DNA Solves the Mystery

For many years, I have been interested in my family history. We have a lot of 'genealogy' on most all my family lines with the exception of my Montgomery line.  I knew that my grandfather was Arthur Marion Montgomery.  Unfortunately, he died before my Daddy was one year old.  Grandfather Arthur did have some living sisters and a brother and I got quite a bit of information from them about their siblings and parents.  They knew that their father was Joseph Nathaniel Montgomery and that he fought with the Army of Illinois in the Civil War.  With a bit of research on him I got a lot of information, including all his military records, but could never find his parents' names. Part of the problem was that on every form he filled out and on every census record I could find, he said that he was born in a different year and a different state.  I spent hours looking through microfilms trying to find him.  Nothing made sense to me. He just didn't seem to exist before he joined the army in 1861.  

Last year following a consultation with a very experienced genealogist in Salt Lake City and acting on her advice, I followed a lead on his death certificate which said that his parents were Nathaniel Montgomery and his mother was Agnes Upton.  I also did some google searches and discovered that the unit of the Illinois Army that he joined had many men from Greene County, Illinois.  Lo and behold, I found a marriage record of Nathaniel Montgomery and Nancy Upton and a census record of their family in 1840 in Greene County!  There were 8 children but no Joseph Nathaniel.  There was a Josiah that was born about the correct time but no way to prove that this Josiah was actually my great-grandfather Joseph Nathaniel.  Very frustrating! 

I had done a DNA test  few years ago but hadn't used it for research. I decided to take  a close look at DNA matches on Ancestry.com and was thrilled to learn that I had  DNA matches with 10 of Josiah's sibling's ancestors! 10 probable cousins!  Josiah had to be my Joseph Nathaniel!  What a happy day!

I know that Joseph Nathaniel was illiterate.  My guess is that young Josiah was called Joe.  When he joined the army, he wasn't sure of his full name but thought it might be Joseph.  Then he took his middle name from his father's name, Nathaniel.  Maybe he was born Josiah Nathaniel! I will ask him that someday.

Another experienced  genealogist and DNA expert, looked over my research and the DNA matches and could say with certainty that Josiah Montgomery was my Joseph Nathaniel.  She taught me how to use the DNA as a source.  

After so many years, I have a new link on my Family Tree and the possibility of adding more family to my line!  I know our ancestors on the other side of the veil help us with research. I'm sure that Joseph Nathaniel Montgomery gave me some nudges in the right direction!