Finally! A Gedmatch Admixture Guide!

Update: I think perhaps I was not clear enough when originally writing this that ethnicity/admixture is only an estimate or interpretation of your DNA, it is NOT an exact science and different interpretations often yield wildly different results. It's usually accurate on a continental level, but sub-continental regions generally share too much DNA to always be able to reliably tell them apart. That is why most of Gedmatch's calculators often cover broad areas. The more specific an area is narrowed down too, the more speculative the results are. Plus, different sample groups and different algorithms will always produce different results and there is no one option that is always going to be more reliable than any other. While the ethnicity reports can be fun and interesting to explore, which is why I wrote this guide, they really should not be taken literally. You should not attempt to use them to definitively prove your ethnic origins (on a sub-continental level), or exact amounts of any given ethnic origin, or a specific geographic path your ancestors might have taken over time, or especially to confirm a specific ancestor's identity. If that is what you're looking to do (particularly the latter), you are better off working with you DNA matches (if you have not opted into matching, you should seriously consider it, since that is where the true value of the test lies). Additionally, be aware that Gedmatch's admixture calculators haven't been updated in years (though all of this still applies to other companies who have provided updates more recently). With all that in mind, I hope this guide is useful to helping people understand the different interpretations of their DNA available on Gedmatch. Have fun, but remember, don't take it too seriously.

For those unaware, Gedmatch.com is a website where you can upload your raw DNA data for further analysis and matching with people from other companies who have also upload their data.

Parts 3 and 4 on Admixture Proportions by Chromosome and Chromosome Painting now available.

Part 5 on Spreadsheets is now available.

Part 1 - Admixture Proportions

Introduction
Despite all the help articles available on Gedmatch.com, none of them really offer a comprehensive guide to understanding the admixture calculators for newbies. Most of them are guides on understanding DNA in general, or how to upload your data, or using the one-to-many or one-to-one tools. In fact, there is a very good beginners guide to the matching side of things found here. But the most common questions I see about Gedmatch are “which admixture calculator do I use?” and “what do the results mean?” There is a Gedmatch wiki page on admixture, and there is Kitty Cooper's slide presentation, but I don’t think they really answer all the questions most people are looking for, especially regarding Oracle. Even Googling the topic only turns up spotty results from forums and blogs, nothing that really lays it all out. Since no one else has done it, here is my attempt. Please keep in mind I am no expert and have no formal education in genetics, this is just the knowledge I’ve gathered over the years from various sources as a result of trying to understand my own DNA results.

Admixture is a scientific term for the ethnicity percentages you received from a DNA company like Ancestry.com, FamilyTreeDNA, 23andMe, or MyHeritage. It’s important to understand that each admixture project on Gedmatch is created by a different person, mostly academics. Note that most of the admixture results will include some basic info on the calculator, either on the results page, or through a link from the creator. However, the info provided may still be technical and difficult to understand for the average person, because they were primarily created for academic purposes. This is an attempt to translate some of that info into something more understandable to the average user. I apologize that this guide favors info on European backgrounds, but that is simply what I’m most familiar with, being a European descendant myself.

Be aware that it’s common practice in DNA admixtures to refer to populations from prehistoric times as “ancient”, even though this is a bit of a misnomer. In historical terms, ancient history marks the beginning of recorded history, but here, “ancient” generally refers to the time before written history, prehistory. Some time periods might be specified as “neolithic”, or “paleo/paleolithic” etc.

Select a project from the drop down menu, leaving the other
options as they are, then click "continue"

Step 1: Pick a project.
There are 7 projects to choose from in the Admixture (Heritage) tool (found under "Analyze your data" and "DNA raw data"), but what are they? What do they mean? Which one should you pick? Here’s a basic breakdown:

(Note: below the projects drop down menu there are options like "Admixture Proportions (with link to Oracle)" and "Chromosome Painting", etc. Don't mess with those for now, just stick with the top default option, Admixture Proportions (with link to Oracle), as that is what this guide will cover.)

