23AndMe predicts that Peter Kowalski and Dale Kirmse are 3rd Cousins with a possible relationship range of 3rd to 4th cousins. An objective of this chapter is to determine where to focus the search for relationships between Peter and Dale.

What DNA Tells Us

A summary of how Peter shares DNA with Dale and his relatives is as follows:

• Peter shares 0.65% DNA with Dale and 0.36% with one of Dale’s sisters.
• Peter shares 0.25-0.50% with Dale’s children. Peter also shares 0.08% with one of Dale’s grandchildren but not the others,
• Peter shares 0.10% with one of Dale’s paternal second cousins but not any other of Dales’s paternal first and second cousins.
• Peter does not share DNA with Dale’s maternal aunt or any of Dale’s maternal cousins.

With this, it can be concluded that the relationship between Dale and Peter is likely through Dale’s paternal side.

Since Peter and Dale share 0.65% of their DNA and are predicted to be 3rd cousins, they may share a set of 2nd-great-grandparents as is illustrated below:

Average Percent DNA Shared Between Relatives

However, there may also be a sharing  during different generations or sharing only one ancestor (half cousins). There could also be sharing of several sets of common ancestors.

In a close community such as Saxe-Altenburg, it is highly possible that over the generations there were inter-marriages of families – 2nd and 3rd cousins marrying. Multiple connections would result in the apparent cousin level to be closer than with only one connection.

What About Geography?

As illustrated above for 3rd cousins, a possible relationship is that Dale and Peter share a set of parents of their great-grandparents. As shown on the following map, six of Dale’s great-grandparents were from northern Germany.

Since many of Peter’s ancestors are from the Rositz/Altenburg Land. The most likely connection is through Dale’s paternal great-grandfather, Julius Kirmse, who emigrated from Fichtenhainichen, Saxe-Altenburg  to the USA.

Dale’s paternal great-grandmother, Barbara (Kraus) Kirmse, emigrated from Hutschdorf – a small village in the district of Kulmbach, Bayern.

Some of Peter’s paternal ancestors came from present day Poland. And, Dale’s maternal great-grandmother, Johanna Wilhelmina (Plath) Brunken, emigrated from Ratzebuhr, Pommern (Now Okonek, Poland) . However, this is not likely a connection because Peter does not share DNA with any of Dale’s maternal relatives

Likely Common Ancestors

For Peter to be a 3rd cousin of Dale would mean that the parents of Dale’s 2nd great-grand parents (Julius Kirmse’s parents), Christoph and Justine (Kratsch) Kirmse, are the common ancestors. However, all three of Christoph and Justine (Kratsch) Kirmse’s children are accounted for and none are in Peter’s pedigree. Hence, Christoph Kirmse and Justine Kratsch are not the common ancestors.

For Peter and Dale to be 4th cousins, the parents of either Justine Kratsch or Christoph Kirmse would be the common ancestors.

One possibility is that there is a sister of Dale’s 2nd great-grandmother, Justine Kratsch, in Peter’s pedigree. If so, Peter and Dale would be 4th cousins. Peter does have a 2nd-great-grandmother named Johanna Christiana Kratsch – this was initially explored as a possible connection.  However, Justine Kratsch’s father was Michael Kratsch (her mother is unknown at this time). And, Johanna Christiana Kratsch’s parents were  Martin Kratsch and Maria Kröeber. Hence, this is not a connecting relationship.

Where Should The Search Focus?

From the above analysis, on Dale’s family side, the focus of research should be on exploring Justine Kratsch’s parents – Michael and (wife unknown) Kratsch and children as well as Christoph Kirmse’s parents and their children. And, on Peter’s family side, determining the ancestors and siblings of Peter’s 2nd-great grandmother, Anna Johanna Kratsch, appears to be a good focus.