I’m sure we are all familiar with the basic structure of our family tree…
When I first started working on my family tree, I did as many other new genealogists do. I built UP tracing one generation to the next going as far back as I could. The most exciting moments I would have would be discovering a source that took me back yet another generation. At that time, I might go as far as listing all the children of a descendant but would likely have stopped there for fear of “cluttering” my family tree. Several years ago, I broke this habit and it has been a game changer!
I was recently part of a social media discussion where someone posed the question “Why would I search for descendants of my ancestors?” This resulted in a very lengthy commentary by many contributors. Some simply mentioned that, they too, were only interested in direct ancestors. However, several others joined in and quickly the discussion turned to listing all the reasons and benefits of finding that 3rd, 4th, or 5th cousin.
One of the most popular responses as well as being my primary reason was the evolution of genetic genealogy. With over 29,000 DNA matches between a few source sites I use to find connections, I have my work cut out for me and rarely does a DNA match pop up with a fully researched tree that includes anyone in my family. In most cases, the DNA match is a 4th or 5th descendant of a common ancestor that we share whose line I have not yet researched. After using some tools such as Ancestry’s Thrulines, MyHeritage’s Theory of Family Relativity, DNA Painter, etc. along with clues in the family tree of my match to help determine the most likely branch, I go to work building out my tree downward towards them using every source I can find. It’s simply the same method I’ve used for years but in the opposite direction. Once I manage to get to within 1-2 generations of my DNA match, I then reach out to them with my findings and have them confirm the remaining missing generations between what I have found and themselves. Voila! A new confirmed DNA match. An alternative method is to build an alternate tree, often referred to as a Q&D Tree (Quick & Dirty) to build up from the DNA match until I find a common ancestor we share.
The benefit of going through this process, of course, is that once you have built out a branch to a DNA match, other DNA matches that may come from that same branch become easier and easier to confirm as you’ve already done some of the work.
Another perk of doing descendancy research is that you will occasionally come across a distant cousin that may have that piece of evidence you’ve been looking for to prove a family connection, a photo of your own ancestors that you didn’t know existed or clues to other branches of the tree that you can then follow. One of my first distant cousins that I was in contact with through a DNA connection was a 3rd cousin descended from my 2nd great-grandparents. This resulted in locating the family member that owned the family bible dating back to our common ancestor along with the only known photo that I’ve ever seen of my 2nd great grandparents which was very exciting!
It is also very interesting to discover migration patterns of the descendants of your ancestors and where they ended up. In my case, I recently connected with a distant cousin confirming a migration of an ancestor to Australia from Scotland which I’ve now been able to connect to several old family photos that I confirmed were from Australia based on the photographer stamps on them. Being able to connect the dots like this is very rewarding.
Don’t limit your genealogical research to direct ancestral lines. Branch out and connect with the living as well. You never know what you will come across!!
