Editors note: A previous version of this post incorrectly stated the name of Mrs. Obama&#8217;s maternal great-great grandfather. The correct name is Henry Wells Shields. 
A story in Sunday’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/us/dna-gives-new-insights-into-michelle-obamas-roots.html?pagewanted=all">New York Times</a> about first lady Michelle Obama’s distant white relatives echoes some of what we’ve seen more and more of at 23andMe – Americans, both black and white, using DNA to uncover unknown histories through their ancestry.
Much like what Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. did in his most recent PBS series, <a href="../inside-23andme/behind-the-scenes-with-pbss-finding-your-roots/">Finding Your Roots</a>, the Times was able to use DNA samples, paper records and family stories to piece together Mrs. Obama’s complicated family tree. The report found that Mrs. Obama&#8217;s maternal great-great-grandfather was the slave owner Henry Wells Shields.
While most African Americans know that they have some European ancestry because slave owners often forced themselves onto their slaves and fathered children by them, finding connections to living distant white relatives who are the descendants of those slave masters can be complicated. The Times notes that the widespread use of DNA testing has made some of these discoveries that much more common.
We’ve had several posts that touch on these issues. Take a look if you haven’t already seen them.
<div style="border: 1px solid #000; padding: 5px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 15px; width: 200px; float: right; margin-left: 15px;">
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-12163" style="float: left; margin-right: 15px;" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/JRBgdIBXKIeVIdETJrxYIw_ttam_logo.jpg" alt="" width="24" height="40"> Customers can look at the breakdown of their ancestry with 23andMe&#8217;s Ancestry Painting tool here.
Not yet a customer? Visit our <a href="https://www.23andme.com/store/cart/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">store</a> or <a href="https://www.23andme.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">learn more</a>.
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<ul>
<li><a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/a-black-family-history">Missing Pieces in An African-American Family History</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/thomas-jefferson-black-descendants">DNA Tests Uncover African Ancestry and a Surprising Connection to Thomas Jefferson</a></li>
<li><a href="../uncategorized/did-you-know-ancestry-is-not-so-black-and-white/">Did You Know Ancestry is Not So Black and White?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/hidden-african-ancestry">Our Hidden African Ancestry</a></li>
</ul>

23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

First Lady Michelle Obama’s Distant Cousins

With assorted schwag in hand, our team of elite 23andMers headed to Burbank last weekend to pass out a few free kits, some t-shirts and mingle with some of the most committed genealogists on the planet.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-13778" title="MikeatJamboree" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MikeatJamboree-300x172.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="172" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MikeatJamboree-300x172.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MikeatJamboree-1180x678.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MikeatJamboree-768x442.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MikeatJamboree-1024x589.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MikeatJamboree-880x506.jpg 880w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Mike Macpherson ready to answer a few ancestry questions.
This year’s Southern California Genealogy Jamboree drew more than 1,700 people over three days. There are just a handful of other events around the country that attract such a large number of people who are so knowledgeable and focused on learning about their ancestry. It’s not the first time we’ve been there, but it was the first time we brought a posse.
While there, we were lucky to learn a little about what these ancestry experts wanted out of 23andMe’s tools. In turn, we gave them a sneak peek of a host of new ancestry features we’ll be launching in a test format in the coming weeks. 
 
Mike Macpherson, one of our scientists, was on hand to answer questions. Mike helped develop this turbo charged package of new ancestry features we’ll soon be launching in a beta test. He was also there to participate on a panel discussion during the event put on by the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG). With him on the panel were 23andMe Ancestry Ambassador CeCe Moore, whose<a href="http://www.yourgeneticgenealogist.com/"> blog</a> is a go-to source for interesting stories and information about the use of genetics in genealogy, as well as Bennett Greenspan from Family Tree DNA, and Katherine Borges, the co-founder and director of ISOGG.
During the three days in Burbank, our team found that even among these experts at hunting down family histories – people who’ve focused for decades on assembling the lost stories of their ancestry – there were some folks who were new to the <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/ancestry-testing-goes-for-pinpoint-accuracy-1.10785" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">power of genetic genealogy.</a>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-13779" title="23andMe Winner Phyllis" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/23andMe-Winner-Phyllis-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/23andMe-Winner-Phyllis-300x225.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/23andMe-Winner-Phyllis.jpg 612w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Phyllis Kinzle, one of the lucky winners of a free kit at the Jamboree, said, &#8220;It&#8217;s a good time to start this new adventure!&#8221;
With Mike to help answer some of those folks’ questions were creative manager Melissa del Sol, public relations manager Catherine Afarian, and our social media guru Rebecca Wolpinsky. During the conference the team, along with CeCe, hung out and filled in the attendees about what DNA could do to help them fill in the gaps in their ancestry hunts.
They let folks know that now with more than 150,000 genotyped customers; we have the world’s largest database for ancestry. With a full range of ancestry tools that take advantage of autosomal DNA as well as yDNA and mitochondrial DNA, 23andMe can give results not just from maternal and paternal lines but from all of your ancestors. And we do all of that, along with providing health results, for <a href="https://www.23andme.com/store/cart/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">one price.</a>

