Related Stepmother on Marriage Record

A marriage record is an excellent way of discovering the names of the parents of the bride and groom. The parties helped create the document and could ensure completeness and accuracy, as opposed to birth and death records in which the subject of the document is of no assistance in providing information.

That said, the information is not always accurate.

This was the case with the marriage record of William Hanford Ocoboc (1872-1941) and Anna Holander (1874-1948). They married December 15, 1894 in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey. William was raised in Rockaway, Morris County, New Jersey, but relocated to Essex County after the marriage. (Hanford is also spelled "Handford." Ocoboc has spelling variants, such as "Ockobock.")

William's parents were Hanford Ocoboc (1844-1918) and Ann Elizabeth Cook (1854-1885); however, on the marriage record, his mother was listed as Clara Lee (1861-1913).

Marriage record.
William Ocoboc and Anna Holander married December 15, 1894
in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey.

Names of William Ocoboc's parents as reported on his 1894 marriage record.
His mother was actually Ann Cook, not Clara Lee.

Clara was William's father's second wife. Clara and Ann were first cousins. Their grandparents were Stephen Cook (1798-1853) and Elizabeth Vanderhoof (1799-1878).

Family tree showing relationship of the two wives of Hanford Ocoboc (1844-1918).
William's marriage record listed Clara, not Ann, as his mother.

William was about thirteen years old when his mother died in 1885. The following year, his father remarried, resulting in another child born into the family. William was old enough to remember these events and know that his mother was Ann, not Clara. Perhaps he named Clara as his mother out of respect to her. Perhaps someone else supplied the information and William did not notice the discrepancy. We may never know. We must verify all information with other records whenever possible.

Hanford was related to both his wives. Through Hanford's paternal side, he was their second cousin, once removed. They shared ancestors Conrad Hopler (1730-1816) and Elizabeth Demuth (1735-1814). Handford's mother was Elizabeth Vanderhoff (1812-1889). Presumably she and the other Elizabeth Vanderhoof (1799-1878) were related.

Relationship of Hanford Ocoboc (1844-1918)
and his two wives

The resulting children of these unions were their own cousins.

Genealogy Brick Wall Crumbled

Brick wall down!  The parents of Mary Neil, my 3rd great grandmother, have been discovered.

Five generations of my father's family tree.
The focus of this discussion is Mary Neil (1830-1898), a great great grandmother of my father.

Mary Neil married Calvin Cook in 1847.  Like most of the marriages recorded in Morris County, New Jersey in this time period, the names of parents were not included.

New Jersey County Marriage collection at FamilySearch.org.  Free index and free images.

In other records, Mary was born in New Jersey around the year 1830.  As time went on, some of her children recorded her name as O'Neill on their documents and gave her birthplace as Ireland.

In the 1870s, the family relocated to Jersey City in Hudson County.  Calvin died in Jersey City in 1889.  I found his death certificate with no difficulty in the Archives in Trenton; however, I could not locate his final resting place "at Dover" until someone kindly posted on FindAGrave the stone for Calvin and Mary's son, William Cook, who died in 1871.  The family plot is located at Locust Hill Cemetery in Dover, Morris County.  This was discovered over two years ago.

Mary's final passage is recorded on the same stone as her husband, Calvin.  She died August 9, 1898.

Great!  I had Mary's date of death.  But I still could not find a death certificate or obituary for her.

Time passed.  Recently I was at the Morristown and Morris Township Library and checked the Morris County newspapers again.  The few papers for the area for 1898 were published weekly, so I did not have too much to sift through.  This time, an obituary in the paper "The Iron Era" from Dover caught my attention.  Mary A Keating died on August 9, 1898 and was buried at Locust Hill Cemetery-- just like my Mary.  She was the wife of Nicholas Keating and lived in Rockaway.  No other family members were mentioned.

Could Mary Keating be Mary Neil, widow of Calvin Cook?

Digitized newspaper collection at the Morristown and Morris Township Library.  Free on-site usage.

