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Identifying James Dorsey’s Father with the Help of DNA Evidence ICAPGen and the Accredited Genealogist 1897 Fatal Coal Mine Accidents Pulaski County Jurors Lawrence Arney’s Coal Mine Floyd County Naturalizations

Notices from Gibson, Hancock, Johnson, Lake, and Vanderburgh Counties

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Ft. Wayne, IN 46852-0507 www.indgensoc.org

Indiana Genealogist (ISSN 1558-0458) is pub-lished electronically each quarter (March, June, September, and December) and is avail-able exclusively to members of the Indiana Genealogical Society as a bene!t of member-ship. ! " # $ %Rachel M. PopmaE-mail: quarterly@indgensoc.org& ' ( ) " & & " $ * &Submissions concerning people who were in Indiana at one time are always welcome. Material from copyright-free publications is preferred. For information on accepted !le formats, please contact the editor.+ % " # " * , - + - % !#e Indiana Genealogical Society may bestow the Elaine Spires Smith Family History Writ-ing Award (which includes $500) to the writer of an outstanding article that is submitted to either Indiana Genealogist or IGS Newsletter. Submitters need not be members of IGS. To be eligible for consideration for the award, the article must be at least 1,000 words (or a series of articles on the same topic that totals 1,000 words). Abstracts, transcriptions, indexes, or other forms of genealogy data are not eligible for consideration. Articles must be submitted by 31 December of each year, and the winner will be recognized at the IGS annual confer-ence in April. Multiple submissions are wel-come. #e IGS Publications committee will judge all eligible entries and make a decision about the winner. IGS reserves the right not to bestow the award in a particular year. ! " & . / - " ) %While every precaution is taken to avoid errors, the publisher does not assume any liability to any party for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident or any other cause.

0 1 2 3 4 2 3 54 Editor’s Branch

5 Identifying the Father of James Dorsey: A Case Study Incorporating DNA Evidence, by Ann Raymont

24 ICAPGen and the Accredited Genealogist, by Mauri Stotts Pratt, ag

27 Reports of Fatal Mine Accidents in Indiana, 1897, by Rachel M. Popma2 6 7 8 9 : ; < 8 = > < 8 7 > ? 835 Jurors Appointed by the Pulaski County Commissioners, 1842–1843, submitted by Janet Onken

36 “Funeral of Peter School [sic]” (Lake County, 1910)@ ; < 8 0 ; A 8 7 B C = > < 8 7 > ? 837 Lawrence Arney’s Coal Mine (Owen County), by Dianne Dayhu$4 B < 8 0 ; A 8 7 B C = > < 8 7 > ? 840 Deaths Reported in the Green%eld Republican, 6 September 1894

D ' ( / " . - # " $ * & # - # ) * #All works submitted to the Indiana Genealog-ical Society (and its subsidiaries) for publica-tion become the property of the Society and all copyrights are assigned to the Society. !e Society retains the non-exclusive rights to publish all such works in any format includ-ing all types of print, electronic, and digital formats. All materials in IGS publications are copyrighted to protect the Society and to exclude others from republishing contributed works. All individual contributors retain the right to submit their own work for publica-tion elsewhere and have the Society’s per-mission to do so. !e Indiana Genealogical Society routinely grants permission for other societies and organizations to reprint mate-rials from our publications provided proper credit is given to the Society, the particular publication of the Society, and the contribu-tor. ) ) ( % & E " D ! " & # % " . # &

NW = NorthwestNC = North Central NE = Northeast

WC = West CentralC = Central EC = East Central

SW = Southwest SC = South Central SE = Southeast

5 6 F 8 9 : ; < 8 = > < 8 7 > ? 841 “Children Without Home When Protector Moves” (Vanderburgh County, 1906)

36 Death of Lucy White (Gibson County, 1913), submitted by Meredith &ompson5 6 F 8 9 0 ; A 8 7 B C = > < 8 7 > ? 842 Naturalizations in Floyd County Court Records, Part One, by Nancy Strickland

G 1 2 0 4 H I 1 1 5 J 4 K L L LH M @ H N 5 H I 1 1 5 J 4 K OFor “Once a Hoosier,” researchers are urged to

submit details of former Hoosiers—people who were

born before 1930, who were in Indiana for some por-

tion of their lives, and who died in another state.

!e companion project “...Always A Hoosier”

records information on ancestors who were born

before 1930 and were buried in Indiana. (!ey did not

have to be living in Indiana at the time of death.)

If your ancestor meets these criteria, we’d like to

hear more about them!

In 2015 the “Once a Hoosier...” and “...Always

a Hoosier” projects were brought online as a blog.

Ancestor submissions are now accepted at

http://oahblog.indgensoc.org/submit-your-ancestor/.

!e editor is Teresa Kahle.

P Q R S T Q T U V Q V T W X Y S Z [\

At the Saturday opening session of the Midwestern Roots 2016 conference in July, genetic

genealogist CeCe Moore kept the audience spellbound with stories from her work on the televi-

sion series Finding Your Roots. Family tales were proven and disproven and new narratives written

as she demonstrated how DNA testing and analysis can extend traditional genealogical research.

Her enthusiasm was infectious, and I suspect I was not the only one who le$ the session con-

vinced that I needed to learn more about genetic genealogy and to order a DNA testing kit for

myself.

Fortunately, it’s not di%cult now to &nd educational resources. Just about any genealogy con-

ference has sessions on DNA, and it has become a focus at genealogy institutes and the subject of

numerous print publications and webinars. We can access Facebook groups, a Wiki, and Web sites

devoted to helping researchers understand genetic genealogy and create new connections among

family members.

DNA evidence is also becoming an important part of genealogical proof, particularly in cases

where documentary evidence, for whatever reason, is con*icting or does not exist. Ann Ray-

mont’s article in this issue discusses just this sort of case. !e parents of Irish immigrant James

Dorsey could not be directly identi&ed through traditional research, although that research sug-

gested a connection in Canada. Raymont de$ly demonstrates how DNA evidence was used to

con&rm or deny this hypothesis, and her study is supplemented by discussion of best practices

in the use of DNA evidence. !e case study of this immigrant family also provides insight into

migration patterns and into religion and cultural practices that may be helpful to those of us

researching elsewhere in the Midwest.

Also in this issue, Mauri Stotts Pratt, ag, presents an overview of ICAPGen and the Accred-

ited Genealogist program. Dianne Dayhu< tells the story of Owen County’s Lawrence Arney and

his nineteenth-century coal mine, and early Floyd County naturalization records are transcribed

by Nancy Strickland.

What interesting stories have you uncovered in your work lately? I’d love to share them with

all of our readers! Contact me at quarterly@indgensoc.org.

