Sam K, I've been trying to think of someway to make this more clear (in an email). It's hard with just the written word where I can't point things out and hear you say "huh, what?" and have the give and take that's needed for me to make this clear. Not to mention that this is the first time I've tried to explain triangulation in an email and so it was about as clear as mud.
The "Relation" is a formula (or maybe more than one) that the geneticists or their statisticians use to calculate if you are 2C (2nd cousin), 3C (3rd cousin) etc. A parent and child will share over 3000 cMs total with the longest block in the 200 cM range (A cM is a centoMorgan which is a genetic unit of measure, like an inch or centimeter - but it's microscopic, of course). 1st cousins can have a total of cMs that range from the upper hundreds to a little bit over 1000 cMs and the longest block would be somewhere in the 100s of cMs. 2nd cousins share a different amount of DNA, around the 200 total cM range with the longest block being 30s or 40s. I don't have all the numbers or the math formulas. I'm just looking at peoples pages who have identified their 1st and 2nd cousins and giving you the ranges I see. And it would help if I didn't mistype things in the chart! So here's the chart with the 3rd cousin typo fixed! Ancestor Total cMs Longest Relation George M.Anto - Vic 155.0426.37 2CCheri M.Anto - Vic 70.4923.03 3C Todd B.Anto - Vic 58.2520.4 3C Shirley A.Anto - Anto49.44 16.36 4C Gail E.Anto - Franco 26.0310.16 Remote Paul S.Anto - Jose ?19 As the number of total cMs and as the longest block of cMs deceases, the more distant the relationship is. The more distant the relationship, the less common ancestors you have. Or maybe I should say string of ancestors. My line is Antonio - Victorino - Luiz. Todd's line is Antonio - Victorino - Ursula. Because Todd and I have more cMs in common with this fellow who has the pai incognito, I believe that this man comes from Antonio - Victorino. My dad, George, has about 155 total cMs in common with this man and I have about 70 cMs. That's close to getting about half my dad's DNA. What's interesting is that the longest block of 26 or 23 cMs. My dad has the block of 26 cMs but passed down most of that block in tact to me (23 cMs). The reality though is that the match and the genetics can't predict human nature. My dad's DNA is kinda messed up. His grandparents were double first cousins**, so my dad got a double dose of what amounts to the same DNA. My dad's DNA probably should be more like mine - in the 70 cM and 20 something cM range. And mine should be different. But that's not what played out. We got cousins marrying, so we get what we get! Once you start getting a cluster of matches around a particular ancestor, you will see the pieces fall into place. It takes time to figure this out. First you have to find the right people (or not find them - I asked earlier this summer for anyone who have my Antonio & Constancia in their tree to contact me and no one did, but Todd tested who did NOT know he had Antonio & Constancia in his tree). Then this has to be pieced together. Todd had 2 or 3 generations to bridge before **I connected him. Because Shirley Allegre has this couple, because I have the Insulana book, because the marriages we needed were on the CCA site, we were able to connect Todd up in only a few days. The man with the pai incognito will take longer. Probably a few years before everything starts to become clear. ** Double first cousins: They share BOTH sets of grandparents in common. With DNA, we get 50% of our DNA from mom and dad, and 25% from each of our grandparents. Our grandparents are usually 4 unrelated individuals. With double first cousins, there are only 2 completely different families. I'll make a separate email with this (gotta figure out a diagram in an email). Was this any more clear? If not, I'll think some more and try to figure out a better way to say this. Cheri Mello Listowner, Azores-Gen Researching: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada -- For options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Azores Genealogy" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/azores.
