Author: Eric Christensen

Proving the relationship between Adolphus Lee Mitchell and Solomn Berry Mitchell

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.

I’m my own cousin

Adoptees can have twice the fun researching their family since they have two! For years, I’ve been working on my adoptive family tree. Recent developments in DNA testing has allowed me to start researching my biological family, irregardless of legal and social restrictions.

I recently found my half-sister and, by extension, my biological father, based on DNA testing. This has given me a start on developing an entirely new family tree. Interestingly enough, I’ve found that I’m my own cousin!

These are the oddities that come with family research.

Collecting and connecting our family story

Family histories have been passed down through the generations through stories told, histories written, and documents collected. The problem is making sure this information continues to be passed down in a similar manner for generations.

This site is an experiment in collecting and sharing this information with other members of the family.

Family stories and pictures are in one section while the family tree and information about individuals are in another. Currently, living individuals do not have their information published (and won’t up to 10 years after death). If you would like to see that information please contact me and I’ll pass along what I have in a private mannor.

If you find any inaccuracies or wish to add any information, please send that information to me at eric@aehe.us.

Tracing the family back to the Pilgrims

I was told, way back when, that our family could be traced back to the Pilgrims. I’ve not done much research into the topic but I recently decided to at least try to see if I could confirm what information I had without doing too much work.

The connection ends with Francis Sprague, who came over from England on the ship Anne. His son, John Sprague, was the first born in America (literally born in Plymouth, Massachusetts) in 1630. This line can be traced, but not completely confirmed to my liking, down the Sprague linage until 1867 when marriage links the Sprague family with the Rogers family. That marriage leads us to a marriage to the Betzer family in 1897 which then leads to a marriage to the Christensen family in 1930.

The lineage up to, and including, the connection to the Sprague family is well documented. Beyond that, it gets difficult. I’m quite surprised with the amount of “official” documentation available in Connecticut back several centuries. Still, once you get to a certain point, much of the research that needs to be done is in libraries and archives. The next on my list is “Sprague Families in America”, by Dr. Warren Vincent Sprague which may or may not provide confirmation of the lineage that has been laid out in my documentation.