The value of Gedmatch

The community of people who are doing autosomal testing is growing. The three largest company's, Familytree DNA, 23andme and Ancestry each has their benefits and disadvantages. Testers at ancestry are able to transfer their data to familytree DNA for free with limited results, and for a small fee they can unlock all the matches there. If however you test with 23andme you are stuck with results from that company. If you test with ancestry you are severely limited by the lack of an ability to compare segments. Which means they will tell you if your match has the same tree, but you have no way to triangulate the matches.

Gedmatch, a free service that accepts donations (and I highly encourage everyone who uses it to donate) allows users of all three companies to compare their DNA results. Why is this valuable? Because the ability to triangulate and identify matches is absolutely a benefit to anyone who is utilizing DNA to unlock the secrets to their mysteries in their genealogy.

So how large of a match can you find? Here are the top matches for my kit.

Details	Total cM	largest cM	Gen		Details	Total cM	largest cM	Match Relationship	Family Connection
A	3549	214.5	1		X	185.6	110.3	Mom
A	3552	209.3	1		X	194.6	119.4	Dad
A	1039.7	70.2	1.9		X	0	0	First cousin	Mom
A	214.1	77.6	3		X	0	0	Half first cousin 1R	Hager
A	233.5	45.6	3		X	83.7	37.8	1 cousin 2 R	Adams/Trahern
A	220.3	35.6	3		X	0	0	Double 3rd cousin	Barnes/Franklin
A	84.9	35	3.7		X	0	0	3rd cousin 1R	Barnes/Franklin
A	61	45.2	3.9		X	0	0	Half 1 cousin 2R	Pyburn/Hardy
A	64.8	36.9	3.9		X	0	0	3rd cousin 1R	Brunson/Platt
A	63.2	24.3	3.9		X	0	0	2nd cousin 2R	Hardy/Nelson
A	52.9	35.9	4		X	0	0	Unidentified
A	59.9	26.3	4		X	0	0	4th cousin 1R	Brunson/Platt
A	59.9	26.3	4		X	0	0	4th cousin 1R	Brunson/Platt
A	57.6	18.3	4		X	0	0	4th cousin 1R	Brunson/Platt
A	47.5	28.3	4.1		X	0	0	Unidentified
A	49.1	27.5	4.1		X	0	0	Unidentified
A	46.8	24.6	4.1		X	0	0	4th cousin 1R	Brunson/Platt
A	47.1	24.3	4.1		X	13	7.6	4th cousin 1R	Brunson/Platt

Here is a look at my father's top matches.

Details	Total cM	largest cM	Gen	Details	Total cM	largest cM	Name	Family
A	3552	209.3	1	X	194.6	119.4	Daughter
A	370	36.3	2.6	X	0	0	Double 2nd cousin 1R	Barnes/Franklin
A	209.6	51.7	3	X	0	0	Half first cousin 1R	Pyburn/Hardy
A	143.5	34.7	3.3	X	0	0	3rd cousin	Barnes/Franklin
A	106.8	24	3.5	X	0	0	2nd cousin 1R	Hardy/Nelson
A	81.9	39	3.7	X	0	0	3rd cousin 1R	Beck
A	80.5	39	3.7	X	0	0	3rd cousin	Brunson/Platt
A	76.1	25.8	3.8	X	0	0	Half 2nd cousin 1R	McCurdy
A	76.7	25.8	3.8	X	0	0	4th cousin	Brunson/Platt
A	76.7	25.8	3.8	X	0	0	4th cousin	Brunson/Platt
A	72.6	23.6	3.8	X	0	0	4th cousin	Brunson/Platt
A	71.7	23.2	3.8	X	0	0	4th cousin 1R	Brunson/Platt
A	64.7	36.3	3.9	X	0	0	4th cousin	Brunson/Platt
A	53	37.5	4	X	0	0	4th cousin	Pyburn
A	52.8	35.3	4	X	0	0	Unidentified
A	56.6	28.8	4	X	0	0	3rd cousin	McCurdy

And here is a look at my mother's top matches.

