(John) Donald Knapp (Yaggie), 1952

The DNA 2nd and 3rd cousin matches to Cindy Behr confirm that Charles H. Knapp / (Harriet) Amatie Coffin are the Great Grand Parent’s (Most recent common ancestor - MRCA), of all the matches. Family Trees name these people “Charles Herbert Knapp” and “Harriet A. Coffin”  -various versions of these names are around, I have seen Charles Herbert Knapp, and Herbert Charles Knapp, there is some confusion. “Harriet A. Coffin” is variously listed as Amatie, Mattie, and other derivatives.  Tracing the descendants of Charles Knapp and Amatie Coffin forward, there are 7 families in the DNA lineup. I was able to rule out 3 due to the DNA matches within those families, which did not qualify as “close family”. 1. Ruled out was John Christian / Rose Knapp family, as Great granddaughter Ashley Burke matched at 126cm. This is in the second cousin range, or first cousin several times removed. 2. Also ruled out was Paul Dudley Knapp / Isabel Spencer as granddaughter Lynn Henry matched at 189cm, also in the range of second cousin or first cousin 3 times removed. 3. Charlotte Knapp / George Coonley were ruled out as Dorothy Coonley matched at 456cm, which is consistent with a first cousin once removed, this is what she should be in the scenario I have laid out. Four potential families remain. These are the four families from these Great Grand Parent’s that were NOT ruled out by DNA, all were potential targets. 1. Evelyn Jewel Knapp / Leonard German – Children: Wallace (5/9/32), Harold (3/14/34), William (12/18/42), Robert (3/22/30). (William is likely ruled out by his age, he would have been younger than Barbara Carangelo by almost 5 years). 2. Florence Knapp  / Andrew Sullinger – Child: Richard Sullinger (11/25/30) (no descendants found). 3. Grace Knapp (unmarried? -no children?) No descendants found. 4. Herbert Charles Knapp / Josephine Jackson (Strong) Frances Noe – Children of Frances Noe: Donald Herbert Knapp (b. 10/20/37) (mother Frances Noe) (This family line contained the highest “WATO” DNA score.) Margaret Knapp, (mother Frances Noe) Marian Knapp, (mother Frances Noe) Phyllis Rae Knapp, (died as an infant), (mother Frances Noe) Children of Herbert Charles Knapp and Josephine Jackson : none known 5. Children of Frances (Noe) Knapp and Walter A. Batease : Sharron Noe (Batease), Paula Noe (Batease). Frances Noe is a DNA match through Robin Van Amburg – (375cm)(2C) and  Sharron Noe (Kenny Earl?) > Edward > Janice , Jamie (220 cm). Sharron Noe must be related to Frances Noe. ** It appears that Sharron Noe (father Frank Noe per Janice Matthews Family tree) may be daughter of Frances Noe (Batease), which would make her a half sister to Donald, Margaret, and Marian Knapp. This was confirmed in a telephone conversation with Sharron (Noe) Matthews on October 21, 2018. At this point there were 8 DNA matches in this family, all used to triangulate the position of Cindy or her potential father in the family tree. This information was fed into Blaine Bettingers “WATO” DNA tool to pinpoint the most statistically probable locations for Cindy or her father. There were several scores of 286394 in many of the 7 families being investigated, but one of the scores was 567393, and several were “0”. Even so, this only means that the high score is twice as likely as the next lower score. It must be remembered that the potential father was also an adoptee, and this factor will be significant in pinpointing him. There is a half sister match to Cynthia Ann Yaggie (1,472cm): father was reported to be John Donald Yaggie, (b. 10/20/37), also adopted. A potential trace of this family tree shows a John Donald Yaggie (Sr.) and two spouses, Alice Hunt (1940 census of Catskill), and Ella Wilson (1912 marriage certificate from NJ). A “Shared Match” comparison on Ancestry, showing DNA matches that both Cindy (Carangelo) Behr and Cindy (Yaggie) Jacobs have in common, shows that Dorothy Palmer, “M.T.”, and Robin Van Amburg are all in the top matches, therefore they share the same family tree and the same ancestors. Now I had to find out who this mysterious “John Donald Yaggie” originally was. We have determined the family, but now to isolate the individual. Hypothesis: Pre-adopted “John Donald Yaggie” may be present on the 1940 census (as Donald Knapp), but nothing will be found on Donald Knapp afterward. His first name would probably be unchanged as he would be at least 3 years old at time of adoption, if family stories are correct. Birth date would also probably be unchanged. Facts found – A> Donald Knapp shows up on the 1940 census as 2 years old, actual birth date is known as October 20, 1937. No additional information appears after that census. No SS death