Adopted Daughters of Philip Duryee and Mary Amelia Brown

I found these flat markers for Clara Dunlap (1885-1966) and Edgar N Dunlap (1878-1955) in Mount Hebron Cemetery in Montclair, New Jersey.

flat marker
Clara L Dunlap 1885-1966

flat marker
Edgar N Dunlap 1878-1955

The woman on this stone is Clara Louise, the adopted daughter of Philip Duryee (1848-1936) and Mary Amelia Brown (1852-1931). Most of the prior generations were buried at Grove Church Cemetery in North Bergen, Hudson County, New Jersey.

Here they are in the 1900 federal census at 400 Columbia Street, Town of Union, Hudson County, New Jersey. Philip and Amelia have two daughters: Luela (or Lulla?) Duryee, age 14, and Mary Hazard, age 12.

1900 federal census for Town of Union, Hudson County, New York:

Philip Duryee, head; born Sept 1848 in New Jersey, age 51; married for 12 years.

Mary Duryee, wife; born Nov 1852 in New Jersey, age 47; married for 12 years; has two children, both living.

Luela Duryee, daughter; born Oct 1885 in New Jersey, age 14; single.

Mary Hazard, daughter; born Nov 1887 in New Jersey, age 12.

Anna Jacob, boarder; born Dec 1882 in New York, age 17.

Clifford Morton, boarder; born Jun 1875 in Pennsylvania, age 24.

(The Town of Union was dissolved in 1898. Don't quote me on this, but I think that Columbia Street became 21st Street, then 66th Street, in the Town of West New York.)

In the 1910 census, "Lula" is the adopted daughter, while Mary retained the surname Hassard.

1910 federal census: 400 Columbia Street, Union City, Hudson County, New Jersey.

Phillip Duryee, head; age 61; married for 22 years.

Mary A Duryee, wife; age 57; married for 22 years; no children.

Lula Duryee, adopted daughter; age 24; single.

Mary G Hassard, cousin; age 22; single.

Philip Duryee was discussed in an earlier post. He disappeared before his wedding ceremony in 1887. He returned and married Mary Amelia Brown, daughter of James Nathan Brown and Charlotte Amelia Gardner (1826-1891).

At first, I did not know how these two children related to Philip and Amelia. I found no birth record for Luela or Lulla Duryee circa 1885 and none for Mary Hazard circa 1887.

After happening upon the gravestone of Clara, I renewed efforts to uncover the identity of these two "adopted" daughters. 

New Jersey has indexes online for its marriages. One of the issues is the 1920-1929 index, which spells out a bride's name but only includes initials of the husband. The marriage certificate is not online, so you cannot immediately confirm the groom from home.

New Jersey, U.S., Marriage Index, 1901-2016
Ancestry.com

1922 marriage record
Clara Louise Hassard and Edgar Newton Dunlap

In 1922, Clara Louise Hassard married Edgar Newton Dunlap. She listed her parents as William R Hassard and Clara Sears. Philip Duryee was a witness.

1925 marriage record
Mary Gardner Hassard and James Aloysius Bergin

In 1925, Mary Gardner Hassard (died 1973) married James Aloysius Bergin (1887-1958). She listed her parents as William Hassard and Clara Sears.

Thus, the parents of these two adopted children were identified.

I did not find a marriage record for William Hassard and Clara Sears. William died in Jersey City in 1889 from meningitis. He was 34 years old.

Clara Sears died in the Town of Union in 1893 from pulmonary tuberculosis. She was 36 years old.

Luella, who became known as Clara Louise, and Mary were the only children of this couple who survived their parents.

Mary Amelia Brown, the wife of Philip Duryee, was a first cousin of William Hassard, the father of Luella and Mary. The common ancestors were James Gardner and Mary Earle, born around 1790 in New Jersey.

Raised by Relatives: Hazel Worth Penn

A marriage record clarified that Hazel Worth was the same person as Hazel Leonora Penn. This is an example of someone raised by relatives without a formal adoption.

In the 1910 federal census in Lacey, Ocean County, New Jersey, Hazel Worth, age 3, was residing in the household of her paternal grandparents, Isaac Worth and Maria Imley. Also in this household was Hazel's newly-widowed father, Ira Daniel Worth, age 30, and Hazel's older brothers, Edward Leon and Ira Melvin.

