My Great Grandmother Emma was born in Sweden, and even though both her marriage and 1882 emigration records listed her birthplace as Högsby Parish, Kalmar County, Sweden, her birth record and parents could not be found.
Then a distant Swedish cousin contacted me about a DNA match with our family. His question was “Is my Emma Larsdotter your Emma Larsdotter?” He started reviewing the Swedish arrival and departure records and discovered that when Emma left home as a young woman to work in the nearby city of Oskarshamn her arrival record listed her birthplace as Högby Parish. But when she left the city to marry her departure record listed her birthplace as Högsby Parish! Both parishes are in Kalmar County. The mistake was then repeated in her later marriage and emigration records.
Now, knowing her correct birth parish, it was easy to find her parents and follow back several additional generations. This information also confirmed a family story that Emma’s family was from an island: Högby Parish is on the island of Öland. Because of this DNA match, we now have a private Facebook with 72 Swedish cousins!
What had to happen to make this DNA match useful? I do not have a DNA match with this cousin who is my 5C1R. His match is with my Aunt who is a generation closer. I had purchased an Ancestry DNA kit and asked my Aunt to test. Then, I uploaded my Aunt’s DNA from Ancestry to other DNA testing companies including My Heritage where the match occurred.
So, the learnings to make DNA useful are: Ask older relatives to test and be in all the DNA databases. You just never know how DNA might contribute to your genealogy.
