Using DNA to Uncover Max Miller's Hidden Ancestry

[@GeneaVlogger]

Buy a MyHeritage DNA test TODAY by clicking the following link - bit.ly/GeneaVloggerDNA Also be sure to use coupon code MAX for free shipping!!!

[@TheEnabledDisabled]

MyHeritage I'd great with their genetics tools, especially when the generously make all their tools free if you uploaded your Dna at certain times

[@wuverrabbit]

yes hence not buying ever a myhertiage test, but a 23&me or ancestry so you can upload it free to myheritage.

[@shari5982]

Fan of Max Miller’s channel. So happy you were able to help him and that he was willing to share it with us.

[@mariaft2]

As a regular viewer of both you and Max Miller…I thoroughly enjoyed this!

[@bookmouse2719]

me too

[@AngelavengerL]

same!

[@shawgeasland2096]

Here here

[@MommyDontSeeMe]

And really happy that the Miller family allowed such an interesting (and potentially scandalous) search to be aired - I love that. None of us have perfect families, and these are the stories that make ancestors real!

[@DakotaFord592]

Max is beyond stunning!!! I will eat his 🎂 for the next 355,000 thousand years!!!!!

[@MommyDontSeeMe]

I love it when my subscriptions collide! My father was adopted in 1924, and I never knew who his bio-parents were while he was alive. It took until this past decade, long after my father passed, but thank goodness for DNA!

[@emom358]

@@MommyDontSeeMe been trying to find my father's birth parents but Minnesota is being difficult. He was adopted in 1920.

[@angelachapeski8461]

@@emom358 any luck?

[@carriel3054]

These DNA reveals always make me think about how hard folks worked to hide their secrets/affairs/babies/parentage etc... only to have it all blown wide open 2/3 generations later 😂😂

[@davidthedeaf]

Makes me glad they didn’t have easy access to abortion or we wouldn’t get to taste any history.

[@99zanne]

I’m interested to see that most ppl think secret affair but NOT a non consensual relationship …

[@mtaylor4596]

That is so true! I am living proof! :)

[@madaketmom]

@@mtaylor4596Me too!

[@stonewallrussians]

A friend found out last year that his dad wasn’t his father but it was the neighbor. Oh boy that generation has already passed but quite a surprise

[@1TakoyakiStore]

1) I love Max Miller so seeing his Genealogy was quite a treat! 2) Hilarious that he's related to Mr Beat! 😂 3) My late grandmother was a hobby Geneologist. She has tons of geneological documentation and has been the bane of my parent's attic. Do you know of a service who take geneological documents that family members no longer are able to hold onto so that they can be scanned, saved, and then the physical copies tossed?

[@GeneaVlogger]

You can search for Archives, Genealogy Societies, Museums, and Libraries that are either local to you or may be relevant to whatever ancestral connections your grandmother researched. Maybe her research was a heavy focus in a specific state, maybe it was a specific population like Volga German or African American, or maybe it was a specific historical community like the Gullah Geechee population - you'll be able to find all sorts of historical organizations focusing on all sorts of ancestral connections. A lot of these organizations often have ways to donate these types of materials or you can at least contact them to get suggestions on places which may be better for the materials you inherited.

[@mimic1176]

The college in my town has a huge microfiche library of things like census records and newspaper articles. Check with libraries in your area, historical societies as well. Even if they don't do what you need they may be able to steer you toward someone who does.

[@1TakoyakiStore]

​@@mimic1176My grandmother was a part of a few historical societies, including a geneological society on her mother's side, yet everyone my father has contacted seems interested until they find out that the documents need to be properly organized before being donated. The only one who said they could handle that ended up not happening because they would've needed the documents transported from Florida to Tennessee, and due to the sheer amount of documents (6 5ft tall full filing cabinets worth) which my family was incapable of doing. It's a shame because there's copies of documents in that collection which likely no longer exist as my Grandmother started the hobby in the 1940's and only stopped in 1993. I will look into the Library and College angle as I'm pretty sure my father didn't explore those possibilities. 👍

