Creating your DNA-haplogroup "family tree"

The more people on your family tree that have their DNA tested, the more you are able to round out your family's haplogroup DNA "family tree."

For example:

1. Me:
Mitocondrial: U2e1a

2nd Generation
2. Dad
Y-DNA: R1b1b2a1 (23andme) or R-M269/R1b1a2* (FamilyTreeDNA)
Mitocondrial: H

3. Mom
Mitocondrial: U2e1a

3rd Generation
4. Dad's Dad [Charles]
Y-DNA: (see #2)
Mitocondrial: Unknown

5. Dad's Mom [Eloise]
Mitocondrial: H

6. Mom's Dad [William]
Y-DNA: currently unknown
Mitocondrial: Unknown

7. Mom's Mom
Mitocondrial: U2e1a

4th Generation:
8. Dad's Dad's Father [Frank Seraf]
Y-DNA: see #2
Mitocondrial: Unknown (his sister had only sons; his mother's sister had only one son)

9. Dad's Dad's Mother [Hazel]
Mitocondrial: Unknown (no daughters, only one son living)

10. Dad's Mom's Dad [Byron]
Y-DNA: Unknown (no living male descendants; his brother did have male descendants that I think are living)
Mitocondrial: Unknown (no sisters; his mother had no sisters with descendants)

11. Dad's Mom's Mom [Mina]
Mitocondrial: H

12. Mom's Dad's Dad [Warren L]
Y-DNA: currently unknown [Warren L did have male siblings whose sons could be tested]
Mitocondrial: Unknown

13. Mom's Dad's Mom [Mary Jane]
Mitocondrial: Unknown (no living direct female relatives to test)

14. Mom's Mom's Dad [Frank]
Y-DNA: R1b1b2a1a2f* (23andme) or R1b1a2a1a1b4/R-P312 (through conversion for FamilyTree DNA equivalent)
Mitocondrial: Unknown

15. Mom's Mom's Mom [Mary]
Mitocondrial: U2e1a


I wanted to show that I got the haplogroup of #14 through testing of second cousin via 23andme, even though I had no one in my immediate family that could have done that test.

Pardon the mess....

Doing some blog changes and cleanup. Please pardon the mess if you find broken links, as they will be fixed shortly.

Thank you for your patience. (And have a photo of a running cow for your viewing pleasure.)


Sara G.

Lack of blogging!

Sorry for lack of blogging lately. I've been working on a number of presentations and presentation proposals lately, and about to go to the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) next week.

The image is the title slide from my most recent presentation: "Historic Preservation: What do old buildings mean to genealogists?" I gave this last night at the Williamson County (Texas) Genealogical Society's monthly meeting. We had approximately 50 attendees, a great number for a July in Texas!

I got really good feedback and reviews and I hope to make this a permanent member of the presentation rotation!

(c) Sara Gredler

Richardson Family - General Overview

I'm working on identifying all the descendants of a particular Richardson family that ended up in the Ontario Co, New York area between 1803 and 1810.

Sarah Elizabeth Richardson c.1850? (b. 1832, m. 1866 Elston Hunt)

I'm related to the Richardson family twice over via Sarah Elizabeth (Richardson) Hunt (seen above, before she married), my great-great-great grandmother: her parents were first cousins.

I want to correspond with as many Richardson relatives as possible to try and break down some walls (perhaps not brick, but fairly sturdy). A general outline of the first few generations follows.

1. [--?--] Richardson, who supposedly was killed by Indians during the Revolutionary War, and lived in Vermont.

2. His son, Jonathan (I) Richardson, b. abt 1742 (?), d. bef 1829 in Livonia, Livingston Co, NY. Unknown wife. He moved to Livonia when it was still part of Ontario Co, NY (probably by 1805) and was enumerated there on the census in 1810. He had at least four children:

3a. Jonathan (II) Richardson, b. 26 Nov 1762, m. Rhoda Thompson 24 Apr 1792 in Swanzy, New Hampshire, d. 5 April 1850, Independence, Allegany Co, NY. They had at least 11 children (11 have been positively identified):