Details	Total cM	largest cM	Gen	Details	Total cM	largest cM	Name	Family
A	3549	214.5	1	X	185.6	110.3	Daughter
A	1929.5	104.7	1.4	X	0	0	Nephew
A	580.4	106.1	2.3	X	87.6	76.3	1st cousin 1R	Adams/Trahern
A	590.6	74.1	2.3	X	0	0	Half 1st cousin	Hager
A	97.3	58.1	3.6	X	0	0	3rd cousin	Hager/Barnett
A	55.8	55.8	4	X	0	0	Unidentified	Wallen/Blevins
A	52.5	52.5	4	X	0	0	6th cousin	Wallen/Blevins*
A	50.7	38.4	4.1	X	0	0	6th cousin	Wallen/Blevins
A	42.9	42.9	4.2	X	0	0	Unidentified	Wallens/Blevins
A	42.9	42.9	4.2	X	0	0	Unidentified	Wallens/Blevins
A	42.5	42.5	4.2	X	0	0	4th cousin	Rogers/Rodgers
A	42.3	42.3	4.2	X	0	0	Unidentified
A	41.3	41.3	4.2	X	0	0	Unidentified
A	43.2	37.2	4.2	X	0	0	Unidentified
A	43.1	24.6	4.2	X	0	0	Unidentified
A	38.6	38.6	4.3	X	0	0	Unidentified
A	37.5	37.5	4.3	X	0	0	4th cousin	Rogers/Shue?

*Mom has an unusual match on the 11^th chromosome. The segment, 74 cM long is matching over 20 descendants of Elisha Wallen and Mary Blevins in addition to descendants of Doswell Rogers on over half of the same segment. Those with the family but unidentified are among the matches also matching this same segment. The length of the segment is too long to be noise or a false positive. 

As you can see, my parents have several larger matches. My cousin on the other hand doesn't. 

Details	Total cM	largest cM	Gen	Details	Total cM	largest cM	Match Relationship	Family Connected
A	1929.5	104.7	1.4	X	0	0	Aunt
A	1039.7	70.2	1.9	X	0	0	1st cousin
A	415.4	101.6	2.6	X	0	0	1st cousin 1R	Adams/Trahern
A	230.3	56.2	3	X	0	0	Half 1st cousin 1R	Hager
A	35.5	35.5	4.3	X	0	0	3rd Cousin	La porte
A	38.9	13.5	4.3	X	0	0	3rd cousin 1R	Hager/Barnett
A	33.8	33.8	4.4	X	0	0	3rd Cousin	La Porte

  Yep, those are his top matches. notice that the first four are kits I tested. The other kits I tested show the same mixed results. However, through the ability to match segments, I have been able to confirm by DNA a large portion of my mother's paternal relatives, and about 75 percent of my father's tree.

If the tools are so great, why don't more people use them, or to put it plainer, why don't we get more communication from those that do? A large portion of the people I contact on Ancestry for my tests there, either don't know about gedmatch or tested mostly for the purpose of identifying their genetic composition. On 23andme, well, most of those folks seem to have done it for the health reports. And on Family tree dna, well to be honest, I get no more responses from there than I do from Ancestry or 23andme. Probably 25 percent of the people I contact respond. On gedmatch, because they have had to take the time to put the data on there, I get responses from well over 50 percent, not quite a hundred percent, but much closer than on the other three companies.

For those of us who are actively trying to triangulate matches, it is so frustrating that someone matches and doesn't even respond. It's their right, but that doesn't mean I can't get frustrated if they don't answer. That's why I love Gedmatch, and why I highly encourage everyone to use it if they want to be able to get the most out of their autosomal DNA results.

Using Genome mate pro (free, and easy for me, but several have trouble figuring it out), I have been able to identify parts of the DNA for all my kits in the last 20 months, here is a visual representation of my success for both my parents.

 

So who do you think you are?

DNA land has a new algorithm for ancestry composition. When I looked at my mom's I was a bit shocked. It said she was 4.4 percent Italian and I was 3 percent. Hmm, even with the few unknowns I have in my tree, I am pretty confident that no one was Italian for the last 200 years. Had I seen something like that on the admixtures at gedmatch, I may give it a bit more credence, but to be honest, sometimes I don't know which groups those admixtures are referencing.

