The Sticky Wicket of Bringing DNA into your Bag of Genealogy Tools

Everyone should enter these tests with caution. Maybe you just want that silly "piechart" of ethnicity estimates but, if you ask me, its not really worth that. I personally think they are junk. They are just estimates that will indeed change over time and from company to company as each company increases their data pools and refines their algorithms. They mean very little. Unless of course you get some large quantity of unexpected ethnicity, which may be an indication that your family isn't who you think they are.

Just as you can discover unpleasant truths in your genealogy record research, using DNA in your research can be a disarming and potentially painful experience. Maybe you won't suffer major surprises in your DNA results but it is likely that hidden in your tree is an unknown offspring of some relative.

That being said there is a great deal to be gained by adding the tool of direct-to-consumer DNA to your toolkit.

Few Surprises to Me

Of the 150+ DNA matches of mine and my father's that I have linked into my Ancestry family tree, few were much of a surprise. Mine and my father's, you ask. Yes. Whereas all of my father's DNA matches are individuals who belong in my family tree, I do not match all the people he matches to.

That can be a hard concept for newbies to get but I only got half my DNA from my father. So some of his DNA that I didn't get are the bits that connect him to some of his distant matches. He matches them, I don't, but they are my relatives just the same.

I personally know my top 28 matches. I mean, like I have met them in-person, in real life, long before DNA tests were available to the public; I have their phone numbers. I KNOW them.

My first "surprise" was a third cousin match at 41 centimorgans (cMs). She had a family tree linked to her DNA. It was sparse but when I looked at it, I immediately recognized her great grandmother, listed just as "Elizabeth" as my great grandfather's sister. I knew who Elizabeth was because my match had Elizabeth's husband's full name listed. I knew my Elizabeth married that man and thus, Elizabeth was OUR Elizabeth

I decided to reach out to my match and tell her that I knew her great grandmother's maiden name and had a whole bunch of research done on the Earles of Twillingate, Newfoundland. My match wrote back and said that was great because... she was adopted. 

I wasn't shocked in a shattering way but rather felt good that I could contribute to her effort to know her biological family history.

Breaking Through Brick Walls

DNA has also helped me to break through a nagging research brick wall that I had. 

For the longest time I didn't really know my third great grandmother's maiden name. I know, unbelievable, right? (I say in jest). I know that this is very common. Women's maiden names can be hard to track down. Such is life in a patriarch.

One year, it may have been in 2010, I set the goal of trying to put a name to each of my third great grandparents. For my father's maternal line, I could trace back to a man named Victor Henry born in about 1838 in Switzerland and who died in Queens County, New York on November 9, 1896. His wife's name was Mary. Her maiden name was something like Carrion; which is actually a word that means the decaying flesh of dead animals. Lovely. But I knew that name was not correct because, 1. I had seen is spelled a dozen different ways, and 2. because of this notation on Mary's death certificate:

It reads: Could not ascertain Mother's Maiden name - August Henry

August was her son and the informant providing details to the medical examiner about Mary.

I knew Carrion was not correct.

Flash forward to receiving my DNA results in mid-November 2013. I really didn't know all the benefits of using DNA as a genealogy research tool then. Now I can handle results in a systematic way to decipher relationships and connections but back then I was just scrolling through matches and randomly poking around in peoples' family trees. I came across a tree that had all this old Long Island family names. Thus I assumed the match was through my paternal grandfather who's maternal line settled on Long Island in the 1630s. As I got to the bottom of the tree though I saw the name Joseph Carillion. Carillion. Hmm. I had seen that name before. Yes, on August Henry's marriage certificate, his witness was Harry Carillion. And when I had first seen his marriage record I recalled researching Harry suspecting that perhaps he was a cousin. Carrion. Carillion. They sound a lot alike. I couldn't make a connection back in late 2011.

Once I had seen this match in my DNA results though, I reached out to the individual who managed the DNA kit and received a lot of information and was finally able to solidify that Mary's maiden name was indeed Carillion. Harry was her nephew. August and Harry were first cousins. Since my match was descended from Mary's brother, there wasn't that patriarchal name changing business that I had to deal with.

Finding Mary's maiden name allowed me to find much more documentation for the family and deepen my understanding of that line's family history.