23andMe at the Genealogy Jamboree

<img decoding="async" class="alignright size-large wp-image-13569" title="threedegrees_wtitlelegend" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/threedegrees_wtitlelegend-1024x400.png" alt="" width="625" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/threedegrees_wtitlelegend-1024x400.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/threedegrees_wtitlelegend-300x117.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/threedegrees_wtitlelegend-768x300.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/threedegrees_wtitlelegend-880x344.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/threedegrees_wtitlelegend-1180x461.png 1180w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />(Click to enlarge)
While the PBS series <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/">Finding Your Roots</a> made only passing reference to connections between guests, the truth is that each guest is genetically separated from other guests by at most three degrees.
<h2>Interconnections</h2>
The graph above shows a simplified view of just some of the connections between guests on Finding Your Roots. We’ve cut out most of the interconnections because otherwise, it would look like an unintelligible ball of yarn.
In actuality, every guest is connected to every other guest, and in fact, any two people who have been genotyped by 23andMe&#8217;s <a href="https://www.23andme.com/">Personal Genome Service</a> can be connected to each other &#8212; or to a Finding Your Roots guest &#8212; through one or two 4th or closer cousins.
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<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-12163" title="small_23andMe_logo" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/JRBgdIBXKIeVIdETJrxYIw_ttam_logo.jpg" alt="" width="24" height="40" />
The connections in the graph reflect 23andMe Relative Finder matches between individuals, which are based on segments of shared identical DNA. <a href="https://www.23andme.com/you/relfinder/">Check out your own Relative Finder</a> to see who you’re related to in 23andMe’s database.
Not yet a member? <a href="https://www.23andme.com/store/">Check out our store!</a>
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<h2>Harry Connick Jr. to Robert Downey Jr.</h2>
By tracing paths through related individuals in 23andMe’s database, we learn that Harry Connick Jr., Robert Downey Jr., and Barbara Walters are all direct cousins, that Martha Stewart and Samuel L. Jackson have a mutual cousin, and that Condoleeza Rice, Cory Booker, and Geoffrey Canada each share a mutual cousin with Kevin Bacon.
This concept of &#8220;three degrees of genetic separation&#8221; results from increased human migration across the globe. Over the last 500 years, as people from different geographic regions traveled and mixed, the genetic distances between people also shrank. Go back in time, and the corresponding distances between two people may have been more like eight or nine genetic degrees.
From the graph, we can see that Angela Buchdahl represents a genetic &#8220;bridge&#8221; between her Korean and Ashkenazi Jewish heritages, linking people like Margaret Cho to Barbara Walters. Barbara Walters must have also had many ancestors that spanned different regions and populations, as she represents common links between Angela Buchdahl, Kyra Sedgwick, Robert Downey, Jr., and Harry Connick, Jr.