At home, I checked the online index of New Jersey marriages at FamilySearch.  Calvin Cook died in 1889, so if Mary remarried, the date would be in the 1890s.  And there it was.  Mary remarried in 1892 (this is the correct year) in Jersey City to Nicholas Keating.

FamilySearch.org.  New Jersey Marriages.
This is a free index.  The images are not online.  They are at the Archives in Trenton.

This marriage record was my best chance of finding out the names of Mary Neil's parents, as the record was created during Mary's life.

I looked through the index at FamilySearch for Mary's death certificate, but found no matching entry.  Both Mary and Nicholas died in 1898 and their estates were probated through the Surrogate's Office of Morris County.

MorrisSurrogate.com
This is a free service to search probated estates in Morris County, New Jersey.
The actual files are in the court house.  [The other twenty New Jersey counties are online at FamilySearch.org.]

At the Archives in Trenton, I found Mary's marriage record to Nicholas Keating.  Her parents were listed as Charles O'Neill and Catharine Brougham, both of Ireland.  (This explains the source of the names for two of Mary's children.)

Witnesses were Margaret Tower, Mary's daughter; and Harry Tower, Mary's son-in-law.

I found a death certificate for Mary Keating.  No day of death is on the certificate; only the month and year- August 1898.  Maybe this is why it missed the index?  I looked at the microfilm roll of deaths from 1 July 1898 through 30 June 1899, Morris County, surname K.  This same method did not produce a death certificate for Nicholas Keating, who died 21 December 1898 according to his estate papers.

Whoever provided the information for Mary's death certificate only knew that her mother was "Katie."  This is why it is best to try to obtain a record created during the person's life.  (Cause of death was "cerebral haemorrage," probably a stroke.)

I went through the census to find Nicholas Keating.  In the 1860 federal census in Rockaway, Nicholas and his first wife, Catherine Shaw (1825-1891), were living next door to Mary Neil and her first husband, Calvin Cook.  32 years later, both of their spouses would be dead and Nicholas and Mary would marry each other.  For the record, Catherine Shaw was not merely a neighbor.  She was a first cousin of Calvin's father; the common ancestors were Conrad Hopler (1730-1815) and Elizabeth DeMouth (1735-1812).

In the 1895 New Jersey state census, Mary and Nicholas were residing together in Rockaway.  Had I not made the connection with the obituary, this piece of the puzzle could have provided a big clue.  I do not know how the three people named Nix tie into this yet, but look at the last person in the household, a child, Francis A Peck.  He is a grandson of Mary.  His parents were Calvin Peck (1848-1923) and Catherine Cook (1854-1885).  Francis was born on the 28th of April in 1885 in Jersey City.  Three weeks later, on the 17th of May, his mother, Catherine, died.

Mary's estate papers clearly list her surviving children and her grandson.  But estates are organized by the surname of the deceased, not by those who inherit.

Mary also left money to Louisa Lee "of Dover, N[ew] J[ersey], niece of my deceased husband Calvin Cook."  I don't know why Louisa received this special treatment.  Louisa's mother was Anna Cook, a sister of Calvin; her father was Jesse Lee.

Next I need to research Charles O'Neill and Catharine Brougham.  I'm not convinced that they were Irish.

DNA from Morris County, New Jersey: Family Tree DNA

At FamilyTreeDNA, my uncles share a segment on chromosome 1 with two individuals.

We need to know if these two DNA cousins match each other in the same spot.  FamilyTreeDNA does not allow you to make this comparison.  One of the cousins checked on his end, and sure enough, he matches this other cousin on the same segment.

Common ancestors of all of us were Richard/Dirk Vanderhoof (b 1745) and Catrina Young/Jong (b 1753).  My line descends from Dirk and Catrina's son, Jacob Vanderhoof (1774-1847) and then granddaughter, Elizabeth Vanderhoof (1799-1878).  The cousin in blue in the first graph is also descended from Jacob Vanderhoof, but through Jacob's son, Peter Vanderhoof (1797-1847).

