Over the summer I got into genealogy — my partner tasked me with finding her biological parents. I did, and afterward, I took a DNA test of my own only to discover that my mom failed to tell me something (she passed away a few years ago): who my biological father is.
This was a surprise to me, my dad, and many others. Some of her girlfriends knew this situation existed, but never got a name.
And so I spent my summer in what I call "old lady Facebook groups" and learned the tricks and the trades to investigative genetic genealogy. One of the useful tips you can apply to your DNA matches called DNA color clustering — it's incredibly useful: https://www.danaleeds.com/dna-color-clustering-the-leeds-met...
Of course, I didn't want to do this by hand. There were some tools out there that existed but they were "old school" software packages: you know, you install it on your own device! "Worse" yet, I'd have to give it my raw password — no thanks! It started there, and morphed into a lot more, and now it's used by "search genies" and consumers alike: https://sherlockdna.com
There's a lot more that can be done in this realm by both providers and hackers. There's a niche for these "pro tools" that exist but the typical DNA test taker is not after any sort of genealogical exploration that requires substantial effort. There is a very sizable group of people who do, though, and those people, I have found, are very pleasant, kind, and nice to be around. I like surrounding myself with good people, so I'm happy to help them while I scratch my own itch.
All this, and I am yet to find the guy I'm looking for despite having invested over 1,000 hours into finding him. I have, though, found over two dozen "wanted" individuals (not in the criminal sense) and united them with their searcher — at least that part is satisfying.
Have you submitted your DNA results to 23andMe or other services? Is this how you were doing the "color clustering", by matching 2nd and 3rd cousins from matches on those sites?
I have no experience in the matter but presumably there's some research for familial facial recognition? So maybe you could collect family photos or "scrape" facebook local to your area to see if you get any hits? Its pretty speculative but maybe it'd be worth a shot?
I have a little experience in bioinformatics so I'd be happy to help inasmuch as I'm able, if that's something you'd want or need. Regardless I would love to hear more about what methods you've tried (and presumably been unsuccessful in).
Oh yes, I have everything under the sun: Ancestry, FTDNA, MyHeritage, 23andMe. I’ve even had the leading experts in the field helping me and working alongside me on this but it’s really just a case of bad matches.
There’s only so much you can learn from a half-cousin once-removed: her grandfather, born 1911, went to a barn dance, had a good time, and didn’t stay in touch. This man produced my paternal grandma according to my YDNA line — YDNA comes from a male and is passed to males. The YDNA has given me some direction, but no solid answers: I’m trying make a single male from a combination of a male from the most prominent family in 1800s Saugerties, NY, an unknown from Chicago (by way of Bohemia), and two unknowns from two different parts of Grand Forks, North Dakota (both Scandinavians).
And this all happened before the internet of course: 1860-1960 is the range that I am working with.
This h1C1R I speak of is my best match, followed by third-cousins. I’ve exhausted every avenue that’s been visible to me. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, it’s very uncommon to know who casually slept with who generations ago. :)
There’s a lot of census searching (and scraping, and CSVing), newspaper article reading (lots of juicy details in small newspapers) and some luck. I have a tree built out some 1600 people strong. Hopefully with the holiday sales, new matches will come my way that are helpful. :)
Fascinating, I'm sorry your search has yet to yield results but maybe you could try to join up with a company that mainly supports law enforcement as I guess they probably have a robust toolset. I've heard of Othram through acquaintances, may be worth a shot
This was a surprise to me, my dad, and many others. Some of her girlfriends knew this situation existed, but never got a name.
And so I spent my summer in what I call "old lady Facebook groups" and learned the tricks and the trades to investigative genetic genealogy. One of the useful tips you can apply to your DNA matches called DNA color clustering — it's incredibly useful: https://www.danaleeds.com/dna-color-clustering-the-leeds-met...
Of course, I didn't want to do this by hand. There were some tools out there that existed but they were "old school" software packages: you know, you install it on your own device! "Worse" yet, I'd have to give it my raw password — no thanks! It started there, and morphed into a lot more, and now it's used by "search genies" and consumers alike: https://sherlockdna.com
There's a lot more that can be done in this realm by both providers and hackers. There's a niche for these "pro tools" that exist but the typical DNA test taker is not after any sort of genealogical exploration that requires substantial effort. There is a very sizable group of people who do, though, and those people, I have found, are very pleasant, kind, and nice to be around. I like surrounding myself with good people, so I'm happy to help them while I scratch my own itch.
All this, and I am yet to find the guy I'm looking for despite having invested over 1,000 hours into finding him. I have, though, found over two dozen "wanted" individuals (not in the criminal sense) and united them with their searcher — at least that part is satisfying.