The Will Johnson Method of Ancestry DNA Triangulation

This page is published and copyright 2022 by Will Johnson, wjhonson@aol.com, Professional Genealogist. It may not be copied in whole or part without express written permission from Will Johnson.

For each DNA match you have on Ancestry, you have to make an effort to contact the match, and also identify exactly how the DNA match matches to you, and/or your close relatives.

To contact a match, click on the match's name. You will then be taken to a page, where the heading is looks like "You and Joe Smith". This page will also have the number of cm that you match to this match, and the number of segments. Cm stands for centimorgans and it's a DNA measure of how closely you are a match. This page will have a button called "Message", click on that button and you will be taken to the Ancestry Messaging Service where you can send a message to your DNA match. In my experience only perhaps one in twenty matches will actually respond at all, and maybe one in a hundred will have actual useful help to offer. However, I have actually received responses two *years* after sending a message, so don't give up on doing this necessary step.