Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Cousin Matches Help Make My Genealogy Seem Plausible

Tiny snapshot of my Tibbetts pedigree through my dad.  Is this true?
My "emerging" DNA circle for Henry Charles Tibbetts.
My dad and I are considered a family group, and we definitely match other people who think they are descended from ol' Ben Tibbetts.  Either we are all delusional, or we actually are descendants.


I don't know about you, but I constantly struggle to view my ancestors as real people.  I lack photographs and voices for the vast majority of my ancestors and, to be honest, I often wonder if half the information I have on my tree is true.  Am I actually related to these people?  I can only get a real sense of confidence of my ancestry from the late 19th century on.

For this reason, I am thrilled whenever I get a cousin match, even if it is for ancestors I am confident about.  Even more so when it is for ancestors for whom I have little more than a source or two.  While not foolproof, Ancestry's cousin matches can be incredibly useful, especially if both cousins have well-done, well-sourced Ancestry trees.


© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

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