.Mom's maternal grandmother comes from immigrant English stock. Even with the difficulties of researching overseas I have managed to get her tree back to the 18th century, and she comes from common English workers. Lucky for me most were nonconformist, which does make them a bit easier to track.

On her maternal grandfather's side we do end with both 2nd great grandparents. One was an immigrant from England born in 1823 and the other was born in England or Canada about the same time. Either way, Italian doesn't seem to fit. The other side is pure early colonial with roots in Massachusetts and Connecticut just a few years after the pilgrims arrived at Plymouth. The latest immigrant there is a 3rd great grandfather from Ireland. And I am not even lucky enough to have a non British surname in the bunch.

I think that the later English immigrant lines are one of the reasons mom's maternal line segment map on her DNA is so poorly identified. I don't know if they just don't test, but we just don't have that many matches I can identify in England. The colonial tends to show up in greater percentages and we have identified some of those segments.

Mom's paternal grandfather came from a mixture of British Isles and German descent. I think if anything this is what is picking up as Italian.  The Mangum, Collins, Adams, Hager, Whitley, and Stokes family on this side all came through Tennessee from North Carolina. We do seem to probably connect somehow to the Estes/Estep family from North Carolina. The Barnett and Bagwell family came from North Carolina to South Carolina and Georgia. All of these families though were present prior to the American Revolution, most having qualifying patriots for the DAR.

Mom's paternal grandmother is again a mixture, this time though it's British Isle and Choctaw. The Adams, Rogers, Wallen, Blevin and (not proven) Anderson family all came from Virginia to Tennessee. All of these lines also were present prior to the American Revolution. The Wallen and Blevin line has a bit of  tendency to remain strong in my mom's dna. She shares a 1 percent DNA segment with multiple descendants of Elisha Wallen and Mary Blevins in common with Doswell Rogers Descendants.

The Choctaw side while a mixture is a mixture of pre American revolution immigrants to Spanish Territory (those identified origins have been from Virginia) and of course the Choctaw.

So 4.4 percent Italian, hmm.. I don't think so. Even if I didn't have the genealogy, the DNA matches have identified most of these family lines at this point as accurate. The only non British Isles family I know of are the Hagers, and I suspect highly that the colony in Lincoln may have been an offshoot of those from Pennsylvania (the German surnames in both places mirror each other).

I still think everyone should do their DNA. It's interesting what all you can learn.

Speaking of  segment maps. Here is the latest on what I have identified on Mom's DNA.

Latest on the Hardy family and Nancy Williams

It took a while to find that Robert Hardy was the father of my ancestor Gardner Hardy. I found when looking through some files though in the probate records that the "probate" record for Isaac Hardy is actually 20 years after his death. It was actually finding a few other documents that I found out that Robert Hardy and his brother Thomas W. Hardy sued for the same slaves in 1813 that are referenced in the testimony of 1809.

The wife of Isaac Hardy was Nancy Williams, the daughter of Major Thomas Williams and Penelope Sheppard. After the death of Isaac Hardy she married John Franks. For years the Hardy family tried to get slaves that were owed them from the heirs of John Franks.

The estate records for John Frank in Jones county include a dower portion for Nancy Frank dated January 15, 1795. The minor heirs of John Frank had the guardian of Joseph T. Rhodes (who was the common law husband of Mary Williams, Nancy's sister.). The Jones county book has an entry that the heirs of John Frank were Edward Starkey Frank, Susanna  Frank who married Haskell Hatch and Penelope Frank. I believe she mistook the estate as she states James C. Bryan married Nancy the widow, but records show his wife was Penelope.

Records of Jones County, a book written by Zae Gwynn  is on Ancestry.com has some of the missing information.

Deed Bk 14 (1813-1819)
107 - 23 Nov 1813.Robert Hardy of Bullock Co., GA, but now of Jones Co., NC, appointed William McDANIEL attorney to attend court at Raleigh and represent him in case of Robert HARDY and Thomas W. HARDY, plaintiffs versus Haskel F. HATCH, James C. BRYAN and Edward FRANCK.
Wit:H. Bryan
 These are the sons in law and son of John Franck.

