Cluster Genealogy – 2 DNA & Geography

CW, as stated in the first post about Cluster Genealogy, has had every possible DNA test one could have. So one of the first things I did was look at his surname DNA project and his results as compared to others who match him closely.

For those who need a little help to find DNA projects, simply type the Surname you are interested in into a search engine, “Smith DNA Project”, and if there is a DNA project for the surname it will pop up. Oh! What we did before the internet! Editorial comments aside, it’s pretty easy to find. One note of caution, do not copy and post information directly from the DNA project to anywhere public.

So in looking at CW’s DNA Surname Project I found several entries for “W” in the spread sheet who share CW’s Haplogroup, R-M269. In just looking at the people listed in the same Haplogroup, I see:

Samuel, b. 1643, Portsmith, New Hampshire, d. 1718
Ichabod, 1610, England
Thomas, 1787, Buckfastliegh, Devon (alternate surname spelling) This fella is also listed in this subclade but also in two other subclades.
No Name Unknown Origin
No Name Unknown Origin
William, b. 1750 – 1795, United Kingdom
Charles, b. 1769 Unknown – 1850 Alabama
Levi, 1780 – 1849 Unknown Origin
Levi, 1780 – 1849 Unknown Origin
No Name Unknown Origin
Samuel H., b. 1803, Cornish, ME, USA  <— this is CW’s ancestor
William, b.1800 d.aft 1880, Unknown Origin
Levi, B. 1780 and d. 1849, Unknown Origin
William (completely different surname) b 1860 d 1910 Unknown Origin

All of these entries are listed with the note, “R1b-M343 Backbone SNP Pack”, so it appears that FTDNA thinks these fella’s are all connected to some point in time (could be thousands of years).

So I now have a list of possible family members for CW, that I will need to research to see if they “fit”.

I have already had an opportunity to look into Levi, 1780-1849 as a fellow WikiTreer has Levi of SC associated with what he believes is CW’s Maine line (he had all of the children of this family located in Maine, then the one Child, Levi, in SC, an anomaly worth looking into for sure). Researching this Levi of SC gives us a man who was born in South Carolina, lived in South Carolina and died in South Carolina. There is no apparent connection, in the genealogical time frame, to CW’s family in Maine. I did find another Levi who lived in Maine at the right time and the right place to possibly be Levi who is the Levi of Maine and the one connected to CW..

So new questions arise, were the DNA tests associated with Levi of SC, actually for the Levi of Maine? The only way to find out is to search for the testers and find out what information they have for the paper trail. Then we can see which of the Levi’s in the DNA Project belong to Levi of Maine and which belong to the Levi of SC.

Off to find some paper trails for the rest and to find some testers to help with identifying the right Levi’s!