On the cover: Photograph of James Dorsey and family. Seated (l-r) are James, wife Emma, and

son Charles; standing, l-r, are the rest of James and Emma’s children: Hattie, Ellen, John, Mary, and

Emma. (James P. Dorsey photograph, privately held by Nancy Dorsey, Wisconsin, 2015)

] ^ _ ` ^ a b ^ c d e f g h

J = 4 2 3 J i N J 2 j 3 I 4 i H 3 I 4 K 1 i k H l 4 5 = 1 K 5 4 N mH 0 H 5 4 5 3 n = N J 2 0 1 K o 1 K H 3 J 2 j = 2 H 4 p J = 4 2 0 4q r r s t u v w r xJames Dorsey died in Shawano County, Wisconsin, in 1917. His death certi&cate does not

identify his parents but does place his birth in 1832 in Ireland.1 His grave marker does not iden-

tify a county of origin, as sometimes is shown for Irish immigrants.2 No obituary apparently sur-

vives.3 If James le$ Ireland before adulthood, reconstructing his history could produce evidence

of his father somewhere in North America. Indeed, traditional research tracks him back to early

adulthood in Canada, residing in the vicinity of another man with the same surname. However,

no documents appear to link the two. A relatively recent kind of evidence, autosomal DNA, may

shed new light on James’s origins.y z { | } ~ � � } | � � � � � } � � � } � �Wisconsin county histories reveal only that James Dorsey was a pioneer who began home-

steading in Outagamie County around 1867.4 !at year, in his declaration of intent to become

a naturalized citizen of the United States, he swore that he “was born in Ireland on or about the

year eighteen hundred and thirty three” [1833] and arrived in the U.S. “at the port of Huron on

or about the month of November in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-&ve” [1865].5 Huron is

located on the St. Clair River that separates Michigan from Ontario, Canada.

His widow’s 1925 obituary con&rms that he came to Wisconsin via Canada. However, the

informant would have not have been a witness to some of the vital events mentioned that hap-

pened decades before.

1 Wisconsin Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, certi&cate of death #4 (1917), James Dorsey, death date 5 August 1917, town of Hutchins, Shawano County; Wisconsin Vital Records O%ce, Madison; informant Charles Dorsey. Birth date given was 25 December 1832.

2 Shawano County Genealogy, “Woodlawn, Hutchins Twp. Section 28” (A–L), Cemeteries of Shawano County, digi-tal image (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wishawa4/Cemeteries/76%20Woodlawn%20Hutchins/A-L/wood-lawn%20A-L.htm : accessed 14 July 2014), photograph, gravestone for James Dorsey, Dec 25 1833–Aug 6 1917, photographer uncredited.

3 Shawano County Genealogy, “Surnames Beginning with D,” obituary index (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wishawa4/Obituaries/New%20D.htm : accessed 18 March 2016). Also, the index for the newspaper serv-ing the area of his death, the Antigo Daily Journal, does not contain an entry for Dorsey in 1917. See Leland A. Fischer, “Antigo Newspaper Indexes,” Antigo, Wisconsin Genealogy Gopher (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~antigowis/obits/obits.html : accessed 6 June 2016.)

4 !omas Henry Ryan, History of Outagamie County, Wisconsin (Chicago: Goodspeed Historical Association, 1911), p. 1357; digital images, Wisconsin Historical Society (http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collec-tion/wch/id/40692 : accessed 15 March 2016).

5 Outagamie [Wisconsin], Declarations of intention 1852–1870, vol. 1, no. 1–25, James Dorsey, 3 July 1867, record number 1087; digital image 183 of 323, in “Wisconsin, County Naturalization Records, 1807–1992,” FamilySearch (accessed 14 March 2016). !e volume is unpaginated, but entries appear in sequential order by record number. !e entries in the volume are 1–1925, not 1–25 as indicated in the FHL catalog entry.

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Mrs. Ann Dorsey passed away last Wednesday evening…. Emma Ann Wilsdon was born at Dedington, England on March 9, 1837 and had reached the age of 88 years and 16 days. At the age of ten years she, with her parents came to Canada, remaining there until 1867. In 1857 she was married to James Dorsey. To Mr. and Mrs. Dorsey were born 8 children, 3 of whom preceded her in death, a son and daughter in infancy, and John, the eldest who passed away July 3, 1923. !ose to [sic] le$ to miss her are Mrs. Walter [Mary] Jersey, Mrs. E [Ellen] Gri%n of Mattoon, Charles Dorsey of New London, Mrs. W. A. [Emma] Gruner of Shawano, and Mrs. J. P. [Hattie] Larsen of Antigo.6

Tracking the family across census years in the United States also helps identify family mem-

bers (see Table 1).

Table 1. U.S. Census Records for James Dorsey in Wisconsin

1870a 1880b 1900c 1910d

James 38, b. Ireland 42, b. Ireland 64, b. Ireland Dec 1835 75, b. Ireland

Ann/Anna 35, b. England 39, b. England 62, b. England Mar

1838

74, b. England

John 13, b. Canada E

Mary 11, b. Canada E

Ellen 7, b. Canada E 15, b. Canada E

Charles 1, b. Wisconsin 11, b. Wisc.

Emma 7, b. Wisc.

Hattie M 5, b. Wisc.

Notes Wife’s name is

shown Emma A

Married 44 years. 8

children; 6 survive

Married 53 years

In each census, James Dorsey’s occupation was farmer.

a. 1870 U.S. census, Outagamie Co., Wisconsin, pop. sch., Bovina, p. 9 (penned), dwell. 74, fam. 75, James

Dorsey; NARA micro&lm M593, roll 1730. It is unclear what the enumerator meant by “Canada E” rather

than simply “Canada.” !e enumerator’s instructions did not call for specifying location within Canada.

b. 1880 U.S. census, Outagamie Co., Wisconsin, pop. sch., ED 118, Town of Maine, p. 17 (penned), dwell. 159,

fam. 167, James Dorsey; NARA micro&lm T9, roll 1440. James and Ann’s ages may be wrong; they are only

four years older than the prior census. Children are identi&ed as son and daughters of James.

c. 1900 U.S. census, Shawano Co., Wisconsin, pop. sch., ED 166, Hutchins, sheet 8 (penned), dwell. 117, fam.

137, Dorsey James [inverted &rst name and last name]; NARA micro&lm T623, roll 1817.

d. 1910 U.S. census, Shawano Co., Wisconsin, pop. sch., ED 0150, Hutchins, sheet 10B (stamped), dwell. 75,

fam. 75, James Dorsey; NARA micro&lm T624, roll 1737.

6 Antigo [Wisconsin] Daily Journal, 1 April 1925, p. 7.

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!e age discrepancies from one census year to another are not critical. It was common for the

nineteenth-century Irish to be uncertain of their age or birth date.7

!e following information from the above-mentioned Wisconsin records is useful for &nding

the same family in Canada before 1865:

James Dorsey was born in Ireland, probably around 1832–33, perhaps as late as 1835.

His wife was Emma Ann Wilsdon, born in England ca. 1835–38.

James and Ann almost certainly married in Canada ca. 1855–57.

James le$ Canada ca. 1865–67 to homestead in Wisconsin.

James and Ann had three children born in Canada between 1856 and 1863. !ree more

children were born in Wisconsin ca. 1869–75. Two others died in infancy, location

unknown.

