HOW I AM KEEPING TRACK OF DNA CORRESPONDENCE–Update from last November’s post

First of all, I want to say that I’ve missed writing my blog posts.  Since we returned from our vacation in June I have been completely focused on DNA results.  I am trying to assist our daughter-in-law with finding her biological family.  I have been trying to learn how to use each of the DNA sites and all the resources they offer.  And, how to interpret results.  This is no small task.

I originally wrote about this subject last November.  But, I’ve changed my method since then.  Always a work in progress, as you know.  Here’s the earlier post: http://www.michiganfamilytrails.com/2016/11/dna-heres-how-im-keeping-track-of.html

Now that I am the administrator for other family member’s tests, and I am dealing with multiple sites, it’s necessary to be sure I have a good tracking method.

So, you contact someone who is a match on FtDNA, Ancestry or GedMatch. If your lucky enough that the connection responds, what then? 

• How do you keep track of the initial contact?
• How do you record their response?
• How do you keep track of which side of the family they may be connected to?

Those are the questions many people have asked.  Everyone has their own method.  Some may go old school and print everything and keep it in a binder.  Some might use a spreadsheet or a Word document.  Others might just keep a special folder in their email account.  Maybe a combination of all that?

HERE IS HOW I’VE BEEN KEEPING TRACK OF THE ONGOING CORRESPONDENCE

I have been using Evernote for several years.  I find it very useful for all areas of my life.  But, especially for genealogy.  Why?

• Because you can create up to 250 Notebooks
• Because you can create as many notes as you want to
• BUT, especially because you can tag each of those notes with specific tags (you can use up to 100,000 tags in your Evernote account)
• Because I can sort by date created, title or date updated
• Because you can add text, images, and links to websites
• Because you can annotate your notes with arrows and boxes
• Because you can add highlights, tables, check boxes or audio

You get the idea.  There’s a LOT you can do.  AND, it syncs from your desktop to any other device on which you’ve downloaded the app.

Back to my original topic.  How I have been keeping track of DNA correspondence.
 
I have a notebook titled “DNA Correspondence.”  For tags I use “DNA matches” and whatever surnames are connected, if I have that information, and/or places.

Here’s what I record in a note in Evernote.  I use copy and paste.
 
I have redacted personal information for this match.

I begin with the date of the correspondence, who I contacted and how we match.

5/30/2017 Email from Audie Hartson,  aah1@sbcglobal.net
I contacted her from a match on GedMatch
THIS IS HOW WE MATCH
Comparing Kit A918842 (*DGouldHall) and M897041 (Audie Hartson)
Largest segment = 28.3 cM
Total of segments > 7 cM = 67.8 cM
4 matching segments
Estimated number of generations to MRCA = 3.9
We match on segments 3, 11, 12 and 14

Next I take a screenshot or copy and paste the graph of the chromosome match or matches.




I then copy and paste our correspondence in date order.

I sent out my first contact email (I have a standard email that I send, which I modify as needed) and she responded.

NOTE:  Every DNA class or seminar I have attended has stressed that those first contact emails be friendly, short and to the point.
  
Here is my initial contact email.
Tuesday, May 23, 2017 11:12 AM, Diane Hall wrote:
Hi Audie,
My name is Diane Gould Hall. You have come up as a match to both my brother and
myself on GedMatch.
We have been searching for nearly 15 yrs. to try and find out who the parents of
our 2nd great grandfather might be. I am an experienced genealogist and have
hired 3 professionals, who have never found a link to his parents.
I figured DNA was the best bet.
So, according to GedMatch you are matching us at 63 cm (my brother) and 67 cm
(me) and about 4 generations.
This means that we probably have 2nd great grandparents in common.
Would you be interested in exchanging information with me? I have a tree on
Ancestry. Do you? I will gladly share my research with you.
Thank you for your time. I hope to hear from you soon.
Best regards,
Diane Gould Hall

I received a response back the following day.  I was on vacation at the time, but was checking my email while we were gone.  

Here is what I wrote back to her.  She had mentioned that she was going to be on vacation.