The cousin in orange descends from Dirk and Catrina's daughter, Elizabeth Vanderhoof (b1775).  She married John Taylor.

But that's not all.

The cousin in orange also descends from Frederick DeMouth and Charlotte Muller/Miller.  For my line, they were the maternal grandparents of Ann Hopler (1772-1841) - wife of Jacob Vanderhoof (1774-1847).  If the other distant cousin on this segment (the "blue cousin") is not descended from DeMouth and Miller, then we can say that the DNA came from Vanderhoof and Young.  With the close geography and intermingling of these lines, we may not be able to sort out exactly whose DNA this is- just that it is from the Morris County lines.

Locating a property from 1748

The past two Mondays featured transcriptions of property conveyances from 1748 in Morris County, New Jersey, when it was part of a colony of Great Britain.  You can read about property records from the Colonial period at the New Jersey State Archives here.  The collection is indexed online.

You can order a record to be mailed to you for $5.

Searching for Conrad Hopler (1730-1816), a 6X great grandfather of mine, lead to the two featured colonial deeds.  Joseph "Hoppel" was Conrad's father.  Frederick DeMouth was Conrad's father-in-law.  The land was purchased before Conrad Hopler married Elizabeth DeMouth, forever tying the two lines.  Were they connected before this marriage?

There are online mentions that Frederick DeMouth was a French Huguenot and the first settler of what is now Boonton Township in Morris County.

I want to locate the present-day location of the properties purchased in these deeds.  The properties are described as lying in Morris County- no town or specific region.  By hand I sketched the boundaries to help locate these plots on a map.  Then I remembered that there is probably an app for this and was pleasantly surprised to find one at GenealogyTools.

The larger, 600 acre piece of property may be easier to identify on a map because its irregular borders.  The white oak tree and piles of stones are probably long gone.  The Rockaway River touches both these pieces of land and still exists today.

The brook called "Rottegie Vall" was intriguing.  No mention of this brook online, but instead in a book called The History of Morris County, New Jersey, published by Munsell in 1882.  Ancestry offers a digitized version, but my paper copy is much clearer (thank you MT).

"A brook called by the Dutch Rotegeval, a branch of the Rockaway River."

The will of Frederick Temouth (notice the variant spelling), was proved in 1766 and mentions several pieces of real property; one was near the Rockaway River.  Another was a "plantation where I dwell, of 600 acres."  This could be the 600 acre conveyance from 1748.  If Frederick was "of Pequannock," these 600 acres could be in Pequanock.  A land survey from this time period may be helpful.  If anyone knows of one, please write in.

I don't know of Frederick DeMouth's burial place, but the DeMouth burial ground is in present-day Boonton.

Amanuensis Monday: 1748 Property Deed Morris County, East Jersey- Burnet to DeMouth

East Jersey Proprietors, Book G-2, Burnet to DeMouth, Morris County, 1748

East Jersey Proprietors

Book G-2, pages 111-114

John Burnet and Samuel Nevill to Frederick Demouth, Adam Miller, Joseph Hoppel, John Snider, and Felton Smith.  Acknowledged 12 April 1748.

This Indenture, made this twenty seventh day of September in the year of Our Lord one thousand Seven hundred and forty eight.  Between John Burnet and Samuel Nevill, both of the City of Perth Amboy in the Province of New Jersey, Gent, of the one part and Fredrick Demouth, Adam Miller, Joseph Hoppel, John Snider, and Felton Smith, all of the County of Morris and Province afforsaid, yeoman, of the other Part.  Witnesseth that the said John Burnet and Samuel Nevill, for and in consideration of the just and full sum of two hundred and thirty two Pounds current money of this Said Province at eight shills [?] ounce to them in hand by the aforesaid Fredrick Demouth, Adam Miller, Joseph Hoppel, John Snider, and Felton Smith, at and before the ensealing and delivery hereof well and truly paid the receipt whereof the said John Burnet and Samuel Nevill doth hereby acknowledge and themselves to be therewith fully satisfied and contented and thereof doth acquit and discharge them, the s[aid] Fredrick DeMouth, Adam Miller, Joseph Hoppel, John Snider, and Felton Smith, their heirs and assigns for ever by these presents.  Hath granted, bargained, sold, aliened, ensealed, released, and confirmed and by these presents doth grant, bargain, sell, alien, enseal, release, and confirm unto the said Fredrick Demouth, Adam Miller, Joseph Hoppel, John Snider, and Felton Smith, their heirs and assigns for ever, all that certain tract or parcel of land situate in the County of Morris aforesaid.

