of the media files, including the photos and the historical records which include the census records, did transfer from the old tree to the new tree.

Advantages:

The advantage of creating a new tree from a previously downloaded Ancestry.com member tree is that I do not have to log in to the original tree owner’s Ancestry.com account to sync between their online tree and my Family Tree Maker software. Now I can sync between my own online tree and my Family Tree Maker software without having to log out of my account and logging in to the original tree owner’s Ancestry.com account.

Also, I can see how this could be advantageous over the use of GEDCOMs which only transfer text between programs: I could download my Family Finder DNA matches’ trees, load them into my Family Tree Maker software and incorporate into my own family tree. With that, I could retain their photos and attached historical records with little fuss.

Disadvantages:

The disadvantage of creating a new online tree from a previously downloaded one is that you lose the stories and comments that were stored with the original online tree. These are not populated in the newly created online family tree.

Another limitation I learned about the Family Tree Maker software is that you can only sync from one computer, even though the file is saved in dropbox. I am not sure why this is or how it could be fixed or if it will be fixed in the future by Ancestry.com. If you know of any workarounds for this, please email me at ginger dot reney at gmail dot com or leave me a comment below.

Conclusion:

There are both advantages and disadvantages to this process; like with anything custom you wish to do, there are usually some technical difficulties involved with both the Ancestry.com online trees and the Family Tree Maker software. But overall, these systems are flexible and powerful and give the users some elements of control over what to do with their data.

Update: 
Check out Russ Worthington's companion post on how he collaborates using Ancestry.com's online member trees and his Family Tree Maker Software in Cousin Collaboration. Thanks Russ!

Ordering Records from the North Carolina State Archives

I have always enjoyed visiting the North Carolina State Archives that is located in downtown Raleigh. But I rarely have the chance to get down there on a Saturday anymore.  Especially since I’ve been trying to get my feet in the door with the Wake County Public Library system. Because of this, I have been working several Saturdays a month for the past 6 months or so and will continue to do so until I graduate from UNC in May. Even if I could visit the Archives on a Saturday, they have started limiting their hours from 9 am to 2 pm. They used to be open until 5 pm. It’s unfortunate; however, as we’ve seen from archives across the country, funding is short and they are doing what they can to stay open to the public and I am grateful that they are open 5 days a week and on Saturdays!

The North Carolina State Archives does have an alternative for ordering records for those people who have a busy schedule and cannot visit the Archives during regular business hours. If you live In-State, you can order records via an online form found on their website.  They recommend that you read about what they will and will not search for you and that you provide as detailed a description as possible in your request. I decided to give this a try and order some records I had been looking for.

You can request materials from the “Services” link on the left side of the page. Clicking on the “Requesting Information by Mail” link will take you to the general information page which includes information about what kind of requests the Archives CAN and CANNOT answer. This page also has a link by which NORTH CAROLINA RESIDENTS can order materials – just click on the link at the top that says “North Carolina Residents.”

You have the option to submit an online form via email or to print out the form and submit by snail mail. When completed, click the “Submit Request” button and if you checked the box to “Send a copy of this request to your e-mail address,” then a copy of your request will be delivered to your email box. I created a special filter in my email to send all of these requests to.

You won’t receive a reply back from the Archives until an invoice is ready for your review and approval.  My first request for a marriage record was placed on 12/23/2012 and I received an invoice on 1/3/2013. It took 11 days to receive a reply, however this was probably delayed due to the holidays. In my reply, I was given the option to print the invoice and either pay by check or credit card and then mail back the completed invoice to the Archives, allowing for up to ten business days for delivery of copies of materials.

The alternative option, and the one I chose to use, is to pay the invoice online using the Archives’ new Correspondence Portal. I talked about this in a previous post. This is the section of the online ordering process that Out of Staters can use to order materials. They are charged a flat $20 fee for each record.