    3a1. Sarah Richardson (1793-1857) m. Asa Davis (1787-1872). They became Mormon and moved west. Sarah died in Ohio, Asa in Iowa. (15 children identified!)
    3a2. Rhoda Richardson (1793/4-1869) m. Rowland Powell (abt 1790-1865). They lived and died in Livonia, NY. (Supposedly had 8 children, 5 of whom are identified)
   3a3. Clarissa Richardson (1795-1866) m. Calvin Powell (bro. to Rowland) (1792-1871). They moved from New York to Ohio to Illinois and then to Oregon. (13 children, 12 of whom are identified)
   3a4. Unknown female (b.1795-1800)
   3a5. Jonathan (III) Richardson (1799-1880) m. Miranda/Mianda Moore (1800-1886). They moved to Allegany Co, New York. (Supposedly had 12 children, 10 of whom are identified)
   3a6. Unknown female (b. 1801), possibly named Laura
   3a7. Unknown male (b. 1800-1805), possibly named Alpheus
   3a8. Anna Richardson (1807-1876) [TWIN], m1. Russell Bartholomew (1799-1801) (1 child), m2. Otis Harrington (1802/1804-bet 1880 and 1900) (4 children). Moved from New York to Ohio and then to Michigan with Otis Harrington.
   3a9. Uriah Richardson (1807-1883) [TWIN], m. Orra Burnman (1809-1884). Moved to Ohio and then to Michigan. (10 children identified)
   3a10. Daniel Richardson (1809-1891), m. Cynthia Backus (1812/3-1890). Moved to Michigan. (Four children, three of whom are identified)
   3a11. Philander Richardson (1810/1-1875) [TWIN] m1. Elizabeth [possibly Sanger] (1815-bef 1855), m2. Elizabeth [Unknown] (1800-bef 1865), m3. Achsah Amsden (1837-1912) [as her 1st husband; they were 1st cousins, once removed; she m.2 Seth Rider, bro to her brothers-in-law William Rider and Stephen Rider (see below)]. Lived and died in Livonia. (One child, by Achsah.)
   3a12. Philandra Richardson (1811-?) [TWIN] m1. William Rider (1804/5-bef Jul 1860), m2. Seth Ashley. Moved to Ohio and then to Michigan with 2nd husband. (Six children identified)
   3a13. Unknown female (1813-1872), possibly named Harriet.
   3a14. Unknown female (b.1810-1820, unknown death)
   3a15. Unknown male (b.1810-1820, unknown death)
   3a16. Louisa Richardson (1815-?), m1. Stephen Rider (1812/3-?), m2. Reuben Barnea. Moved to Ohio and then to Michigan. (Five children identified)
   3a17. Marinda Richardson (1818-1897) m. Benjamin Dann (1807-1898). Moved to Michigan with her husband. (Three children identified.)


3b. Joseph Richardson (bet. 1765 and 1784, d. 1813) m. Abigail Fisk (1775-1851). He died in the War of 1812, she died in Mendon, Monroe Co, NY. (8 children, one born after the death of his father.)

   3b1. Joseph Richardson (1796-1868) m. Aurilla Rowley (1796-1878). [Abigail Fisk may not be his mother, it is still under investigation.] They moved to Michigan. (11 children, 8 of whom are identified.)
   3b2. Chester Richardson (1800-1884) m. Clarissa Hincher (1811-1871). They lived in Genesee and Monroe Counties, NY. (9 children, 8 of whom are identified)
   3b3. Rufus Richardson (1801-1873) m. Elizabeth Richardson (1807-1860). [Parents of Sarah Elizabeth, above, they were first cousins. See John Richardson (3c) below]. They lived in Livonia and Mendon, New York. (Four children identified.)
   3b4. Lydia Richardson (1803-1892) m. Eleazer Brooks Amsden (1797-1876). They lived in Mendon, Monroe Co, NY. (10 children, 9 of whom are identified. Parents of Achsah Amsden (see 3a11.))
   3b5. Daniel Richardson (1805-Unknown). Living as of the 1820 census, no record after that.
   3b6. Philinda Richardson (1807-1876) m. Noah Nash (1805/6-1852). Moved to Michigan. (7 children, 5 of whom are identified.)
   3b7. Elsie Richardson (1810-1886) m1. Asa Burton (1802/4-1871), m2. Marvin Burton (1804/5-Unknown). Lived in Mendon, Monroe Co, NY. (9 children identified, all from first marriage.)
   3b8. William Harrison Richardson (William Henry Harrison Richardson) (1814-Unknown). According to family history, moved to Wisconsin. Perhaps is the William Henry Harrison Richardson that married Emily Boynton and lived in Juneau Co, Wisconsin.


