Testing my history - mtDNA

Now that we've discussed the basic idea about genealogical DNA testing (if you don't know what I'm talking about refer to the last post "It's Pretty Amazing What You Can Learn From A Tube Of Spit" ) it's time to talk about the tests I've done.

A couple years ago I took the mtDNA test with Family Tree DNA. This is a super simple cheek swab that comes in the mail.  You rub it on the inside of your cheek and mail it back. I only did the basic test at the time (HVR1) due to the cost (on a side note this test is said to be available for $39 starting Spring 2013, that's down from $99).  Even with the basic test I was able to learn my basic Haplogroup and be connected to distant cousins who share my mtDNA.

Confused?  If you look at the diagram below you'll see two types of DNA.   The one on the left is Nuclear DNA.  This DNA is inherited from all of your ancestors and is basically genetic material being passed down from generation to generation.  Most of your genetic material is this type.  This DNA is tested with the autosomal test which will be discussed in my next post.

The diagram on the right shows how Mitochondrial DNA is inherited from a single female lineage.  This makes up less than .001% of your genetic material.  That's not much.  The cool thing about mtDNA is that it has been passed down from mother to child for thousands of years with only minor variations or mutations here and there.  Check out the chart below for the visual.

From http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/news/071101_genealogy

While nuclear DNA is mixed over and over with each generation with some genetic material being passed down to one child and slightly different genetic material being passed down to another, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is a direct link to your ancestors thousands of years ago.  Maybe that's nerdy but I think its pretty cool.

By tracing these maternal lines they have broken most of human kind into several basic Haplogroups.  The majority of Europeans belong to one of seven Haplogroups.  A Haplogroup is your "Deep Ancestry." Sharing a common Haplogroup won't tell you if you are related to someone (maybe thousands of years ago but it won't keep you from marrying in most states) but it will tell you where your direct maternal ancestor lived thousands of years ago and their basic migration pattern.  

My basic Haplogroup is J or Jasmine as she has been nicknamed by Dr Bryan Sykes (he writes really good books about this stuff if you find it interesting). 

From Wikipedia:

"Haplogroup J (along with 'T') is associated with the peoples who migrated to Europe and developed farming and herding during the Neolithic Era (8,000 - 10,000 yrs ago)."

The test also breaks down probable heritage of your maternal line by comparing it to where the highest consecrations of people that share your Haplogroup live.  Here is my breakdown:

What this tells me is that my maternal line is 89.16% Western European and 9.38% Middle Eastern.  Kinda cool.  As I said earlier, this is a very small portion of your DNA so these results are from less than .001% of your genetic material but the fact that this has been passed down to me for thousands of years is just really interesting.

On a side note, in Dr Bryan Sykes book Saxons, Vikings and Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland he said they believe "Jasmine" came from somewhere in the Middle East.  I wonder if that explains the Middle Eastern ancestry?

I haven't gotten very far back on my mtDNA line but here's what it looks like so far:

Connecting to Cousins

To find cousins with mtDNA you would need to share a direct maternal line.  For example, check out the very crude chart below.  Since mtDNA is passed down from mother to child and only women can pass it down, if my mothers, mothers, mothers, mothers, mother had another daughter, all of her female descendants would share the same mtDNA to pass down to their children.

In the example above my 4th cousin is connected to the same 3rd great-grandmother by their mothers, mothers, mothers, mothers, mothers, mother therefore we will share the same mtDNA.  By comparing my mtDNA to others in the huge databases on sites like Family Tree DNA they can connect me to others who share a common female ancestor.  Since mtDNA is passed down to both male and female children, my 4th cousin can be male or female but since only women can pass down mtDNA the generations between us must all be women.

Men have something similar called Y-DNA which is their paternal line and is passed down from father to son.  Women don't have Y-DNA so this is exclusively a male thing.  This typically follows a surname since it would be his fathers, fathers, fathers, fathers... There are many groups for most surnames online where men can compare their results and discover which ancestor their surname is from.  This is handy when, for example, two people with the surname "Hawkins" arrived in this country at the same place within a short period of time.  Those men may have been related but by comparing Y-DNA men can determine which "Hawkins" ancestor is theirs. Really cool stuff.

It's Pretty Amazing What You Can Learn From A Tube Of Spit

The first thing people think about when they hear "DNA" is blood. Honestly that is what I would have thought about before the popularity of all the genealogy DNA stuff piqued my interest. After doing a little research I was very happy to learn there are no needles involved in the collection of the DNA. I've done two DNA tests with two separate companies to date and one was a cheek swab and the other was a tube full of spit.  It's pretty amazing what you can learn from a tube of spit these days.

