RootsMagic / Ancestry -- My Plans

RootsMagic released their long awaited update today that will allow sharing of data between RootsMagic and Ancestry.

I was fortunate to have been a Beta tester. That allowed me to do a lot of experimentation and think thru exactly how I will implement these new features.

Thanks to the early release of some of the details about how tree sharing would work, I had already decided to UPLOAD my tree from RootsMagic to Ancestry. From my playing around, I made some additional decisions about my RootsMagic data:

• Trim the tree -- Over the years, I had researched spouses of nieces and nephews in order to build a family history for a new baby. I archived a copy of my tree and then removed these branches so that I wouldn't inadvertently upload details about living individuals.
• Private Facts -- I had information regarding my DNA matches in my tree. I made these facts private and elected to not include private facts in my upload.
• Media -- I ultimately decided to NOT upload any media. First, I didn't want all of the photos in my RootsMagic tree uploaded to Ancestry. Second, I didn't want birth certificates and marriage licenses uploaded for anyone living. Thirdly, I didn't want to wait for them all to upload.

With the new release, I have uploaded my tree to Ancestry. I have watched the video (several times) and printed (and skimmed) the FAQ [scroll down on page and look for link to Magic-Guide: WebHints and TreeShare for Ancestry]. After working with a great-grandfather, I have concluded that I will likely be a ONE-WAY TreeShare user -- sending information UP.

• Images - I will continue to use the option to 'Save to Your Computer' so that I can control where images are saved and how images are named. This will make it easier to attach the image to the fact.
• Sources - I would prefer to craft my own citations versus using the downloaded citation
• Duplication - My experience during beta testing indicated that a source attached to multiple facts would get downloaded multiple times. 

So - some might ask why not continue using Ancestry as I had in the past. My response would be that I will continue most of my current practices. At the same time, Ancestry TreeShare and WebHints will allow me to

• Push up sources that I've found outside of Ancestry
• Push up individuals I've added to my tree
• Use the WebHints for Ancestry in the same way I already use them with FamilySearch 

Getting rid of the yellow shading on the light bulb will provide an excellent opportunity to work thru my tree and review my data while learning how to use this new feature.

Thank you to everyone that helped make this possible!

Taking Advantage of Area User's Groups

I love living in a rural community, but at times I miss the opportunity for face to face discussions about the challenges of doing genealogical research. Thus, I took advantage of the opportunity to visit a couple of societies and really enjoyed those visits.

My husband and I attended the RootsMagic Users group meeting sponsored by the Johnson County Genealogical Society on June 3rd. We learned a lot from the presentations on publishing family histories using RootsMagic. I loved being able to see how others are using the software! We are hoping to attend their next meeting in August. Their events calendar is full of opportunities to learn.

Last week, I traveled in a different direction to attend a genealogy Roundtable sponsored by the Riley County Genealogical Society. I really enjoyed this opportunity to meet Manhattan area genealogists. Even though I don't have ancestors in early Oklahoma, I enjoyed hearing about the book, Killers of the Flower Moon and the impact of the discovery of oil on the Osage Indians. Their events calendar also provides lots of learning opportunities.

Sellers Circle Puzzle on AncestryDNA

How can I have a Nathan Douglas Sellers circle?

Yes, I have a Nathan Douglas Sellers in my Heartland_Genealogy tree on Ancestry. He is part of my FAN (friends, associates and neighbors) club for my early Kentucky research. The Sellers family is also part of my FAN research for Preble County, Ohio.

Yes, I have DNA matches to support a Sellers relationship.

No, I don't have the SELLERS surname in my pedigree. I have lots of documentation to support my pedigree back for 5 and 6 generations. Generation wise, Nathan Douglas Sellers (1797-1874) would match up with Nelson Garret Crawford (1808-1864). Nelson Crawford is my 3rd great grandfather (6th generation).

I have yDNA results to support my CRAWFORD lineage.

So where do the SELLERS fit?

Based on my paper research, the only possible connection between Nathan Douglas Sellers and myself is thru his mother, Sarah Crawford. Sarah was given permission to marry William Sellers by Rebekah Crawford in 1795 in Lincoln County, Kentucky.  This is where it gets 'fuzzy'. Based on the marriage record, I (and other researchers) have Rebekah Crawford as Sarah's mother. Rebekah's husband is believed to be John Crawford who died in 1779. Other children in this family may include Mary (who married James Sellers) and James Crawford. At this point, the conclusion has been that this James Crawford is the James Crawford who married Martha Knight and NOT my James Crawford.

