atDNA Matches by Company

I've made this my own "DNA Month"  and plan to concentrate on getting all the things I've learned to  do actually done.  I've got some more gedcoms to upload, some more third-party tools to download and start using, match contacts to reply to, other matches to contact, and lots of results to analyze.

Comparing atDNA test results across companies
Luckily for me, my aunt was gracious and curious enough to let me test her atDNA.  She's the only close relative I have from an earlier generation and so, consequently,  her results are very important in my research.  I tested her with Ancestry.com and then transferred the raw data to FTDNA to facilitate chromosome mapping.  I've also got both of us at GedMatch.

I haven't been paying much attention to my matches beyond 4th cousins.  Making this chart made me realize looking at my aunt's "4th cousin" matches, in essence, gives me one more good generation of priority matches to consider, at least on that side of my family.  And, I didn't realize that she actually has more "4th cousin or closer" matches than I do.  I'm going to have to spend some time on this result!







Hmmm...my chart for our FTDNA matches illustrates some of the differences between the two companies and how they select/report matches. ...  Far fewer matches but more (on the surface) common matches.   Given that my aunt doesn't have the Colonial America ancestry that's a full quarter of my pedigree chart, it surprises me that my aunt has more matches than I do.

It will be interesting to see how all these numbers change over time.

Great Resource Verifies New Cousin: Martha (Earl) Black Beck

In genealogy, we seem to spend a good deal of our time fitting pieces together, hoping we're right, and going on from there.  Don't you love it when you find something that verifies a chain of assumptions?

I've been working on William EARL with wife #1 (married 1860 in Ottawa County, Ohio) Ellen/Helen KEATING and wife #2 (married 1868 in Ottawa County) Mary HADD Gourno Earl Peeling for some time with no indication that they are related to me.  But, when you know so little about a great-grandfather, you must research those around them (FAN concept)!  My great-grandfather, Patrick KEATING, had land dealings with William EARL in Ottawa County, Ohio, in the 1860-70s, and William's first wife was an Ellen KEATING.  I figure there has to be a family relationship there but it's been outside my grasp.  Ellen left even fewer records than Patrick and for years I believed that there were no children from her short marriage to William Earl.

Long story short: a few months ago, I was able to verify that some of the children formerly/sometimes attributed to Mary HADD's first or second marriage were actually her step-children.  Ellen Keating did have descendants!  But, there was still a lingering uncertainty with confused names, common surnames, and only circumstantial links.

The great resource in my title for this post is the Ohio Memory site . It's one of those resources where you can get lost for hours and find wonderful things! It's a must if you have any roots in Ohio.

Today, after reviewing all the inconsistencies in Ellen's children's names and ages, I decided to review my "EARL possibilities" folder and found a note that there is an obituary for one of Ellen's daughters at OhioMemory.  Hmm, better check it out…. well, it's a great find! It's just a 15-line obituary with only 94 words from an unnamed newspaper, but it ends all my doubts about the children of William Earl and Ellen Keating!

Transcription:

 Mrs. Charles Beck, better known in Oak Harbor, where she was born and raised, as Mrs. Mattie Black, died at Marion, Ind., last week Wednesday, at the age of 52 years.  She was a step-daughter of Mrs. Mary Earle and half-brother of Wm. T. Earle.  For many years, the deceased with her first husband Daniel Black, operated a milk route in Oak Harbor, residing north of town about a half mile. she leaves two sons Ira and Guy, the former being a prosperous grocery dealer at Marion, Ind., and the latter in the ministry.

The online item title is "Obituary of Mattie Beck" and has a handwritten date of 2-26-1917 on the clipping image and was submitted by the Harris-Elmore Public Library, which seems to be about 9 miles from Oak Harbor.

The Great News
Careful readers should now be asking "What's the great news? Where's your connection to Patrick anyway?  Well, one of my atDNA matches is a descendant of Daniel Black and Martha/Mattie Earl! Ancestry.com DNA predicts we are 4th-6th cousins with "very high confidence. " My "conclusion" is that my great-grandfather, Patrick Keating, and Ellen Keating are indeed related: maybe cousins, maybe even siblings!

Of course, there's still a lot of work to do.  But I think it will be easier to find Patrick's origins now that I
'know" at least one relative for him!

The Plan

• Enter all my Earl info into my database and online trees
• Contact and exchange info with my new Black Family cousin
• Go back to researching Patrick with a new perspective and renewed energy!

Don't you love the feeling that just maybe there is an answer in sight?

My CARR-line mtDNA

[First, a comment: This is embarrassing…my first post in a year…how did that happen? Better late than never?]

One of the projects I've been most involved with over the last year has been genetic genealogy.  Altogether over the past few years, I have paid for or won  (Going to conferences does pay off!) a total of 9 DNA tests on my husband's or my lines.  For the past 18 months, I've made a point of studying more about it.  I've read books, blogs, articles, and gone to several seminars, including the DNA Day at Jamboree last year.   Unfortunately, the field is seemingly growing and changing faster than I can keep up! But I am finally feeling confident enough to post the first in what should be lots of upcoming DNA posts sprinkled among others.  I believe that writing about my results is part of my learning process, but my main goal is to share what I've learned about specific lines…and there's really been a good deal of progress on some of them lately!

A few years ago, a first cousin graciously agreed to give a sample so I'd have info on our CARR maternal line.  From Grandma CARR it goes back through Ann Matilda CAUSIER, Catherine HUGHES, and Lydia COOPER.  The paper trail to my 3rd great-grandmother, Lydia COOPER, is well documented.  According to census data, Lydia was born about 1803 in Brierly Hill, Worcestershire, England.  I hope this year to really search for her parents.

mtDNA Results

Grandma CARR's mtDNA comes back as haplogroup J and is consistent with her English heritage.  As of today, there are 304 HVR1, HVR2 matches.  With just a quick review and, as is the nature of mtDNA, there's no sign of a match in a genealogically relevant time frame.

This test was done over 4 years ago; so, to determine a specific subclade, I'd need to upgrade the test.  Doing so could be useful in eventually confirming or disproving any hypotheses I might come up with for Lydia's parentage.

TO DO

• Review Brierley Hill baptism records to see if I can find any possible parents for Lydia.
• Spend more time/care in reviewing the current mtDNA "matches," …who knows what may show up?  Also, I have my aunt's atDNA…I need to get it transferred to FTDNA and see if any of her mtDNA matches are also atDNA matches.
• Review the FTDNA projects available to me and consider joining them. 
• Consider upgrading this test.  Maybe there'll be special conference pricing at Jamboree!