I build, and around I go again. This time the distance is further away. I have a predicted 2nd to 3rd cousin to build out from. She has a good family tree and she is from the general area that I am from.  There should at least be a possibility that we are cousins through my maternal side.

2nd-3rd Cousin

I don’t rely on Ancestry’s predictions, I use an autosomal statistics DNA prediction chart for a refined look at possible relationships between myself and matches.  There are several but I seem to go back to the DNA detectives one.  At 251 cMs this relationship falls into group D or E on their chart which could be any of the following: in group D-1st cousin 1x removed, 1/2 1st cousin, 1/2 Great Aunt/Uncle or Niece/Nephew, or in E group: 2nd Cousin, 1st cousin 2x removed, or 1/2 1st cousin 1x removed. Whew!  That seems clear, if I had a slide rule, some string, a pocket protector, graphing paper, a war room and a panda side kick to help clarify.

I went back to my cousin’s family tree and took a gander. Her Great Grand Parents looked like the correct place to start, their children would be the possible key.  I could eliminate the exact line the cousin came from because I know from the cMs that isn’t the line that I am from.  I tested the other family names for matches within my DNA pool to see which area to build.  When I got a hot spot for one of the names, I began to build.

Now,  lightly building the tree based on the cousin’s tree, and viola-a tree to hang my DNA on, which is what I did and waited for those glorious little shaky leaves to appear. Appear they did, like the neighbor’s dog looking in our sliding door.  I had arrived in the correct place.  Now, I had to build the tree out and down to find a person that matched my non-identifying information.