!e 1870 census did not report any other Dorsey (or variant spelling) in Outagamie County

who might be a parent to James.8 Digital estate records in Wisconsin produced no Dorsey probate

&le naming James Dorsey as an heir or administrator.9 !ere was no evidence of a man in the area

who might be the father of James Dorsey. y z { | } ¤ ~ z � � � ¥ � � ¦ � § z � � � ¨ © z � z ª zAs a result of the Great Famine, over a million impoverished Irish *ed their homeland in the

mid-nineteenth century. Of those, 300,000 came to Canada, to which fares were cheaper and pas-

senger laws less stringent than those of the United States.10 James Dorsey was born in Ireland and

moved to Canada sometime before he married in the mid-1850s. It’s possible he arrived in Cana-

da with parents and siblings during the Famine.

!e 1861 census in Canada covers the areas of Canada East (Quebec), Canada West (Ontar-

io), New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. A search reveals only one candi-

7 John Grenham, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1996), 6.8 !e only candidate, sixty-year-old Irish-native William Dorsey of Center Township, arrived in Outagamie County

by 1860 a$er several years in Ohio, according to the birth information of the children in his household. !ese children included a James, born in Ireland about a decade a$er the subject of this study. James, in William’s household, was born in Ireland ca. 1842, may have lived in Ohio for a time, and was in Wisconsin with William Dorsey by 1860. James, the subject of this study, was born in Ireland ca. 1832–35, lived in Canada between 1855 and 1865, and then arrived in Wisconsin. !e two James Dorseys were not the same man. !erefore, William was not the father of the subject of this study. For the William Dorsey household, see 1870 U.S. census, Outagamie Co., Wisconsin, pop. sch., Town of Center, p. 8 (penned), dwell. 57, fam. 57, Wm Dorsey; NARA M593, roll 1730; also 1860 U.S. census, Outagamie Co., Wisconsin, pop. sch., Town of Center, p. 139 (penned), dwell. 1015, fam. 989, Wm Dorsey; NARA micro&lm M653.

9 Ancestry.com, “Wisconsin Wills and Probate Records, 1800–1987,” database and images (accessed 21 April 2016); search for Dorsey, Darcy and other variants. !e Ancestry collection includes Outagamie County and Shawano County.

10 Donald MacKay, Flight from Famine: &e Coming of the Irish to Canada (Toronto: !e Canadian Publishers, 1990), 12–13, 284.

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date for James: an Irish Catholic farmer named James Darcy, age 29, in Blanshard, Perth County,

Ontario.11

Table 2 correlates this 1861 Canada census entry to the U.S. records already reviewed.

Table 2. Comparison of James Darcy Family in Canada to

James Dorsey Family in Wisconsin

1861 Census, Ontario, Canada Corresponding Information from U.S. Censuses

James, b. Ireland, ca. 1832, Catholic James, b. Ireland, likely ca. 1832–33

Ann, b. England, ca. 1835, Church of Eng. Ann, b. England, ca. 1835–38

James and Ann married in 1856 James and Ann married ca. 1855–57

John, b. Upper Canada, ca. 1857, Catholic John, b. Canada E, ca. 1856–57

James, b. Upper Canada, 1860, Catholic

Mary, b. Canada E., ca. 1859

!e similarities are striking. As for the discrepancies:

!e di<erent spelling (Darcy vs. Dorsey) is not an issue; phonetically they are very close.

!e child James was likely the son who died in infancy, noted in Ann’s obituary and the

1900 U.S. census.

Mary was listed age eleven in the 1870 U.S. census but not shown in 1861. !e age in the

1870 census may have been inaccurate. Her absence in the 1861 census is not signi&cant.

Another obituary provides key evidence that this family in Ontario is the same family found

later in Wisconsin. Ann Dorsey’s obituary said her son John predeceased her. His 1923 obituary

states, “John Dorsey, one of Cloquet’s old pioneers, was born in St. Mary’s, Canada, on Seeptem-

ber [sic] 8, 1858.” He was survived by a wife, no children, and “sisters Mrs. Walter Jersey, Mrs.

E. L. Gri%n, Mrs. James P. Larsen, Mrs. William Cronan, all of Mattoon, Wis., and a brother,

Charles Dorsey, who resides in New London, Wisconsin.”12 !eir mother’s obituary named the

same children; John is clearly her son. His birthplace, St. Mary’s, is the largest community within

Blanshard Township,13 where James Darcy’s family lived in 1861.

11 1861 census, Canada East, database and images, Library and Archives Canada 1861 (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1861/pages/item.aspx?itemid=1936890 : accessed 16 March 2016); entry for James Darcy, Blanshard, Perth, p. 23, line 36, micro&lm C-1064-1065, item number 1936890.

12 “John Dorsey is Called Beyond,” obituary, Cloquet (Minnesota) Pine Knot, 6 July 1923, p 1. !e informant was likely his widow; he had no other family in Minnesota. One sibling’s name in this obituary is a slight mismatch with the daughter named in his mother’s obituary: Mrs. W. A. Groner vs. Mrs. William Cronan. !ese are pho-netically similar.

13 McGill Library, &e Canadian County Atlas Digital Project, Search > Perth > Blanshard (http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/Images/Maps/TownshipMaps/per-m-blanshard.jpg : accessed 16 March 2016).

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­ � � ® z | ¯ ¤ ~ z � � � ¥ � � ¦ � § z � � � ¨ © z � z ª zIf James married in this area of Ontario, did he have parents and siblings there?

Only one other household in Perth County at that time was headed by an adult with a sur-

name of Dorsey or variants. It consisted of Machal [Michael] Darcy (age sixty-four), Mary (sixty),

and John (eighteen). Each was Roman Catholic and born in Ireland. !ey were farmers, living

in a one-story log home in the township of Downie.14 As seen in Figure 1, Downie is adjacent to

Blanshard, where James was living.

However, no known Ontario record, including deeds and marriage records, names both

Michael and James Darcy or Dorsey.15 Province vital records before 1869 are scarce, and few

Canadian passenger lists survive from this period.16

Records for Michael Darcy could provide evidence that he was or was not James’s father. In

1848 Michael Dorsey, a laborer and non-proprietor of land, lived in Downie, Perth County.17 He

14 1861 census, Canada East, database and images, Library and Archives Canada 1861 (http://data2.collectionscan-ada.gc.ca/1861/jpg/4391951_00260.jpg : accessed 16 March 2016); entry for Machal Darcy, Downie, Perth, p. 43, line 1, micro&lm C-1064-1065, item number 1940324.

15 Sister M. Teresita, C.S.J. (archivist of the Diocese of London, Ontario) to John Larsen, Ypsilanti, Michigan, letter, 3 August 1984; in the collection of Ann Raymont, West&eld, Indiana, 2014. Also, Brenda Dougall Merriman, Cer-ti&ed Genealogical Record Searcher—Ontario Records, Ontario, Canada, to John Larsen, letter, 20 October 1982; James Dorsey Research &les, privately held by Ann Raymont, West&eld, Indiana. Mr. Larsen was the grandson of James Dorsey’s youngest daughter Hattie Dorsey Larson.

16 Brenda Dougall Merriman, Genealogy in Ontario: Searching the Records (Toronto: !e Ontario Genealogical Society, 1996), 29. Also, MacKay, Flight from Famine, 12–14, 284.

