Can I mark both of my links to a common 6th great grandfather as DNA confirmed?

Question

Silas Woodworth (1725 - 1790) is my 6th great grandfather.

I have found a DNA segment that I share with 2 other descendants of Silas Woodworth and marked my ancestry through Isaac Dodge as DNA confirmed.

https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/Dodge-Family-Tree-3303

Can I also mark my ancestry through Ella May Palmer as DNA confirmed as well using that same triangulation?

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Palmer-6120

Comments

Thanks for your answers, as disappointing as they were.

Can the other triangulated members who are a 5C and 5C1R, still proceed to mark their associated ancestors as DNA confirmed?

---

We've been discussing Silas, but as you have documented in the source confirmation statements that I reviewed, the MRCA pair for that segment is Silas and wife Sarah. Regardless of which ancestral path through which you inherited that DNA, I believe that one of that MRCA pair contributed that segment to all 3 of you.

If the other matches have well-defined trees that show only one ancestral path each back to Silas/Sarah, I would think it would be appropriate for them to confirm the relationships in their lines back to, but not including, the MRCA pair (since we don't know which one of the pair contributed the segment).

The wording of the other matches' confirmation source statements may need to include verbiage that describes the different possible genetic relationships that you may have with them for this segment depending upon which ancestral path provided that segment to you (since Silas/Sarah appear to be both 5g and 6g grandparents to you).

---

I concur with Rick.

Answer 1

Hi Greg,

If the genealogy is correct, you appear to have 2 potential paths of DNA inheritance back to Silas the MRCA.

Greg, [father], Clifford Bishop, Ida Love (Dodge) Bishop, Isaac Dodge, Frances Susan (Woodworth) Dodge, Abner Woodworth, John Woodworth, Silas Woodworth

This makes Silas the sixth great grandfather of Greg.

Greg, [father], Esther (Power) Bishop, Ella May (Palmer) Power, Edmund Chute Palmer, Mary Jane (Woodworth) Palmer, Eleazer Woodworth, Silas Woodworth
This makes Silas the fifth great grandfather of Greg.

The shared segment that you've triangulated with the other 2 DNA matches was likely passed down to you from Silas via one of those 2 paths.

When you mark the relationships along an inheritance path as "confirmed with DNA", you are identifying the path of inheritance through which you received that shared segment. If it's unclear which ancestral path through which you've inherited that particular segment, then I don't believe that you should mark the relationships for either path as "confirmed with DNA".

Comments

Hi Rick,

Thanks for the detailed answer. I had marked the path through Isaac Dodge as DNA confirmed before I noticed that I was doubly descended from Silas and asked the above question. I'll remove the DNA confirmations until further research has verified which path was involved.

Answer 2

You can't know which path that segment took to reach you without further work. So you shouldn't mark either path to Silas as confirmed until you are able to confirm which path it came down. Since your paths to Ella May Palmer and Isaac Dodge only share your father, this triangulated segment by itself only confirms you are your father's son, and no additional connections. But you could maybe use other segments/matches to confirm the additional connections you have marked.