My half sister once asked me if I had the traveling gene. She had returned from a dude ranch vacation which she had fully participated in her 70s. We love to travel so my answer was of course. As genealogy and genetics cross paths I have made new discoveries related to this gene.
The truth is that genetic tests do not lie. So I entered the testing earlier this year open minded about discoveries. I returned the test kit and the wait began. In the mean time, I became a frequent visitor to the Chisholm Surname and exchanging emails with administrator Robert Chisholm. Listed among the more than 200 genetic results was a group of 5 individuals related to John Chism of Virginia, my ancestor on paper. This listed a haplogroup J-M172. Other much larger groupings were Haplogroup I and Haplogroup R. All 3 referenced ancestors in the United States. Haplogroups allow genetic family groupings used by geneticists and genealogists alike.
DNA Testing
I have received results from my Y DNA test and
- Confirmed my paper ancestry and that my Grandfather is a Steam Train Engineer with the L&N railroad.
- Confirmed my Y DNA matches the group identified in the surname grouping
Haplogroups are allows geneticist and genealogists to group people. This categorization system has had many changes over the last 18 years and continues to change which can be found on the International Society of Genetic Genealogist website. Haplogroup I is from Scandinavia (Vikings). Haplogroup R is from Central Europe. These two groups could easily have migrated to Scotland.
This leaves Haplogroup J-M172 now referred to as J2. The J family group currently covers the Fertile Crescent including modern day Turkey and Syria. The J1 family group stayed in that general area were as J2 migrated to the Northern Mediterranean coastal area from Turkey to Italy including Greece upto Croatia and Slovenia. Robert Chisholm suggested that Y DNA migration to Scotland might have occurred with Roman Expansion which makes a lot of sense. Clan surnames about 1100 AD. Scottish Clans inclusion was acceptance of a leader not necessarily direct descendent.
So the traveling gene is real! And I will keep you updated as more discoveries are made.
My father is Haplogroup Jm172 (J2) as well. I have traced (as best I could digging through hundreds of books and online documents) to the scottish clans as far back as 1050 AD immigrating to Virginia in 1695. My father’s name is McDaniel which I have us traced back on his paternal line to Clan Donald in Scotland (MacDonnell, MacDonald, MacDonell, McDaniel). In his origins within the last 1000 years, it shows 100% European at 31% Scandinavian, 29% Brittish Isles and 30% west/central europe. Of course the ancient origins are from the middle east as are most. Most of the Clan Donald have an R haplogroup but there are a few with the J2 which makes me feel there are many illegitimate children of those days for various reasons.
Thank you for your reply. The Y DNA test provides evidence based on 63 or 126 of more than 10,000 genetic positions. A rather small representation! These results simply mean we have a common genetic ancestor. My family, the Barren County, Kentucky Chisms are closely aligned with the Gum family traveling together through Tennessee to Alabama some moving on establish to the Ozarks in the 1800s. I was recently talking to Gum researcher who had an illegitimate child from this time. The human genome definition draft released in 2002 provided a baseline which allows the DNA explosion we see today. Cheaper and cheaper genetic testing helps provide a pool of information for cancer research. Genetic diseases are exploring drugs not even thought of 5 years ago. Each of us is unique with more than 100 trillion genome combinations. We have no power to change what happened in the past. I would encourage you to correct what you can and embrace this genetic make up which represents you! MC