Ancestors and Family Stories

Week 16: DNA – Combining Genealogy with Genetic Genealogy I’ve had to do a fair amount of study this week on DNA before I could put my first sentence down on paper. My wife and I have known the basics about DNA for five or more years. We have each taken two autosomal DNA tests, one from Ancestry.com and the other from 23andme. We’ve marveled at our growing lists of DNA matches showing hundreds and now thousands of 1st thru 6th cousins. Until I started looking at it this week, I had not had any technique to zero in on all those DNA matches for adding to our trees. I had not discovered a way to identify how I am related to each of my matches except my closest few (one daughter, one 1 st cousin, two   1 st cousins 1x removed, a couple of 2 nd cousins and only about 3 or 4 - 3 rd cousins). My wife would tell you I am sometimes not good at reading and following instructions, a case in point, Ancestry.com’s ThruLines TM .   Earlier this week I searched for, Use of Ance...

  Week 15: Brick Wall - Deborah   (plus Week 14: Great) This is the story of my 6 th great grandparents by the names of Thomas Crowell and his wife, Deborah____, and their possible connection to the Great Sachem Massasoit. The first five-six generations of Pilgrim descendants in Plymouth Colony after arrival of the Mayflower in 1620 have been extensively researched and well documented by both professional and amateur genealogists. My 6th great grandmother Deborah____   has been the subject of much discussion and it seems no stone has been left unturned. Still, there is no definitive answer as to her last name or ancestry. Thomas is a first generation descendant of Yelverton Crowe (later Crowell) who arrived in Boston with his wife and parents from England in 1635. Thomas was born in Yarmouth, Barnstable County in 1645. He married Deborah in 1684 in Yarmouth and they went on to have ten children between the years 1685 and 1700. I, too, have been unable to find an...