Going back another generation, the John Crawford who died in 1779 is claimed to be the son of James Crawford and Margery.  Researchers have identified the sons of this couple as James, John, William and Andrew. One Crawford researcher has proposed that my James Crawford is a son of Andrew Crawford. Ancestry's 'We're Related' app did propose that my James Crawford was a grandson of James Crawford and Margery. The app had an unidentified male as the father of my James Crawford.

Based on this 'fuzzy' tree, Nathan Douglas Sellers and my James Crawford (married Sally Duggins) could possibly both descend from James Crawford and Margery.

Nathan D Sellers --> Sarah Crawford --> John Crawford / Rebekah --> James Crawford / Margery
James Crawford (Sally Duggins) --> unknown --> James Crawford / Margery

If the above scenario is accurate, then James and Margery Crawford would be our common ancestor. That would make me a 2nd cousin to Nathan Douglas Sellers FIVE TIMES removed.  It would also mean going back EIGHT generations from me to get to the common ancestor.

In looking at the relationships in the circle, I am shown outside of the circle. I do match 2 family groups in the circle along with a third individual in the circle.

Does this DNA circle support the idea that Nathan Douglas Sellers and my James Crawford are related thru a common ancestor such as James (Margery) Crawford?

Still a puzzle!

RootsMagic - Preparing to Sync

It's almost here! The ability to 'sync' my genealogy data stored in RootsMagic with Ancestry is arriving soon.

According to the RootsMagic blog post, "Questions about Upcoming Ancestry Features - We've Got Answers", the first preparatory step will involve a decision.

Which set of data do I use to sync RootsMagic with Ancestry?

• RootsMagic data 
• Ancestry tree

I'm going to use my RootsMagic data

• RootsMagic contains all of my collateral line research
• RootsMagic contains sources from outside of Ancestry (deeds, licenses, certificates, FamilySearch, MyHeritage, newspapers, etc.)
• Most of the events in RootsMagic have documentation attached. Some of this documentation is older and not as accurate as current standards -- but it is documentation. 

Since this will be a 'new' tree on Ancestry, I believe there will be some consequences associated with switching to this 'new' tree. (NOTE: This is MY opinion. The sync may not work this way.)

• I will have to 're-connect' the DNA tests I administer to this new tree
• matches may change
• shared hints may change
• circles will likely disappear at first before re-forming
• genealogical communities will likely disappear at first before reappearing

• Shaky leaf hints may be affected -- This will depend on how well Ancestry recognizes the events and associated documentation in my file. 

Because I don't want to risk losing something that is in my RootsMagic file, I'm willing to risk having a ton of shaky leaf hints appear when I elect to use my RootsMagic data for the sync.

Thus, my major concern is making sure I have downloaded my DNA matches and documented the shared matches and DNA circles.

There may be other consequences that I haven't considered. I would love to hear from other RootsMagic users about how they are preparing for this upcoming sync.

There's work to do to prepare -- but I am looking forward to this new feature!

Genealogy Communities - Connections

My Communities

Early Settlers of the Lower Midwest and Virginia

• 614 DNA Matches
• 460,062 AncestryDNA Members
• Confidence: 20%
• My Surnames (1775-1825)
• Beckerdite
• Bland
• Buckles
• Briles
• Browning
• Burke
• Butler
• Christy
• Crandall
• Crawford
• Foster
• Ricketts
• Rush 
• Smith
• Story
• Thompson 

Genetic Communities

Prior to the release of Ancestry's new genetic communities, Blaine Bettinger posted the following in the Facebook group, Genetic Genealogy Tips and Techniques:

What are your two largest cluster predictions? Don’t list every possible cluster, just list two (2) probable clusters where the largest number of your relatives were located in 1800-1850 or so.

Even though I've already looked at the genetic communities associated with my DNA, I decided to take the time to study my paper research to see what it would indicate.

To help with that 'study' I decided to re-create the 'Where were they born?' spreadsheet. I extended the spreadsheet to a sixth generation. For the most part, this sixth generation catches people born in the late 1700s and early 1800s.

Current evidence indicates that my New Brunswick, Canada branch is actually loyalists from New York. Evidence also suggests that almost all of my New York lines go back to early New England. Thus, I'm going to predict that I have a genetic community that expands out of New England. (on both my mom's and my dad's side of my tree)

A lot of my other branches go across Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. A couple of these lines migrate into these areas from Maryland while others venture thru Kentucky and lead back to Virginia. Thus, I'm going to predict a genetic community associated with the Ohio River Valley.

Even though, it was suggested to only pick two genetic communities, I'm going to propose a third one: North Carolina.

So -- how do my predictions stack up against my Ancestry Genetic Communities?