[@amberbydreamsart5467]

My sister's a public librarian and this is exactly the type of historic document they have preservation rooms for! If it's very relevant to a specific town or area especially, I'm sure the headquarters library of that area would be interested in taking a look

[@AniMerDol]

It's great that you're doing what you can to preserve all that information, good on you. Unless there was a notability within the family, a lot of people would think that, in the grand scheme of things it's not particularly important & those outside of the family would have no interest, so no point in recording it anywhere. But the more family histories we have from those that are well known & unknown, & every part of society, the clearer we see the history of our world. So, thanks muchly for your efforts & good luck in finding a good home for it all. Mostly though, good on you for making sure your grandmother's efforts & dedication were not in vain.

[@EmpressMeg]

Max Miller! I ADORE his channel! He has a very friendly and genuine vibe. His fascination and love of food history is infectious. So I was thrilled to see THIS video when I came home tonight! When it was over, I was sad, but I was also happy because this was only the first installment of his family story. Thank you for doing this for him and his family and thanks to Max and his family for sharing it with us! And not gonna lie -- I was searching my own tree for the surnames mentioned here, just to see (we're all related at some point - and it's fun to actually find those connections). I'm a Nesmith. All my paternal grandfather's ancestral lines go so far back in the U.S. -- many of them to colonial times.

[@healgrowlovecommunity8397]

I came here from Tasting History. Love your content...new subscriber! Mary x

[@KarynHill]

I love that you did Max's family tree! It doesn't happen often so I really enjoy when two of my KZbinrs come together.

[@gardenlady1293]

Cousi! Glad you were able to help Max and Family. You are super amazing.

[@mtaylor4596]

So awesome! It is great finding out about our ancestors and the stories behind them. I was happy to contribute a tiny part!

[@GeneaVlogger]

And you get bragging rights to call Max your cousin! Thank you for agreeing to being discussed in the video.

[@wandapease-gi8yo]

To me the most wonderful thing is that that cute baby boy was reborn to a good family, raised with love in the United States with good Family ties with people who wanted him and welcomed him. Max was incredibly fortunate to descend form people who worked to give his ancestor a good chance for a good life, not stuck in an orphanage and handed to anyone who wanted a child “slave” as happened to the children of my Great great grandfather.

[@sheilam4964]

Thx for filming this and sharing it with us.

[@hummus6150]

I love how we’re looking at pictures of great-great uncle and the guy on the left looks absolutely identical 😂

[@bakarka]

Great illustration of why you should always gather all relevant documentation before DNA testing. Saves a lot of time and money. It is unusual for the biological father to be listed on the birth certificate in cases of illegitimacy, so this family was very lucky.

[@Tommie_the_wrath_of_Khan]

My Dad was adopted. I did DNA this last summer and found my half aunt who is also 1st cousins with my dad. Turns out my dad’s mom had a fling with her younger brother in law. lol

[@gregoryblair9810]

My aunt was widowed young and married her brother-in-law. Her oldest and younger kids are siblings through her but cousins through dads.

[@J_Gamble]

Vry fun to learn about Max's heritage. Looking forward to the next segment.

[@elizabeththequeen943]

A family of teachers! Very noble, very worthwhile. Congratulations, Max. You come from a great family.

[@ConniMiller]

Watching all their faces in finding out this fascinating piece of family history was the best part. Max, there was that one picture of Bertha Cowling in the Delta Nu picture, it was your face with hair in a bun. Just like when you see my dad's and my faces, they look very much alike.

[@ferretyluv]

@@ConniMiller Wait, Delta Nu is a real sorority? I thought it was made up for Legally Blonde.

[@beautyonabarnbudget]

@@ferretyluv I was JUST going to say this!!! Mind blown 🤯 Edit: Delta Whoooo? Delta Nu! lol

[@chelseab1438]

The video says she was in Delta Phi, the poster just misspoke.

[@DreaOnzagle]

Amazing work! I’ve been looking forward to another KZbinr family tree episode and this did not disappoint!