1. MDLP

This is a global calculator and attempts to break your results down into different parts of the world. It’s good as an overview, but if, for example, you already know you’re European, it’s probably unnecessary. It’s also heavy on ancient groups. The blog for this project is found here: http://magnusducatus.blogspot.com/

2. Eurogenes

As the name suggests, this is primarily for people with European backgrounds. While it does have populations outside Europe, there are usually more sub-continental regions for Europe than any other continent. I highly recommend this as the go-to project for people with sole European ancestry. The blog for this project is found here: http://bga101.blogspot.com.au/

3. Dodecad

This project says it focuses primarily on Eurasians, but most of the calculators are geared more towards Asian and African ancestry than European. It’s not ideal for Europeans, but may be useful for people with mixed ancestry. The blog for this project can be found here: http://dodecad.blogspot.com/

4. HarappaWorld

This calculator is primarily for people with South Asian ancestry. The blog for this project can be found here: http://www.harappadna.org/

5. Ethiohelix

This is an African based project, though it does have options for people with mixed backgrounds (but always including African). There is no Native American in this project at all. The blog for this project is found here: http://ethiohelix.blogspot.com/

6. puntDNAL

This is primarily a project on ancient DNA. There is no website, but questions and comments about should be directed to Abdullahi Warsame at puntdnalking@gmail.com

7. GedrosiaDNA

This project focuses primarily Eurasian (especially Indian and Asian) and ancient DNA. There is no website, but for further questions, please contact the creator at Dilawerkh4@gmail.com

Once you've selected a project, you need to enter your kit
number and then select a specific calculator.

Step 2: Pick a calculator.
You’ll find that for each project, there are often several calculators to choose from. How to choose? What do they mean? What are the differences? Well, for starters, the numbers following a ‘K’ indicate how many populations (or regions/categories) that calculator includes. So for example, Eurogenes EUtest V2 K15 has 15 populations. So choose one depending on how many regions you want to break your results down into. Keep in mind the more populations and therefore the more specific the regions are, the more speculative the results will be.

Don't forget to put in your kit number - if you've forgotten it, go back to the home page and copy it.

Certain other tests may be specific to deeper, more ancient (prehistoric) ancestry, like Hunter-Gatherer vs Farmer. Any abbreviation that starts with ‘A’ probably stands for ‘ancient’, but I will post a comprehensive terminology list at the end of this guide. These calculators for ancient DNA aren’t very useful if you’re just looking for an opinion on your more recent ethnicity results.

Other calculators might be specific to certain types of ancestry. For example, Eurogenes’ Jtest is specific to Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. There’s no need to run this test if you don’t have any Jewish ancestry. In fact, you might get false results in Ashkenazi if you run this calculator and have no Jewish ancestry.

(Note: ignore the option below the calculator drop down menu, this is for data collection purposes. If all 4 of your grandparents are from the same ethnic group and you want your DNA to be a part of the sample groups they use to create these calculators and determine populations, then go ahead and fill it out. Otherwise, you can ignore it.)

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of each calculator. I've also created a spreadsheet listing the populations included for each calculator, along with my recommendations for good calculators to use based on your ancestry or what you're looking for.

MDLP

• MDLP K11 Modern - 11 global populations including ancient
• MDLP K16 Modern - 16 global populations including ancient and modern - results page includes full population descriptions
• MDLP K23b - 23 global populations including ancient
• MDLP World22 - 22 global populations including ancient, full details including maps of what areas each category covers are found here - there are several Native American categories so this may be ideal for Native American ancestry
• MDLP World - 12 global populations, probably the original MDLP calculator

Some Population Maps
for Eurogenes ANE 

Eurogenes

• Eurogenes K13 - 13 global populations, mostly European. Creator made this the default as it “seems to hit the spot for most people” with European background. Details here
• Eurogenes EUtest V2 K15 - 15 global populations, mostly European, also a popular option. Details including regional maps for each category found here
• Eurogenes ANE K7 - 7 populations, Ancient North Eurasian, meaning this looks at ancient DNA mostly in Europe, Western Asia, and Africa. Details found here and some maps available here
• Eurogenes K9b - 9 global populations, approximates Geno 2.0 analysis
• Eurogenes K9 - 9 global populations, map available here (population descriptions no longer available)
• Eurogenes K10 - 10 global populations, map available here (population descriptions no longer available)
• Eurogenes K11 - 11 global populations, map available here (population descriptions no longer available)
• 

  Some population maps
  for Eurogenes K36

  Eurogenes K12 - 12 global populations. North European ancestry is said to do well with this calculator. Map available here (population descriptions no longer available)
• Eurogenes K12b - 12 global populations, excluding Native American (Amerindian), map available here (population descriptions no longer available)
• Eurogenes K36 - 36 global populations, mostly European. This is the most detailed breakdown for Europeans, but that also makes it highly speculative. Details found here and maps available here - there's also an interesting application that will map out your personal K36 results
• Eurogenes Hunter-Gatherer vs Farmer - 12 ancient Hunter-Gatherer vs Farmer populations. Map available here
• Jtest - Jewish Ashkenazi, 14 global populations but mostly European, this is essentially the EUtest with an Ashkenazi category. Details including maps are here
• EUtest - 13 global populations, mostly European minus Jewish Ashkenazi. Details including maps are here

