A couple of months ago, I decided that I needed my DNA to work harder. I came to this conclusion after realizing that the tried and true paper-trail methods of genealogical research were getting me nowhere. Brick wall here, brick wall there, brick wall everywhere. If the documents I needed to prove a genealogical relationship didn’t exist, DNA was my only alternative.
Collectively, my father and I have more than 140,000 DNA matches on Ancestry.com. Obviously, many of his matches also match me so that number is probably closer to 100,000 unique matches between the two of us. (I just made that number up but it sounds impressive, right?) That’s a lot of DNA relationships that might help me solve some of my genealogical brick walls. But where to start?
I have the attention span of a gnat. So climbing thousands of family trees sounded about as appealing as watching stain on my deck dry. (I know from experience.) Instead, I came up with my own methodology for sorting through these thousands of DNA matches. You won’t find this in any DNA genealogy handbook – probably with good reason.
Spencer Pearce is my 4th great grandfather. His wife, Neoma, is a brick wall. I do not know her maiden name. Applying my new methodology, I examined DNA matches who are confirmed fellow descendants of Spencer Pearce and said wife. I was only interested in those who did not descend from my ancestor, Harriet Pearce, Spencer’s daughter. “David K” is an example of a DNA match who descends from Spencer and his wife. “David K.” and my father have several SHARED DNA matches in common. This means my dad, David and these matches have a common ancestor (beyond Spencer and wife). I labelled each one of the shared matches as “Spencer match x2” to indicate that they were a match of a match. (From this point on, when I refer to a “Spencer match” I mean Spencer and his wife since I cannot determine if the shared DNA match is related to Spencer or his wife.) Then I looked at people who shared DNA with them and my father and I labelled them “Spencer match x3” to indicate that they were a match of match of a match that started with “David K.” I did this for all confirmed descendants of Spencer and wife who share DNA with my dad.
Next, since Spencer Pearce’s mother was a Hackney, I searched for DNA matches who had the surname “Hackney” in their family tree and labelled them “Hackney in tree”. As you can imagine, some of these people were already labelled “Spencer match x2” or “x3”. Clearly, there was a Hackney ancestor between them and my father! But this helped me not because I already knew that Spencer’s mother was a Hackney, the daughter of Daniel Hackney. This time-consuming exercise did nothing to help me identify Spencer’s wife’s parents.
So I decided that this methodology would perhaps only help me identify an unknown male ancestor. Thus, I turned to Jacob Blythe, another 5th great grandparent. Would I be able to find a pattern hidden in all of the DNA matches with the surname “Blythe” in their family trees? (Answer: No.) Jacob’s wife was Nancy Rogers, which is relevant because any shared matches could be related to her or Jacob. (The same was true of Spencer matches.) I followed the same methodology labeling all shared matches as either “Blythe Rogers x2” or “x3”.
Almost immediately a pattern emerged that I was not expecting. I found myself looking at dozens and dozens of shared matches that were already labelled “Hackney in tree” and/or “Spencer match x2” and even more “Spencer match x3”. What was going on? Why were so many “Hackney” and “Spencer” matches also “Blythe Rogers” matches or matches of matches, etc? Spencer’s cousin Daniel Pearce, another 4th great grandfather, was a Hackney by his mother and he married Jacob and Nancy’s daughter but why would Spencer’s descendants potentially share DNA with the Blythe Rogers bunch who did not descend from Daniel? (If you are lost about now, I promise I’ll tie up the loose ends eventually.) That made no sense to me unless Spencer’s WIFE was related to Jacob Blythe or Nancy Rogers!! I then turned to DNA matches who descended from William Hackney, Spencer’s maternal uncle (confirmed) and labelled the shared matches as either “Hackney x2” or “Hackney x3”. Here again, almost 100% of them were already labelled “Hackney in tree” (duh) AND/OR “Spencer match x” or “Blythe Rogers match x” – the last bucket being the most relevant!
My father’s DNA matches had revealed that William Hackney, Spencer Pearce’s mother, Elizabeth Hackney, and Spencer Pearce were related in some way to Jacob Blythe and/or Nancy Rogers. The additional “Hackney in tree” matches helped solidify that the common ancestor was likely a Hackney.
Quite after the fact, I realized there was another DNA match on Ancestry.com that I had not yet examined. Ancestry.com’s new feature ThruLines revealed that Nancy Rogers likely had a brother named Greenberry Wilson, who, like Nancy, was a child of Wilson Rogers and his unknown wife. When I looked at people who shared DNA with my dad and Greenberry’s descendant, everything suddenly came into focus. The closest shared match between this descendant and my dad was “David K.” who you’ve already met, and who, like my father, descends from Spencer Pearce and Elizabeth Hackney. The rest of the shared matches were already labeled either “Spencer match x2” or “Blythe Rogers match x2”, etc.
Logically, this must mean that Nancy Rogers, my 5th great grandmother, was related to Spencer Pearce, his mother Elizabeth, and her father Daniel. While the mystery is far from solved, DNA matches have certainly pointed me in the right direction as to the possible identify of Nancy’s mother. Nancy’s father, Wilson, was born in Granville County, North Carolina in 1758. Were there Hackneys in Granville County at the time he likely would have married?
Yes. Lots of them. Most notably, the descendants of Joseph Hackney and his wife, Sarah. The search continues….
Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relationship: 5th great grandmother
Common ancestors: Nancy Rogers is the daughter of Wilson Rogers, my 6th great grandfather, and his unknown wife (who might be a Hackney!!)