3c. John Richardson (bet. 1776 and 1794 - after 1830) m. Betsy Phillips (between 1776 and 1794 - ?). Lived in Canadice, Ontario Co, New York. 4 children, 3 of whom are identified.

    3c1. Unknown male (bet. 1794 and 1804 - ?)
    3c2. William Richardson (1805/7-1877) m. Eunice Winch (1805-1892). Lived in Canadice, Ontario Co, NY.  (11 children, 9 identified.)
    3c3. Elizabeth Richardson (see 3b3.)
    3c4. John Richardson (bet. 1805 and 1810, died as a young man). According to family history, "In school boy play he was pushed against the ever present stump and died from injuries received."


3d. Daniel Richardson (1781-1820) m. Philena Stebbins (1782/3-1850). [She m2. John Backus, father of Cynthia Backus (see 3a10).] They lived in Cornwall, Addison Co, Vermont before moving to Livonia, New York. (7 children identified.)

    3d1. Philinda Richardson (1805-1851) m. Horace Stone (1800-1873). [He m2. Lucetta Ebenriter (1824/5-1870).] They lived in Livonia and Mount Morris, both in Livingston Co, NY. (8 children identified.)
    3d2. Daniel J Richardson (1806-1857) m. Thankful G Camp (1810-1850). They lived in Mount Morris, Livingston Co, NY and in Ontario, Canada [then Canada West]. (2 children, 1 identified).
    3d3. Lydia Richardson (1808-?), appears to have never married.
    3d4. Washington E Richardson (1811-1884), m. Harriet Parker (1815-1885). They lived in Wyoming Co, New York. (2 children identified.)
    3d5. Diadama/Diadamia Richardson (1814/5-bef 1855) m1. Lewis Payne (bet. 1800 and 1810 - bef 1848), m2. Adonijah Fellows (1804-1864) [as his 2nd wife, first wife Polly Fitzgerald (bef 1810-bef 1848)]. Both families lived in Livonia, NY. She had at least three children with Payne and one with Fellows.
    3d6. Joseph B Richardson (1818-1877) m. Jennette Phelps (1819-bef 1900). They lived in Mount Morris, Livingston Co, NY. (At least 6 children.)
    3d7. William Waring Richardson (1820/1-1898) [possibly born after the death of his father] m1. Julia P [--?--] (1830-1860), m2. Sarah A (Walker) Osborne (1833-?) as her 2nd husband. He and his families lived in Livonia (first wife), Canada West (first and second wives), Illinois (no wife), and Indiana (no wife). (3 children identified.)


So in 4 incomplete generations I have lots of descendants already. I haven't quite given up on finding where Jonathan (I) came from, but he is proving somewhat elusive. I hope if i keep putting items out about these Richardsons, someone will find me via Google (or Bing, whatever takes your fancy)! (Not that I don't appreciate those that have already contacted me. I am so excited that I have recently been contacted by descendants of each of these four brothers.)

More Martins - Livingston Co, NY

 

The obituary of Thomas Martin of Lima, NY, seen at left, states that his brother was "Malachi Martin, late of this town [Livonia]."

I've been tracing Malachi Martin's family because his daughter Mary married into my Powell family, and as the mother of John Powell (see last week's post "Finding John Powell - 1 possibility down").

The Martin families are Irish Catholics. Thomas Martin, according to his obituary, came to the United States in 1834. I can narrow down Malachi's immigration date to abt 1848, based on church histories in the local county history.

This is a completely different group for me to research. The Irish immigrants on my mother's side are from Northern Ireland and are Presbyterian. Probably they will end up going back to Scotland, if I can figure out their townlands in Ireland. (That's a whole other kettle of fish.)

