Segmentology and the X chromosome- a theory

It isn't hard to find references to "sticky" DNA or inheritance of segments in blocks on blogs today. And almost all of the experts will tell you not to use the X chromosome for analysis and confirmation of relationships. I am not a hundred percent convinced that we should avoid it entirely though.

I don't know the reason for the affinity of some DNA to stick around in larger segments over several generations. Is it because within those SNPs is a sequencing that is more preferential, or is it a factor of genetic dominance? I really don't know. And maybe someday I will become more educated and understand the why better. For now though, I don't need to know the why.

There is definitely prevalence for large inheritance patterns in the first 22 chromosomes on both of my parents, mostly my mom, but what about the larger DNA segments on the X chromosome? Is there a way of looking at the amount of DNA and guessing the location of the generation it comes from? I am not sure, but I would like to try and find out.

The X chromosome is funny. For one thing, men only have one, so they pass what they receive entirely to their daughters. But the mom's well they can pass it along in all sort of ways. I have seen one analysis in one blog where one of the X was passed as whole for several generations. Which is why I think they say don't look at it. My daughter got 2/3 of her X chromosome from me from my father, and only 1/3 from my mother. Something I think that explains a great deal in why she has so much less Native DNA in admixtures. A lot of my mom's Native DNA is on her X chromosome.

Looking at my father's X, he (well we) share a rather large segment in common with several descendants of  our McCurdy family and a few others. I have been trying to pinpoint a common X donator between two of those others to give me a clue on the mother of my ancestor Barsheba Collins. How did I pick her? Well, if you don't know how to tell your X donators, there are some excellent blogs, but basically it goes like this.

If your female, your X donators are your mother and your paternal grandmother. If your male your donator is your mother. It goes back from there in the same pattern.

My father's mother was Evelyne Virginia Hardy. Her mother was Lula Bell Pyburn, and her paternal grandmother was Talula Johnson. Lula Bell's mother was Plina McCurdy. Her paternal grandmother was Mary Jane Chitty. I don't know Talula's mother, but her paternal grandmother was Elizabeth Parker. Plina McCurdy's mother was Amanda Beck, and her paternal grandmother was Barbara Sunday.

Each of the other McCurdy's share the same pattern back to Barbara Sunday, and only one of them has Amanda Beck. Which means for the side I know I have to look at Barbara Sunday. We don't know her paternal grandmother's full name, but she was born in Europe, which doesn't look like the likely candidate since the others all have trees firmly in America, most specifically Georgia. So Barbara Sunday's mother was Barsheba Collins. That's how I got to her.

Looking at the amount of DNA depending on the company, your X is around 196 cMs. The segment I am looking at is 40 cMs, so not a small segment. Which in theory should mean, it should be closer, well, in my theory anyway. So can I take that 40 cM and look at the amount and possibly look at a number of generations?

My mom and her father's first cousin share 89 cM on the X chromosome. In this case, the cousin is female, so her entire X chromosome from her father came from her mother, Margaret Trahern. Mom's entire X from her father came from Bonnie Adams, a daughter of Margaret Trahern.

Though the inheritance patterns stick around longer on the X, I would think that it may be reasonable to assume that siblings on average share 25-75 percent of the X, but that range in theory could be 0. In terms of cMs then 46-140 cM's, with the possiblity (rare?) of 196 cM's.

I am going to probably not make this very clear, but I propose that all of your first x donators be generation 1, then all of their x donators be generation 2, and so on. Instead of a deduction by 50 percent, since the rate of change is slower and only one parent recombines, I did 25 percent. I also added a 10 percent anomaly range because well, X inheritance is funny. I would be interested to know if this theory of ranges pans out in triangulated matches as an approximate average.

Generation Number for your X donator	Maternal (X donator)	Paternal (X donator)	Proposed range cM	Additional 10 percent for anomoly
1 See note	Mother	Father’s mother (female)	50-140	45-154
2	Grandmother and mothers paternal grandmother	Paternal grandmother’s mother and paternal grandmother’s paternal grandmother	37.5-105	34-115
3	Grandmothers mother and paternal grandmothers mother and her paternal grandmother	Paternal grandmothers mothers mother, and so on …	28-78.5 cM	26-86
4			21-59	19-64
5			15.75-44.25	13.25-48
6			12-33	10.5-37

  Note: There are rules for this range.
1. Sisters will share entirely one X chromosome that they inherit from their father. They can share a possibility of  none (in case of non recombination) to 100 percent on the Chromosome they get from their mother.
2. A brother and a sister would share none to 100 percent of their X from the mother.
3. Two Brothers also would share none to 100 percent of their X from the mother.
4.  Paternal females first cousins will always match their grandmother's X at 196 cM's but may not match each other at that high of a rate, (it would be the same as brother to brother).

