Cousin Connection at Jamboree - A Speaker Connection

We've seen serendipity at work at Jamboree many times. Countless stories of cousin connections have been shared with the Jamboree teams over the past years.  

Here's a great connection that was shared at Jamboree 2015, and continues to evolve.

From Deborah (Rupp) Volper, SCGS Member, and Jamboree Volunteer:

This story is about my Cousin Connection to David R. Dowell. I got to meet David for the first time on DNA Day at Jamboree 2015.  It was a wonderful experience to meet and get to know each other there. My mother was Ruby (Dowell) Rupp. In my Dowell lineage, there is a brick wall with my fourth great grandfather Martin Dowell, born about 1803, who married Mary Hall in 1830 in Montgomery County, Ohio.

My third cousin Pamela and I have been searching for answers concerning this brick wall. We had both taken autosomal DNA tests but found no Dowell surname matches. My mother's brother and her two sisters also agreed to take the autosomal test. Again, no Dowell surname matches.

Next, my uncle and Pamela's father (Dowell 2nd cousins) agreed to take the yDNA test at Family Tree DNA. The tests were ordered and we joined the Dowell DNA Surname Project administered by David Dowell.

Lo and behold, my uncle's 67-marker test and Pamela's father's 37-marker test match David exactly. So, we now know that our Dowell family line extends to the Maryland Dowell family of Philip Dowell (b: about 1673 in Maryland).

We still have to find the parents and possible siblings of our Martin to be able to connect him to his line. The results of our testing have given us hope that we will be able to find the missing links.

David and I also found a connection through our respective Richardson family lines. David is an 8th cousin twice removed to Pamela and me in this line. He is expecting our Dowell family connection to be closer.

2016 update from David Dowell:  Just this week Deborah got back from the FTDNA lab a more extensive test report on her uncle’s yDNA. He is an exact 111 marker match for me AND for the hypothesized 111 markers of my 6th great-grandfather who died in 1733. So far Deborah’s uncle is the only cousin who has been an exact match for me and for our North American founder.

It just goes to show that at Jamboree, you really can make connections and important discoveries that can help solve family mysteries and break down those pesky brick walls!

We look forward to hearing about all kinds of cousin connections at Jamboree 2016!

See you there!

Thank you to Deborah Volper and David Dowell for sharing their connection with Jamboree.