Beginning at a white oak tree for a corner marked on four sides standing at the West side of a brook called in the Dutch language Rottegie Vall, on the East side of a hill it being also a corner of a former survey made for and in the name of George Ryerson Junr, and running from thence South forty seven degrees and forty five minutes East forty one chains to a corner post standing on the plains from thence South forty degrees west seventy one chains to a post corner standing on the west side of said Rockaway River where a small spring runs in the said river.  From thence north seventy two degrees west forty five chains to a post corner from thence north six degrees east thirty three chains to a heap of stones for a corner from thence north forty three degrees east twenty chains to a heap of stones for a corner from thence south sixty eight degrees east ten chains to a heap of stones for a corner from thence north fifty two degrees east forty chains to the place of beginning.

Containing four hundred and twenty two acres and seventy hundredths of an acre strict measure.  Together with all and all manner of houses, barns, orchards, trees, woods, underwoods, fencings, foodings, pastures, profits, commodities, advantages, hereditaments, and appurtenances whatsoever to the same belonging or in any ways appertaining and all the estate right, title, interest, property, claim, and demand whatsoever of them, the said John Burnet and Samuel Nevill of, in, and to the above granted or bargained premises and of, in, or to any part or parcel thereof, to have and to hold the above granted and bargained premises and every part and parcel thereof with the appurtenances unto the said Fredrick DeMouth, Adam Miller, Joseph Hoppel, John Snider, and Felton Smith, their heirs and assigns, to the only proper [?] and behoof of the said Fredrick Demouth, Adam Miller, Joseph Hoppel, John Snider, and Felton Smith, their heirs and assigns for ever.  And the said John Burnet and Samuel Nevill for themselves, their heirs, executors, and administrators do covenant, promise, grant, and agree to and with the said Frederick Demouth, Adam Miller, Joseph Hoppel, John Snider, and Felton Smith and to and with each and every of them, their heirs and assigns, by these presents in manner and form following, that is to say, that he, the said John Burnet, at the time of ensealing and delivery of these presents, hath full power, good, right, and lawfull authority to grant, bargain, sell, and convey three hundred and sixteen acres, part of the said four hundred and twenty two acres above mentioned and every part and parcel thereof with their and every of their appurtenances unto the said Fredrick Demouth, Adam Miller, Joseph Hoppel, John Snider, and Felton Smith, their heirs and assigns in manner and form aforesaid, and that he, the said Samuel Nevill, at the time of ensealing and delivery of these presents, hath full power, good, right, and lawful authority to grant, bargain, sell, and convey one hundred and six acres residue of the said four hundred and twenty two acres above mentioned and every part and parcel thereof with their and every of their appurtenances unto the said Fredrick Demouth, Adam Miller, Joseph Hoppel, John Snider, and Felton Smith, their heirs and assigns in manner and form aforesaid and that the said Fredrick Demouth, Adam Miller, Joseph Hoppel, John Snider, and Felton Smith, their heirs and assigns and every of them shall and may by force and virtue of these presents, at all times for ever hereafter, lawfully, peaceably, and quietly hold up, occupy, possess and enjoy the said granted and bargained lands and premises with their and every of their appurtenances without any lawful lott suit trouble, denial, interruption, evasion, or disturbance of the said John Burnet and Samuel Nevill, their heirs or assigns or any other person or persons whatsoever.  And the said John Burnet and Samuel Nevill, for themselves, their heirs, ex[ecutor]s and admin[istrator]s, the said granted and bargained lands and premises with the appurtenances unto the said Fredrick Demouth, Adam Miller, Joseph Hoppel, John Snider, and Felton Smith, their heirs and assigns against all and every person and persons lawfully claiming the same, shall and will warrant and for ever defend by these presents.

