Okay, so I drank the kool-aid on ancestryDNA and I got pretty comfortable with what it was showing me. Sure it has it’s problems, but I also found some interesting clues worth following up on really fast. For the most part, I figured I’d gotten what I was going to get. Then a relative had me back in Ancestry to check on some settings and I bopped over to DNA and noticed something amazing.

So…we’re Elmores right. I’ve been working with the Elmers and Elmores for years now and very seriously on Y DNA and autosomal DNA in the last two years. My problem is that I am missing time between 1925 and 1654. It’s a big gap. Although I have a good autosomal match with my target Peoria Elmore family (which would match my Y DNA), it wasn’t as close as I’d hoped. I am hoping to get someone who shares great grandparents with my dad. A nice second cousin level match would be excellent and would be close enough to let me know I’m on the right track.

So here is what I saw at AncestryDNA a few days ago.

Totally unexpected. Out of the blue. I have a new 3rd cousin and the match is bigger than my known 3rd cousin. Further, their username is Elmore and they’re male…or at least the icon is male. Imagine the awesome flurry of excitement as I see a likely male “Elmore” 3rd cousin on AncestryDNA. After all these years, could my luck have turned? Is the uphill battle over and all I needed to do was get a test at Ancestry.com where people go to test because they want to share and learn? HOLY CRAP will I finally bridge the gap between my grandfather and Edward Elmer 2?! Let’s just have a look at their family tr….AARARRRRRRRGH!

Here is the breakdown:

So…yeah. The little lock means hidden tree.

Well, they could be related to anyone in my family, without seeing a tree or getting them over to Gedmatch, I really won’t know. The closeness of the match is exciting, really no matter what side of my family they are on. I sent a contact email with a bit of explanation, but I have to admit, I don’t have a good track record of getting contact back from hidden tree people. Hidden tree people are usually hiding something so they’re less likely to make contact back.

What I can say is that they don’t appear to match my dad’s half sister or his second cousin. He doesn’t come up as a shared match with my maternal relatives, but his test is so new that they might just be missing for a little while or he’s down a different side of the family than they are.

The world may never know.

About 5 months after this post, I went on a campaign of terror in Genetic Genealogy the Hard Way and found some answers.