Condensed list of the Ancestors of Owen Kent Cottrell  of Cement City, Michigan

Generation 1
Owen Kent COTTRELL, MI.
Generation 2
William Claude COTTRELL and  Lucy Frances TOMAN,  OH
Generation 3
William COTTRELL,  Eva Myrtle GIBSON, OH
George Leon TOMAN, Mary Florence DICKEY OH
Generation 4
John B M COTTRELL,  Sarah Catherine SPILLERS, Darke County OH
Isaac Newton GIBSON,  Sophia SCHELL, OH
Philip Sylvester TOMAN,  Susan Mary NEWBAUER.  OH
Peter DICKEY, Rosanna BENDER, 28 Jun 1895 in Rose Hill,Darke,Ohio,USA.
Generation 5
Asher R COTTRELL, Sarah Ann SHANER. OH
William SPILLERS, Catherine KINGER.  OH
John GIBSON, Margaret ROSE, OHUSA.
George SCHELL, Margaret Rebecca BOOCHER,  Ohio,
Joseph TOMAN , Sophia GRUBER.
Jacob NIEBUHR (Germany) , Mary Elizabeth LORENZ. England
Jacob DICKEY, Holmes, OH, USA. ,Caterine MARKLEY,OH
John Frederick BENDER , Wurttenburg, Germany.  Christina Magdalena MILLER, OH
Generation 6
Hiram COTTRELL, VA,OH ,Elizabeth REAVES. VA,OH
Adam SHANER,  Elizabeth FIELDS,  Virginia,
Peter Julius SPILLERS,SC,IA ,Susanna COATS, OH
Isaac GIBSON. OH , Married unknown possibly TREGO of Honeybrook PA
Hopkins ROSE,PA, Susana CONNER , PA OH
Jacob SCHELL, Lancaster, Pennsylvania,  Elizabeth KALER, (KOHLER) PA
John BOOCHER PA,  Elizabeth MILLER, PA,OH Samuel Henry GRUBER, PA  Mary Ann SHULTON PA
John DICKEY, PA,OH  Ann Maria DIETZ.
Peter MARKLEY  Mary MILLER. OH
John Jakob (Mueller) Baden-Wuerttemberg,Germany.Anna Marie BUSH  Germany.,OH
Generation 7
John COTTRELL VA , TN Sarah BIRDWELL VA,TN
Asher REAVES, Diana MILLER. OH
George SHANER PA , OH  possibly married Shin BONE Native American   OH
John FIELDS.  VA (Now WV). ,JANE Unknown
William SPILLERS SC/OH, Sarah REAGON. SC/OH
John COATE, SC  Susan BROCK. VA OH
Charles ROSE, RI/WV  Rebecca MULLINER NJ
John CONNER PA ,Sarah TRADER.PA
Andreas Andrew SCHELL , Sophia BECHT.
William KOHLER PA ,Anna ?
Daniel MILLER,  MD,OH , Elizabeth ULRICH PA,MD
Henry GRUBER, PA Anna Margaret KLOPP,PA
George DICKEY, PA Margaret ARNOLD, PA
Jacob DIETZ, PA  Susannah BAKER,PA
Johann George MULLER Germany  Anna Marie GACK.
Generation 8
George BIRDWELL, VA
George REAVES  Wales.,VA  Anna WEBSTER.  Wales,VA
John COATE, NC,  Meary MCCUISTON. PA TN
Elias BROCK,  Ann HOLLINGSWORTH.
Ezekiel ROSE, RI Mary FIDLER.  RI,NJ
Arthur TRADER PA Sarah Sabra CONNER  PA,VA.
Philip Jacob MILLER, PA  Magdalena ROCHETTE MD Kentucky
Henrich Henry Hans Heinrich GRUBER, Germany , Maria Eva EUPHROSINA ROSINA  PA
Johannes Peter KLOPP, PA  Maria Werina BECKER,  PA
Moses DICKEY, PA  Agnes WILSON. PA
George ARNOLD, PA OH  Catherine LEATHERMAN.
Johann Jost DIETZ  Germany, Anna Catherine SCHNEIDER Germany .
Henry or Heinrich BAKER ,OH  Margaret FUNK. Ireland OH

