Matches who only tested at 23andme

Testing at 23andme has proven worthwhile, identifying some matches who only tested there vs on Ancestry, MyHeritage or FamilyTreeDNA but known to connect with documented branches on my tree on those sites. There are some familiar names too, cousins who had also tested on the other sites.

23andme has some tools that I like - the timeline, the reconstructed ancestors tools and clustering are useful. I like that it did a solid job of calculating my maternal haplogroup and allows you to see matches by haplogroup. There are also some features I find annoying, or are not as intuitive as Ancestry and MyHeritage. Looking at DNA Relatives (matches) is not as easy as Ancestry or MyHeritage, and not immediately clear which side of my tree these people are on. I think Ancestry does a much better job at separating out my maternal and paternal sides. 23andme does have a cool DNA Family Tree feature, but I am finding it's mixed up my Mexican side of the tree from my Mom's Whitley/Matthews side (these are both on my maternal side of the tree, but the Mexican side is maternal-maternal, and Whitley/Matthews is maternal-paternal).

23andme also limits you to 5000 DNA matches, vs the 82,574 that I have on Ancestry. But if this number is quality and represents people who only tested here and not on another platform, 23andme is providing potential connections I didn't have on Ancestry or MyHeritage. There's more to do in looking at the tools and possibilities.

And the results are in

 

23andme Ancestry landing page.

In the hopes of finding some potential connections who only tested at 23andme, I sent off a kit at the beginning of the month. Two weeks later, the results are in and I am looking at comparisons between other tests at Ancestry, MyHeritage and FamilyTreeDNA. 23andme nailed my legacy mtDNA haplogroup, A2d2, while FTDNA's mtFull sequence provides a more refined MitoTree result. For the paternal haplogroup, my Big Y 700 result is definitely more granular than the higher level R-L2.

Before comparing the Ancestry composition results with other tests, it's worth looking at a timeline report from 23andme (below).

23andme. Ancestral timeline.

The report estimates a most recent ancestor from a specific population based on inherited DNA segments. They estimate I had a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent who was 100% English between 1880-1940. Knowing my tree as I do, I know Samuel Oyler was born in Kent, England in 1822. Samuel's son Charles John Oyler (my 2nd-great-grandfather) was half German through my 3rd-great-grandmother Marianna Haiss.

The next interesting entry on the timeline says I had a great-grandparent, 2nd-great-grandparent or 3rd-great-grandparent who was 100% Andalusian, Asturian or Castilian. Here is where some of what I know on my Mexican sides of the tree is useful but incomplete on several of the branches. At the same level, 23andme suggests I also had someone who was 100% Portuguese or Galician, born between 1820 and 1880. I think this was further back, knowing how mixed the people in my tree were about this time.

Between 1760 and 1850, I had most likely a 2nd to 5th-great-grandparent who was Irish. Yes! This would be my 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget, and John O'Brien. 23andme estimates I also had someone at this level who was 100% Scottish. Yes! This was my 5th-great-grandfather John McIntosh. 23andme similarly suggests I had someone at this level who was 100% Austrian or Southern German. Correct, this could come from Marianna Haiss, who was born in Hausen im Killertal in Southern Germany.

Further down in the timeline, there are some fascinating recommendations. 23andme suggests I had a 3rd to 7th-great-grandparent or greater who lived between 1700 and 1820 who was 100% Nigerian. Ancestry's latest origins update from October 2025 estimates this very likely enslaved person was from the Nigerian woodlands, so it's interesting 23andme also shows this trace connection. At this level it also suggests an ancestor who was 100% Southern Mesoamerican (possibly Mayan).

At the lowest level of the timeline, 23andme suggests between 1700-1790, I had an ancestor who was 100% Ashkenazi Jewish, one who was 100% Northern Andean (this is from the Chilean branch of the tree), someone who was 100% French, someone who was 100% Belgian, Rheinlander or Southern Dutch - yes I have this from the du Trieux branch.

Your ancestors aren't who you think they are

 

YouTube. David Reich interview. 21 Apr 2026.

There's a fascinating talk from Harvard geneticist David Reich that was recently uploaded to YouTube. The talk is 49 minutes, but it is broken into sections. Reich published a book in 2018 titled Who We Are and How We Got Here, and the YouTube interview is based on his team's research and the themes of the book.

Nature article on DNA and Indigenous Americans

A new article published 22 April 2026 in Nature describes the Evolutionary History and Unique Genetic Diversity of Indigenous Americans. This is the largest genomic dataset of Indigenous Americans to date, helping researchers trace the threads of early migration across the Americas.