17 Canada Board of Registration and Statistics, Census of parts of Ontario, 1848 (Salt Lake City: Genealogical Soci-ety of Utah, 1971), “Township of Downie, Perth County,” p. 13; FHL &lm #851365, item 5; citing original manu-scripts at the University of Western Ontario.

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Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of Perth, Ont. (Toronto: H. Belden & Co., 1879), via "e Canadian County

Atlas Digital Project, McGill University (http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/default.htm)

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may have *ed Ireland in the height of the Great Famine. He does not appear in Canada’s 1851

provincial census,18 but schedules for only 80 percent of Perth County sub-districts survive.19

Surviving Roman Catholic Church records o<er some clues. Just one Perth County register

names any of James and Ann Darcy’s children: James, baptized on 24 June 1860 in St. Joseph Par-

ish.20 !e parish also recorded marriages of James’s possible siblings:

Elizabeth Darcy (no information on birth or parents) married Patrick Conroy in 1854.21

Mary Darcy, twenty, born in Ireland to Michael Darcy and Mary Tinnon, married Patrick

Collopy in 1859.22

Bridget Darcy, twenty-six, born in Ireland to Michael Darcy and Mary Teehan, married

Patrick Kinney in 1864.23

John Dorsey, twenty-six, born in Ireland to Michael Dorsey and Mary Teehan, married

Margaret Gleason in 1864.24

John likely was the John Darcy living with Michael and Mary Darcy in Downie in 1861. !ey

probably were “Michael Dorsey on lot 8 concession 10 in Downie from 1863 to 1870, and John on

an adjoining lot 1867–1870.”25 !is is about ten kilometers (six miles) from where James Darcy’s

son John was apparently born in 1858.26 No other Ontario sources, including probate and burial

records, yielded useful information.27 !e family may have le$ by 1871.28

18 “Canada Census, 1851,” Index, FamilySearch (accessed 17 July 2014), citing Board of Registration and Statistics, Public Archives, Ontario; search for last name Darcy and variants. !e village of Downie was also searched line by line, page by page.

19 Library and Archives of Canada (LAC), 1851 Census Districts and Sub-districts: Canada West (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1851/Pages/canada-west.aspx : accessed 1 July 2014), lists all districts (counties) and sub-districts and identi&es which do not have surviving 1851 census returns.

20 “Ontario, Roman Catholic Church Records, 1760–1923,” images, FamilySearch (accessed 10 March 2016) > Perth > Stratford > St Joseph > Baptisms, marriages, burials 1849–1910; image 81 of 340; Catholic Church parishes, Ontario.; James Darcy, p. S47.

21 “Ontario, Roman Catholic Church Records, 1760–1923,” Family Search (accessed 6 July 2014) > Perth > Stratford > St Joseph > Baptisms, marriages 1849–1869 > image 59 of 135; Elizabeth Darcy, Patrick Conroy, marriage 17 May 1854.

22 “Ontario, Roman Catholic Church Records, 1760–1923,” Family Search (accessed 2 July 2014) > Perth > Stratford > St Joseph > Marriages 1858–1900 > image 5 of 40; Mary Darcy, Patrick Collopy, marriage 16 October 1859.

23 “Ontario, Roman Catholic Church Records, 1760–1923,” Family Search (accessed 7 July 2014)> Perth > Stratford > St Joseph > Marriages 1858–1900 > image 11 of 40; Bridget Darcy, Patrick Kinney, marriage 28 March 1864.

24 “Ontario, Roman Catholic Church Records, 1760–1923,” Family Search (accessed 6 July 2014) > Perth > Stratford > St Joseph > Baptisms, marriages, burials 1849–1910 > image 270 of 340, John Dorsey, Margaret Gleason, mar-riage 7 November 1864. John’s parents’ names appeared to be Michael Dorsey and Mary Leehan or Teehan.

25 Merriman, to John Larsen, letter, 20 October 1982, citing local directories 1863–1931 held by the Perth Archives. 26 “John Dorsey is Called Beyond.” 27 Merriman, to John Larsen, letter, 20 October 1982.28 See “Search: 1871 Census of Canada” (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1871/pages/1871.aspx : accessed 21

April 2016), database search of province of Ontario for Michael Darcy and for John Darcy, each with other sur-name variants.

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� � � � � � � � � �   ¡ ¢ ° °

­ � � ® z | ¯ ~ z � � � � � ­ � � ® � ² z �Michael Darcy, an eighty-two-year-old Irish widower, died in Speaker Township in Sani-

lac County, Michigan, on 14 March 1878.29 He settled in Speaker a$er 187030 and appears to be

Michael Darcy from Perth County. !ree Darcy children who married in Perth County—Eliza-

beth, Bridget, and John—also moved to Speaker, Michigan:

Elizabeth (Darcy) Conroy le$ Perth, Ontario, and moved to Speaker around 1872. She

died in Speaker in 1902. Her death certi&cate indicates she was born in Ireland and names

Michael Dorcy as her father.31 Her obituary traces her migration.32

Bridget (Darcy) Kinney died in Speaker in 1907; her death certi&cate also named her

father Michael Dorsey,33 which matches her 1864 Ontario marriage entry.

John also le$ Ontario for Speaker between 1869 and 1871, indicated by the baptismal and

birth records for his children with his spouse Margaret Gleeson.34 When John’s widow

Margaret died in Speaker in 1919, her death record identi&ed her as the daughter of Cor-

nelius Gleeson,35 which matches her 1864 Ontario parish marriage register entry.

29 “Michigan Deaths, 1867–1897,” database with images, FamilySearch (accessed 17 March 2016), Michael Docy, 14 March 1878, p. 70, rec. no. 84, Speaker, Sanilac, Michigan, citing Department of Vital Records, Lansing; FHL micro&lm 2,363,666.

30 See 1870 U.S. census, Ancestry (accessed 6 June 2016); search for any Michael Darcy and spelling variants, born in Ireland and living in Michigan: no matches found.

31 Michigan Historical Center, “Michigan Death Records 1897–1920,” database and images, Seeking Michigan (http://seekingmichigan.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p129401coll7/id/483758/rec/9: accessed 3 July 2014), entry for Elizebeth Conney [Conroy], 16 November 1902.

32 “Death of Mrs. Patrick Conroy,” &e Yale Expositor, 21 November 1902, p. 8, col. 3. 33 Michigan Historical Center, “Michigan Death Records 1897–1920,” database and images, Seeking Michigan

(http://seekingmichigan.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p129401coll7/id/298802/rec/10 : accessed 24 April 2016), Bridget Kinney, 19 March 1907.

