My first autosomal DNA success story

I took the Family Tree DNA Family Finder test back in February 2010, and I took the opportunity at the same time to get my mum and dad tested too. I've been getting a steady stream of matches since then, and I now have a grand total of 267 matches, but so far I've been unable to find the genealogical connections with any of them (apart of course from my parents!). That all changed last week. I was casually glancing through my dad's matches when I was very excited to spot the surname Cruwys in bold in the list of matching surnames of one of his new matches. Cruwys is of course my maiden name. It is the surname I've spent the most time researching and is also the subject of my one-name study.

The new match was predicted to be my dad's second to fourth cousin. I checked my own match list and found that the same cousin appeared in my list and was predicted to be my fifth to distant cousin. As all my dad's ancestral lines are in the UK and the cousin's ancestors were all in Canada, it was evident by a process of elimination that there was only one possible ancestral couple that we could share in common - William Cruwys (1793-1846) and Margaret Eastmond (1792-1874) who married in Rose Ash, Devon, on 18th July 1814. On contacting my newly found genetic cousin in Canada and checking our family trees I was able to establish that he is my dad’s third cousin once removed and my fourth cousin. My dad is descended from William and Margaret's son Thomas Cruwys (1831-1890) who was baptised on 19th June 1831 in Burrington, Devon, and the Canadian cousin is descended from one of his older brothers William George Cruwys (1821-1873) who was baptised on 21st January 1821 in Burrington.

William George Cruwys last appears in the English records in the 1841 census. He was living in Chulmleigh not far from his mother and one of his other brothers and working as a male servant. William cannot be found in any of the subsequent censuses in England, and there is no record of a marriage or a death in the General Register Office indexes. However, a William of the right age appears in the Canadian censuses living in Prince Edward Island. I have a record of the 1848 marriage of William and his wife Sarah Burrows but unfortunately the PEI marriage records of this time do not provide any information about the names of the parents. I therefore do not have any documentary proof that the PEI William is the same William who was born in Burrington. However, the circumstantial evidence is strong and is bolstered by the fact that William and Sarah gave one of their sons the distinctive name Augustus. This is the name of one of William's presumed brothers from Devon, and I have not found the name Augustus used in any other Cruwys family in my one-name study. We had additional evidence of the link to PEI through my Cruwys DNA Project with two matching Y-chromosome results. The Y-DNA test proves that the two men share the same fatherline but it is not conclusive proof that their ancestors were brothers. However, the combination of evidence is very strong, and the fact that we now have an autosomal DNA match which corresponds precisely with the expected relationship is the icing on the cake, and I think the relationship is proven beyond doubt.

Another cousin from the PEI tree, who is also my fourth cousin and my dad's third cousin once removed, took the Family Finder test last year, but unfortunately she did not show up as a match either to me or my dad. This is because of the random way in which autosomal DNA is inherited. Around 90% of third cousins will share enough DNA to show up as match but only around 50% of fourth cousins would be expected to match. Perhaps around 70% of third cousins once removed would show up as a match.  

The Family Finder chromosome browser allows you to see a visual representation of the matching segment data. You can adjust the browser to see which segments you share with your matches at varying levels starting from 1 centiMorgan and going up to 10 centiMorgans (a centiMorgan is a unit of recombination which is used to measure the amount of sharing on each segment). My dad and his cousin have 10 matching segments. I share seven segments with my cousin. From the chromosome browser view you can generate a table showing the matching segment data. When I checked the data I discovered that although I seemingly shared a number of small segments with my cousin, my dad and his cousin did not share these same small segments. I therefore concluded that these were coincidental (identical by state) matching segments. The only segment that we all shared in common was on chromosome 11. The actual figures are as follows:

My dad vs. cousin  Start location 60459979  End location 78299008 17.12 cMS  4300 matching SNPs

Debbie vs. cousin   Start location 61282647  End location 78299008 16.62 cMs   4100 matching SNPs

I therefore set the chromosome browser view so that only the large matching segments were shown. The first view shows a comparison of the matching segments shared by my dad and his cousin.

The second chromosome browser view below shows a comparison of the matching segments shared by me and my cousin. You can actually see the DNA inheritance process in action here, as you can see quite clearly that I did not inherit the two large segments on chromosomes 1 and 3, leaving me with just the one segment on chromosome 11 that I share in common with my cousin.

What is really exciting about this match is that I can now ascribe this one specific segment on chromosome 11 that I inherited from my father to an ancestral couple - William Cruwys and Margaret Eastmond. Without doing further testing and triangulation I won't be able to establish whether this segment was passed down to me by William Cruwys or by Margaret Eastmond, but I know that it has been passed on to me in the Cruwys line from my great-great grandfather Thomas Cruwys to my great-grandfather Frederick Augustus Cruwys to my grandfather and then on to my dad and me. The segment has travelled on a different path in my Canadian cousin's family. He inherited the segment from his grandmother Emma Pearl Cruwys, the daughter of William George Cruwys and Sarah Burrows. Emma married George Clark Kitson in 1917 in Charlottetown, PEI, and the segment has been passed on through the Kitson line to the present day.