Hazel's maternal uncle, Sheridan Penn (1868-1942), was enumerated a few households later with his wife, Leonora Calverley (1872-1941), and their daughter, Frances, age 12. Hazel's maternal grandparents were also a few households away: Redin Penn (1838-1927) and Eliza Moore (1836-191x).


On March 10, 1907, May Worth [not Hazel] became the the third child born to Ira Worth and Mary Penn in Lacey.

Hazel's mother, Mary Penn, the wife of Ira Worth (1879-1963), died a few days before Hazel turned three.

Hazel Penn was in the 1920 and 1930 federal census enumerations in Dover, Ocean County, as a daughter of Sheridan Penn and Leonora (Calverley). In the 1910 census this couple did not have a three year old daughter.

A search for a birth record for Hazel Penn 1906-1908 produced no results. In 1897, Sheridan Penn and "Lena Calvery" had a daughter with no name given on the birth record. She used the name Frances, as seen in the census snapshots above, as well as Mary Frances.

Baby Girl Penn born June 17, 1897 in Lacey, Ocean County, New Jersey.
(Died as Mary Frances Wagner in 1991.)

The confusion of Hazel was solved upon finding a marriage record in 1933 for Alvin Mosely Hall (1905-1988) and Hazel Worth, "known as Hazel Leonora Penn." The bride's parents were given as Ira Worth and Mary Penn, thus clarifying that Hazel Worth, last seen at age 3 in the 1910 census, became Hazel Leonora Penn- the sudden daughter of Sheridan Penn and Leonora Calverley.

Hazel died in 1992. She and her husband are buried at Riverside Cemetery in Toms River, Ocean County, New Jersey.

Why was she named May at birth but called Hazel in other records? This question is unanswered.

Birth Certificates of Adoptees in Pennsylvania

In November of 2017, Pennsylvania began providing adopted persons information from their original, sealed birth certificate.

The disappointment was that the document was a limited transcription and not a copy of the original record, in contrast to the title.

In response to criticism about the limitations of this document, Pennsylvania re-issued the birth records on nicer paper.

The problem here is that the law (2016 Act 127) authorizes release of a "summary" of the original birth certificate and not the original birth certificate. Pennsylvania Department of Health labels the document "Noncertified Copy of Original Birth Record," and not something more accurate such as "Selective Extraction of a Birth Record."

The information available is the date and county (not town) of birth, original name of baby, and names and ages of parents. This information could lead adoptees to find their biological families. But the missing information might be needed if the named parent or parents is not enough. More information increases the chances of success.

The person who kindly supplied me with her "original birth certificate" identified her biological mother shortly before receiving the document. That will be explained in an upcoming post. The biological father has not been identified (yet) through DNA testing and unfortunately was not named in this birth record.

In January of 2017 neighboring New Jersey unsealed birth certificates to adoptees. In contrast to Pennsylvania, New Jersey's document for adoptees is a copy of the actual birth certificate and not an extraction.

For the person who kindly supplied this unsealed New Jersey birth certificate, the biological mother was previously identified in the adoption records of the court, which were not sealed because the adoption was before 1940. The father was identified through DNA testing before the release of this certificate. The names of the parents on this certificate, however, do not match the court records and the interpretations of DNA testing.

New Jersey Unseals Birth Certificates of Adopted Persons

This is not another ordinary request for a vital record in New Jersey.

This envelope contains a request for a copy of a birth certificate that was sealed because the child was adopted.

THIS IS BIG NEWS for New Jersey.  If your birth certificate was sealed because you were adopted, you can now request your original birth certificate, containing the names of your biological parent(s).  The certificates will be mailed beginning January 1, 2017.

New Jersey Statues Annotated 26:8-40.1 has been amended to:

   c.  The State Registrar shall cause to be placed under seal the original certificate of birth and all papers pertaining to the new certificate of birth.  Such seal shall not be broken except:
     (1)  by order of a court of competent jurisdiction; or
     (2)  upon request for an uncertified, long-form copy of the adopted person's original certificate of birth by a person 18 years of age or older who can establish himself as one of the following:
        (a)  the adopted person;
        (b)  a direct descendant, sibling, or spouse of the adopted person;
        (c)  an adoptive parent, legal guardian, or other legal representative of the adopted person; or
        (d)  an agency of the State or federal government for official purposes.


