Playing with DNA Information Part3

How many of your matches on Ancestry have trees? Is there a way to tell?  Of course! It is one of the files you will want to create for yourself anyway as a resource and reference.

Let's look at the "a" file created by the DNAGedcom client. In my case it is called "a_Clark_Lind.csv".

What is it telling us? Yes, it is a listing of the people in our matches' trees. But if you think about it, isn't it also a listing of matches who have trees? No tree, then they wouldn't be in this file!

So here is how you can create a list of just names.
-Create a new (blank) Excel file.
-Open your "a" file in Excel (a_Your_Name.csv) BE PATIENT, it can take a while to load..

Once open,
-click on columns C and D, highlighting them both.
-Right-click and select Copy (or ctrl+c)
-Go to the new Excel file and select cell A1. Right-click and select Paste (or ctrl+v).
-With both columns still highlighted, go to the Data Menu, and select Remove Duplicates.
-Save the file. Put it with the other files since you may as well import this into MS Access later anyway.

Now you know which of your matches on Ancestry has a tree. If you compare this file to your "m" file, you can also see who DOES NOT have a tree.

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Another file you will want to have is a listing of your ancestors. Not your complete tree, just your direct ancestors. This will help out later when you start comparing matches. At this stage, we are not looking for matches by casting a wide net, that should already have happened. Now we are trying to see where those people match you in your tree.

There is no real easy way to create such a listing without using some genealogical software. One of the free programs I use for such things is Gramps (Gramps-project.org). If you download your Gedcom file from Ancestry (or have one already), you can open it in Gramps. Set yourself as the home person, then export to a new CSV file (not GEDCOM!!) using the option "Ancestors of Home Person" [you].

That will give you a csv file with just you and your direct relatives. Place it in the same folder as the other files.

These are just "utility" files that will come in handy later once you start comparing data.

More in the next part!

Playing with DNA Information Part2

Now let's look at what is actually in the different files.

Before we import anything into MS Access, it is a good idea to know what each file contains. It will become important later when we start developing queries.

On the left are the files created by the DNAGedcom client for uploading into the DNAGedcom site. Once they've been uploaded and processed, you will have the files on the right available to you (look in the Members/Files area on the DNAGedcom site).

If we look at what each file contains, we can start to get an idea of how we might combine otherwise uncombined information.

In the next part, I'll discuss a file or two that you will want to create that will come in handy.

Playing with DNA Information Part 1

This diagram is a quick layout of how the data moves around from different sites, and what that data looks like. This is not intended to be an exhaustive chart to end all charts. (click to enlarge)

Data created by the different sites and tools can also be utilized locally for our own purposes. "Why?" you may ask. Because even after using many of the tools, many questions still go unanswered. My ultimate goal will be revealed soon. :)

Cherokee Quest Part 1 - Clue 1: Mary "Minnie" Howe

Background:
It never really occurred to me that I might have Native American (NA) DNA. It was in looking at my DNA admixture that the possibility first entered the equation. Under the category AmerIndian, on Chromosome 9 there is definitely something (4.9%) worth investigating.

In speaking with relatives, I have found out that indeed, there are some who were supposedly Cherokee or other NA. Everything appears to center on my 2nd Great Grandfather, James Akes.

The first person of interest is his mother, my 3rd GGM Mary "Minnie" Howe. I can find no information so far other than the research by Judy Langen which has conflicting information. (Her research can be found here: http://www.geocities.ws/judylangen/akes/desc0001.htm#id14556).

Generation Four

40. John Jeff⁴ AKES (William P.³, Peter²AKERS (AKES), Mr¹AKERS) was born on 20 Feb 1814 Indiana.⁷ He married Mary (Minnie) HOWE (an indian).⁷ He married Martha (--?--).⁷ He died on 26 Jul 1864 in Fort Smith, Scott County, Arkansas, at age 50.¹²

Mary (Minnie) HOWE (an indian) was born Missouri.⁷ She died. [***This is not very helpful.]

The nine known children of John Jeff⁴ AKES and Mary (Minnie) HOWE (an indian) were as follows:

• 133. i. James H.⁵ AKES was born in Feb 1839 (prob) Daviess County, Kentucky.⁷ He married Melissa A. (--?--) [Farr] in 1869.⁷ He died on 4 Jan 1902 in Mill Creek, Pope County, Arkansas, at age 62.¹²On 8 Jun 1833, James AKES, of Perry County, Missouri, purchased land described as:
  the South East quarter of the South East quarter of Section thirty three, in Township thirty six North, of Range nine East, in the District of Lands subject to sale at Jackson, Missouri, containing forty acres.⁵⁴  [***example of contradiction.. how can he purchase land 6 years before he is born?]
• 134. ii. Martha AKES was born in 1842 (prob) Daviess County, Kentucky.⁷
• 135. iii. John T. AKES was born in 1845 (prob) Daviess County, Kentucky.⁷ He married Semanthy Elizabeth H. HUSE.⁷
• 136. iv. Smith AKES was born in 1848 (prob) Perry County, Missouri.⁷On 1 Jan 1859, Smith AKES, of Perry County, Missouri, purchased land described as:
  the South half of the South East quarter and the South half of the South West quarter of Section four, in Township thirty five North, of Range nine East, in the District of Lands subject to sale at Jackson, Missouri, containing one hundred and sixty acres.⁵⁵
• 137. v. Smith A. AKES was born in 1852 (prob) Perry County, Missouri.⁷
• 138. vi. Mary Tillety "Telitha" AKES was born in 1853 (prob) Perry County, Missouri.⁷ She married James Anthony CROCKETT.⁷
• 139. vii. Elitha AKES was born in 1855 (prob) Perry County, Missouri.⁷
• 140. viii. Napoleon B. AKES was born in 1856 (prob) Perry County, Missouri.⁷
• 141. ix. Daniel L. AKES was born in 1857 (prob) Perry County, Missouri.⁷

Martha (--?--) was born in 1825 Missouri.⁷

There were no known children of John Jeff⁴ AKES and Martha (--?--).

