Surprising DNA Match

It has been a very busy couple of months trying to make sense of the DNA matches which all seem to be on my paternal side - not the Palin side.  I was advised to upload the raw DNA data to GEDmatch and when I did that I found another confirmed connection but again on the paternal side.

For those of you not familiar with GEDmatch, it is a 3rd party company that you upload your raw DNA data to and then it looks for matches in its data base.  The GREATEST thing about GEDmatch is that a match maybe from someone who did their DNA test with any other company and it is FREE!  My kit number is A756830.  Let me know if we match!


As I have mentioned before I get wonderful emails from ancestry letting me know about hints or messages or even comments on photos in my family tree.  Just this week I got one of those emails.

I clicked on the link "View Comment" to see what the photo was and what the comment was.  Mary Jane Ashley Judd is not a close relation and I was not sure of where she fit in the tree.

I then found Mary Jane and could read the comments made.  Andrew had wrote "This is the person whom I inherited my middle name" . I decided to take it a step further and clicked on Andrew's name just to see if he had done a DNA test and if we matched!

Woohoo!! It showed where Andrew and I  would be 5th-8th cousins.  I did not have Andrew in our tree or even his last name.  I then clicked on  "View Match"  and then click on Andrew's tree to find out how he might be connected to Mary Jane Ashley or the Palins.

Once I saw how Andrew was connected to Mary Jane, I knew how we were connected via DNA!!!  I had written in the past a blog about Robert Ashley and even did a blog about one of the Burstons.  The next step was to email Andrew for confirmation.

Hi Andrew,

I have no idea how many DNA matches you may have, but you are showing up as a 5-8th cousin of mine. Normally I don't try to figure these out because there are far to many, but thanks to your comment on the photo of Mary Janes Ashleigh Judd, this connection sort of fell in my lap!

Using your pedigree and my family tree I was able to piece it together

Andrew Hebron 7th cousin 3x removed
daughter Judd mother of Andrew Hebron
Arthur Ashley Judd (1898 - 1972)father of daughter Judd
Arthur Ashley Judd (1872 - 1955)father of Arthur Ashley Judd
Mary Jane Ashley (1844 - 1926)mother of Arthur Ashley Judd
Anne Burston (1808 - 1862)mother of Mary Jane Ashley
Sarah Palin (1779 - 1846)mother of Anne Burston
Thomas Palin (1755 - 1808)father of Sarah Palin
Joseph Palin (1731 - )father of Thomas Palin
John Palin (1708 - )father of Joseph Palin
John Palin (1685 - 1717)father of John Palin
Elizabeth Bathoe (1659 - 1697)mother of John Palin
Thomas Palin (1681 - 1726)son of Elizabeth Bathoe
Thomas Palin (1714 - 1800)son of Thomas Palin
John Palin (1749 - 1833)son of Thomas Palin
William Palin (1794 - 1875) son of John Palin
Arnold Henry Palin (1842 - 1918)son of William Palin
Charles Stapleford Palin (1884 - 1932)son of Arnold Henry Palin
Barbara Helen Stapleford Palin daughter of Charles Stapleford Palin
Susan Marlow daughter of Barbara Helen Stapleford Palin

Let me know what you think

Cheers
Susan

Andrew wrote back and confirmed my suspicions.    In the past I have not added people to the tree if they were more than 2 generations from a Palin.  I had made this decision for a couple of reasons; one to keep the tree more manageable - number wise, and two; to keep the tree closest to the Palin blood line.    I now realise I have made a mistake.  Andrew and I share a small portion of DNA that was handed down from our ancestors and that should be recognized, regardless of how far removed he is from the Palin line.  Andrew has now been added to the tree.

 You can find Andrew in the tree here.

Also to keep track of my Palin DNA matches, I have added a new picture that will be associated with those matches.