[@AngelavengerL]

I know they take soo much work, but these are my absolute favorite videos that you make! I love the way you take research but make it into a narrative that is interesting and relatable. Letting us know about more than just names and death dates but the world they lived in and their families. So looking forward to the the rest of the series!!!

[@joshdanao4987]

This is so amazing! I did a similar kind of investigation into my 2x great grandfather this year, who I’ve been told was pure Spanish but later found that he was only 1/4 (through his maternal grandfather, a Galician), and the fact that he had kids with other women was true, I found my distant half cousins via Ancestry

[@alexandracruz5243]

I loved this episode. It was really interesting to see how an expert solves an adoption mistery.

[@lenalyles2712]

While stationed in Germany I had the opportunity to travel to England prior to DNA test and found records of very long ago ancestors.

[@HowWeGotHere]

Another great video Jarret

[@debjordan4399]

Amazing work.

[@chelseab1438]

We should be careful to assume this “relationship” was consensual.

[@christyandersonhendrie4225]

Great blog! I love learning more about Max!

[@Lady-BriChanel]

This was excellent! Well presented and the research is fantastic. I'd definitely like to see more videos like this.

[@GeneaVlogger]

Thank you! I have an entire playlist of this series, which I call KZbinr Family Trees - kzbin.info/aero/PLcGqX_-rsFhTT8HGQGAksbuRfiHP4aTX5 The first 'seasons' are a bit different than the episodes I do now, but you may still enjoy them!

[@patriciahowellcassity767]

Thank you. My mother first husband was adopted by white people. But he was Native American. My sister (his daughter) was embarrassed and didn't talk about it. Her children knew nothing about it until i around 11 years old, said it out loud in front of them. I have often wondered was he taken from his mother because he was Indian and what tribe he was from. But none of them seemed interested in finding out. My father was m mom's second husband. So seeing all you did on this I'm very impressed.

[@marilynrowland5197]

That was amazing! What a complex journey through the many twists and turns of geneology! I really enjoyed this and want to offer kudos for both your commitment to Max Miller's family and your already established genealogical skills! Whew!

[@CarolynParsons-mv1ji]

Max is my absolute favorite KZbinr. This is fascinating! Thank you so very much!!!! ❤

[@traceyholt8223]

I have been doing genealogy for over 15 years and am absolutely fascinated with the detective work - physical phasing and "What are the odds". I'd love to see a video about these tools, how to access them and how to use them.

[@annetteharris3746]

I absolutely love this video and all the research you did to help him.

[@always.wondering.wandering]

Very cool, I like that you did this. I'd love to see you do more of this. My 3rd times great grandfather is a mystery. I know he had to be taken in by his parents, his siblings DNA does not match his DNA line. I'll probably never know in my lifetime what his actual lineage is. We have the Y-DNA test done by Family Tree DNA but so far no luck for a match.

[@wuverrabbit]

you need to isolate the matches. mark off everyone whom you can know, and then work with what is left over and build up the tree up and down with those matches. you never know what you will find in it!

[@Rebecca-le9hn]

Great work, great story.

[@_PJW_]

On a darker note : the possibility of James' conception being forced by Fuller upon Bertha.

[@jomercer21113]

yes. No one ever talks about sexual asaults, always romanticizing it as star-crossed lovers

[@superkate2942]

@jomercer21113 As a person who was adopted at birth, not knowing if my conception was consensual weighed heavily on me from the time i was a teenager and realized that was a possibility. It was one of the harder questions I had to ask my bio mom after I found her (it was consensual). I'm sure this family has also thought about the possibility that most of them in the room for these videos wouldn't be alive if a woman hadn't survived one of the most heinous violations possible. But, it's their choice if they want to talk about it publicly, because it's a heavy and deeply personal subject. It's definitely something that should be talked about, and there are more and more people opening up about their stories. But it all comes back to what the people involved feel comfortable with talking about.