Some Dodecad K12b
Population Maps

Dodecad

• Dodecad V3 - 12 populations, mostly Asian and African, 2 European, no Native American. More info
• Africa9 - 9 populations, all African except one European (no Asian, no Native American). More info
• World9 - 9 global populations, not specific to any continent so good as an overview regardless of your ancestry. More info
• Dodecad K7b - 7 populations, mostly Asian, 2 European, 1 African, no Native American. More info
• Dodecad K12b - 12 populations, mostly Asian, 3 African, 2 Middle East, 2 European, no Native American. More info and population maps

HarappaWorld

• HarappaWorld only has one calculator and as explained above, it’s primarily for South Asian ancestry. It does include some European, African, and Native American populations, but its focus is on South Asian: Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans.

Ethiohelix

• EthioHelix K10 + French - 10 populations, 9 African, one “French” which acts as a European population. This is really only useful/accurate for people with mixed African and European ancestry. Maps available here
• EthioHelix K10 + Japanese - 10 populations, 9 African, one “Japanese” which acts as an Asian population. Only useful for people with a mix of African and Asian ancestry. Maps
• EthioHelix K10 + Palestinian - 10 populations, 9 African, one “Palestinian” which acts as a Middle Eastern population. Only useful for people with a mix of African and Middle Eastern ancestry. Maps
• EthioHelix K10 Africa Only - 10 strictly African populations, nothing else. Do not use if you have no African ancestry as results won’t be accurate. Maps

puntDNAL

• puntDNAL K10 Ancient - 10 ancient populations, incorporates Caucasus HG as well as Early Neolithic Farmers and Western European HG.
• puntDNAL K12 Ancient - 12 populations, utilizing ancient oracle, more info provided on results page
• puntDNAL K12 Modern - 12 populations utilizing modern oracle, more info provided on results page
• puntDNAL K13 Global - 13 modern populations, focuses primarily on Asia (6 Asian populations, 3 African, 2 European, 1 Oceania, 1 Native American). From the creator: "The impetus in creating this calculator was the release of the Southeast Asian study, which inspired me to create a calculator that included a Southeast Asian component and give my Southeast and Northeast asian people a more accurate calculator for their ancestry." Population details
• puntDNAL K15 - 15 populations, focuses primarily on Africa (particularly East Africa), but also includes some West Asia, and Europe. More info
• puntDNAL K8 African only - 8 populations, as the name suggest, it’s strictly an African calculator

GedrosiaDNA

• (Removed) Eurasia K9 ASI - 9 populations, modeled around the ancient Ancestral South Indian component, no Native American. More info on population descriptions
• (Removed) Eurasia K10 CHG - 10 ancient populations, modeled on Caucuses Hunter Gatherers, more info on population descriptions
• (Removed) Eurasia K11 CHG-NAF - 11 ancient populations, modeled on Caucuses Hunter Gatherers and Neolithic Anatolian Farmers, more info on population descriptions
• Gedrosia K3 - 3 populations, Eastern Eurasian, Western Eurasian, and Sub-Saharan African. More details
• (Removed) Gedrosia K15 - 15 populations with a focus on the Indian subcontinent. Population descriptions
• (Removed) Eurasia K14 - 14 populations, using the same Neolithic and Bronze Age source data as the K14 Neolithic calculator, plus some modern populations
• (Removed) Eurasia K14 Neolithic - 14 global populations, focus is on ancient Neolithic and Bronze Age genomes from across Eurasia. Population descriptions
• Gedrosia K12 - 12 populations, designed for individuals of predominantly South Asian and West Asian ancestry for inferring gedrosian Balochi admixture. No Native American. More info
• (Removed) Gedrosia K11 - 11 populations with a focus on Kalash Indo European peoples of Pakistan. Population descriptions
• Ancient Eurasia K6 - 6 ancient populations, primarily Europe, Asia, and in between, 1 African, no Native American. Further descriptions are available on results page.
• (Removed) Near East Neolithic K13 - 13 ancient populations, with a focus on the Near East. Details provided on results page.

Step 3: Understanding the results: A Terminology Guide

A list of populations you might see and a brief description. I did not include some of the most self-explanatory ones. Some that I have listed might still be obvious to some people, but I’ve seen others ask about them on occasion. If there isn’t one listed here, you might learn a lot by just googling it. There is also a good abbreviation guide here: https://isogg.org/wiki/Abbreviations
Keep in mind different calculators may use different terms to refer to the same region or population.