The Department of Health has a link to the form (REG-41) with instructions.  (The links for the State change often, so if the link does not work, turn to Google.)

The certificate that I requested is for a birth from 1936.  The court records about the adoption were not sealed, so the name of the birth mother was known.  (New Jersey sealed adoption records in 1940.)  Several women carried this name, so the exact birth mother was not identified with certainty and most candidates were dead.  A few years ago, DNA testing linked several close cousins of one possible mother, prompting an elderly family member to identify the birth mother and explain some of the story.

The biological father was not named in the court records.  His name may or may not appear on the original birth certificate; however, he has been identified through DNA tests submitted by some of his descendants and close cousins.  His identity may have never been uncovered if not for DNA testing.

Both biological parents are long deceased.

DNA testing influences the debate when deciding to grant access to original birth certificates of adopted persons.  As more people test their DNA, chances increase for an adopted person to figure out their biological family without the help of viewing the original birth certificate.  If a relative as distant as a third cousin of a biological parent tests his/her DNA, the adopted child can possibly figure out the identity of the biological parent.  As the pool of DNA testers grows, finding biological parents becomes inevitable.  Other states should unseal the birth certificates of adopted people.  The child was not a party to the decision to seal the certificate.

Foundling Baby, died 1879

While collecting vital records for the surname Lutter or Luther in New Jersey, I found this sad record of death.

Martin Luther, a baby aged five months, died at the Home for the Friendless in Oceanfront, Monmouth County, New Jersey on June 23, 1879.  Next to his name was "Foundling."  Cause of death was cholera.

He may have been an orphan train rider.  (You can read my review of the novel Orphan Train here.)  According to the death certificate, he was born in New York City and arrived in New Jersey one week prior.  No parents are listed.

This location may have been in Eatontown, a branch location for the Home for Friendless Children through the Female Guardian Society.

If anyone has any information about this destination for unwanted children, please let us know.

Ancestry.com Improves DNA Services

Ancestry has improved its DNA services by allowing you to see how much DNA you share with a DNA cousin.  To view, go to your list of matches and click on the username, then click on the tiny "i" icon.  This button is very easy to miss.

Below are the top matches for a woman who is adopted.  (I wrote in the amount of shared DNA from the screen shot.)  The "second cousin" and "third cousin" share almost the same amount of DNA with her, so the designations may be misleading.  In the "fourth cousin" category, we have someone who shares 64 cM, which is workable in an adoption case.  The next top match shares only 28 cM over two segments, which really is not useful when we have no family tree.

Seeing the actual amount of shared DNA lets us know which matches will be more helpful as we try to construct this woman's family tree.

The "third cousin" also participates at 23andMe.

Ancestry still needs to reveal WHERE the shared segments are located.  You can view this information at 23andMe and FamilyTreeDNA.  (See this blog post for examples and why we need this information.)

Book Review: Orphan Train

I enjoyed reading Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline.

The book intertwines the stories of two unwanted teenagers- one in the 1920s and 1930s and the other now.  (Reminded me of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg.)  When the modern-day teenager started sleuthing, I knew I had to tell blog readers about this great genealogical novel.

The teenager of the 1920s and 1930s, Niamh, immigrated in 1927 to New York City from Kinvara, County Galway, Ireland with her parents and siblings.  In 1929 a fire in their squalid tenement killed her father and brothers.  With no one to care for her, Niamh was placed on a train by the Children's Aid Society and sent West in search of a family to take her in.

Such a system really existed.  Children did not have to be orphans to be sent away.  Their parents could be in prison or an asylum; homeless; or poor.  The program lasted from 1853 until 1930, when the Great Depression made placement unlikely.

Rules were lax about taking in such children.  Most children became indentured servants on farms.  Niamh's experiences were terrible and caused her to feel no attachment to anyone or thing.  She ended up in Minnesota.  Her name was changed to Dorothy, easier to pronounce than the Irish Niamh, and later to Vivian, to replace a couple's deceased daughter of the same name.

By chance, Vivian reunited with a fellow train rider, Hans "Dutchy," renamed Luke, and married him.  I thought the book would have a fairy tale ending, but Vivian's misfortunes continued.  Luke was drafted in 1943 to fight in World War II.  Shortly after his departure, Vivian discovered she was pregnant.  Luke was killed and Vivian gave her baby girl up for adoption.