In witness whereof the said John Burnet and Samuel Nevill hath hereunto set their hands and seals the day and year above written.

The words (thirty two) in the fifth line and the erasures in the twenty first line of the first page and the word ([?]) in the [?] line of the second page being interlined and made before the signing and sealing [?].

John Burnet  LS

Samuel Nevill  LS

Sealed and delivered in the presence of R L Hooper, Michael Henarie.

Received this 27th day of September 1748 the full sum of two hundred and thirty two pounds, being full satisfaction for the within mentioned premises.

John Burnet

Samuel Nevill

Be it remembered that on this twelfth day of April 1748, the within John Burnet and Samuel Nevill appeared before James Alexander, one of his majesty’s council for the Province of New Jersey, and acknowledged the within deed to be their act and deed for the [?] therein mentioned.

Ja Alexander

Note the same words noted to be interlined in the original are interlined in the record.  Page 112.  The word north inter pa 113 the words bargained lands and intd [?] omitted in recording.

By Thos Bartow

Amanuensis Monday: 1748 Property Deed Morris County, East Jersey- Hooper to DeMouth

East Jersey Proprietors

Book G-2, pages 108-111

Robert Lettis Hooper to Frederick Demouth, Martin Van Duyn, Christian Miller, Peter Highler, Thomas Stagg, Isaac Van Duyn, and John Snider.  Acknowledged 12 April 1748.  Land in Morris County.

This Indenture made the twenty seventh day of September in the year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and forty eight, between Robert Lettis Hooper of the County of Somerset and Province of New Jersey, Gent, of the one part, and Frederick Demouth, Martin VanDuyn, Christian Miller, Peter Highler, Thos Stagg, Isaac VanDuyn, John Snider of the County of Morris in the Province of New Jersey, yeomen, of the other Part.  Witnesseth that the said Robert Lettis Hooper, for and in consideration of the sum of three hundred and forty six pounds ten shills current money at eight shillings the ounce to him in hand by the aforesaid Frederick Demouth, Martin VanDuyn, Christian Miller, Peter Highler, Thos Stagg, Isaac V Duyn, Jon Snyder, at and before the Ensealing and Delivery hereof well and truly paid the receipt whereof the said Robert Lettis Hooper doth hereby acknowledge and himself to be therewith fully satisfied and contracted and thereof doth acquit and discharge them, the said Fredrick Demouth, Martin VanDuyn, Christian Miller, Peter Highler, Thos Stagg, Isaac Vanduyn, John Snyder, their heirs and assigns for ever by these Presents, hath granted, bargained, sold, alien’d, enfect’d, releas’d and confirm’d and by these presents doth grant, bargain, sell, alien, enfect, release and confirm unto the said Fredrick Demouth, Martin Vanduyn, Christian Millor, Peter Highlor, Thos Stagg, Isaac Vanduyn, John Snider, their heirs and assigns for ever, all that certain Tract or Parcell of Land situate in the County of Morris aforesaid.