• Amerindian or Amerind - Native American (ie, American Indian meshed into one word)
• Anatolian - mostly Turkey
• Ancestral Altaic - Asia (excluding South), and Eastern Europe
• ANE - Ancient North Eurasian
• Archaic African - broad category for prehistoric Africans
• Archaic Human - broad category for prehistoric humans around 500,000 years ago
• ASE - Ancient/Ancestral South Eurasian
• Ashkenazi - Ashkenazi Jewish of central/eastern Europe (not the same as Sephardic Jewish)
• ASI - Ancient/Ancestral South Indian
• Australian - aboriginals of Australia
• Australoid - “people indigenous to Southeast Asia, South Asia, Australia, Melanesia, Polynesia, Micronesia, and historically parts of East Asia.” (Wikipedia)
• Austronesian - “relating to or denoting a family of languages spoken in an area extending from Madagascar in the west to the Pacific islands in the east.” (Google)
• Baloch - people of Iranian Plateau and Arabian Peninsula (primarily the Middle East)
• Baltic - regions surrounding the Baltic sea
• Bantu - Central and south Africa
• Basal - Basal Eurasian?
• Beringian - areas surround the Bering Strait (Eastern Russia and Alaska)
• Biaka - aka Aka, “nomadic Mbenga pygmy people who live in southwestern Central African Republic and the Brazzaville region of the Republic of the Congo” (Wikipedia)
• Caucasian/Caucasus - people of the Caucasus region, the border between Europe and Asia in between the Black sea and the Caspian Sea
• CHG - Caucasus Hunter Gatherers
• EHG - Eastern Hunter-Gatherer
• ENF - Early Neolithic Farmer
• Fennoscandian - Scandinavia and Finland
• Gedrosia - Modern day Makran (semi-desert coastal strip in Balochistan, in Pakistan and Iran, along the coast of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman)
• Khoisan - Southern Africa
• Mbuti - “one of several indigenous pygmy groups in the Congo region of Africa” (Wikipedia)
• Melanesian - “a subregion of Oceania (and occasionally Australasia) extending from the western end of the Pacific Ocean to the Arafura Sea, and eastward to Fiji.” (Wikipedia)
• Mesoamerican - Native American in Mexico, Central and South America
• NAF - Neolithic Anatolian Farmer
• Oceanian - Aboriginals of the Pacific Ocean islands (may include Australia depending on calculator)
• Omotic - Southwest Ethiopia
• Papuan - New Guinea and surrounding islands
• Pastoralist - Sheep or cattle farmer
• Pygmy - “certain peoples of very short stature in equatorial Africa and parts of Southeast Asia.” (Google)
• San - Bushmen of southern Africa
• SEA - South East Asian
• SSA - Sub-Saharan African
• Steppe - “ancient North Eurasian hunter-gatherers' heritage, which was subsequently shown to have an influence in later eastern hunter-gatherers and to have spread into Europe via an incursion of Steppe herders” (MDLP K16)
• Tungus-Altaic - Northeast China and Siberia
• WHG - Western Hunter-Gatherer
• WHG-UHG - Western Hunter-Gatherer/Unknown Hunter-Gatherer
• Volga-Ural - Part of Russia (central)

Conclusion

Which project and calculator you go with greatly depends on your known ancestry. I know all this info is probably still a little overwhelming even with (or perhaps because of!) this guide. If you’re of European descent, and a newcomer to Gedmatch, and you just want a second opinion on your ethnicity results from any of the Big 3 companies (Big 4 now maybe, with MyHeritage joining the bandwagon), I’d recommend Eurogenes K13 or K15. Personally, I tend to prefer K15, because there are maps available showing specifically what regions are covered by which populations. Certainly, you can play around with any of the other Eurogenes calculators too (except Jtest if you’re not Jewish). Most of the other projects and calculators are either geared more towards ancient DNA, other continents, or a mixed ancestry. You may find a non-bias global calculator in some of the other projects, but it’s probably not going to provide the breakdown of Europe you’re looking for.

If you’re looking for an ancient calculator, I again tend to stick to one of Eurogenes’ (HG vs F, or ANE), but MDLP have some good options too. There’s also a couple in puntDNAL which I don’t think have a bias towards any one type of ancestry.

If you’re African, Asian, or of mixed heritage, there are a number of options to choose from, but I unfortunately can’t recommend any over any others. Most global calculators will include Amerindian (I have noted when one doesn’t), but MDLP World22 seems to have the most categories for Native Americans and may be ideal for that.