I have edited this to include the clarification above and this explanation.
I was corrected on my chart by another researcher who cites non recombination as up to 3 percent in occurrence on the X chromosome. I have read several scientific articles however that show the recombination rate on the X is 0.8 percent with three hot spots where recombination is likely to occur. That is the reason I gave a proposed range of 25-75 as an Average for siblings. Someone way smarter than me gave a statistical math formula for the inheritance of the X. That blog is here.http://vincebuffalo.org/blog/2016/04/03/a-genealogical-look-at-shared-ancestry-on-the-x-chromosome.html

 In the case of both my parents, the table holds true for mom's and for Dad's, it's accurate for their common ancestor, and most likely DNA contributor as the source. I looked into two more, one for each parent, and it would seem that the range is a good place to start looking. For example, my mom matches her mother's sister at 61 cM's which is within the range for 2 on the chart. Note due to recombination, I do not match my great Aunt.

Dynastic relationships among the Choctaw

If there were truly dynastic relationships among the Choctaw of the late 18th and early 19th century then who were they?

Let's begin with the traders themselves. Among the earliest traders established in the Choctaw nation by 1773 were Benjamin James and Thomas James, cousins from Virginia. A Spanish Census in 1881 shows the presence of Alexander Frazier, Cornelius McCurtain, John Turnbull and Jesse Wall. We know also at this time there was Nathaniel Folsom and his two brothers, Edmond and Ebenezar Folsom, William Riddle, John Jones, Samuel Jones, and Thomas Jones in the Eastern district. 

By 1787 we have the following (I believe an incomplete) list of  traders (Simon) Favre at Yanabe, Louis at Outanoula, Chastang at Yazoo Loukfata and Petit Baptist at Bitabogoula all within the Eastern district. In the Western district there were Alexander Frazier with three employees at Yazoo, Louis (Favre's mulatto) at Cushtusha, Louis Leflore at Caffetalaya, the Pitchlynn Brothers (Isaac Pitchlynn) at Tchanke and Moses Foster at Mougouloucha. In the Chickasaw nation there was Louis Durant, Hardy Perry and John Turnbull. It is likely around this time Zadoc Brashears came to the territory. Charles Juzan began trading in the Southern district around 1788. Records involving the American Revolution and it's effect within the Spanish Mississippi territory also show the presence of James Welsh and James Cole.

Susanna Vaughn the wife of Zadoc Brashears is believed by many researchers to be the illegitimate daughter of John Turnbull and Winifred, who later married Thomas Vaughn and had several sons. The early prominence of the Vaughns in territorial records and treaties suggests to me that they are associated with a prominent Western district Choctaw. Given the wane of their influence after 1805, I highly suspect that Winifred was a female relative of Franchimastubbee. The Vaughns appear to have resided southeast of current Jackson, Mississippi. If the Vaughns appear to fade from influence, the Brashears do not. Primarily I believe, because of the intermarriage of the Brashears within other prominent family lines. 

Simon Favre married a daughter of Franchimastubbee in the late 1780's, and due to his influence with him, historians have long suspected the same for Turner Brashears (a distant cousin of Zadoc). 

When I look at the possibilities for the father of my ancestor Peggy, and her four siblings (both full and half), the most likely candidate I hypothesize is Thomas James. From his familiarity with Franchiamastubbee in his letter of 1792, a relationship with a female relative (I suspect possibly a sister of Apuckshunnubbee) may truly be indicated. Add to that the prominence of Molly and her family as recipients in the treaties of 1820 and 1830, and I think the theory has some good points. If he was in fact in partnership with his kinsman Benjamin James, the relationships of both men would have cemented trade relationships with all the major districts within the nation. Benjamin James with a woman of Shakihuma connections in the Eastern District, Thomas James with Nahotima of the Kunsha and the mother of Molly and her two sisters, relatives of Apuckshunnubbee and Franchiamastubbe. 

Four of these women would produce children that would influence the Choctaw in many ways. Molly's son James L. McDonald, Robert M. Jones (whose mother name we don't know),  Sally first wife of Middleton Mackey and mother of most of his children, and Peggy, the mother of Pierre Juzan and my ancestor James N. Trahern. The marriages of the Juzan's and Mackey's with other elite mixed bloods perpetuated the interconnections for another two generations.

