Some Interesting Genetic Matches

Here are some of my more remarkable genetic matches over at 23andMe.

This genetic cousin matches me on three segments, but my mother on only one and my father on none.  I probably received the other two chromosomes from my mother.  The match on chromosome 9 is perhaps just under 5 cM (centimorgan- a unit of measurement) for my mother and therefore under the threshold to report.  The match on chromosome 4 is an area of my mother's genome that was not read!

This genetic cousin matches me on one segment of chromosome 3 that I received from my father.  This man also matches my mother and her uterine brother on segments that I did not inherit (instead inheriting that part of my maternal side of chromosome 6 from my maternal grandfather).  This cousin does not match my father's known third cousin, but he does match some of their common Irish matches- which leads me to a specific branch in my father's tree- perhaps where my parents will share ancestors!

This cousin is really interesting because he matches me on a 21 cM segment- larger than what I usually see- but matches neither parent!  The 5 or 6 cM matches can be missed, as the threshold is 5 cM, but a 21 cM segment really should appear in a parent's account.

These strange matches are likely more distant than third cousins.  Our mutual links in our respective family trees are many generations back where the possibilities double every generation, making this a very large puzzle to piece together.

Sorting The Parental Matches and WOW!!!

23andMe has been adding some new features, some of which are helpful to us genealogists, such as family tree capabilities.  A new feature was added today which will greatly help some of us:  sorting your matches into paternal and maternal.

Let me clarify first:  You have two sides to every chromosome.  Twenty two of your twenty three chromosomes have two sides consisting of the side from your mother and the side from your father.  Current science, or the science available to us genealogists, cannot tell you WHICH side- maternal or paternal- is reflected in any one of your results.  As such, autosomal DNA tests produce a pool of genetic matches from both of your parents and you need to sort through them by comparing family tree and triangulating DNA matches with other known close relatives.

The new paternal and maternal sorting feature at 23andMe only works if you have a parent in the database who is sharing genomes with you.  In my situation, I have both parents in the system, so this works very well for me.  This feature does not work at all for my parents because their parents are dead and not in the system.

I set up my family tree and linked my parents to me and voila!  Of my 1600+ matches, 600 are credited to my mother and 200 to my father.  There is no specification for the other 800.  Very correctly, the people who match both my mother and father are credited as such.

I eagerly looked to see if my mystery 5% match from one year ago was attributed to my mother or father, especially since this person is blocked in my parent's account because the relation is too close.  As I hoped (feared?), this anonymous close relative is my mother's cousin.

My mystery second cousin is as close as my mother's first cousin or uncle.
Who is he?

See the pink M by the predicted relation of 2nd cousin?  That means that this person related to me on my mother's side.  So who is he?

We can use the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to rule out some possibilities.  MtDNA is passed from mother to child; males do not pass mtDNA to their children.  My mtDNA group is H1, the same as my mother and her uterine brother, and the same as their mother, Jeannette ODonnell.  Jeannette's four siblings are also all H1, so this man is not a sibling of my grandmother because his mtDNA group is H3a.  It is possible that this person is a son of Jeannette's brothers, or an unknown half-sibling of Jeannette by her father.

Basically, the percentage of shared DNA drops in half for every generation removed or is cut in half when the relation is by one ancestor instead of two.  Full first cousins (two grandparents in common) match 12.5%, while half first cousins (one grandparent in common) match 6.25%.  This is to put in perspective how close a relation this 5% match is to me.  Double that for one generation up and you have an approximate 10% relation to my mother.

Works Progress Administration

Application for a Social Security Number
Note that the employer was Works Progress Administration at 309 Washington Street in Newark, New Jersey

The Depression of the 1930s resulted in high unemployment rates, including my own family.  My grandfather worked for the Works Progress Administration, a government sponsored program that was part of President Franklin D Roosevelt's New Deal.  Specific to genealogy, the WPA catalogued and indexed records of vital events and cemeteries.

An article in the summer 2012 newsletter of the Genealogical Society of New Jersey alerted us that we may request employment records for people who worked for the WPA.  You may write to:

National Archives and Records Administration
Archival Programs
PO Box 38757
Saint Louis, MO  63138
or email stlarr.archives@nara.gov

I wrote to them and will let you know about any promising returns.  If you can obtain employment records on an ancestor or relative, proceed.  You never know what surprises await you.