Comparing First Cousins: Elizabeth Taylor, Archibald Mullenix, and Elizabeth Henrietta Mullinex (Updated: They Aren't Cousins At All)

Elizabeth Taylor (1844-1863), who married George Tomlinson. Courtesy of Olive Kennedy.

I am deeply uneasy about my 2nd great grandmother Rufina Tomlinson's maternal upline through her mother Elizabeth Taylor, primarily because I have not found one single confident DNA cousin match for my mother to either of Elizabeth's parents (Thomas Taylor and Sarah Lynchard).  In contrast, we have plenty of Rufina's father George Tomlinson cousin matches.  Am I barking up the wrong tree?  Or did we simply not get much of their DNA?

Or, do we already have a bunch of DNA matches but they are all to people who do not have public trees for me to compare?  I'm hoping that is what is happening, and that more Taylor/Lynchard descendants just need to put up both their DNA and develop their trees [let's get cracking on that, people!].

Although I don't put too much stock in looks to discover if people are related, I feel a little better when comparing the photo above of Elizabeth Taylor to known photos of her first cousins through her mother Sarah Lynchard's sister Mary Polly Lynchard Mullenix's children, Archibald Mullenix and Elizabeth Henrietta Mullenix.

What struck me was Archibald Mullenix's (1846-1916) jawline compared to Elizabeth Taylor's jawline.  They are quite similar. Image shared by Ancestry user scoutmaster87.

Elizabeth Henrietta Mullenix (1852-1895). Dark hair seemed to run in the Lynchard side, although I think I read that the Mullenix's were dark.  I haven't a clue what a Lynchard looks like. Image shared by Ancestry user DawnOBrien41.

And Rufina:

Daughter of Elizabeth Taylor and George Tomlinson.  Her jawline is similar to my eyes as to her mother and uncle Archibald. Courtesy of Olive Kennedy.

UPDATE 2018:   This kind of comparison is pretty worthless.  Similar jawlines notwithstanding, I proved a while back that we were not related to the Lynchard/Mullenix's at all, but a different Taylor family in Iowa (Job Taylor and Betsey LNU).


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