...But Not All Discoveries for Everyone are Happy Discoveries.

Now that I have a decade of dealing with my own DNA results, I am confident helping others decipher their results. 

I volunteer to help people track down their bio-dads or birth parents; the term most commonly used for this is search angel. The experience has resulted in a mixed bag of emotions. 

• I have had to tell a man who was nearly 50 years-old that he was adopted.
• I've had to tell people that the man they know as their father is not their biological father.
• I've had birth fathers tell me to go away.
• I've had a Vietnam veteran have to tell his children that there was a newly discovered sibling from his time in the service; and they were all good with it.
  
• I've confirmed suspicious for a woman that her father was not her bio-father which only deepened the schism between her and her mother. The lies and the denial, unfathomable
• I have had to tell donor conceived sisters that they were not full biological siblings despite what the sperm bank told their mother.

And sometimes people don't have high enough matches to determine who their birth parents were and unfortunately, I can't tell them much of anything.

In general, everyone should enter these tests with caution. Maybe you won't suffer major surprises but, again, it is likely that hidden in your tree is an unknown offspring of some relative and perhaps you will be placed in the middle of a uncomfortable situation.

Often the uncomfortable situation has very little if anything to do with you. You are just the waypoint for another to learn their truth. 

52 Ancestors Challenge Week 17: "Document" - NYC Vital Records Free Online

Recently, on March 15, 2022, New York City's Municipal Archives finally made their vital records accessible online for free. For years and years and years I was either traipsing to Chambers Street in Manhattan or a Family History Center (FHC) in Plainview, Long Island to view these records. In either place you could view the image for free but very often I would order the certificate online rather than making the visit. It would cost about $20 online but if I knew I wanted a physical copy and I had a certificate number from one of the many databases that indexed the NYC Vital records, it was not worth the cost of a train ticket and/or parking and the price of gas to make the trek. In-person though, you could view the record for free or purchase it at a reduced cost. At the Archives I think it was $11 in-person and the FHC charged the cost of a photocopy, if their machine was working.

I can't even estimate how much money I have given to the New York City Municipal Archives over time, easily hundreds of dollars. So many of my ancestors were born, married, and/or died in the City of New York. Now to get these images online for free in the convenience of my living room. Woo-freakin'-hoo!

I am actively trying to download as many of them as I can now before, God forbid, the City decides that charging for access was making them revenue they need. Thus far I have converted 3 marriage records for all 3 sets of my great grandparents who were married in the City of New York to jpegs and uploaded them as images to Ancestry. 

Now, you ought to be aware that images uploaded to Ancestry become accessible to all Ancestry users. That means if you have an image you don't want someone to copy into their own tree, don't put it up. 

I am struggling to find some of the records that the City indicates should have already been digitized. Even with a certificate number, though, they don't come up. Hmm. Anyway...

Very often the cost of purchasing a document is prohibitive to the researcher. For example, my students in my summer genealogy course through St. John's University's Division of Library & Information Science often only have the resources to finance access to Ancestry.com for the month duration of the course. They come to rely on the index of these NYC vital records. I always explain to them, though, that the index is really no substitute for the document itself. You might not even have the right record if you don't look to see the other information on the record. Betcha there is more than one John Smith who died in the City of NY in the year and month that your John Smith did. How do you know it's your John Smith if the index doesn't show you his parents names and/or the burial location? Huh? Things like that.

In short, genealogists want the document.

There are all sorts of juicy tidbits that may appear in the margins on the document. Marginalia does not get indexed. For example, my favorite New York City Death Record is for my third great grandmother Mary Carillion-Henry. I know, only a genealogist would have a favorite death record. Kind of creepy, April. It is my favorite death record because of this little note, though. It was the gateway to discovering Mary's parents, siblings, and more accurate spelling of their surname. Look at this:

That is the signature of Mary's son, August Henry, the informant at the time of her death. It states that he "Could not ascertain  Mother's maiden name." 

Gorgeous! Because that tells me not to trust any instance of August recording his mother's maiden name. He doesn't know!

And that doesn't show up in any index. You have to see the document to see that. 

