DNA Tools - MyHeritage

-
Did you get a MyHeritage DNA testing kit this winter, or give one to a relative? MyHeritage does not have the large database that Ancestry.com does, but much of their customer base is in Europe and Israel, where they are headquartered. So if you have relatively recent European /Jewish ancestry, your time spent using their DNA tools could be valuable to your research.

MyHeritage accepts DNA uploads, so if you have tested elsewhere, you can still match with their database. 
Receiving DNA Matches and contacting them is free and unlimited. Unlocking additional DNA features (Chromosome Browser, Ethnicity Estimate, Shared ancestral places, and more) costs an extra fee. - https://www.myheritage.com/dna/upload
Build a small tree on the site (or upload a small gedcom) and then link you on your tree to your DNA kit or upload. Both a tree and kit are needed to make the tools work for you. If you want to use MyHeritage research tools a membership is needed. And every Family History Center which has access to the FHC Portal will have MyHeritage, among other pay-sites. Find your closest Family History Center: https://www.familysearch.org/help/fhcenters/locations/.


Once you have created a login and submitted a kit or uploaded and paid the small fee, you will have access to the DNA tools. I have found it easy to administer multiple kits on MyHeritage; they are all available from a dropdown menu. 

 If you have bought a kit or paid the fee to unlock the tools, you will have an attractive and useful chromosome browser, autoclusters and if you are lucky, some theories of family relativity.

Part of a recent email from MyHeritage

 I'll illustrate by showing one of my most recent Theories. Theories are created for DNA matches, but they are made up of family trees, as are ThruLines on Ancestry.com. So each match needs to be analyzed and researched to ensure that it is valid. 

 You will see on the left of each Theory part of your own tree, and on the far right, part of your match's tree. In between are other trees, sometimes including Geni and FamilySearch trees to make the connections. 

 The first example is an overview which had to be shrunk to show here.

The left and top-left of the chart are known to me with quite a bit of proof. However, the second marriage of my 4th great-grandmother

Elizabeth Ferguson to Johannes 'John' Thomas Shupe - this is the first I've heard of it. I do have the Ferguson book about her family, and I'll have to do some background reading about this. 

 Nevertheless, it will be interesting and worthwhile to follow up. I share one segment of DNA with this new-found 5th cousin, 9.8‎ cM or 0.1%. If this was a needle in the haystack search, I wouldn't bother with such a small match, but it's tempting because that one segment will be attributable to Elizabeth Ferguson alone, not my 4th great-grandfather Charles Boothe.

MyHeritage also shows a more compact comparison, on the DNA match page:
Elizabeth Ferguson at top-center. Is she the link to my new match?

Because I want to make more use of MyHeritage's tools, I listened to a webinar about how to use Autoclusters: Visualizing Ancestral Lines with DNA AutoClusters on Youtube. There I realized that I was missing out on all the power of both the Theories and Autoclusters used together! The Theories of Family Relativity doesn't always show up, so when you are looking at your DNA matches, use the Filter > All tree details like this:
Unleash the power of the Theory of Family Relativity

 Once you have checked out the reliability of the relationship, even if you don't have the time to put each match into your tree, open up the note field and at the very least write the suggested MRCA names (Most Recent Common Ancestors). When you generate your Autoclusters, you will be so grateful to yourself for taking the time to do so. 

 Thrulines and the Theories deal with matches one at a time. In contrast Autoclusters do not use names or trees, but DNA only, and sort your matches into groups of related people. If you have notes, they will show up in the table called Autocluster Information. Example - (clickable match name left out for privacy):
Shown: cM, Largest cM, Segments, ICW, Cluster Number, PersonsInTree, Notes

 Once you know how each group fits into your tree, brick walls will fall!

 MyHeritage is valuable for your research in many ways. If you have the time to spend on one more site, you will be rewarded with new facts and new cousins!
Valorie Zimmerman

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Looking for a Needle in a Haystack? GAME CHANGER at FamilySearch

-
Image
Generated with Bing ImageCreator (AI), March 13, 2024 Where is YOUR Needle, Your Missing Record? Genealogical Proof Standard When we use the GPS (Genealogical Proof Standard) as our guide, we all know that "exhaustive research" can be both tedious and exhausting. Is life long enough to search page by page through all the counties where all the members of a family might have lived, paid taxes, bought, leased or sold property, made a will or died intestate? It is possible that the new Full Text Search at FamilySearch will  eventually  allow us to do just that. It has been estimated that 75% or more of the records at FamilySearch were browsable but not searchable; the only indexes those found in the records themselves. Those records are certainly attainable by using those indexes and browsing to the record of interest, but the process is tedious, often frustrating, and slow. And once found, the record must be read and transcribed to be useful. This new Full Text Search tackles a...
Read more

What's the Question?

-
Image
We genealogists are often told by experienced researchers how important it is to begin with a research question. I resisted doing this for a long time, but now that I use a series of questions to guide my research, the search is more focused and actually finds more of the history of the family I'm investigating. I use a Google Doc as the  research proceeds, where I keep the question(s), the plan, timelines, checklist of resources to search, etc. all in one place. I've seen others use spreadsheets in the same way, perhaps splitting up things in tabs (Excel or Google Sheets). I prefer a document because I add source citations as I find them and I can begin writing up the case right there in the doc as the hypotheses are proven. Specific Questions in Previous Successes As beginners we often have no clue how much and what details we already know about a person, event or relationship, so it's hard to specify what we want to know. But when looking back at successful research, it ...
Read more

Help Save This Abused and Neglected Cemetery

-
Image
Screen capture from Google Maps History In an exchange of emails this past week in both the main SKCGS group, and in the Washington-State-Genealogy group, many facts were revealed about the history of the I.O.O.F. Comet Lodge Cemetery, also known as the Old Burying Ground, the Georgetown Cemetery, the Graham Street Burying Ground and maybe more.  FindAGrave sums it up this way: "Since it was established in 1881, the Comet Lodge cemetery site has been whittled away to less than half its original 5 acres. Records are sketchy but it's safe to say that some 500 pioneers were buried here, atop unknown numbers of native Duwamish people. New burials ended in the 1930s. Since then, homes and streets were built on top of many of the plots as the neighborhood around the cemetery grew.  "Upkeep and ownership of the cemetery bounced between the city, civic groups, relatives of Comet Lodge residents, and nearby neighbors. For years, much of the property was allowed to deteriorate int...
Read more