Autosomal genetic genealogy is still relatively new and I think there is still a lot to be learned about the meaning of various degrees of matching.   Most of our research has focused on individuals with shared ancestry that goes back to 1783.  It is a known fact that the effects of recombination results in most 5 and 6th cousins not showing up as matches on Family Tree DNA. Once we examine these results using gedmatch.com and ancestor-projects.com we discover fascinating genetic connections that simply can not be ignored.   We may now have a match that will help us connect all 5 cousins.    There are still some mysteries but we are getting closer to solving them.  I am very grateful for everyone’s help and I am hoping 2012 is the year we get the answers we have been looking for.

To those who are interested here is the process using Windows and Excel 2010:

• In your ancestor-projects project display the matrix showing matches with each other
• On the browser select all
• Copy this data to the clipboard
• Open a new blank sheet in  Excel use the paste special command to paste as unicode text
• delete the first few rows so the first row is the kit number labels
• Make note of the last row with data ie 391
• Move the cursor to the second row  one column further then the last column  to the right with data in the second row (the first row should be the matrix row of kit numbers)
• So in my example column  oc row 2
• Enter the Count  function using my example , make changes to make it work for you   =COUNT(C2:OB2)
• Then copy this function to all the cells below in that same column
• You now have a column with the count of the number of matches for each kit
• Sort this column from largest to smallest  being sure to expand the selection
• There you have it your results sorted with the kits with the most matches on top.

Want to have even more fun
To detect matches in common with another kit

• Copy just tester 1 and tester 2 to row 1 and 2 on their own sheet
• in row 3 use =COUNT(C1:C2)
• Copy that to all the other cells in row 3
• This will populate each  cell in row three with either 0,1,2 depending upon if you match 0,1 or both.
• To determine the number that match both use the COUNTIF function in the last cell
• COUNTIF(C3:OB3,2)

This basic idea works with 3, 4 however many kits you want just change the 2 in the COUNTIF function to the number of kits you are comparing.

The purpose of this  post is to discuss a unique way of looking at the data to see if we can draw any conclusions.

So here is what I did, using the grid in ancestor-projects “Comparison matrix showing relationship between all project participants”  in Lost Colony/Melungeon Lore Project I counted the number of matches with other participants. In other words how many other kits predicted a match within 8.1 generations . Using  my kit as an example I matched 262 of the other kits out of a total of 391. I then sorted the list from most number of matches 281 to least 1.
It is important to note that the kit with the most matches or number 1 on the list had 281 matches. The average predicted genrations to my match was 7.13 That happens to be exactly when  my Cottrell ancestors lived in the Kingsport Tennesseee area in what is now Warriors Path State Park.  Interestingly I have two cousins  with  kits in the project with a  most recent common ancestor between 5 and 6 generations ago. One is number 4 with 270 matches and the other is number 33 with 250 matches.

So my cousins and I are all in the top 10%, I am concluding that the odds of us being  clustered in the top 10% if we were not related is significant. In addition all three of us share 199 of the same kits in common. There are some other really interesting aspects of this data. The average number of matches is 82 the median was 73 . Three quarters of the results were less then 91. The number of matches drops below 200 at number 46 and below 100 at 55 .  The clustering of virtually all of the results in the 0-100 and 200-300  is indicative of something that differentiates the two groups but I have no idea what. I want to make it very clear I am not suggesting that those with fewer matches do not have Melungeon Ancestry just that there appears to be a significant core cluster that have ties to a huge number of  fellow project members.

In conclusion I believe that those of us clustered  in the top grouping must have some sort of significant relationship to each other.     I would welcome thoughts about this.

For those who are interested here is the procedure I used

http://capeflier.com/wp/2011/12/16/sorting-number-of-matrix-matchs-in-ancestor-projects-com-projects/

======================================================
Raw data number of matches with other kits Notice how quickly it drops off.
281
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138
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0

I count my blessings that my birth Mom and sisters have been so forthcoming with information.  I was delighted that this fall my sisters shared over 500 pictures of their family’s journey through the decades.  This sharing is such  a precious  gift.  I  am blessed that my sisters have welcomed me.  Love is not a glass of water that will overflow , there is always room form more.

