This is why you need to be using more specific tools like gedmatch Sent from AOL Mobile Mail Get the new AOL app: mail.mobile.aol.com On Thursday, November 22, 2018, Carol Anne <clkonfetti@gmail.com> wrote: Autosomal DNA testing does not lie and is not incorrect, though it is very difficult to work with beyond close relatives. The problem is attaching DNA to trees full of errors. If you have two DNA matches, both with the same erroneous copied info in their trees, they will attribute their segment of shared DNA to a person who is actually not an ancestor of either of them. You might say, "So what? They deserve it." But DNA companies are talking about doing the same thing, using the trees people have attached to their DNA to tell their customers what ancestors the shared DNA came from and build trees for them. DNA could be a wonderful tool, but it's being used to create an absolute mess and add to the chaos created by people who copy trees blindly. I wonder what percentage of trees online are filled with errors due to copying. Ancestry encourages this. I was trying to create a tree for a DNA match last week and Ancestry kept offering me hints and a potential father. It was crazy because the man would have had to be a bigamist to have been begetting children with one wife in MO and another in GA at the same time. It's possible today, but in the 1850s it would have been impossible for a farmer to keep running back and forth like that. Apparently so many people have copied that info into their tree that Ancestry tries very hard to get everyone to do the same with their hints. My conclusion was that they were two different men. I never succeeded in finding the true father of the man in MO, which was what I was trying to do. I think I know who his father was, but no proof, Certainly no descendants of this man who copy the info Ancestry offers them will ever know who his real father was. It would be great if a DNA company could hire professional genealogists to create a world family tree based on documents only and attach DNA matches to it only when they submitted sufficient documentation that they were a descendant of that person. Then we would really have something useful! Carol On Thu, Nov 22, 2018 at 10:38 PM Rhonda Flowers <rwflowers@optusnet.com.au> wrote: > > Hello Carol > > This is precisely why I will never have a tree on Ancestry. There are dozens > of trees with my paternal line information just copied and copied and copied > from one tree to another. Pre the internet it was easy to make a mistake > because there was limited information out there to be had. Family > information can be passed down orally but if it is based on the wrong > ancestor (with the same surname) then the error can be perpetuated ad > infinitum. > > This too, is precisely why DNA testing and matching is so important. When > primary documents are unavailable or conflicting; DNA can be used to set the > record straight;  even if there is a book sitting in the National Library > with unsupported incorrect ancestry information about ones family; perhaps > one day it will be acknowledged the inclusion of my family in it was an > error. > Cheers > Rhonda > > -----Original Message----- > From: Carol Anne <clkonfetti@gmail.com> > Sent: Friday, 23 November 2018 1:14 PM > To: genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com > Subject: [DNA] Re: Linking DNA > > Personally, I think you should have to have the permission of the tree owner > to link anything. I don't like people adding things to my tree as most > people are extremely bad genealogists - actually not genealogists - just > tree copiers. I've spent 20 years gathering primary documents. Why should > people be able to link to my tree or alter information in it without > discussion? I'm not saying my tree might not have errors. Everyone makes > mistakes. Anyone who copies anything from any online tree or any book should > be aware that they could have errors, but most people don't seem to be. But > I don't want people wildly adding errors without so much as a by-your-leave > or discussion. > On Thu, Nov 22, 2018 at 4:24 PM Wjhonson via GENEALOGY-DNA > <genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com> wrote: > > > >  At FTDNA you can link your relatives DNA to your tree without the > > need for them to do anything.You are the one doing all the linking > > Wikitree also has this > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Karen Hodges <rowantreek@gmail.com> > > To: genealogy-dna <genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com> > > Sent: Thu, Nov 22, 2018 1:21 pm > > Subject: [DNA] Linking DNA > > > > With family tree DNA you can link your DNA in your tree with relatives > > who link their DNA in their tree to you. Do any of the other major > > testing companies have this feature? > > > > Karen > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref Unsubscribe > > https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com > > Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: > > https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog > > RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal > > RootsWeb community > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref Unsubscribe > > https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com > > Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: > > https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog > > RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal > > RootsWeb community > > _______________________________________________ > Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref Unsubscribe > https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com > Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: > https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog RootsWeb is > funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb community > > _______________________________________________ > Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref > Unsubscribe https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com > Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 > Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog > RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb community _______________________________________________ Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref Unsubscribe https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb community

