Comments on John Lewis Jr.

+1 vote
195 views

On 8 May 2023 Jimmy Lewis wrote on Lewis-1672:

Kevin, What does all of this mean? On another page I saw where John Lewis is my earliest ancestor. Is this so?What about all the other people on the cousin list, are they my cousins? I am afraid I do not understand all of this information.Please help!

WikiTree profile: John Lewis
in Genealogy Help by Jimmy Lewis G2G6 Mach 1 (10.5k points)

1 Answer

+2 votes

What does all of this mean? 

Males are born with XY chromosomes. Someone who is male inherited his father's Y chromosome. Y DNA tests specifically look at the Y chromosome and compares them to other Y chromosomes. Those that match have a common male ancestor.

To illustrate, suppose John Doe had two sons. Jack Doe and James Doe. One male is a descendant of Jack. Another is a descendent of James. If the direct ancestor line is all men for both descendants, then they have the same Y chromosome as John Doe.

On another page I saw where John Lewis is my earliest ancestor. Is this so? What about all the other people on the cousin list, are they my cousins?

Depends on how you researched this information. If you went on Ancestry/FamilySearch and accepted every hint that came your way without question, then you didn't actually do any research. There is a possibility of error that increases significantly with each generation if you just accept whatever Ancestry tells you.

If however you started with direct family knowledge you know to be true and carefully made sure all the information was accurate before proceeding to the next generation, then the chances of errors are still present but much lower.

by Paul Kerbow G2G6 Mach 1 (15.3k points)
Thank you Paul! I have in the past believed what Ancestry and especially Family Search provides as accurate. I have a friend on Family Tree DNA has convinced me to take their information with a grain of salt.I thought The Latter Day Saints had everything down right, but as I research more with DNA I have found that it is not so.With so many people adding information without taking the time to actually find the proof of what they are posting only compounds the problem for people who actually use verifiable information. So again than you, you back up what I am finally learning. I have made a few mistakes that has actually undone what other researchers hav worked so hard to provide to us. It has made me more cautious about what I post! Jimmy Lewis

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