Waiting on the Y-DNA Results

I took advantage of the Father's Day sales at FamilyTreeDNA to order the Y-37 marker test to explore my deep paternal ancestry.

I don't have enough time in the day to work on the autosomal results from the various testing companies, but I have been thinking about having a Y DNA test done for several years.

I'm not expecting any surprises, but I would be interested in seeing if I match with others in the Lemaster study to confirm the line of descent.  I had previously written about my paternal haplogroup here, from my test results at 23andMe.

With my paper-trail genealogy not being able to complete to my satisfaction the descent from Abraham Lemaster of St. Mary's County, Maryland.  The proposed line was described here initially, but given in more detail in this Surname Saturday post.  As always, I'm looking for additional information to tie the branches together.

Perhaps this Y-DNA test will help me determine whether or not my ancestor dropped out of the sky in 1804 Mason County, Virginia.

Tracking and Tracing DNA Matches

During the cold, wintry days between Christmas and New Year's Day, I spent my genealogy time contacting and tracking the DNA matches of my maternal great-aunt using Genome Mate Pro.

This post is by no means a full review of the program - for that would take more experience than I have with it, but so far I'm really impressed with this tool.

The sheer volume of DNA matches in the 4th cousin level, for example, makes a tracking tool such as Genome Mate Pro so valuable.  Being able to track who you've emailed, what family lines they have, where the chromosomes match, etc. make this a wonderful tool.  There is a steep learning curve, and I'd recommend you watch all the You Tube videos and join the Facebook group.

My great-aunt is only tested at FTDNA, and I've know reached out via email to all of her matches greater than 20 cMs.  Now the fun part begins of finding the connections and marking where we match on each chromosome.

Since my maternal side has an unsolved mystery - the identity of my 2nd-great  grandfather, it is hoped that some of my great-aunt's matches will set me on the right path.  So far, there are a number of matches she has that do not match me, so I'm glad I was able to have her test.

Here's to a successful search in 2018!

Reaching out to Ruby's matches at FamilyTreeDNA

Have spent some time this week reaching out to my maternal great-aunt Ruby's DNA matches at FamilyTreeDNA.  It has been awhile since I've worked on this line.  There have been quite a few new matches show up recently, and this week I've made sure that I've reached out to as many as possible.  So far, I'm up to the top 90 matches there.

I've been including links to my tree at Ancestry as well as providing a ten generation box chart that RootsMagic generated for Ruby's ancestors.  I have a GEDCOM attached to Ruby's profile at FamilyTreeDNA so folks can search the tree there as well.

I have had some success in making connections through Ruby's Quaker ancestry which stretches back pretty far into colonial America.

Ruby's maternal grandfather is unknown and has been the main reason that I wanted to DNA test in the first place - hoping that it could provide clues to solving that mystery.

Ruby's results are also uploaded to GEDMatch, and her kit number is T166359.

While watching the Super Bowl I will probably be continuing my slog of working through the matches to send out more emails.

FTDNA Cousin Results

My two maternal first cousins recently tested at FamilyTreeDNA, and the above chart show the amount of DNA they share with me.

Cousin Kellie shares more DNA with me than her brother.  At 1204.82 cm, she is actually a little above the normal expected range for a first cousin.  Cousin James shares 1046.75 cm with me.

By comparison, great aunt Ruby shares 998.10 cm of shared DNA with me.

I am currently working on extracting the In Common With matches that Kellie and James have with me.  Any of these matches should match on either the Wright or the Lambertson side.

Likewise, by comparing their matches with myself and Ruby's matches, we can also narrow down those that match on the Lambertson or Davis side.  I'm hoping that their DNA is one more step towards solving the parentage of June Davis Gilliland Lambertson.

AncestryDNA Results Came In : Ethnicity Estimates

My AncestryDNA results came in last week, and above are the graphics for the ethnicity estimates.  Although I know that these should be taken with a grain of salt, and are only as good as the database they are comparing me to, I find it interested to compare the differences from my results at 23andMe and FamilyTreeDNA.

AncestryDNA picked up traces of Native American and West Asian, for example, that 23andMe didn't show.   I've had my results run at GEDMATCH in the various ethnicity calculators and have found similar results.  So way back in time there is a bit of a mystery to solve.

These regions are hard to pinpoint and are very vague such as Europe West or Scandinavia - but again based on the paper trail I'm not too surprised by the results.  

The trace regions in West Asia - the Caucasus region of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, etc. is interesting.  But then again, I have quite a bit of ancestry that remains unknown due to my mystery maternal 2nd great-grandfather.

I've posted on these various topics before under my DNA Genealogy tab.

