Monday, February 27, 2012

No Convergence

I've been going back over my Ancestry DNA matches lately.  I just can't help but think that there should be a clue there somewhere.

Below are some of my closest matches, and a bit about their ancestry, and where their trails go cold.

* R Bedford (MRCA 1: All Markers Match)  This one is an odd one.  I've been contacted by the owner of this test before.  There are no Pittmans in their tree.  So either an adoption or some funny business is going on.

* Everett Pittman (MRCA 1: All Markers Match)  Everett (1807 - 1879) is hypothesized to have been Jacob's brother.  But that's just a hypothesis (by the world's foremost experts on both Everett and Jacob)  Little is known about him other than he was probably born in NC and settled in LA.  He seems to have lived very near to my ancestors for most all of his life.

* L Pittman (MRCA 1: All Markers Match)  These guys end with Joseph Berry Pittman (1849 - 1934) who was born in TN.  he was born well after Jacob and even some of his children.  This simply isn't far enough back.  A cursory search shows that JB's father may have been Joel Pittman (1804 - ?) also born in TN.  They were living in Alabama in 1860 if so.  This is a lead to follow up.

* R Pittman (MRCA 7: 1 Differing Marker)  This tree ends with James M Pittman (1847 - ~1910) who was born in AL.  He also lived in Sumner MS which is a long way from Marion Co.  In the 1900 Census, his father's birthplace is listed as South Carolina

* J Pittman (MRCA 8: 1 Differing Marker)  This tree is quite a mess.  It starts with a group of Pittmans (Pittmen?) that settled in Kentucky, and goes through North Carolina all of the way to Thomas Pittman of Virginia.  I'm not sure that I trust the tree, but it does have the most leads (as well as red herrings) in it.

* J A Pittman (MRCA 15: 3 Differing markers)  At 15 generations back, it is now officially silly to be comparing these trees.  This group starts in Arkansas and goes back through Georga to Virginia.