"I sob uncontrollably for all that I've lost- the love of my life, my family, a future I'd dared to envision.  And in that moment I make a decision.  I can't go through this again.  I can't give myself to someone so completely only to lose them. . .  Then I do it.  I give her away."

The modern-day teenager, Molly, performed the genealogy research that I was silently screaming for.  Molly found the ship record of Niamh and her family arriving at Ellis Island.  Molly located a newspaper article about the fire that killed Niamh's father and brothers.  Niamh's sister, Maisie, survived the fire.  She was adopted by neighbors, who had lied to young Niamh that Maisie had perished in the fire.  Maisie, renamed Margaret, married and had a family of her own- but died five months before Molly searched.  Molly presented Niamh/Vivian with a picture of Maisie- a face she had not seen for over eighty years.

"[Molly] feels a vertiginous thrill, as if fictional characters have suddenly sprung to life."

This is how I feel when I find documentation of a family story.

Molly discovered that over 200,000 children rode on trains similar to Niamh's journey and that there are databases of names and possibilities to reconnect with lost family.

Molly also sought out an online adoption registry.  Vivian's daughter had submitted her information years earlier.  Vivian submitted her own information to confirm the match.  The book ends with the daughter, now in her 60s, arriving to meet Vivian.

As you research a family, if a child goes missing when the family came upon hard times, you may wish to consider researching orphan train records.  The same is true on the other side.  If a child appears with a family as a farm hand or domestic, you may want to consider that the child arrived on an orphan train.

Long Single Segment DNA Matches

New close matches appeared at 23andMe for my father and one of his siblings.

The person who shares 1.02% over three segments could be a 2nd to 4th cousin, which is workable on my end.  The shared ancestors could be as close as great grandparents, or a little more distant if this is a half relation.

Most intriguing are the two people who share just one segment because the segment is extremely long.  They may be sisters:  they appeared at the same time, share a maternal haplogroup (J1c2) with each other, and both match in the same manner- one very long segment.

No other information is revealed about these people.  I initiated contact through 23andMe's messaging system.  Most matches never answer.  My paternal tree is pretty full with or without input from these individuals, though their DNA comparisons would certainly help me and others.  I can imagine the grief that an adopted person would feel, having these close matches dangling in front of them, ignoring requests to explore their familial ties.

Any thoughts on the rarity of sharing just one very long segment?

AncestryDNA: Birth name confirmed

After two years, a close match has appeared at AncestryDNA for M.S., who is adopted.  This is simply wonderful!

AncestryDNA

I reached out to this person about a week ago and have not heard back yet.  If I had nothing else to go on, this would be devastating.  This situation is a bit different.

The predicted first to second cousin match has no family tree attached to his DNA results; however, his username is displayed.  From there, I obtained a short family tree he had already uploaded.  His mother's last name matches M.S.'s last name at birth!  We have the correct family, but I still need to confer with this match to figure out which person in his family may be the biological parent of M.S.- if this is possible to do.

If I have the correct birth mother identified, then M.S. and this DNA match are first cousins, once removed.  They may share DNA on their X Chromosome, which would help me further solidify this theory.  Unfortunately, AncestryDNA, unlike 23andMe and FamilyTreeDNA, does not allow you to see where you share DNA with your cousins.

For background, M.S. was born and adopted in New Jersey before 1940.  This year is significant because this is when adoption records and corresponding birth certificates were sealed.  M.S. knew her original name and I viewed the adoption record at the Essex County Courthouse in Newark, New Jersey.  I requested the original birth certificate from the municipality and was told it could not be released.  I requested the original birth certificate from the state and was sent the amended birth certificate, which lists the adoptive parents as the biological parents.  (Only births through 1923 are available to the public at the Archives in Trenton.)

The problem in determining the birth mother and father is that only the "unmarried" mother was listed in the adoption papers with no age.  The surname belonged to a family in Newark of recent immigration from Germany.  This was not a small family.  Most members had multiple children and when a spouse died, the surviving spouse remarried and had more children.  I had no shortage of possible parents, either using the surname as a birth name or a married name.  It was (still is) possible that the birth mother was a visiting cousin from Germany, arrived in Newark in the 1930s, had a baby, and then went on her way- missed entirely in the 1930 and 1940 census.

Finding records on this family in Newark was not too difficult and actually dovetailed my research on my own Germany lines in Newark.  They lived and worked in the same neighborhoods and attended the same churches.  They probably knew one another and many generations later, their descendants also interact by happenstance.