I was surprised to realize Eurogene's Jtest is the only one that offers an Ashkenazi (or other Jewish) category, so if you're Jewish, it looks like this is your only option. However, it should be noted that there are many Jewish populations typically included in Oracle/Oracle 4 (see below for more details), not just for Jtest but any other given calculator too. For your reference, I created a spreadsheet that shows which calculators have what Jewish populations available in Oracle/Oracle4.

If you're adopted and don't know what your ethnic background is, is important to remember that there's never going to be one defining ethnicity or admixture report that tells you "this is your ancestry" with any total accuracy. However, I understand the desire to know where you came from, so what I'd recommend is gathering as many reports as you can (within reason - if you're obviously white, there's no sense running an African-only calculator) and compare them in a spreadsheet like I've done here. It will help you spot any consistencies, or see what populations show up most frequently in the highest numbers.

It is frustrating that maps, or at least population descriptions, aren’t available for every calculator, but this is a free service, after all. It’s actually pretty amazing all the work the project creators do to provide this for free.

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Part 2 - Oracle

Say what now?

Introduction

The second most common questions I see about Gedmatch are about Oracle. What is it? What do the results means? Oracle is an attempt to pinpoint your origins to a more specific population or region. You'll find many are narrowed down as specifically as regions within countries, or specific religious groups. There are two options: Oracle and Oracle 4. You will find buttons for them listed under your admixture results. Note that not all admixture calculators have Oracle available so pick a calculator that both suits your background and offers Oracle. There is a third button which just says "Spreadsheet" but this is covered this later. There is a also good explanation for this from Roots & Recombinant DNA.

Oracle

Oracle will list your admixture results, then something called Single Population sharing, and finally Mixed Mode Population Sharing.

• Single Population Sharing attempts to pinpoint a specific, single population that your DNA most closely matches, with a list of the top 20. The distance will tell you how closely you match each group, so the smaller the distance number is, the more closely you match. It is assuming your ancestors all came from the same area/population (so if they didn't, this is probably not ideal for you and the results may not make sense).
• Mixed Mode Population Sharing will show you your top 20 of two specific, combined populations in order of how closely you match those populations. It is assuming your ancestors came from only two locations/populations (though not necessarily split 50/50). Again, the distance will tell you how closely you match this combo of populations, while the percentage will tell you how much of your DNA matched which population.

Oracle 4

Oracle 4 is essentially the same as Oracle, except it expands on it by providing combinations of 3 and 4 specific populations. The single and double combinations can be different from original Oracle though, so don’t bypass Oracle thinking you’ll get that and more with Oracle 4, it may be best to examine both depending on your ancestry.

• Using 1 population approximation works the same as Single Population Sharing in Oracle, but I’ve noticed the results are sometimes different, so they’re obviously using a slightly different calculation. Reading the results works the same though: they are showing you a list of specific populations you most closely match, with the distant showing you just how closely you match. Again, this is intended for people whose ancestors all come from the same population.
• Using 2 population approximation also works similarly to Mixed Mode Population Sharing but you'll notice that the percentages are always 50/50. That's because it's assuming that you have one parent from one population, and the other from another, so you would be 50/50. If that's not the case, this is not ideal for you. For some reason this only lists your top 1 result instead of the top 20. Again, the distance tells you how closely you matched this combo of populations.
• Using 3 population approximation works the same as 2, but with a combination of 3 populations instead. So it's assuming you have one parent from one population and on your other side, you have a grandparent from a different population, and the other grandparent from a third population. This is why one population will be 50%, and the other two are 25%. It only lists one result. You know what the distance means by now.
• Using 4 population approximation uses a combination of 4 specific populations you most closely match and lists your top 20 combos. This was designed for people who have 4 grandparents from 4 different places but it can sometimes also work well if most of your ancestry is mainly from 4 different places/populations (because it does not include percentages).

Conclusion

Be aware that the results from Oracle and Oracle 4 will vary depending on what admixture calculator you used, which is why they are found on the admixture results page, and not as a separate calculator. Also keep in mind the results are speculative, but I have found they do often make some sense, and in some cases, can be remarkably accurate. Check out my blog post on a deeper analysis of my Oracle results here. However, if you do not fit the scenarios described of having parents or grandparents from one location, the results may not be reliable for you.

A lot of ancient populations in Oracle will likely have unfamiliar names but there's a good a map showing where many of the samples for the ancient populations came from available here.

