More branches on the Genetic Tree

The Ancestry.com DNA test for my Dad have revealed no less than 32 genetic cousins with whom I can match a common ancestor. That's over double what I've discovered so far so it's pretty exciting. While many of these genetic matches provide evidence for ancestors that are already confirmed, there are several new branches in there as well.

The closest match is a 1st cousin of my grandmother, Grace Davis. Unfortunately, I haven't yet been able to contact him so I only know him by his initial: W. Davis, the son of Benjamin Linton Davis, who was the brother to my great grandfather, Charles Elijah Davis. "W" and my father share about 6% of DNA, which is consistent with 1st cousins, 1x removed. If anyone who knows who "W" might be, please let me know!

Here are a list of the closet common ancestors for these new matches:

-- Joseph Henry Davis (1854-1931) and Delilah Grace Berlinguet (1858-1931)
-- Sampson Coumbs (1808-1881) and Grace Cole (1807-1857)
-- Mark Heathcock (1805-1880) and Alice Jones (1806-After 1860)
-- Isham Norton (1752-1833) and Eliza Walker Calhoun (1755-1825)
-- Christian Ritschhart (1739-1809) and Sophia Mitz (178-1855)
-- Christian Ritschhart (1709-1790) and Magdalene Wolff (1703-1766)
-- James Harper (1800-1869) and Alice Shillito (1810-1884)
-- Edward Shillito (1765-1838) and Sarah Scott (1780-1850)
-- Simon Fournier (1721-1771) and Elisabeth Thibault (1733-1804)
-- Guillaume Thibault (1693-1786) and Marie-Francoise Bacon (1697-1765)
-- Joseph Jalbert (1699-1756) and Marguerite Aubertin (1707-1781)
-- Pierre Ranger (1696-1787) and Genevieve DuBois (1707-1784)
-- William Hall (1708-1764) and Hannah Richardson (1710-1784)
-- Clement Simpson (1778-1838) and Minty Dutton (1788-1844)
-- Richard Rich (1637-1692) and Sarah Roberts (1643-1692)

Of course, genetic cousins with common ancestors in our family tree does not absolutely confirm that the ancestor is correct for either of us. For example, we could have another common ancestor of whom we are both unaware. However, it is a significant piece of evidence, especially when my Dad has several genetic matches with the same ancestors, which is the case here with almost half this list.

There are several French Canadian ancestors on this list, which was no surprise to me. I've learned that Quebec has amazingly good records so people with French ancestry have excellent family trees.

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