May 24 2017 20:18:13
Hi Audie,
  Thanks for getting back to me.  I know you are still on vacation.  I was gone when your email came in and I'm home now.
  Well, you nailed it when you listed the names and now I know how we are connected.  It's through the Surdam name.  Here's how it goes:
Edith Eliza Thorp (1843-1915) married George Beech Surdam - they are my 2nd great grandaunt and uncle
Their daughter, Ida F. Surdam married Augustine A. Lighthouse, just like you stated.  The only child I had thus far for Ida & Augustine was Grace B. Lighthouse born about 1889.  I probably haven't done a lot on this link yet.
However, I have LOTS of info on the Thorp line and pretty good info on all the children of George B. Surdam and Edith Eliza Thorp.
  I am very happy to share any of my information with you.  This is very exciting.  It's the first time I've contacted a possible DNA match and have actually received information back that I can connect to.  I'm also a rookie at all this and hoping to continue to learn more.  This should help both of us.
Look forward to hearing back from you.
Sincerely,
Diane

She responded back to me with the following email.

From: Audie Hartson [aah1@sbcglobal.net]
Sent: 5/30/2017 4:24:19 PM
To: dhcowgirl@mail2Horse.com
Subject: Re:  GEDMatch  - we are connected, but how?
Hi Diane,
I am not good at figuring out GedMatch, or 23andMe-ancestry as yet.  I do have
some information on my Mother's side going back to my grandfather's and
grandmother's parents.  My Dad's side I have very little information.
My Grandmother's name is Audria Glenn Gerkin (Riggs).  Her parents were Alfred
Gerkin and Lizzie Whittington married Nov. 3, 1878
My Grandfather's name is Ollie Marshall Riggs.  His parents were Henry Harvey
Riggs (born 12-8-1849) and Mary Catherine Stechman (Born 4-29-1855).
My Father is James Earl Lund.  His parents are Otto Gerhard Lund and Lillian
Lighthouse (Lund).  I believe Lillian's parents were August Lighthouse and Ida
Surdam.  I also have the names of George Surdam and Edith Thorp who may be her
parents.  Otto Gerhard Lund's parents are Ole Gerhardt Lund and Jermine
Thompson.    That is about it.
I do have information on the Riggs dating back to 1632
If you have any of those names on your side, I would be very interested.  
I do not have a tree on ancestry.  I went through 23andme for DNA.
I am going on a trip this Friday for 3 weeks, so if you write back I will not be
able to answer you until the end of June.  It is so exciting hearing from
relatives that you did not know you have.
Best of luck..  If you need more on the Riggs side, I can help.  If you have
information on any of the names above, I would be very interested.  I hope we can
find the link.
Audie

There has been no further correspondence between us.  Knowing she would be gone for 3 weeks, I left her alone.  Since then, I’ve been sidetracked on other DNA items.  What this is reminding me, is that I need to send another email.

So far, this method is working well for me in regards to keeping track of correspondence.  There may be a time in the not to distant future where I will add a spreadsheet to my toolbox to also keep track of correspondence.  Perhaps just names, email addresses, how we connect and the dates back & forth.  Then I can come into my Evernote account and see the correspondence.

I would love to hear how all of you are keeping track of this incredible, but sometimes overwhelming tool, called DNA.  Please share with me in a comment or on your own blog, with a link to the post.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA JAMOREE 2016 - Day One – DNA
Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2017   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

DNA ~ Here’s how I’m keeping track of the correspondence I’m sending to matches

DNA is certainly a subject we are all talking about. As more and more of us and our families test, we will have more connections.  That leads to more correspondence.

How are you keeping track of your emails and connections?
There are spreadsheets, Word documents, One Note, Evernote, handwritten notes and I’m sure any other number of ways to go about keeping track.

Or, like me, are you overwhelmed and don’t know where to start?  I decided enough was enough and ………

Here’s how I am currently keeping track.

So far I’ve used this method for matches from FtDNA.  Both of my brothers and my husband have completed FtDNA tests.  I have uploaded my autosomal DNA from Ancestry to FtDNA.
 
NOTE:  It is currently not possible to upload from the newer Ancestry DNA tests to FtDNA.  It is hoped that they will soon change that.  It has something to do with the configuration of the new Ancestry tests.

I begin by finding the matches in Family Finder on the FtDNA site.  Below are just a few of the matches on page one of my brother, Norm’s test.  Norm and I have the same parents.  Because we have a paternal brick wall, I concentrate on Norm’s YDNA a lot.

My brother John Zimmerman has a different father, therefore he is our half brother.  Although we never use the term half, except for genealogical purposes.

Those numbers in the 60’s are very good matches, and likely to be within the current time range which would allow us to easily find our connection.