Three Degrees of Genetic Separation

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-13549" title="ancestry dashboard" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/ancestry-dashboard-265x300.jpg" alt="" width="265" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/ancestry-dashboard-265x300.jpg 265w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/ancestry-dashboard.jpg 422w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 265px) 100vw, 265px" />
Over the next three days, a crack team from 23andMe will be at the annual<a href="http://www.scgsgenealogy.com/Jamboree/2012jam-home.htm"> Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree</a> in Burbank, to inject even more fun into the event while also offering tips on using genetics in genealogical searches.
Most exciting for us is that the team is offering a sneak peek to a host of cool new ancestry features that we’ll be launching in a test format in the coming weeks. We’ll be signing up attendees at the conference to do beta testing of the new features as we make them ready for a broader release in the near future.
But you can get a look at what’s to come here.
The first thing that will change is how we surface the collection of ancestry tools we offer users. Now when you click on My Ancestry Page, you’ll get a dashboard summary giving you a quick overview of things like your overall maternal and paternal line ancestry, a summary of recent changes to your Relative Finder matches and sometimes hard-to-find ancestry gems.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-13551 size-medium" title="Ancestry Painting" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Ancestry-Painting-232x300.jpg" alt="" width="232" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Ancestry-Painting-232x300.jpg 232w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Ancestry-Painting-768x994.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Ancestry-Painting-791x1024.jpg 791w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Ancestry-Painting-680x880.jpg 680w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Ancestry-Painting-911x1180.jpg 911w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Ancestry-Painting.jpg 1275w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px" />
To dig deeper into your ancestry, a few of our scientists have overhauled the Ancestry Painting V2 analysis, which we believe is the most accurate breakdown of your genetic ancestry now being offered anywhere. Previously we “painted” individuals ancestry by displaying their Asian, African and European ancestry. Our Ancestry Painting will soon draw from approximately 20 different world regions, creating much finer detail of your genetic ancestry and break down European ancestry and differentiate between Native American and Asian ancestry. Here’s an example of the results from our friend Harvard Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who is also the host of the recent 10-part PBS series Finding Your Roots.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-13552 size-medium" title="Relative Finder Map View" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Relative-Finder-Map-View-232x300.jpg" alt="" width="232" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Relative-Finder-Map-View-232x300.jpg 232w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Relative-Finder-Map-View-768x994.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Relative-Finder-Map-View-791x1024.jpg 791w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Relative-Finder-Map-View-680x880.jpg 680w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Relative-Finder-Map-View-911x1180.jpg 911w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Relative-Finder-Map-View.jpg 1275w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px" />
Another enhancement includes a turbo charged upgrade of how results are displayed in our popular Relative Finder tool. A new Relative Finder Geographic Map View offers you the chance to display your matches on a world map. This can be incredibly helpful for anyone on a genealogical hunt who must triangulate between multiple different sources of information about their ancestry. In this case we show how your relatives cluster on a world map, which in turn can help you target your search for relatives.
Finally, we’ve added another essential tool for those interested in ancestry with a new Family Tree.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-13553 size-medium" title="Family Tree" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Family-Tree-232x300.jpg" alt="" width="232" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Family-Tree-232x300.jpg 232w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Family-Tree-768x994.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Family-Tree-791x1024.jpg 791w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Family-Tree-680x880.jpg 680w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Family-Tree-911x1180.jpg 911w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Family-Tree.jpg 1275w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px" />
The beauty of this the new tree is that it offers a easy to use and intuitive way to store a profusion of family history. For those who use other ancestry services, they can import their GEDCOM data into 23andMe’s new family tree tool.  You’ll be able to enter into the Family Tree relevant dates, life events, professions and other data.
We believe that these new features and enhancements will be both helpful and fun in your exploration into your own ancestry with 23andMe. Stay tuned for the release and if you’re in Burbank this weekend drop by our booth (#706 and #707).

A Sneak Peek at 23andMe’s New Ancestry Features

Check out <a title="Three Degrees of Genetic Separation" href="https://blog.23andme.com/ancestry-2/three-genetic-degrees-of-separation/">this post</a> for an illustration of the three degrees of separation between guests on Finding Your Roots.
When we learn about our ancestors, who they were, and where they came from, the discoveries become part of how we define ourselves and understand ourselves as unique. The PBS series Finding Your Roots has taken this further, showing us how much we share with others and how interconnected our stories are.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-13441" title="MikeandSkpforBlog" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MikeandSkpforBlog-300x250.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="250" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MikeandSkpforBlog-300x250.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MikeandSkpforBlog.jpg 393w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />23andMe Scientist Mike Macpherson going over connections between guests with Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and a Finding Your Roots producer.
<h2>Finding Your Roots</h2>
This has been a theme of the 10-part series, something that the show’s host, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., has repeatedly repeated—that despite our differences, whether racial or cultural, Americans are more interconnected than we know.
It isn’t just that our stories share parallels but that the connections run deep and can be seen in our DNA. It’s ironic that as the world’s population has grown exponentially in the last 500 years – from about half a billion to now seven billion – we are closer and more connected.
During the show&#8217;s filming, Professor Gates visited 23andMe and talked to scientists Mike Macpherson and Joanna Mountain, both of whom served as consultants.
<h2>Connecting People</h2>
At one point, Macpherson taped up photographs of the roughly two dozen guests who appeared in Finding Your Roots. Then, he sketched out the genetic connections that linked this seemingly random collection of people.
This was the first time someone demonstrated the genetic connectivity of any two people on Earth. Macpherson made some surprising links that connected, for example, Martha Stewart to Samuel L. Jackson and Barbara Walters to the Imam Yasir Qadhi.
Unlike previous examples that relied on social connections – friends of friends of friends – this connection is through cousins matched within 23andMe&#8217;s database of over 150,000 people.
<h2>Social Connections versus Genetic Ones</h2>
This wasn’t just a parlor game. Indeed, Stanley Milgram first wrote about the notion that any two people—a cop in New York and a street vendor in Mumbai, say—could be connected through five other people based on experiments he conducted in the late 1960s. It’s a little more complicated than Milgram theorized, but he got the gist right.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-13443" title="MikeInterconnection" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MikeInterconnection.jpg" alt="" width="414" height="167" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MikeInterconnection.jpg 414w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MikeInterconnection-300x121.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 414px) 100vw, 414px" />23andMe scientist Mike Macpherson sketching connections between the guests on Finding Your Roots as Prof. Gates looks on.
These previous theories of connectivity focused on social connections, the idea that we are all – all seven billion of us – linked to each other by six degrees of separation.
This connectivity theory even spawned a game named after one of Gates’ guests,  <a href="http://oracleofbacon.org/">“Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.”</a> The game links any actor to Kevin Bacon by five other performers. Bacon – whose wife Kyra Sedgewick was also on the show – said for a long time he<a href="http://www.nbcchicago.com/video/#%21/news/business/Kevin-Bacon-Explains-Six-Degrees-Story/131838958"> hated that his name was the punchline for a joke</a>. But he has since embraced it and is using the idea of social connections <a href="http://www.sixdegrees.org/">to link people to worthy causes</a>.
More recently, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/technology/between-you-and-me-4-74-degrees.html?_r=3&amp;scp=1&amp;sq=4.74&amp;st=cse">Facebook</a> and LinkedIn have shown that just four “connections” could link any two people together.
Macpherson connected the Finding Your Roots guests via a much shorter genetic chain. Any two people are connected through just one or two other individuals.
<h2>Why is this a revelation?</h2>
It’s new because this isn’t the notion that you are connected to someone else because of who you know. It’s the notion that you are connected to someone because of who you are related to.
This is a manifestation of human history and human migration over the last 500 years. 
<iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/F-zRXHAo4-U" width="420" height="315" frameborder="0"></iframe>
People are no longer isolated by geography and so the differences between people are smaller than in the past .
Perhaps in no other place has the convergence of people of different cultures and histories been as dramatic as the Americas. And while the clash of cultures and histories has been both painful and brutal at times, it is what forged our history more than anything else, Gates argues.
“I’ve always thought that it was that story of America,” said political commentator Linda Chavez in the last episode in the series.
People came here from all over the world, some voluntary and some involuntary, and mixed, she said, “and that’s made us stronger.”
This post by 23andMe Content Editor Scott Hadly and 23andMe Senior Director of Research Joanna Mountain first appeared last week on <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">PBS&#8217;s Finding Your Roots website</a>. It was one of a series of posts by 23andMe. Dr. Mountain was a consultant for the the 10-part series.