Before I go into what I've learned from my tests let me stick a little something from Wikipedia in here to help explain what I'm talking about.

A genealogical DNA test looks at a person's genetic code at specific locations. Results give information about genealogy or personal ancestry. Generally, these tests compare the results of an individual to others from the same lineage or to current and historic ethnic groups. The test results are not meant for medical use. They do not determine specific genetic diseases or disorders.  They are intended only to give genealogical information. 

Types of tests

There are three types of genealogical DNA tests, autosomal (atDNA), mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and Y-Chromosome (Y-DNA).  Autosomal tests for all ancestry.  Y-DNA tests a male along his direct paternal line. mtDNA tests a man or woman along their direct maternal line. Any of these tests can be used to some degree for recent genealogy or for ethnic ancestry.

Make sense?  Here's a diagram for those us that are visual learners:

How DNA works. From  http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2008/09/29/the-genographic-project/

There are three things to note from this diagram.

1. Genetic material from both parents is passed down to their offspring. (more on this in a minute)
2. mtDNA is passed down from mother to child but never from father to child.
3. Y-DNA is passed from father to sons but not to daughters (girls don't have Y-DNA).  This usually follows a surname.

Genetic Material

Parents pass down genetic material to their children but they don't pass down all of their genetic material. I watched a really good video by Crista Cowan from Ancestry.com that helped explain that concept. She said people believe that a parent will pass down half of their genetic material like in the picture below they would pass down half an orange, half a strawberry, half an apple, etc...  Actually the genetic material is passed down like below where one parent will pass down a strawberry and a watermelon and the other will pass down a lime and a melon. A second child might get an orange and a watermelon from one parent and a lemon and a melon from the other. Two siblings will both get genetic material from the parents but not the exact same genetic material.

From Crista Cowan on Ancestry.com

This is a super crazy basic version of how the genealogical DNA works but hopefully this will help explain things so my future DNA posts will make sense.  

www.WilliamsHawkins.com

I finally got my family history site up where I have the tree posted.  I have it password protected so if you would like to check it out please click the "register" link and I'll get you hooked up. I have over 4,000 people in there and am working on getting the media (documents, photos, etc...) uploaded but please be patient while I work on it. If you have additional information you would like to add or you see something that isn't correct please let me know and I'll update the tree. :)

www.WilliamsHawkins.com

Letter From Little GM

In the last post I mentioned a letter Little GM gave my dad before his trip to Norway.  First, here's a photo of Little GM.  She was a sweet and wonderful grandma and is missed by all who knew her.



Dellablanche Fausch 1908-2009

Next, here's the letter she gave him.  There's very interesting information about the family.  Some I've been able to verify and some I haven't yet but I will keep everyone updated as I know more.

My grandfather, Jacob Stensan Urdahl, born March 19, 1830 at Ryflyke, in Voss or Vadts, Norway emigrated to America before 1866 and my grandmother Mari Rugtvedt, born July 21, 1836 at Etne in Storalen, Norway where married in Nevada, Iowa on Jan 24, 1871.  Mari Rugtvedt was the daughter of Gunter Rugtvedt and Margaret Stole whose 5 children where Seri (died in Norway), Ingeri (1832-1913, emigrated to America 1869-70), Mari (1836-1918), Osmund and Marthe (died in Norway).  Margaret Stole was the daughter of Osmund Stole and Martha Urdahl (other children's names not known.)

From hereon in tracing back we do not have specific names or dates.  My grandparents were second cousins and they were both 5th generation direct descendants of King Erling Skakke Stole.  There was some intermarriage along the line.  The rest of the information that we have is that King Erling Skakke Stole had a daughter named Engebarg who married a minister by the name of Orback nd a daughter of theirs married a Sjur Soreim.

My grandmother, Mari Rugtvedt Urdahl, had some Rugtvedt uncles who owned quite a bit of land.  Some of the Rugtvedt farms were supposedly covered by landslides.

According to one cousin we are also supposed to be descended from a Scottish king, that would probably be a Viking ancestor that helped or established some of the trading centers like Dublin, etc. and settled there for awhile.  We don't have any other information on this so far.