It will be interesting to see if this dataset improves future versions of ancestral regions reports from Ancestry, MyHeritage and others. These companies use reference populations in their models, and as the data improves, this can provide more accuracy to these ancestral regions reports.

Through the brick walls

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Farnham, UK. 23 Apr 2026.

Haplogroup path to Dorothea Sophia

 

Ideogram. Dorothea Sophia about 1820.

Our daughter's mtDNA results have finally arrived, providing a maternal haplogroup back to Dorothea Sophia Gagelmann, who lived in the Province of Saxony from about 1800. I previously shared a story in February describing what her life might have been like in Saxony and in the town of Gardelegen in 1817. It will take another week (hopefully less) for the Mitotree result and Discover report, but for now the legacy haplogroup is H3-T152C!.

H is a very European haplogroup, based on the description in this 2014 publication titled Neolithic mitochondrial haplogroup H genomes and the genetic origins of Europeans. 

Guildford on Saint George's Day

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Guildford Castle. 23 Apr 2026.

Thursday morning before meetings I was able to walk down the hill into historic Guildford and see the castle gardens. I didn't know at the time this also aligned with Saint George's Day in England.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Guildford Castle gardens.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Guildford Castle. 23 Apr 2026.

Photo by Patrick Jones.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Wildflowers on the Mount. 23 Apr 2026.

Farnham, Surrey

 

Google Arts & Culture. Farnham UK. 1957.

Drawings of buildings in the town of Farnham, Surrey. This area is southwest of Heathrow, and it's where I was yesterday for meetings. Photos from this quick trip to the UK to follow over the weekend.

Ireland's 1926 Census Online

 

National Archives. 1926 Census Search page. 20 April 2026.

Ireland's 1926 Census is now available for searching online at the National Archives. This is the first census to be released for independent Ireland, following the 1901 and 1911 censuses collected under British rule. According to the National Archives of Ireland, the census is being released online in phases.

Another week

Welcome Monday. Since last week, I am still waiting on things I wrote about earlier in the month, although only one of those things I expected to hear back on by now. While Sophia's mtDNA results have not yet arrived (it's been 15 weeks), cousin Joe's results came back (a month earlier than expected).

I have some travel from tomorrow so it's possible I'll have several updates once I return.

From the London Transport Museum

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. London Transport Museum. 5 Dec 2025.

AI making the past come alive

 

Chloe vs History channel, YouTube.

A new YouTube channel has launched featuring a virtual influencer time traveling to various locations and events. The channel, Chloe vs History, is an AI creation from Majestic Studios in the UK (see this April 2026 interview with Majestic's creator, Jonathan Laramy). Majestic uses AI to create realistic videos of historic cities, and the new series takes this a step further with the virtual Chloe. This is a bit more advanced than the usual "AI slop" populating the Internet.

This March 2026 Sky News interview describes how Jonathan uses AI tools such as Seedance and Claude to create the videos. 

I've been thinking for a while about "if your family stories could be streaming", and seeing Majestic's progress with AI storytelling definitely provides ideas for stories that I'd like to see with this approach.

Mapping Mom's side of the DNA tree

 

DNAPainter. Chromosome Mapping.

Using the tools on DNAPainter, I've started mapping the segments corresponding to my Mom's DNA matches on FTDNA and MyHeritage. Because I had already started a chromosome map using my Dad's DNA matches, I paid $55 for a year of access to the tools on DNAPainter. I don't mind supporting the site as I know Jonny Perl does amazing things, and it's a small amount to have more access to the features I already use on DNAPainter.

I expect I'll probably create a chromosome map using my own matches, as I'm expecting results from 23andme at the end of the month my from own test. I can't transfer my parents' earlier kits to 23andme, so I'll have to work with my own results there, and I still need to figure out how to transfer segments in common from Gedmatch to DNAPainter. From the transfers to MyHeritage and FTDNA, I am seeing good results so far. I'm up to 69 segments painted (18% coverage) for my Dad's results, and with some limited effort today, I'm up to 56 segments painted (12% coverage) on my Mom's results.

I can already see some cool segments in common on the Campuzano/Vasquez side of tree, because I can compare segments across cousins Catherine, Joe, Greg, Rodger and Eddie with my Mom's results.

There's more to come on this soon. In the short term this update fits with several of my maternal line research questions. 

LACMA reopening

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)'s David Geffen Galleries officially reopen this weekend. I have a ticket for August when I'm back in LA, and I'm excited to see the reimagined galleries, timed for a sunset walk through the new spaces. I last visited the old LACMA twice ten years ago, when I did some night running in downtown LA, and again with the family in September 2016.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Urban Light at LACMA. 4 Jan 2016.