Beginning at a post for a corner standing in a line of Mr Burnet and Mr Nevills Survey about fifteen Chains and Sixty links from the Spring on the West side of Rockaway River and runs in said River by a corner of said Burnets and Nevills Land which said Post bears a course North Seventy two degrees West from said Mr Burnet and Nevills corner and thence along this line North Seventy two degrees west twenty nine chains and forty links to a Post corner thence it runs South Six degrees West nine chains to a Post for a corner from thence south fifty degrees west sixty nine chains and a half to a heap of stones for a corner from thence north thirty degrees west thirty two chains to be a heap of stones for a corner thence south fifty degrees west twenty six chains to a post for a corner thence south thirteen degrees west twenty eight chains to a post corner thence north eighty degrees east nineteen chains to a heap of stones for a corner thence south ten degrees west fifteen chains to a post for a corner thence south thirty six degrees west thirty five chains to a post for a corner thence south fifty four degrees east twenty three chains to a post standing on the west side of Rockaway River from thence up the stream south five degrees east about eleven chains to a large white oak for a corner standing on the east side of said River on the south side of a road and about one chain below a cluster of pine trees thence south seventy five degrees east twelve chains to a post corner, from thence north thirty degrees east forty chains to a heap of stones on the point of a hill on the south west side of said hill thence north forty eight degrees east fifty five chains and seventy five links to a post for a corner from thence north fifty degrees west seven chains to a post corner from thence north forty degrees east sixty five chains and a half to the place of beginning.

Containing six hundred and thirty acres strict measure which after allowance for highways is to remain for six hundred acres, together with all and all manner of houses, barns, orchards, trees, woods, underwoods, fencings, feedings, Pattins, Profits, commodities, advantages, hereditaments, and appurtenances whatsoever to the same belonging or in any wise appertaining (mines and minerals of all kinds excepted) and all the estate, right, title, interest, property claim and demand whatsoever of him, the said Robert Lettis Hooper, of in and to the above granted or bargained promises and of in or to any part or parcel thereof (except as before excepted).

To have and hold one seventh part of the above granted and bargained premises and every part and parcel thereof with the appurtenances unto the said Frederick Demouth, his heirs and assigns to the only proper up[?] and behoof of the said Frederick Demouth, his heirs and assigns for ever.

To have and to hold one other seventh part of the said granted and bargained premises and every part thereof unto the aforesaid Martin VanDuyn, his heirs and assigns to the only proper up[?] and behoof of the said Martin VanDuyn, his heirs and assigns for ever.

To have and to hold one other seventh part of the said granted and bargained premises and every part thereof unto the af[orese]d Isaac VanDuyn, his heirs and assigns to the only proper up[?] and behoof of the said Isaac VanDuyn, his heirs and assigns for ever.

To have and to hold one other seventh part of the said granted and bargained premises and every part thereof unto the aforesaid Peter Highler, his heirs and assigns to the only proper up[?] and behoof of the said Peter Highler, his heirs and assigns for ever.

To have and to hold one other three seventh part of this said granted and bargained premises and every part thereof unto the aforsd Christian Miller, Thos Stagg, and John Snider, their heirs and assigns to the only proper up[?] and behalf of the said Chrs Miller, Thos Stagg, and John Snider, their heirs and assigns for ever.

And the said Robert Lettis Hooper for himself, his heirs, executors, and [?] doth covenant, promise, grant, and agree to and with the said Frederick Demouth, Martin VanDuyn, Isaac Vanduyn, Peter Highler, Christian Miller, Thos Stagg, and John Snider, and to and with each and every of them, their heirs and assigns by these presents in manner and form following, that is to say, that he, the said Robert Lettis Hooper, at the time of the ensealing and delivery of these presents hath full power, good, right, and lawful authority to grant, bargain, sell, and convey all and singular the lands and premises above mentioned and every part and parcel thereof with their and every of their appurtenances unto the said Frederick Demouth, Martin Vanduyn, Isaac VanDuyn, Peter Highler, Christian Miller, Thos Stagg, and John Snider, their heirs and assigns in manner and form aforesaid, and that the said Frederick Demouth, Martin VanDuyn, Isaac VanDuyn, Peter Highler, Christian Miller, Thos Stagg, and Jon Snider, their heirs and assigns and every of them shall and may by force and virtue of these presents at all times for ever hereafter lawfully, peaceably, and quietly hold up, occupy, profit, and enjoy the said granted and bargained lands and premises with their and every of their appurtenances without any lawful Lott Suit, trouble, denial, interruption, evasion, or disturbance of the said Robert Lettis Hooper, his heirs or assigns or any other person or persons whatsoever and [?] and the said Robert Lettis Hooper, for himself, his heirs, exrs, and admrs the said granted and bargained lands and premises with the appurtenances unto the s[ai]d Frederick Demouth, Martin VanDuyn, Isaac Vanduyn, Peter Highler, Christian Miller, Thomas Stagg and John Snyder, their heirs and assigns against all and every person and persons lawfully claiming the same, shall and will warrant and for ever defend by these presents.

