DNA has been claimed to tell the truth. Or is that actually true? You get a match saying you are related with so and so many centimorgans (cM), and the relationship is so and so. Often it is one generation further away than the estimated relationship. But sometimes the estimate isn’t the truth.
Let me give you some examples.
I am related to three siblings. They show a relationship of 4th Cousin – Remote, and we were guessing that the relationship would be close enough to sort it out. No, it’s not. We are related twice back in 1600, but the double-up ancestors give our DNA a much larger number than reality (19 cM, 19 cM, and 9 cM).
Another example is a lady I am related to. We knew we were related in the Hallingdal and Valdres areas (28cM). It’s by the way several in marriages in those areas. But we are not closely related but related in three ways, which makes the number of cM a lot higher. It took us a long time to figure it out, but Relatives at RootsTech helped us discover how we were related over the last couple of years.
Relatives at RootsTech is by the way an excellent resource for anyone who wants to learn more about how they are related. You will have to upload your tree to FamilySearch.org first when signing up for RootsTech Virtual (if you are not already sign up for the in-person event), and then sign into Relatives at RootsTech.
Picture by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke at Pixabay