Finally I count my blessings that so many members of the Cottrell family are helping me determine once and for all that Owen Cottrell was my birth father.  I hope this is the year that the last remaining doubt will be put to rest.  Perhaps   Mary,  Amy, Laura and Ken will have a change of heart and  discover  the compassion to  open their lives just enough for me to get the answers I have spent a lifetime looking for. Perhaps they might even share a few pictures.

Thank you Lord for your many blessings, I have so much to be thankful for, Happy Thanksgiving indeed.

Mark

There are currently 351 DNA kits that are participating in this project.   One aspect of these projects looks at how long a strand of un-recombined shared DNA is and then predicts the relationship between the two individuals. This is given as an estimated number of generations to common ancestor. One cousin was the descendant of George Cottrell a son of Hiram Cottrell   and another cousin we believe was   either Hiram Cottrells brother or another son. I believe I  descend from another of Hiram Cottrells sons Asher Cottrell.

This places our common ancestor in the 1780-1820 range or between 6 and 7 generations.  In doing genetic analysis of a common ancestor between my two cousins and myself we would be looking for estimates between 6 and 8 generations. Some variation might be expected but anyone with a match in the 6-8 generations on its face passes  a reality check.    So for our purposes a match is someone with predicted shared ancestry of up to 8 generations.

One of the great tools available in these projects is a matrix that shows who matches who.  So for example out of 351 kits my kit matches 238 of the other kits within 8.1 generations.  This ranks me in the top 10 in terms of number of matches.  The cousin that descends from Hirams Cottrell’s brother Obedia Cottrell matches 244 other kits also in the top 10  and the cousin who decends from Asher Cottrells brother matches 229 out of 351 testers also in the top 10.    It only gets more interesting from here.  One cousin is number 5 in terms of the most matches, I am number 10 and my other cousin is 16.  If these were juts random unrelated kits they would be in a more normalized distribution. In otherwords they would be randomly distributed throughout the collection of kits.  For those who are into such things the median where half fell below an dhalf were above was only 79, the average was only 87 so 229-244 is substatially outside the curve. Kits above 200 are in a distinct minority with only 45 over 200 and 72 over 100.  I am convinced that the reason these three kits are clustered so close together is that share a common ancestor and the only common ancestor I can see is Hiram Cottrell and his parents. Also interesting is all three of us share 185 matches in common . By way of example if I match kit 101 so do my two cousins and this happens with 185 different kits.   The number of matches places all three of us in the top 10% which defies logic unless one considers were are all related to Hiram Cottrell

My other goal is to have additional family members join the Cottrell Family Research genetic genealogy project.   The evidence is overwhelming  pointing to my own  genetic ties to  Owen Cottrell. We have seven DNA  tests supporting my  connection to Owen Cottrell and three with results that  are either ambiguous or do not support the connection.  The only way to resolve this discrepancy is to have other family members participate in my genetic genealogy studies.

The willingness of others to join has been underwhelming to say the least so I am hoping by offering to pay for the time and trouble I can get additional volunteers.  So there you have it Cottrell  brother, sisters and cousins, email me and learn how to  make some money helping someone out.   I hope that this October will be the October History Month that completes my very own family history.

We joined this project as we are  interested in determining if perhaps  we had  Native American Ancestry and if so where it may have originated from. It may have come from either the Reaves family or Hiram Cottrells mother Sarah Birdwell . The fact that all three of us are so closely clustered within 13 of each other in the top 30 of over 300 test results it sure looks like we share some sort of common Native American ancestry .

Here is the technical recap

Hiram Cottrell and Elizabeth  Reaves had at least three children Asher Cottrell  , George Cottrell , and Obediah Cottrell . These are our respective proposed  Cottrell ancestors
There are 310 DNA test kits that are part of  the Native American Reunion project at Ancestor-projects.com as of October 12,2011  . I sorted the kits from highest number of kits to lowest and then looked at who had the most matches with each other.  On a matrix comparing who matches who the person with the highest number of matches within  8.1 generations has 200 matches  with other project members. The kits average  73 matches with each other the median is 69 out of 310. Anyone with more then 180 matches is in the top 10% of kits with the most matches with other members.