Although GEDmatch has many virtues, there's no way of getting around the privacy concerns it raises. I and my sister were on GEDmatch, but ended up deleting our records there because of the risk of leading someone to one or more of her grandchildren for a false accusation sometime in the future. Joan -----Original Message----- From: Wjhonson via GENEALOGY-DNA [mailto:genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com] Sent: Friday, November 23, 2018 10:28 AM To: clkonfetti@gmail.com Cc: genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com; Wjhonson Subject: [DNA] Re: Linking DNA This is why you need to be using more specific tools like gedmatch Sent from AOL Mobile Mail Get the new AOL app: mail.mobile.aol.com On Thursday, November 22, 2018, Carol Anne <clkonfetti@gmail.com> wrote: Autosomal DNA testing does not lie and is not incorrect, though it is very difficult to work with beyond close relatives. The problem is attaching DNA to trees full of errors. If you have two DNA matches, both with the same erroneous copied info in their trees, they will attribute their segment of shared DNA to a person who is actually not an ancestor of either of them. You might say, "So what? They deserve it." But DNA companies are talking about doing the same thing, using the trees people have attached to their DNA to tell their customers what ancestors the shared DNA came from and build trees for them. DNA could be a wonderful tool, but it's being used to create an absolute mess and add to the chaos created by people who copy trees blindly. I wonder what percentage of trees online are filled with errors due to copying. Ancestry encourages this. I was trying to create a tree for a DNA match last week and Ancestry kept offering me hints and a potential father. It was crazy because the man would have had to be a bigamist to have been begetting children with one wife in MO and another in GA at the same time. It's possible today, but in the 1850s it would have been impossible for a farmer to keep running back and forth like that. Apparently so many people have copied that info into their tree that Ancestry tries very hard to get everyone to do the same with their hints. My conclusion was that they were two different men. I never succeeded in finding the true father of the man in MO, which was what I was trying to do. I think I know who his father was, but no proof, Certainly no descendants of this man who copy the info Ancestry offers them will ever know who his real father was. It would be great if a DNA company could hire professional genealogists to create a world family tree based on documents only and attach DNA matches to it only when they submitted sufficient documentation that they were a descendant of that person. Then we would really have something useful! Carol On Thu, Nov 22, 2018 at 10:38 PM Rhonda Flowers <rwflowers@optusnet.com.au> wrote: > > Hello Carol > > This is precisely why I will never have a tree on Ancestry. There are dozens > of trees with my paternal line information just copied and copied and copied > from one tree to another. Pre the internet it was easy to make a mistake > because there was limited information out there to be had. Family > information can be passed down orally but if it is based on the wrong > ancestor (with the same surname) then the error can be perpetuated ad > infinitum. > > This too, is precisely why DNA testing and matching is so important. When > primary documents are unavailable or conflicting; DNA can be used to set the > record straight; even if there is a book sitting in the National Library > with unsupported incorrect ancestry information about ones family; perhaps > one day it will be acknowledged the inclusion of my family in it was an > error. > Cheers > Rhonda > > -----Original Message----- > From: Carol Anne <clkonfetti@gmail.com> > Sent: Friday, 23 November 2018 1:14 PM > To: genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com > Subject: [DNA] Re: Linking DNA > > Personally, I think you should have to have the permission of the tree owner > to link anything. I don't like people adding things to my tree as most > people are extremely bad genealogists - actually not genealogists - just > tree copiers. I've spent 20 years gathering primary documents. Why should > people be able to link to my tree or alter information in it without > discussion? I'm not saying my tree might not have errors. Everyone makes > mistakes. Anyone who copies anything from any online tree or any book should > be aware that they could have errors, but most people don't seem to be. But > I don't want people wildly adding errors without so much as a by-your-leave > or discussion. > On Thu, Nov 22, 2018 at 4:24 PM Wjhonson via GENEALOGY-DNA > <genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com> wrote: > > > > At FTDNA you can link your relatives DNA to your tree without the > > need for them to do anything.You are the one doing all the linking > > Wikitree also has this > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Karen Hodges <rowantreek@gmail.com> > > To: genealogy-dna <genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com> > > Sent: Thu, Nov 22, 2018 1:21 pm > > Subject: [DNA] Linking DNA > > > > With family tree DNA you can link your DNA in your tree with relatives > > who link their DNA in their tree to you. Do any of the other major > > testing companies have this feature? > > > > Karen > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref Unsubscribe > > https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com > > Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: > > https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog > > RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal > > RootsWeb community > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref Unsubscribe > > https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com > > Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: > > https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog > > RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal > > RootsWeb community > > _______________________________________________ > Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref Unsubscribe > https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com > Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: > https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog RootsWeb is > funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb community > > _______________________________________________ > Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref > Unsubscribe https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com > Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 > Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog > RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb community _______________________________________________ Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref Unsubscribe https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb community _______________________________________________ Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref Unsubscribe https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb community