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November 11 Meeting – Bryna O’Sullivan – DNA for More than Ethnicity: The Paternity of John Hingtgen

Who was the biological father of John Hingtgen? At his 1817 birth, Hingtgen was registered as Johan Simong, the illegitimate son of Susanna Simong. Many Hingtgen genealogists have described his paternity as impossible to verify, but that is far from the truth. Hingtgen’s later documents reveal two good candidates for his father: Pierre “Peter” Hingtgen and Jean Hansen. Using examples from Luxembourg, this program will introduce sources beyond birth records that may identify parents and explain how DNA can be used to resolve genealogical research problems.