In reading about Norway in some library books I found one list of Norwegian kings an it listed a Erling Skakke reigning in 1161 and his son Magnus was crowned in Nidaros (now Trondheim) Cathedral in 1163.  In reading some of these books there seemed to be quite a few kings and it could be that in the early days there were many small kingdoms.

Etne (or Etna) and Ryflyke (where my grandparent were born) are fairly close, about 25 or 30 air miles apart and both are closer to Stavanger than Bergen.

I have circled in red on the enclosed map the towns of Etne (or Etna) and Ryflyke where my grandparents were born.

I have circled in green the two closest Stave churches - Roldal Stave Church is around 25 miles or so from Etne - Eidsborg Stave Church (56 miles from Roldal) is next closest.

Mike, if you could get a photo or picture postcard of either church or both.  I would be forever grateful!  But if it is not on your itinerary, I don' want you to take the time - you will be busy seeing all that beautiful scenery and we don't want to take your time away from that.  We understand that you may not be able to go to the places where my grandparents were born but the information about them that I'm sending you is for you to keep and as I find out any more later on I'll send it to you and eventually to all of our grandchildren.

Have fun in the land of our Viking ancestors!

Love to you and Mary and Angie and all the rest!
    Grandma and Grandpa W.

P.S. I have started taking Norwegian Rosemaling classes once a month.  Grandma

Verena Neuenschwander

My last post talked a bit about a "Brick Wall" in genealogy.  One such dead end for me was my 3rd GGrandmother Verena Neuenschwander .

The mystery of Verena began with a letter from my GGrandmother Dellablanche Fausch Williams.  Several years ago Little GM (as we called Dellablanche) sent my dad a letter prior to a visit to Norway outlining our Norwegian family and mentioning a few places he might want to visit while there.  Verena is Swiss but her son (David Fausch) married Anna Urdahl who was Norwegian so she was included in the tree.  Little GM actually mentioned her as "Veronica" Neuenschwander.  I searched for this Veronica Neuenschwander for years never finding a clue to explain who she could have been.  

As the popularity of Ancestry.com increased and more people had searchable tree's online I kept finding David Fausch listed as the son of Mary Sherer.  Everyone had the correct father as John Christian Fausch but almost all of them listed Mary as the mother.  I couldn't understand why Little GM listed her as Veronica Neuenschwander. 

The answer came as the result of two discoveries.  One, Verena was a fairly popular name for Scandinavian people at that time and most of them liked to use multiple nicknames.  Veronica was one of those nicknames.  

The second discovery was figuring out why and how people associated Mary Sherer with Verena's children.  It turns out that Verena had a bunch of kids in a pretty short amount of time.  Her first child Anna Fausch was born in 1866 (Verena was 23).  Within 11 years Verena gave birth to 7 children (Anna, Clara, John, David, Rose, Edward and Vrena).  This poor exhausted woman unfortunately died due to complications with the birth of her 7th child.  As you can imagine the children were very young when she died.  Her widow, John C Fausch, quickly married another woman to help raise them.  That woman was Mary Sherer.  

If you've never seen a census report this is what they look like:

1880 Census report for John C. Fausch and family living in Polk County Iowa.

The head of the house is listed first followed by the spouse and children.  Once John C. Fausch remarried, Mary was listed as his wife and everyone assumed she was the mother of all the children.  

Note on Mary Sherer: This is from the webpage http://www.timpefamily.com/Scherer_and_Sherer.htm about her family.

     "Mary Sherer married John C. Fausch. Mary Zeman writes "They had five children, and lost them all on the same day to black diptheria. He took her on a trip around the world, which was not commonly done in those days, and they did have three more children." Their three children were Lydia (married Arnold Riedesel), Lenoir (married Weis) and Mae (married Dickinson)."

Once the mystery of her name and her children was solved I could focus on who her parents were.  The tricky nickname thing played a hand in my struggles with this as well.  Evidently another nickname for Verena is "Fanny."  I found a Fanny Neuenschwander in a census report but didn't connect the two until I knew that. I was then able to find out that her fathers name was John B. Neuenschwander.  

This is were it gets very interesting. Digging through the books in the KEO-MAH Genealogical Society in Oskaloosa, Iowa I found a book that looked like this:

 I figured I'd give it a glance out of curiosity and guess what I found.  

The Mennonites in Iowa by Melvin Gingerich, Chapter XIII Mennonites In Polk And Page Counties, 

Page 146-147

"Preacher Joseph Schroeder of Polk County has been referred to several times.  He was the preacher in charge of a small Mennonite church organized in 1858, at the home of John B. Neuenschwander of Polk City, Iowa. [...]

