Importance of DNA

For Christmas 2018, my sister, Cheryl, gave me an Ancestry DNA kit.  She said I would be the right person instead of her since I love genealogy.  I always wanted to do it but, truthfully, was afraid what I might find.  On February 12, 2019 I received my results.  Actually, they were what I expected except 9% Sweden.  My mother is 100% German and Sweden comes very close to Germany or it could be those darn Vikings invading Great Britain.

The DNA then lists your matches by the closest first.  There are 50 people on a page and I have 443 pages or 22,150 people listed with matching DNA.  This shows how long the Otwell side has been in the US.

I was intrigued with my #1 match.  Who is this person?  So I sent them an email. I received a response from Lynn who said my match was to her mother, Irene.  Irene is 96-years old and never knew her father's name or anything about him.  Well, that certainly got my attention.   Irene showed up as a 1st or 2nd cousin, probably 2nd cousin.  This would have to be one of my grandparents or their siblings as her father.  Lynn told me another match she received sent her papers showing they were from Alsace, Lorraine, which was sometimes German, sometimes French.

My mother's family on her mother's side came from Alsace, France.  My grandmother only had one brother, Raymond Miller.  I began to believe Raymond was Irene's father.  Lynn told me her mother lived in the Genesee/Bailey area of Buffalo.  So did the Miller family.  In fact, they lived about a block apart.

Lynn sent me the papers on her Alsace connection.  Unfortunately, I had to reply that none of my relatives were listed.  Again I began to look at my grandfathers and my grandmothers' brothers.  I then decided to look at our shared DNA matches.  I contacted the closest DNA person to us both but they did not respond.  I then tried Jacqueline G. and within minutes she sent me her phone number in Tampa, Florida. Jacque showed up as related to Irene and me as around 4th cousin.  The Miller family arrived in Buffalo on July 19, 1874.  I began to read their children's names and Jacqueline said, "My grandmother's name was Magdalena."  Jacque followed that line and sure enough her grandmother was named after her grandmother, Magdalena Miller, the sister of my relative Jacob Miller.  We now have a 100% match.  Jacque said it made her day to help Irene find her father.

I contacted Lynn with the news that Raymond Miller was 100% her grandfather and her mother's father.  This was all accomplished in less than one week.  Lynn said her 96-year old mother asked, "Is he still alive?"  Irene, Lynn and their family have the answers to many of their questions.  They have another branch on their family tree along with pictures and stories of Ray Miller and his family.  Irene Greene is my mother's, Delores Gerlach Sim, first cousin.

The use of DNA is amazing.  This is such a wonderful story that my blog partner, Mary, suggested that I add it to our blog to show the importance of DNA. We all shed a tear for Irene Greene and her family.

Welcome to my family Irene, Lynn and your family members.

DNA Tested for Male SIM - Part 3 of 3

 

Migration Map

In genetic research, they have determined the probably migratory routes our ancestors took based on DNA of different populations in different areas of the world. Above is a map of the probably route our SIM ancestors took. Starting at green circle in central Africa, take orange, blue, green, pink lines north through the middle east, then blue line to Europe and the U. K. 

Males inherit their Y-chromosome from their fathers. The analysis of my brother’s Y-chromosome (which would be the same as my father John SIM, grandfather George SIM, great grandfather John William SIM, 2xgreat grandfather James SIM, -any male in our family with the SIM surname) shows that it belongs to the R-U152 group. This branch is called the Italo-Celtic branch which probably originated in the Alpine regions of Southern Europe during the Bronze and Iron Ages. It is found throughout most of Western Europe, but highest concentration today is found in Northern Italy near the Alps.

The word Celtic in the name of this branch is not in reference to what we normally think of as the Celts of the U.K. Celtic here means the Indo-European people during the Iron and Bronze Ages that had a distinct set of languages and cultures.
Read more about the Celts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celts and https://www.ancient.eu/celt/

Between 500 and 100 B.C., waves of these warring tribes came to Britain directly from Europe or by way of the Iberian Peninsula. The SIM ancestors eventually made their way to Scotland.

DNA Tested for Male SIM - Part 2 of 3

The results of the LivingDNA test provided information on the specific areas of the United Kingdom that our ancestors lived 10 generations ago (about the early 1700s).  The idea is that people were not likely to move away from their birthplaces and these map regions were secluded allowing them to identify common DNA in each region.

