Limited Time Free Webinar: "Better Together: Making Your Case with Documents and DNA" by Patti Lee Hobbs

You've taken one or more DNA tests.  Now what do you do with that information?  Let Patti Lee Hobbs, CG show you some of the ways that professional genealogists use the results of DNA tests in her webinar "Better Together: Making Your Case with Documents and DNA:"

The genealogical proof standard requires reasonably exhaustive research in solving ancestral-identity problems. DNA evidence is now often part of that research. Even the best DNA evidence must be combined with some traditional research. This webinar will show different ways that genealogical problems have been solved by integrating DNA evidence with the paper trail.

Runs 1 hour 28 minutes
Free to non-subscribers through April 24



© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Thursday Night Free Webinar: Debbie Parker Wayne Presents "MAXY DNA: Correlating mt-at-X-Y DNA with the GPS"

Need tips from an expert on using the DNA results in a genealogical proof standard?  You know I do!

Debbie Wayne Parker presented "MAXY DNA: Correlating mt-at-X-Y DNA with the GPS" on May 16, 2017:

MAXY DNA includes mitochondrial DNA (M), autosomal DNA (A), X-DNA (X), and Y-DNA (Y). Case studies demonstrate analysis principles and techniques that work. Learn to correlate DNA test results with documentary research as part of the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS).

This webinar is hosted and sponsored by the Board for Certification of Genealogists.

1 hour 27 minutes.  Free for non-subscribers through May 23, 2017.



© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Dad Got His First Exact Y-DNA Match on 37 Markers

This TiP report is FamilyTreeDNA's time to the most recent common ancestor predictor tool. Solomon Hartley, my father's 3rd great grandfather, is our earliest known Hartley ancestor. 

And the last name is...Hogan, generally thought of as an Irish surname?

The tester didn't leave any other details as to ancestry or earliest known male ancestor, so I don't know if this represents a Hogan line or if the man was adopted?  So far this doesn't answer any questions as to my dad's Y-DNA.

What I do know is that my father was born a Hartley, his earliest known Hartley was Solomon Hartley (1775-1815), and that his haplogroup is R-M269.  I'm starting to suspect that Solomon Hartley's last name may have originally been something else.


© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

My Dad's Y-DNA Results Came Back: Haplogroup R-M269

Yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to see my father's Y-DNA results had come in (it was predicted to come in late April/May).

So, assuming that Dad is the directly descendant of Solomon Joseph Hartley, then this is Solomon's haplogroup.  Since his origins are obscure at best, any info is good info.

Maybe I'll get his mtDNA done at some point.

According to the Family Tree DNA website:

Predicted haplogroup, I should say.  It appears I can order another test to refine further (sheesh, it's only money, people!).

I had anticipated that Dad would be either R or I haplogroup, based on his GEDmatch and FTDNA Family Finder matches who had filled in that information.

FTDNA's Y-DNA - SNP Map for haplogroup R-M269

So, now the matches so far.




He had no exact matches (at 37 markers).  Darn.





He had three matches at 25 markers (genetic distance 2):

English-type names.  Interesting.

He had 24 matches at 12 markers (genetic distance 0 - 1):

No real pattern, except that they are European.  I've blanked out the names of the testers.  Some of these seem to be from men who don't know the last name of their paternal line (or they aren't sharing).

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Solomon Joseph Hartley's Y-DNA: What Will It Reveal?

I'm waiting!

Last month I had my dad do the Family Tree DNA Y-DNA test (to 37 markers).  I have since received notice from the company that they had received the kit and were processing the results.

The results are expected sometime between 04/27/2016 - 05/11/2016.  It is sooo hard to wait.

I've looked high and low online, but it doesn't appear that any men with the Hartley last name who are direct descendants of Solomon Joseph Hartley (1775-1815) have made their Y-DNA results public, or even if any have done it at all.  When I went through my tree I quickly realized that there really aren't too many of those Hartley's left.  The line has daughtered out to a large degree.

My Hartley line.  Since no one else appears to have tested to discover Solomon's Y-DNA yet I will have no way of knowing if there are any non-paternal events, but I'm pretty confident this line is correct.

After watching a few Family Tree DNA videos on Y-DNA results ("Family Tree DNA Results Explained: Y-DNA Markers, Matching and Genealogy" and especially "Help, My Y-DNA Matches Have a Different Surname!") I think I will have one of the three following types of results:

1.  Most of the men my dad will match to will also have the last name Hartley.

I'm not expecting this, due to discovering that Solomon was either from Germany or Poland (according his two sons' 1880 census), and Hartley to a very large extent appears to be English or British Isles.  I suspect Solomon is Dutch, German, or Polish, and would therefore have a name reflecting that.  I think this would be the most convenient result, however, as that means I could continue researching the Hartley name.  I have signed up to the Hartley Y-DNA Project already, and will be able to see how Dad's results measure up to the others.

2.  Most of the men my dad will match to will all have a similar name to each other, but not Hartley.

I think this would point to an adoption or non-paternal event, or maybe he just adopted a new name in the US.  This kind of result would be very convenient, as then I'd know what new name to pursue.  Although this would be the most desirable result (from my research perspective), I think it is the least likely. This is because I think he may come from an ancestry that either follows Scandinavian patronymic patterns, or may even be of Jewish origin, and they didn't adopt surnames until quite recently.  Which leads me to what I think I am most likely to find when the results finally come up....

3.  The other testers will have a large variety of names with no common last names, but maybe they will tend to have an origin in a similar region in Europe (I'm assuming Dad has a European Y-DNA), like maybe all in the eastern Europe, or largely in the Netherlands, etc.

I think this is the most likely result.  Maybe I'm just being cynical, but since everything else about Solomon's ancestry has been such a battle to discover, I think it is pollyannish to think I'll get a straightforward result with the Y-DNA.

For fun, here are some successful Y-DNA stories at Family Tree DNA.




© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.