DNA Match : Cousin Raj

Made a DNA connection with a public match at 23andMe, Raj, who is not currently sharing genomes with me.  Because we are not sharing genomes, I'm unable to compare him with others to see where we match. We share 1 segment, or 0.31% DNA and was a predicted 4th cousin. Raj was listed as my mother's predicted 3rd to 4th cousin, sharing 3 segments and 0.59% DNA.

Looking at his profile at 23andMe, there was no family tree listed, but he did list family surnames and locations, though none of them looked familiar to me.

Because he has a rather unusual name and surname (at least to my ears), I decided to see if I could "reverse engineer" a solution to seeing exactly how we were related.  With the help of Google, FindAGrave and some genealogical intuition, I was able to successfully tie cousin Raj into the family tree.

Using Google, I located him listed as a survivor in his mother's obituary that had been posted to the Iowa Gen Web.  Likewise, his father's obituary had also been posted to the same site.  His father immigrated from India, so I made the deduction that we must be related through his mother's line.

I found the listing for his maternal grandmother's obituary that had been posted to Legacy.com and FindAGrave.com  I also found his maternal grandfather listed at FindAGrave.  There was not much biographical information listed at FindAGrave for his maternal grandfather, but his maternal grandmother's obituary at Legacy.com had her dying in Ft. Wayne, Indiana about 60 miles away from where I live.  Armed with that information, I made an assumption that our connection came from the line of his maternal grandmother's side.

Fortunately, his maternal grandmother lived to be 101 years old and her obituary at Legacy named her parents and stated that she was a native of Ossian, which is just south of Ft. Wayne in Wells County.  I remembered that I had one branch of the Pierce family that had migrated there.

Through the FindAGrave website, I was able to connect Raj's maternal great-grandfather to his maternal 2nd-great grandparents, John H. Simerman and Mary Lula Summers of Ossian, Indiana.  That's when I knew we had a connection.  Mary Lula Summers was in my database (though I had the surname as Sommers), the daughter of William Henry Harrison Summers (1844-1911) and Margaret P. Pierce (1840-1920).

Margaret P. Pierce was the daughter of Francis S. Pierce (1806-1881) and Rebecca Page (1806-1893) and the younger sister of my 3rd-great grandfather, Edmund G. Pierce (1837-1875).  I had found the connection!

I quickly sent a note to Raj through 23andMe, and he wrote me back.  We've begun exchanging information, and I've kick-started my research on these branches of the family that I previously had left blank.

Knowing that I was able to make a connection where one didn't appear possible right away makes me confident that with a little persistence and as complete of a family tree as possible, I can make connections to some of these other DNA matches at 23andMe.  There are so many descendants of my 4th-great grandparents that I need to track down, as that is where many of the connections will be found.

Surname Saturday : Aaronsen

The AARONSEN surname is in my paternal line.  The origins of the surname are Dutch, though I have much to discover about them.

Stories and history:

Ahnentafel # 281 : Hannah Aaronsen (1739/44-1788).  Hannah was born between 1739 and 1744 in Burlington County, New Jersey.  She married in April 1762 in Burlington County, New Jersey to Cornwell Woolston (1738-1814). Cornwell was born 1738 in Burlington County, New Jersey and died May 22, 1814 in Northampton, Burlington County, New Jersey.  Hannah died October 28, 1788 in Burlington County, New Jersey.

Ahnentafel # 562 : Joseph Aaronsen (1706-     ).  Joseph was born in 1706 in Burlington County, New Jersey.  He married August 25, 1736 in Burlington County, New Jersey to Hannah Folwell (1718-bef1749).  They raised 5 children in Burlington County, New Jersey. Hannah was born in 1718 in Burlington County, New Jersey and died before 1749 in Burlington County, New Jersey.  Joseph died in Chestefield, Burlington County, New Jersey.

Ahnentafel # 1124 : John Aaronsen (1678-aft1741).  John was born in 1678 in Flushing, Queens County, New York.  He married before 1702 in New Jersey to Mary ________ (c1680-    ).  They had 5 children.  John died after December 14, 1741 in Mansfield, Burlington County, New Jersey.

Ahnentafel # 2248 : Dirk Aarosen (bet1635/45-1678).  Dirck was born between 1635 and 1645 in the Netherlands.  He married between 1655 and 1665 to Sarah ________ (c1640-aft1707).  Sarah was born circa 1640 and died after 1707 in New York.  Dirck died in October 1678 in Flushing, Queens County, New York.

Related blog posts:

• Happy Anniversary : Joseph Aaronsen and Hannah Folwell

Surname Saturday – create a post in which you discuss a surname and mention its origins, its geographical location(s) and how it fits into your genealogy research. Surname Saturday is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

DNA : My Top Ten Matches at 23andMe

Here is a screenshot of the top ten DNA matches for me at 23andMe.  My parents are my closest matches.  Because I was fortunate enough to be able to have them tested, all of my other matches show whether they are paternal or maternal matches by the "P" or "M" displayed after their names.  For privacy reasons, I've erased the last names of public matches.

My next closest match is on my paternal side, William, who I've already contacted and determined that we are third cousins through common ancestors of Luman Walker Lemasters Jr. and Mary Keziah Chew.

The next closest public match is on my maternal side, Ellen. We've corresponded but have not made the connection.  She has not yet shared a family tree, but states she has many Quaker ancestors, so that gives me a starting point to searh on my maternal side.  She is predicted to be a 3rd to 5th cousin, which means we could share 2nd-great through 4th-great grandparents.  

I have reached out with introductions to the remaining matches and hope that they eventually respond.