Contacting Familysearch users
If you've ever tried to contact AncestryDNA matches, the results are often disappointing. There are many ways around this. You can try to find those matches elsewhere (facebook, whitepages, etc). You can also ignore the fact that you can't find them and try to trace their family tree with just a name. I have done this countless times. It doesn't work for a name like William Anderson, but I've found all sorts of ways to build a tree and I'll post more about that later.
In the scenario I'm about to describe, I was not looking for information on a DNA match. I was actually trying to contact descendants of a known grandmother's sister to the adoptee. Her great-aunt's descendants. I found trees on ancestry and tried contacting the owners. No luck. So, I moved over to familysearch. When you are looking at an individual's record on familysearch, look on the right and you'll see "Latest Changes." I think I always click on "Show All." [these images are from my grandfather's familysearch record and indicate changes that I have made]
I scan the changes that have been made and choose who I want to contact.
In the adoptee's case, I could clearly see that one of the individuals that had made changes to the familysearch records was the same person that owned one of those ancestry trees. I emailed him, he responded that evening and gave me the information that I needed for an aunt that was extremely helpful. I see no harm at all in contacting descendants that you think might be helpful in providing you the information you need. I am careful, though, in not contacting people that I consider a "close" relative. I'll leave that to the adoptee.
In the scenario I'm about to describe, I was not looking for information on a DNA match. I was actually trying to contact descendants of a known grandmother's sister to the adoptee. Her great-aunt's descendants. I found trees on ancestry and tried contacting the owners. No luck. So, I moved over to familysearch. When you are looking at an individual's record on familysearch, look on the right and you'll see "Latest Changes." I think I always click on "Show All." [these images are from my grandfather's familysearch record and indicate changes that I have made]
I scan the changes that have been made and choose who I want to contact.
In the adoptee's case, I could clearly see that one of the individuals that had made changes to the familysearch records was the same person that owned one of those ancestry trees. I emailed him, he responded that evening and gave me the information that I needed for an aunt that was extremely helpful. I see no harm at all in contacting descendants that you think might be helpful in providing you the information you need. I am careful, though, in not contacting people that I consider a "close" relative. I'll leave that to the adoptee.
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