DNA : Crockett connection

Made a connection through Ruby's DNA for a match (Elizabeth) who had Crockett listed in the list of surnames.  I reached out to her and heard back quickly that she is a descendant of the Joseph Crockett, who was the brother of David Crockett - the ancestor of Ruby and I.

In her email, she stated she was in contact with another Crockett researcher who I was familiar with and mentioned that DNA had tied our Alexander Crockett into the line of David Crockett the elder, the grandparents of Davy Crockett of Alamo fame.

There is a Crockett DNA project at FamilyTreeDNA, if you are male Crockett descendant, I would encourage you to join and do the Y-DNA test.

Here is how Ruby compares with Elizabeth, the largest match is on Chromosome 11.

I don't have all of Elizabeth's line yet, so the exact relationship is not known, but the prediction would be 2nd-4th cousin to Ruby.

I'm looking forward to continuing the correspondence and see what the Crockett DNA group has found out about the ancestry.

DNA : Ruby's Top Matches at FamilyTreeDNA

These are the top eight matches at FamilyTreeDNA for my maternal great-aunt Ruby's by relationship range.  I've removed the last names of the matches. Of course, I am her closest match at 998cm with a predicted relationship range of 1st cousin, half sibling, grandparent/grandchild, aunt/uncle, niece/nephew. 

The next closest match is Mildred, who matches Ruby at 272cm and is predicted to be a 1st - 3rd cousin.  Mildred is a known relative, a 1st cousin once removed with common ancestors being Mary Ellen Swafford.  Mildred comes from the Gilliland side of the family, so actually she would be a half-1st cousin once removed.

The next two matches, Judith and Thomas, are the children of Mildred and match Ruby at 173cm and 135cm respectively.  These would be Ruby's second cousins (technically half-second cousins).  Interestingly, Judith and Thomas do not share the same amount of DNA with Ruby, which just shows why you should test as many people as you can as not even brothers & sisters will share the exact same amounts of DNA.

The next match, Justin, is the son of Judith.  He shares 108cm with Ruby. He is also predicted to be a 2nd - 4th cousin, but is actually 2nd cousin once removed.

The next match, Elizabeth, shares 81cm with Ruby and is predicted to be a 2nd - 4th cousin.  She doesn't have a family tree on the site, but in the list of surnames was Crockett, the name of Ruby's 2nd-great grandmother. I've heard back from her and she descends from Alexander Crockett & Elizabeth Watkins through Joseph, the younger brother of Ruby's ancestor David Crockett of Owen County, Indiana.

The next match, Sherrol, shares 77cm with Ruby and is predicted to be a 2nd - 4th cousin.  She has a family tree on the site, but I didn't see any names that looked familiar.  Will have to reach out and see if we can compare notes for the connection.

The next match, Mark, also shares 77cm with Ruby and is predicted to be a 2nd - 4th cousin.  He has no family tree or surnames listed.

The next match, Dale, shares 75cm with Ruby and is predicted to be a 2nd - 4th cousin match.  Dale is Ruby's 3rd cousin, a descendant of David & Ellen (Lambertson) Mengle.  Dale and Ruby's common ancestors are John Lambertson & Sarah A. Willson.

The last match on the first page, Vaughn, shares 74cm with Ruby and is predicted to be a 2nd-4th cousin match.  No family tree provided, but several surnames listed - none that are familiar.  Will have to reach out to see if we can make the connection.

At first blush, there are some known relatives and good potential matches in the list of the first page of highest centimorgans shared.

DNA : Aunt Ruby's Ethnicity Results

Back in November, I wrote about awaiting the DNA results from my oldest maternal relative, my great-aunt Ruby.  Her results have come back and below are the ethnicity estimates from FamilyTreeDNA.

Ruby's ethnicity came back 97% European and 2% Middle Eastern.  The Middle Eastern portion came from Asia Minor (Turkey).

I realize that these ethnicity results are dependent on the self-reporting of the data pool, I do find them interesting.  My guess is that the portion from Turkey is from her maternal grandfather - who is as yet unknown.  This could explain the dark hair, dark eyes and features that appear to resemble the "mystery man" photo.  More tests will have to be done on other family members to see where they compare.

For the European ethnicity, the Eastern Europe portion has not shown up in the known paper trail DNA, though there is much of Ruby's paternal ancestry that remains unknown.  The maternal lines include much of the British Isles.

How does this compare with my ethnicity from FamilyTreeDNA?  

A little less Middle Eastern, but overall, similar results that I would expect from being a generation removed.

I've already reached out to two of my first cousins, who come from this same line.  Will compare these results and be able to track exactly what DNA we share from our common ancestors.  Then, hopefully, I can triangulate with others who match us and find common ancestors to break down the brick walls.