So go look for them, especially now if you have family members who passed through NYC! Stop looking at me. Go look! https://a860-historicalvitalrecords.nyc.gov/ 

Second Stop, part 3: St. John Cemetery, Middle Village Queens - Mary Carillion-Henry

Another of the graves that Cousin Peter and I visited in St. John Cemetery on April 24, 2021 was that of our 3rd great grandmother, Mary Carillion-Henry (October 1855 - 8 January 1907). Mary is interred in Section 13, Row O, Grave 7. She has no marker which, again, is not uncommon for my family. Although, we have been richly rewarded in finding many Henry family markers on this particular day. Instead, Mary has a beautiful fuchsia colored azalea near her grave. It might really be the neighbor's planting but we admired it just the same.

Mary was a struggle to research. For decades my records recorded a vague maiden name for Mary. Sometimes it appeared as Carion, Carrion, Carien, Karon, Carson, and a ton of other variations. I knew they were all wrong. In part I knew this because of this image; the reverse of Mary's Death certificate:

On the back on Mary's Death Certificate there was a note that her son August Henry, the informant, that reads "Could not ascertain Mother's Maiden Name."

It was actually an AncestryDNA match several years ago that led me to her maiden name, Carillion. I matches with a woman who was the descendant of John Carillion, who turned out to be Mary's brother. That DNA discovery yielded another generation to add to my tree; Mary's parents, Nicholas and Caroline. 

Although the spelling of both surnames are very off, below is an image from the NY State 1875 Census showing my 4th great grandparents Nicholas and Caroline with their children John and Louisa "Karron" living right next to my 3rd great grandparents, Victor and Mary "Arrai" with their infant son (my great-great grandfather) Victor Henry. Yes, if you say Henry with a French accent and try to spell it phonetically, Arrai is pretty close.

Second Stop, part 1: St. John Cemetery, Middle Village Queens - William and Agnes Sauer

The second cemetery Cousin Pete and I visited in our marathon of cemetery visits on Saturday, April 24, 2021, was St. John Cemetery on Metropolitan Ave. in Middle Village, Queens, NY. What a truly beautiful and well maintained cemetery. 

This is the location of the graves of more than a few of my Grandma Earle's people and thus ancestors Peter and I share. Pete and I are second cousins. My Grandma Earle and his grandma were sisters.

My plan was to visit the burial locations of these 5 individuals:

1. Our great-great grandfather on Grandma Earle's mother's side; William Sauer (11 February 1870 - 23 December 1932) Section 24, Row K, Grave 106

2. Our great-great grandmother, William's wife; Agnes Gray-Sauer (27 October 1871 - 30 December 1941) who is buried with her husband in Section 24, Row K, Grave 106. 

3. Our great-great grandmother on Grandma Earle's father's side; Annette "Anne" Hinch-Henry (22 February 1868 - 2 March 1952) Section 18, Row O, Grave 78

4. Our 3rd great grandmother, Anne's mother-in-law; Mary Carrillion-Henry (October 1855 - 8 January 1907) Section 13, Row O, Grave 7

5. Our 3rd great grandfather, Mary's husband; Victor Henry (March 1838 - 9 November 1896) Section 16, Row A, Grave 403

In addition to these 5, several of Peter's mother's relatives are buried in St. John Cemetery and so we also ventured to find some of his family graves. 

We got to St. John at about 11:20 and left a little after 1 p.m. It was certainly the longest of our stays inside any one cemetery that day. We probably also got our most steps in there wandering about trying to find the grave numbers etched into the bottom right corners of headstones.

Because we visited so many graves in St. John, I am going to blog about one gravesite at a time. The first of which is the grave of our great-great grandparents, William Sauer (11 February 1870 - 23 December 1932) and Agnes Gray-Sauer (27 October 1871 - 30 December 1941) in Section 24, Row K, Grave 106. 

You might wonder why we didn't start at the lowest numbered section. Well, the way the numbering of sections are laid out, 24 is actually closest to the entrance we came through. This is an enormous Catholic Cemetery; nearly 190 acres. You need a map. However, we didn't need to go to the office. Signs people! Signs.

You can kind of see Peter and I reflected in the map sign. We came in through the gate between sections 1 and 2. It took some navigating but we found William and Agnes in section 24 in Row K which runs perpendicular to the red road way parallel to Woodhaven Blvd. Their headstone faces towards Furmanville Ave. And yes! They have a headstone.