index, no military records. B> John Donald Yaggie was adopted from NY. Military records show his birth date variously as October 20, 1937 or October 20, 1936. The official BIRLS record shows 1937. His place of enlistment was “Jefferson Hgts, Catskill, NY”, therefore he is placed in the same town as Barbara Carangelo. C> The 1940 Federal Census shows a John Donald Yaggie (Sr) and an Alice Hunt (married) and living on Landon Avenue in Catskill. The 1940 Federal Census also shows Peter and Maude Carangelo, and daughter Barbara living on Landon Avenue. D> John Donald Yaggie and Barbara Carangelo are approximately the same age. (1937 vs 1938). Since in 1940 they lived on the same street, it is likely they knew each other. E> The DNA Manager for “M.T.” on Ancestry (344cm match) relates this story - “I am not aware of any adoption except on the xxxx - xxxx side possibly 1940s. My mother’s aunt was tricked to give up her son possibly in the 40s as the story goes. She had given the baby to an authority to care for while she could not care for it and then soon after she was unable to get the son. A very sad story for her I’m told. Various efforts were made to find him. But being poor and no connections did not help her find him.” The Family Tree for this “M.T.” shows “Lewis Charles Herbert Knapp” and “Harriet A. Coffin”, so it appears to be the same family line. This connection has not been fully explored yet, but seems likely she is describing this same Donald Knapp. A 374cm connection ( M.T. ) is equivalent to a First Cousin once removed, or a Half First Cousin. This fits in the generational scenario. F> DNA connection Robin Van Amburg – (describing her grandmother Margaret (Noe) Knapp –) Robin has a 375cm connection is equivalent to a First Cousin once removed, or a Half First Cousin. This fits in the generational scenario. “….  My maternal grandmothers last name was Noe.  As I mentioned before, she had a half brother that was given up for adoption when he was young, she thinks about 5 years old.  At the time he was given up his name was Donald Noe…” There is some confusion here. Margaret Knapp’s mother was Frances Noe. Frances was married to Charles Knapp for only a few years then divorced. She had four children with Charles Knapp, Phyllis, Donald, Margaret and Marian. It appears these children kept the Noe surname. She then married Walter Batease and had Sharron and Paula, who were half sisters to the other children. This may be why Robin uses the Noe surname in describing this event. Margaret Noe-Knapp married Clayton Sumner, daughter was Robin (Vanamburg) Sumner. This confirms the First Cousin one removed classification. G> Dorothy (Coonley) Palmer – DNA connection of 456cm which is equivalent to a First Cousin once removed, or a Half First Cousin. Dorothy's parents were Charlotte Knapp (sister of Charles Herbert Knapp, father of Donald) and George Coonley. Charlotte Knapp was the daughter of Herbert Charles Knapp and Amatie Coffin. This confirms the First Cousin once removed scenario. Richard Palmer, husband of Dorothy related this story to me: "...My wife seems to recall a relative living in the Vero Beach area when she was a child. Probably a second cousin. We went to a family reunion in Windham NY around 20 year ago and met some of the family..." Two events of note here, the first, Dorothy was born around 1945, so around 1955 would have been when she was a child. John Donald Yaggie moved to Florida from NY around that time, his Social Security number was issued in Florida in 1954. He is known to have spent most of his time in Vero Beach, and died there in 1981. The second thing is that “20 year ago” (about 1998) there was a family reunion in Windham, NY. This was the town where Donald Knapp grew up and most of his Knapp relatives lived here. There is a picture of Donald with Frances and the two youngest half sisters taken about this time. H> Lastly, there is this DNA match between Cindy Behr and Cyndi (Yaggie) Jacobs, at 1,574cm, which is generally a Half Sibling, Double First Cousin, or Niece. We can rule out the double first cousin, since that would require the fathers or the mothers to be siblings. This does not appear to be the case, nor did Donald Knapp have any brothers. We can also rule out any siblings of John Donald Yaggie as there would be no DNA matches with the Noe’s as shown in the previous examples. For this reason we must exclude the niece possibility as well. This leaves only the Half Sister relationship as the most probable relationship. Conclusion – An abundance of circumstantial and DNA evidence, strongly suggest that Donald H. Knapp is John Donald Yaggie (Jr), the father of both Cynthia Ann Carangelo and Cynthia Ann Yaggie.