Genealogy is a complex thing. Purists believe only valid paper documentation counts as a source. I am not a purist, and I have found a third cousin I never heard of, using 23andme. Her family is near the East Coast, and my family is definitely from Fly Over country. By communicating with her, we dug around and found all the names connecting us. But, without the fantastic clues given by DNA, we would never have succeeded in closing the loop.
She and I both authorized every 23andme subscriber to have access to our i.d. and data. She was listed as my 3rd cousin, and I think she chose to say where she lived. If not, there is a private communication system, I forget which one we used. Also, we were supplied the diagram of our probable relationship, with an explanation which items might vary by one and still be related.
Then, we each listed our parents, then our grandparents, then g-g, as far as we knew. Then we went to Family Search. org, the Mormon data base, and started searching. Eventually we found the intersection, and we were done.
She is a traditional woman, very domestic and family oriented. Appearance is what used to be known as Girl-Next-Door. I don't think she has ever said what her work is, except that she does work outside the home. She is on my FACE, and shows her domestic activities of every sort. I am proud to have her as a 3rd cousin. I consider her as also a friend. I would have never heard of her without DNA testing. If I hadn't stopped driving, I would probably make arrangements and visit her over a thousand miles away.
Her surname is listed in the Civil War history books. But, she does not yet know if that person is closely related or not.
My wife is descended from the Palacios family, a once rich ranch family until the 1918 Revolution. Using DNA, I found a distant kin who lives in California, and told him he was related by the Palacios. He doubted it, but then his father told him, yes we are from the Palacios. He was amazed I could tell him that from my wife's family tree.
With cooperation, in the USA it is not hard to find the connection to third cousin. In Mexico, it is very hard. Some of my wife's third cousins live in Guatemala or El Salvador.
She and I both authorized every 23andme subscriber to have access to our i.d. and data. She was listed as my 3rd cousin, and I think she chose to say where she lived. If not, there is a private communication system, I forget which one we used. Also, we were supplied the diagram of our probable relationship, with an explanation which items might vary by one and still be related.
Then, we each listed our parents, then our grandparents, then g-g, as far as we knew. Then we went to Family Search. org, the Mormon data base, and started searching. Eventually we found the intersection, and we were done.
She is a traditional woman, very domestic and family oriented. Appearance is what used to be known as Girl-Next-Door. I don't think she has ever said what her work is, except that she does work outside the home. She is on my FACE, and shows her domestic activities of every sort. I am proud to have her as a 3rd cousin. I consider her as also a friend. I would have never heard of her without DNA testing. If I hadn't stopped driving, I would probably make arrangements and visit her over a thousand miles away.
Her surname is listed in the Civil War history books. But, she does not yet know if that person is closely related or not.
My wife is descended from the Palacios family, a once rich ranch family until the 1918 Revolution. Using DNA, I found a distant kin who lives in California, and told him he was related by the Palacios. He doubted it, but then his father told him, yes we are from the Palacios. He was amazed I could tell him that from my wife's family tree.
With cooperation, in the USA it is not hard to find the connection to third cousin. In Mexico, it is very hard. Some of my wife's third cousins live in Guatemala or El Salvador.