% Area (Autosomal DNA) - maps are included at end of this blog entry
15.2 South England
12.2 Northwest Scotland (includes northern Ireland)
11.1 Southeast England
5.9 Aberdeenshire
4.4 North Yorkshire
3.9 South Yorkshire
3.2 Northumbria
1.6 Orkney Islands
1.2 South Wales




In our family tree research, we have only been able to go back 6 generations for the earliest complete list of ancesters:
Edward SIM married to Mary GALA of Scotland
William GRUER married to Magdelene WHITE of Braemer and Dundee, Scotland
Thomas WALLACE married to Betty DICKIE of Ireland
William HUSTON married to Esther PARK of Balleymoney, Ireland
John F. OTWELL married to Mary TAYLOR of Kentucky, USA (original OTWELLS from Huntington in Southeast England)
William ASH of Ireland
Anna Maria MARKS of Heytesbury, Wiltshire in South England
Robert CHARNOCK married to Margaret BRADLEY of Liverpool, England
Joseph and Mary SCOTT of England

The following map highlights what we know. 



We do not know exact locations of SIM/GALA, WALLACE/DICKIE, TAYLOR, ASH or SCOTT family origins.

For the children of George SIM and Edna OTWELL, we would expect 44% England, 31% Ireland and 25% Scotland based on our family tree research of generation 6.
The DNA results showed 66% England, 34% Scotland/Ireland for generation 10.

• Some of the Irish families may have originated in England or Scotland and had immigrated to Ireland some time during the 1700s. The Northwest Scotland 12.2% may be some of the Irish line.  It is also likely to be the SIM line since they were part of the Fraser Clan from that same area.  View a map of clans.
• The remaining Scots 13% is found in Aberdeenshire (10%) and the Orkney Islands (3%).   We know that GRUER/WHITE were from Braemar, Aberdeenshire.  
• No idea how the Orkney Islands fit into our family- that's a surprise.
• Nothing found in the Liverpool area - where we know that the CHARNOCK family originated.
• For the missing families, we should concentrate our research to South England, Southeast England, Yorkshire, Northumbria and South Wales.

Scotland/Ireland Maps

Aberdeenshire

Northwest Scotland (includes northern Ireland)

Orkney

England Maps

South England

Southeast England

North Yorkshire

South Yorkshire

Northumbria

South Wales

DNA Tested for Male SIM - Part 1 of 3

In May 2017, a SIM male (my brother) was gracious enough to donate some of his DNA for genetic testing.  The main objective was to find the origins of the SIM family via the Y-chromosome or male line. 

Why this test was selected: The test purchased was from LivingDNA, a company that claims it can provide information on the specific areas of the United Kingdom/Ireland that your ancestors lived.  It is known that Living DNA test results will show higher percentages of UK ancestors, but that is ok since we are really only trying to find the locations that can help us pinpoint the SIM family. 



Autosomal DNA map

The tests included much more information than needed for the objective:  Autosomal DNA (from both parents), Y-chromosome DNA (paternal line) and mitochondrial DNA (maternal line).  The map above shows the autosomal DNA which includes 50% of the father's DNA (which we know is United Kingdom origins - green color on map) and 50% of the mother's DNA (Western European origins - hot pink color). 

A few surprises showed up with some minute amounts of Scandinavian (rose color, those Vikings got around!) and Basque (purple color) DNA. The Basque DNA was reported only on the mother's line, but was eliminated when they calculated results with more stringent probabilities.  The report stated that Basque would be found in many tests since the Basque population migrated and can be found in most of Europe.

Genealogy Research

The autosomal DNA test is supposed to give information up to 10 generations into the past.  We really don't have a complete record in our family tree research beyond 6 generations. From our research, we know that in the 1700s, the SIM ancestors were in Scotland and Ireland.  Some of the OTWELL ancestors from England had already immigrated to the American colonies.  Other OTWELL ancestors were still in England and Ireland. 

Autosomal DNA

Autosomal DNA includes the DNA from both parents. 50% is from the mother and 50% is from the father, but each individual inherits different portions within that 50%.  Keep in mind that even a sibling of the test subject will show slightly different percentages.

The test subject’s maternal line is European and the paternal line is English/Scottish/Irish. 

Comparing our Family Tree Research and the DNA results:

           

As expected per online comments about this particular test, the LivingDNA test ran higher than expected for UK origins(58% vs 50% expected).  But, that is pretty close.

In our research, we have about 6% unknown origins.  The original OTWELLs that came to the colonies in the 1600s were from England.  We have had difficulty tracing many of the wives that appear before 1800.  I have assumed they were of English ancestry and the DNA test may have confirmed that. 

What is interesting is the smaller percentage of Irish origins in the DNA results.  The DNA shows 12.2% of the DNA from NW Scotland.  This area includes part of northern Ireland in addition to NW Scotland.  We know that the WALLACE and HUSTON lines were from northern Ireland.  We do not know from which part of Ireland the ASH (or ASHE) line originated.  We also know that the Irish surname WALLACE means "foreigner".  The DNA may indicate that much of the Irish lines originated in England or Scotland as late as the early 1700s.

In Part 2, we will look closer at these specific locations in the United Kingdom.