NANCY'S DEAD RELATIVES

Nancy's Thoughts on Genes and Genealogy

Sally Ann done fell in love;
She planned to marry Joe.
She was so happy 'bout it all
She told her Pappy so.

Pappy told her, "Sally gurl,
You'll have to find another.
I'd just as soon yer Ma don't know,
But Joe is yer half brother".

So Sally put aside her Joe
And planned to marry Will.
But after telling Pappy this,
He said, "There's trouble still . . .

You can't marry Will, Sal,
And please don't tell yer Mother,
But Will and Joe and several mo'
I know is yer half brother".

But Mama knew and said, "My child,
Just do what makes you happy.
Marry Will . . . or marry Joe,
You ain't no kin to Pappy".
                                                            Anonymous

    The above verse describes what is called by geneticists "a non-paternity event", a delicate term for the fact that, until quite recently, every mother could be certain of her own child – and no father could.  It's been estimated that 5% to 15% of all births fall into this category, an unnerving prospect for any family researcher - not to mention many married men.  But genealogists must cope, not only with the possibility of false paternity through the centuries, but numerous other causes of "surname discontinuity".  In an age when legal records were few and far between, a widow's children might adopt the name of their beloved step-father; an orphan raised by maternal relatives – or strangers – might have assumed their surname; a criminal could change his name, as might a clan member whose clan had been outlawed.  The possibilities for unrecorded adoptions and surname changes are almost endless.

    Fortunately, modern science offers an alternative to that pesky non-existent paper trail in the form of the DNA test, i.e. an analysis of the Y-chromosome inherited from father to son in an unbroken line.   Because mutations occur at a relatively fixed rate, one mutation every so many generations, men alive today with the same surname can  be tested to determine whether and/or how long ago they might've shared a "MRCA", i.e. their most recent common  ancestor.[1]  The results are shown as a series of "markers".   The greater the number of identical markers, the more recently that elusive MRCA lived.     The 67 marker test is considered to be the gold standard, an exact match on that test being thought to indicate a 90% probability of an MRCA  within 5 generations.[2]

    While disappointing at first, a non-match can be extremely helpful, almost always eliminating that non-matching line from consideration, saving months, perhaps years, of unproductive research.[3]  And at the very least, test results allow the genealogist to learn the general area from whence his Y-chromosome originated – Scandinavia, say. or the Near East.  A study was recently completed in the British Isles which determined the number of men who had a Viking, as opposed to Celtic or other (Roman, Semitic, Slavic, etc.) paternal ancestor.  Another study was able to ascertain just how widely the Y-chromosome of Genghis Khan is now distributed.  And the tests keep expanding with ever finer distinctions between lines, so in this fast changing field, who knows?   (Any DNA project site known for a surname will be mentioned in that surname's Descendants Chart.)

     One thing to remember: A non-match doesn't mean that the intervening male ancestors didn't believe they had inherited their surname through blood.   And after all, if a Smith child was adopted by a Jones in 1688, lived and died a Jones, went to the Colonies with his Jones cousins, and settled the wilderness with his Jones relatives, which line has had more influence, Smith or Jones?  Nature or nurture?  In any case, there's currently no way for the researcher to ever discover the identity of Smith, or perhaps even the knowledge that Smith existed. 

    In a preceding paragraph, I wrote that a Y-chromosome test can "almost always" eliminate another line.  Why almost?  Because if the researcher has connected to an incorrect ancestor, that error can be perpetuated when the false pedigree is recorded for that Y-chromosome.    And it will become increasingly difficult to disprove because, well, "DNA doesn't lie".

    Or does it?  Genealogy is not criminology.  Some labs currently doing genealogical testing - and making extravagant claims for their results to the gullible - are not as rigorous as they should and could be.  Whenever possible a second male known to be in your male line should be tested as verification of the first results.

    There's also a test for the female line.  The mitochondrial DNA which resides outside of the cell nucleus and is passed on from a mother to her children, both male and female, can be tested.  Unfortunately, the results currently establish only the general population group of the ancestral female.

    My first paragraph was preceded by a poem; my last will be introduced by a pyramid . . . .

 Only
1 YOU
2 parents
4 grandparents
8 greatgrandparents
16 gg grandparents
32 ggg grandparents
64 gggg grandparents
128 ggggg grandparents
256 gggggg grandparents
512 ggggggg grandparents
1,024 gggggggg grandparents
2,048 ggggggggg grandparents
4,096 gggggggggg grandparents
8,192 ggggggggggg grandparents
16,184 gggggggggggg grandparents
32,768 ggggggggggggg grandparents
65,536 gggggggggggggg grandparents
131,072 ggggggggggggggg grandparents
262,144 gggggggggggggggg grandparents
524,288 ggggggggggggggggg grandparents
1,048,576 gggggggggggggggggg grandparents
2,097,152 ggggggggggggggggggg grandparents

    About the year 1350, 1,048,576 of our ancestors were toiling in their feudal lord's field and raiding their neighbors cattle, living in hovels and castles, succumbing to the Black Death and leprosy, burning heretics and being burned.  Only thirty generations ago each of us has 1, 073, 741, 824 ancestors, born c. 1050.  And yes, that's billion.  That number, as you may've noticed, is more people than the total world population in 1050 because many were the same people.  You and your husband and brother-in-law and your pharmacist and grocery checker probably share many ancestors, some of them quite illustrious.[4]  We're all truly related.  Since nuclear DNA combines randomly, it's impossible to know whether any particular ancestral gene is alive and well in your body, but most of us are African and European, Jew and Gentile, Roman and Celt, slave and serf and warrior and king.