[@beckybugbee5696]

Yes, this is what I was thinking , too. Spending a lot of time with the family, courting Lillian, he probably thought that he could sample ALL the available delicacies. That would also be why everything was hushed up and, maybe, partly why she never married.

[@AniMerDol]

This was so much fun to watch, seeing Max with his family, & fascinating to listen to, discovering all the information you were able to uncover. Great job.

[@Lucius1958]

Good for you, Max! My family history is a bit complicated, with name changes on both sides.

[@MossyMozart]

​​​@@Lucius1958 - I feel your frustrstion! My GM from Germany had 11 children. There are about 35 birth names given for her in all their various vital records - births, marriages, divorces, Social Security applications, deaths. Some names are similar, but the sheer number leaves me scratching my head. >_

[@MossyMozart]

PS: I can not identify her in any passenger manifest, either. Double >_< >_

[@candykane4271]

This was so fun to listen to…I love all ancestry but you made this so appealing. And I don’t even know them.

[@aariley2]

That settles it! Max for President!!!!!

[@chrisholds1]

This was very coll, thanks!

[@pjef1956]

Great episode !! I very much enjoy Max's channel and like watching him. So glad you found all this info for him and his family.

[@doubledutch4721]

I really, really enjoyed this, more please 😊

[@lisamoore6804]

I love family history. I found so much on my own without dna testing. I'm a big fan of Max's, I'm so glad they got some answers.

[@wuverrabbit]

yes but DNA will tell you if it's true or not. My cousin had researched her mothers fathers line back to the 1600's in France. Guess what DNA told her? He isn't her biological grandfather. Her 1C from that line did not match her at all and she could 100% prove her cousin did a test. She only matched the "suppose" 1C via her fathers line, and that turned out dun dun dun... A HALF 1C... you never know what DNA will tell you.

[@johnvonundzu2170]

The pic of the Cowling siblings @9:10 apparently shows them dressed in mourning for their father in 1907. The fashions are a perfect match for the date of his death.

[@GeneaVlogger]

Correct! The photograph of the siblings is from the funeral for their father Reverend John Parsons Cowling.

[@aliciareisinger3103]

Wow! I love Max’s channel! I’m just miles from where his great grandmother was born!

[@valor101arise]

❤❤❤ everything genealogy and history. Max sent me over. Love it

[@TVandManga]

Really interesting!

[@pilsplease7561]

My big family mystery is that my dad had children before he had me, I do not know if he married the lady that he had them with or not, but I have 2 half siblings that are 5-8 years older than I am that I have literally 0 information on as dad doesnt know and my grandfather, moms dad told me about them when i was 20. I have for years wanted to find them because It bothers me that I have a brother and a sister that I dont know out in the world somewhere. I only have one other half sibling ( moms side) and always wanted more siblings. For years I had hoped ancestry or 23 and me would show them but so far they havent popped up on any dna tests.

[@madaketmom]

Another adoptee, finding my biological families changed my life ❤

[@magsstewart5488]

I like your technique. I have very solid records for generations, but my straight paternal line parachutes into NY in the 1820’s from nowhere and adopts my current surname. DNA has been less than helpful in that mcra was 850ad, lol 😊

[@CaravanFarms]

My mom is 90. She was adopted and there is NO RECORD of her dad. We have done DNA through 1 places wonder if any of these places could help find her dad????

[@Hamuel]

Nabors/Neighbors? Sounds like I might be a cousin of Max's :P This was a very touching video!

[@justinfox9426]

Omg I'm from and have lived in all my life Scottdale PA

[@electra424]

can't wait for more!

[@aprilwardle6859]

Figured out who my great grandfathers mother was through DNA last year. Ending an over 100 year mystery. Know how much it would have ment to him

[@ezforsaken]

I love Max, I always put comments on his videos using a wrong name for him on purpose to annoy him, but I'm actually a fan.

[@sqjvo2]

As i recall, there used to be one or more of these companies offering free tests in adoptee situations. Do any of them still make that offer?

[@GeneaVlogger]

I'm not sure if they do still but it is possible. I know some run various special programs or will support programs that supply DNA tests, such as The Holocaust Reunion Project.

