Two weeks ago, a new
relative, Ernest Johnson, appeared in my and my mother’s 23andMe relative
database. This one raised eyebrows because he shared significant DNA with both of
us. With me, he shares 0.52% (39 cM)
across 3 segments. He shares 0.68% (51 cM) of DNA across 3
segments with my mother and is a predicted 3rd cousin. In my opinion, that’s
closely related, considering that 98.6% of the 635 people in my mother’s
relative database to date are predicted fourth, fifth, and more distant cousins. Also, I noticed that he looked familiar to me,
so I decided to see if he had a Facebook page. He had one, and my mouth dropped
when I discovered that I had met him before!
Ernest is a member of the Atlanta chapter of AAHGS (Afro-American
Historical & Genealogical Society). We had met at several AAHGS meetings.
He also attended a Black History Month presentation I had given in Atlanta. Amazingly,
a lot of people, who communicate with each other, are clueless that they are
related and not-so-distantly related in many instances. We truly live in a
small world.
X-chromosome Matches
The “treat” about our
not-so-distant connection is that 1 of the 3 segments (21 cM) falls on our X-chromosomes.
That definitely means that the connection is on Ernest’s mother side, since
males inherit their X-chromosome from their mothers. X-DNA matches are great because the X-chromosome
can only be passed down certain ancestral lines. Therefore, ancestral lines where the
connection would not be found can be eliminated. I can immediately eliminate Ernest’s father’s
family, Ernest’s mother’s paternal grandfather’s family, and my mother’s
paternal grandfather’s family. I
utilized the X-chromosome Inheritance charts located here to eliminate those
ancestral lineages.
To add, females
inherit two X-chromosomes, one from each parent. Their paternal X-chromosome
all came from their father’s mother (i.e. paternal grandmother). In other words, as the chart shows, a female
inherits exactly 50% of her X-DNA from her paternal grandmother. The remaining 50% consists of varying amounts
of X-DNA that were contributed by her maternal grandmother and her maternal
grandfather.
The Ancestral Possibilities
Fortunately, Ernest
has been researching his family history since 1977; he has identified 7 of his
8 maternal great-great-grandparents, as well as several 3X-great grandparents.
Since 23andMe predicted that he and my mother fell within a small range of 3rd
to 4th cousins, this indicated that the chances that they are indeed 3rd
cousins or 3rd cousins-once removed were good.
Third cousins share the same great-great-grandparent(s). Ernest and I
both had researched our families a great deal; therefore, figuring out our
fairly close connection shouldn’t be that difficult. Right? Besides, a predicted
3rd cousin, Delia, appeared in my father’s relative database. After she shared
some information with me, I was quickly able to determine that she and my father
are indeed 3rd cousins-once removed. Delia’s mother and my father share the
same great-great-grandparents. Delia and my father share 0.53% (39 cM) of DNA
across 3 segments, a little bit less than what Ernest and my mother share with
each other.
Ernest conveyed that most
of his 8 maternal great-great-grandparents were from the same general area,
Caswell County, North Carolina and bordering Pittsylvania County, Virginia,
between Danville, VA and Yanceyville, NC.
Because we’re an X-DNA match, I can eliminate 3 out of the 8 using the
male chart. Hence, our connection is through
one of the following 5 people:
(1) John Holderness, born c. 1837,
Pittsylvania County (Danville), Virginia
(2) Elzy Roan, born c. 1848, Caswell
County (Dan River district), North Carolina
(3) Mariah Johnston, born c. 1833, Caswell
County (Dan River district), North Carolina
(4) Henry “Harry” Hatchett, born c.1826,
Caswell County (Dan River district), North Carolina
(5) Jane Hatchett, born c. 1830, Caswell
County (Dan River district), North Carolina
Ernest was even able
to identify the parents of Elzy Roan and Mariah Johnston. Additionally, an
elderly couple, Sam (born c. 1780 in VA) and Nannie Hatchett (born c. 1805 in
VA), who lived adjacent to Henry & Jane Hatchett in 1870, may have been one
of their parents. Interestingly, the
white Holderness, Roan, Johnston, and Hatchett families were slave-owners in
Caswell County.
For my mother, X-DNA
matching eliminates her paternal grandfather’s family (Barr / Reed), which had
a Virginia tie, and her maternal grandfather’s father’s family (Davis). Genealogy
research eliminates a majority of my mother’s enslaved maternal ancestors, who were
born and enslaved in various counties in South Carolina before they were taken
to northern Mississippi. They and their ancestors had been in South Carolina as
far back as 1800 and likely even further back into the late 1700s. Time frames
and locality eliminates the rest of my mother’s maternal ancestors. These eliminations left the two strongest
possibilities – one of the parents of my mother’s paternal grandmother, Sarah Partee Reed (1852-1923).
