Birth Family Search

Why Test the Oldest Person?

🧬 They carry more ancestral DNA.
Each generation loses about 50% of the previous generation’s DNA. A grandparent carries DNA that you may not have inherited.

📜 They have firsthand knowledge.
They may remember names, places, family stories, and relationships that aren’t written anywhere.

🔍 Better match quality.
Their DNA will generate stronger and closer matches, making it easier to identify shared ancestors.

How to Build the Tree After Testing

Once the DNA results are in:

Review the DNA matches
Look at close matches first (1st–3rd cousins).

Study shared matches
If Match A and Match B both match your tested relative and match each other, they likely descend from the same ancestral line.

Use shared surnames & locations
Compare:

Surnames

Locations

Migration patterns

Census records

Build the family tree gradually
Start with what you know for sure and work backward using:

Birth & death records

Marriage records

Census data

Obituaries

Cluster matches by family line
Over time, DNA clusters will begin to separate into:

Maternal grandfather’s line

Maternal grandmother’s line

Paternal grandfather’s line

Paternal grandmother’s line

And yes — as you said — the pieces really do start to come together.

Bonus Tip

If possible:

Test both oldest relatives on each side

Upload raw DNA data to other platforms for additional matches

Keep detailed notes so you don’t lose track of connections

Send a message to learn more

In 1793, the Virginia General Assembly passed a law requiring that all free Black people “be registered and numbered in a book to be kept by the town clerk, which shall specify age, name, color, status and by whom, and in what court emancipated.” The process was extended to localities in 1803. In 1834, the General Assembly added a requirement that each person be specified by marks or scars and the instrument of emancipation, whether by deed or will, be recorded. Registration language and process varied across the localities, thus the information in each register may differ, but generally speaking these registers document both free born and formerly enslaved people throughout Virginia.

The Library of Virginia, through a grant from the NHPRC, provides digital access to records that document some of the lived experiences of enslaved and free Black people in the Library of Virginia’s collections. Please help improve the discoverability of these sources by transcribing one of the project's many record types, registers of free Black people.

You can sign up to transcribe documents or build an index of names via the Virginia Untold project at https://fromthepage.com/lva/virginia-untold-free-registers-indexing-set

Madison woman’s ancestry test leads to cancer diagnosis, uncovers family truth Andersen received an email from 23andMe asking if she wanted to know more about her health background.