Make That Three Degrees of Separation

During the series <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.</a> &nbsp; on PBS, The Blog &nbsp; featured posts from 23andMe’s Ancestry Ambassadors. This is the last of their own stories about using DNA to dig into ancestry.
By Tim Janzen, M.D.
For over 30 years I have been trying to determine the ancestry of my great-great-great-grandfather Jacob Youngman (b. ca Aug 1823, d. 24 May 1903).
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-13392 size-medium" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Jacob-Youngman-214x300.jpg" alt="" width="214" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Jacob-Youngman-214x300.jpg 214w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Jacob-Youngman.jpg 353w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 214px) 100vw, 214px" />Jacob Youngman 
I used traditional genealogical research techniques for much of that time, but not long ago I realized that DNA testing at 23andMe could help me solve this decades old puzzle. No one in our family knew who Jacob Youngman’s parents were, but his son Charles Youngman (b. 1872) left a tantalizing clue in his autobiographical sketch that was published in the book &#8220;History of Harrison County, Missouri.&#8221;
Charles Youngman said that Jacob Youngman&#8217;s father &nbsp;lived in &nbsp;Kentucky, &nbsp;moved first to Indiana, and later settled in central Missouri where he died. &nbsp; Not too many Youngmans fit this description. In the past two years, I have developed a theory that Jacob Youngman’s father was John Youngman (b. ca 1793), who is listed in the 1840 Census in Clay County, Missouri but is not listed there in the 1850 Census.
I know that my ancestor Jacob Youngman is listed in Shelby Co., Indiana in the 1850 Census but the man I presume to be his father, John Youngman isn’t. &nbsp; Instead, I recently discovered that John Youngman didn&#8217;t die prior to 1850, but instead moved to Denton Co., Texas where he is listed in the 1850 Census with his younger children.
This genealogical puzzle is 
complicated by the fact that John Youngman was married 3 &nbsp;times and was divorced from his second wife Elizabeth Reeves, his first wife had apparently died by 1822.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-13394 size-medium" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Youngman-graveston1-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Youngman-graveston1-300x225.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Youngman-graveston1.jpg 461w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Photograph of the gravestone of Jacob Youngman (b. ca Aug 1823) and his second wife Rachel Cart.
Census records from 1820, 1830, and 1840 indicate that he had children by all three wives, but only his 5 youngest children who were living with him in 1850 are named in the census records.
Another clue is that Jacob Youngman’s granddaughter Louise Youngman (1893-1988) said that her grandfather often referred to “Uncle Stacy Reeves”, suggesting that Jacob Youngman’s mother could have been Elizabeth Reeves, the second wife of John Youngman. &nbsp; A Stacy T. Reeves (b. ca 1823) is listed near Jacob Youngman and his family in the 1860 Census and may be the “Uncle Stacy Reeves” that Louise Youngman was referring to. By the fall of 2010 I had many promising hints, but I still hadn’t solved the puzzle and then I established contact with several other Youngman researchers, Debbi Youngman and Susie Brewer. Both are related to descendents of John Youngman by his first and third wives. I decided to pursue confirmation of my theory that Jacob Youngman was a son of John Youngman by his second wife Elizabeth Reeves through autosomal DNA testing done by 23andMe. Troy McCoy, a great-grandson of John Youngman and his third wife, was the person most closely related to John Youngman who was tested. &nbsp; Below is a summary of the DNA data showing the amount of autosomal DNA in centimorgans (cMs) that Troy McCoy shares in common with each of the five great-grandchildren of Jacob Youngman who have been tested by 23andMe. &nbsp; The comparison between Troy McCoy and Jacob Youngman’s great-grandchildren is the most important because in theory they should share the most autosomal DNA in common since they are the most closely related among all of the Youngman descendents in the project. &nbsp; A centimorgan is a unit of crossover frequency used to measure how often DNA segments are split up by recombination as they pass through the generations. The proper way to analyze this data is to create an average of the amount of DNA shared between Troy McCoy and Jacob Youngman’s five great-grandchildren. (See table 1.)
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John Youngman and Family Reconstructed
John Youngman (b. ca 1793 in Kentucky) married his first wife Elizabeth Marton (b. ca 1798 in Kentucky) on 23 Feb 1816 in Campbell Co., Kentucky. Elizabeth Marton appears to have died ca 1821. John and Elizabeth had three children: 
1. John M. Youngman (b. 10 Jan 1818 in Kentucky) 
2. William Youngman (b. ca 1818 in Kentucky) 
3. Susanna Youngman (b. ca 1821 in Kentucky)
John Youngman (b. ca 1793) married his second wife Elizabeth Reeves (b. ca 1802 in Kentucky) on 20 Jul 1822 in Campbell Co., Kentucky. They were divorced on 29 Apr 1830. They had two children: 
1. Jacob Youngman (b. ca 1823, KY) 
2. Unknown female (b. ca 1825-30)