If you feel like you've got a good handle on this, continue onto Parts 3 and 4, Admixture Proportions by Chromsome and Chromosome Painting.

The Seedy Side of Censuses

The other day, someone mentioned an individual on the 1880 census with the occupation "thief" and that in the next census, he was in jail and his wife was now recorded as a "whore". I was intrigued by this because I was surprised one would admit to a criminal career, if not already in jail. And indeed, a quick search of the 1880 census by occupation "thief" turns up 74 results, mostly people serving time in jail.

However, a few are not in prison. Most amusing is one which actually says:

"'Thief' Would Dignify Him. To Low For Anything"

This was reported of a Wm. Cameron, 36, in West Del Norte, Rio Grande, Colorado. He was living with his wife so one has to wonder if she, perhaps an embittered and griping wife, was the informant. I can just imagine the conversation between her and the enumerator:

Enumerator: "And what does your husband do for a living, ma'am?"
Mary Cameron: "He's a good-for-nothing, lowlife scumbag, is what he is."
Enumerator: "I'm sorry, ma'am, that's not an occupation."
Mary Cameron: "Well, that's what he is!"
Enumerator: "How about 'thief'? Would that be close?"
Mary Cameron: "Thief?! Ha! That would dignify him. No, he's too low for anything. Write that down! Too... low... for... anything. That's right."

On a more serious note, there are many more people recorded as prostitutes, in one term or another. 155 people are described as a "whore" (yes, that actual word was used 155 times), while 4,891 people are reported as a prostitute/prostitution. Another 109 were noted under "house of ill fame/repute" or "sporting house", and one woman even a "bordello." 42 were "harlots", 27 "bawds", and 19 women were called "strumpets". Another 49 had something to do with a "pleasure house" or being a "lady/woman of pleasure" or "pleasure girl", not to be confused with a lady of leisure, but amusingly one said:

"Gratifying The Pleasure Of The One Paying Her Board"

I wonder who was paying her board? I guess whoever he was, she made it worth his while.

All in all, they added up to about 5,293. And they are not all women. Barring any recording or transcription errors, 125 of those 5,293 prostitutes were male, although some of them may have been managers and not prostituting themselves. Indeed, 164 individuals, some male, some female, were recorded as some kind of keeper, madam, or proprietor of a brothel, prostitution/pleasure/sporting/bawdy house, house of ill fame/repute, or "whore house", and 24 men were some kind of "pimp" such as a "harlot pimp".

I'm guessing actual numbers were probably even higher than this. There were likely people who lied about their occupation, and there might have been others recorded under some terminologies I'm not thinking of at the moment.

I recommend you stop reading now if you don't want to delve into the more disturbing side of this data: ages.

There were 256 individuals who were 17 and younger. Of those who were 14 and younger, the majority were Chinese. Technically, I even found a few who were 10 years old and younger, but I highly suspect most, if not all of them were actually just children of prostitutes. One of them, 5 years old, had a question mark next to the occupation and the youngest was 8 months, so I think the enumerator often just marked down "prostitute" for everyone living in a brothel without paying attention to their age. As such, it's difficult to tell what the youngest age of an actual prostitute was. Let's hope it was much higher than what this data suggests on the surface.

Apologies if you now feel the need to take a shower.

Update: Apparently the city of Philadelphia even had it's own guide book of brothels in 1849, amusingly titled "A Guide to the stranger, or Pocket companion for the fancy, : containing a list of the gay houses and ladies of pleasure in the city of brotherly love and sisterly affection."


Source:

• 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 1880 U.S. Census Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints © Copyright 1999 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. All use is subject to the limited use license and other terms and conditions applicable to this site. Original data: Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Ancestry.com to Discontinue Family Tree Maker

Update: Ancestry.com just announced that software developers MacKiev have bought the rights to FTM and will continue to develop it, including a tree sync feature with Ancestry.com. MacKiev have been the FTM developers for Mac for years so acquiring it for Windows is a natural step for them. Additionally, Ancestry.com have made an arrangement with RootsMagic to allow integration with them, including a tree sync feature. This is even better news than I expected, because now users will have two options for syncing their Ancestry.com tree with desktop software, where previously FTM was the only option.

All is right in the genealogy world again!

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Today, Ancestry.com announced their plans to stop creating and selling Family Tree Maker as of December 31, 2015. Tech support will continue until January 2017, and it sounds like it's at this point that TreeSync will be disabled as well.

