Capeflier

Traditionally October is family history month,  a time  when families across the nation reconnect with their family heritage.  Of course I want to join in the fun so this month I am concentrating on two goals.  Pictures of my birth  family and additional genetic genealogy results.  My amazing sisters on my birth mothers side have sent me hundreds of family photos that In will treasure forever.

My other goal is to have additional family members join the Cottrell Family Research genetic genealogy project.    We have several  DNA  tests supporting my  connection to Owen Cottrell and three with results that  are either ambiguous or do not support the connection.  The only way to resolve this discrepancy is to have other family members participate in my genetic genealogy studies.

The willingness of others to join has been underwhelming to say the least so I am hoping by offering to pay for the time and trouble I can get additional volunteers.  So there you have it Cottrell  brother, sisters and cousins, email me and learn how to  make some money helping someone out.   I hope that this October will be the October History Month that completes my very own family history.

The goal with autosomal genetic genealogy testing  is  to  identify our matches common ancestor. As many Family Finder and Relative finder customers have discovered this is easier said then done.   Many of us seeing our list of 50-500 matches for the first time hardly recognize any of the names. This is  usually because they are third fourth or fifth cousins. Most of us do not know off the top of our head who our great great great grandfathers descendents are.  Sometimes by looking at our matches family tree a name will jump out at us but to be effective we need an systematic  way to compare the names.

One utility  that does just that are the utilities  at GEDMatch.com.  This utility allows one to compare our matches GEDCOM file  if they have one with our own. Most Family Tree programs will allow one to export a GEDCOM file which is simply a universal method to exchange family tree data.    If your GEDMatch list of autosomal matches  has a G in the match list that will give you the GEDCOM code to needed to run the comparison. The best way to learn to use this utility is to simply play with it a bit.

I personally have found the use of an Excel  spreadsheet to be the most effective way of comparing family tree information. I build a spreadsheet with Lastname, First Name, Date of Birth, Place of Birth,Date of Death and Place of Death, GedcomID (this could be the matches kit number or their initials.    I then add my matches family tree information from their GEDCOM file into the spreadsheet and with a few clicks of a mouse paste their ID code in the last column.  This allows you to sort on any column while still knowing which names go with who.  I added a formula that finds two rows with matching surnames that have different kit codes and highlight that row in red.  Scrolling down several thousand names easily allows me to pick out surname matches.  I suppose I could even automate the process and pull the matches into another sheet.  I have also sorted off of place names and have found some matches that way as well.   The remaining challenge is how do we get the data from the GEDCOM into a spreadsheet. The answer is a wonderful utility called GEDxlate.  The author of  Rick  Seelhoff describes the utility on his site at http://www.gedmagic.com/GEDxlate.htm this way:

“GEDxlate quickly and easily translates genealogy data from standard GEDCOM format into MS Access dB (*.mdb), MS Excel Worksheet (*.xls), comma delimited (*.csv), and text file (*.txt) formats. Pick a GEDCOM file to translate; select which fields you want to include in your dB, spreadsheet, csv, or txt file; choose an output format and file name to save the translated data in and you’re there! And it’s FREE!”

This utility does just what it says and  with the need to compare names to find matches I suspect this program will become much more popular.

Many of us have ancestors from Ohio and as we read their history it is helpful to have a better understanding of how Ohio changed as time went on.   I found the free 86 page  online Official Ohio Lands Book  about the history of the lands of Ohio to be an interesting read.
http://www.auditor.state.oh.us/publications/general/OhioLand
sBook.pdf

GEDmatch.com is proving to be a valuable resource for genetic cousins to find their most recent common ancestor. So far I have found the common ancestor for six of my matches. This post will only be of interest to those who have test results from Family Tree DNA Family Finder or 23andme Relative Finder autosomal DNA tests who are interested in using GEDMatch.com utilities. This is an overview of how to setup GEDMatch.com web utilities for researching 23andme Relative Finder Results and Family Tree DNA Family Finder Results.