John Youngman (b. ca 1793) married his third wife Priscilla Clark on 10 Jun 1830 in Clermont Co., Ohio. They had seven children: 
1. Sarah A. Youngman (b. ca 1830, IN) 
2. Nancy Catherine Youngman (b. ca 1832,IN) 
3. James C. Youngman (b. ca 1835, IN) 
4. Mary Jane Youngman (b. 1835, IN) 
5. Louhany Youngman (b. 1843, MO) 
6. Thomas Jefferson Youngman (b. 1844, AR) 
7. Joseph Youngman (b. ca 1844, AR)
</div>
It is reasonable to assume that all of the matching segments over 5 cMs in length came from a shared common ancestor. &nbsp; A threshold of around 4 to 5 cMs is necessary since it is common for random people of European ancestry to share segments that are less than 4 cMs in length even if they don’t have any ancestry in common in the past 300 years. We would expect that on average half third cousins should share about 27.8 cMs of DNA. &nbsp; The above averages support of &nbsp;my theory that Troy McCoy’s great-grandmother Mary Jane Youngman (b. ca 1836) was a half sibling to my great-great-great-grandfather Jacob Youngman (b. &nbsp;ca Aug &nbsp;1823).
It is reasonable to assume that all of the matching segments over 5 cMs in length came from a shared common ancestor. &nbsp; A threshold of around 4 to 5 cMs is necessary since it is common for random people of European ancestry to share segments that are less than 4 cMs in length even if they don’t have any ancestry in common in the past 300 years. We would expect that on average half third cousins should share about 27.8 cMs of DNA. &nbsp; The above averages support of &nbsp;my theory that Troy McCoy’s great-grandmother Mary Jane Youngman (b. ca 1836) was a half sibling to my great-great-great-grandfather Jacob Youngman (b. &nbsp;ca Aug &nbsp;1823).
A Stacy T. Reeves (b. ca 1823) is listed near Jacob Youngman and his family in the 1860 Census and may be the “Uncle Stacy Reeves” that Louise Youngman was referring to. By the fall of 2010 I had many promising hints, but I still hadn’t solved the puzzle and then I established contact with several other Youngman researchers, Debbi Youngman and Susie Brewer. Both are related to descendents of John Youngman by his first and third wives. I decided to pursue confirmation of my theory that Jacob Youngman was a son of John Youngman by his second wife Elizabeth Reeves through autosomal DNA testing done by 23andMe. Troy McCoy, a great-grandson of John Youngman and his third wife, was the person most closely related to John Youngman who was tested.
Below is a summary of the DNA data showing the amount of autosomal DNA in centimorgans (cMs) that Troy McCoy shares in common with each of the five great-grandchildren of Jacob Youngman who have been tested by 23andMe.
The comparison between Troy McCoy and Jacob Youngman’s great-grandchildren is the most important because in theory they should share the most autosomal DNA in common since they are the most closely related among all of the Youngman descendents in the project. &nbsp; A centimorgan is a unit of crossover frequency used to measure how often DNA segments are split up by recombination as they pass through the generations. The proper way to analyze this data is to create an average of the amount of DNA shared between Troy McCoy and Jacob Youngman’s five great-grandchildren. (See table 1.) &nbsp; It is reasonable to assume that all of the matching segments over 5 cMs in length came from a shared common ancestor. &nbsp; A threshold of around 4 to 5 cMs is necessary since it is common for random people of European ancestry to share segments that are less than 4 cMs in length even if they don’t have any ancestry in common in the past 300 years. We would expect that on average half third cousins should share about 27.8 cMs of DNA. &nbsp; The above averages support of &nbsp;my theory that Troy McCoy’s great-grandmother Mary Jane Youngman (b. ca 1836) was a half sibling to my great-great-great-grandfather Jacob Youngman (b. &nbsp;ca Aug &nbsp;1823).
It is reasonable to assume that all of the matching segments over 5 cMs in length came from a shared common ancestor. &nbsp; A threshold of around 4 to 5 cMs is necessary since it is common for random people of European ancestry to share segments that are less than 4 cMs in length even if they don’t have any ancestry in common in the past 300 years. We would expect that on average half third cousins should share about 27.8 cMs of DNA. &nbsp; The above averages support of &nbsp;my theory that Troy McCoy’s great-grandmother Mary Jane Youngman (b. ca 1836) was a half sibling to my great-great-great-grandfather Jacob Youngman (b. &nbsp;ca Aug &nbsp;1823).
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Comparison</th>
<th>4 cM threshold</th>
<th>5 cM threshold</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Frederick Mock and his 1/2 3rd cousin Troy McCoy</td>
<td>16.2</td>
<td>12.1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Raymond Youngman and his 1/2 3rd cousin Troy McCoy</td>
<td>5.1</td>
<td>5.1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Marilyn Bannister and her 1/2 3rd cousin Troy McCoy</td>
<td>4.6</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Darryl Youngman and his 1/2 3rd cousin Troy McCoy</td>
<td>72.4</td>
<td>67.9</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Norman Youngman and his 1/2 3rd cousin Troy McCoy</td>
<td>71.6</td>
<td>67.4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Average:</td>
<td>34.0</td>
<td>30.5</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
*Expected amount if the relationship is a half 3rd cousin: 27.5 