I feel like this is something as someone who has adopted LA as my home away from home, or home in my heart, I need to do, to see the new LACMA space in its opening months (NYTimes article, subscription may be required). As with my January trip overlapping with Indiana Basketball vs UCLA and USC, I'm taking in the sights on occasion when I come back to LA.

An update on the mitotree

 

FTDNA. Discover report on A2a5 match.

We now have an additional result descending from Maria Jesus Vasquez (see also here), as cousin Joe received his mtDNA results. As expected, the haplogroup, A2a5, is the same as cousin Catherine. We're waiting on the mitotree to update and this may provide a more refined branch point for both. Catherine's mitotree updated in February, but I think hers will update again once the analysis is complete on Joe's kit. I suspect the image above will change for him soon when this analysis is updated.

Looking at another pair of matches

As with yesterday's post, I'm exploring DNA matches with my Dad's results on MyHeritage and FamilyTreeDNA, trying to identify segments for chromosome mapping. When I look at a match named Steven, I see he has 68 cM in common with my Dad across five segments. That's pretty good. The longest segment is 43 cM. MyHeritage estimates Steven is a 3rd cousin with my Dad.

Even better, Steven has a sister who also tested at MyHeritage, and she shares that same 43 cM segment. I was able to build a floating tree on Ancestry using their father, and with a combination of sources on Ancestry and FamilySearch work backward until I found a common ancestor in my 6th-great-grandparents William Lee and Catherine Ross. Great! Unfortunately this is too far back to be the only relationship. It's possible this 43 cM segment is Lee/Ross, but the four other segments in common with Steven are pretty small. Multiple relationships mean there's more work to do.

Toward the end of the month, YourDNAGuide's Endogamy and DNA course begins. I'll keep this example in mind as I work through the online course.

Who was Ralph's father

I'm continuing to work on chromosome mapping using matches to my Dad's results on MyHeritage and FamilyTreeDNA. One match I'm struggling with is named Ralph. This match shares 64.7 cM across four segments with my Dad, so potentially this is a good match to see where he fits, and to see if the connection is on Dad's maternal or paternal side.

When I look a little closer, I can see this tester died in 2020. He left a small tree, only with names on his maternal side, and lots of unknowns on his paternal side. Because Ralph's mother was a daughter of German immigrants, I feel like the common ancestor is on Ralph's paternal side. Ralph was born in 1933. His mother married in September 1937 in Cleveland, and the marriage record states this was her first marriage. A profile for the mother on FamilySearch also states that Ralph was adopted by the man that the mother married in 1937. The adoptive father was a child of Hungarian immigrants. The common ancestor has to be on a branch of Ralph's mystery biological father.

Ralph does have a second cousin match with 271 cM in common, also matching my Dad at 26 cM across 1 segment. There's more to do digging into shared matches of matches. Right now I'm parking this to pick up later, and moving on to another match to my Dad in the same range.

Still...

Another week has flown by, and I'm still waiting on the things I posted about last Monday. While the month is off to a slow research start, we've been enjoying some beautiful spring weather before it feels like early summer this week with a stretch in the 90s expected.

Tonight is the end of the NBA regular season. Unlike last year's magical run, this season has been pretty forgettable for the Pacers. There are positive signs for next season. They've set themselves up for a potential high draft pick, and the team should return to full health for the start of the 2026-27 year.

Although it's been a quiet start to the month, there's a lot of potential for new stories in the remaining days.

Artemis 2 eclipse

 

Source: NASA. Artemis 2. 6 Apr 2026.

A historic photo from NASA's Artemis 2 mission, taken as the crew passed behind the dark side of the Moon. There are some incredible photos on the NASA website from the mission and the lunar flyby.

The Huguenots of Spitalfields

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Spitalfields, London. 6 Dec 2025.

Back in December I had a stopover in London, and took the opportunity to visit historic Spitalfields Market. My Oyler side of the tree has a long connection to the market. Another historic marker is on the Huguenots of Spitalfields, which can be seen in my photo above. There are some great resources on the Huguenots of Spitalfields website if you're descended from these families. 

Looking back a year ago

So far things are slow, there's no way around it. When I look back to this time last year, I was in a similar position, trying a new tool (Ancestry's Networks) with the Irish in LaSalle population who may be connected to my 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget.

I'm not really any further now, but am trying a new tool, where I am making a bit more progress. I am running into a known barrier where I need more testers in places other than on Ancestry so I can continue with chromosome mapping. Let's see if testing on 23andme generates some new results. I may have those by the end of April.

