Five years ago, in 2010, I obtained and submitted my first DNA test to 23andMe. In 2012, I uploaded my raw autosomal DNA data to Family Tree DNA. And in 2014, I tested with AncestryDNA.
I now have results from all three companies, and have uploaded data to Gedmatch.com.
On 23andMe I currently have about 2200 matches. About 800 have responded to my invitation to share since 2010, but I have only been able to find common ancestors with about 80 of them. Many have no idea of their ancestry (some are adopted), and/or don't have have a family tree available to share.
On Family Tree DNA, I currently have about 1500 matches. Even with the family trees available on the website, I have only been able to find common ancestors with about 30 of my matches.
At AncestryDNA, I now have a staggering 8,700 matches!! Most do not have family trees available, and there is no chromosome browser on AncestryDNA, so I will likely never know exactly how I'm related to them. I have established common ancestors with 650 of my 8,700 matches, but I'm in contact with only a few, and in most cases I don't know where we share on the chromosomes--unless they have uploaded their data to Gedmatch.
Even with this slim success, I've found out some pretty amazing stuff!
--First off, according to all three testing companies, I have NO Native American ancestry through my paternal grandmother MINTTIE MAY BRUTON. Neither does my brother. Or anyone else with the WHITECOTTON or BRUTON surname who has tested so far.
--Through DNA testing, I was finally able to find out what happened to my paternal great grandfather PHILLIP LUTHER HUBER, who disappeared from his wife & children in Iowa in 1882, and was presumed dead. Even my grandfather never knew what really happened to his father.
PHILLIP LUTHER HUBER actually ran off, ended up in Nashville, Tennessee; married a much younger woman, IDA HALE, in 1891 and had a second family. I now have several DNA matches with descendants of this second family. What is especially great about this is that through these matches I am now able to delineate exactly what parts of my DNA were passed down from PHILLIP LUTHER HUBER, and on which chromosome. This is because PHILLIP LUTHER HUBER is the only "most recent common ancestor" that I share with these descendants of PHILLIP LUTHER HUBER & IDA HALE. Here is a link to a recent blogpost that I wrote about chromosome mapping.
--My FRAZIER ancestors win the prize for providing me with the most DNA matches! I now have 49 verified DNA matches to descendants of my colonial Quaker FRAZIER family; of these 49 matches, 38 are descendants of my great x 5 grandfather THOMAS (aka GEORGE THOMAS) FRAZIER b 1725, through these sons:
SAMUEL FRAZIER Sr b April 10, 1749 NC, died 1839 Knox Co TN; married REBECCA JULIAN
GEORGE FRAZIER b 1751 NC; died Feb 1835 Randolph Co NC; married JANE GRIMES
THOMAS FRAZIER Jr b 1753 NC, died April 2, 1845 Greene Co TN: married SARAH JOHNSON
FRANCIS H FRAZIER b 1759 NC; died 1830 Randolph Co IN; married ELIZABETH STANLEY
JAMES FRAZIER b 1769 NC; died 1832 Randolph Co IN; married SUSANNA STANLEY
One DNA match, on the same chromosomes as the above, is to a descendant of a likely daughter, ELIZABETH FRAZIER REYNOLDS.
None of the above matches appear to be through the family of MARY PUGH, the wife of THOMAS (aka GEORGE THOMAS) FRAZIER. In other words, no PUGH descendants match on the same chromosomes as the 49 FRAZIER descendants.
Nine of the 49 verified FRAZIER matches are through descendants of my great x 3 grandparents, HENRY FRAZER & MARY POLLY OTWELL of Guilford Co North Carolina, Randolph Co Indiana and Henry Co Iowa.
Two of the 49 verified FRAZIER matches are through descendants of my great x 2 grandparents, ELI BRANSON FRAZIER & NANCY VAN ARSDALE of Guilford Co North Carolina, Boone Co Indiana, and Bangor, Marshall Co Iowa.
I also have several matches to descendants of the Quaker AARON FRAZIER of Guilford County North Carolina, son of ALEXANDER FRAZIER & SARAH COPPOCK, also Quakers, of Chester Co Pennsylvania. At this point, I have no idea how the two FRAZIER families interconnect.
--Because of the large number of matches that I have accumulated, I am now able to do a little "data mining". Certain families & surnames keep popping up in my matches, and make me suspect that I am likely a descendant. This doesn't work well with common surnames such as SMITH, JONES or JOHNSON, but I'm beginning to have some success with more uncommon names.
Here are my "most likely suspects", so far:
PATRICK HENNESSEE Sr b 1745 Ireland, of Burke Co North Carolina; he & his son JOHN HENNESSEE owned land next door to my great x 4 grandfather ISAAC THOMAS THOMPSON; I suspect that ISAAC married one of PATRICK's daughters, as I have several matches to PATRICK's & JOHN's descendants.
McKINNEY of Burke Co North Carolina
HIGHTOWER of Richmond Co Virginia, Pittsylvania Co Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi
HINES/HINDS, possibly of Surry Co Virginia
LEATHERWOOD of Maryland & Burke Co North Carolina
HUNNICUTT of Surry Co Virginia (where my BRUTON family lived beginning in 1639)
PRATT of Weymouth, Norfolk Co Massachusetts (ancestors of RELIANCE PRATT HOVEY who married DANIEL BOLTON Sr in Lincoln Co Maine, which gives credence to my theory that they were the parents of my great x 3 grandfather, DANIEL BOLTON b 1794 of Windham, Maine, who married THANKFUL MORTON)
--AncestryDNA has bestowed upon me three different sets of "New Ancestor Discoveries", i.e. people who from their analysis of my DNA are likely to be my ancestors. So far all of these NADs have been incorrect, with absolutely no connection to my tree. Part of the problem is that all the people they have bestowed upon me have been born in the 1800s. My family tree is complete & well documented back five generations, and in many cases back to immigration to the American colonies in the 1600s. Several lines go back even further, with good documentation. So I am not missing anyone born in the 1800s.
Have a great day!
Betty
© Betty Tartas 2015
1 comment:
Great post cousin!
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