I’m starting to think that Ancestry DNA’s “circles” are going in circles.
On 30 August I was in ten circles on AncestryDNA. Circles are “descendant groups” based on the DNA submissions and submitted trees of AncestryDNA users. The circles are in “beta.”
On 9 September I was in eight.
I’m now in seven circles (I’ve been kicked out of the Noentje Lena (Grass) Ufkes circle):
- Christianna (DeMoss) Rampley (born in the early 1770s probably in Harford County, Maryland.
- Hinrich Janssen Ufkes (born 1797 Ostfriesland, Germany) and the circle for his wife Trientje Eilts (Post) Ufkes(born 1803 Wiesens, Ostfriesland, Germany)
Riley Rampley (born 1835 Coshocton County, Ohio) and the circle for his wife Nancy Jane (Newman) Rampley(born 1846 Rush County, Indiana)[I’ve been removed from this circle twice and put in it twice].- Johann Friederichs Hinrichs Ufkes (born 1838 Wiesens, Ostfriesland, Germany)
- Johann Luken Jurgens Ehmen Goldenstein (born 1814 Wrisse, Ostfriesland, Germany and his wife Tjade Anna Focken (Tammen) Goldenstein (born 1824 Buhren, Ostfriesland, Germany)
- Augusta Newman (died 1861 White County, Indiana)
Noentje Lena (Grass) Ufkes (born 1848 Backemoor, Ostfriesland, Germany).
I understand why it takes a while to get into a circle. What I don’t understand is why I’m getting kicked out once I’m in. My DNA has not changed (obviously) and my online tree has only had names added to it–none were removed. I don’t have any less faith in the accuracy of my tree than I did before.
It’s the “circles” I’m starting to wonder about.
toni says:
Perhaps it’s ancestry.com you should be wondering about.
mjnrootdig says:
They really should not have released the circles until they were out of beta.
toni says:
It’s what happens when the boss doesn’t use the product he’s selling. The same list of wants that customers have been asking about for YEARS from ancestry are still a list of wants. But boy, oh boy! can’t wait for that new and improved findagrave web site. Did ANYBODY ask for that? Ancestry.com is no longer a genealogy site.
Kathie says:
You need at least 3 matches to create a circle. Maybe one of the others changed things in their trees.
mjnrootdig says:
That’s true about the three matches. I’ll to look and see if they still have their trees online. Given how my number of trees keeps changing, I’m inclined to believe it’s the tweaking of the programming of the matches that is part of the problem.
Bella says:
Don’t hold your breath with Find a Grave. The “truths” of the dead that have been written for the site, are put there by ordinary people who are the first to claim them. I had a horrible time trying to have my father connected to my grandfather, because the person who “owns” my grandfather’s site is not related, and she didn’t remember my father. She is stubborn as a jackass, and I had to approach The Powers that Be with so much fricken evidence before the connection was made. And this is for two men who were both alive at the same time as late as 1974!!! Barely one generation! The information is only as good as someone’s memory. (and I question hers)