It has been super interesting to follow these families of Thomases, Williams, Marys, Anns, and Margarets. The Martin family appears to have come from the far northwest of County Tipperary in Ireland. I've been able to find some records for them in Tipperary before coming to America via the irish Family History Foundation website (http://www.rootsireland.ie), though the records there are all extracts, unfortunately.

The town the family is from is at the extreme northwest of County Tipperary. However, when most people think of Tipperary they think of Cashel (well, at least I do.) I love these photos that I took when I was in Ireland. One is of the Rock of Cashel and one is the view from the Rock of Cashel.

I'm having a bit more luck once the family moved to America as there are Roman Catholic church records for the family in Livingston Co, New York. This is my first time working with Roman Catholic records; I can't think of one family that have been RC in my direct line except one, and that one has not been confirmed by records.

Here is an example: the burial record for Mary (Martin) Powell Tone, daughter of Malachi Martin:

19 August 1908: "Mrs Michael Tone was buried in Livonia this morning. She died on the 15th aged about 84 years."

There are a large number of related families in these church records - I've already noticed the ones I know are related to the Malachi Martin family. The Thomas Martin family lived in Lima, and that town's church records are, of course, on another roll of film....

[Citations available upon request.]

Finding John Powell - 1 possibility down

One of my current projects is identifying all the descendants of Jonathan Richardson, the man I call "the progenitor" of my Richardson family in western New York. He came to Ontario Co, NY between 1803 and 1810 with (probably) four sons.

One of those sons, Jonathan (II) Richardson, had a daughter named Rhoda. Rhoda Richardson married Rowland Powell and had at least five children. The second-to-last known child and last son was named William Ryder Powell, and he seems to have a bit of a bad guy. (More on him as a person to come later.)

William Ryder Powell married (or at least had a somewhat long term relationship with) a woman named Mary Martin. Mary Martin was born in Ireland about May 1826, probably in the small parish of Youghalarra in County Tipperary where her known brothers and sisters were baptized. Her parents were Malachi/Malachy Martin and Margaret O'Brien (Brien). I have not been able to find when Mary Martin emigrated to the United States.

Their first child, Mary Adelia Powell, was born in Livonia, Livingston Co, New York, probably around May of 1848 (though her obituary gives her birth date as 22 May 1846, all of the previous records give year of birth around 1848 rather than 1846). This also gives the latest emigration date for Mary Martin as approximately nine months before May 1848 (or 1846) - around July of 1847 or 1845.

The only census that has William Ryder and Mary (Martin) Powell enumerated together is the one from 1850; Mary appears alone with three children in the 1855 New York State census: Mary A, aged 6; William I, aged 4; and Luceria A, aged 2, as well as a cousin, Margaret Hogan. The 1855 census also states that Mary (Martin) Powell had lived in Livonia, New York, for 12 years and that she was an alien. (William Ryder Powell was a natural-born American.) That gives a latest emigration date for Mary Martin as 1842-1843.

In 1860 Mary (Martin) Powell has two children with her in her household: 7-year-old Lucera and 2-year-old John. William appears to have died and Mary Adelia is living in another household working as a domestic. I have not been able to find John in the 1865 New York State census. In 1870 he is living with his mother, Mary, in Livonia, and by 1875 Mary (Martin) Powell has married a man named Michael Tone and John is living in their household, listed as a step-son to Michael Tone. John is enumerated as working on the Erie railroad.

And where is John after that? In the 1900 census, Mary (Martin) Powell Tone's enumeration states that she has had four children and that three are still living. That appears to imply that John Powell is still living.

The web becomes further tangled as the history of William Ryder Powell is examined. According to his obituary, William Ryder Powell was not the nicest of people. He was shot to death (supposedly in self-defence) in 1904 in California. The obituary also states, "He was arrested, tried and convicted [for horse stealing], and our informant is quite sure that his sentence to Auburn prison was for a term of five years. After he got out of prison, which was something like thirty-five or forty years ago, he drifted to California...."  This gives some dates for William Ryder's incarceration at Auburn: released between 1864 and 1869, with a five year sentence, gives his incarceration beginning dates of between 1859 and 1864. However, records for this period at Auburn do not survive. It is, of course, possible, that these dates are off, and maybe as many of five years on either side.

