It has been quite awhile since I last posted. There has been much activity with my genealogy research, and I need to be better about documenting my progress through this blog. Here are some of the new developments:
1) My dad, mom, and paternal grandmother have taken the Ancestry DNA autosomal test. My dad and mom’s test results came back late last week, and my grandma’s should be coming back any day now. Even though I’ve had their results for only a few days, I can already see some of the big benefits to having their results to use in conjunction with mine. It makes it very easy to narrow down which line(s) to examine to try to locate the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) I may share with a match. It also allows for the use of some very handy tools for working with and comparing matches, such as gedmatch.com and Jeff Snavely’s AncestryDNA Chrome Extension.
2) I have located a descendant of Hosea Wright and Sarah Ladd Crew who is taking the Y-DNA test so that the link from my Hiram Wright to that Hosea Wright can be verified. Based on the number of autosomal matches my mom has to members of the Crew family who have connections to Sarah’s line, I will be very surprised if the results of this Y-DNA test do not show a match.
3) My maternal grandma’s brother was able to provide me with several bits of information which provide additional details to family events, as well as some potential new angles to explore in the search for additional Hill ancestors. He will be taking the Ancestry DNA autosomal test as well.
4) I have had several cousins, and potential cousins, contact me because of genealogy information I’ve posted at my website (www.danstone.info), and/or the FamilySearch.org Family Tree, GEDmatch.com, and WikiTree.com sites. These contacts are proving to be very beneficial, and are sources of new information as well as giving me new leads to explore.
5) I have updated my Wright DNA page (http://www.danstone.info/wrightdna.htm) as I continue to try to sort out how my line connects with the Wright line of Flushing, Long Island, New York and/or the Wright line of Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York. Based on the Wright Y-DNA matches of my uncle, along with the Wright autosomal matches of me and my mom, my current hypothesis is that the Flushing and Oyster Bay lines are actually related, but I’m still working to try to prove this. My hypothesis of a relationship between the Flushing and Oyster Bay Wright lines differs with what some other researchers have concluded, so I’m gathering as much information as possible and proceeding cautiously with my examination of the data.
6) My several month old hypothesis of a connection between my Stone line and the line of Phillip Stein (http://www.crewfamily.com/descendants_of_philipp_stein.htm) may finally have a possibility for some scientific backing, based on an autosomal match my dad has. The MRCA seems to be John Sebastian Stein, but much more examination is needed to be certain. Ideally, as I examine my dad’s list of matches further, I hope to locate matches with other Stein descendants to further support the possibility of the connection to the Stone line.
Adventures In Genealogy Research: No Stone Unturned/The Wright Stuff 