I'm hoping that this will be the first of many genealogical connections that I will be able to make through autosomal DNA testing. Now that the tests are so cheap (the Family Finder test costs just £47 in the current Father's Day sale at Family Tree DNA) there is really no excuse for anyone not to do the Family Finder test!

© 2014 Debbie Kennett

Laura May Davy Cruwys

Leslie Nixon has sent me some wonderful old photos from her collection. Leslie is the grand-daughter of William Crawford Cruwys (1873-1938) and Laura May Davy (1878-1964). William and Laura were both born in Prince Edward Island, Canada, but moved to American in 1892 and settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The first picture below is of Laura May Davy Cruwys and was taken in April 1947.

The second picture below is of Laura May and her youngest son William Fraser Cruwys (1910-1967). It was taken in the winter of 1939/40.

The other photos from Leslie's collection will be put up in the Cruwys genealogy group on Facebook.


© Debbie Kennett 2012

William Henry James Cruwys (1942-2009)

The sad news has arrived from Canada of the death of William "Bill" Henry James Cruwys on 2nd June 2009 at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. Bill was the son of Lloyd Cruwys and Helen Gertrude Ferguson. He worked for most of his life at the Ajax Downs horse racing track in Ajax, Ontario. He was involved in a tragic accident in May at the race track where he was run over by a horse. His family will be able to take comfort from the fact that he died doing what he loved best. His obituary in the Toronto Sun newspaper can be read online here. A Facebook group has been set up in tribute to Bill Cruwys which can be found here.

Robbery at Woolworths

I found the following interesting newspaper article when browsing through the New York State historical newspapers on the Fulton History website. The article was published in the Rochester, New York Democrat Chronicle on 11th December 1939.

Robbers Vainly 'Burn' Safe;
Containing $2,500 Receipts
Foiled after burning off the combination on a safe in the Woolworth store at 1785 Dewey Ave., safecrackers fled early yesterday morning, leaving behind more than $2,500 in cash locked in a strong box they were unable to open.

The three-inch thick steel built-in box with a small hole cut by an acetylene torch was still hot when the attempted robbery was discovered, shortly after nine o'clock, by Paul Cruwys, store manager. A few coins were scattered about the floor of the office but none of the currency was missing.

It took several store employees more than five hours to pry open the box to determine whether any of the bills had been taken. Many of the bills were burned from the heat of the torch flames. So intense was the heat that some of the silver wrapped in packages was melted together, Cruwys said.

The robbers gained admittance to the store's second floor office by cutting a wire screen over a skylight on the roof of the building and dropping to the office floor directly below. Once inside the office the men tacked cardboard, torn from boxes, over the windows and hung a strip of oilcloth over the door to prevent any light from showing outside.

As they worked, the yeggs[?] from time to time cooled off the red hot safe door and strong box with water from the fire extinguishers. One of the extinguishers was found to be empty and another nearly empty.

In their flight the men left behind two acetylene tanks, a bolt cutter, two wrecking bars, a jimmy, some rope, a hammer and two suits of overalls. Whether they were frightened away or gave up the job after failing to open the steel box containing the $2,500 was a question police and Detectives John Fleming and Charles Sweeney, assigned to the case by Capt. of Detectives Edward Collins, could not answer.

The store, which opened for business only a few months ago, is located near the Ridge Road intersection.

Roger Paul Cruwys was born on 28th October 1905 in Somerville, Middlesex, Massachusetts. He was the son of William Crawford Cruwys and Laura May Davy. His parents were both born in Prince Edward Island, Canada, but moved to America in 1892. Paul Cruwys died on 17th December 1966 in Wellsville, New York. He had two sons by his wife Elinor Mary Walsh (1909-1970).

Cruwys of Prince Edward Island

Stan Cruwys in Canada has sent me some lovely photographs of his family which I am delighted to be able to share. Stan is descended from William George Cruwys and Sarah Burrows, who emigrated to Prince Edward Island, Canada, in the late 1840s from the small North Devon village of Burrington. William and Sarah settled in a place called New Wiltshire which is now part of Kingston in Lot 31 seven miles west of the island's capital Charlottetown. William had a farm of some 150 acres, which was split between his three sons upon his death in 1873.

The first photograph is of William and Sarah's second son George William Cruwys, who was born on 10th June 1850 in Lot 31, Queens, PEI. George died on 28th November 1938 in Brookfield, Queens.The second photograph is of George's wife Hannah J Howard. Hannah was the daughter of Samuel Howard and Mary Anne Pye. She was born on 5th July 1867 in Lot 31, Queens, PEI. She died on 8th February 1929 in Cornwall (Lot 32), Queens. Both William and Hannah are buried in the Cornwall United Cemetery in Queens.William and Hannah had four children, three daughters, Zella Maud, Leila Bessie, and Emma Pearl, and one son Kaymond William Cruwys. The final photograph is of the wedding of Kaymond and his bride Vera Priscilla Hardy in November 1922 in Union Road (Lot 33), Queens. Vera, the daughter of Bartholomew Cromwell Hardy and May Maria Ayers, was born on 13th February 1902 in Union Road (Lot 33).Vera tragically died at the age of 32 on 11th September 1934 in Charlottetown. The following obituary, which was found in the Cruwys family file at the Prince Edward Island Archives, was published in one of the local newspapers:

In Memoriam

Mrs. Kaymond W. Crewys

On Sunday, Sept. 16th [1934], as the Church of Jesus Christ had again called his people to worship, reminding them of the Eternal Verities, and of the fact that we are creatures of two worlds, this fact was irrevocably borne in upon the people of Brookfield and vicinity, when it was learned that one of its citizens, in the person of Mrs. Kaymond Crewys, had gone to her eternal reward.