34 For the Ontario baptisms of John Darcy’s children, see “Ontario, Roman Catholic Church Records, 1760–1923,” images, FamilySearch (accessed 10 March 2016) > Perth > St. Mary’s > Holy Name of Mary; Catholic Church parishes, Ontario. For Michael Darcy born 1 August 1865, see > “Baptisms, burials 1865–1871”; image 4 of 82, entry B14. For John Jr., born 24 January 1867, see > “Baptisms, marriages, burials 1865–1910”; image 6 of 103. For Cornelius D’Arcy, born 25 December 1868, see ibid., image 11 of 103. Each baptismal record identi&ed mother’s maiden name: Margaret Gleeson. For Michigan births, see “Michigan Births, 1867–1902,” database with images, FamilySearch (accessed 17 March 2016), James Dorcey, born 5 March 1871 in Speaker Twp., Sanilac Co. to John (born Ireland) and Margaret Dorcey, image 478 of 870; p. 286 [stamped], record no. 242, citing Depart-ment of Vital Records, Lansing. Also !omas Dorcey, born 20 August 1873 in Speaker Twp., Sanilac Co. to John (born Ireland) and Margaret Dorcey, image 253 of 850; p. 214 [stamped], record no. 267; both citing FHL &lm 004206340.

35 Michigan Historical Center, “Michigan Death Records 1897–1920,” database and images, Seeking Michigan (http://seekingmichigan.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p129401coll7/id/873846/rec/5 : accessed 24 April 2016), Margaret Dorcy [indexed as Dorey], 19 May 1919.

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �° ³

Michael Darcy who died in Speaker in 1878 was almost certainly the father of these Irish-

Catholic Darcy children. Was he also the father of James Darcy? Unfortunately, Michael appears

in no obituary or county history and le$ no will or probate &le to answer the question.36 ´ � � } ® µ | � � � ª } z � ª ¶ z { � � ² © � � · | � § � � � }James was born in Ireland probably ca. 1832–33, before civil registration of vital records. !e

National Library of Ireland has digitized the Roman Catholic parish registers in its holdings—

around seven million baptismal records. But, like most genealogy records, not all the parish reg-

isters have survived. !ose that remain may not have been transcribed and indexed accurately. At

least seventeen possible baptismal records for a James Darcy exist,37 but without evidence of the

county in Ireland where he was born, it’s not possible to identify the correct record or even deter-

mine if church records still exist for the appropriate place and time.

Irish naming conventions can sometimes provide clues. Families who observe the tradition

name the &rst son a$er the father’s father and the second son a$er the mother’s father.38 However,

James and Ann Dorsey do not appear to have followed this pattern. While James’s father is yet to

be proven, Ann’s death certi&cate identi&ed Richard Wilsdon as her father.39 Yet James and Ann

named no son Richard.40 Perhaps because Ann was neither Irish nor Catholic, they did not feel

compelled to follow Irish naming traditions. !e name of their &rstborn son thus does not neces-

sarily point to the name of James’s father. ¸ ¹ { { z � �Evidence suggests Michael Darcy was the father of James:

!ey were both farmers, born in Ireland, and members of the Catholic Church.

!e age di<erence is appropriate. Michael was thirty-&ve years older than James in 1861.

Michael Darcy and his family (at least four children) arrived in Ontario from Ireland by

1848, the time of the Great Famine. !ese known children married in Ontario between

1854 and 1864.

36 Sanilac County Clerk’s O%ce, Sandusky Michigan, email to Ann Raymont, November 2014.37 FindMyPast (accessed 17 April 2016) > Search > Birth, Marriage & Death Parish Registers > Births and Baptisms

> Ireland, search for James Darcy (and surname variants), born 1833 +/- 2 years. 38 “Old Irish Naming Patterns,” Cork Ireland GenWeb (http://www.igp-web.com/cork/Naming.html : accessed

13 April 2016). 39 Wisconsin Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, certi&cate of death #6, Ann Dorsey, death date

25 March 1925, town of Hutchins, Shawano Co., Wisconsin Vital Records O%ce, Madison; informant Mrs. Wal-ter Jersey.

40 !eir boys were John, James, and Charles. It’s unlikely that a child Richard died young. Ann’s obituary indicated they lost one boy and one girl in infancy, and that boy would most likely be James Jr., who was born in 1860 and did not appear in subsequent censuses.

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � � � � � � � � �   ¡ ¢ ° º

James Darcy married in Canada ca. 1857. His son was baptized in 1860 in the same

church in which Michael’s children were married. He lived near Michael’s family in 1861,

perhaps within about six miles.

No other male with the same surname, old enough to be James’s father, appears in the area

around the time James was married.

!ere is no evidence that Michael could not have been James’s father.

Michael Darcy is a reasonable candidate to be the father of James Dorsey, but there is not

enough documentary evidence to be certain.~ ¶ » » � z ¯ � } � } ¼ » � � § ® | � ½ � � ª � � ¾ | � | z ¯ � ² � � z ¯ ¿ · � ª | � � |Reasonably exhaustive research may also involve genetic genealogy. Recently, this might

include autosomal DNA, i.e. the twenty-two chromosomes other than the X and Y chromo-

somes.41

Y-DNA testing can help prove or disprove genetic kinship between men who may share an

ancestor on the direct paternal line. Typically, results might establish that two men are not related

on that line, or they may predict that there is n percent likelihood that the men share a direct

paternal-line ancestor within a projected number of generations. For example, match results

could suggest there is a 90 percent probability that two men share a direct paternal-line forefather

within, say, eight generations. Y-DNA testing alone does not identify the common ancestor.

In this James Dorsey case study, no direct male-line descendants of James Dorsey and John

Darcy were located who were willing to take a Y-DNA test. However, it is possible for autoso-

mal DNA testing to contribute kinship evidence, not limited to the direct paternal line. !is is

especially feasible when the most recent common ancestor was born ca. 1800 or later. Autosomal

testing compares the genomes of two living people42 to see if they have identical DNA fragments.

A matching chromosome segment suggests that piece of DNA came from the same person. !e

more DNA shared between two people, the more recent this shared ancestor usually is.

Five descendants of Michael Darcy, through his son John and his daughter Elizabeth, have

provided DNA test results. See Figure 2 for this relationship chart.

Two descendants of James Dorsey, through his daughter Mary and his son Charles, have also

taken autosomal DNA tests. See Figure 3 for that relationship chart.

!e last individual shown in each line took the DNA test.

41 For a discussion of this topic, see for example Judy G. Russell, “DNA and the Reasonably Exhaustive Search,” OnBoard 20 (January 2014): 1–2, 7; revised 30 April 2015 (http://www.bcgcerti&cation.org/skillbuilders/skbld141.html : accessed 17 April 2016).

42 DNA testing can also be performed on newly deceased individuals if a saliva sample is properly acquired. !is is not common.

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �° \

Figure 2. Selected Descents Traced to Michael Darcy

Michael Darcy b. ca. 1798 Ireland, d. 1878 Michigan

Elizabeth (Dorcy) Conroy John Darcy

Kathrine (Conroy)

Monaghan

Michael Conroy

Michael Darcy

Francis Monaghan

James Conroy Mary (Darcy) Hammond

[private] Mike [private] [private]

Nichole Brian,

Margaret

Lisa

Documentary evidence of kinship within the last one hundred years is omitted for privacy reasons.

