I saw a new DNA match
and she was showing up in my 3rd cousin range. However she didn’t
have a family tree showing.
However, I decided to check to see if she possibly had a
tree not attached to her DNA results.
This did not look promising.
However for her to be my 3rd cousin, that could me that we share 2nd
great grandparents. Since I have uncovered all my second great grandparents, I decided to
see if possibly I could build her tree. Her username in Ancestry is her real
name, thus I went to Facebook and see if I could find any possible matches.
There happened to be only one Facebook person who spelled her name the way she
does. I clicked on her profile and saw this.
I looked at the comments on this post and saw a reference to
her mother…
I kept scrolling
through her public profile pics and found a post on one of them for a Susan who
had the same surname as my DNA match plus her username has her maiden name.
Bingo, a possible mother. I then went back to Ancestry and
did a search on her mother with a spouse that equal her surname.
It started off small, I found my DNA match's Birth Index
that confirmed her mother’s name. Then I found a marriage record between her
mother and father. Since all parties were born after 1940, I knew my searches
might not find much more on Ancestry. I then turned to Newspapers.com and found
out her father is a Doctor. I kept looking and finally found her father’s
mother’s obituary. Unfortunately, the obituary did not list her maiden name. I
went back to ancestry and now was able to find her grandmother’s maiden name,
which lead me back to her parents. This lead me to her mother’s maiden name and
this where I found a common name. I took the tree back one more generation and
I stuck gold and found names I knew were in my tree.
My DNA matches 2nd great grandparents are related
to me through two branches of my family. Her 2nd great grandfather
is my 1st cousin 3x removed through my great grandfather’s line
while her 2nd great grandmother is my 2nd great aunt,
through my great grandmother’s line, who happens to be the spouse of my great
grandfather.
One final note: Remember that original post that stated “Its
from Susan - she has 45%”, well I am not related to Susan, I am related to my
DNA match through her father. This explains why I don’t have Susan as one of my
matches.
Therefore I am glad I built out my DNA matches tree. Will I
be this successful every time? Maybe not, however I will never know unless I
try!
