Family Tree Research

Genealogy and Thanksgiving are interconnected. Explore the tricky relationship between our country and family histories, and what we serve for Thanksgiving.

Do you have extensive Colonial America roots, yet show Iberian Peninsula DNA?  In this article, you will learn how it can be possible to have both Iberian and Colonial ancestry.  Here’s a hint:  It doesn’t mean that your tree is wrong! Before we get started, I should mention that Ancestry DNA no longer reports the …

Shared Ancestor Hints on Ancestry DNA are a great way to find out how you are related to your DNA matches, and can even help you continue to build your family tree.  In this article, I will help you understand what these hints mean and how you can use them to help you in your …

Do you want to know how to change your Ancestry DNA test settings? In this post, learn how to adjust settings for privacy, sharing, family tree – and more! If you’ve done your Ancestry DNA test, you might be interested in learning about the different options available to you on your test settings page.  Believe …

In order to get the best results from your Ancestry DNA results, you should consider attaching your DNA to your family tree on Ancestry.  In this post, I’ll explain how to quickly attach DNA to an Ancestry tree. Even if your tree isn’t completely finished, or even if you only have a few people in …

There are hundreds of websites that claim to be able to help you research your family tree.  If you are just getting started, how do you know where you should start?  Some are free, and some require a subscription – so how do you know which ones are worth the money? What can you expect …

I’m so glad that you have decided to get in touch with one (or more!) of your DNA matches!  I hope that with this post you learn how to craft your message, what information to include, and how to increase your chances of getting a positive response.  At the end of the post, there is …

It’s always a good idea to build a basic family tree, and it’s an especially good idea if you have already done a DNA test (like the one from Ancestry DNA).  You can get so much more from your DNA results if you have a family tree and you can get much more from your …

Have you ever wondered what you call the “link” between you and your relatives?  There is a special term that people in the family tree research or genealogy field use to describe this relationship:  common ancestor.  What is a common ancestor? This comes up a lot during genetic genealogy, since when I look at the …

One of the most popular reasons for doing a DNA test is to determine ethnicity.  Many people start out on their DNA journey trying to learn about their ethnicity and end up discovering new family members, or learning something really cool about their family history.  Is there such a thing as a DNA test for …