But I didn’t stop there. I also found results that are very close to the expected average for a comparison like the one shown above between Troy McCoy and six great-great-grandchildren of Jacob Youngman. &nbsp; Thus the DNA data suggest that Mary Jane Youngman and Jacob Youngman were half-siblings based on these comparisons. &nbsp; I am likewise seeing results that are very close to the expected average for the comparisons between two descendants of William Youngman (b. ca 1818), John Youngman’s son by his first wife, and the descendants of Jacob Youngman. &nbsp; The DNA
The DNA data, therefore, suggest that William Youngman and Jacob Youngman were also half-siblings based on these comparisons. In summary, autosomal DNA analysis has provided the key evidence to solving the genealogical puzzle of the parentage of Jacob Youngman.
I now feel confident that Jacob Youngman was the son of John Youngman and Elizabeth Reeves. &nbsp; This project demonstrates how autosomal DNA can be used as an adjunct to traditional genealogical research to confirm or refute theories about possible genealogical relationships.
Tim Janzen is a family practice doctor at South Tabor Family Physicians in Portland, Oregon. His interest in genealogical research goes back 35 years and he has particularly focused on Mennonite genealogy for the past 15 years. He has a web site that summarizes many different sources available for Mennonite genealogical research found at <a href="http://www.timjanzen.com/">www.timjanzen.com</a> and has given many presentations about Mennonite genealogy in the United States and Canada. He is the co-administrator of the Mennonite DNA project at <a href="http://www.mennonitedna.com/">www.mennonitedna.com</a>. He also serves on the ISOGG Y-DNA Haplogroup Tree Committee. Tim is married to Rachel Janzen and they have four children.

Who Were the Parents of Jacob Youngman?