Autosomal DNA Testing at AncestryDNA: Kits Purchased

AncestryDNA also had a sale on their autosomal DNA testing kits last weekend:  $79 instead of the regular $99.  I purchased two- one for my father and one for me.

I have one person's atDNA tested at AncestryDNA so far.  M.S. was adopted at birth in New Jersey before 1940, before records were sealed.  (Under a new law, the records sealed as of 1940 will become accessible in 2017.)

Although I viewed M.S.'s adoption papers, I can't accurately determine her biological family for reasons that will be explained in an upcoming post.  Thus, I cannot attach her family tree to her results at AncestryDNA.  One of the great features of AncestryDNA is the (suggested) Most Recent Common Ancestor as identified in the family trees of the DNA matches.  (See this blog post for an illustration.)  I can't use this feature without a family tree, so my father's test and mine will enable me to participate in this feature.

The other reason for testing at a third company (FamilyTreeDNA and 23andMe already done) is to locate more close relatives and solve (and create) more family mysteries.  You can upload results from these three companies for free to GedMatch to meet everyone, but most people don't do this.  The link you need to solve your family mystery may be quietly ensconced at one testing site, unaware that he or she is your missing link.

Testing kit.  Spit into vial.
Return in postage-paid package.

DNA and Adoption

Last year I used the new autosomal DNA testing at Ancestry.com for someone who was adopted.  (Happy Birthday M.S.)  I was eager to compare the services of AncestryDNA to the other companies I use, FamilyTreeDNA and 23andMe.  I was disappointed in the results at AncestryDNA because no comparison utilities were offered.  The site will compare family trees for you and identify possible ancestors in common, but I could not use this function because adopted people cannot create a family tree.

For some background, M.S. was born in 1936 in New Jersey and adopted within the first year of her life.  She knew her birth name, which enabled me to find the court records at the Office of the Surrogate of Essex County, New Jersey.  The papers contained her full birth name, her birth mother's name, and her birth mother's address.  Unfortunately the age of the birth mother was omitted.  [Note:  In 1940, New Jersey sealed adoption records, but not retroactively.  This is how I was able to walk into the records room and read this coveted information.  Most adopted people do not have this option.]

Back in the day (and it's not even that long ago), before so much was online, indexed, and just a few mouse clicks away, I had to manually search papers and microfilm for information on my German families in Newark.  The family of M.S. was of German origin and lived in Newark.  They were usually found in close proximity to my German ancestors, so gathering everyone's information was not difficult.  The paths of our ancestors literally crossed many times in the same neighborhoods, places of work and worship, with the same midwives delivering each new generation.  How ironic that our ancestors most likely knew one another and now our paths had crossed years later!

In spite of all this research, I have been unable to determine which woman in this family was the birth mother.    The older generation has passed, so nobody alive today is able to confirm parentage for us.

A DNA test can connect an adopted person to her genetic family.  At AncestryDNA, the closest relatives for M.S. were at best third cousins.  None had known lines from Germany or New Jersey.

Recently AncestryDNA enabled participants to download their raw DNA data, which had been offered for years at 23andMe and FamilyTreeDNA.  GedMatch is a free site with useful functions for your genetic genealogy studies.  GedMatch expanded to accept and compute AncestryDNA files.  I had already uploaded the raw DNA of myself and others tested at 23andMe.  I was finally able to compare my family to the DNA of M.S.  We *might* match!

I write *might* because the shared segments are smaller than the minimum length generally held to signify a common ancestor [5 cM for the genetically inclined].  GedMatch gave a predicted relationship of about 7 generations back to a common ancestor for M.S. and my father and all three of his siblings.  The results are below.  The areas marked in green are identical areas for the siblings.

GedMatch.com
M.S. versus my father.
The green area is identical in his siblings and M.S.

GedMatch.com
M.S. versus my uncle.
The green area is identical in his siblings and M.S.

GedMatch.com
M.S. versus my aunt.
The green area is shared with her siblings and M.S.

GedMatch.com
M.S. versus my uncle.
The green area is identical in his siblings and M.S.
The orange area is possibly shared with a cousin who is not related to the suspected common German lines.

