DNA Matches Identify Second Great-Granduncle: 52 Ancestors 2023 “I Can Identify”

Thank You Ancestry DNA for the New Second-Great-Granduncle! Confirmation of Ove Syverson’s Family Origins

Tomas Anfinnson Vetti: 1766-1851 (Paternal Third-Great-Grandfather)
Sjur Tomasson Hestetun: 1807-1867 (Paternal Second-Great-Grandfather)
Kristoffer Thomassen 1803-1878 (Paternal Second-Great-Granduncle)
Ove Syverson: 1840-1882 (Paternal Great-Grandfather)
Helge Christopherson: 1831-1914 (Paternal First Cousin 3x Removed)

 

Researching the Norwegian side of my family tree can be difficult, especially when trying to identify the ancestors who never left Norway. The surname complexities make it difficult to confirm my hypotheses, as surnames are a complex and often changing combination of the father’s first name and the farm or estate the family lived on—as seen above in father and son Tomas and Sjur. Tomas’ surname is made up of his father Anfinn’s name “Anfinnson”, and the estate/farm name “Vetti”. Sjur’s surname is completely different from his father’s. He is identified as “Tomassen” or Tomas’ son, and he has moved from Vetti to Hestetun.

Vetti Farm area in Norway

In addition, there are spelling variations. Some of Tomas’ children seem to have spelled his first name Thomas and others Tomas. Some used the Norwegian “son” and some “sen” which is more common in Sweden. So you can see variations like Tomason, Tomasson, Thomasson, Tomasen, Tomassen or Thomassen all in the same family.

And the place-name part of the surname can change more than once in their lifetime when they move, creating even more opportunities for confusion. As an example Sjur’s brother went by the name Christopher Thomassen Hestethun when he married, and a few years later was identified as Christoffer Thomassen Oren. He’d moved to a different area, so his surname changed.

So how can I verify potential ancestors, particularly siblings of one of my second-great-grandparents? Lucky for me, Ancestry DNA matches helped me to confirm that Sjur and Christopher truly were brothers, the sons of Tomas Anfinnson Vetti.

How did DNA matches to six of my fourth cousins prove a fraternal connection between Sjur and Christopher?

Ancestry’s homepage includes a list of my latest DNA matches. Most are listed as “distant” cousins, but every once in a while there are potential third, fourth or fifth cousins that are worth further investigation. In mid-January of 2023, I had a potential match fourth cousin match to a person named C Kerkman. While this person had no Ancestry tree linked to their DNA profile, I was able to get some hints of our possible relationship by looking at our shared DNA matches—the people we were both related to.

Our shared matches included a couple of new fourth cousins whose listing included the notation “Common Ancestor”. This notation indicates that the family tree linked to their DNA profile includes ancestors that are descended from one of my ancestors. In other words, our shared ancestor had at least two children, and we are descended from each of those siblings. Ancestry determines this by comparing our Ancestry trees and sometimes even extrapolating back an addition generation or two from where our trees may stop, but from where other researchers have made connections.  

Once I looked at those match profiles, I clicked on the “View Relationship” tab on our shared ancestor, Tomas Anfinnson Vetti. And there it was: a connection from this new cousin back to Tomas—six generations, with Tomas’ son Christopher their third-great-grandfather.

With the new names of Christopher’s son, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to research, I was quickly able to locate records on Ancestry to support the DNA connection. I also found information on some of Sjur and Christopher’s other siblings, opening up new lines of research.

This isn’t the first time a new DNA match has helped build my family tree. DNA has proved to be a great way to identify and verify new ancestors, especially the siblings of my direct descendants. I am so excited that I can now identify several of my second-great-grandfather Sjur Tomassen Hestetun’s sibligs, thanks to six fourth cousins who decided to test their DNA.