Confirming a Father for Clemsy (Cline) Weatherford Using DNA Shared Matches and Cluster Research

When we have a female brick wall ancestor with no clues to her origins besides a maiden name, careful research can provide a hypothesis that DNA evidence can confirm. In the case of my third great-grandmother, Clemsy (Cline) Weatherford, the research was challenging because of record loss in the northeastern Arkansas counties that could have held records stating relationships. I discussed the documentary research in federal and state records in my post, 5 Tips for Research When the Courthouse Burned. In this blog post, I’ll show how I tackled the DNA portion of the project.

Step 1: Documentary Research

The first step in a significant brick-wall project is to do the documentary work. I completed two projects working with the documents before I started working with the DNA. The documents gave me a likely family grouping for Clemsy: father, John C. Cline; siblings, Jacob, John, and Mahala Cline; and half-siblings, Jesse, Abner, Ann, and Amanda Cline.

Project 1: I began by reviewing the records for Clemsy and her husband, Henderson Weatherford, and found a candidate group of Clines patenting land in Izard County, Arkansas.

Project 2: Next, the research focused on the Arkansas Clines – seeking land and tax records.

Project 3: I added DNA to the mix and explored more documentary research suggested by the previous project.

Step 2: DNA Clustering

We can cluster DNA matches using tools like colored dots, the Leeds Method, shared matches on the testing websites, autoclusters, and network graphs. I chose to create a focused network graph using the Gephi software and Ancestry DNA matches for my cousin, Lucretia. Some of the matches in each cluster had family trees so I was able to identify the ancestral lines for each cluster.

The documentary work led to the hypothesis that Mahala (Cline) Shockley was a sister to Clemsy Cline, and I found some of her descendants in the purple cluster! Seeing the many connections between DNA matches provided solid evidence that Clemsy was biologically connected to this group of Clines.

Step 3: Add DNA Evidence through Multiple Test-Takers

Although I had many matches for Lucretia in the purple Cline cluster to work with, I also had my DNA matches and those of my cousin, Gary. Having three test-takers adds coverage of Clemsy’s genome, as each of us will have inherited different DNA segments from her.

Our connections to descendants of Clemsy’s siblings would be between 4th and 5th cousins, within the range for autosomal DNA to be used. Autosomal DNA is limited to closer generations because DNA from a specific ancestor is lost with each new generation. It is estimated that up to 50% of fourth cousins will not share enough DNA to show up as a match, and only 15% to 32% of fifth cousins will share enough DNA to show up as a match. Still, 4th cousins could share 0.195% of their DNA, and 5th cousins could share 0.0488%.

Step 4: Verify our Biological Connection to Clemsy

Many of the matches in the purple Cline cluster were simply connected to Clemsy and Henderson Weatherford. This was important to analyze to set the foundation for the project. I was able to find matches through each of their six children. Analyzing each match via the shared cM Project, I saw that the amount of shared DNA and the traced relationship was within one standard deviation of the mean.

I diagrammed the relationships, created entries in my Airtable research log, and added the descendancy lines to the DNA match in my Ancestry tree. For my research report, I created a table for each child showing the DNA information. For example, here is the anonymized diagram and table for the oldest daughter, Eliza Jane Weatherford.

Step 5: Discover Biological Connections to Clemsy’s Siblings

The next step was to find DNA matches who descended from Clemsy’s hypothesized siblings and half-siblings. One boon to the research was the 1850 census, which shows John C. Cline having four children living in his household. I found DNA matches descending from two of these children—Abner and Ann. The documentary research for this third phase found additional connections to Clemsy via their shared migration from Missouri and Arkansas to Dallas County, Texas, in the late 1850s.

These connections were mainly H4C1R (half-fourth cousins once removed), and there is no statistical data for this relationship in the shared cM project. However, the amounts of DNA shared between me, Lucretia, and Gary ranged from 11 cM to 50 cM. These were decent amounts of shared DNA. I also ensured that each DNA match was in the Cline cluster by looking at their shared match list.

Step 6: Write a Conclusion

The final step of any project is to write a conclusion, wrapping up the research and explaining your reasoning. My final report begins with the objective, limitations, and results summary. Then I discuss the documentary research. I summarized the previous two projects and then showed what I found in the current phase.

The DNA portion also includes a DNA background, then the diagrams and tables showing the genetic connections.

My final conclusion:

This DNA project aimed to prove or disprove the hypothesis that John C. Cline was the biological father of Clemsy (Cline) Weatherford. Continued research in the documents found an Illinois connection for John C. Cline in deeds and tax lists of Sangamon County. The Weatherford family resided in neighboring Morgan County, Illinois, during the 1820s and 1830s. Clemsy may have met and married Henderson Weatherford in Illinois, then moved as a couple to Izard County, Arkansas, with John C. Cline. Alternatively, the couple could have met and married in Arkansas. The Weatherfords and John C. Cline followed the same migration south.

Research in Texas found Clemsy and her proposed half-siblings, Abner and Ann, all residing in Dallas County in the 1850s and 1860s. John C. Cline and Milcah had moved to neighboring Kaufman County by 1860. The proximity of Clemsy and these relatives adds further evidence of this being her family.

Examining DNA matches for the key test-takers who were descendants of Clemsy found matches with descendants of Mahala, Abner, and Ann Cline. It is almost certain these Clines are Clemsy’s biological family, and John C. Cline was her biological father. Adding additional autosomal DNA evidence will strengthen this conclusion. Mitochondrial DNA for a descendant of Clemsy was analyzed but found no matches at a genetic distance of 0. Similar southern locations among the earliest known female ancestor pointed to possible connections. mtDNA testers from Mahala and Ann Cline’s lines will help to confirm genetic connections.

I also added suggestions for future research: more documentary research, seeking a mtDNA test-taker from Mahala and Ann Cline’s descendants, and adding more matches to the analysis.

Years ago, I had no idea how to solve the conundrum of Clemsy’s family, but after three focused projects, I’m now convinced that I’ve discovered them! Despite the burned county challenge, cluster research and DNA match analysis proved the key.