DNA Matching: Mystery Second or Third Cousin

My third cousin, R.S., has a new closer cousin in his DNA matches at 23andMe.  They share 1.37% over four segments.  They are likely second or third cousins, though the prediction of the site is second through fourth cousins.

Second cousins share a pair of great grandparents, while third cousins share great great grandparents.

Let's hope that this person responds to my request to communicate.  Absent an adoption or non-paternal event, we should be able to figure out the connection.

Relative Finder top genetic matches for my third cousin, R.S. at 23andMe.
This mystery person could be a closer match than my father and R.S.

AncestryDNA: The Genetic Matches

AncestryDNA provided genetic matches for M.S., who is adopted.  No close matches appeared.  The closest match is a predicted third cousin.  Two predicted fourth cousins are also reported, followed by several distant cousins.  Because this is autosomal DNA testing, the matches could be from any of M.S.'s ancestral lines.

Top genetic matches for M.S. at Ancestry.com

 

I reached out to these three people.  One person responded.  We see no common geographical areas at this time.

 

AncestryDNA compares your surnames and tree to the surnames and trees of your matches and highlights results for you.  Because M.S. was adopted, I have no surnames or tree for her, thus precluding me from exploring this feature.  If you would like to see a screenshot of compared surnames, please see CeCe Moore's post here.

 

I am disappointed that I cannot see the amount or location of shared DNA among the matches.  23andMe allows such views and comparisons.

 

I will keep you posted if anything promising develops.

Indexing Project: New York City Death Ledgers, Part Two

The indexing continues of the New York City death registers for the Italian Genealogical Group.  This set includes the years 1837 and 1838.  They are not as clear as the previous set.  The city directories over at Fold3 are proving useful for deciphering some names.

April 1837 Register of Deaths for New York City.
Individual death certificates were not created during this time.

Some names are difficult to decipher for the transcription.  This surname looks like BIBBY.
The first name could be Cathy, Walter, Arthur.

A check of the city directories shows that people named Bibby were indeed living in New York City at this time.
So Bibby the name shall be.
[1838 New York City Directory by Longworth.  Available online at Fold3.]

Online transcriptions are an invaluable resource to genealogists, but the difficulties illustrated here demonstrate that mistakes are likely and you need to seek the original source.  In this particular project, the original record includes place of burial, cause of death, and nativity- additional pertinant information that will not be in the online index.  If you are unable to travel to New York City to view these ledgers, you can order the microfilm through a FamilySearch Center [catalog numbers 447544-447568 and 1314271-1314289] or wait for the images to appear online at FamilySearch.