Broke Through a Genealogical Brick Wall

[Stevo]

Back in July of 2018 I got a small (9 cMs) match at Ancestry DNA with a man with my surname who has a solid paper trail to two people whom I suspected are my fifth great grandparents. I was thrilled. I sent him several messages in July and August asking him to have his y-dna tested with Family Tree DNA, but I never got an answer. Needless to say, I was heartbroken. Then, in November of that same year, I was looking at that match again at Ancestry and decided to give messaging him one more try. This time, however, I prayed first and asked God for help. Miraculously, within a couple of days, the man answered and agreed to order a Y-111 test and pay for it himself, even though I had offered to pay for a Y-37 test! THANK YOU, GOD!

On 04 Jan 2019, his Y-111 results came in, and he matches me 110/111! Not only that, but he also ordered a Family Finder test and matches me on 31 cMs with a longest block of 16 cMs! He shares matches with me to my dad, my youngest son, and a number of my other paternal line matches. I could sense his own amazement at the results, which he proved by upgrading to the Big Y-700. Needless to say, this man is also a Big Y-700 match for me.

Thanks to God and to Family Tree DNA, I now have confirmation of the identity of my fifth great grandparents, both of whom were born about 1750, one, Augustine Stevens, in Maryland, and the other, Sophia Young, in England.

[KATM]

Congratulations!

[Stevo]

Thanks a lot!

[DWFlineage]

So happy for your success. I have also discovered biological family, closest matches so far, niece & great nephew. Not bad for an adoptee who knew nothing in 2009.

Best regards, Doug
Kit#122883

[Stevo]

So happy for your success. I have also discovered biological family, closest matches so far, niece & great nephew. Not bad for an adoptee who knew nothing in 2009.

Best regards, Doug
Kit#122883

Great work! Congratulations! DNA testing is pretty amazing.

[DWFlineage]

Great work! Congratulations! DNA testing is pretty amazing.

Yes it is together with an accurate family tree.

[Stevo]

DNA can be what keeps or makes the family tree accurate.

[Stevo]

I have found numerous problems with paper trail genealogy. Genetic genealogy can be used to straighten it out.

[DWFlineage]

DNA can be what keeps or makes the family tree accurate.

Oh yes, I have corrected my family tree a few times; and dna matches do help to staighten things out.

Best regards, Doug

[raspchide]

Back in July of 2018 I got a small (9 cMs) match at Ancestry DNA with a man with my surname who has a solid paper trail to two people whom I suspected are my fifth great grandparents. I was thrilled. I sent him several messages in July and August asking him to have his y-dna tested with Family Tree DNA, but I never got an answer. Needless to say, I was heartbroken. Then, in November of that same year, I was looking at that match again at Ancestry and decided to give messaging him one more try. This time, however, I prayed first and asked God for help. Miraculously, within a couple of days, the man answered and agreed to order a Y-111 test and pay for it himself, even though I had offered to pay for a Y-37 test! THANK YOU, GOD!

On 04 Jan 2019, his Y-111 results came in, and he matches me 110/111! Not only that, but he also ordered a Family Finder test and matches me on 31 cMs with a longest block of 16 cMs! He shares matches with me to my dad, my youngest son, and a number of my other paternal line matches. I could sense his own amazement at the results, which he proved by upgrading to the Big Y-700. Needless to say, this man is also a Big Y-700 match for me.

Thanks to God and to Family Tree DNA, I now have confirmation of the identity of my fifth great grandparents, both of whom were born about 1750, one, Augustine Stevens, in Maryland, and the other, Sophia Young, in England.

Wow!!! happy to know -congratulations!

[Stevo]

Wow!!! happy to know -congratulations!

Thank you!

I am still amazed and grateful every time I think of this.

[Stevo]

BTW, I wish every guy out there would get the Big Y-700. That would make things so much better.

[keigh]

By doing the Y-700 my brother's DNA went from predicted as R-M269 to R-FT10091. Currently it's a two leafed branch as he's hanging on a branch with one other person.

[chandler1name]

I have a bit of a success story. Now up to Big Y I match TONS of guys with the surname of CHANDLER. I match no guys who have my birth surname, JERNIGAN. But for a long time I did not know when and where the Non-Paternal Event (NPE) could have occurred. I even went to Guntersville, Alabama to the court house to find possible documented proof connecting my documented great-great grandfather, James Silas Jernigan, to a Chandler family there. I did not find any Smoking Gun in either the documents there (primarily land records) or documents researched at Family Search (primarily Orphans Court -- Probate documents). Some members of my immediate family and cousins (paternal and maternal sides) had already tested with Ancestry DNA, so, I decided to do that and a number of my close matches also are documented direct descendants of my great great grandfather, James Silas Jernigan. So I still don't know the exact circumstances of the NPE but I am 99.99% certain that the change of the surname from CHANDLER to JERNIGAN was with my great-great-great grandfather or before him and not in my lineage after that. BTW I have Stevens ancestry from Washington County, New York. 1850 US Census Rock County, Wisconsin.