We don’t all have the same experiences in our families, so we shouldn’t expect to answer every genealogical question the same way. Learn ways to use different tools and approaches to solve different problems.
Here are some things we discussed:
Ancestry custom groups have now expanded to include 64 groups. Here are a couple of articles about using groups:
https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Grouping-and-Filtering-AncestryDNA-Matches
https://www.ancestry.com/c/ancestry-blog/dna/sorting-grouping-dna-matches
Leah Larkin’s article about choosing a color scheme for your groups: https://thednageek.com/quick-tip-color-code-your-ancestry-tree/
MyHeritage’s long-awaited ethnicity update is coming in January. Ran Snir talks about it in the “Sneak Peak” section of this webinar: https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/leveraging-myheritage-dna-tools-to-make-new-discoveries/
Legacy Family Tree Webinars announced their 2025 lineup. See https://legacyfamilytree.com/blog/2024/12/2025-legacy-family-tree-webinars-series-announced-adds-members-only-ai-series-and-genealogy-guys-learn-library/. It includes several DNA webinars, including one from our own Paula Williams in August: https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/5-questions-to-answer-about-your-dna-matches/
We also talked about Reclaim the Records having published the BIRLS database. See https://www.birls.org/
We then talked about the Leeds Method and how it can be a starting point, but its rules don’t always work for everyone. Read more about the method here: https://www.danaleeds.com/the-leeds-method/
We talked about pedigree collapse and endogamy. Here are some resources, including links to a couple of tools used in the presentation:
DNA Painter trees: https://blog.dnapainter.com/blog/eight-ways-you-can-use-ancestral-trees-at-dna-painter/
Endogamy visualization tool: https://learnforeverlearn.com/ancestors/
Paul Woodbury’s Dealing with Endogamy webinar: https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/dealing-with-endogamy/
Blog posts about endogamy:
https://www.legacytree.com/blog/dealing-endogamy-part-exploring-amounts-shared-dna
https://www.legacytree.com/blog/dealing-endogamy-part-ii-test-multiple-relatives
https://www.yourdnaguide.com/ydgblog/pedigree-collapse-v-endogamy
Outliers and the Shared cM Project:
https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2018/12/17/examining-outliers-shared-cm-amounts/
https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2019/03/21/examining-outliers-in-shared-cm-amounts-part-2/ – this one shows a grandchild only sharing 9% with their grandparent