There was a reason why ThruLines at AncestryDNA gave me Ellosif Lowy as a potential mother for Florence Ellen Butler (born in the 1850s, probably in Missouri). Florence Ellen Butler is in my tree as the daughter of a Benjamin Butler.
And a little further digging did indicate that a woman named Ellosif Lowry married a man named Benjamin F. Butler in Vermilion County, Illinois, in 1841. That Benjamin F. Butler was not the same Benjamin Butler who was the father of Florence Ellen Butler. Ellosif (probably a variant of Ella) and Benjamin F. Butler remained in Illinois, settling in McDonough County and living there in at least 1870 when Florence Ellen Butler’s family was living in Union County, Iowa, with a separate family of children. (I’ve made notes in my files on Benjamin why this Ellosif/Benjamin couple is not the one I want).
So ThruLines was making a suggestion of a parentage based upon the name of the father I had in my tree and a match for him in a marriage database–it wasn’t making a suggestion of Ellosif Lowry as an ancestor based on any tree in their files. I was under the impression that ThruLines suggestions of potential ancestors were based upon shared DNA and names in trees.
And the DNA match I have that ThruLines said was suggestive of Ellosif isn’t suggestive of her at all. A comparison of the trees of that DNA match and me shows that the DNA match and I are both descendants of Ida (Sargent) Trautvetter (1874-1939). That’s one of our most common ancestors (the other being her husband George). Any suggestion of an ancestor earlier than Ida is not based on the shared DNA match and is solely based on a tree or other non-DNA genealogical evidence.
4 Responses
thrulines using trees is worse than no hint at all. What is the purpose of using DNA if it isn’t going to help find people in common? At least the old circles showed people who actually shared ancestor names. I’ve doubled down on my brick wall ancestors and the trees everywhere… horrible! No other word than horrible. Children married to a parent, children born in multiple countries and sometimes in the same year, well, the same old list as always. A lot of the time there isn’t even a good enough clue to use for my research.
Ancestry is trying to be all things to all people. That might work for the new people who are doing DNA tests to find ethnicity but for anyone who’s done a fair bit of sleuthing ancestry is falling short. All of the “extras” they roll out every year could just as well not be done and that money invested in making the site work.
Thrulines is trying to “automate” the research–that’s really part of the problem. It also seems that they are “refining” the algorithm which is not helping. The circles used matches and what was in those individual trees–there was no attempt to “automatically suggest” ancestors, relationships, etc. I’m more inclined every day to wish they had stuck with that concept and refined it in some way.
I’m inclined to agree that they’re trying to be everything to everyone and have something “new” to throw out in hopes of keeping customers subscribing.
It turns out that Ellosif Lowry is MY ancestor. It’s so funny that you made this post just a couple of weeks before I made the connection on my tree.
Well that’s interesting 😉 I don’t think she’s connected to my family at all–just remotely similarly names that the ThruLines thought was a match.