If anyone wants to be tortured can you take a look at this situation? I'll pay you half of my left over Halloween candy :) PersonA has a close relationship with PersonB (A and B are half siblings). PersonB has a close relationship with PersonC ( B=child, C=father). The mother of PersonA and PersonB (PersonD) is deceased and cannot be tested. All three (A, B, C) have a match to someone else, PersonX, of various segment lengths. My mystery is, BEFORE these FF tests were done, I was approached by a Y-twin of PersonX who suggested a connection with a Y-line of one of the surnames of PersonD, and I was asked to try and find a living male who would Y test from that surname line to see if there was a Y connection between the two surnames. So previously it had been determined through Y tests that PersonC is a distant cousin of PersonD, back sometime before 1750, as far back possibly as after 1680s. So here come the FF results of A, B, and C. and they all show this connection to X. How are we supposed to look at this. Half siblings A & B: A -> X = 11 matching segments, largest is in Chromosome 13 83339105-98287751 15.88 (4200 SNPs) B -> X = 17 matching segments, largest is in Chr 2 224292322-234598298 14.48 (2786 SNPs), but also a segment in Chr 13 83339105-94106590 8.41 (2500 SNPs), and a small segment in Chr 12 72127478 76510591 4.23 (1000 SNPs) Non-shared Father C (father of B) C -> X = 13 matching segments, (none in Chr 2, and only a 2.2 cM segment in Chr 13 that does NOT overlap with A and B's matches with X) but the largest segment is in Chr 12 51411412-76510591 25.09 (6200 SNPs) Note that the small segment of B's in Chr 12 is shared by C who has a much larger match to X in Chr 12. I need some help in trying to figure this out. It looks like A, B, and C are all related to X. C has a larger segment match than A and B. A and B overlap in segment 13. B and C overlap in segment 12. X is supposedly possibly a match to Mother D of A and B, but still unproven as no male from that surname/family of D has Y STR tested, even though there is someone from that surname who claims the same overall line who has tested 12 markers and those STRs do match X's first 12 (but doesn't seem to want to upgrade or join that surname's project). I see no way for C to be related to X in the same way that A and B (and assuming D) are. C's lines all pretty much appear to be northern USA states moving east to west from 1700 to early 1800s. There is one line that came out of the south, NC, and went up and then west. Yet, it looks to me like C and D are both related somehow to X, and so A and B picked up different segment matches, and A inherited some of that match from D, and B inherited some from D and some from C????? But I'm wondering if this whole thing is from the Y surname line of C, since C and D are distant cousins (remember, from somewhere before or shortly after 1700 but no later than 1750ish). There is only one more sibling of A and B to test, who also descends from both C and D. There are children from another full sibling of B, but then I would think it would already be too diluted to be useful since those children are grandchildren of both C and D. If no one can tell what the heck I'm talking about, I will gladly try and share the little spread sheets that FTDNA generated for A, B, and C. D is not in my projects so I can't do one from that point of view. I'm just hoping someone can tell me what I'm looking at, and if there's any point in trying to figure out a relationship between X and A, B, C, and/or D. I can give more detail in a private conversation, to protect the participants' identities, which might make more sense if I did. Thank you! melissa springer robards

I should have added that A has no full siblings, or any known half siblings from A's father. ~m