The stone on the right is for our great-great grandparents as well as their daughter, also named Agnes. The stone on the left is for their son, also named William. Not real creative with their name choices. You can see in the background the Christ the Redeemer Mausoleum which helps to give one a sense of the location within the cemetery

William Sauer the younger was the father of our grandmothers' cousin who we lovingly called "Uncle Billy." I just recently learned Uncle Billy passed away last year on January 16, 2020 at the age of 95. His father had a rather short life though. He died of pneumonia at the age of 25.

Great-great grandpa William Sauer was an ambulance driver back when the ambulance was a wooden wagon. Below is a photo of William and his horse evidently hitched to a wagon of some sort.

My grandma also talked about their monkey. Yes, great-great grandpa had a monkey. One of her earliest memories was of her grandfather William holding her and feeding buttered crackers to the monkey who would lick off the butter and throw the crackers on the ground. I don't know who the people are in the photo below but I know that is the monkey.

I also have a beautiful image of my great great grandmother, Agnes Gray-Sauer, in a family group photo. That is Agnes right in the middle. In front of her are 3 of her 5 children. The child standing on the left is William Sauer (1901-1926) and the young girl is my great grandmother, Anna Marie Sauer-Henry (1896-1986). The little boy in the middle is Joseph Sauer (1902-1968). 

The woman on the left holding the baby is Margaret Gray-Fitzpatrick (1878-1956). She is holing her son, Raymond Fitzpatrick (1906-1977). The woman in the back on the left is Agnes & Margaret's sister, Mary "Mamie" Gray (1869-1929). The woman on the right in the back not holding a child is Elizabeth "Eliza" Gray (1879-1970). I am not sure who the woman on the far right is, the one holding the sleeping baby. I suspect the baby might be Agnes's 4th child, Cecilia Sauer (14 July 1906 - 9 August 1907) which provides a pretty narrow window of time in which this photo was taken; sometime during Cecilia's lifetime. Cecelia was buried in Most Holy Trinity Cemetery which was part of my cemetery marathon. I'll write about that visit soon.

The Murder-Suicide: Portraits

I was recently contacted through this blog by a distant cousin. Cousin Laura is my third cousin which means we have the same great-great grandparents in common; Victor Henry and Annette Hinch-Henry.

Although Cousin Laura and I did not know each other, I do know her grandmother. She and I had met at a family reunion many years ago. At that reunion another cousin brought a photo of the man who is our common ancestor. Cousin Laura was able to send me a digital photo of Victor Henry.

Victor Henry committed a murder-suicide on June 23, 1908 when he was just 34 years-old. Cousin Laura knew of the suicide but not the murder. I suspect it was an event Victor's children wanted buried with their father.

In retelling this event I want to clearly distinguish facts from the story.

• FACT: On the morning of June 23, 1908, Victor Henry went to the residence of Mrs. Mary Ann Hinch-Cassidy on Water Street in Woodhaven, Queens, NY
• FACT: Mary Ann was a widow and the first cousin on Victor's wife;  Annette Hinch-Henry.
• FACT: Victor shot and killed Mary Ann and then turned the revolver on himself.

Now the story, as told through several newspapers articles is that Victor was married with three children but that he was estranged from his wife, Annette. During the alleged separation, Victor had taken up boarding in Mary Ann's house which I just find weird. Why would you want to live with your estranged spouse's family? Or better yet, why would they want you living with them? But I digress... It is interesting to note that the year before, in 1907, Victor's mother, Mary Carrillion-Henry, had also resided and passed away at a house on Water Street.

Most of the newspaper articles state that Victor and Mary Ann were romantically involved or that at the very least Victor had romantic interest in Mary Ann. The neighbors who were interviewed for the articles state jealousy was Victor's motivation but who really knows what his motivation was. He was undoubtedly unwell as anyone is who takes such drastic measures.

You can read an article about the murder-suicide for free online from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 23 June 1908, page 1, http://bklyn.newspapers.com/clip/5132888//. There is also an article from the following day, 24 June 1908, buried on page 14 (http://bklyn.newspapers.com/clip/5132772//) which states that Victor's brother, Charles (by the way, I don't know of any brother named Charles although that was Victor's son's name), told reporters that yes, Victor was madly in love with Mary Cassidy but it is untrue that he ever boarded at her home or that he was separated from his wife.

