52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2021: Week 16 (DNA)
When I received my DNA results I discovered I was 1/8th European Jewish (Ashkenazic). One of my great grandparents was Jewish or they were both 1/2 Jewish. In all the records I have found they belonged to the Greek Catholic church. I can find no records indicating they practiced the Jewish faith.
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| My great grandparents Alexander & Mary (nee Maximiw) Pellack |
This was the part of the tree that I knew very little about due to my grandfather recreating himself from a Ukrainian born in northern Saskatchewan to a Scots born in San Francisco.
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| Clyde & Mary (nee Thomson) Robertson Clyde was born Max Pellack Photo taken in 1940 |
I was 29 years old when I discovered this mystery, and it was my primary reason for doing Ancestry DNA. It took me 20 years, but I finally confirmed my grandfather who I knew as Clyde Robertson was born Max Pellack.
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| My dad, me, Grandpa |
When I first received my DNA results I tried to use my matches to figure out the missing parts of my tree. I had great difficulty. I had no close matches. I had 1000s of distant matches. I was overwhelmed trying to find the in common ancestors. After I convinced my dad to do Ancestry DNA it was even worse because he had almost 20,000 matches. All his close matches were via his maternal line which we had solid research & connections for. Dad's paternal line past my X2 great grandparents remains a mystery.
As I tried to connect the shared matches to create some sort of logical tree it never worked. I finally learned why. The majority of my matches on my father's paternal line were very far back. On first glance they appeared to be closer. It was only when I learned about Endogamy that I was finally able tease apart which matches were relevant to my modern day searching & which ones I could ignore for the current mystery solving.
How to spot endogamous relationships
One way to help you tell the difference between someone who is closely related and someone who shares DNA because of endogamy is to pay attention not just to the total amount of DNA shared, or your relationship prediction, but to look at the size of the pieces of shared DNA. All of our testing companies provide this information. Here’s a screenshot of a father-daughter genetic relationship described at MyHeritage, showing the total amount of shared DNA, how many segments are shared, and the length of the largest segment:
Looking at the size of the biggest piece of DNA, you want that piece to be larger than 20 cM (centimorgans). If the biggest piece is smaller than that, it is unlikely you are related recently, and you can chalk up all that shared DNA to the tight-knit nature of your ancestral community, and not waste your time looking for a common ancestor. 1
In the years since the matches have grown to more than 30,000 for my dad and almost 25,000 for me. I am no further ahead on my father's paternal side of this Bramble Bush, but I have found a lot of relatives that we didn't know about before via DNA matching.
In the years since I added our DNA to GedMatch & My Heritage I was able to connect with relatives who had information and photos to share. I have made little progress in climbing higher up this branch that was my initial reason to do genetic genealogy for.
Although it wasn't my initial plan I have learned about mysteries on other parts of our Bramble Bush that have made for difficult researching. They usually start with a message from another researcher who we are related to.
In July 2020 I received an Ancestry inbox message from a DNA match. She asked me how I was related to Artemissa Merrill (my 3rd great grandmother) because she descended from Artemissa's brother Thomas Forest Merrill who was known as Forrest. This message was the first I heard about brother Forrest. I didn't have him in our Bramble Bush. After adding him there was no doubt that he fit perfectly as expected due to the shared DNA with myself, my aunt, and my grandmother with this newly found cousin from the United States.
My newly found cousin shared that her X2 great grandfather had disappeared in 1860 leaving behind a wife and young son. She wondered if the Canadian part of the family knew what had happened or had any ideas. I talked to my 95 year old grandmother who said she remembers the name, but no details. Grandma would have been 10 when her great grandmother Artemissa died. She wasn't born when Forest disappeared.
As we understand what happened.
Thomas Forest Merrill (known as Forrest) and brother Albert Forest Merrill (known as Albert) were loggers in Alpena, Michigan. They were born in Ontario, Canada. According to coworkers Forrest was heading home to Climax via Detroit. He was walking. Somewhere between leaving work in Alpena and arriving home in Climax he disappeared.
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| Source: Google Maps |
The family wondered if he had been killed somewhere along the way. They wondered if he had drowned in a river. Maybe he had enlisted, and was killed in the Civil War? Leaving behind a wife and son by choice didn't sound right. The family never knew what happened to Forrest. Brother Albert searched for him. No one ever found out what happened to Forrest.
After adding Forrest and descendants to our Bramble Bush I began searching for more information. I found the record below:
U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914
Name Forest Merrill|
Birth year 1837
Birthplace Canada
Enlistment Age 23
signed up in Detroit
Enlistment period - 5 years
profession - laborer
eyes - hazel
hair - brown
complexion - ruddy
height - 5' 8 1/2"
no regiment or company listed
Remarks: Deserted May 16 1860
When I sent the record to my newly found cousin asking if she had already found it she replied she had not. The question remains did Forrest leave his family by choice? Did he sign up voluntarily? Was he conscripted?
In looking at the document I suspect he was conscripted. Maybe he was found on the road between his destinations and the military gave him no choice?
The reason I think he was conscripted is because of how many of these men deserted. That one document had the records for 41 men whose last names started with the letter M who enlisted in April 1860.
21 were discharged
17 deserted
3 died
In looking at the document I discovered another Merrill who I do not yet have in this Bramble Bush. Joel E Merrill who was a physician born in Concord, Minnesota. He enlisted on April 6th 1860, and deserted on May 22nd 1860.
I'm no expert, but those desertion odds seem pretty high to me for anyone who enlisted by free will.
If any of my readers have anything further to add for the mystery of Thomas Forest Merrill (known as Forrest) we would love to hear from you.
Sometimes the cousins you find have family treasures to share.
In 1860 when Forest went missing family members from Ontario sent letters to his wife Ana. There were also letters sent before Forest went missing, and some with dates unknown. The family kept those letters, and my newly found cousin sent me scans of the original letters dating 1860 & earlier.
These letters from 1859:
These letters from 1860:
These letters from dates unknown:
Seeing the actual writing of my X3 & X4 great grandmothers & other relatives was an emotional moment. Reading their words, and hearing their thoughts when there was no chance of my every knowing them.
Definitely a highlight of my genealogy researching.
Family treasures from newly found cousins!
This is why I search -
Cause ...
You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!
***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***
Footnotes:
1 DNA Testing and Endogamy, Your DNA Guide. Retrieved April 19th 2021 from https://www.yourdnaguide.com/ydgblog/2019/2/23/endogamy
Links:
Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/
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