When I saw this prompt I wasn’t sure what I wanted to write about, then it hit me I would talk a bit about my quest into the world of DNA.

As I have wrote in the past I am one of the least sciencey (yes I made this word up), people I know. I am just not a fan. Also being in a ProGen study group made me realize I really need a working knowledge of DNA.

So I have been messaging all of my matches trying to discover all the connections for those people I do not know. Right now I am working on trying to prove who Sally Sawyer’s parents are and that her mother is indeed the daughter of Hannah Bartlett and Capt. Richard Kelly. If I can do this I will be able to claim a female patriot as a supplemental in the DAR.

I have actually realized I really like using DNA for the older brick walls where records can be scant. I am also discovering all sorts of DNA cousins I had not known and I am able to build my tree out farther.

Sally Sawyer was born in 1769 possibly in New Hampshire to Judith Kelly and Joseph Sawyer. She married Abner Preston and had several children. This line gets very tangled and confusing as there was a lot of intermarriage between Preston and Shumway family members so there are some double cousins in there. I also found a DNA match that was from this line and one of my Grandpa’s relatives.

It has been great because I am beginning to make connections and I feel like this research question can be answered. Also I love the hints of ThruLines from Ancestry but there are a lot of names and traditional genealogy work to tie all the DNA matches together.

I can’t wait to see where this journey takes me in the end but it has been great meeting DNA cousins, so far and sharing my love of these family lines with others and I am finally able to say that I am learning how DNA can be a really valuable tool in the genealogy toolbox.