For the parentage of Nichole’s grandfather Francis, see “Michigan Marriage Records, 1867–1952,” database

with images, Francis B. Monehan-Ellen Cole, 19 May 1938, Wayne County, Michigan, rec. no. 516550; Ances-

try (accessed 22 April 2016). For the parentage of Francis’s mother Kathrine, see “Michigan Marriage Records,

1867–1952,” database with images, Kittie Conroy-John Monaghan, 12 Nov 1898, Wayne County, Michigan, rec.

no. 227; Ancestry (accessed 22 April 2016). For Elizabeth Dorcy Conroy’s parentage, see the text.

For the parentage of Mike’s father James, see “Michigan Marriage Records, 1867–1952,” database with

images, James Raymond Conroy-Edith Corbett, 16 September 1950, Wayne County, Michigan, county rec. no.

789099; Ancestry (accessed 22 April 2016). For the parentage of James Conroy’s father Michael, see “Michigan

Marriage Records, 1867–1952,” database with images, Michael Conroy–Lizzie Sullivan, 30 October 1890, Mid-

land-Wexford, Michigan, rec. no. 139; Ancestry (accessed 22 April 2016). For Elizabeth Dorcy Conroy’s parent-

age, see the text.

For the parentage of Mary Darcy, see “Michigan Marriage Records, 1867–1952,” database with images, Mary

M. Dorcy–Harry G. Hammond, 10 February 1923, Wayne County, Michigan, rec. no. 243202; Ancestry (accessed

22 April 2016). For the parentage of Mary’s father Michael Darcy born in 1865 and of Michael’s father John, see

the text.

Nichole and Mike know about 44 percent of their ancestors in Michael Darcy’s generation. Lisa, Margaret

and Brian know about 91 percent of their ancestors in Michael Darcy’s generation. See the Suggested Best Prac-

tices section for more discussion on this.

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � � � � � � � � �   ¡ ¢ ° h

Figure 3. Selected Descents Traced to James Dorsey

? Michael Darcy b ca. 1798, d. 1878 Michigan

James Dorsey b. ca. 1832 Ireland, d. 1917 Wisconsin

Mary (Dorsey) Jersey Charles Dorsey

Harry Jersey Gladys (Dorsey) Poppy

[private] [private]

Deanna [private]

Jen

Documentary evidence of kinship within the last one hundred years is omitted for privacy reasons.

For the parentage of Deanna’s grandfather Harry, see 1910 U.S. census, Shawano Co., Wisconsin, pop. sch.,

ED 0150, Hutchins, sheet 2B (stamped), dwell. 27, fam. 29, Harry Jersey; NARA micro&lm T624, roll 1737. For

the parentage of Harry’s mother Mary, see Wisconsin Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, death cer-

ti&cate #034722 (1959), Mary E. Jersey, daughter of James Dorsey; Wisconsin Vital Records O%ce, Madison.

For the parentage of Jen’s great-grandmother Gladys, see 1920 U.S. census, Shawano Co., Wisconsin, pop.

sch., ED 0106, Mattoon Village, sheet 3B (stamped), dwell. 55, fam. 56, Gladys Darsey; NARA micro&lm T625,

roll 2016. For the parentage of Gladys’s father Charles, see 1880 U.S. census, Outagamie Co., Wisconsin, pop.

sch., ED 118, Town of Maine, p. 17 (penned), dwell. 159, fam. 167, Charles Dorsey, son of James Dorsey; NARA

micro&lm T9, roll 1440.

Other than James’s parents, Deanna knows 80% of her ancestors in that generation. Jen has identi&ed all of

her ancestors in that generation except James’s parents. See the Suggested Best Practices section for more discus-

sion on this.

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �° �

!e DNA of those in Michael’s line can be compared to those in James’s line. A match sug-

gests a common ancestor in a genealogical timeframe. Figure 4 o<ers a quick way to visualize the

results. !e lines indicate whose DNA matches whom.

Figure 4. DNA Matches Between the Descendants

of Michael Darcy and James Dorsey

Michael

Darcy

James

Dorsey

John’s Descendants

LisaMargaret

Brian

Charles’s Descendant

Jen

Elizabeth’s Descendants

NicholeMike

Mary’s Descendant

Deanna

µ | } ¹ ¯ § } z � ª » � z ¯ � } � }If Michael Darcy was the father of James Dorsey, and James thus a full sibling to Michael’s

children John and Elizabeth, the following relationships would be true:

Deanna, Nichole, Lisa, Margaret, and Brian are the same number of generations distant

from potential siblings James and John and Elizabeth; these &ve would be fourth cousins

(4c) to each other.

Mike is a generation closer to the most recent common ancestor; the &ve participants

above would be third cousins once removed (3c1r) to him.

Jen is a generation younger than the others. She would be a fourth cousin once removed

(4c1r) to Deanna, Nichole, Lisa, Margaret, and Brian, and a third cousin twice removed

(3c2r) to Mike.

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � � � � � � � � �   ¡ ¢ ° £

Note: All test results are as of 1 June 2016. Testing companies may revise their algorithms and produce di<er-

ent results later with the same raw data.

Mike tested at FamilyTreeDNA. Brian and Deanna tested at both 23andMe and AncestryDNA. !e others

tested at AncestryDNA. All but Deanna copied their raw DNA data to the third-party tool GEDmatch.com, which

allows comparisons between companies and indicates the location of the match on the relevant chromosome(s).

All results shown above are GEDmatch data except Deanna’s matches. Deanna-Brian results are 23andMe data;

Deanna-Mike results are not available; Deanna-others’ results are AncestryDNA reported data.

Table 3. Participant Relationships and Size of the Match in cM

? Michael Darcy’s Descendants

James Dorsey’s

Descendants

Elizabeth Darcy

Conroy’s Descendants

John Darcy’s Descendants

Deanna Jen Mike Nichole Lisa Margaret Brian

Deanna 3c1r: n/a

(0–156;

avg. 56)

4c: 41.6

(0–90;

avg. 31)

4c: 24.6

(0–90;

avg. 31)

4c: 25.1

(0–90;

avg. 31)

4c: 29.2

(0–90;

avg. 31)

Jen 3c1r: 10.5

(0–156;

avg. 56)

3c2r: 8.5

(0–82;

avg. 36)

4c1r: 0

(0–57;

avg. 20)

4c1r: 31.9

(0–57;

avg. 20)

4c1r: 16.6

(0–57;

avg. 20)

4c1r: 0

(0–57;

avg. 20)

Mike

Nichole 2c1r: 90.7

(0–325;

avg. 129)

Lisa 3c1r: 0

(0–156;

avg. 56)

4c: 0

(0–90;

avg. 31

Margaret 3c1r: 18.2

(0–156;

avg. 56)

4c: 0

(0–90;

avg. 31)

1c: 881.2

(533–1379;

avg. 869)

Brian 3c1r: 0

(0–156;

avg. 56)

4c: 0

(0–90;

avg. 31)

1c: 910.6

(533–1379;

avg. 869)

S: 2738.2

(2150–

3170; avg.

2600)

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �° «

Table 3 displays the results for the participants in this case study. !e upper right entries show

the results from comparing a descendant of James Dorsey to a descendant of Michael Darcy: the

projected relationship and the amount of identical DNA, measured in centimorgans (cM).43 !e

lower le$ entries show the size of the DNA matches between documented relatives, i.e. comparing

James’s descendant Deanna to James’s descendant Jen and comparing Michael’s &ve descendants

to each other.

