How DNA Proved My Family Tree Connection

I must admit that I have always been a bit embarrassed to admit that I cannot prove the origins of my own surname. I have been researching my family tree for more than thirty years and have found most of my ancestors back into the 1700s with quite a few families traced even further back. Yet there has always been one glaring exception: the origins of my EASTMAN ancestors. I once remarked in a video interview, "Well, for years I've had this mystery. I have a great-great-grandfather who was deposited by a Martian spaceship...".

Obviously, that's a bit of a joke; but this man's origins remain a mystery to me. It is as if he had come from another planet. I have not been able to prove his origins. Along the way, I have traced the origins of other families in his area who shared the same surname. Indeed, I have strong conjecture and circumstantial evidence of his origins, but I have never found the one scrap of paper that ties him into the other Eastman families in the area. Now, thanks to some great assistance from Katherine Hope Borges and from the folks at Family Tree DNA, I have that proof.

To be sure, DNA does not give the first names of any of these ancestors. It does not state, "Your great-great-great-grandfather's first name was...". DNA cannot do that. However, for the first time, I now have proof that I am a member of the same family as the other EASTMAN men who have had their Y-chromosome DNA tested. Since most of the other men have been able to document their descent from Roger Eastman (often spelled “Easman”), a 1638 immigrant to Salisbury, Massachusetts, I am almost certainly descended from the same man.

NOTE: "Almost certainly" is not the same as undeniable proof. There is still a slight chance that I might be descended from some other person of that time period who was a brother or cousin of Roger Eastman, perhaps even a rather distant cousin. However, I am obviously related. This one immigrant appears to have been the only man of the name in Colonial America. A few other EASTMAN men did arrive 200 years or more later, and their family connections to Roger Eastman, if any, are unknown. Several of the other Eastman immigrants came from Sweden, Denmark, Germany. Spain, and one immigrated to the United States from Argentina. I doubt if they are all related to the 1638 immigrant from England.

Roger Eastman and his wife Sarah had ten sons. Several of those sons also raised large families, so the Eastman Y-chromosome has been widely disbursed. I always assumed that I was related to this one couple but never had proof until now.

Luckily for me, I met Katherine Hope Borges, a DNA expert and Director of the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG). In the course of conversation, She mentioned that I should start a DNA project to prove or disprove my relationship to others with the EASTMAN name. Katherine then volunteered to do all the hard work. If you have ever met Katherine, you already know that she is quick to do things like that!

Today, thanks to Katherine and also thanks to the folks at Family Tree DNA, I now have proof that I am related to the others who are known descendants of Roger Eastman, the 1638 immigrant. I am "in the family."

Katherine Hope Borges has since written a description of the process she went through to establish my family identity. The article was published in the Southern California Genealogical Society's newsletter and is now available online.

If you would like to read a typical example of how any male can prove or disprove his connection to another family, please read Katherine Hope Borges' (non-technical) article at http://www.scgsgenealogy.com/EastmanDNA.htm.

Comments

[Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak]

I knew if anyone could make a believer of you, Dick, it would be Katherine!

[Jim Bartlett]

Dick; I started the BARTLETT-DNA Project in 2002, and first-off "proved" John BARTLEY b 1724 of Culpeper Co, VA was son of my ancestor, Thomas BARTLETT b 1705 of Richmond Co, VA (after he moved to Culpeper Co in 1750, the county clerks always wrote his name "BARTLEY", and it's stuck to this day.) Thomas BARTLETT had 5 sons, one stayed in Richmond Co, VA and the other 4 moved west - we now have matching DNA from descendants of 4 of his sons. With 150 participants in our project, we've now "proved" 18 different BARTLETT lines in Colonial America, and very much want to get more BARTLETTs from the UK involved. I now teach "DNA as Genealogy's Newest Tool", at DC, MD, VA, WV genealogy venues. I believe the trick is to explain this new tool, with virtually no biology terms. I'm glad to see you're "hooked", and look forward to more articles for genealogists. Jim

[Betty Saunders]

I too have been hitting a brick wall. I started doing a search on my grandfather's family in the mid 1970s and just cannot find anything in Nova Scotia census records. I know he was born (supposedly) in Dublin, Lreland and went to Nova Scotia Canada at a young age. While he was working on a bridge at Jacquet River, New Brunswick, he met my grandmother, married, had 1 child who died young, then they went to Saskatchewan until about 1913. Their family continued to grow. Then he was injured on the railroad in 1923, and my grandmother died a few years later. My mom, being 9 years od, and her five siblings were sent to different orphanages in Saint John, NB, thus my lack of information. The only records I have is his army record (upon joining), marriage record, and death record. His name was Harry Edward Sullivan born June 19, 1884. His parents are given on marriage certificate as Thomas Sullivan and Elizabeth Carrigan.