The probate completed in 1904 and 1905 by his daughter, Mary Adelia (Powell) Sheldon, states that her father purchased land in California and was unmarried when he did so, and gives his only surviving heirs as two daughters: Mary Adelia (Powell) Sheldon and Lucera (Powell) Crane (I'll come back to this one, too).

So what happened to John Powell? Was he really William Ryder Powell's son? Where is he in subsequent censuses after 1875?

I thought I had found a candidate - a John H Powell married a woman named Kitty Dempsey in Rochester, NY in 1886. He worked on the railroad, was approximately the right age, and his mother was born in Ireland. I was lucky in that I had already ordered a roll of microfilm from the FHL of Rochester and vicinity church records for another purpose!

On 26 April 1886 John H Powell married Catherine "Kitty" Dempsey at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Rochester, New York. John H Powell was the son of Samuel Powell and Elizabeth Kennedy. Catherine was the daughter of Bernard Dempsey and Catherine Costello.

And there went that hypothesis popped.

So what happened to John Powell? I'm still looking.

I'm also still looking for Lucera (Powell) Crane/Ware too: she signs her name as Lucera Crane in the probate documents, her death certificate gives her name as Lucera Ware, and I can't find anything on her under either name. Supposedly, according to online family trees, she married a man named John Ware and they had two children (before 1904 when she signs her name as Lucera Crane), but I am still trying to follow that up.


[If sources are desired, please comment or send an email. I would be happy to oblige.]

Bartholomew Genealogy Dance!

So I have been working on trying to prove the name of my Anna (Richardson) Bartholomew Harrington's first husband for over a year - this is in Ohio in 1830.  I had a candidate by census records - Don C. Bartholomew was the only Bartholomew in Mentor Twp, Geauga Co, Ohio in 1830. Anna Bartholomew married her second husband in Mentor Twp in 1832.

Then found a book of newspaper extracts that proved that not only did Don Bartholomew survive his wife (not right for my Anna's second husband), but he also died after Anna had remarried her second husband.  Ok, so not him.


Back to the census drawing board. I came up with another candidate: Russell Bartholomew.  (He was in the 1830 census and not in the 1840 census, and appeared to be the right age.)  Issue - he wasn't in Mentor Twp. To a map! He lived in Concord Twp, which is right next to Mentor Twp in Geauga Co, Ohio.  Less of a issue.  Larger problem: He is a young, newly married man in the 1830 census! His wife remarried in 1832! I posit that they had a child, named David. But none of David's records name his parents. The book of newspaper extracts had an entry for Russell Bartholomew giving his death in January 1831.  This is all leading to Russell looking like a good candidate.

Looking at the 1830 census, I then went to the neighbors.  Russell and his young wife were living next to an older man named Jedediah Bartholomew.  Perhaps Russell's father?  Went looking for family trees online to see if anyone had done anything on the family. Well, a little bit - I found trees but they only had two children.  Then it is time to Google.

I found a post from 2006 on an Ancestry message board about New Jersey Rev. War veterans that mentioned a Bartholomew book from 1885 - "Record of the Bartholomew Family."

And there is Russell, marrying Anna Richardson and having one son, David. And Russell's father is Jedediah.

Of course, there are no sources or citations in this family history. So I still have work to do. Russell and Anna's marriage is not in indexes for Geauga Co, Ohio. It may be that they married in New York before coming to Ohio. (Of course, early New York vital records are fairly scarce.) 

So while I still have work to do, I know have at least one source (however secondary and/or derivative) that confirms my hypothesis that Anna Richardson married, first, Russell Bartholomew, and had one son, David Bartholomew (Civil War veteran). She then married, second, as his third wife, Otis Harrington, and had four more children.

Genealogy happy dance!

Title page of the Record of the Bartholomew Family, published 1885.

History in a series of cannons, cont....

Cannon on the Vicksburg side of the Mississippi River, March 2013.

Latest in the series of cannons, this one just over the Mississippi River in Vicksburg near the Visitor's Center.  I got to see none of the cool parts of Vicksburg; we took a few photos of the bridge, which we were not allowed onto, and then back across the river to the next bridge.

