Verge of breaking brick wall.

+3 votes
211 views
I am at the verge a breaking a brick wall for my 3x GGF Johnathan (Bartlett-5119).  I placed a "research" family tree on Ancestry to see if my 3x GGF would fit into it.  I found a census record and birth record showing all siblings on it.  The census record showed all siblings living in the same town or area.  Birth record showed location of birth (state) is correct.  The problem is the birth date is 10 months off.  I recently found an Ancestry DNA connection to one of the siblings descendant.  Would this be enough to link my 3x GGF to this family tree?
WikiTree profile: Johnathan Bartlett
in Genealogy Help by Renee Bartlett G2G3 (3.7k points)

1 Answer

+2 votes

I'm only answering because no one else has since I am no expert. Recently, there was another post (by someone who is more of an expert) about DNA matches and he indicated that a DNA match of 3 generations or less is helpful. I think the 3xGGF is too far away, so that you will need more DNA matches to triangulate to be sure that it is a true match. 

The birth date can be problematic. Where did you find the two birthdates? Is one a birth or baptismal record? Is it from the census? You need to consider how the information was obtained. If it is a census record, it is hard to take that information as 100% accurate. The information could have been provided by a neighbor or grandpa who doesn't really know everyone's birthdate. The reason I say the birth date discrepancy is a problem is because, in my own family, my grandfather's children were MaryAnn, Salvatore, Jack, and Joan. His brother's children were Salvatore, Jack, MaryAnn and John. Salvatore from one family and Jack from the other were born on the exact same day, year and everything! So confusing. So, you could have a situation similar to this.

by Lucy Selvaggio-Diaz G2G6 Pilot (829k points)
The birth record from the Ancestry "research" family tree is from the MA Town and Vital Records, and it looks like all the records from the family were written down at one time since they have the marriage record after some of the birth dates.  Could they have made a mistake?  Also, trying to figure out if his mother Sarah is also Eleanor??  Here's the link for the "research" tree:  https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/168511927/person/152185429106/facts

The birth date from my 3x GGF comes from his gravestone, which year and months are mentioned on the stone (could be inaccurate?).  Here's my 3xGGF tree:  https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/167838418/person/122174393494/facts

I have placed the 1820 census record showing all siblings on both trees.  Also, the DNA connection lines up with what Ancestry states as a 5th cousin (28 cm across 2 segments - longest segment is 23 cm's) This was my brother's test and my "research" tree is not on his profile page, but this DNA connection came up.  I am in the process of having my Ancestry DNA done.

Thank you for your response and hoping a Genealogist will give their opinion on if I can use the "research" family tree as the parents of my 3xGGF?
Broke the brick wall!

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