Genealogy has been my hobby for over 30 years. In the early 1990s, son Jeff was doing family history research and came to me with a shocking question, "Did you know your father was illegitimate?" I didn't, but he was able to prove it. My dad died in 1991. So I could not ask him about it. My mother claimed ignorance as did dad's brother Gene and my cousin Judy.
Dad was born on September 11, 1906 in Toronto, Canada. His mother, Ellen Wilson, did not return to her parents home in Manistee, Michigan until 1908. In the Wilson Family Bible, my dad is listed as Bertie McCall. The 1910 census lists Ellen Wilson and Bert McCall living with Ellen's parents. Ellen married Arthur Grenier in 1913. The 1920 census lists my dad as Herbert Grenier son of Arthur and Ellen Grenier.
It is still possible that Arthur Grenier is my grandfather since in 1942 my father's mother swore an affidavit that he was.
DNA testing
y-DNA is passed from father to son from generation to generation. I convinced my cousin Sonny Grenier to take a y-DNA test to prove or disprove Arthur is my grandfather. We did not match. Grandma lied.
A Helen Wilson gave birth to a Herbert Wilson on September 11, 1906, in a home for unwed mothers in Toronto, Canada.
The McFall and Davis families
In the late 19th century, the McFall and Davis families were living and farming, just a couple miles apart, near the Ottawa River, in southern Quebec. The river marks the border with Ontario. The Davis family had fifteen children and the McFall family nine. For this story, we are interested in six of the children: Matilda, William, and Jennie McFall; Roxie, Wilder, and Melissa Davis.
Matilda is my great-grandmother. She immigrated to Michigan and married William Wilson in Oscoda, in eastern Michigan, where my grandmother Ellen was born. Later (sometime between 1886 and 1891) the family moved to Eastlake near Manistee.
William McFall married Roxie Davis. For a while, they lived in Free Soil, Michigan which is near Manistee. Their daughter Rachel was born there in 1878. They moved back to Canada. Jennie McFall married Wilder Davis. The point is the McFall and Davis families knew each other very well.
Melissa Davis married her first cousin Alfred Conant Dow. They moved from Canada to near Manistee before 1880. They had nine children. Four of the six boys did not survive childhood. The two who did were Fred and Leonard.
Alfred’s mother was Mary Ann Davis. The Ancestry.com DNA test identified her as a common ancestor of me and Joy VanderVen as second cousins. That means we have the same great-grandparents. That would be Alfred Conant Dow and Melissa Davis. It could be one of Alfred’s and Melissa’s sons. Joy’s grandfather was Leonard Dow.
Leonard was married and living in Victory near Manistee in 1905. Ellen became pregnant in late 1905 or early 1906 since my father was born on September 11. Leonard was 32 and Ellen was 21. The families knew each other. If the DNA test is accurate, Leonard could be my grandfather.
However, Leonard's father Alfred, brother Fred, and brother-in-law Peter Collier were also living in the area.
To confirm the hypothesis that my paternal grandfather was Leonard Dow, I needed to have a male Dow take a y-DNA test. In 2018, I found and contacted a Robert Dow who is descended from Leonard's brother Fred. He agreed to take a y-DNA test. If we matched, it would confirm that my father was descended from a male Dow. We did not match. To be certain that I am not descended from a male Dow, I should try to find another Dow to test. I should also find a male descendant of Peter Collier.
If I am not descended from Melissa Davis and Alfred Dow, I am descended from one of her siblings. Based on DNA matches found so far, the strongest possibilities would be John or George Davis since I have DNA matches with several of their descendants.
I have very strong matches with descendants of John Davis and Mary McNeill. The possibilities based on age would be (Gilbert (1881-1957), Christopher (1882-), Robert (1885-1963), and Hiram (1887-1922).
