So I have been working on my genealogy for many years... trying to find the parents of my 4th great grandmother Rachel Stevens b. 1779 during the Rev. War, wife of Jesse Grippen. Turned over every stone and looked underneath... census data, family records, cemeteries, probate records, you name it even tried to tie to other Stevens who married at about the same time in the same community in New Lebanon, Ny 1790 to 1820.

No luck... most of the family migrated west to Winnebago County, IL., Kansas, Nebraska etc.

So, I decide to try the DNA thing, but before I do I have to find a living descendant... not only that but they must be from an all female line... consistent with the mtdna test... so I started to do my homework and traced the female descendants down through 6 and 7 generations in hopes of finding someone to take the DNA test...

found 2 cousins near Portland, OR one with the surname Jones another Ball... and continued to search for others... many lines ended in paternal road blocks... others in no offspring at all...except one more possibility...

found her phone number... gave her a call... she was thrilled to hear from a cousin...

not only did she live in California, Northern at that, she lived in my community of Orangevale... on the same street... if we were to have stepped outside our homes and waved we could have seen each other... you never know just who your neighbor might be...

now I have three female cousins one is my neighbor... to see how this DNA thing might help locate our 5th great grandmother and father whoever they might be.