Deed Book 14 (1813-1819)
120 October 20, 1813 Edward Starkey Franks - James C. Bryan and Penelope Bryan his wife to Edward Franks for $2700 227 acres, excepting the graveyard on south Tuckahoe Creek at edge of Sycamore Spring Branch at Martin Franks old patent line, runs to mouth of Rattlesnake Branch. Witnesses Ancram Averett and Sarah Whitledge.

128 November 10, 1814 Edward Starkey Franks paid $ 200.00 to Isaac Ramsey for a negro boy Hardy, upon the condition that no suit will be brought against Ramsey by heirs of Thomas Williams or by a paper given by Stephen and Sheppard (Williams) to Robert Hardy and Thomas W. Hardy against Isaac Ramsey for their share of the estate of Thomas Williams.  If a suit is brought, Franks to pay the same or return the negro.

Note Isaac Ramsey was the administrator of the estate of Thomas Williams in 1804. Only found a record to that effect, no heirs listed. I can find no estate in North Carolina as of yet for this Isaac Ramsey who was the step father of Edward Starkey Franks and Robert and Thomas Hardy.

Deed Bk 15 (1819-1822)
27 November 18, 1819 Thomas Hardy and Haskell F Hatch to Starkey Franks, $400 for a negro slave.
27 February 3, 1816 ES Franks to Penelope Bryan Hatch, daughter of Haskell F Hatch and Nancy (Franks?) his wife, a negro girl in possession of Haskell Hatch.

Edward S Franks died in 1826. His will leaves land to his sister Deborah, the wife of Abraham Mitchell and to his brother Isaac Ramsey. It also leaves land to his wife and son, and to his nephew Edward Hardy. This would seem to indicate since Deborah wasn't an heir to John Franks that Edward's mother had been married after John Franks.

Abraham Mitchell died in 1841 in Onslow county, North Carolina. His widow Deborah was his administrator. In 1850 Deborah is living with the son of Edward S. Franks, she is listed as age 50. Both Isaac Ramsey and W. W. Franks purchased goods from the estate. Deborah was too young to be a child of John Franks, which makes Deborah a daughter of Nancy Williams by the Isaac Ramsey who acted as her father's administrator. She also is the mother of the younger Isaac Ramsey mentioned in Edward Starkey Franks will.

Thomas W. Hardy just may be the same Thomas Hardy who was in  Jones county in 1820 with two sons under 10. I did find that an Edward Hardy born in 1818 lived in Craven. I doubt Edward Hardy is the Thomas Edward Hardy who is a son of Robert Hardy. In 1825 a Fanny Hardy signs over her rights in the land of her brother, Frederick Collins in Jones County. In 1839 an Edward Hardy does sign as a witness. There is no Hardy's in the census for Jones or Onslow in 1830-1850 and the Craven county Edward dies there in 1855.

Thus we have the following new information.

Nancy Williams the daughter of Major Thomas Williams and Penelope Sheppard had a sister named Mary who was married to General Joseph Thomas Rhodes.  Nancy was married three times. With her first husband Isaac Hardy she had two sons, Robert Hardy and Thomas W. Hardy. With her second husband she had three children, Edward Starkey Franks (one son), Susanna Franks Hatch (died without issue), and Penelope Franks Bryan (who had children with James C. Bryan, found in Twiggs, unable to find further information, she was his second wife, he had children prior to their marriage.) By her third husband, she had two children, Isaac Ramsey (who died after 1847, may have lived in Cataret county, North Carolina), and Deborah Ramsey Mitchell (who died after 1850 in Onslow County, North Carolina).

Thomas W. Hardy has no estate that I have found yet. The estate of Robert Hardy isn't found in Bulloch or Jones county either, though the guardianship for his children is. I did find a newspaper article where a Robert Hardy states he is no longer responsible for his wife's debts. Both Robert and Thomas Hardy appear to have predeceased Edward Starkey Franks.