[@trenae77]

Ancestry has a group called DNA Angels who will do a lot of the groundwork for NPE (Non-Parent Expected) cases.

[@GingerSpires]

Max’s brother looks a lot like his great grandmother Bertha!

[@tburbank1]

Love this! I’m from Northfield MN town that is home of Carleton College.

[@angelaparker4110]

In my case, I’m the adopted one. I met my biological mother, her brothers and both sets of grandparents. However, when I was given my family trees, I was only given name and birth order. Plus, both my grandmothers were War Brides. I’m using Ancestry, but it’s confusing.

[@Star-u3t1l]

How fun!

[@pjef1956]

I live in New Castle, PA, where the letter to PA Vital Records was addressed !! I've been to the office on S Mercer!

[@EmilyJelassi]

Fascinating!! I was adopted, but the building, where my file was located, burned down, so I don't even know where to start to look for information on my family. What I'd really like us to have my family medical history. It was The year after I was adopted that Maryland made it a law that any child who was adopted had to get their medical history. I wish they'd grandfathered me in, but sadly no 😢

[@robertodalessandro871]

I know your job. Excelent and i love Max Miller

[@davidthedeaf]

Hey Max, my family came to the Americas from Cornwall in the early 1800s too!

[@wadehawkins872]

I am a cousin to both of Robert's parents- Smith Fuller Nabors, and Bertha Amelia Cowling.

[@karen7573]

@@wadehawkins872 wow

[@robinsnest68]

Yeah Max!!! Woot! Woot!✌️❤️😁

[@feliciagaffney1998]

This was really cool... definitely an interesting knot to unweave. But what happened to the Hulse/Donaldson knot? I thought we were getting an answer about the folks from last year's video. Did I miss something?

[@HistoriaLondinensi]

My great-grandfather fathered my grandfather with his sister-in-law and it threw off my research for years. Since I had DNA matches with both my great-grandfather and his wife independently I naturally assumed I must be descended from one of their many children.

[@caucaxican86]

wait, at the end... max and mr. beat are related?! 😲 i subscribe to them both LOL

[@GeneaVlogger]

Mr. Beat was a guest on my series previously and I have a whole season of episodes on his family! Also, I have more episodes coming on Max's family which will detail his connection to Mr. Beat.

[@CharlotteFairchild]

How cool! My family was in Rail Road work. My grandmother was a foster parent. My grandfather worked for the RAILROAD, so I asked the son of my aunt, raised as a foster child, to be tested. I paid for it! He is not related! Now my real question? How do I find out Israel Fairchild’s activity with abolition?

[@eliseleonard3477]

It is immensely cool that Max Miller and Mr. Beat are related. Who’da thunk it? 🧐👍🏼👍🏼❤️

[@JamesBrown-nk6mu]

yay, Millers!!

[@laurabailey2152]

Cornwall, not 'Cornwall county'. Other than that, a fascinating video. I would love to understand the techniques better, as my great great grandmother gave birth to a daughter Laura, who was raised by her father and grandparents. No idea where she came from and how she died? I have done DNA tests for both MyHeritage and ancestry (before I realised you could just upload the data) and I am none the wiser?

[@mellie4174]

@@laurabailey2152 fyi... There is a Cornwall county in Cornwall... So..... 🙄

[@ffotograffydd]

@@mellie4174 Cornwall is a county, but literally nobody in the UK calls it “County Cornwall” or “Cornwall County”, it’s just Cornwall.

[@SDHA1191]

Love max miller thanks for the content

[@aprilrichards762]

I'm from Westmoreland County in Pennsylvania and my grandparents were close cousins who divorced.

[@AlbertPaysonTerhune]

It wasn't till after I'd been through Yale and NYU and UCSD that I ever even *heard* of Carleton College, and then it was like every fifth person I met had gone to Carleton. I remember being recruited, sort of, by Macalester back in the early 70s, but scouts from Carleton never extended their loving arms to me, so they were off my radar.