First to come to the Polk City community were the Neuenschwanders and Nussbaums, who moved there from Putnam County, Ohio, in 1849. [...]

These families spoke the German language, having emigrated to Ohio from Switzerland about twenty years earlier. John B. Neuenschwander had come to Ohio in  1823 and married there eleven years later.  By 1856 he had twelve children and two more were born later.  His family was prominent in the affairs of the community, he being the deacon of the church and the father-in-law of Preacher Joseph Schroeder. [...] In 1868 Neuenschwander moved to Moniteau County, Missouri, and from that place his descendants scattered to other counties of Missouri and other States."

John B. and Anna Neuenschwander

That was a major breakthrough in my research.  Mennonites!? What?! I had no idea although after speaking to my Aunt Ann I guess she had always heard there was a Mennonite connection but didn't know how it all fit in.  Those few pages in that book really opened up a flood gate of information about the Neuenschwanders.  I then found a website (http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/N483ME.html) that gave even more information.  

"Neuenschwander, a family name, means a man from Neuenschwand, a place near Langnau, canton of Bern, Switzerland. The word Neuenschwand means a place where the forest was recently cleared. The first person of this family known to have been an Anabaptist was Uli Neuenschwander from Eggiwil, who appeared at the Bern disputation March 11-18, 1538. In 1551 Mathis Neuenschwander fled from his Emmental home because of his Anabaptist faith. Peter Neuenschwander and family left their home in Langnau in 1729 and settled at Cortébert in the Jura. A son Michael lived on the Münsterberg. The latter's son Michael moved to the Normanvillars settlement in France and in 1823 migrated to Wayne County, Ohio, becoming one of the first settlers in the Chippewa settlement. In 1833 the family moved to Putnam County, Ohio, to become the first Mennonite settlers there. A son, John B. Neuenschwander, founded the Mennonite settlement in Polk County, Iowa, by settling there in 1849. This family moved to Moniteau Co., Missouri, USA), in 1868, becoming one of the pioneer families in that settlement. Peter M. Neuenschwander was a bishop at Berne, IN. The Dutch Naamlijst of 1802 lists Ulrich Neuenschwander as an elder of the congregation at Boliou (?) in the county of Limousin, France; he was ordained in 1782.Another family that some claim were originally Neuenschwanders are the Newschwangers who first appeared in Lancaster County, PA, in the 18th century. Of this family Emmanual Newschwanger (1758-1846) ministered to the Diller congregation (Mennonite Church) near Newville, PA for many years. In Virginia, Abraham Nisewander (1774-1846) served in the Rockingham County Mennonite ministry for a number of years. In later generations the name became common in the Church of the Brethren. Other families of this name have been located in Ontario, Kansas and Oregon.A Neuschwander family immigrated to Oregon from Switzerland in the 1880s, eventually settling near Silverton."

As you can imagine I totally nerded out when I found this information. 

I'm still digging through and organizing everything we found on our trip to Iowa.  It was a hot, dusty week be we found great stuff that I know we wouldn't have found had we not gone.  Thanks to my dad and Aunt Ann for coming along and helping me dig.

Brick Walls

When researching your family tree you will inevitably come to a person or persons where no matter how hard you try the information just dries up.  Genealogists and archivists and librarians and regular folk are diligently scanning and sorting as fast as possible but the amount of documentation out there that still needs to be sorted through and added to the interwebs is staggering I'm sure.  These stopping points in your search are called a "Brick Wall."  The name pretty much says it all.  Sometimes it only takes one little clue to break through that wall but often you will be stuck there for years.  The times when you are able to find a clue that leads you over that wall are like solving a great mystery and this my friends is why genealogy is so addictive!!

The Road To Iowa Actually Is Paved In Corn

We're back!  We've actually been back for a few weeks but things have been so busy I haven't had a chance to do things like update everyone on what we found.  I'll need to break down our discoveries into several different posts. In this post I just really want to confirm the rumor that Iowa is made of corn.  They have corn like we have grapes up here in Wine Country.  Every inch of open land is covered in corn or soy.  We had a a great trip though and I was so happy to be able to do it with Dad and Aunt Ann.  We worked well as a team and I think we got just about as much as we could in the time we were given.  I am totally glad we made the trip and I can't wait to make others to discover even more of our history.