Mrs. Crewys had entered the P.E.I. hospital a few days before, but from the first little hope was held for her recovery. Although the deceased refused to abandon hope, while to her physician and relatives it was obvious that the end was fast approaching.

Her passing so early in life, at the age of 32, when she was so much needed in the home, is hard to understand. But we shall not murmur nor complain, realising as we do that our destiny is in the hands of a wise and loving Father. The deceased leaves to mourn her passing, besides her sorrowing husband, seven children: Lloyd G., Avis M., Ralph S., Hollis K, Stanley H., Gerald W., and Vera L., her mother and father, Mrs and Mrs. Bart Hardy, of Union Road, where the deceased was born, three sisters, Mrs. Fulton Moreside, North River; Mrs. Chester Ward, Charlottetown; and Mrs. Fred Henderson, Charlottetown; also one brother, Wilfred at home.

The funeral was held on Tuesday, Sept. 18th, beginning with a short service at the home, after which the remains were taken to Cornwall United Church, where the deceased formerly worshipped, being a member of the choir and for a time organist there. The Church was crowded to capacity, scores standing throughout the service in the aisles of the church. It was one of the largest funerals ever held in that community, scores of sympathisers being unable to get inside the church.

The service, which was reverent and simple, was conducted by her pastor, Rev. Thos. Palethorpe, who was assisted in church and at the grave by Rev. D. K. Ross, Rev. Henry Pierce, Rev. T. W. Wilson and Rev. George Ayers, an uncle of the deceased. The deceased was tenderly laid to rest in the family plot in the cemetery which surrounds the Church, the grave being covered with a bank of flowers, of which the deceased was very fond.

The funeral arrangements was [sic] in the capable hands of McLean's Undertaking Parlors. The pall bearers were: Wilfred McLean, Golden Dollar, Sherman MacDuff, John Wood, Borden McLeod and Robert Andrews. "Until the day breaks, and the shadows flee away."

Acknowledgement
I am very grateful to Miriam Neill for all her help with the PEI research.

Another exciting DNA result

We now have another exciting result from the DNA project with a Cruwys in England and a Cruwys in America matching on 36 out of 37 markers. Based on this result, the Family Tree DNA calculator indicates that both these men have an 88.06% probability of sharing a common ancestor within eight generations. This fits in perfectly with the paper trail which indicates that both men are descended from William Cruwys and Margaret Eastmond who married in 1814 in the small village of Rose Ash in North Devon. William and Margaret had eight children, two of whom died in childhood. The English tester is descended from the youngest surviving son, Thomas Cruwys, who was baptised on 19th June 1831 in Burrington, Devon. Thomas was a tailor. He moved to Bristol where he married Anne Wall in 1860. The American tester is descended from William Cruwys and Sarah Burrows who married on 21st November 1848 in Prince Edward Island, Canada. The Canadian tree is now very well documented and accounts for nearly every single person in America and Canada with the surname Cruwys. We believe that the William who emigrated to PEI is the third son of William Cruwys and Margaret Eastmond, who was baptised on 21st January 1821 in Burrington. William junior makes his last appearance in the British records in the 1841 census when, at the age of 20, he was a male servant living in Chulmleigh, Devon. His mother Margaret and brother John were living in the same village. No trace of William can be found in any of the subsequent British censuses and there is no matching death registration in the General Register Office indexes.

Canadian research is particularly difficult because the civil registration system in PEI did not commence until 1906, and there are very few surviving passenger records. William's departure from England and his arrival in Canada are therefore not documented. His earliest appearance in the Canadian records is in 1848 with his marriage to Sarah Burrows. I have a copy of the marriage certificate from the PEI Archives but, unfortunately, unlike a British marriage record from this date, the certificate does not provide the fathers' names. There are however a number of clues which link William with Burrington, the first of which is the use of the distinctive name Augustus, which is used exclusively by the Burrington Cruwys family and was the name chosen by William and Sarah for one of their sons. William died on 19th October 1873 in Kingston, Queens, PEI. His age at death was said to be 52 years, which matches perfectly with the presumed 1821 baptism in Burrington. I have transcribed his will and published it online on Genuki. The Canadian records provide no clues as to the origins of Sarah Cruwys née Burrows. The censuses merely indicate that she was of English origin. It is however surely no coincidence that a Sarah Burrows was baptised on 3rd June 1822 in Burrington. It therefore seems highly likely that William and Sarah were childhood friends and it is quite possible that they sailed to PEI together on the same ship.