Family Tree. How far can I get without submitting my DNA?

I have books and books on my father’s side,

All documenting, in painfully boring detail, our ancestry.

That side I consider covered.

My mother’s side is wonky.

One aunt of mine has given DNA and has a legit history built of our family.

I want that information.

However, have had an absolute, no coming back from it, falling out with that aunt.

How can I get more information without submitting DNA?

I don’t know where to start.

You google it and get a thousand answers.

Has anyone a lot of experience with this?

Paging @firemonkey !

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It’s funny you paged him because I was having a hard time remembering if it was him or you that was good with this stuff.

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I don’t. But one of my brother in laws made a big book for my dad for his 70th birthday with all my dads family history in it. I suppose I could ask him, but I dont know that particular brother in law as well as I do the other one(technically ex brother in law since that sis passed.). I suppose I could ask my sis his technique if you are serious enough and don’t get an answer from someone else. I can if you dont get some personal experience answers.

Edit: Sorry just woke up. that response was totally repetitive and wonky.

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Thank you!

1234567890

Also FamilySearch.org

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Thank you so much.

I’m building the tree from what I know right now.

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Oh wow.

Kind of forgotten about some shameful family history.

Nice to put a face to the name though.

Be sneaky. Contact a relative who gets along with your aunt and have him/her get the info you want. There’s more than one way to skin a cat. Though I only know two.

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No one gets along with her.

Seriously.

I was able to gain access to her research though.

So, haha!

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You know you’re a redneck if your family tree is a straight line.

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I’ve had 3 DNA tests. I’ve also researched family trees. Some of the DNA tests show your relatives you matched, you may not be aware of. It’s interesting when they have common ancestors that may go back many generations. So it verifies research you’ve done.

I traced mine back pretty far thanks to the site @firemonkey linked.

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Another good site. https://www.wikitree.com/

For those into the DNA side of things - https://www.gedmatch.com/

Be very careful when checking family trees. Some are very good, but there also those that are of a poor/very poor standard . Ditto ‘hints’ ,‘smart matches’ or whatever else they’re called. Don’t do what I did i.e take them at face value and immediately add them to your tree. A lot of the stuff I’d naively/stupidly added was unadulterated bs, and it was a mammoth task to get rid of it off my tree.

The only reason I would ever attempt to identify family is to avoid them in the future.

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