There is a genetic heart condition that runs in our family, and I have made contact with one other Sullivan descendent in the US whose family has the same condition. It is know as idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis (IHSS). I,myself had the condition, and had surgery on my septum and the aortic valve replace almost three years ago. Betty Saunders, 621-570 Aberdeen St., Fredericton, NB E3B 5N4 bas38@nbnet.nb.ca

[Jim Rutledge]

Good Article on the DNA Mr. Eastman glad you got the DNA done now from here on you will be amazed how much closer you read the DNA article's, you will be looking for the clue that you are linked to this or that person. Our Rutledge Surgroup Name started a chart on the DNA that we Rutledge's have done back in 2006.It was well put together with our ID hid and we could go compare with our other group members, This has really proven helpful for many of us as all of us Claim to be related to the Signers of the Delacration of Independence thur Edward Rutledge. Keep your eyes open for DNA links you never know what part of the world you might have came from. Jimr nioio@gate.net

[Sandra J Smith]

After more than 40 years collecting all reference to my maiden name of Foskett and tracing their origins back to 1405, I had dozens of Foskett family trees which didn't seem to "fit".
Rather than waste further time, I too set up a DNA surname project and now, 2 years later and 10 results, I know there were at least 3 originators of the name. It has allowed me to attache a very large family tree on to mine and also divorce a tree which I had earlier believed to have been attached to mine. Except for 1 lonely guy who may be the result of a non-paternal event, all the others are related in some way. This includes the descendants of John Foskett of MA in USA who is the antecedent of at least 27,000 folks in that country. So we know he is related but as yet not sure how.

[Dae Powell]

A wonderful, pragmatic and heart-warming experience, isn't it? Who'd have thought that modern science could help render a sense of belonging? Nice article, Dick. You, too, Karen!

Happy Dae·
http://ShoeStringGenealogy.com

[Richard D. Rich]

I have a similar match to two descendants of Michael DeRich who died in Salem, MA in 1692. My oldest known Rich ancestor is John Rich who was born in New York in 1811 and died in Deerfield, MI in 1884. New York is a big state and finding John's parentage has been very difficult.

[Trudy Kennedy]

Dick,
One of our family members took the 12-point match Y-DNA test and several matches have been found, but not much help. Which Y-DNA test(s) did you take?

[Elvina]

I had the Y-DNA67 test done on my father's side of the family and the results showed the surname was entirely different.

I had heard one of my ancestors may have changed the last name to Ross because of a brush with the law. The earliest I find my Ross line is in the 1860's. One census says he was born in Louisiana and another says Mississippi.

The test results show my surname to be Coffey. I have joined the Coffey DNA Project and even though I match others in the project I can find no connection with the Ross name.

[Sunni Montgomery]

Y-DNA67 is the only way to go for the most definitive results. It is more expensive, but well worth it.

I started out at the lower level and upgraded to 67, that was when a brick wall in my line finally crumbled. Of course, there was a lot of strong circumstantial evidence that also supported the DNA results.

I may never get that document that proves it beyond all doubt, but at least I am moving in the right direction with the line at last.

[Connie Newell]

I have a similar brick wall. My husband's grandfather was Charles E Or A Newell and first shows up in Athol, Worcester Cty, MA in 1889. I have an "intention to marry" record in Athol in 1890, but can find no marriage record. There were 2 sons born, one in 1891 and another in 1893. Wife, Eliza Bonin Bennett, died in 1894 and Chas E or A Newell left his 2 young sons with their maternal grandparents and was never heard from again. Because of no 1890 census and not finding a marriage record, I have no identifying information on this man.

I had my husband's YDNA37 done and have lots of 12 marker matches and 3 25 matches, but no 37 matches. All matches have different surnames. I recently upgraded to 67, but have no results on that.

