Not long ago I wrote about the possibility that my mother’s ancestor Drury Holland might be a descendant of (Frances) Gabriel Holland who was an early settler in Jamestown, Virginia. Much controversy exists as to whether or not Gabriel was actually descended from English royalty. Meanwhile, there is no proof that Drury is a descendant of Gabriel. Nada. Too bad. I was hoping that I might be able to add Gabriel to my family tree.

Have I mentioned that both my mother and my father have ancestors who hailed from Virginia?

Kerry Ross Boren is an author, historian and accomplished genealogist. He’s also a distant cousin on my father’s side. My great grandmother was a Boren. He’s written a book on the Boren family which is headed into it’s second printing. Impatient me cannot wait for that to happen so he graciously gave me access to his family tree.

So I climbed it. Up I went, reveling in Kerry’s research. Boy, he has done a lot of research on the Borens. Stop. Wait. What is a Holland doing in the Boren lineage? Katherine, the daughter of Frances Gabriel Holland, was the grandmother of a women who married one of my Boren ancestors. Oh, never mind. They’re not related then. No wait. That means his children…

Do I need to finish this post?

What the hell. Surely if my father was a descendant of the same Hollands of Virginia as my mother he’d have Holland cousins, a.k.a. DNA matches. Only three page’s worth. His sister, my aunt and follow Boren descendant, has four pages.

This might explain why my aunt and I share DNA matches with people who don’t match my dad. My mother and my aunt would have to have been related for that to be possible. Whew! For a minute there I thought the next entry on my list of cousins marrying cousins… uh, oh.