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-12716" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;" title="DNA USA.indd" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/DNA-USA-197x300.jpg" alt="" width="197" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/DNA-USA-197x300.jpg 197w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/DNA-USA.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px" />
Bryan Sykes, the evolutionary geneticist at Oxford University and the author of<a href="../2008/08/14/recommended-reading-the-seven-daughters-of-eve/"> The Seven Daughters of Eve,</a> is adding to his oeuvre of popular work on genetics with his new book,<a href="https://www.amazon.com/DNA-USA-Genetic-Portrait-America/dp/0871404125%3FSubscriptionId%3DAKIAIXFKFJI6IH6DO5KQ%26tag%3Dkirkus-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0871404125"> DNA USA, A Genetic Portrait of America.</a>
As with his previous work, Sykes breaks down some of the complicated aspects of genetics in ways that are easily understood. This book is both travelogue and a snapshot of the genetic melting pot that is the United States of America.  As Sykes writes America is the place “where the genes of the three great continents converge.”
The book offers some intriguing, although mostly anecdotal, observations. During his journey Sykes meets people who agree to have their DNA tested anonymously. He then creates DNA portraits of these individuals, using 23andMe to create ancestry paintings of each individual. From that he drew conclusions about early America and the rich mixing of European, Asian and African people in America. The book also offers Sykes a chance to discuss the history of the earliest Americans.
Last week, our own senior director of research Joanna Mountain – who along with 23andMe scientist Mike Macpherson acted as consultants for some of the genetics in the book – introduced Sykes at a lecture he delivered at Berkeley Arts &amp; Letters.
He got a good response from the audience and his book has some buzz including a<a href="https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/bryan-sykes/dna-usa/#review%20http://www.oxfordancestors.com/"> thumbs-up</a> from the Kirkus Review. 
We’re offering two signed copies of the book &#8212; simply submit the form below for a chance to win!

DNA USA

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-12577" title="Stock Photo" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Mexican-Heritage-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Mexican-Heritage-300x197.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Mexican-Heritage.jpg 427w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Today is Cinco de Mayo. This day commemorates the Mexican army&#8217;s 1862 victory over France in the Battle of Puebla (not Mexican independence day as is commonly believed), but is more widely observed in the United States as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride.
There are different ways to celebrate Mexican culture – <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fiesta" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fiestas</a> around the country host <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mariachi" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mariachi</a> performances and a trip to a taqueria shouldn’t be missed. Another way to celebrate Mexican heritage is through DNA.
I reached out to my good friend Miguel who hails from the state of Jalisco in Mexico to see what he’s discovered about his ancestry through <a href="https://www.23andme.com/ancestry/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">23andMe&#8217;s Personal Genome Service</a>.
<h6>Native American Ancestry</h6>
Like many Mexicans, Miguel learned through family stories that he has both Native American and European ancestry. It turns out that roughly 69% of his DNA traces to Europe, 28% is suggestive of Native American ancestry, and about 3% traces to Africa.
He’s been told that his Native American ancestry comes from his maternal side and this was confirmed by investigating his <a href="https://www.23andme.com/you/haplogroup/maternal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">maternal line</a>. Miguel’s maternal lineage (C1c) is very old and typically found in Native Americans and native Asian populations. This data contributed to 23andMe’s Native American Ancestry Finder feature proclaiming, “Yes Miguel, it looks likely that you have Native American ancestry”.
His European ancestry comes from his father’s side and this was confirmed by investigating his <a href="https://www.23andme.com/you/haplogroup/paternal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">paternal line</a> (R1b1b2a1a2f), an offshoot of the most common line in western Europe (R1b1b2) and found at high frequency in Basque populations. This fits with what Miguel’s been told about his European roots.
<div style="width: 600px; padding: 5px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: float: justify; 10px; border: 1px solid black;">
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-12616" title="Miguel Maternal Line" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Miguel-Maternal-Line-1024x470.png" alt="" width="600" height="280" /><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-12627" title="Miguel Paternal Line" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Miguel-Paternal-Line-1024x499.png" alt="" width="600" height="280" />
</div>
<div style="width: 200px; padding: 10px; float: right; margin-left: 15px; border: 1px solid black; font-style: italic;">
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-12163" title="small_23andMe_logo" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/JRBgdIBXKIeVIdETJrxYIw_ttam_logo.jpg" alt="" width="24" height="40" />
23andMe customers can learn all about their ancestry in <a href="https://www.23andme.com/you/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">their account. 
</a>
Not yet a customer? <a href="https://www.23andme.com/store" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Visit our store</a>!
</div>
<h6>Ancestry Finder</h6>
Perhaps the most eye-catching part of Miguel’s DNA voyage is found in his Ancestry Finder profile (see figure below). This feature combines DNA matches (segments of DNA you share with other 23andMe customers) with self-reported ancestry data obtained from our Where Are You From? survey. Based on his results, he shares DNA with several other 23andMe customers who have Mexican and South American ancestors.
Even if you don’t have Mexican ancestry like Miguel, we wish all of you a happy Cinco de Mayo. Go get your taco and toast to Miguel for helping us discover that DNA can help you “cinco” in on your ancestry!
Miguel&#8217;s Ancestry Finder Data 
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-12645 size-large" title="Ancestry Finder Miguel" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Ancestry-Finder-Miguel-1024x400.png" alt="" width="1024" height="400" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Ancestry-Finder-Miguel-1024x400.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Ancestry-Finder-Miguel-300x117.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Ancestry-Finder-Miguel-768x300.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Ancestry-Finder-Miguel-880x343.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Ancestry-Finder-Miguel-1180x460.png 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Ancestry-Finder-Miguel.png 1502w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />
Interested in ancestry? Read about how <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/ancestry-at-23andme-introducing-sheridan" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sheridan got up to speed</a> on her ancestry and <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/ancestry-at-23andme-what-can-you-learn" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">get an overview</a> of the breadth 23andMe’s ancestry features. DNA can also offer clues about <a href="../2012/03/16/did-you-know-dna-can-offer-clues-about-irish-ancestry" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Irish ancestry</a>.

