After months of exchanging emails, carefully inspecting family trees and sifting through countless birth records (in vain), my DNA-matched cousin “Kathie” and I finally know how we’re likely related.

Kathie is my 9th cousin, 2x removed on my paternal grandfather’s side of the family. According to numerous pedigrees, our common ancestor was Henry Hollingsworth who was born in Ireland in 1598.

The only problem with this “conclusion” is that while genealogical records support this relationship, our DNA does not.  A retired medical professional, Kathie prefers her genealogical research done at the chromosome level which is why it’s not a closed case.

She is a Hollingsworth by way of her father. Using more closely-related relatives, she’s mapped out each of her chromosomes. Thus, she knows with certainty that where she and I share matching segments of DNA rules out her father’s side of the family. Genetically, we must be related on her mother’s side. And that side of her family tree contains names that look like they might have been taken from a phone book in Berlin.

All jokes aside, we suspect our common German ancestors came from Lippe-Detmold. Most of my paternal grandmother’s ancestors hailed from there as well. The implication is that Kathie could very well be a distant cousin to BOTH of my paternal grandparents. I can’t make this stuff up.

For now, though, she and I are distant Hollingsworth cousins.

Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relation: 9th cousin, 2x removed
Common ancestors: Currently, the Hollingsworths of Ireland