I can not even begin to describe how upset I am by this. The loss of TreeSync means there is literally no way to mass download the Ancestry.com documents I've attached to my tree. The only method is to manually download each documents one by one, which is simply not possible with the size of my tree. The only other solution is to perpetually maintain my subscription (how convenient for Ancestry.com), because when canceling a subscription, you lose access to the original documents attach to your own tree. I find it totally unacceptable that I will not be able to access, download, and archive these documents I've paid a lot of money over the years to have access to, once I unsubscribe. Therefore, my only option is to download what I have with FTM's TreeSync before it's disabled, and then cancel my subscription and use other resources from then on.

This will mean my research will take a huge hit, of course. Ancestry.com is undeniably the biggest online resource, and cutting myself off from that will make my research much more difficult. But I really see no other way around it.

The least they could do is maintain and open up their API for the sync so that other programmers could create third party software that syncs with our Ancestry.com trees. But that will never happen, because that would mean users don't have to perpetually subscribe to access the documents attached to their own tree (as if they don't suck enough money out of us already). They won't even maintain the sync for their own product, let alone for a third party.

It's true that you can always download your gedcom from Ancestry.com and use all your data in a third party software for the more advanced data management options the online tree doesn't offer, but it will not contain any media or documents, which is the backbone of any properly researched tree.

Congratulations Ancestry.com, on this completely regressive decision. Genealogy is my biggest hobby and this is the most depressing genealogy news I've heard in... well... ever.

Account of Civil War POW

While researching descendants of my ancestors, I came across this interesting story, taken from "A brief history of John Valentine Kratz" by Abraham Fretz, pages 104 - 106:

Alonzo Philip Kratz, born July 26, 1845; died Feb. 12, 1865. At the age of seventeen he enlisted in Doylestown, Pa., on Aug. 8, 1862, as a private in Company F, 128 Regiment Pa., Vol., for nine months in the United States services. The reg't., soon went to the front. His first letter was dated at Camp Wells, Va., Aug. 12, 1862, from which it appears that army life agreed with him, he says: ''We don't get victuals like at home, but what we do get is enough and healthy; soft bread comes this way once a week." After the battle of Antietam he wrote, ''It was a hard fight, and I do not want to get in another like it. The rebels loaded their guns with a large round ball and three buck-shot, these flew around us like hail. We loaded our muskets with a large pointed ball, and it did some execution. A soldier who has once fought for his country, will never forget it, neither should he be forgotten." On Jan. 16, 1863 at Fairfax Station, Va., he says. "Our winter hut is built; it is of logs two feet high. and our tent is the roof: It is a comfortable house that will keep us dry and warm." On Mar. 25, 1863 he wrote from Brook's Station, Va., "We have five weeks yet to serve; we have been in several skirmishes besides the great battle Sept. 17 (Antietam), and there may be another big fight this spring. before our time is out. Gen. Hooker is getting impatient at this inaction. There is some talk among the boys of re-enlisting, but I think I will go home, although I don't believe I shall be satisfied with home life as long as the war is going on." The anticipated battle was Chanecllorsville, through it he passed without a scratch, and was discharged at the end of his term of service with the following certificate. "This is to certify that Alonzo Philip Kratz was one of the most patriotic soldiers in Company F, (commanded by C. K. Frankenfield), always at his post performing a soldier's duty cheerfully, and I can recommend him as the bravest of the brave, in meeting the foe and daring in battle. T. J. Kline. Orderly Sergt., Co., F. V2S Pa.. Yol.  

He came home in June 1868. and seemed glad enough to get back to "God's country again; but the outdoor life of a soldier, who so often slept with the blue vault of heaven for a covering, had completely changed his disposition. It was weeks before he could sleep on a soft bed, and enjoy a good meal. His patriotic spirit finally prevailed. to take up arms again; he always spoke of the Artillery service as being the most agreeable, and least dangerous to life and limb; that he would go in the heavy Artillery next. With this object in view, he went to Philadelphia shortly after New Years day, 1864, and enlisted in Battery D, 112 Regt., Penna. H. A. The regt. was, however, supplied with muskets, and served as the "2 Penna. Provisional Volunteers," there being more demand for that branch than Artillery: and he was promoted to Corporal of Company I. The regiment was mustered as "Veteran". and immediately went to the front leaving behind fifty brave and true men. of which number he was one for detached duty in Philadelphia. After guarding various places in the city for three months, he was sent to his regiment in the field, Apr. 24. 

