Thursday, July 7, 2016

Geni DNA Matching - My Personal Experience - Update

I now have 23 DNA matches at Geni. As I mentioned in my first post on this, 9 are people who I requested to test. In my last post I had 14 matches so there are 9 new matches.

I am surprised that so many people who have uploaded DNA are not attached to the WFT initially. Of the 14 matches so far (not counting known relatives I asked to test) 1 has a known path which explains the DNA match.

New matches:

.Megibben: He is a match at FTDNA on chromosome 9. Initially he was not connected to the Geni WFT. He also matches my father and paternal grandmother Jean. After some merges, Megibben is in the WFT and Geni reports they are my 16th cousin thrice removed, but the path is through my maternal grandfather Lewis not my paternal grandmother Jean. Some additional merges and Geni now reports that he is my 15th cousin twice removed. This new path is still through my materal grandfather.

Janet A: Initially she was not connected to the WFT. She also matches Brandon and Sam Knox.

Melody H: Initially she was not connected to the WFT. She matches me on chromosome 2. She is also a match to my maternal half siblings Brandon and Tiffany and our maternal grandfather Lewis.

Clifford W:  On my first request, Geni could find no path, although Clifford is connected to the WFT.  Clifford is a match to me, my father and my paternal grandmother Jean Mulligan in a segment of chromosome 8.

Marion: The first path Geni gives me is she is my 4th cousin 8 times removed wife's first cousin 6 times removed. Well, that clearly isn't the explanation of the DNA match! So far I have not found Marion at FTDNA.   She does not show a match to my father, or any of my tested maternal relatives.  So, in theory, she is related through my maternal grandmother Doreen. I added a bit to Marion's tree at Geni, but didn't see any better paths.

Pamela F: Initially not connected to the WFT at Geni.

C. Y.:  This user came at my invite after we matched at AncestryDNA.  She is my 5th cousin once removed.

Ronald G: At FTDNA matches me on chromosome 17.  Geni reports he is my 11th cousin twice removed.

Steve I.: Initially not connected to WFT at Geni. Geni reports that Steve also has matches with my father and my paternal grandmother Jean. FTDNA reports a match on chromosome 20.

A review of the first 5 matches:

Bradley: I can see at FTDNA we match on chromosome 14.  There is a path that shows him to be my 12th cousin 6 times removed.  This path goes though my father (good as he also matches Bradley) and my paternal grandfather (not good because Bradley also matches my paternal grandmother in that same segment of chromosome 14). The path goes through Bradley's mother (not good as I do not also match her).  I switch Geni's relationship path setting to find relationships to my paternal grandmother Jean and search for a path between Jean and Bradley's father David, and find they are 21st cousins once removed. Not related to the DNA match, David is apparently my 18th cousin thrice removed on my mothers side. My conclusion here is that either Jean or David's or both Jean and David's tree at Geni is missing their true common ancestor. Time for some research!  The first thing I usually do is to add the people to my ancestry.com tree, and look for source records.  I also like to run an Ancestor Chart at History Link for both people, and see what locations might be in common.  A bit of research turned up a set of parents linked to Margaret Slater who married William Quigley/Tweedley to be incorrect. After severing this incorrect link, I reran the relationship paths. There is now no known blood path between Jean and David.  There are some ancestors of David who are from Liverpool, England.  Jean has Joseph Herrington Townsend from Liverpool, England.  Unfortunately, he is a brick wall for now.

Roberta and Michael: Since they are full siblings I will work with just Michael. He matches all 3 of my maternal half siblings, but does not match my maternal grandfather.  Therefore we likely need to look for a connection between Michael and my maternal grandmother Doreen Knox.  There is a suggested path making them my 14th cousins once removed but although this path is through my mother it is also through my maternal grandfather who is not also a match. According to the chromosome browser at FTDNA this match is on chromosome 10. Rerunning the path to find a path between Doreen and Michael finds no blood path.  There is probably a connection back in Ireland somewhere.

Shawna: Shawna is adopted with an unknown birth father.  We match in a segment of chromosome 16, where she also matches my father and paternal grandmother Jean. She also matches with Samuel Knox, my 1st cousin once removed in an unrelated segment.  Her tree at Geni was not yet connected to the World Family Tree so there were no paths to explore.

Becky: We match in a small segment of chromosome 21.  She also matches my father and paternal grandmother Jean in that segment.  We are 11th cousins once removed but the path is through my mother so does not explain the DNA match.

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