This post will give you a clue about how I blunder around. I write people emails; often sticking to a prepared message. Sometimes I get responses and sometimes I don't. I have told people I think some of my matches have a "Do Not Respond" gene floating around. Fortunately, for my genealogy pursuits, I don't.
Then there are those who do respond who are open and eager and they may think I am nuts. That's okay; I am who I am. I share, often bouncing from one train of thought to another. I let them know me. Hey, they are related, they are family.
Today, I wrote just such a message. The only change I have made is to remove one living person's name (and some glaring type-o's). The name I removed is another person I have communicated with who triangulates with the recipient of this email. All other surnames are part of our important communication to find our common ancestor, or to address something my relative shared with me in our communication. Here is that email:
The other person who triangulates with us is at a loss, as her father was adopted and she is trying to discover her father's line. Once we figure it out, I will be able to tell her who it is and she can do a form of "reverse" genealogy called a Mirror Tree to find her father's family.
It isn't unusual NOT to have a DNA match at 3rd cousin and more distant. In fact, it is astounding that it happens. It all has to do with how the DNA is recombined in each person that makes us unique. That tiny segment we share in the same place, on this same chromosome which links us to our shared common ancestor to me is very special; it links us through time and history. It is our window through which we can focus on that particular ancestor. Like a message in a bottle. I want to know what that message is telling me. That is at the root of this passion I have--- genetic genealogy.
I would love to look at your full tree. I noticed the name Caudill in the screenshot you sent. Funny, I have been running into that name more and more in my searches. As we progress further and further back in history we may find we have more than one common ancestor. I have a friend at my local library; when I saw all the surnames we share (I keep finding the same names in searches), I immediately told her we would find we were related and probably with more than one ancestor. We have found three so far (though not genetically.)
As for the Edwards surname; many people have researched John Jenkins wife as Mary Ann McPhearson. There were two John Jenkins in Butler County, KY. Both had wives named Mary Ann. Only one had a daughter named Vilet (yep, they left the o out,). That is Mary Ann Edwards and she is the mother of my 2nd great grandmother Lucinda Jenkins who married Robert Armstrong. It appears we may need to focus on this Jenkins line; I am still curious about the Caudill surname. I have also come across the Workman surname as well as Hawkins and Gist. But hey, I study MANY trees.
Have you run the test on GEDmatch: Are your parents related? Sometimes that can give you a clue beyond what the written results indicate if you look at it in graphic mode as well. You might see a tiny blue line which indicates a common ancestor.
Jim Bartlett's blog, Segment-ology (when read, starting with his first post) helped me understand how triangulation works better than anything else other people have written.
BTW, you can download your tree from ancestry to your desktop; make notes of the "evidence" you have in that line because if you got the source info from them you will have to find it from other sources (for free) it's out there. (I recommend you do this since Ancestry has just been purchased by another company.) You can get a free gedcom program on line if you need one. I recommend Legacy.
It would be a great leap forward if you donate one time to GEDmatch Tier 1 tools for a month. That will provide ample time to download all of your results from all of the kits you manage into separate workbooks in Excel for each person. You will be able to see who triangulates where, on which chromosomes. I use my Matching Segments page; add a column right before the graphic where I can enter info about common ancestors discovered using the triangulation tools.
If you read Jim Bartlett's blog and download a workbook for each person, I promise a light will come on and you will jump way ahead of others. To better understand what you are seeing, I have provided some explanations in my blog: The Blundering DNA Genealogists. (I gave it that title, because that's how I have learned, by blundering around and using the tools and trying to figure out what they mean.) Now I am blessed to be able to teach people this method at my local library.
I also highly recommend building your tree on WikiTree. And though there is a learning curve, I also caution against using a gedcom to upload your tree. By building one person at a time, you will discover cousins as you build and link to this collaborative one ancestor profile entry tree. (We do our best not to duplicate the same ancestor, but link ourselves and others to that ancestor). When you include your GEDmatch kit number, it will automatically populate those profiles with whom you and others share DNA. You will know you have the correct ancestor as soon as three people triangulate with this ancestor. Finding a third person can take awhile; triangulated groups help if you can get others to join WikiTree who triangulate on GEDmatch.
Whew! Long winded me. I look forward to an invite to view your tree. (Please include a maiden name for your grandmother's line)
Cousin somehow---we WILL figure this out,
Barbara Shoff
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