[@cdub31613]

Maybe you should consider pinning the first video. It’s been a year since the last one, and I barely remember it. You wouldn’t even know it happened except that you mentioned it.

[@aariley2]

I feel so sorry for Bertha. Lost her baby and her lover and never found love again apparently. So sad.

[@mcollins630]

@aariley2 We don't know they were lovers. She could have been a victim and just wanted to protect her sister.

[@BobbyMinn]

Max did not look thrilled to be related to Mr. Beast. 🤣

[@AnneHelms-qd9eg]

I think it was Mr Beat 🙂

[@wuverrabbit]

i'm not following enough, but Mr. Beast is of Volga German descent (Germans from Russia, whom settled in the Volga region of Russia via Catherine the great manifesto)

[@thevanillafeziant]

He confirmed in another comment that he said Mr. Beat not Mr. Beast.

[@GazilionPT]

29:00 Why does Lilian show up twice here? (On the left, unconnected to the other Cowlings, and on the right, shown as one of Bertha's siblings.)

[@GeneaVlogger]

She is shown twice because she is Smith Fuller Nabors' wife and a sibling to Bertha Cowling.

[@Denabella]

Man, I wish I could get your help on my stuff. I can't find anything on my mother's maternal side. Or anything on my paternal side.

[@rosalindalay4499]

Fascinating

[@Pusheenmybuttons]

Question: was the cousin of Max, Mr. Beat the history KZbinr or Mr. beast? I couldn’t quite make it out! Hoping for Mr.Beat!

[@GeneaVlogger]

It was Mr. Beat, but I actually know how Max is related to both of them! 😆

[@Pusheenmybuttons]

@@GeneaVlogger haha! That is funny!

[@indyfan9845]

Max's great grandmother was born in the same Pennsylvania county as me!

[@mz-dz2yn]

cornwall cornwall!! there is that entire tv series set there called Poldark amazing show and to think these people could be related to that area of the world!

[@electra424]

Awesome!

[@jennifermiller1042]

I need to find someone who will help me navigate my DNA and trees. Both of my parents have half siblings and my mom's side might have a surprise from her mother. My husband's great grandfather was a doorstep baby and he has no Native American DNA but his great grandmother was supposed to be half. Lots of questions and weirdness! I'm also supposed to be Portuguese through my maternal grandfather but it's not there. Makes me wonder if Grandma was fibbing (she tended to do that) about Mom's dad.

[@wuverrabbit]

i dont have a paid account ATM, but i can always help you understand how to build up trees with DNA matches. I've worked with DNA for some years now finding out whom my grandmothers bio-father is (dunnno whom he is, but i know 100% whom his 4 grandparents are, big shocker!) and then on his wives family, as i had a idea that his wives grandmother forged her mothers birth records. DNA nailed it down that whom i thought was the mother was 100% right. The father we figured out was the butler in the home she was working as a servant in via the previous census records.

[@megb9700]

I liked this episode. It was was more like WDYTYA the British series, but in the US.

[@JediSimpson]

There’s an US version of WDYTYA?, too.

[@wolchfam]

My maiden name is Cowling. My father was Thomas Samuel Cowling, born 11/18/2920 in Seattle, Washington. He lived his entire life in Portland, Oregon.

[@ffotograffydd]

Was he a time traveller? 😉

[@bonnienichalson5151]

I think thsts a typo 1920!

[@m420-nd1if]

Funny, my maternal grandfather either doesn't know who his father was or does not want to talk about it.

[@lisanixon9284]

Makes you wonder if Lillian and Fuller knew about the baby at all. Their mother and father may have helped her hide it.

[@tcconnection]

Does My Heritage have a bigger base and more tools to use than other companies?

[@nicobambino191]

I have questions about my ancestry. I should hire you lol

[@Ponto-zv9vf]

I have tried to find the father of my great great grandmother, but unfortunately I haven't as it is too long ago, and the relatives I have don't have a tree sufficient for me to proceed.