In Wittness whereof the said Robert Lettis Hooper hath hereunto set his hand and seal the day and year above written.

Sealed and delivered in the presence of Samuel Nevill.  John Burnet.

{The words (most) in the twenty fifth line of the first page and the words (against all and every person and persons lawfully claiming the same) in the second line of the third page all being [?] before the signing and delivery hereof.}

R S Hooper

Be it remembered that on the twelfth day of April one thousand seven hundred and fourty eight Samuel Nevill Esq, one of the witnesses of the above deed, being duly sworn on the holy Evangelist on his oath did declare that he saw the above Robert Lettis Hooper seal and deliver the preceeding deed as his act and deed for the exo therein mentioned before James Alexander, one of his Majesty’s Council for the Province of New Jersey.  Ja Alexander.

Recd this 27 of Sep 1748 the full sum of three hundred and forty six pounds, ten shillings being full satisfaction for the within mentioned premises.  R L Hooper.

Note the same interlineations noted to be in the original are in the record also the words (John Snider) intd in the record are so in the original.

By Tho Bartow

Shared Ancestor Hints for AncestryDNA

One of the alluring features of Ancestry's DNA testing is the Shared Ancestor Hints derived from family tree comparisons.  (The other feature is finding missing close relatives.)  My test produced over 15,000 matches.  (Can that be?  306 pages of 50 matches per page.)

With my test attached to my mother's tree, only one DNA cousin produced a shared ancestor hint.  This is my mother's second cousin in the Preston/Sheehey branch.  We had already made contact before the tests results were in.

Attaching my father's tree to my test profile produced five people with shared ancestor hints.  (When my father's results are ready, these five people should also match him.  If not, then the shared DNA likely is from my mother and these family tree hints are misleading.)  One of the DNA cousins has a private tree, so I could not review the hint.

Of the remaining four shared ancestor hints, two were for the same set of 5th great grandparents:  Jacob vander Hoof (1772-1847) and Ann Hopler (1772-1841) of Morris County, New Jersey.  These folks are buried in the deMouth Family Burial Ground in Boonton.  I have also met other descendants in my DNA travels.  Based on our family trees, one DNA match is a fourth cousin, twice removed and the other is a sixth cousin.

The other two matches are from the New York Hyser branch of my tree.

Common ancestors are Simon Rockefeller and Anna Bahr, based on our family trees.
We also share some identical DNA.  Is it from these shared ancestors?  We do not know.

Note that this Shared Ancestry Hint only reported Elizabeth Burke as the common ancestor.
In both of our trees, we have John as the husband.
Perhaps the alternate spelling of Lehman/Layman threw off the calculation.

Although on paper I am a cousin to these matches, the shared DNA could easily come from another ancestral line that is not documented in at least one of our family trees.  That is how I have over 15,000 matches but only 6 matching family trees.  Someone has not documented back far enough, or someone has a non-parental event.  I could have easily found any of these DNA matches by comparing trees- no DNA testing required.

When my father's results are available, I expect him to have far fewer matches.  I am trying to use the AncestryDNA Chrome Extension to reveal which segments of DNA are shared by the matches in order to triangulate.  AncestryDNA provides no chromosome browser function to do this directly, unlike 23andMe and FamilyTreeDNA.  The high number of my matches is causing the Chrome Extension to freeze.