Old Vicksburg Bridge, March 2013

Database Updates...

Updated my website at Rootsweb and my WorldConnect database this evening based on email from a cousin. Apparently I had some wrong dates (not surprising). Hopefully I got all the sites that my data lives on.

DNA tests - Making sense of percentages

My parents and I have all done DNA testing, at both FamilyTreeDNA and 23andme.

The image below shows my mom's "Ancestry Composition" from 23andme.  Ok, so obviously, mostly European. Got that. But what exactly do these percentages represent? I was trying to make this more clear in my mind as to what the 0.1% signified.

So I started thinking. Mom has a number of percentages that are at 0.1%. In order to make that equal 1 person, I would have to have 1000 ancestors represented in this evaluation.  Then I went looking for how many generations it takes (remember, your number of ancestors in each generation doubles) to get to 1000 ancestors.  The answer? 9.  (I used this website.)

By the time you get to the 9th generation back from you (that is your 7th great-grandparents), you have 1023 unique ancestors. However, it is unlikely that there are no intermarriages and duplicated individuals.  So generally, the 9th generation back gets us 1000 ancestors. That website gives a general birth year of 1680 for this generation. (A previous post at this blog counted the ancestors that I have identified by generation; I have 83 of the 512 in this generation identified.)

So taking mom's percentages, based on 23andme's speculative percentages, out of 1000 ancestors I get the following numbers of people in her ancestry:

466 British and Irish
117 French and German
45 Scandinavian
312 Northern European
42 Iberian
9 Southern European
1 Ashkenazi
5 European
1 Sub-Saharan African
1 East Asian/Native American
1 Unknown


Cool, right? That is a little more...understandable. Concrete. Essentially mom is half Irish/Scottish/English/Welsh. Most of her known ancestors in this group are Irish/Scottish. And she definitely has duplicate ancestors - her paternal grandparents were first cousins (surnames McFEATERS and McCACHREN).


Dad's results:
305 British and Irish
127 French and German
124 Scandinavian
360 Northern European
9 Sardinian
5 Italian
25 Southern European
33 Eastern European
9 European
1 South Asian
1 East Asian/Native American


My results:
409 British and Irish
84 French and German
17 Scandinavian
418 Northern European
11 Iberian
4 Italian
32 Southern European
5 Eastern European
16 European
2 South Asian
1 Unknown

I've got some of these results that I am scratching my head about, but being able to take Dad's results, Mom's results, and my results and compare them, I can see patterns.  Got the Italian from Dad (not surprising, with his Gredler family being in Tirol in Austria, near the Italian border), Iberian from Mom (NO CLUE about this group), and missed some of the markers. I didn't get either one of their East Asian/Native American marker, and I didn't get Mom's Ashkenazi or her sub-Saharan African marker.

Another excitement is that one of the matches at 23andme is someone that I talked genealogy with probably 10 years ago. We know we are cousins and have researched together previously on the McFEATERS and CAMPBELL families in Pennsylvania. So now I have my first paper AND genetic cousin match!!! So exciting!

Genealogy Pet Peeve

Today's post is brought to you via frustration.  My pet peeve in genealogy is when you find someone that has compiled a tree online (or in a book) and the information gives you a date and a place, but no citation.  Well, citations would be nice, but I should easily be able to find the records, so I go looking for the information in the place the event supposedly took place.

AND I CAN'T FIND A RECORD OF IT HAPPENING IN THAT PLACE!

Sigh.

Like it is not difficult enough to have record losses and non-existant records, now I am chasing records that may exist but I am not sure of the location?! Oiy vey.


(c) Sara Gredler, 2013.

Presentation Announcement

I will be presenting as part of a panel on organizing your family history at the January 2013 Williamson County (Texas) Genealogical Society meeting (http://www.williamsontxgenealogy.org).  A good time will be had by all!

Social time and snacks begin at 7pm; presentation begins at 7:30. The panel includes discussion of paper organization, digital files, and dealing with/preserving heirloom items.  Should be interesting.



(c) Sara Gredler, 2013.