[@GeneaVlogger]

I've had lines with brick-walls that felt unbreakable, but you never know when some new match pops up and completely changes everything!

[@wuverrabbit]

as long as they have a tree with people whom have DOB / DOD and places.. you can (unless irish/scottish/welsh) build up a tree quite well, ESPECIALLY if they were from the US. Sometimes it's also the low matches that can sometimes break the wall. find someone whom works with DNA well and you'd never believe what you can find!

[@dawnpenner847]

Fascinating Curious have you every worked on someone family tree with Mennonite heritage? Due to the interbreeding (cousins marring cousins) the DNA results are all off. I.E. people coming up as 3rd or 4th cousins are actually 7/8 cousins. In addition due to the fact my family lived in Imperial Russia most of the records were destroyed. There is a site called Grandma Online, but it only good if your family history wasn't lost and has been entered. Just curious, as looking for hints.

[@GeneaVlogger]

I have not researched any Mennonite families, although the issues with DNA that you are describing are well known within many populations which experience endogamy (when people within a certain population group only have children with others in the same population group). I come from Jewish ancestry and we deal with the same thing, although there have been many techniques discovered which help overcome the issues from endogamy. If you check out my channel, I have a few videos discussing some of those techniques and tools.

[@KC-gy5xw]

Boy, mum's genes are strong in three of her children! Love Max Miller's channel, great content. (but I still laugh at Max Miller, as I always have to think of the old UK comedian Max Miller, the Cheeky Chappy!!)

[@rachelann9362]

Apparently there are MORE skeletons in our family closest than I had initially thought. Crazy coincidence: My dad and his completely unknown cousin were stationed at the Philadelphia Naval Yard at the same time, not in shared missions, but they had some crossover. While he was in Philly, he got a lady pregnant. That Lady and her daughter lived RIGHT where I lived. I could’ve shouted at her from my last appt. My dad’s potentially half siblings and their offspring do not know about this connection as far as we know, or at least they have never said anything, my aunt has chosen to NOT bring it up unless someone asks her why this lady on the other side of the country with zero crosses in family trees is listed as so related this woman. The relative who had this out of wedlock at the Naval Yard’s son and grandson have been tested on ancestry like she did, so they could find out if they wanted. My paternal grandfather born in 1912 what is now Slovenia. Officially my last name is Coleman, but I am related to no Coleman/Kuhlman/etc unless they directly stem from my grandfather. He just randomly changed his name for some reason in the US before marrying his first wife. At that time, it was recorded as Kuhlman, later on it morphed to Coleman. He applied for his SS card under Kuhlman. When he signed up for service for WWII, he filled it out as Coleman, and it remained that. At the time, he listed him birth country as the US, up until about the 70s when he changed it to Yugoslavia. There is a story of his childhood in a letter to a close cousin to apologize for disappearing for a couple decades. he just popped in out of nowhere with his three children(my dads half siblings) before his service when him and his wife were divorcing. In the letter, he stated that his father had been harming him constantly, and supposedly was telling him he wasn’t his son. He kept running away from home, and disappeared for the last time at 14. He met my gm shortly before being drafted, but no kids.. and he was assigned to the 37th engineers brigade at Omaha beach. My aunt was able to meet her father’s half sister when she turned 99. We’re still working out the details. My aunt is working on the records, I’m working with the DNA. oddly, it seems like his mother may not be his actual mother, but may have been something like an aunt. OR His father was a relative of the man who raised him. It’s hard with records being in Slovenian. It’s been difficult sorting through the DNA as well. It doesn’t help that my mother’s maternal line had been VERY prolific. We’re talking 12 kids, 10 surviving for my maternal grandmother, and most of them had lots of children, great grandparents were from huge surviving families. Unsurprisingly, they were all Irish. There’s likely still more. There is a LOT of trees in my results that make absolutely no sense and I have not yet been able to work out where the connection actually is. My last name SHOULD be VERY Slavic. My husband has a friend that was born and raised in Serbia, and even she struggles to figure out the pronunciation.