Charles Mellott Mystery Solved

Charles Mellott Mystery Solved – A DNA Success Story thanks to GEDmatch

Updated: January 28, 2015 by Denny Mellott; denny647@gmail.com

The question of whether my Great Great Grandfather, Charles Mellott, born December of 1859 according to the 1900 US Census (see Image 1) is the same person as Charles S Mellott, age 5, in the 1860 US Census (see Image 2) has been plaguing me for years.

Image 2 – Cropping of 1860 US Census for Mellott Family in Indiana

Some clues:

· The Parental Birth Places Connection: The 1900 Census for Charles Mellott lists the "Place of birth of Father: Pennsylvania" and "Place of birth of Mother: Ohio" which matches John and Elizabeth's places of birth in the 1860 Census.

· The Smith Connection: I am making the assumption that the middle initial S for Charles stands for Smith his mother’s maiden name. Charles also named his first born Benjamin Smith Mellott.

· A Letter from Guy Mellott to Mrs. Jerry Mellott dated September 3, 1938 stating that Charles father is John Mellott, a brother to his Grandfather, George Washington Mellott.

Well the clues all indicated that I had the correct family I was unable to find any supporting documents to confirm the connection and with an almost 5 year difference for Charles on the 1860 & 1900 Census I was unwilling to accept it until I had more proof. So I turned to DNA.

In 2008, I did a Y-DNA test and later joined the the Marlatt-Merlet Family DNA Project, looking at those who have also joined the project the bulk of my markers matched other descendants of Gedeon Merlet, born circa 1624 in France, but there was not enough information to confirm if I am descended from one line or another.

In December of 2014 I decided to try DNA again but this time with an autosomal DNA test. When the results arrived I was able to connect to a couple of distant Mellott cousins via the Family Finder application from Family Tree DNA. I was able to confirm with these cousins that they had ancestors in common with Charles Mellott; all three descended from John M. Mellott (1725-1786).

Lee Mellott aka Mellott Cousin #1 (Orange): Longest Shared Block 12.49 cM on Chromosome 12.

Cora Wade aka Mellott Cousin #2 (Blue): Longest Shared Block 11.18 cM on Chromosome 12.

But it was not until I uploaded my test results to GEDmatch that I started to make progress. For those of you who are unaware GEDmatch is a free service that allows testers from all 3 major testing services to upload their autosomal DNA results and compare them. Since then I have connected with both a closer Mellott Cousin and a Smith Cousin which is the information I was looking for to confirm my lines.

Paul Cox aka Mellott Cousin #3 (Tested with Ancestry): Longest Shared Block 48.0 cM on Chromosome 12; our common ancestor is our 4x Great Grandfather John Andrew Mellott.

Kathy Shoemaker aka Smith Cousin #1 (Tested with 23andMe): Longest Shared Block 15.1 cM on Chromosome 8; our common ancestor is my 4x and her 3x Great Grandfather Charles G Smith. Charles G Smith & Rebecca Chenoweth are the parents of Charles’ mother Elizabeth.

Finally this brings to a close my Charles Mellott mystery. Yes, he is the child of John Mellott and Elizabeth Smith. As time goes on I am sure I will find documentation and more DNA matches with Mellott and Smith cousins to reinforce this. Now to figure about the other mysteries regarding the life of Charles Mellott.

Thank you Diane Mellott for all your support in helping me unravel this mystery!

References:

1. Year: 1900; Census Place: Bishop, Woods, Oklahoma; Roll: 1343; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0215; FHL microfilm: 1241343 Source Information Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls.
   1. Year: 1860; Census Place: Liberty, Warren, Indiana; Roll: M653_305; Page: 484; Image: 36; Family History Library Film: 803305 Source Information Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.
   2. Letter from Guy Mellott to Mrs. Jerry Mellott dated September 3, 1938 scanned copy courtesy of Diane Mellott who has the original.
   3. Guy M Mellott - http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=29653852
   4. Marlatt-Merlet Family DNA Project - https://www.familytreedna.com/public/Marlatt-Merlet
   5. John M Mellott - http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=34039094
   6. Family Tree DNA Family Finder - https://my.familytreedna.com/
   7. GEDmatch – http://www.gedmatch.com
   8. John Andrew Mellott - http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=14837391
   9. "United States Census, 1850," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MX3K-G5M : accessed 11 January 2015), Elizabeth Smith in household of Charles G Smith, Harmony, Clark, Ohio, United States; citing family 192, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
   10. "Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1997," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X87J-ZFZ : accessed 11 January 2015), Charles Smith and Rebecca Chenoweth, 27 Dec 1831; citing Clark, Ohio, United States, reference p306; county courthouses, Ohio; FHL microfilm 466,399.

Disclaimers:

· The census images reproduced here are unique data elements that are part of a unique family history; and therefore is compliance with Ancestry's Term's and Conditions. See http://www.ancestry.ca/cs/legal/termsandconditions for more details.

· Permission to use Cora Wade’s name in the write-up received via email on January 18, 2015.

· Permission to use Paul Cox’s name in the write-up received via email on January 19, 2015.

· Permission to use Kathy Shoemaker’s name in the write-up received via email on January 20, 2015.

· Permission to use Lee Mellott’s name in the write-up received via email on January 28, 2015.

Bonus Content - Charles Mellott Census Transcriptions