DNA Testing

Let me try to explain DNA testing as I understand it. We all learned about DNA testing during the OJ Simpson trial, of course research began years prior to his trial and it has now branched into the Science that they showcased during the trial but also genealogists use it to determine ancestry.

DNA is passed from Father to Son through the Y Chromosome and this will stay the same generation to generation, by DNA testing you can match your MRCA Most Recent Common Ancestor with someone else, remember this goes from male to male so my DNA is the same as my Dad's and his Dad and so on.

Once you do a DNA test you are placed in a Haplogroup the group is given a number letter combination name and you are grouped with everyone in the past with that same name. There are different levels of the test, there is now a 67 marker test.

Y-DNA Haplotypes and Haplogroups

   Your Y-DNA haplotype is the set of numbers for each marker, i.e. DYS 393= 13. Your haplotype will never change, though it may grow larger if you order additional tests that extend your results from 25 to 37 or more markers.
   Your Y-DNA haplogroup is the assignment to one of the clades such as R1a1 or R1b1a2. Haplogroups assign individuals to a group whose founder or "originator" lived many thousands of years  ago. Each haplogroup may include thousands or even millions of men, such as R1b1a2. Your haplogroup may change as new information becomes available and the genetic tree of man is revised to include the new information. You can find much information regarding haplogroups on the internet. The World Families web site has information and links to additional sources that can answer many questions regarding DNA and genealogy at: WorldFamilies 

I did the 46 marker test at Ancestry.com it turns out our ancestry from 30,000 years ago reveals that we are Stonemasons The Haplogroup is I2b1  

http://dna.ancestry.com/PaternalAncestry?uid=1494816&tid=77287  Not sure if you can get to this report or not.

 

DNA

My Tests | Order Test | Groups | DNA Account

Gary Roger West

Paternal Lineage Test

Haplogroup: I2b1

Results | Matches | Map | Haplogroup | Tree

Ancient ancestry:

The Stonemasons

Haplogroup:

I2b1

You belong to the Stonemasons, haplogroup I, which is about 30,000 years old. The Stonemasons are best known for crafting pointed stone blades, known as Gravette Points, to hunt bison, horse, reindeer and mammoths.

Learn more

The next link is to the West DNA Project. What I did was sent my test results to this project and had them post them. DNA testing is easy, The hardest thing is paying the fee to be tested. They send you a package with cotton swabs and you swab the inside of your mouth and send the kit back to them. In about 4 weeks they send you the results.

 

http://web.utk.edu/~corn/westdna/

If you go into this site then select Results we are listing number W262 . Based on the results we do not match any of the 299 Wests tested. Although we are listed and there are no matches this will stay up there and as more people test that match then we will be notified. Right now Ancestry tells me that My MRCA Most Recent Common Ancester is from 350 years ago and it matches a the name Folkman and English. SO back in 1660 we had a common ancestor. In talking to Mr English he has ancestors who settled in Culpepper County Ky - West of Lexington by the name of Jameson in about 1800, Their ancestors came from Germany, we just can not tie our families together at this time. I know how my DNA in several databases and ocassionally hear from people who we match from 300 or so years ago, most of these end in a deadend but eventually we will make a breakthru. What this tells me is West is an assumed name for us and at this time we do not know where the West name came from. My assumption is the Wests were on a plantation owned by a West in Scott County and given that name. I might have mentioned there are 5 or 6 West Families who were slave owners in the 1800's in Scott County.