There are some that feel that the privacy and match restrictions at 23andme and Family tree DNA are too restrictive. People ask how are we supposed to evaluate matches and find common ancestors if we do not know who they are. Others want to know if two people match who do they match in common. Still others want a way to compare family trees to see who the common ancestors are. GEDMatch.com provides several utilities that make our results much more useful. Please review terms of use for 23andme and Familytree DNA as well as Gedmatch.com before following these guidelines. In all cases the respective sites policies over rule any conflicting information shown here.

First by uploading your data to GEDMatch.com your matches are easily compared with the other public results. The email address is visible which makes it easy to contact your matches. The downside is this openness also makes it easy for spammers to get the email address so an email address just for GEDMatch might be something to consider.

There are four sets of data files you can upload to GEDMatch.com for use with their utilities.

So here are the steps to follow. These links are valid today and are subject to change. In any case these instructions tell you the steps and where to look.

1) First read GEDmatch.com Privacy Statement
MENU ITEM: GEDmatch.Com policy statement

2)Next upload your raw DNA data files depending upon which testing company you used. Be sure you write down the kit number GEDmatch.com assigns you. Note the private option severely limits the use of GEDMatch.com, I mistakenly entered one file as private and quickly discovered that I could not compare private data with public data. Everyone has their own comfort level. All you are sharing at this level is your kit number, your email, your name and , the amount you share with others value in Centimorgans. To be really useful the data needs to be public.

a To upload Family Tree DNA Family Finder raw data file follow these instructions to upload autosomal DNA results from FTDNA
MENU ITEM: “Upload your FTDNA FF Autosomal DNA raw data file”

if you also want to compare the X Chromosome data also upload that file following these instructions.
MENU ITEM: “Upload your FTDNA FF X-DNA raw data file”

b To upload 23andme Relative Finder raw Data File follow these instructions
MENU ITEM: “Upload your 23andMe DNA raw data file”

I suggest seeing how this part works before adding other files but that’s up to you.

3 Upload your match file – this is the list of names that you match and this is very useful for the triangulation utility it tells you which of your matches also match others. This file also should be sanitized by deleting any notes or other references besides the name. I also removed email addresses but I’m not sure if that is necessary. To sanitize open in Excel or other spreadsheet program, edit , then save in the same format you opened.

Family Tree DNA Customers use this menu item
MENU ITEM: Upload your FTDNA FF match results file

23ANDME Customers use this menu item.
MENU ITEM: Upload your 23andMe Ancestry Finder file

Step 4
Your GEDCOM is a universal genealogy file format. Most genealogy programs can export your data as a GEDCOM. The purpose of uploading the GEDCom files is to allow you to compare your genealogy files with your other matches to find common ancestors. In essence the DNA tells you who you match the GEDCOM utility helps you identify the possible common ancestor that caused you to match. The ancestor-projects.com utility lists your gedcom data as part of the match grid making it much more useful.

To upload your GEDCOM make sure you have sanitized it first as there are real privacy issues with sharing an improperly prepared GEdcom. I suggest preparing it reimporting it as a new file and checking it. Also be sure to check no when the Gedmatch upload utility asks if you want to display notes. When it is ready then upload to

MENU ITEM:Upload your GEDCOM genealogy file

Allow a few hours for everything to populate then start playing with the utilities. Ill write more another time about what you can do with the utilities. These steps are also needed before one can sign up for the ancestor-projects.com Cottrell Family Research Site.

Errors or parts that are confusing please let me know.

It is often very difficult to explain exactly why I have such a strong need  to connect to my genetic roots.  August Rush is a movie that portrays that 6th dimension that I have felt my entire life. It explains the drive that I have for  a connection to my roots that no-one else seems to understand.

watch?v=oUQ0qxmr2Gc&feature=player_detailpage

Philip J Taylor  also served on the USS Shenandoah,  the Navy Destroyer Tender that made a stop in Boston in August of 1953.  According to my birth mother Philip Taylor was with Owen Cottrell  the night I was conceived.    I hope my genetic matches will take the time to do a quick check for any Taylor, Covey or Howell connections.

I also hope that members of Philip Taylor’s family of Perry County Indiana will consider taking the free Family Tree DNA Family Finder test to help in documenting family history.   If interested contact me at mark@capeflier.com

More information about the genetic genealogy project is located at  the Taylor Genetic Genealogy Project page.