Monday, June 09, 2014

DNA : Dad's Top Ten Matches at 23andMe


Here is a screenshot of the top ten DNA matches for my dad at 23andMe.  I am obviously the closest match.  For privacy reasons, I've erased the last names of the public matches.

Dad's next closest match is Ed, who is predicted to be a 2nd to 4th cousin, sharing 1.26% DNA and 4 segments.  I've been in contact with Ed, and determined that he is my dad's fourth cousin through the common ancestors of Selah Moulton and Lydia Finel.

Dad's next closest match is William, who was predicted to be a 2nd to 4th cousin, sharing 1.07% DNA but 6 segments.  I've also been in contact with Bill, and have determined that he is my dad's second cousin once removed through the common ancestors of Luman Walker Lemasters and Mary Keziah Chew.

Dad's next closest public match, David, who was predicted to be a 3rd to 4th cousin, sharing 0.92% DNA with 3 segments.  I've been in contact with David, and have determined that he is my dad's third cousin once removed through the common ancestors of George J. Haley and Rachel Gary.

Invitations to connect have been sent out to all of this matches.

Sunday, June 08, 2014

Jay County, Indiana Petit Jury List, September 1897

Portland Weekly Commercial
Portland, Indiana
September 9, 1897, page 3

The petit jury which will report on September 20, is composed as follows:

William R. Loux    ... Green
B.J. Kimble          ... Noble
John Ashcraft       ... Penn
Andrew Campbell .... Bear Creek
L.N. Metzner        ... Wayne
Joshua Armstrong ... Madison
Wesley Jordan     ... Jackson
Wilbur Milligan    ...  Bear Creek
J.E. Franklin         ... Madison
George Daugherty ... Bear Creek
M.J. Atkinson        ... Madison
Alfred Grissom      ... Knox

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This listing of the members of the petit jury in Jay County, Indiana contains a couple of names with ties to my family.

The L.N. Metzner of Wayne Township has me a bit confused.  I'm not sure which Metzner this is.  There are a couple of Lewis (or Louis) Napoleon Metzner's in the family, but one died in 1900 in Bear Creek Township, Jay County,  and the other was living in Ft. Wayne in Allen County at the time.

The M.J. Atkinson of Madison Township is Matthias Jefferson Atkinson (1863-1923), my paternal great granduncle, husband of Mary Elsie LeMasters (1873-1942).

Updating My Ancestry Tree

Have spent some time this weekend updating and adding to my personal tree at Ancestry.  I've neglected it for awhile, but with all of the work I've been doing with DNA matches, I felt I needed to get it as up to date as possible.

Many of the matches at 23andMe are in the 3rd to 4th cousin range, so I am focusing on my 4th-great grandparents and working the tree down to the present. Hopefully, this will make the tree as complete as possible for some of those closer matches, who might recognize a surname.  Most of my matches don't have a family tree online at all, but if I can point them to mine, perhaps they can find the match.

I've had great success in finding cousins through DNA autosomal matches and want to keep the momentum going.  First I have to input all the names in the trees, then I will go back and work on updating by adding photos and documents.  

If you think you and I might have a connection, the tree is available at http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/25951333/family