DNA results can be overwhelming and some are anxious to solve those decades-long brick walls the minute they get the results back. That’s not how it works, especially if you have never analyzed DNA results before. To help in the results analysis: Have your tree as complete as you can. Trace as many descendants of your ancestors through your 3rd great-grandparents as possible–at least down to people born in the 1920-1930 era. This helps in analyzing short trees. Identify as many matches as you can (back through 3rd/4th cousins at least)–even on the lines you are not interested in. This helps to sort out other matches and helps to build your skills.
The picture of my Mother, my brother and I on a snowmobile has “Jun 75” stamped on the bottom of it. It was taken on a frozen pond south of the house where we grew up. It was not taken in June of 1975. That was the month the picture was developed. There was some time where developed photographs had the month and year of development stamped on them. At the time this was common knowledge. There did not need to be a warning phrase “this is when the photograph was developed.” Documents often contain a variety of dates–execution, acknowledgement, recording, returning, etc.–that may be spelled out explicitly on that document. Sometimes those dates are not explained but remember that any piece of information on a record–especially if […]
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