Success Using DNA Matches’ Small Trees
A common complaint from AncestryDNA users is that matches don’t have trees or have very small trees. But, we can often work with both of these situations and still successfully identify our DNA match and how they’re connected to us. Today’s example is from a small tree.
Small Tree
This is an example of one of my matches’ actual small tree, though all names have been changed. When you click on the three grandparent names, it also gives a place of death. So, what can I do with this small tree? I can search for other trees that have these individuals and see if those trees have more generations.
Searching Public Member Trees
To search a public member tree on Ancestry.com, just go to “Search” then “Public Member Trees.” Then, enter the known information for either a single person, like Bernard Knock, or a couple, like Paul Liddel and Mary Jenkins. You can try with or without the exact boxes clicked.
Connection: Found!
This led me to only two trees – the original tree and the tree shown above. As you can see, this tree goes back a lot farther. And, even better, I see my 3rd great grandparents: Johann F HOLTHOEFER and Maria C SCHULTE! This is great news as I already suspected this match was related to this part of my family because of shared matches.
“Do” Genealogy
The last step is to do the genealogy and make sure all of the connections are correct! I actually already had Johann and Maria (Schulte) Holthoefer’s daughter, Marianna, on my tree. And I had her daughter, Christine Petri(e). But, I did not have a spouse of children for Christine. So, I only had to find connections for the last few generations.
Tips
I have used this technique many times, but you often need two things to be successful:
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- You should have an idea of what part of your family your DNA match belongs to, which can usually be identified by looking at their shared matches. This helps you to recognize when you’ve found a potential shared ancestor or shared line.
- You need to have enough information about one or more people on their tree that you can be fairly certain you have found the right person. For example, you could use an unusual first or last name, an included middle name, or an exact date and place for birth or death.
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And, a variation to that, and the best tool Ancestry has is: Click on the Search feature in the upper right corner (next to Tools) and this will take you to records of person, and in most cases will give you access to a tree. You may have to move Exact to the right and make adjustments to the person’s name; but in most cases there is no typing involved at all.
Again, best tool Ancestry has!
Excellent point! I have used this feature before, but not quite in this way. For anyone else interested, when you do the “search,” a family tree will likely (always?) be the first result. If that particular tree isn’t very helpful, try the “see more like this…” search button.
What kind of page are you on when you do this in Ancestry? Not clear.
Hi, Elizabeth. I’m sorry you didn’t find it clear! The first image under “small tree” is found when you go to any DNA match’s page and click on one of the trees they have shared. (They might only have one tree, or they might have several.) The second screenshot can be accessed from Ancestry’s Home Page. To find it, click on “search” and then “public member trees.” Hope this helps!
…for a closely related match, with small tree, I actually built their tree (keeping it private), and actually noted some unusual records (marriage date, birth of child) that pointed to a highly likely connection with my family, which was supported by shard match connections to two out of the four lines in my father’s family. I would need cooperation from other of my father’s cousins in order to confirm the exact connection.
Building my own tree for a match has been helpful for me on more than one occasion.