Should I build out my DNA matches Tree?

I saw a new DNA match and she was showing up in my 3^rd cousin range. However she didn’t have a family tree showing.

However, I decided to check to see if she possibly had a tree not attached to her DNA results.

This did not look promising. However for her to be my 3^rd cousin, that could me that we share 2^nd great grandparents. Since I have uncovered all my second great grandparents, I decided to see if possibly I could build her tree. Her username in Ancestry is her real name, thus I went to Facebook and see if I could find any possible matches. There happened to be only one Facebook person who spelled her name the way she does. I clicked on her profile and saw this.

I looked at the comments on this post and saw a reference to her mother…

I kept scrolling through her public profile pics and found a post on one of them for a Susan who had the same surname as my DNA match plus her username has her maiden name.

Bingo, a possible mother. I then went back to Ancestry and did a search on her mother with a spouse that equal her surname.

It started off small, I found my DNA match's Birth Index that confirmed her mother’s name. Then I found a marriage record between her mother and father. Since all parties were born after 1940, I knew my searches might not find much more on Ancestry. I then turned to Newspapers.com and found out her father is a Doctor. I kept looking and finally found her father’s mother’s obituary. Unfortunately, the obituary did not list her maiden name. I went back to ancestry and now was able to find her grandmother’s maiden name, which lead me back to her parents. This lead me to her mother’s maiden name and this where I found a common name. I took the tree back one more generation and I stuck gold and found names I knew were in my tree.

My DNA matches 2^nd great grandparents are related to me through two branches of my family. Her 2^nd great grandfather is my 1^st cousin 3x removed through my great grandfather’s line while her 2^nd great grandmother is my 2^nd great aunt, through my great grandmother’s line, who happens to be the spouse of my great grandfather. 

One final note: Remember that original post that stated “Its from Susan - she has 45%”, well I am not related to Susan, I am related to my DNA match through her father. This explains why I don’t have Susan as one of my matches.

Therefore I am glad I built out my DNA matches tree. Will I be this successful every time? Maybe not, however I will never know unless I try!