If at one time I accepted the theory that Shumaka was a relative of Apuckshunnubbe, I no longer do. Records that indicate the location of Apuckshunnubbee in 1820 and 1830 when compared to the location of Shumaka lead me to believe, along with a letter from Coleman Cole, that the influence of Shumaka's son Robert Cole was not because he was a relative. It is rather, I believe, related to his position as a Shakihuma. Louis Leflore married two granddaughters of Shumaka, while his brother Michael married a Choctaw we don't know her family connections.

I have begun to suspect that Daniel McCurtain was an illegitimate son of Cornelius McCurtain and not his brother. His intermarriage with Hannah Cole, a daughter of James Cole and Shumaka is one of the many complex Yalobusha area relationships. The Perry's, Fraziers, and descendants of Shumaka have a complex series of marriages both in the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations. Though most believe the Perry's and Fraziers are seperate Chickasaw or Choctaw, I suspect that they share the Shakihuma heritage that the descendants of Shumaka have. The influence of the Perry and Frazier group is unique in that aside from the children of Benjamin James, and John Pitchlynn by his first wife, they are the only ones who receive land from both the Chickasaw and Choctaw.  

As I have mentioned before, Benjamin James family appears to have a dual citizenship status similar to that of the Yalobusha families. We also know that both the wives of Nathaniel Folsom had kinship with the first wife of John Pitchlynn, and that they were considered Choctaw and Chickasaw, suggesting that they too were Shakihuma or another tribe with similar status. It is no secret to any who know Choctaw history that the Folsom and Pitchlynn family have a large place in history.

Ebenezar Folsom and William Riddle both married daughters of Homomastubbee. Ebenezar's daughter, Sophia is the second wife of John Pitchlynn, her half siblings are the children of John Kincade and her mother. At one time I had thought that Edmond's wife may be a relative, but I don't any longer. I do suspect that Edmond Folsom also  married into a medal leader's family, but who isn't clear. It is quite possible based on proximity on the Armstrong rolls that the wife of Edmond Folsom was related to the mother of the Hall children.

The Jones brothers all intermarried and resided in the Eastern district. Robert M. Jones' father was most likely a son of John Jones. And here is where the foundations of the first generation begin to strengthen, as an Okla hannali elite married a Okla Falaya elite. It is a pattern we see for several generations among families with the surname Leflore, Folsom, James, Pitchlynn, Kincade, Riddle, Nail and Juzan. I forgot to mention the Garland family of Kunsha familial connections, or the Gardner family, whose ancestry we don't know.

The next time you look at a book on Choctaw history, and you read the names, realize that who they were was often as important in their prevalence in history.

Dynastic relationships among the Choctaws - Introduction

The idea behind advantageous intermarriages within the Choctaw nation probably didn't begin with the European influence, however, there is little documentation to state this as a fact. What is evident however, from the earliest period of documentation available, is that this practice not only existed, it flourished in the late 18th and early 19th century.

Several excellent historical publications over the last decade have examined earlier Choctaw history in the 18th century. Often the information about the politics of the Choctaw Civil war of the 1750's is hard to decipher. The period after the civil war until the 1780's has received more coverage, but the bulk of information really starts with 1780 and moves forward.

Starting with the Spanish period in 1780 we see letters and documents that give clues to the leadership and politics within the Choctaw nation. A Spanish treaty of 1784 that lists Mingos and leaders from the entire nation, however, shows the complexity of interpreting this information. This is because often one name will be present in more than one place. While we have the availability of some early documentation of towns, most notably Bernard Roman's map, that does little to illuminate answers.

An explanation of the medal system may be in order before I continue. The Spanish, like their predecessors issued medals to various individuals among the Natives that they traded and negotiated with. A large medal leader was a major influential individual chosen by the Spanish to represent the group. A minor medal leader was a leader of a town or an influential individual who lacked what the Spanish perceived as the political clout of the large medal leader.

Among the various Mingos and leaders, holding a medal was a covetous position. Although the Europeans considered them uncivilized, the Choctaws saw advantages in the perception of esteem and status that the medals provided. They also coveted the trade goods that they received in exchange.

The most prominent medal holder for the Western district, known as Okla Fayala, during the last two decades was Franchiamastubbee and his spokesperson Tobacca. It is presumption among historians that Tobacca was likely connected to Franchiamastubbee by marriage, and that Franchiamastubbee's successor, Apuckshunnubbee was most likely a nephew. The question still remains if Peyahuma (most correctly Opia Humma, a war prophet) was the father of Apuckshunnubbee and a brother in law of Franchiamastubbee.

