Documenting a GUESS

Setup… A Match, with No Family Tree, is a 1C to a Known Match per ProTools. The Known Match is in my Tree with a specific line of descent from our MRCA; and a 1C estimate is very reliable. I want to put the new Match in my Tree and place them in my Common Ancestor spreadsheet – to “take care of” that Match by placing them almost certainly where they belong in my Tree.

As I’ve blogged before, there are only two options to place a 1C to a Known Match: 1. a grandchild of the Known Match’s paternal grandparents; or 2. a grandchild of the Known Match’s maternal grandparents. In other words, the new Match is a child of a sibling of the Known Match’s father or mother. A quick review of my Shared Match list with this new Match, clearly reveals the Match is on the same side (paternal or maternal) that I am on with the Known Match. In other words, I know the path from the Known Match back to our MRCA is through their father or mother. I can now see, through ProTools,  the new Match is related to me that way, too.

So I know the path from the MRCA down to the new Match – it’s the same path that I have with the Known Match down to, and including, the grandparent of the Known Match. What I don’t know is the name of the son or daughter of that grandparent = the parent of the new Match.

Up until recently, I’ve just named that son or daughter “block” as GUESS or Unknown in my Tree and in the “cell” of my spreadsheet. I’m now up to a dozen or so of these and can see many more on the horizon. My index of people in my Tree is filling up with GUESS and Unknown people…

I see four options for a name:

1. Continue with GUESS or Unknown [I usually reserve GUESS for iffy guesses]. I don’t like this – it’s not helpful to me or others reviewing my Tree – someday it may be very confusing.

2. Child of [name the grandparent]; ex: “Child of Bob JONES”

3. Parent of [the new Match]; ex: “Parent of Horatio Mitchell”

4. Sibling of [name the Known Match’s parent]; ex: “Sibling of Martha SMITH”

The Tree “box” and spreadsheet “cell” would have these entries and appear very close to other, known, boxes and cells. They would also be more specific in the Tree index, instead of a generic “GUESS” or “Unknown”.

I think I like (4) Sibling of Known Match’s parent the best because it specifically precludes the Known Match’s parent. In fact, I just did one new Match who was 1C to two different Matches so the description was: [sibling of John and Mary SURNAME] to rule them both out [after checking with ProTools].

I am interested in feedback on this topic – i.e. how to efficiently document Matches which clearly fit in a specific Tree branch. I am experimenting with 1C1R and even some 2C which clearly cannot fit anywhere else. Keyword here is “efficiently” – there is a LOT to do, and I don’t want to have to write a paragraph about each one. This is primarily for my own research. If I leave them as alive, no one else will see them; and if I mark them as deceased, the only people who will care will be close relatives to the new Match, and they may provide some feedback to me. I hope so…

[22DH] Segment-ology: ProTools 26 – Documenting a GUESS by Jim Bartlett 20250302