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Research does not always result in clear, incontrovertible facts. Not all desired goals are achieved. This past month has been "that sort of month."
This month's column is merely an accounting of your author's efforts since our last report.
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New Ethnicity Estimates by Ancestry:
One rather exciting periodic occurrence for those of us who have submitted our DNA for ancestral testing is the report from Ancestry updating our ethnicity estimates. As Ancestry is quick to advise, your DNA does not change but their methods of analysis and available mass data does. As more and more people around the world submit DNA, the resulting data provides Ancestry with a more refined "community" DNA profile for each particular region of the world community.
This month Ancestry provided updated ethnicity estimates for its DNA testers. My latest estimate is shown below:
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This result is a rather drastic change from my very first Ethnicity Estimate after submitting my DNA.
My original Ethnicity Estimate:
On Tue, Jul 12, 2016 at 9:57 PM, Melinda Cohenour wrote:
On Tue, Jul 12, 2016 at 9:57 PM, Melinda Cohenour wrote:
38%___Ireland.
20%___Great Britain.
17%___Scandinavia.
14%___Europe West.
And....
11%___Trace Regions:
4%____Iberian Peninsula.
3%____Europe East.
2%____Italy/Greece.
1%____Finland/Northwest Russia.
>1%___European Jewish.
Quite a change over six years!
Quite a change over six years!
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In other news, work has been progressing on the ongoing effort to
finally identify my first husband's bio mom. He was the father of my
two children and, therefore, the grandfather to all the grands and
great-grands down the line. For their sakes, I feel it incumbent upon me
to identify that grandmother.
It has been reported previously that my first husband, Johnny
Raymond Bradshaw, was abandoned at birth. We have identified the bio
father through both DNA matches and conventional genealogic
documentation. Thank goodness the widow of his biological uncle is
living and, even better, has had her son' s DNA tested. The DNA matches
with my daughter and her brother's son confirms that relationship.
Further, half siblings to my daughter have also tested their DNA through
Ancestry and their test results provide an additional means of
confirmation.
The tricky part lies in the necessity to identify the bio mom
without a direct DNA test match to her or her acknowledged children. A
woman has been singled out through the process of triangulating numerous
DNA matches for my daughter. My grandson, Adam, who is my son John's
boy, has also tested. I am able to separate paternal line DNA matches
for Melissa, my daughter, and for Adam by checking their Shared Matches
to find the known half siblings are included.
The woman mentioned above who appears to be the primary
candidate for his bio mom, descends from a line with the surname Cox.
Numerous DNA matches for Melissa, Adam, and the known half siblings
include the Cox family line. This woman was married at the time Johnny,
my first husband, was born. Her husband was a railroad man which leads
one to believe he was gone for periods of time. Also, her Geographic
locale is correct for the possibility of having had an affair with the
now known bio father. Further, this woman ended her marriage with the
Railroad Man a mere 5 years after Johnny's birth. So, like a murder
mystery, Means (loneliness and unhappy marriage), Motive (for
abandonment of the infant Johnny to the MIAMI-DADE Orphanage would be
her desire to hide her illicit affair). and Opportunity (she lived in
Miami at the right time to have crossed paths with John Lee "Jack Gill,
the bio dad.)
It does complicate matters a bit to have the surname Cox so
prominently in one's mind at all times, however. For example, this month
I was finally able to identify by name a close (2nd-3rd Cousin
suggested) DNA match who submitted his DNA with only initials. He also
managed two tests using those initials, one for his sister and one for
his mother. A little more scrutiny of the tree he had linked to his own
test and to that of his mother and his sister made it possible for me to
identify him specifically. He has had quite an illustrious career,
being the recipient of a world-renowned honor for his outstanding work
in computers, coding, and refining the internet. Having made that leap
of identification for him, he and his sister and parents have been added
to Melissa's tree.
Now to explain the complication. In my haste to tie up the
ends, when I found the mother to have a Cox line, I immediately began
researching all the Cox family members in his line of descent. After an
exhaustive two or three days trying to find a shared Cox family
ancestor, another look at the tree tied to the test showed I was
following the wrong line. Yes all those people named Cox belong in the
tree, but the relevant surname is actually Walters. Up until now there
have been no Walters in the Bradshaw tree.
Oh well, a little prance down the Primrose path never really hurt any family researcher, right?
As your author continues on her Quest to confirm bio mom's
identity, I wish all my readers good hunting as they pursue their own
armchair genealogy.
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