Underneath each relationship, in parentheses, is the range of shared cM and the average for

that relationship, according to a recent study of ten thousand subjects who reported DNA com-

parisons between known relatives. Note that it’s possible to be related as closely as third cousins

and share no DNA segments.44

Brian matches Deanna on chromosomes 8 and 12. Jen matches Mike on chromosome 9 and

Lisa on chromosome 2. Jen, Lisa, and Margaret also all match each other, one to one, on the same

segment on chromosome 11. See the Suggested Best Practices section for more details on this

phenomenon, called triangulation.

© � � � ¯ ¹ } � � �!ere are at least seven distinct pairs where a descendant of Michael Darcy shares DNA with

a descendant of James Dorsey. !is tells us that Michael Darcy and James Dorsey were related.

!e amount of shared DNA falls within the expected range if James were the son of Michael, but

other genetic relationships are possible. DNA cannot con&rm if James was Michael’s son, nephew,

or cousin, and their Irish origins are too elusive to rule any relationships out. However, documen-

tary evidence indicates that Michael Darcy came from Ireland to Ontario, Canada, by about 1848,

perhaps during the Great Famine. He appears to have had at least four children who married

in Ontario between 1854 and 1864. James was also born in Ireland, came to Ontario, and mar-

ried ca. 1857. He lived about six miles from Michael a$er he married, and he attended the same

church as Michael’s children. No other Darcy or Dorsey families in the area were of an age to be

James’s parents. It’s likely he was in Michael’s family.

Based on the combination of documentary and genetic evidence, the principle of Occam’s

razor would suggest that James Dorsey was likely the son of Michael Darcy.

43 Centimorgans are numeric values “used to infer distance along a chromosome”; the larger the value, the stronger the genetic linkage. See International Society of Genetic Genealogy Wiki, “Centimorgan” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centimorgan : accessed 11 September 2016) for more information.

44 Blaine Bettinger, “Update to the Shared cM Project,” &e Genetic Genealogist, 26 June 2016 (http://thegeneticge-nealogist.com/2016/06/26/update-to-the-shared-cm-project/ : accessed 13 July 2016.)

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � � � � � � � � �   ¡ ¢ ° ¬

À Á Â Â Ã Ä x Ã Å Æ Ã Ä x Ç È t É x Ê É Ã Ä Ë w È Ì Ä Ê r Â Í Î q t Ä Ï Ð Ê Å Ã r É Ã Ê r t Ñ Ê r Ä Ò Ê Ó Ô u Ó w x Ò Ã Ä Ê Ä w È Ç È w w ËUsing autosomal DNA as evidence of kinship is a recent development in genealogy, comple-

menting documentary research. Like many other sources, there is a range in how e<ectively our

&ndings support our hypothesis.

Consider how we use census records to address a kinship hypothesis. An 1840 census record

may show the projected parent in the right place and time with children of the right gender and

age range. !at’s helpful, but it isn’t enough by itself to answer the question. If we &nd the hypo-

thetical parent and child together in the right county and town in 1850, that’s stronger evidence.

!e child is named. But that census doesn’t specify how they were related. If they are in the same

household in the 1880 census, we can see the reported relationship; that’s much better evidence of

kinship. But we don’t know who the informant was. A landlord or neighbor might have provided

the answers and made some guesses. A genealogist considers each census. Some o<er more reli-

able evidence than others.

DNA is just one piece in the proof puzzle. Like census records, some DNA matches build a

better case than others. Here are &ve considerations to strengthen an argument. !ey include

examples of how this case study applied them.

Are the matching segments over 10 or 15 cM?

Small segments of matching DNA may be “false positives.” !is could be the result of a glitch

in the technology (genotyping errors), or the small segment could be passed down from an ances-

tor too far back to identify. Each testing company employs its own algorithms and thresholds to

minimize false positives and yet not omit genuine matches. !e International Society of Genetic

Genealogy (ISOGG) suggests that “In general, the larger the shared segments the more likely that

the match is genuine… matching segments of 15 cMs are mostly IBD [Identical by Descent, i.e.

valid], and the majority of matches between 10 cM and 15 cM are IBD. As the predicted matching

segments get smaller the false positive rate increases.”45 Relying on small matches may lead us to

conclusions that aren’t really valid.

Even some of these “large enough” segments may come from what is called a “pile-up region,”

where researchers have identi&ed an area of a chromosome that comes from a population group

and may not be traced to an individual in a genealogical timeframe. !e genealogist using DNA

should be aware of this issue and consult sources such as the “Excess IBD Sharing” section in the

ISOGG Wiki.46 AncestryDNA attempts to &lter these out before reporting a match, which helps

alleviate this problem.

45 See “Identical by Descent,” International Society of Genetic Genealogy Wiki (http://isogg.org/wiki/Identical_by_descent : accessed 25 April 2016) for more information.

46 Ibid. See section “Excess IBD sharing.”

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �³ ±

In this case study: At least four match pairs in this study exceed the 15 cM recommendation

for an individual segment: Lisa-Jen, Margaret-Jen, Brian-Deanna, and Nichole-Deanna. Six

of the seven participants tested at AncestryDNA, which reduces the risk of matches in pile-up

regions.

When two individuals match on only a single segment of DNA, it’s not really possible to pin-

point exactly how far back the most recent common ancestor may be. Two people with a single

matching segment may be fourth cousins or sixth cousins—or even more distant.47 If two people

match on more than one segment, this may increase the odds that they are fourth or &$h cousins

or closer.48 However, endogamy or pedigree collapse—where the same ancestor or couple appears

in more than one place in the lineage—can result in matches on multiple segments that do not in

fact mean a closer relationship.49

In this case study: Several pairings in this study match on at least two chromosomes. See, for

example, Lisa-Jen and Brian-Deanna. !ey are unlikely to be very distant cousins. None of the

DNA donors in the project reports knowledge of any endogamy or pedigree collapse. º Õ © � � } � ª | � � z { � ¯ � § � | | � } } ¹ | } ÕIf two people are predicted to be fourth cousins, they should share an ancestor (or ancestral

couple) from among their thirty-two great-great-great-grandparents. Fi$h cousins share a great-

great-great-great-grandparent or couple. !e more generations back the common ancestor is pro-

posed to be, the higher the risk that

A DNA tester’s family tree lacks documentary evidence and has mistakes and/or

One of the family trees doesn’t go back far enough. !is can impede the search for the

common ancestor, who might be an as-yet-undiscovered person.50

47 For a mathematically oriented explanation of this, see Steve Mount, “Genetic Genealogy and the Single Seg-ment,” On Genetics, 19 February 2011 (http://ongenetics.blogspot.com/2011/02/genetic-genealogy-and-single-segment.html : accessed 23 April 2016).

48 For example, see Graham Coop, “How many genomic blocks do you share with a cousin?”, &e Coop Lab: Popu-lation and Evolutionary Genetics UC Davis, 2 December 2013 (https://gcbias.org/2013/12/02/how-many-genomic-blocks-do-you-share-with-a-cousin/ : accessed 28 June 2016).

