Stuck on how a DNA connection may have been related to my family

Question

I have an Ancestry DNA match at 22cM that is somehow distantly connected to me via my paternal side. Since my match does not have sources on their tree, I started doing research on the names in their tree.  I have saved the "low hanging fruit" that I have found on the matches likely link to me under research notes for my 2nd great-grandfather Jakob Knoebel but I am uncertain who this person's and my own common ancestor may have been.

1. I am uncertain how to create a profile for the people I have done research on because I am not sure that are actually related to me.

2. I and the match are at a brick wall trying to find records for the matches 2nd great-grandfather William A. Knoebel before 1876

This is what I have thus far on William A. Knoebel (for image or details see research notes on Knoebel-20

a) Possible Naturalization record 1876 Ohio

b) Marriage to Carrie A. Powell in Licking,  OH 23 Oct 1879

c) Birth record of son Charles F. Knoebel Newark, Licking, OH 16 Nov 1887

d) US Federal Census 1900 for Chicago, IL

e) Probate court record 1919 Cook Co. IL

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

It looks like William A. was born May 1849 in Baden, Germany, immigration was 1868 at 19 years of age.  From 1880 and 1900 Census'

I hope this helps somewhat L.

Comments

Would it be possible for your to give me a link to the 1880 Census record please?

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I think that Brad may be referencing William A. Knoble in Mansfield, Ohio in 1880:

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/45390953:6742

Answer 2

Great research questions!

I think most people have a similar case where there is a close dna cousin but just not sure who the common ancestors are.

I have gotten into more genetic genealogy research this last year and it has really helped me to overall understand how I connect to my dna matches.

One challenge of working with Ancestry DNA us that they do not show a chromosome browser.  

I have been using the yourDNA.family computer program since last August and it has been a great way to learn and teach myself more about my own genetic genealogy.  Basically the program helps organize all your 23andMe dna matches into groups based on matching dna segment.  So you end up with various triangulation groups of cousins that all match on the same segment of dna.  

I like using the dnapainter.com website as well to keep track of my findings.  It is a great site to record your dna matches from various testing sights and see how they overlap with each other.

Each dna segment should go back to a common ancestor.  You might have a most recent common ancestor with one of the matches but the common ancestor could still be farther back in time.  You can then overlay the ethnicity of that specific segment to see how that matches up with your paper tree.

Also I like to check Family Search and Geni to see if I can find any records there or Family connections that may help.  

I often first make a dna cousin a private profile in Family Search and try to find relatives already in Family Search to connect their tree to.  FS will also start to look for records to attach as well.  After you get some information figured our you could add them to WikiTree.

Also it's possible that with a dna match you may have multiple dna segments you match on but those could be from different ancestors that you both share. So it may look like you should be a 3rd cousin but it could be a couple of generations back in time until you get to your mcra.

Also on the genetic genealogy it can help to look at the various sites to try to find matches in common with the cousin you are researching.  Ancestry  gedmatch, 23andMe, FamilyTreeDNA and MyHeritage are the ones I use.  With MyHeritage you can do a free upload of your results from Ancestry to find your matches in their database.

Good luck and as always, the research must continue!

Comments

I know through reading that since I have recent pedigree collapse - my paternal grandparents were first cousins - the MRCA for matches may be further back in the tree than the cM would indicate.

Some of the things I am trying to discover are my late father's paternal paternal grandfather and his maternal maternal grandmother's families. Both of these individuals family histories are brick walls. Documentation for the family of my father's maternal grandmother's family before 1870 is very thin and much of it contradictory. The information on his paternal grandfather, other than the children's marriage records and one delayed birth record for my grandaunt, is non-extant.

The pedigree collapse combined with the double brick wall on my paternal side along with a British maternal maternal grandmother born illegitimate makes teasing out which side a distant cousin may be related to me a challenge. I have a boat load of unknown matches that "on paper" that appear to have no connection to my known ancestors. How they are connected to my family when they are in the 180 to 50 cM range is extremely frustrating.