In the eastern and southern districts it is not as clear. There are two Mingo Poos Coos, one who appears to be closer to the boarder of the Eastern district and the Southern district, and one who was in clearly in the Eastern district. The later prominence of Mingo Homomastubbee in the early 19th century stems from an unclear path. A lot of power in the earlier treaties seems to stem from the Chickashaway, but evidence suggests that Homomastubbee resided further northeast.

The Southern districts that included the Six Towns and the Kunsha also appears to have included Chickasahaway at times and not at others, increasing the confusion. The independent influence of the different groups within the Southern District is evident in negotiations in treaties up to the treaty of 1830. Although we often see the Six Town representatives separately, the prominent leadership of the Southern district appears to come from a Kunsha in most cases. This may suggest that at least one of the Poos Coos was of Kunsha and not Chickashaway influence.

Two separate pockets of influence also appear to reside in those of Shakihuma heritage with one group residing between the Choctaw and Chickasaw in the Yalobusha area, and the other to the east in the area separating the Choctaw and Chickasaw in the Eastern District. Two distinct family groups from these pockets show prominence in later treaties of both the Choctaw and Chickasaw.

The influx of traders in the Choctaw nation beginning with the documentation found in the 1770's and through tracing their descendants shows the presence of relationships that were advantageous to both the trader and Choctaws formed through the marriages and relationships the traders develop with the female relatives of the leaders, most of whom are large medal holders.

This use of marriages to cement alliances isn't a new concept. We see it throughout European history, and among the Choctaw, Chickasaw and Creek there also existed this concept. Documented marriages between the influential Chickasaw Colbert family and the Lower Creek families exists. Though with the onset of war between the tribes, it wasn't unheard of for the wives to be killed if the two nations were at war among the Creeks.

Just as history records the marriages of nobility in Europe to ensure peace or trade, the Natives of the South East practiced the same concept. While the idea of nobility as it applies to Natives is rejected outright, most historians agree that there was an elite class within these nations. It is my belief that the perpetuation of the elite status both within the full blood Choctaws and the mixed blood progeny of the traders is a direct influence to the events and leadership within the Choctaw nation after the treaty of  1830 until the United States Civil War.

Another year is behind us

I think 2016 will be an unforgettable year for man. Forget the election. Forget the loss of all of the celebrities that represent memories of our youth. 2016 was for me another year where I made new friends with relatives, distant and not so distant.

This December marks 18 years since I started on genealogy, and made some friends I still correspond with to this day. Some aren't relatives, they are just very good friends who share my addiction to genealogy. Some after DNA are surprise relatives. Each and every year, I make more contacts, and friends, and since I joined Facebook 8 years ago, well that number has certainly grown. I suspect I have close to 200 friends on Facebook who I have met through genealogy.

I am so grateful for the online community I have developed of friends, relatives and fellow researchers who share my love for this hobby. Who value the time, the journey, and the knowledge this hobby gives us. Who cheer me on with my research and my blog. From the mailing list of 1998, to myfamily.com, to Facebook, so many of the folks I have met have enriched my life.

My wish list for 2017? Well, lets see.
1. A breakthrough on Elijah McCurdy.
2. More trees in my DNA matches so I can figure out the connectin.
3. Find one of my mother's half brothers.
4. An answer on how we relate to the Bobo's.
5. An answer on Suzie, the wife of Joseph Rogers and James Wallen/Walling
6. Most of all, a blessed year full of joy and happiness for my friends and family.

See you in 2017!

A review of My Evil Twin

There are two new utilities added to the tier one level for Gedmatch. I have tried both, but for now, I want to talk about the My Evil Twin utility. Basically, it is a way to take your kit, compare it with a parent, and create a phased kit of the DNA you didn't get. Since I have tested both of my parents, I was able to make phased kits for the DNA I didn't get from each parent. After batch processing, I am able to look at the one to many matches for each kit.

I don't know that this utility is necessary, but if you are like me, and are curious about the way DNA is passed and the randomness of it all. It's a pretty cool tool. It would probably be easier to in fact compare the evil twin kits directly with a phased kit for each parent, but I never bothered with that. Since I have tested both parents, I rarely even look at my own matches. I just go straight to the source.

It is interesting to see the DNA I don't share with my top matches, especially those that I share a lot with on my real matches, and those I share a lot with on my evil twin. I think with time, and probably genome mate, I may be able to look at some patterns, and figure out really a bit more of the DNA I didn't get, because at this point, I have a pretty good fix when comparing my kit with my parents and my daughters on the DNA we seem to have a higher degree of. 

I was even able to do an admixture on the phased kit. Now that was interesting, because of the native DNA I didn't get from my mom was visible in the admixture. I may play around a bit more with that function and see what I get from the different admixture tools, but in my world of curiosity with DNA, now, that is right up my alley. I may do my daughter's evil twin too, just to look at the admixture differences.

