Looking For a Common Maciejewski Ancestor
In A Tale of Two Families, I wrote about some AncestryDNA matches and the records I found while trying to discover our common ancestor(s). Briefly,
- A baby boy was born to a young woman in Buffalo, New York, in 1906. One hundred eleven years later his great-grandson tested with AncestryDNA and matched several Maciejewski family members. I was surprised to find the connection, and researched it.
- The first section looks at Tadeusz/Theodore Jurek‘s grandparents and great-grandparents back in Prussia. We do not appear to have a genetic connection there, so our relatively close DNA connection appears to be with Tadeusz‘ parents. Who were they?
- The second section shows the Maciejewski and Jurek fathers died in 1890 and 1896.
- In 1900 and 1905, the widows raised their kids, who were about the same ages, and the families moved to the same street. They knew one another. Proximity was important for baby-making.
- In the 1910 census, Tadeusz Jurek appeared. Who was his mother? Not Władysława (Lottie), for sure. She had had four kids in seven years. Was it Marianna or Stanisława?
- Multiple events show Marianna Jurek was Tadeusz‘ mother.
- Interrelationships show that this Tadeusz/Theodore Jurek is the same person seen in Buffalo and Rochester, and links to the family in Long Island.
- In early 2018, Tadeusz/Theodore Jurek‘s grandson F. also did a DNA test. AncestryDNA estimates that he is my second cousin.
Since we know I am not closely related to Marianna Jurek, F. would only be a half cousin, on Tadeusz‘ father’s side. Given our genetic connection, the two mostly likely candidates for the father of Marianna‘s son are Antoni Maciejewski or his brother Konstanty/Gust, since Ludwik was only eleven in 1905.
- If Antoni were the father, then
- Tadeusz/Theodore and my father would be half-brothers,
- F.‘s mother and I would be half first cousins, and
- F. would be my half first-cousin one generation removed (half 1C1R).
- If Konstanty/Gust were the father, then
- Tadeusz/Theodore and my father would be first cousins,
- F.‘s mother and I would be second cousins, and
- F. would be my second cousin one generation removed (2C1R).
AncestryDNA says that F. and I share “208 centimorgans across 8 DNA segments” and estimates we are second cousins. Statistically,
- second cousins share about 233 centimorgans (range 46-515)
- half 1C1R share about 226 centimorgans (range 57-530)
- 2C1R share about 123 centimorgans (range 0-316)
From analysis so far, it appears slightly more likely that Antoni Maciejewski was Tadeusz/Theodore Jurek‘s father, but it could also have been his brother Konstanty/Gust.
Update Aug 2019: Using DNAPainter’s “What are the Odds” tool shows the statistics more graphically.
Sources
https://myfamilyhistoryresearch.wordpress.com/2018/05/25/a-tale-of-two-families/
Bettinger, Blaine, Shared cM Project, International Society of Genetic Genealogy, https://isogg.org/wiki/File:Shared_cM_version_3.jpg, accessed 3 Jun 2018
My Family History Research 