DNA Day Sales

FamilyTreeDNA is currently running several sales ahead of DNA Day through the end of April. Other than RootsTech deals, this tends to be their largest sale of the season. If you're interested in the mtDNA test, and you should be if interested in learning more about the maternal line, the FamilyFinder + mtDNA bundle saves $70. Other bundles paired with YDNA tests save even more. 

Waiting

A running list of things I'm awaiting right now:

• Sophia's mtDNA results, descending from Dorothea Sophia Gagelmann. Due any day now...
• mtDNA results for cousin Joe (maybe May?)
• Big Y results for cousin Garry (maybe June/July)
• the mail for a possible package from the LaSalle church archives (any day now)
• 23andme results for me (sent today), now that I'm fishing in all the DNA ponds (maybe at the end of the month?)

These are just what I'm actively waiting on, I'm not including "wish list" items (Big Y match to myself). 

In bloom

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Alexandria, 3 Apr 2026.

Spring time among the vines

 

Ideogram. Bodega Campuzano.

An imagined scene above from the fictional Bodega Campuzano winery in Cantabria, Spain, and an actual Spanish winery below in the springtime from the lovely Finca Villacreces in Ribera del Duero.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Finca Villacreces. 16 May 2017.

Research Progress April 2026

This is my monthly recap on research questions. It's been a mix of progress and stall, along with some scene-setting to anchor real movement this month.

My Paternal Side

1 - Looking for the parents of my Irish 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget. In March I started a process of chromosome mapping, and yesterday had another expert consultation with Jarrett Ross. There were a lot of helpful suggestions and ideas to explore. I highly recommend using guided instruction when you need it, and I had definitely reached a point where I needed to bounce ideas off someone more expert than I am. it was helpful to hear I'm on the right track, and I'll share more on this shortly.

There's clearly two groups of matches (and maybe a third) who I think connect to Bridget's lines, one associated with the Hanleys who moved to LaSalle County, Illinois, and another group descended from Greeley, Casey, Farrell families in Longford, Ireland. Now I need to go through the steps to work through chromosome mapping along with the traditional genealogy and research to look at the connections.

I spent a good portion of the month reviewing strategies from RootsTech and following examples from case studies shared by YourDNAGuide. The combination of guided instruction and Study Group has given me some confidence that it might be possible to figure out this long time brick wall on Bridget's side of the tree. I also submitted a paper inquiry to the church archives in LaSalle, and I'm awaiting either a confirmation that no records exist, or maybe something will be found that opens up another door to this quest.

This research question has received the most attention in March, deservedly so. It will likely be the big one in April too.

2 - mtDNA matches descending from Sarah Westall and Elizabeth Thornhill Jones. No movement since the last update.

3 - Jones YDNA. I have some new Y-37 matches, but not higher level Big Y matches to explore. This one is still holding in place.

My Maternal Side

1 - Working with the Portillo matches and continued research on the Leyva group. No movement this month.

2 - Analyzing mtDNA matches in the maternal line path of Maria Jesus Vasquez. Autosomal results arrived for cousin Joe on his mtDNA kit, while we still await the mtDNA results. Already there are some interesting XDNA matches to triangulate using his kit and Catherine's in comparison with mine and my Mom.

3 - Campuzano YDNA. We're awaiting Big Y results for cousin Garry, which should give a more recent branch point for our Campuzano line. I'm not expecting this for a few more months, so this one will likely be revisited in the summer.

Allison's sides

1 - mtDNA results in the maternal line path for Dorothea Sophia Gagelmann. It seems there are delays at FTDNA in processing mtDNA results, and we're on week 12 since Sophia's kit was received. I'm still expecting the results any day now, so hopefully we'll have an update this week.

2 - Separating out maternal and paternal line matches on FTDNA. I'm interested to apply some chromosome mapping techniques here, using the approach I'm taking with my Dad's matches on MyHeritage and FTDNA.

3 - Analyzing XDNA matches on Allison's side of the tree. I've continued reviewing FTDNA and matches in common on Ancestry to keep building this out.

Future RootsTech Talk

I'm giving this its own category here, as I spent quite a bit of time catching up on recordings of RootsTech 2026 sessions from earlier in the month. Partly this is to get a better sense of the type of sessions that were accepted, so that I can realign my own future talk proposal for the next time submissions become open. I have also started to construct the talk and accompanying material, and may try to present it somewhere else first to see how it is received before trying again for RootsTech 2027. This takes a bit of planning, and researching how similar talks and case studies are presented is worthy of tracking.

Welcome to April

 

Claude Monet. Woman with a Parasol. 1875.

Welcome to April, a month of transitions. Spring has fully arrived in Northern Virginia, pollen and all. It feels like early summer already these past few days, which is welcome after the long brutal winter. Last year for Easter I used another Monet painting from 1875.