Speaking of fees, although it is free to order records for North Carolina Residents, there is a $2.00 minimum copying fee associated with each order. That is what I was invoiced for. I still find this to be a fairly reasonable rate considering it is about 25 miles from my house to the Archives. If I were charging the IRS rate of $0.55 / mile to drive there and back, it would cost almost $30 round trip!

Using the online portal to pay my invoice was quick and easy. I entered my shipping address and credit card information into the form and then submitted it. I received 3 emails immediate after my order was processed. One was from the Archives letting me know my order was received and would be processed. Two additional emails arrived from the NC Dept of Cultural Resources letting know that my credit card was charged $2.00 for my order.  

Copies of the record I ordered should arrive in the mail any day now.  Have you ordered materials from the Archives? If so, feel free to share your experiences below or email me at ginger.reney [at] gmail.com.

Best of 2012 Blog Posts

As you may have noticed, I did really well to post often at the beginning of the year and then by the summertime the number of posts per month had trailed off to almost 1 or 2 per month. This was due to a combination of factors. For one, I joined this great outdoors group for women, so I was busy every weekend doing something fun outdoors, sometimes taking up the whole weekend with NO electronic devices within walking distance. Then in August I started another internship at the library. It’s not for lack of material that my number of posts has dwindled, it’s merely for lack of time. In fact, I will be starting a 2^nd job at a new library this weekend!!! It’s a lot of work and time and energy, but will be worth it in the end. Or at least at the end of May when I finally complete my Master’s paper, graduate from Library School and transition from being a scientist full time to being a librarian. That will be a time for celebration! So now that you are all caught up on my personal and professional life, I’d like to share some of the highlights of my 2012 blog posts with you. Consider these to be the “best of” posts from 2012. The ones worth reading or rereading.

Using a Timeline to Visualize Your Data - this post started off my New Year's Goals in the right direction. I downloaded this quick and easy Excel template which allowed me to enter dates and events in a table and have them automatically populate a timeline-looking chart. The chart was customizable in some aspects, including event description heights and date ranges and it was completely FREE! Check it out! 

Determining No. of Acres of a Land Grant in the State Land States – This post discusses the differences between the State Land and the Public Land States.  The original 13 colonies were considered to be State Land States and measured land using the metes and bounds survey system. Chains and links were used to describe land in this manner. Do you know how many feet are in a chain? If not, read on to learn how to translate a description into a plat.

How I use my Genealogy Software – Susan Clark of Nolichucky Roots blog started this thread back in March by asking why and how do people use a genealogy software program. So I wrote about how and why I use my RootsMagic software. I like this post because it gives specific examples of how I do things, like managing my sources, adding events like census reports, and facts. Are you on the fence about using a genealogy software? If so, read this and make sure to check out other bloggers’ posts at the bottom.  

Genetic Genealogy – What is my Ethnicity? – This was a more recent post discussing some aspects of the ftDNA Family Finder autosomal DNA test. . A lot of people, including my friend Keith, ask whether a test like this will prove or disprove if they have Native American blood in them and if so, how much? In this post, we used the Population Finder tool on Keith’s homepage to show his ethnicity but much to our surprise, it said he was Middle Eastern. How close is that Native American? Read on to see…

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog and my posts. I am looking forward to publishing more content in 2013 and look forward to hearing from you. Please don’t forget to take a look around my site. The right hand side has a list of surnames; as well there is a link to my surname page at the top of the page that will provide links to all posts about each of my surnames. I also have posts categorized by location and subject.

If you would like to cite this blog post, feel free to copy the following citation:

Ginger R. Smith, “Best of 2012 Blog Posts,” Genealogy By Ginger, posted 01 Jan 2013 (http://genealogybyginger.blogspot.com : accessed [type in the day you accessed this post here]).

The “Best of 2012” Graphic was created by me, Ginger R. Smith, on 1 Jan 2013 by Microsoft Publisher. Feel free to use it with attribution. In other words, please tell everyone you got it from me and link it to my blog. Thank you.