Like you, Dick, I have succeeded in proving other lines back to the 1600s, but the family name has been my brick wall.

[John Lisle]

I agree that the 67 marker Y-DNA test is the best test today for a definitive haplotype. I also recommend that members in my projects get the deep clade test run, if available.

Further, I am sure that Katherine suggested that you ask FTDNA to review your 2003 data to assure that the current standards for reporting results are being met. A few of my earliest members have found minor changes when the data has been reviewed and those changes have been important for getting a good fit.

Lastly, if you have enough members in your Eastman project who have done 67 marker testing and some have good Eastman pedigree data, you can begin to prepare a triangulation matrix as suggested by Charles Kerchner

http://www.kerchner.com/deducedancestralhaplotype.htm

This can be used to look track specific mutations and better predict specific family branches.

I am using this with my Davidson project - www.davidsongenes.org

[Ron Nicely]

I had my genealogy back to an Anthony Kneisle (Nicely) but a blank wall from there back. I met a man named Jacob Knisely who had his ancestry back to Switzerland. Someone suggested a DNA teat so in 2004 both he and I tested and we had a 100% 12 marker DNA match. I then knew we were in the same family. It was still a matter of a link and after 2 years of looking I was studying his 6th Great Grandfather Antonius Knussli and in one little article I found a comment that he also had a second wife. Then I found a 1732 census where he was listed with a wife and young child. The children to his first wife were all much older and I knew the birth year of my 4th Great Grandfather Adam Kneisle was 1730. During this time I had 2 other descendants of Antonius join my FTDNA site and they also matched my DNA 100%. It was at that point I had my link. Now the genealogy data Jacob Knisely had said we were related to a Martin Nussli in 1520 in Switzerland. It was not long before a Bruno Nuessli from Switzerland joined my DNA website and his DNA did not match mine, but he was a direct descendant of Martin Nussli. I recently found an error in the original research and found that my ancestor line was Knussli and there was another line of Nussli both in the same general areas of Switzerland but totally separate family lines as proved by DNA testing and also the information supplied by a researcher that the names were definely not the same. So DNA can work both ways, to prove a link and to disprove a link. I am very pleased with the results from Family Tree DNA and the help they have supplied to my family line.

[magenie]

I am the administrator of the Newsom(e) project. And like you Dick, knew my line was correct, but lacked the document for one link. I had a cousin who donated his DNA and have now proved the line with DNA results(which is still not adequate proof for lineage societies.) We were saddened when one of the Newsome participant's returns proved he was not genetically a Newsome. However, there was another family project for which he had a perfect genetic match. A little research revealed one of his many great grandmothers had been the next door neighbor to that family back in the early 1800's. He found his true genetic line!

[Elizabeth]

Fabulous article. Thanks. This DNA information is too much for my old brain. I have a grandmother who came from Venus. I cannot find her parents (SULLIVAN) from Cork or any relatives. If I had a nephew or a cousin tested, is there any hope of plausible results? Thanks for any answers. Bette

[Ann Turner]

Dick, another resource you can consult is Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation. I entered your FTDNA values there and queried the database for Eastmans. Here's the URL for the search results (you will need to create a free account to access the database).

http://tinyurl.com/SMGF-Eastman

Your top match has the same unusual value that stymied your search for FTDNA matches at first. Unfortunately, the pedigree doesn't go back far enough to help you, but it's possible that this mutation is a "tag" for your branch of Eastmans and you could locate a research partner. It's not possible to contact the person through SMGF directly, due to privacy agreements, but you can often find people who have posted their pedigrees at RootsWeb or elsewhere. Another alternative is to create a free account at http://genetree.com and see if you have matches there. GeneTree can send a request to SMGF to forward messages to your matches.

[Charlotte Kirby]

Wow, this is awesome - technology is great! lol. One of my 2xg-grandmothers was illegitimate. Maybe one day when genealogy DNA testing gets really established and makes it down here to little ole NZ, I'll find out who her father was :)

[Robert DENIS]

I have never obtained DNA results to help me track my family tree.

My family tree URL is "web.ncf.ca/et116"

The only names I have in this tree are those to whom I hav found a direct link (by marriage, or by blood or both)

?? Is DNA testing expensive ??
?? What information can I expect from such a test ??