One living Cottrell  cousin is  17 with (188 Matches) , I am number 21 (186 matches) and the other cousin is number 30 (181  matches) . In addition all three average 7.1 generations predicted most recent common ancestor with their matches.

As I said this may be just fun with numbers but it tells two stories. One we have 310 people who joined a project thinking they had Native American Ancestry,  the shear number of our matches seems to indicate we belong here.  The other interesting fact  is that the three of us are so closely clustered together, We are within 13 kits of each other and in fact all 3 of us have a common match 144 of the same  kits.

The signs keep pointing to common ancestry… stay tuned.

As a side note – The Cottrell  Ancestor Project now has 29 kits with these three cousins sharing  24,24,21  matches with other members and 19 matches in common with each other.

One utility  that does just that are the utilities  at GEDMatch.com.  This utility allows one to compare our matches GEDCOM file  if they have one with our own. Most Family Tree programs will allow one to export a GEDCOM file which is simply a universal method to exchange family tree data.    If your GEDMatch list of autosomal matches  has a G in the match list that will give you the GEDCOM code to needed to run the comparison. The best way to learn to use this utility is to simply play with it a bit.

I personally have found the use of an Excel  spreadsheet to be the most effective way of comparing family tree information. I build a spreadsheet with Lastname, First Name, Date of Birth, Place of Birth,Date of Death and Place of Death, GedcomID (this could be the matches kit number or their initials.    I then add my matches family tree information from their GEDCOM file into the spreadsheet and with a few clicks of a mouse paste their ID code in the last column.  This allows you to sort on any column while still knowing which names go with who.  I added a formula that finds two rows with matching surnames that have different kit codes and highlight that row in red.  Scrolling down several thousand names easily allows me to pick out surname matches.  I suppose I could even automate the process and pull the matches into another sheet.  I have also sorted off of place names and have found some matches that way as well.   The remaining challenge is how do we get the data from the GEDCOM into a spreadsheet. The answer is a wonderful utility called GEDxlate.  The author of  Rick  Seelhoff describes the utility on his site at http://www.gedmagic.com/GEDxlate.htm this way:

“GEDxlate quickly and easily translates genealogy data from standard GEDCOM format into MS Access dB (*.mdb), MS Excel Worksheet (*.xls), comma delimited (*.csv), and text file (*.txt) formats. Pick a GEDCOM file to translate; select which fields you want to include in your dB, spreadsheet, csv, or txt file; choose an output format and file name to save the translated data in and you’re there! And it’s FREE!”

This utility does just what it says and  with the need to compare names to find matches I suspect this program will become much more popular.

The quest for my roots is a story full of loving and amazing people. Some of my genetic cousins have become my friends. Genetic genealogy has changed my whole attitude about what my search is about. It really is the journey not the destination. The genetic cousins I meet along the way are no longer just a means towards an end they are part of my family history no matter how remote, they have stories to add to the rich tapestry of my genetic family history. Each sibling or cousins story about an ancestor adds to that sense of self, the circuit rider that traveled the Midwest preaching, the farmer , the psychiatrist, the teacher, and the list goes on.

Genetic genealogy is a funny pursuit, we know we are related to our matches after all the genetic tests tell us so, but many times we do not know how. The reality is perhaps I don’t always need to know exactly how, I’ll simply enjoy knowing that we share our history and that you are the roots I have been looking for all along. Some of these cousins have become my friends, others just like any family we meet at a family reunion its a “hi nice to meet you perhaps Ill see you at the next reunion” perhaps not but my life has still been made better by that ever so brief connection. When I think I find a cousin and we don’t find a match it turns out it dosn’t matter, my life is richer and new friendships have been made and the journey has been made better because of you. So as this journey continues know that whether you join me for a few brief moment or a lifetime  that I have endless gratitude that we met along the way.

Mark