The DNA
Genealogical research uses documents and historical records to verify family relations and lineage. Proof of relations is verified in birth and marriage records. Proof of place or location is verified in census records, municipal directories and deeds. Where we come from familially and geographically intersect, for example, when birth records locate a place of birth or census records indicate habitation in a given place. These documents are part of the historic record of our background, but are only useful when they exist and can be found. This information is only available for recent history and when these records don't exist, when proof is not available, then the story is interrupted. These records depend on the names of individuals. Early marriage records emphasize the male inheritance by recording the father's name, but not the mother's maiden name.
The characters that make us who we are come to us from our parents as genetic code in DNA. Some of our inherited DNA is expressed as observable characteristics that make us an individual among our species, a unique and new blending of the code each of our parents carry. The color of our eyes and hair, our blood type and our height, for example, are characteristics we inherit from our parents in DNA. Our DNA also carries information about our ancient, prehistoric 'familial' relations and their geographic migrations and settlements. I submitted my DNA to the National Geographic DNA project (The Genographic Project) for analysis. The results of this analysis identified deep, prehistoric lineage and do not help to delineate recent biological connections. They do reveal our ancestry in an ancient lineage and pattern of geographic migration. This analysis is based in the DNA code in the mitochondrial DNA I received from my mother and the Y-chromosomal DNA I received from my father. Mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosomal DNA does not recombine in offspring and is passed on intact from generation to generation through the mother and father respectively making these genetic traits excellent markers for tracing deep ancestral lineage.
The part of our genetic code embedded in mitochondrial DNA (mDNA) is passed on to us only from our mothers - matrilinear inheritence. Men and women both inherit mitochondrial DNA from their mother but only the female can pass the mitochondrial DNA on directly to her offspring.
Only the male offspring will inherit the traits from the DNA in the father's Y chromosome. This is the genetic material that determines the male characters of the offspring.
The characters that make us who we are come to us from our parents as genetic code in DNA. Some of our inherited DNA is expressed as observable characteristics that make us an individual among our species, a unique and new blending of the code each of our parents carry. The color of our eyes and hair, our blood type and our height, for example, are characteristics we inherit from our parents in DNA. Our DNA also carries information about our ancient, prehistoric 'familial' relations and their geographic migrations and settlements. I submitted my DNA to the National Geographic DNA project (The Genographic Project) for analysis. The results of this analysis identified deep, prehistoric lineage and do not help to delineate recent biological connections. They do reveal our ancestry in an ancient lineage and pattern of geographic migration. This analysis is based in the DNA code in the mitochondrial DNA I received from my mother and the Y-chromosomal DNA I received from my father. Mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosomal DNA does not recombine in offspring and is passed on intact from generation to generation through the mother and father respectively making these genetic traits excellent markers for tracing deep ancestral lineage.
The part of our genetic code embedded in mitochondrial DNA (mDNA) is passed on to us only from our mothers - matrilinear inheritence. Men and women both inherit mitochondrial DNA from their mother but only the female can pass the mitochondrial DNA on directly to her offspring.
Only the male offspring will inherit the traits from the DNA in the father's Y chromosome. This is the genetic material that determines the male characters of the offspring.
Our mother's DNA
The mDNA inherited by women from their mothers is passed on in a direct line from mother to daughter. In our family this line of matrilinear inheritence is traced backward in time beginning with our mother Joyce Wood from her mother Harriett Pomeroy Wood (born Rosevear); Harriett Pomeroy Rosevear from Emma Jane Pomeroy, Emma Jane Pomeroy from her mother Harriett Bray Harriett Bray from her mother Hannah Jago Hannah Jago from her mother Joanna, last name unknown. My brother and I carry the mDNA character traits we inherited from our mother, Joyce Wood, but we cannot pass these traits on. Our mDNA has been traced to the maternal haplogroup H-G13708A, a sub-group of the major haplogroup H, which originated (variated from H) about 10,000 years ago on the Arabian peninsula. Haplogroup H dominates western European matrilinear ancestsry at 40-60% of the female population. The estimated appearance of haplogroup H in Europe is between 10,000 to 15,000 years ago. The highest percentage of H is in Ireland at 61% of the population studied. |
Our father's DNA
The Y chromosomal traits - the stuff that makes me a male - I inherited from my father, through his father, etc. This line is traced like this: Donald F. Wheeler from Donald A. Wheeler Donald A. Wheeler from Ralph E. Wheeler Ralph E. Wheeler from Clinton Wheeler Clinton Wheeler from George Wheeler George Wheeler from Royal Wheeler Royal Wheeler from Frederick Wheeler, etc. The mDNA my father inherited from his mother Ruth Caywood was not passed on to me or my siblings, although other traits he inherited from his mother from both her father (Caywood) and mother (Shaw) have been passed on to us. Our paternal Y-chromosomal haplogroup is R1b. This group has a concentration found primarily in Western Europe. The main subgroup in our Y-chromosomal DNA is R1b-M269, which is further subdivided to SNP S8/U152-L2. The L2 branch is the most recent sub-division (or mutation) of this main group. The previous division (or mutation) of our group - U152 - is estimated to have originated in West Asia between 5,500 to 11,000 years ago. A recent study indicates the frequency of this sub-group concentrated in Southern France and Northern Italy, with the highest concentration in the Italian Alps. (Lucotte, 2015 : dx.doi.org/10.4236/aa.2015.51003 ) The main group M269 is estimated to have originated in West Asia between 6,500 and 15,000 years ago. This group accounts for the majority of the male population studied in Western Europe with frequencies of 92% in Wales and over 82% in Ireland and 70% in Scotland. Haplogroup R1b at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_R1b#:~:text=R%2DM269%20reaches%20levels%20as,of%20less%20than%20one%20percent. Lucotte, Gerard The major Y-chromosome haplogroup R1b-M269 in West Europe Advances in Anthropology, 2015, 5, 22-30 published online February 2015 |