The only known North
Carolina link in my mother’s family tree is indeed through her paternal
grandmother. Fifty percent (50%) of my mother’s X-DNA came from her. Grandma
Sarah’s mother – my mother’s great-grandmother – was Polly Partee, who was born somewhere in North Carolina around 1830.
Somehow and someway, she was taken to Mississippi and became enslaved on Squire
Boone Partee’s plantation in Panola County (Como) by 1851. Sarah’s father may have been a man named James Partee, who was born somewhere in
Virginia around 1825. Was Polly Partee or Grandma Sarah’s father a long-lost sibling
to one of the aforementioned five people in Ernest’s family tree? Either way
would make Ernest and my mother 3rd cousins-once removed. Can I
figure this one out? How? Despite the challenges at hand, Ernest’s connection
has given me a potential area in North Carolina where Polly or Grandma Sarah’s
father probably came from.
UPDATE
(11/1/2013): The ultimate DNA
proof has been found.
Ernest is
in fact related to my mother and me through her paternal grandmother, Sarah
Partee Reed. This was confirmed from my cousin Caronde Puryear’s DNA results on
Gedmatch. Caronde Puryear is the
granddaughter of my mother’s paternal first cousin, Armentha Reed Puryear. My mother’s father, Simpson Reed, and Cousin
Armentha’s father, Pleas Reed, were the sons of Sarah Partee Reed. Grandma Sarah passed her X-chromosome to all
of her children. Her sons passed that
X-chromosome to their daughters.
According to
Gedmatch, Caronde shares a total of 179.1 cM across 8 segments with my mother,
who is her first cousin-twice removed. Caronde also matches my mother and me on
our X-chromosomes at the following locations below in the charts. Ernest, my mother, and me all match on the same
spot on the X-chromosome, from 128.9 to
142.7 (21.2 cM). This area on our
X-chromosome falls within the areas where my mother and I match Caronde, which
is highlighted in yellow.
As males, Ernest and
I only have one X-chromosome that came from our mothers. Therefore, since Ernest and Caronde both
match me in the same area on that X-chromosome, I can thereby conclude that
Ernest and Caronde would match each other, and we are related to Ernest through
Grandma Sarah and one of her parents.
Caronde and my mother
Chr
|
Start Location
|
End Location
|
Centimorgans (cM)
|
SNPs
|
X
|
55,754,985
|
68,138,546
|
3.2
|
390
|
X
|
121,993,670
|
126,664,108
|
7.4
|
574
|
X
|
126,687,974
|
133,541,438
|
5.3
|
711
|
X
|
133,559,169
|
140,874,844
|
14.9
|
995
|
X
|
142,696,569
|
148,575,315
|
12.4
|
923
|
X
|
148,644,876
|
154,551,755
|
14.0
|
942
|
Caronde and me
Chr
|
Start Location
|
End Location
|
Centimorgans (cM)
|
SNPs
|
X
|
121,993,670
|
126,664,108
|
7.4
|
574
|
X
|
126,687,974
|
133,552,216
|
5.3
|
716
|
X
|
133,559,169
|
140,760,647
|
14.4
|
970
|
X
|
142,727,036
|
154,551,755
|
26.3
|
1,870
|
UPDATE (09/18/2014): Via Gedmatch, Ernest matches Caronde on the X, as concluded above.
Chr
|
Start Location
|
End Location
|
Centimorgans (cM)
|
SNPs
|
X
|
128,440,445
|
140,758,133
|
18.9
|
1453
|
“Few slaves escaped
the pain of forcible separation from their kin, especially during the
nineteenth century. The spread of cotton cultivation across the Lower South
resulted in the removal or sale of some one million slaves from their homes in
the seaboard states, deeply disturbing the civilization that black people had
established in the aftermath of their forced exodus from Africa.” – Dr. Ira Berlin, University of Maryland, from Families and Freedom
It's great when we can narrow down relationships like this. Great work!
ReplyDeleteThis is such great research Melvin!
ReplyDeleteFantastic work, Mel !!
ReplyDeleteGreat discovery. I'm challenged by numbers, how did you determine the percentage of shared X DNA and the percentage of shared DNA across several chromosome segments?
ReplyDelete