The other Beta utility, Triangulation Groups, will probably be way more beneficial for my use of time, but, given my fascination with how DNA is passed, I think that my Evil Twin just may satisfy some of my curiosity in a totally unexpected way.

So if you are on Gedmatch, consider donating and become a tier one member. If you aren't on Gedmatch, and you have tested your DNA, you really should consider joining. Remember it is free to use, it's a great place to fully get something out of the DNA if you used Ancestry for your tests, and it allows you to compare across companies. And if you still haven't tested your DNA, what in the heck are you waiting for?

What Ancestry DNA doesn't get quite right

Six months after testing myself, my daughter and my great Aunt on Ancestry, well, we have some mixed bag results. I have my first (yes first) ancestry hint. My great Aunt has one as well, and my daughter now has two. Funny because all my other kits have several, I guess I have more of a complete tree and that's why, but to be honest, not sure at all.

Almost all of my circles only include ones where my daughter falls. So no one that I match alone but match many in the circle seem to appear. Oh, and then there are the two funny circles. Funny because for both my daughter and I there are two circles not to an ancestor, but to an ancestor's brother. Thus I have a circle for one of the brothers to Martin D. J. Collins and to Sterling Alexander Hager (listed as Sr, and NOT the father of Sterling Alexander Hager who lived in Arkansas and Texas). This Sterling was the brother of Steeley Hager who died in Lauderdale county, Tennessee in 1848.

So while the ancestry DNA has helped confirm my tree, well, I don't know that it's any better than 23andme. And since Ancestry changed their file format, I can't upload to familytree DNA just yet either. So I am waiting. I feel like I do that a lot. Because despite the fact that all the other bloggers say that the testers on ancestry and familytree DNA are more into testing for genealogy, you really don't get more responses from either.

In the time since I tested with ancestry compared with the same time as 23andme, I got better responses to my inquiries actually on 23andme. And I could compare the DNA segments. Frankly though, I find the 23andme price too  high, and well, you have the same kind of looky loo mentality in testers now on both Ancestry and 23andme. A plethora of testers who are testing for curiosity sake for ancestry make up on Ancestry, and for health on 23andme.

I haven't given up though. Still love Gedmatch and the capability of comparing across all the companies. And still have great hopes that I will solve those mysteries, and eventually find one or both of my  Mom's half brothers.

My advice hasn't changed. Educate yourself. Learn about DNA. Correspond with as many as you can get to answer and have a robust tree to start. Don't give up on DNA, it's valuable, but just don't think it will provide all the answers yet either.

Yes, you can call me an Arkansas hillbilly

I have written before about how deeply I feel my ties to Pensacola. I have, however, omitted that I live in a state where I have several family ties. I didn't know until I was 20 that my grandfather's family came from Arkansas, but it was many more years before I knew just how strong my ties to Arkansas are.

From the window of the hospital where I worked, I could look out and see a church in Benton that was built on land donated by my grandfather's great grandmother and her two brothers. A few of the cousins I have found a long the way have shown me where the family lived and are buried. Through them I walked on land that my family owned when my grandfather's father was born.

Pop never knew his father, so that's what makes the discovery of his father's family, and of his half brother's children so special. I know that for all of his life, what he wanted more than anything, was to know about his father. Sadly it was about a decade after he died, but I found them.

A few weeks ago we took a drive up to Mount Magazine to see the fall foliage. On the way we drove through the area where my Adams, Roger and Hager family settled around the time of the Civil War. I know we were not far from the family cemetery for the Rogers, and a cousin told me that on the way up the mountain, I pass the remains of the saw mill ran by Henry Rogers. ( I still haven't seen it though).

I am not allowed to stop at  cemeteries on family outings any more. My daughter doesn't even want me to mention I have noticed one, and well, my mom isn't too fond of it either. So I plan on making a trip up there I hope soon with a co worker, whose husband is my fourth cousin. At least she shares my interest in visiting the family grave sites.

My mom and daughter did reluctantly agree that they could see why the family settled there. On the plateaus of the Ozark foothills, with scenic vistas I can picture the lives my family lived 160 or so years ago. And if she doesn't share my interest in family history, my daughter shares my interest in architecture.

We drive by and point out the interesting older homes, and she absolutely fell in love with the Franciscan Abby at Subiaco, Arkansas. I talk a lot about the history of our country, our state, or our family on these trips.  I hope she remembers at least half of what I say, and that someday, she may drive the same roads, walk the same land, and feel the same connections to her own history.