A Hutchinson DNA Experiment: Using the Scientific Method in Genealogy

Do you remember learning about the scientific method in high school—or perhaps even earlier? Have you ever considered how closely the process of genealogy research can resemble the scientific method?

Most genealogy researchers will tell you to begin with a question. From there, genealogists may use different terminology, but I often find myself mentally following the familiar steps of the scientific method:

• Question

• Hypothesis — a proposed answer to the question

• Test the hypothesis

• Collect data

• Evaluate the data

• Draw a conclusion

Translated into genealogy, those steps might look something like this:

• Question: Who are the parents of _____?

• Hypothesis: Preliminary research suggests that X may be the son or daughter of Y.

• Research/Test: Locate records for Y, X, and their relatives while documenting the research.

• Collect Data: Gather census records, land records, probate records, DNA matches, family trees, and other evidence.

• Evaluate: Does the accumulated evidence support or contradict the proposed relationship?

• Conclusion: If the evidence supports the hypothesis, continue working to document the relationship. If the evidence contradicts it, revise or reject the hypothesis and begin again.

And sometimes, beginning again is exactly what genealogy requires.

Starting Over with Albert Hutchinson

I recently concluded that Aaron Hutchinson and his wife Sarah Merry were likely not the parents of my second great-grandfather, Albert Hutchinson of Iowa. That meant removing a long-standing connection from my tree—and returning to the original question:

Who were the parents of Albert Hutchinson?

According to Albert Hutchinson's military record, he was born about 1836 in Northampton, New York. Assuming this refers to Northampton in Fulton County, I began searching the early census records for Hutchinson families living in that area.

In the 1840 census, I found the household of Alvin Hutchinson. His household included:

• 2 males under age 5

• 2 males ages 5–10

• 1 female ages 5–10

• 1 female ages 30–40

• 1 male ages 30–40

Albert, born about 1836, could fit within the category of males under five.

That certainly wasn't proof, but it was enough to formulate a new hypothesis:

Hypothesis: Alvin Hutchinson of Fulton County, New York, was the father of Albert Hutchinson (about 1836–1896).

Looking for the Hutchinson Neighborhood

Since I haven't found Alvin Hutchinson in the 1850 census, I turned to Ancestry family trees to learn more about Hutchinson families with children born in Fulton County around the time of Albert's birth.

Among the possibilities I found were:

• 70 trees — Anne E. Hutchinson, daughter of Warren Hutchinson (1792–1871) and Betsey McLaughlin (1794–1872)

• 20 trees — Charles Hutchinson, son of John L. Hutchinson (1797–1881) and Sarah Hutchinson (1801–1886)

• 5 trees — Sarah Hutchinson, daughter of John L. Hutchinson and Sarah Hutchinson

• 24 trees — Mary Ann Hutchinson, daughter of John L. Hutchinson and Sarah Hutchinson

• 15 trees — John Chauncy Hutchinson, son of John L. Hutchinson and Sarah Hutchinson

• 7 trees — Colin A. Hutchinson, son of John L. Hutchinson and Sarah Hutchinson

• 50 trees — Frances Leah Hutchinson Gates, daughter of William Hutchinson (1796–1880) and Elizabeth Lassell (1799–1866)

• 6 trees — William L. Hutchinson, son of Alvin Hutchinson (1798–1895) and Polly Kenney

• 27 trees — Mary Malissa Hutchinson, daughter of Alvin Hutchinson and Polly Kenney

The number of Ancestry trees isn't evidence of a relationship. However, those trees provided clues to descendants I could investigate—and potentially compare with my DNA matches.

Testing the Alvin Hutchinson Hypothesis with DNA

As I worked with trees descending from Alvin Hutchinson, I discovered that a few of the tree owners were DNA matches to either me or one of my brothers.

One of those matches, KM, also shared DNA with several of my known Hutchinson cousins.

That caught my attention.

The DNA evidence didn't prove that Alvin was Albert's father, but it gave me a reason to test the hypothesis further.

For purposes of this experiment, I temporarily attached Alvin Hutchinson as the father of Albert Hutchinson in my Ancestry tree. Doing so allowed me to see what Ancestry's ThruLines feature would identify based on that proposed relationship.

The results were intriguing.

ThruLines identified DNA matches to 17 descendants of Alvin Hutchinson through children other than Albert.

I then color-coded the shared matches associated with those 17 descendants. That process identified approximately 470 DNA matches who share DNA with one or more of those descendants of Alvin Hutchinson.

That's a lot of DNA connections to investigate.

Evidence—or Proof?

As exciting as those numbers are, I have to be careful about what they actually tell me.

ThruLines is based on a combination of DNA matches and family trees. If several trees contain the same incorrect information, ThruLines can reproduce that error. Shared matches can also reflect relationships through another ancestral line rather than through Alvin Hutchinson.

Thus, the DNA results do not prove that Alvin Hutchinson was Albert's father.

But so far, they don't disprove the hypothesis either.

Instead, they give me additional data to evaluate—and some potentially valuable clues about where to research next.

My working hypothesis remains:

Alvin Hutchinson of Fulton County, New York, may have been the father of Albert Hutchinson.

Now I need to learn everything I can about Alvin, his wife Polly Kenney, their known children, their relatives, and their movements. I also need to study those DNA matches more closely to determine whether their connections truly point toward Alvin's family or whether another shared ancestral line explains them.

In other words, the experiment isn't finished.

Question. Hypothesis. Test. Collect data. Evaluate.

And eventually, I hope, draw a conclusion.

For now, my Hutchinson research continues.