Barton, Several years ago I tested with FTDNA for a Y-DNA Surname project. I opted for the 111 segment testing. Not long after that I tested with 23andMe and then with Ancestry when they first offered DNA testing. I’ve been accused by several wives of squandering money but that wasn’t my reason for testing with multiple players. I figured at some point one of these three would rise to the top and drown out the other two so I just hedged my bets. I also figured at some point there will be an explosion of people testing and entering the database. TV shows like “Who Do You Think You Are” and “Finding Your Roots” will go a long way toward making this a reality. Gale Gorman Houston On May 15, 2017, at 2:13 PM, BARTON LEWIS <bartonlewis@optonline.net> wrote: Hi Bev, Was the person who told you about the "70% chance" one of Art's matches? What was the basis for their belief about the couple Art was supposedly descended from? Since the couple was born about 100 years before Art, it's unlikely they were closer than great-grandparents. If the person who gave you that information was basing it on the amount of DNA shared, then the question you should be asking is, how do you know it's that set of great-grandparents (or great-great-grandparents) and not some other? For them to be that specific, it suggests that they know something about the man who was Art's father and this couple's grandson or great-grandson. Personally I don't find Ancestry DNA's test that helpful. The reason is that they don't give you the segment data - the positions on the chromosomes where you share DNA with your matches. To definitively learn how you are related to a match, you need that information because (1) it tells you exactly how much DNA you share with them and therefore how closely related they are to you (Ancestry only tells you the total amount of DNA but not where you're sharing or the size of the largest segment - a lot of your total is made up of tiny random segments that don't mean anything); and (2) exactly where you are sharing which is important because you can see the others who are matching on that segment. If you get several people on a segment, you can perform triangulation - a combination of sharing DNA and, if you're lucky, a paper trail to a common ancestor. That is what what breaks down bricks walls and tells you how you and others are descended from a common ancestor. I would suggest testing Art at Family Tree DNA or transferring his Ancestry results there. They have a database that is comprised of many testers who don't test at Ancestry and they give you your segment data. You will be in a better position to solve the mystery by doing that in my opinion. Regards, Barton Lewis On Mon, May 15, 2017 at 01:51 PM, Beverly wrote: > My husband, Art, who was born in 1938 was adopted. He didn't learn about it until his birth mother called when he was 25. We had one visit with her and she said his father was a little blonde guy from Oklahoma; she didn't remember his name. He was in the Navy. > At this time we were adopting ourselves and didn't pursue a relationship with her. > > Last year Art took an Ancestry DNA test. Then recently we received a message that there was up to a 70% chance that he descended from a couple that were born in Kentucky in 1844 and died in Texas. These people must be from his paternal side because his maternal side are from Portugal and didn't go back that far in the USA. > > I'm not sure what to do with this information. Since I have a lot of time, I started a tree for them and working forward. I knew it was like looking for a needle in a haystack, but like the saying goes, no stones unturned. > > Any comments, suggestions, etc., would be greatly appreciated. > > ~Blessings, Bev > > > > ===== > If you would prefer digest mode to mail mode, drop a note to roots-admin@rootsweb.com and ask for the digest... > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > ===== If you would prefer digest mode to mail mode, drop a note to roots-admin@rootsweb.com and ask for the digest... ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message