MyHeritage is a good place to check for some of my Latvian relatives. Here is what MyHeritage has for Leva:
Leva is a DNA match to me. She shows as a 5th cousin to me also. I think the connection shown is wrong, but that we are connected on the Rathfelder line somewhere. Here is the DNA/Genealogy chart I already have:
It already has a Georg Ludwig Rathfelder in it. Leva must be related to me on that line along with Katja.
Leva’s Theory 2
Theory 2 at MyHeritage appears to be the right one:
Due to the fact that I have already a tree to Gerog Ludwig Rathfelder, this connection looks very likely. Here is the tree I built previously for Katja:
It looks like I had trouble finding a wife for Johannes Rathfelder in the tree.
Here is the birth record for Karoline Adodphine Rathfelder:
Here is the family list with Caroline’s family:
In my tree, Leva shows as 5th cousin once removed:
My tree is different than the MyHeritage Tree:
I have Johann Adam Rathfelder. He isn’t in the MyHeritage Theory of Relativity. I like my tree better.
Leva’s DNA Match
Leva and I share two segments of DNA with each other:
Unfortunately, the segment shared on Chromosome 16 is less than 7 cM. The default cutoff for DNAPainter is 7 cM. I think that the segment on Chromosome 16 is valid, but I will leave it out to be consistant with other matches.
Here is Leva added onto DNAPainter:
Even though the match is small, it changed my Maternal mapped DNA from 47% to 48%. Here is how the match fits in overall with my pateranal and maternal DNA matches:
My match with Leva is there, but gets lost among the many other matches. Overall, 53% of my DNA is mapped by identified matches.
One odd aspect of this match is that my mother does not match Leva. That means that my mother should have had a match and didn’t or I had a match and shouldn’t have.
A Second Leva and My Sister Heidi
My sister has a Theory of Relativity with Leva from Latvia. I mentioned her in a Blog in 2021. Myheritage shows that Heidi has a new Theory with Leva. Perhaps the new one is one of the three Theories. This is the first of three Theories:
Leva’s tree is private, so I will try to build out her tree based on her Theories. I also believe that Leva’s grandfather may be Raimonds who I have written about here. However, he tested at 23andMe, so his results only apply to me. Leva matches my sister and my mother. For some reason, the Theories only appear under my sister Heidi.
I’ll compare Leva’s Theories with what I had on Raimonds
Leva
- Theory 1: Johann Jacob Gangnus 1777/Anna Elisabeth Juliana Biedermann
- Theory 2: this is the same, but apparently the pathway is different
- Theory 3: Friedrick Jacob Wilhelm Lutke 1804/Eva Christina Margaretha Fuhrmann
Raimonds
- Friedrich Lutke 1804/Eva Fuhrmann
- Johann Jacob Gangnus 1777/Biedermann
- Johann Georg Gangnus 1704/Anna Margaretha Clausing
The last connection under Raimonds is due to the fact that I have Gangnus on two family branches:
Here I also did not add Raimonds which I should have.
Evaluating Leva’s Lutke Connection
Here is where I have Raimonds:
Leva is two levels below Raimonds.
This agrees with the Third Theory at MyHeritage.
Leva’s Gangnus Connection
I found this record for Emma Eugenie Charlotte Lutke:
She was confirmed in 1928. Her parents are listed as Johann and Antonie Shiller. Here is more information from the Personal Register:
Raimonds are added in at the next to the last column. I have painted this match to my sister Heidi. I will paint the match to my mother.
Painting My Mother’s Match with Leva
Fortunately, I already had a yellowish category for a match where I was unsure whether it was on the Lutke or Gangnus Line. This got my mother’s painted paternal DNA from 44% to 45%.
Summary and Conclusions
- Leva appears to be a popular name in Latvia as my family has Theories of Relativity with two Levas
- Both Levas add to the genealogical story from Hirschenhof, Latvia
- Both Levas fill in missing DNA information for my family.
- The second Leva is equally related to my family on two lines