In the final comparison above of my uncle to M.S., I have marked an area of chromosome 17 in orange.  This is a possible shared overlap with my father's mother's cousins.  I have not tested the DNA of any cousins from my father's German branch, which is on his father's side, not his mother's side.

GedMatch.com
M.S. versus cousin 1
The area in orange might be an area where M.S. matches this cousin and my uncle.

GedMatch.com
M.S. versus cousin 2

If M.S. matches the cousins from my father's mother's side, then this throws my German theory out because the only German in my father's family tree is from his father's father.  I think there is a better explanation.  The area of Chromosome 17 that is identical is perhaps too tiny to be significant.  These cousins match me through their father's side.  If we look at their mother's tree, which is not related to me, we find German roots quickly.

1870 United States Federal Census
New York City
Wrage household

We have another Herman the German.  Herman Wrage was the great grandfather of my two cousins who match M.S.  It is possible that they are related to M.S. as is my father, but on different German lines.  We just have to figure out those lines.

AncestryDNA: Genetic Ethnicity

The results of the AncestryDNA kit are in.  Please bear with me as I try to decipher the results.

We received a summation of ethnic background.  The person who tested, M.S., is adopted.  To borrow a quote from R.S., "We didn't think she looked Chinese."  The AncestryDNA results reflect our conclusion.  M.S. is thoroughly of European ancestry for the last several generations of ancestors.

Clicking on "See Full Results" reveals histories of the genetic ethnic groups- their migration patterns for tens of thousands of years.  To personalize, people who match M.S. genetically are listed on the side with their corresponding percentage from the chosen geographical area.  Perhaps if both genetic cousins had very tiny percentages of a particular area this could help pinpoint where in their trees to look for the common ancestor.  Genetic ethnicity is not particularly helpful for M.S. at this time.

Family History, Adoption, and DNA

When you have a moment, please go over to the blog The Legal Genealogist and read Judy G Russell's article "Blown away with DNA."  This is a moving passage about a person who was adopted and is now using genetic analysis to find relatives.

Several of my genetic matches in the database at 23andMe were adopted.  The only genealogical information they can offer is their own date of birth and location, which does not help when you are looking at connections from the 1700s.  By triangulating and clustering my matches, I can usually provide a possible branch in my documented family tree where the common ancestor could be.  Seeing the names, locations, and dates of possible ancestors means so much to someone who had no family history before taking the DNA test.

I manage two DNA accounts for people with no family history.  One was formally adopted and the other was not.  I do not have results yet for the person who was formally adopted; they are pending through Ancestry.com's new autosomal DNA service.  The results of the person with no official adoption was through 23andMe's Roots into the Future program.  No very close matches were discovered yet, but seeing and exchanging information with distant genetic cousins provides a glimpse into her family's history.

AncestryDNA Tester

The AncestryDNA test kit has been utilized.  The donor of the DNA sample was adopted in New Jersey in 1936.  Although the original birth certificate is not available, the court records are public.  [A 1940 statute sealed future adoption records.]  The documents are housed in the Essex County Hall of Records and are not indexed, but I had a date and adoptive parents' names to work with, so I found the correct papers easily.

I have the name of her mother, but no other identifying information, such as her age.  I do not know if this is the mother's birth name or a married name.  No father is mentioned.  Even though I know the name of the person I am seeking, I cannot be sure that I found her.

The traditional paperwork research reveals that there were a few families using this last name or a variant in Essex County, New Jersey, and many more families of this name if the search is expanded to neighboring counties.  The first name of the birth mother was popular in every branch, with most family units naming a baby girl this way, and many men marrying a woman of this name.  The result was many eligible candidates with nobody alive today to confirm which one was the mother.

We shall see what the test tells us.

Autosomal DNA Matching: A Diagram

When you test your autosomal DNA, you reveal bits of your DNA from any one of your ancestors.  Your genetic distant cousins in the database are a match with you because you share the same identical little segment of the same ancestor.  The trick is to figure out which ancestor you both have in common.  The common ancestor could be along any of your lines and any of their lines and could be many generations ago.

People without extensively documented trees may have a problem making connections to their genetic distant cousins.  This should not hold you back from testing your DNA and may be the only way of discovering otherwise elusive lines.  DNA testing does not replace "traditional" genealogical research of original documents, census entries, cemetery records, etc.  DNA testing can also reveal ancestry for people who are adopted and, if a close match is in the database, can reveal the family of origin.