This here is an image of Mary Ann Hinch-Cassidy, the murder victim and Annette Hinch-Henry's first cousin. The photo is cropped from a digital image posted by another Ancestry.com user. Until this past week, I had never seen this picture or any other images of Mary Ann but I definitely see a family resemblance.

New Year's Eve Tragedy Befalls Carillions

FultonHistory.com is a wonderful, free source for digitized New York State newspaper articles.

Many years ago, on a hunch, I researched the Carillion family of Queens, NY. I suspected that my 3rd great grandmother, Mary Henry, was related to the Carillions. And in recent posts you can see that indeed Mary Henry's maiden name was Carillion.

In my research into the Carillions I stumbled upon some newspaper articles about a drunk driving accident that took the life of Anna and Edward Carillion. For those of you who can follow such statements, Edward would be my 2nd cousin 3 times removed.

New Year's Eve, 1932:

Joseph Carillion and his family spent the day shopping in Jamaica, Queens, NY; not terribly far from their home at 90-06 202nd St., Hollis (part of which was called Belaire), Queens. At about 8 pm, laden with packages, the family of 5 disembarked from the trolley car which ran along Jamaica Avenue. Moments later a car driven by a drunk driver, Charles Neu, age 32, of Williston Park, NY, struck four of the Carillions; the mother Anna, age 40;  Robert, 15; Bessie, 7; and Edward, 3. Both Anna and Edward succumbed to their injuries while Robert and Bessie were taken to a near by Mary Immaculate Hospital to recover from their head injuries. Only the father, Joseph escaped injury. 

Two other sons, Joseph Jr. and Harold were not at the scene. Joseph Jr. was stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii at the time.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Tuesday, January 3, 1933

A trial soon ensued.  Prior to the trial though, the newspapers were flooded with articles about the incident and filled with photos of the Carillion family which to me seems to be the media's attempt to endorse what I think is a blatant case of vehicular manslaughter committed while intoxicated. Mr. Neu, however,  was acquitted by a jury of his peers.

I wish the newspaper photos were clearer so I could really see if there is a family resemblance between my Henrys and these Carillion cousins.

Wait! What About the Neighbors?

I am very frustrated by not being able to find Nicholas and Caroline Carillion (or how ever the hell you spell it) in the 1860 census. I find myself staring blankly at the their names listed in the 1875 NY State Census record I found for them.

Nicholas, Caroline, Louisa (who may be my Mary Carrion-Henry), John, Victor, Mary, Victor...wait!

The neighbors are Victor, Mary, and Victor. Wait Wait Wait Wait Wait.

My 3rd great grandmother Mary Carrion was married to a tinsmith name Victor Henry. Victor was Swiss but I'm inclined to believe he spoke French, as many Swiss do. Their first child was my great-great grandfather, also named Victor Henry who was born in June of 1874. This census would have been taken right before he turned 1.

You say Henry with your best French accent. Does it sound like An-ray? Arrai?

That is my Mary Carrion-Henry living right next door to her parents Nicholas and Caroline Carrion, with now who I believe is her sister Louisa and her brother John. John goes on to formalize the family name to Carillion.

I now have no doubt that John Carillion was indeed the brother of my Mary Henry. No doubt! None.

Spelling and Genetics

Anyone who really knows me knows that I really can't spell. Well, that is not to say my spelling is as bad as my father's - -  that man can't spell at all. And so it does not surprise me in the least bit that this tale of variant spelling stems from his side of the tree.

Many years ago, more than a decade I'm sure, I got a copy of my third great-grandmother's death certificate. Mary Henry, born about 1857, died in Woodhaven, Queens, New York in January of 1907. Her son August Henry (1879-1960) is listed as the informant. On the death certificate was scrawled a note that stated that August could  not recall his mother's maiden name but the maiden name is listed as Carrian.

At about that same point in time I observed August's marriage certificate from 1906. There too his mother's maiden name is listed as Carrion. His best man was Harry Carillion. Carrion. Carillion. Hmm. I thought those two names were pretty similar and thus I began researching Harry Carillion with the sense that this might have been a cousin. I could never find a family connection between the Mary Henry and Harry Carillion.