Mary "Minnie" Howe can be found in a couple of the Censuses, but more research is needed to find out who she was and where she came from.

Eurogenes EUtest V2 K15 Oracle results

Kit A741217

Admix Results (sorted):

#    Population    Percent
1    North_Sea    34.53
2    Atlantic    32.19
3    Eastern_Euro    11
4    West_Med    7.46
5    West_Asian    6.77
6    Baltic    5.12
7    South_Asian    1.68
8    Red_Sea    0.86
9    Siberian    0.19
10    Oceanian    0.18
11    Sub-Saharan    0.02

Single Population Sharing:

#    Population (source)    Distance
1    Southeast_English    6.56
2    West_Scottish    6.69
3    Irish    7.04
4    Orcadian    7.09
5    Southwest_English    7.26
6    Danish    7.98
7    North_Dutch    8.86
8    North_German    8.94
9    South_Dutch    9.59
10    Norwegian    12.03
11    West_German    12.23
12    West_Norwegian    12.26
13    French    13.12
14    Swedish    13.7
15    North_Swedish    15.3
16    East_German    16.54
17    Southwest_Finnish    19.31
18    Austrian    19.43
19    Spanish_Cataluna    19.6
20    Spanish_Galicia    20.58

Mixed Mode Population Sharing:

#         Primary Population (source)    Secondary Population (source)    Distance
1         94.1%    West_Scottish    +    5.9%    Ossetian    @    5.87
2         86.7%    Orcadian    +    13.3%    French_Basque    @    5.9
3         94.5%    West_Scottish    +    5.5%    Kalash    @    5.91
4         93.5%    West_Scottish    +    6.5%    Tabassaran    @    5.92
5         93.8%    West_Scottish    +    6.2%    Chechen    @    5.92
6         93.9%    West_Scottish    +    6.1%    Afghan_Pashtun    @    5.93
7         95.1%    West_Scottish    +    4.9%    Abhkasian    @    5.96
8         94.2%    West_Scottish    +    5.8%    Balkar    @    5.97
9         94.8%    West_Scottish    +    5.2%    Burusho    @    5.97
10         93.9%    West_Scottish    +    6.1%    Lezgin    @    5.97
11         93.4%    West_Scottish    +    6.6%    Tadjik    @    5.98
12         94.7%    West_Scottish    +    5.3%    Balochi    @    5.98
13         94.2%    West_Scottish    +    5.8%    Kabardin    @    5.99
14         94.4%    West_Scottish    +    5.6%    Adygei    @    5.99
15         94.9%    West_Scottish    +    5.1%    Brahui    @    6
16         95%    West_Scottish    +    5%    Georgian    @    6.01
17         94.7%    West_Scottish    +    5.3%    North_Ossetian    @    6.03
18         95.1%    West_Scottish    +    4.9%    Makrani    @    6.07
19         94.3%    West_Scottish    +    5.7%    Kumyk    @    6.08
20         95.2%    West_Scottish    +    4.8%    Pathan    @    6.09

Here is my admixture from Gedmatch. Not much surprise, except to see some Native American.  Also interesting to see some other DNA I didn't know I had:

The Elusive Augustus Lind -- Brickwall #1 Part 1

The 14-year old boy, a stowaway, arrived in America. He was all alone in the New World, in a city called Philadelphia, in the year 1865. It was nothing like the Sweden he just left.

There is no record of his arrival. There is no record of his naturalization. In fact, there is no record of the first 32 years of his life.

The first definitive record of his existence is in Nevada City, California in December, 1884 where he is getting married to his wife, Elvira Lenora Gillett (whose ancestors can be traced back to Antoine De Gylet of the Huguenots in 1500-1600s Bergerac, France), she is just sixteen.

Together, they had at least seven children, and it is thought that three of them died in early childhood, including young Anne Mariah Lind (20 Jul 1899 - 12 Aug 1899) who succumbed to Cholera Infantum at just 22 days old. The children who made it to adulthood were:

• Thomas Augustus Lind (1887-1956)

• John Albert Lind (1889-1976)

• George William Lind (1894-1943) (my Grandfather)

• Leonard Lewis Lind (1898-1992)

• Viola Lenora Lind (1901-1954)

In 1906, Augustus Lind, aged 58, dies of Gangrene of the Lungs. He had been working as a millman in his father-in-law's mill (William T. Gillett). He left behind a large family, and a large mystery.

Where did he really come from? He had mentioned on occasion that he was a first cousin of Jenny Lind (Anna Maria Goldschmidt Lind), "The Swedish Nightingale". Was this true? There is little known about the father of Jenny Lind (who was born out of wedlock).

So to help solve this puzzle, I've taken a Y-DNA test at FamilytreeDNA.com. I am still waiting on the results of half the test. The three out of six portions of the test that have been completed do indeed indicate he was Swedish and my Haplogroup is most likely I1.

Since Y-DNA is passed from father to son with little to no change, the Y-DNA that me, my son, my brother, and his sons all carry should be almost identical to that of Augustus Lind. And also that of his father, his uncles, his brothers, etc. The DNA will never tell me who his father was (and help fill in the blanks of the story), but it can help point to common ancestors. If I can hop over Augustus to others in Sweden with the same Y-DNA, I might be able to pick up a paper trail that leads back down to him.