Help with theory

[Towdlass]

I went on to Ancestry DNA and put each surname I've generated so far into the search box for my results list. One of them brought up something good. One of the husbands surnames brought up a match of 2nd to 3rd Cousin with 270cMs. What do you reckon to that???

[brigidmac]

That's fantastic ! Do they have a tree ?

Congratulations your persistance is paying off

You could have a grandparent or set of grandparents in common . depending if they are same generation as yourself .

[Towdlass]

Yes they do have a tree but the name which brought them up is only one person on her tree from back in the 1700s so not sure if that will be our main connection. Seems unlikely. She and I have already been trying to locate where our connection can be for the last 18 months. I'm beginning to lose my impetus, I really am. I have more puzzles than you can shake a stick at. I've already managed to solve one but still have three more, including the current search. It is so difficult to keep going when you seem to hit so many dead ends. However, I'm not spent yet and shall keep going.

The thing is when you use the search box on the DNA results page it brings up everyone who has that surname in their tree but that can be a complete red herring. That's why I tried to do it the other way around and searched in Public Member Trees for the person you're investigating and then search the trees which have that person in them and look for someone who also has a DNA connection to me.

There may be other ways of searching and I am completely open to any help regarding this. At present it feels a bit like banging my head against a brick wall. Why don't more people take the DNA test? This could make my task so much easier. 

[Towdlass]

Can one of you just clarify this for me please. The person I found who shares 7cM across 1 segment has the connection as being - the brother of the person I think might be my great grandfather was the second husband of her great aunt. Now, I know that's a lot to get your head around but what I don't have a clue of knowing is - would that connection give a result of 7cMs?? I don't understand DNA enough to be able to work out if it would or not.
I have been extending his tree in all directions but I can't seem to bring up anyone with a closer DNA match and my brain hurts. 

[brigidmac]

That doesn't sound right because the person wouldn't share any DNA with his aunt's husband unless they had a blood connection further up . 7 cm is very little

[Towdlass]

Ah she did say that they had two daughters. I'm rather fuzzy about DNA Brigid. The 7cMs is the connection between me and her isn't it? So we could be cousins about 3 or 4 times removed?? If the chap I found brought her up as a DNA connection that must mean that the MAIN connection between him and me must be somewhere around there mustn't it? I feel like the proverbial blind man in the darkened room looking for something which I think might be there. I'm feeling totally bemused.

[brigidmac]

I don't understand what you mean by " The chap who brought her up as a DNA connection "

Or who had 2 daughters
Maybe you could use initials when referring to your potential great grandfather + his brothers

It is hard to get your head around DNA
Have you asked your dna match if she has any matches which match you or your other DNA match ?
It's positive that you have more than one match from your unknown side .but 7cm could be from a known line just too small to show up .
I suggest giving DNA puzzle a rest for a while ..look at other people s stories and how they resolved them and come back to it when you have a few more matches 

I'm working in my mum's link thought it was to a sister of her grandfather but think it might be a sister of her great great grandmother.thats a 28cm match !
+ They anglicised their names from Russian/ Yiddish so very hard to find

[Towdlass]

Yes I think that you are right. I don't have very many close matches from my DNA results. I have only 3 in the hundreds and all the rest are 70cMs and less. So it's like knitting without much wool. It's years since I did my test though. I did hope that the lockdown would have prompted a few more to do a test. Oh well I think I will take your advice and give it a rest for a while. Thanks for your input over the last few weeks. Take care.

[Towdlass]

It still hasn't arrived. When is the cut off point from being patient and waiting and getting in touch to complain it hasn't arrived? Last year it was possible to download certificates. It would have made sense to have brought that back again during the last few months.