Close Cousin: Percentages

Two people who are related closer than third cousins will share a percentage of identical DNA within a predictable range.  My new match at 23andMe, my maternal first cousin once removed, fits this predicted percentage.

International Society of Genetic Genealogy
Wiki

My mother and her brother both share 11.9% identical DNA with their first cousin.  As the next generation from these three, my share of the identical DNA should be cut in half.  My mother's cousin and I match 5%.  This percentage is on the lower end of the predictable amount shared.  We should be grateful for this because the lower percentage bumped us into a second cousin prediction and allowed him to be revealed in my account as a match, enabling me to reach out to him.

For illustration purposes, my father and his first cousin once removed match at 6.71%.  I match this first cousin twice removed at 4.44%, which is just short of the 5% I share with my first cousin once removed.  That is how random DNA inheritance works.  You end up carrying more DNA from some ancestral lines than others.

Close Cousin Revealed at 23andMe

Last year, a close cousin appeared in my Relative Finder matches at the DNA testing site 23andMe.  Little was revealed about this mystery man except that the match we shared, 5%, placed us in a second cousin range (sharing great-grandparents).  23andMe allows you to contact a match three times.  I sent notes twice.  When the website allowed me to sort my matches based on which parent was the match (you can only do this if you have a parent in the database), I discovered that this person matched my mother.  He did not appear in her Relative Finder because their relationship was too close to be revealed without the consent of both parties, and he had not chosen this option on his end.

Last week, he came forward!  He is a first cousin of my mother and her brother.  His father was a brother of my maternal grandmother.  We did not know of each other until we connected at 23andMe.  Why?  My grandmother was the youngest of five children.  Her mother, Anna Preston, died in 1921, soon after my grandmother was born.  The four older children stayed together while my grandmother was sent to live with other relatives who were willing and able to care for a baby.  They were not close and the death of my grandmother almost twenty years ago further separated us.

We'll explore the DNA studies available through this new cousin in upcoming posts.  For now, my top genetic matches in the database are my parents, my maternal uncle, my maternal first cousin once removed, and my paternal first cousin twice removed.

23andMe Relative Finder
Top matches for me
The M indicates a match to my mother.
The P indicates a match to my father.

Amanuensis Monday: Parker and Coleman of Vermont

Sixth in a series transcribing the hand-written notes found in the BISHOP family file at the New York State Library in Albany.  This paper lists the dates of birth and death of Simeon Parker (or Barker) and Ruthene Coleman, as well as their six children in the 1840s and 1850s.  The last name may be Parker or Barker.  In other records in the file, the name looks like Barker.  In the 1850 census provided below, the name is Parker.

Family Record of Simeon Parker

Simeon Parker.  Born March 30, 1811.

Married Ruthene Coleman.  Born May 13, 1815.

Henry Parker.  Born June 23, 1839.

Houghton James Parker.  Born March 25, 1841.

George Francis Parker.  Born July 8, 1843.

Rosanna Viora Parker.  Born Sept 18, 1844.

Simeon Augustene Parker.  Born April 21, 1851.

Albertine Adora Parker.  Born Dec 6, 1853.

Rosanna Viora Parker died April 1.  2 y, 6 mo, 18 da.

Ruthene Parker died Feb 2, 1868.  52 y, 8 mo, 18 da.

Henry C Parker died Jan 18, 1893.  53 y, 6 m, 23 d.

Simeon Augustus Parker died Mar 2, 1900.  48 yrs, 10 mos, 9 dy.

Simeon Parker died Aug 3, 1900.  89 yr, 4 m, 4d.

Houghton Parker died Feb 9, 1926.  84 y, 10 m, 15 d.

George Francis Parker died Oct 12, 1933.  90 y, 3 m, 4d.

1850 United States Federal Census
Marlboro, Windham County, Vermont

Old Place Names: Westville, New York

In a previous post, Final Journey from Queens to Westville, I wrote about locating a place of death for Coe D Jackson.  He died in 1888 in Westville, New York, according to the New York State Death Index.  The current Westville is in Franklin County, New York, and I saw no reason why Coe would leave Queens County to die there as an old man.

Thanks to T. P. for sending me Coe's obituary, stating that Coe died in Lawrence.  A little more searching provides a small article copied over and over on the internet that Westville was a name for Inwood, Queens County, in the 1860s through the 1890s.  Lawrence was a neighboring area whose name remains as a village in the hamlet of Inwood.  The area became Nassau County after Queens was divided in 1898.

A search of older publications at Google Books provided more details.  Locating exact places when names and borders have changed over the centuries is tricky but crucial for more accurate research.

23andMe DNA Kits: Dramatic Price Reduction

In case you have not heard, 23andMe and drastically lowered the price of a DNA testing kit from $299 to $99.  There is no subscription fee.  I do not know how long this price will last.

This test is for autosomal DNA, which seeks to identify the pieces of DNA you carry from all of your ancestral lines.

I have several people in mind that I wish to test.  The key to successful use of these DNA testing sites is to test family members from different branches of your tree.  To date, I have tested myself, both parents, my mother's brother, and two of my father's cousins.  Coincidentally, both of my father's cousins matched my maternal side- one to my mother and the other to her brother.

Hope that I am able to find a part-time job to cover the costs.

Also, please bear with me.  I am using a new computer with Windows 8.  Very confusing at present.