Awaiting DNA results from oldest living relative

Several weeks ago I was able to pay a visit to my maternal great-aunt Ruby, and she agreed to help me with solving my greatest genealogical mystery, the origins of her maternal grandfather, by providing a DNA sample to be sent to FamilyTreeDNA.  I've received notification from the company that the results are being processed, and can't wait to hear back from the lab.

The irony that the results are expected back during the week of my birthday are not lost on me.  It would be quite a birthday gift if somehow her results will lead to a DNA match that could break down the brickwall of who my great-great-grandmother June's father actually was.

I've written about the family mystery before, and am hopeful that I will have many more chapters to write before it is over.  Ruby is my oldest living relative on this side of the family, and would be the closest DNA match that I could sample.  She is the only surviving child of June, and Pansy has no surviving children.  There are however, many cousins that I could test on both sides.

I've also recently received some commitments from other cousins on this same side that are willing to be tested, but don't have the financial means at this time to test.  I'm saving my pennies now to create my own DNA fund to build the project.

If I can get enough relatives on this side of the family to test, including some who descend from Ida's daughter Pansy, I'm hoping that through triangulation I can isolate the DNA segments that come from June's father, as well as determine if June and Pansy had the same father.

Triangulation

Made a connection with my first good case of triangulation on chromosome 15 today.  Contacted a recent match at 23andMe (Robert) and began looking at the possibilities.  What I discovered was that we matched at the same point as a known relative - and therefore we have triangulation!

Robert matches both me and my mother at the same location on chromosome 15.  23andMe rounds the start and end points to be as follows: for both my mother and me, the shared start point is 81000000, for me the end point is 89000000 and for my mother the end point is 90000000.  Not much of a difference, but Robert shares a slightly longer segment of DNA with my mother (10.4 cM) than with me (9.3 cM).

23andMe Segment matches with Robert, I'm green, mom's is blue

Robert also has his results uploaded at GEDMatch, and I was able to confirm the results, the start and end locations for matches with me are as follows:

Robert's results for the start and end location of the match with mom was nearly the same :

But what really got me excited was Robert's match with a known relative on my mother's side, Mildred.  The results for Robert's match with Mildred :

Mildred is my maternal 1st cousin 3 times removed.  Her grandmother was the half-sister of my 2nd-great grandmother, Ida Davis.  The common ancestor between Mildred and myself is Mary Ellen Swafford (1854-1932).

This is how I match with Mildred (note chromosome 15) :

My mother matches Mildred even more (note chromosome 15) :

Because Robert matches on the exact same chromosome in the exact same location to not only me, my mother and Mildred, we have triangulation on this spot, indicating that the match is Identical by Descent, rather than Identical by Segment.  Anyone that matches all of us at this same chromosome and segment must be related through the same line.  Because the common ancestry between myself and Mildred is Mary Ellen Swafford, so the DNA either came from her or one of her ancestors.

Robert is predicted by 23andMe to be a 3rd to distant cousin.  We share just one segment and 0.13% of our DNA.  GEDMatch predicted that the estimated number of generations to the MRCA is 5.2 generations.

One of the surname's in Robert's ancestry is Thacker, and there is a Thacker-Swafford connection, but in the correspondence so far, the names do not match up.  Robert's tree is just getting started, and I hope that by sending my contact an outline of Swafford ancestry we can find a common name. My thought is that the connection is further up line from Mary Ellen Swafford.  She has several female ancestors with unknown maiden names.


The DNA game is an exciting one to play around in, and I appreciate any suggestions or tips.

DNA : Fishing in a Different Pond

I went fishing recently in a different pond for my DNA genealogy by ordering a kit from FamilyTreeDNA.  I've found the whole experience in DNA genealogy fascinating, and I've heard so many good things about their service.  Plus, I've heard fellow researchers indicate that FTDNA has more folks who test there who are genealogists, and therefore would be more likely to have a paper trail genealogy.  In order to find as many relatives, I'm fishing in as many ponds as possible.

One of the first things I noticed that was different about FTDNA versus 23andMe was that my matches who are listed all have names and links to send emails and contacts.  So many times, matches at 23andMe were anonymous and so you really didn't know who you were reaching out to.  I also like the "in common with" feature, where I can see all the matches who I share with that match.

One difference I noticed was the ethnic makeup.  Below is how my ethnic makeup appears at FTDNA:

My closest match is predicted to be a 2nd to 3rd cousin.  I happen to know who this person is, and she was actually a 1st cousin 3 times removed on my mother's side.  She is part of my Swafford family line.  It was nice to see the confirmation.

This new source of DNA genealogy information will give me even more work to do - enough to keep me busy for years to come.