A letter dated July 8, 1864. near Petersburg, Ya., gives an account of the fierce fighting of the rebels at the Welden R. R.. where they charged the Union lines six deep without breaking it; also that they had blown up two rebel forts, and are mining another and a bigger one, and when ready to explode, they will tight day and night if necessary to capture Petersburg, Va. His last letter from the field, is dated July 17, 1864, in which he says, "have been acting as sergeant for two months, and expect to be promoted to that office, as soon as the captain recovers from wounds received in battle," The coveted promotion never came. He was captured July 29, at the explosion referred to (Burnside's mine), and carried away into captivity. He was confined in the famous Libby prison at Richmond. Va., for a while and then removed to the stockade pen at Danville, Va. The 'last letter'' received from him was written in the latter place, dated Aug 3d, 1864; it was mailed at Old Point Comfort, and did not reach home until October 19, 1864. It was written with a led pencil in two hand writings, the first half was in his writing, which gave the date and circumstances of his capture, and where he was a prisoner. The last half showed unmistakably, that it was erased and written in another hand; this purported to give the comfortable quarters he had, kind treatment he received at the hands of the rebels, and the quantity and quality of healthy food given him. 

After the close of the war it was learned that he was an unwilling guest of rebeldom six months, and died Feb. 12, 1865 of starvation and exposure. He is buried in the National Cemetery at Danville, Va., grave 130, section A., division four. A brave and patriotic life sacrificed for country and flag. Battles he was in: Antietam, Va., Sept. 1862. Chancellorsville, Va., May 1863. Ream's Station, Va., June 1864 (Weldon R. R.). and Burnside's Mine, Va., July 1864. 

How to Make a Descendant Report in FTM Excluding Living People

For obvious reasons, when producing a descendant report, we often want to exclude living people, or at least hide their details. FTM does, in a way, provide an internal way of doing this. You merely privatize your tree by clicking on File > Privatize. This hides personal details of whoever the system determines might be living (this is reversible using the same setting so nothing will be lost, but you should avoid syncing your tree while it's privatized in FTM because it can screw up your online tree).

Unfortunately, FTM doesn't do a very good job of this. In my experience, it wants to mark anyone born after 1895 without a death fact as "living", even though it's highly unlikely anyone would ever live to be 120 years old. This is contrary to the online tree, which marks people as living if they were born within 100 years and have no death data input, a much more sensible criteria, if you ask me.

So what if you want to customize the cut off point in FTM for your descendant reports and make it 100 years instead of 120? Well, there is a workaround for it but it requires several steps and creating a duplicate tree. Still interested? Read on.

1. Go to File > Export. This brings up a window that allows you to select which individuals you want to include in the export, so choose "Selected Individuals", shown right.

2. This brings up the window where you can choose who you want to include or exclude, shown below.

Click "Filter In" and you'll get another window where you can choose the criteria for who to include. To start, you'll need you to filter in everyone who was born after 1915 by selecting "Birth" in the fist drop down menu, then "date" in the bottom one, "is after" in the last one, and then typing 1915 in the text field, then click OK (shown below). This will include people born IN 1915, not strictly born after that year.

I know this sounds counterproductive because you're trying to exclude a lot of these people, but trust me, in order to exclude some of them, we first have to rule them all in.

3. Now click "Filter OUT" this time and exclude anyone who doesn't have a death fact. You do this by selecting "Death" in the first drop down menu, then "Any data" in the bottom one, and then "does not exist". You now have a list of people born after 1915 who are deceased (ie, who have a death fact).

4. Now click "Filter In" again, and include everyone who was born before 1915 by selecting "Birth", "Date", "is before", and type 1915 into the text field.

5. The only thing left to do is include everyone who doesn't have a birth date/fact, if you know that such people exist in your tree. Since we have only included people born before 1915, or after 1915 who are deceased, people with no birth fact will not be included if you don't rule them in. So click "Filter in" again, and this time choose "Birth", "Date", "Is Blank". Shown left.

This doesn't always catch all people with missing birth data though, so for good measure, also do a Filter In for "Birth", "Any Data", "Does not exist" (shown right). Don't ask me why you can't just do one or the other, you have to do both for it to be inclusive.

You can now export your tree with this list of people, which should include everyone except those born after 1915 with no death data. Save the file with a new name, so as not to overwrite your original tree. I call mine "Descendant Reports Tree" plus the date. Once exported (and I would not include media when exporting since you're only doing this for the sake of text reports), you can open the new file and now you have a tree that doesn't contain anyone born after 1915 who might still be alive. You can create reports from this tree without any fear of anyone living showing up. Yes, it does mean that you have to do this every time you want to update a descendant report, but it's the only way I have found to create a descendant report with a sensible or customized cut off point for living people.