I'm very grateful to have been given a particular sample of DNA just before Christmas to register with Ancestry. The results have just been processed and uploaded to their site, which gives me the opportunity to detail my process from the start, perhaps providing insight as to how useful DNA can be, what potential pitfalls should be avoided, and what stories can be uncovered along the way.
To maintain anonymity I'll refer to the subject as 'Elder' (a gender-neutral name of a tree seems apt) and with they/them pronouns. I won't be covering any siblings or first cousins, so the closest common ancestors we begin to look at by name will be Elder's great-grandparents; I'm reasonably confident that these individuals will have died over a hundred years ago.
I begin this process with only a small amount of information regarding Elder. Using the records available to me online via Ancestry and FindMyPast I have only been able to go back 3-5 generations on their father's side, and not really beyond their mother on their maternal side. There is a lot to be discovered, for sure. However, the value I hope you gain from this exercise is much less about the stories of the people I discover and more about the methods I use to make it possible.
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