What do you do when you find an error in sources from a time where errors are quite likely? You look for a distant relative that has taken a DNA test that can help confirm a relationship! Back in 2021 I started working on my second great grandfather, Adolphus Lee Mitchell (~1845-~1888), who’s son, Solomn Berry Mitchell (~1889-1927), was seemingly conceived after Adolphus had died. The only source for Adolphus’s death is his tombstone noting a date of 25 March 1888. Solomn’s birth registration card differs from his certificate of death (1889 v. 1888) making the information cloudy at best. Luckily I was able to find a third cousin that could help me out.
Thomas Jolly took an autosomal DNA test and the results are available on Ancestry’s DNA website. Using this information, along with other sources, I was able to prove the relationship as his second great grandfather was Adolphus as well. It turns out that Thomas and I share 64cM of DNA across 6 segments. That’s good enough for me!
So I can finally rest my search for evidence that the relationship does exist.