I created an “Introductory Email” in Word and saved it.  I will use the same email, with changes here and there, for all my correspondence.

From attending several DNA lectures/seminars, I’ve learned that an introductory email should be simple and short. In other words we shouldn’t go on and on about our family lines.  In this case, I’ve introduced myself, mentioned that we matched on FtDNA and indicated how many centimorgens for the match.  Then I’ve told them in a couple of sentences that I’ve been working on my genealogy for over 13 years and still have ancestors that are “hiding from me.”  Then I tell them to contact me if they are interested in exchanging information.  Period.
  
Time will tell, how effective my email is and if I need to change the wording.

Next, I entered the information about the contact into Evernote.  Why Evernote?  For me, it seems a simple solution right now, that will allow me to keep track and find things in the future.  I do know there are spreadsheets out there that we can make copies of.  I do like spreadsheets and foresee that in the not too distant future, I will be using one to keep my DNA records.  But, for right now, I had to get started and this is the method I chose.  If you want to know more about how I use Evernote for my genealogy, please read my posts here, and here.

Here’s how I recorded my email correspondence today:

John Smith is not the match's real name

In the same note underneath the information above I’ve listed more contacts that I sent emails to.

I’ve already heard back from two people I contacted.  I’ve chosen to save all correspondence in Evernote, in separate notes for each contact. That way I can keep all the correspondence back & forth between us, in one neat, tidy place.

This method may not work for everyone.  Whether it works for the long haul for me is yet to be determined.  However, being overwhelmed and not knowing where to start or how to keep track was getting me no where.

I’d love to know how you are keeping track of your matches & correspondence.  Are you making a lot of discoveries?
 
I know we’ve only touched the surface of our future with genetic genealogy.  I look forward to all of it.

NOTE:  I was contacted by our Legal Genealogist, Judy Russell, after publishing this post.  She informed me that, unless I had permission, I could not show the names of the matches.  I had already blurred their emails, but didn't think to blur names.  I have corrected my error and thank Judy for always reminding us about proper procedures.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA JAMBOREE - DAY ONE - All about DNA

WHAT DOES MY DNA TEST FROM ANCESTRY.COM TELL ME?
Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2016   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

TUESDAY’S TIP ~ How to Save a Book from Archive.org to Evernote or Your Computer

This is a great way to have your books with you wherever you go.  We know that Evernote will sync with all your devices, whether they are Android or PC or Mac.
 
Archive.org is a site I go to many times to find copies of the books that are out of copyright and available to the public.  Out of copyright, means they were published prior to 1923.

Here’s my process for downloading these books.

• Go to Archive.org and conduct a search for the book, by title or by subject.  In this case I was looking for a copy of the Adjutant’s Report for West Virginia in 1864 or 1865.  I typed exactly that in the search box.

(Background)  I had located this book when conducting a search on Ancestry.com.  The entire book can be found on that website.  However, I wanted a copy for my own files, as I know there are many members of my family who served in the West Virginia military during the Civil War.

In this case I got 18 hits/results on the page and just scrolled down til I found what I needed.  I see two different books, one for 1864 and one for 1865.
 


I selected the book for 1864 and this is the next page that came up.



From this view you can actually page through this book a page at a time or hover over the grey area on the right hand side and select specific pages.  If you’d like to search inside this book while it’s up on the screen just use the search box in the upper right corner.

To download this book to your computer you scroll down on the page and select from the options listed.

In this case I selected the PDF option.



Once the download is complete I see this screen.  Note in the lower right hand side, I have an option to “Save to Evernote.”  This option shows up automatically for me.  I believe this option is offered because I have Evernote Webclipper on my browser.



Once I selected “Save PDF to Evernote” the webclipper brings up my options.

 

I changed the “Inbox” to my folder for “Places” and added several tags to the entry.

That’s all there is to it.  Now the item is available to me on all my devices, whenever I need to refer to it.
 
When I opened the book in Evernote and conducted a search for the surname Lunsford (my ancestor), it took me to the first entry for that name on page 118.  Then on to page 250 and so on.

FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT USE EVERNOTE
You can still use Archive.org and save the item to PDF on your own computer or even save it to your Kindle.
 
I’d like to know if others have used Evernote in this way? 
How often do you use Archive.org

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

TUESDAY'S TIP ~ How to Determine Which War Your Ancestor May Have Participated In
TUESDAY'S TIP ~  Why Those "Extra" People in a Census May Be Important

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2016   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION