Since taking the DNA test, I have become completely hooked in using it to find my ancestors. Ancestry.com sent back hundreds of matches. Gedmatch.com, a wonderful utility site, has given me dozens of matches. And still I am no closer to discovering my roots. However, it is giving me hope.
I look at the matches. I look at their family trees, at least, the ones that have submitted trees, and most of them have names I don't recognize. I have deduced, since so many on the trees were born in Virginia or North Carolina, that these matches were made in slavery. Therein lies my dilemma. Slaves had no surnames. I only know three slave owner names for sure and they are definitely not my progenitors. I am not including Charles Featherston in that group. The dna results have proved he is my great great grandfather and he was not a slave owner.
But there is a silver lining. I am closer to learning some of my ancestors' surnames. I just have to go through every family tree, find the names that are mentioned the most and contact the tree owners. Of course, that will be tedious and many tree owners have that annoying habit of not replying to my emails. But if it was easy, would I be so obsessed?
2 comments:
I hope you have success in connecting with folks and making the connections.
You know I had a bad experience with Ancestry early one when I started doing DNA and I've just never trusted their results after that.
Seeing as I see a lot of folks talking about Ancestry, I'm wondering if I should give them another go.
Thanks, Mavis. I recommend that you give them one more chance.
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