Years have passed.

Now I have taken a DNA test, as has my father and sister. Recently I was looking at some matches on my dad's side and I came across a woman who matched all three of us. I looked at her tree and initially I saw some old Long Island family names and thought for sure this must be a connection through my paternal grandfather's side. But then I saw it!

Down on her mother's side of the tree was the name John Carillion (born1863) and it all came flooding back to me. Harry Carillion's father was John Carillion. 

I wouldn't genetically match to an ancestor of some random childhood neighbor friend of great-great uncle August. Those Carillion's were cousins and more-so I suspect John Carillion was my Mary Henry's brother.

I contacted the man who administered the DNA test for this person we matched. He shared with me an article from The Brooklyn Eagle written on Wednesday, February 6, 1907 but I can't follow who's mother they are talking about in the article; August's or John's. I think it is John Carillion who wanted his nephew, August Henry, to pay support for John's mother & thus August's grandmother, but you tell me...

I ordered John Carillion's death certificate; his dates would be (1863-1940). It lists his parents as Nicholas Carillion and Caroline Laplage both born in France.

Some more poking around on Ancestry.com I have been able to find 3 census records:

1880 - Caroline Carrilion widow age 55 (born about 1855), John Carrilon age 16 (born about1864).
1875 - Nickolas Karron age 67 (born about 1808), Carline Karron age 55 (born about 1850), Louisa Karron age 18 (born about 1957) , John Karron age 11 (born about 1864).
1855 - Nicholas Carellon age 42 (born about 1813), Caroline Carellon age 28 (born about 1827).

And a search of the NYC death index revealed a death certificate for a Nicholas Carrion who died on March 10, 1876 at the age of 64 (born about 1812) in Brooklyn...which I have ordered.

Still no mention of Mary but that Louisa Karron would have been born the same year as my Mary Carrian-Henry. I think that is her. I think that Louisa Karron is my Mary Carrian-Henry.

Don't ask me the spelling of her maiden name though. I've no idea. Apparently, spelling was never a skill in this family.

Great-great-great Grandma Mary Something-Henry

There is some confusion about my great-great-great grandmother, Mary Henry's, maiden name. Mary died on the 8th of January in 1907. Her son August Henry was listed at the informant on her death certificate. Noted on the certificate is that August could not ascertain his mother’s maiden name.

On April 16, 1906 August Henry married Mary Arsenault at St. Elizabeth's Church in Woodhaven, Queens, New York. On his marriage certificate his mother's maiden name is listed as Carrion; as opposed to Carrian which is listed on her death certificate above. I am not hung up on the spelling of the name. Every genealogist knows that the concept of correct spelling is  a 20th century notion. I just wonder if August was correct about this mother's maiden name at the time of his marriage.

August's best-man was a gentleman by the name of Harry Carillion. Could Carrillion been his mother's maiden name? It does soundex the same as Carrion and Carrian. Could Harry have been a cousin on his mother's side?

According to all the census records I have found listing my Mary Henry, she was born in the U.S., in New York in October of 1855 to parents of French origin; not Swiss. On her death certificate above it says her parents were Swiss but we know August was unclear about other facts at the time of her death; did he make a mistake there too? Mary's husband, Victor Henry, was of Swiss descent. Were Mary's parents French speaking Swiss?

I did attempt to find a Mary Carrion/Carrian in the 1870 census; before she was married. I did find a possible match; a Mary Carrion, line 36 below, aged 13 years old which would have put her birth in about 1857. That could be, however, her parents are listed as being born in Ireland. Eh, this is probably not my Mary since she lists her parents as being born in France in later census records. Interestingly enough though, this Mary's older brother works in a tin factory and my great-great-great grandmother Mary's husband, Victor Henry, was a tinsmith. Hmm...

For now Mary's maiden name will remain a mystery but it saddens me that our mother's lines are often lost to the patriarchal conformity of our culture. When women marry they traditionally give up their maiden names; granted those names are taken from their father's but still that tradition can make maternal research extremely challenging. And so researching Mary Something-Henry's family line has hit the brick wall. Don't worry though, Mary, I won't give up.