Zero in on Mexican Ancestry on Cinco de Mayo

As the series <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.</a> begins its 10-week run on PBS, The Blog will feature posts from 23andMe’s Ancestry Ambassadors featuring their own stories about using DNA to dig into ancestry.
By Andrea Badger
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-12315" title="Andrea's Tree" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-Tree-226x300.jpg" alt="" width="226" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-Tree-226x300.jpg 226w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-Tree.jpg 442w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 226px) 100vw, 226px" />
There has been a legend in my family, passed down from generation to generation, about my third great-grandfather Nathaniel Lewis. According to family folklore, his name wasn’t originally Nathaniel Lewis, but rather, Nathaniel Levi. As the story goes, our Lewis ancestors were Jewish people who converted to Christianity and changed their name from Levi to Lewis.
I had always wondered if this family story was really true. Everyone in our family has been told this legend but no one really had any conclusive evidence — just small clues. My grandmother and her siblings remember their mother singing Jewish songs to them as children. We also have an old newspaper article about our ancestor that states in passing ‘Nathaniel Lewis has lived in Scotland for many years but has no Scot’s blood’. Many of my relatives have speculated that this statement reveals that although Nathaniel was of Scottish nationality, he had a different ancestral background — Ashkenazi Jewish. However, conclusive evidence about this hypothesis was lacking until I joined 23andMe.

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-12316" title="Andrea's Community Response" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-Community-Response-300x249.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="249" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-Community-Response-300x249.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-Community-Response.jpg 368w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
When I first joined 23andMe in 2009, Relative Finder was just being introduced and the Ancestry Finder feature did not yet exist. As I corresponded with my Relative Finder matches, I noticed that many of my potential relatives said that they were of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. I wondered if this high number of Jewish Relative Finder matches was typical for someone with Northern European ancestry, so I turned to the 23andMe community for help and posted my questions on the community forums. I communicated with fellow 23andMe users and quickly realized that my genetic profile wasn’t typical for someone without any Jewish background. Instead, my DNA confirmed the old family story and indicated that it was highly likely that I do have Jewish ancestry.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-12318" title="Andrea's GAunt and Uncle Ancestry Finder" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-GAunt-and-Uncle-Ancestry-Finder-300x164.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="164" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-GAunt-and-Uncle-Ancestry-Finder-300x164.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-GAunt-and-Uncle-Ancestry-Finder-271x149.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-GAunt-and-Uncle-Ancestry-Finder-372x204.jpg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-GAunt-and-Uncle-Ancestry-Finder.jpg 469w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Here is my Ancestry Finder, with the settings focusing on the Ashkenazi Jewish segments. The blue spots are regions where a 23andMe customer shares a segment of DNA with me AND has stated that he or she has Jewish ancestors.
I decided to get my great-aunt &amp; great-uncle from that side of the family tested to see if they also had <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/ashkenazi-ancestry-and-health">evidence of Ashkenazi Jewish</a> admixture. Around this time, Ancestry Finder, which has a specific section dedicated to Jewish ancestry, was introduced. This feature was also beneficial in my quest.
As I expected, my great-aunt &amp; great-uncle also showed significant Jewish ancestry — more than I have, because they are two generations closer to our Jewish ancestor than I am.
Thanks to DNA testing, we have clear evidence of a Jewish ancestor in our past for the first time. Without 23andMe, I might never have known if there was any truth to this family legend. Why did the Lewis family feel the need to convert from Judaism to Christianity and change their name? I am actively searching to uncover this information, but much of Nathaniel Lewis’s life story has likely been lost to history. However, his DNA lives on in his descendants and provides clues about his background. Often, when traditional genealogy methods fail, you can turn to DNA to uncover more about your ancestral heritage. You never know what sort of surprises can be uncovered!
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-12325" title="andrea 23andMe pic" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/andrea-23andMe-pic-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/andrea-23andMe-pic-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/andrea-23andMe-pic-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/andrea-23andMe-pic-372x372.jpg 372w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />
When she is not performing genetic comparisons on Family Inheritance Advanced or answering questions on the 23andMe community forums, Andrea Badger attends college at the University of Washington and will be receiving two bachelor’s degrees in June of this year. She writes the genetic genealogy blog at www.andreasancestors.com.

Ancestry Service — Page 26