Welcome to the Ellen Cecilia (Scott) Kernan DNA project by Family Locket Genealogists! We are working with Ellen’s great-granddaughter, Karen, in an ongoing project to identify Ellen’s parents and their birthplaces. We are seeking more of Ellen’s descendants to participate in a DNA study and share family information. We reached out to you because we have identified you as a descendant of Ellen’s other children or as a descendant of her predicted half-siblings. We invite you to read more about the project below and help make it a success by sharing your AncestryDNA results with us. Rest assured that if you participate, we will not publish your name anywhere without your consent.
Objective
The objective of this project is to conduct DNA analysis and documentary research to determine the biological parents of Ellen Cecilia (Scott) Kernan, who was born 15 December 1860 in Illinois or Iowa, and died 6 June 1943 in Hastings, Adams, Nebraska. Ellen was raised by John and Bridget Malone and married Bartholomew Kernan on 28 November 1878 in Ayr, Adams, Nebraska.
Background
The documentary record for Ellen’s early life is sparse and contradictory. Ellen was born to Irish immigrant parents in December 1860, either in Illinois or Iowa. After her mother’s death about 1862, Ellen’s father placed her in the care of John Malone and his wife, Bridget, who raised Ellen until she married Irish immigrant Bartholomew Kernan in Adams County, Nebraska, in 1878. Essentially an orphan, Ellen was young when she saw her father for the last time. Ellen’s 1943 death certificate named her parents as Patrick Scott and Margaret Cox, both born in Ireland, though no other official US documents for them were known to exist. Chart 1 shows the children of Ellen and Bartholomew, as well as key descendants who are DNA matches to Karen and two of her sisters.
Chart 1. DNA matches to Karen and her sisters among Ellen and Bartholomew’s descendants
DNA Analysis
The examination of DNA matches for Karen and two sisters has generated the most promising evidence to date for Ellen’s parents and their origins. Analysis detected genetic networks predicted to relate to each of Ellen’s parents. Next, documentary research of the common ancestors and origins for these clusters identified candidates for each parent. Correlation showed the documentary evidence for these candidates aligns with the verifiable facts about Ellen’s parents. Chart 2 depicts Ellen’s relationship to her predicted parents and half siblings based on DNA and documentary evidence.
Predicted Father: Patrick Scott (1832-1913)
Patrick was born about 1832 near Inchorourke in Gortnahoe parish, County Tipperary, Ireland, to Bryan Scott. He was known to have migrated twice to the US from Ireland. It is hypothesized that he married Margaret Cox during his first migration. Following Margaret’s death about 1862, Patrick likely returned to Ireland after he placed Ellen in the care of the Malones. After the second migration, he married Mary Ann Lane by about 1864. They settled in Wabasha County, Minnesota, where they raised their family of six children. These children would have been Ellen’s half siblings. Patrick died in West Albany, Wabasha, Minnesota, in 1913.
Predicted Mother: Margaret Cox (1838-1862)
Margaret was born in Ballynahinch in Kilnoe parish, County Clare, Ireland, to Maurice Cox and Mary Molony. She died about 1862 in either Illinois, Iowa, or Nebraska.
Chart 2. Pedigree chart of Ellen’s predicted ancestry and Karen’s DNA matches among their descendants
Research Report
You can review the in-depth research report here: Scott April 2024 Research Project – Privatized Report
Participate in the DNA Project
Currently, we have access to Karen’s AncestryDNA results and those of two sisters, providing about 22% coverage of Ellen’s genome. To achieve the best coverage and a higher likelihood of finding DNA matches relevant to Ellen’s parents, we need the help of the oldest living descendants of Ellen’s other children. We also would like to access the AncestryDNA results of more descendants of Brian Bernard Scott, Ellen’s only predicted half-sibling known to have posterity.
1. If you have already completed DNA testing through AncestryDNA, you can follow the steps below to add Karen as a viewer to your DNA results. As a viewer, she won’t be able to make any changes to your DNA account but will only be able to see your matches for analysis. Consult the section “Managing invitations to your DNA” at Ancestry’s article: Sharing AncestryDNA Results. Here are the steps:
- Click the DNA icon from the top menu on any Ancestry page and select Your DNA Results Summary.
- On your DNA homepage, click DNA Settings toward the right margin.
- On the DNA Settings page, scroll down to the DNA Test Sharing section and click the arrow next to “DNA test sharing.”
- Click the blue Invite icon, then enter Karen’s username: Karen Boehme. Her picture will appear next to the correct username.
- Select Viewer, and click Invite. Whether you enter an email address or username, the invitation will be sent to her by email.
- When your invitation is accepted, you’ll receive an email letting you know.
2. If you have not had your DNA tested but would like to, you can purchase an AncestryDNA kit here. Once you receive your results, follow the steps above to share them with Karen.
3. If you’re not interested in sharing DNA with us but have genealogical information about the Scott, Cox, or Kernan families you’d like to contribute, email Karen at klboehme@gmail.com
How Does It Work?
Autosomal DNA can help identify ancestors up to 6-8 generations back. When reviewing a DNA match, the testing website will report the amount of DNA shared with a match, but the specific relationship between matches can only be discovered through analyzing pedigrees. Placing matches in genetic networks and tracking the surnames and locations that appear in different pedigrees can help pinpoint a common ancestor between a test taker and a DNA match. This process can help prove family relationships and lead to hypotheses for missing ancestors.
Since descendants inherit different DNA segments from their common ancestor, collecting more DNA of Ellen’s descendants will increase the likelihood that her parents’ DNA will be represented in the analysis. The term for this in genetic genealogy is DNA coverage. To increase the coverage of Ellen’s genome, best practices would be to examine DNA results from multiple descendants of each of her children. This would ensure that the analysis was not limited to DNA passed through only one child. To learn more about DNA coverage, you can read Paul Woodbury’s article “Covering Your Bases: Introduction to Autosomal DNA Coverage.”
For any questions or comments on the project, you can email Karen Boehme at klboehme@gmail.com or Melanie Whitt at mbwgenealogy@gmail.com.