I had decided to go through all of my Thru Lines DNA matches on Ancestry to try to determine where each of those persons “fit” into my family. I made some progress by researching the lineages some of them posted and sending messages (via Ancestry messaging application – more on that, later). But there were a number of matches that needed more WORK! So, I went back through the diagrams (thank you Diahan Southard for the suggested method of putting the match lineages into Excel to be able to see the big picture!). Bottom line, I now have a list of 216 DNA matches to resolve.

Now 216 might seem to be a large task especially when one considers I did not go back any further than my great-great-great grandparents in Thru Lines. But the total population that Ancestry DNA now reports is 47,463 with 2,628 classified as 4th cousins or closer.

My research criteria are to only use actual documents that I will be able to cite as support to my linkage theory. These items include, birth, marriage, death records, census records, obituaries (one of my new favorites). As Dr. Deborah Abbott says in all of her lectures, when searching you need to hope the subject of your search is dead because the dead leave a better paper trail.

#ThruLines #DiahanSouthard #DeborahAbbott #DNA