49 For a simple explanation of this, see Judy Russell, “Endogamy and You, Really,” &e Legal Genealogist, 11 March 2012 (http://www.legalgenealogist.com/2012/03/11/endogamy-and-you-really/ : accessed 28 June 2016)

50 See Blaine Bettinger, “How Much of Your Family Tree Do You Know? And Why Does !at Matter?” &e Genetic Genealogist, 11 August 2015 (http://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2015/08/11/how-much-of-your-family-tree-do-you-know-and-why-does-that-matter/ : accessed 12 July 2016.)

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � � � � � � � � �   ¡ ¢ ³ °

In this case study:

Each tester’s lineage back to Michael Darcy or James Dorsey has been veri&ed with docu-

mentary evidence. (See excerpts in the sources for Figure 2 and Figure 3.)

DNA evidence also con&rms that James’s descendants are related to each other and

Michael’s descendants are related to each other as expected. See Table 3.

!e hypothesis proposes that the testers in the two groups are descended from Michael

Darcy. !ere is a risk that the common ancestor is someone as yet unidenti&ed, but it

appears here that the risk is not great. Here is a list of the testers and how complete their

family trees are to that generation:51

Mike knows 50% of his ancestors in that generation.

Nichole knows only 37.5% of her ancestors in that generation.

Lisa knows 87.5% of her ancestors in that generation.

Brian and Margaret (full siblings) know 93.75% of these ancestors.

Deanna knows 80% of these ancestors (not counting James Dorsey’s parents).

Jen knows 100% of these ancestors (not counting James Dorsey’s parents).

As seen in Table 3, DNA results may support a kinship theory, but the size of the match is

o$en valid for a range of relationships, such as third to &$h cousins. If the hypothesis is that two

testers are fourth cousins, can we prove with documentary evidence that they are not actually &$h

cousins?

In this case study: I am not able to rule out the possibility that James Dorsey might be a neph-

ew of Michael Darcy instead of his son, as I have been unable to pinpoint where in Ireland

James was born. In this case, it is a good practice to acknowledge that the possibility exists.

To use autosomal DNA to help prove the hypothesis that Person 1 and Person 2 are closely

related, DNA between their descendants must match. Multiple matches are more e<ective (pro-

vided the DNA donors do not include a parent and child, or siblings whose match results to oth-

ers in the study are identical). A particularly valuable scenario would be one where DNA from

descendants of two or more children of Person 1 match descendants of two or more children of

Person 2. “One or two pairings would be insu%cient,” !omas W. Jones wrote in the National

51 If a participant in the study lacks names but knows that the ancestor in question was in a country where none of the other testers had ancestors, then it was counted as a “known” ancestor, because there is no risk of an uniden-ti&ed common ancestor in that line. For example, half of Deanna’s ancestors in that generation were living in Poland/Russia or Sweden. None of the others had Polish/Swedish ancestors.

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Genealogical Society Quarterly.52 In his seminal case study that utilized autosomal DNA, he incor-

porated seven pairings.

Jones also used triangulation in his DNA analysis. !is is a situation where three or more

testers (who are not full siblings or parent/child pairs) match or overlap on the same segment of

DNA. Triangulation may not always be practical with distant cousins. To be of value, matching

segments must also be associated with an ancestor. It can be challenging for distant cousins in the

triangulation group to have accurate trees back that far.53 It also requires a chromosome browser,

which identi&es the location on the speci&c chromosome where the DNA between two or more

people matches. At this time, AncestryDNA does not o<er a chromosome browser, although

those testers may copy their data to GEDmatch, which provides one. Triangulation with closer

relatives and chromosome mapping may help identify which line holds the common ancestor.54

!ese two related steps, multiple pairs and triangulation (where possible), help ensure that the

match is not a false positive and that the proposed common ancestor is likely correct.

In this case study: !is Dorsey case study includes multiple pairs—notably descendants of

two di<erent children of Michael and two di<erent children of James. See Figure 3 and Figure

4. !is study also has one example of triangulation. Lisa, Margaret, and Jen match each other,

one to one, on chromosome 2: a 16.6 cM segment from about 122,100,000 to 130,600,000. !e

author has used chromosome mapping techniques and triangulation with close relatives to

identify which segments of certain chromosomes were passed down to Margaret from which

grandparents. From that exercise, the family knows that the DNA segment Margaret shares

with Jen and Lisa was inherited from her maternal grandmother Mary Darcy.55 !eir common

ancestor must be in Mary Darcy’s line.

52 !omas W. Jones, “Too Few Sources to Solve a Family Mystery? Some Green&elds in Central and Western New York,” National Genealogical Society Quarterly 103 (June 2015): 85–103.

53 See also Blaine Bettinger, “A Triangulation Intervention,” &e Genetic Genealogist, 19 June 2016 (http://thege-neticgenealogist.com/2016/06/19/a-triangulation-intervention/ : accessed 19 June 2016.) Also Debbie Kennett, “Autosomal DNA Triangulation, part 1,” Cruwys News, 28 January 2016 (http://cruwys.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/autosomal-dna-triangulation-part-1.html : accessed 20 June 2016.)

54 See International Society of Genetic Genealogy Wiki, “Chromosome Mapping” (http://isogg.org/wiki/Chromo-some_mapping : accessed 25 April 2016) for more information.

55 Ann Raymont, “Chromosome Mapping with Siblings,” DNAsleuth, 2-part blog series posted 13 May and 1 June 2016. (https://dnasleuth.wordpress.com/2016/05/13/chromosome-mapping-with-siblings-part-1/ : accessed 4 June 2016).

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¸ ¹ { { z � �!e reliability of all genealogical evidence must be assesssed. Documentary sources may be

original, derivative, or authored works. Information may be primary or secondary. Evidence

may be direct, indirect, or negative.56 With genetic genealogy, proof standards are not universally

de&ned, but some best practices include:

Beware of false positives and ‘pile-up regions’.

Take relationship predictions with a grain of salt.

Consider family tree issues.

When possible, eliminate other relationships.

Add value with multiple matches.

!ese considerations will improve the quality of our DNA evidence in determining kinship.

Ann Raymont is a member of the National Genealogical Society, Indiana Genealogical Society,

Ohio Genealogical Society, and the Association of Professional Genealogists. She is a founder of the

Central Indiana DNA Interest Group and has given numerous genetic genealogy presentations. Her

website is DNAsleuth.wordpress.com, where she blogs monthly. More information can be found at

https://dnasleuth.wordpress.com/about/.

&e author thanks the descendants of Michael Darcy and James Dorsey who agreed to the use of

their names and DNA test results in this article. She is also grateful to Blaine Bettinger for his feed-

back on a dra* of this paper and to several members of ProGen 25 and ProGen 26 for their early

comments.

56 !ere are many sources that explain the types of documentary evidence in genealogy. See for example, Board for Certi&cation of Genealogists, “Skillbuilding: Guidelines for Evaluating Genealogical Resources,” OnBoard (http://www.bcgcerti&cation.org/skillbuilders/skbld085.html : accessed 29 June 2016).

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