Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Mitochondrial DNA

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings has another challenge for us, one I can participate in:

1) List your matrilineal line - your mother, her mother, etc. back to the first identifiable mother. Note: this line is how your mitochondrial DNA was passed to you!

2) Tell us if you have had your mitochondrial DNA tested, and if so, which Haplogroup you are in.

3) Post your responses on your own blog post, in Comments to this blog post, or in a Status line on Facebook or in your Stream at Google Plus.

4)  If you have done this before, please do your father's matrilineal line, or your grandfather's matrilineal line, or your spouse's matriliuneal line.

5)  Does this list spur you to find distant cousins that might share one of your matrilineal lines? 
 
Okay, here we go:


A) Daniel Dillman - me.
B) Eva L. Williams (Living) married Dana E. Dillman (Living)
C) Emma Gertrude McMurry (09 Jun 1901 Winn Parish, LA - 03 Apr 1950 Baton Rouge, LA) married Omar Holt Williams (27 Sep 1903 Caldwell Parish, LA - Jul 1985 Livingston parish, LA)
D) Lela Lawrence Louisiana Dark (12 Jun 1872 Winn Parish, LA - 26 Jun 1960 Winn Parish, LA) (How do you not love a name like that?) married Robert E. Lee McMurry (26 Mar 1870 Poplar Bluff, AR - 19 Jul 1944 Alexandria, LA)
E) Lela Lawrence Louisiana Fuller (1847 - 1873) married William Edward Dark (05 May 1848 Meriwether County, GA - 23 Mar 1941 Winn Parish, LA)

This is as far back as I go in a strictly matrilineal fashion.  This is complicated by the fact that I have always lived in Minnesota, and this line is all in Louisiana, 1500 miles away.  I have visited Louisiana several times, but all in my youth before I started this hobby.  It's further complicated that parts of this line were people who moved around a lot, and were not interested in keeping records of this sort.

I have yet to have my DNA tested for genealogical purposes in any way.  This is not from fear or lack of desire, but from a lack of funds available for the purpose.  It's on my to-do list, but other things take priority.  I am a strong proponent of DNA testing for genealogy, as it's really the only true way to find your lineage.  True, family are the people who nurture and love you all of your life, but the genes tell the true story of where you came from.

Okay, since my matrilineal line is fairly short, let's rework the exercise using my father's matrilineal line:

A) Dana E. Dillman - my father, still living.
B) Alta May Day (12 Feb 1910 Sheffield, SD - 03 Jun 1992 Yankton, SD) of whom I've blogged many times, the one responsible for me being involved in this hobby, and indirectly responsible by extension for this blog post, married Estel E. Dillman (21 Dec 1908 Leavenworth, IN - 06 Nov 1982 Yankton, SD)
C) Ida May Thurston (04 Jul 1883 Beadle County, SD - 16 Jun 1937 Huron, SD) married Clyde J. Wyman Day (19 Jul 1880 Cass County, NB - 23 Jul 1973 Huron, SD)
D) Barbara Ann Messing (07 Sep 1842 Hesselhurst, Ortenaukreis, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany - 03 Nov 1909 Cavour, SD) married Alfred Mellin Thurston (06 May 1842 Wellington, ME - 31 Mar 1927 Orient, SD)

This line is even shorter, and I would have to do some serious research in Germany to take it further.  Frankly, it seems like most of my matrilineal lines are shorter, and that's probably because we in the English speaking world tend to have patriarchal families, and the males just get more emphasis in doing up the family histories.  Looking through the trees, I have all of my 4th generation back, but the 5th generation starts getting some blanks in it, and further back only gets more spotty.

Part of the fun is to report on which haplogroup I'm in,  Since I haven't yet tested, I can't complete that part of the assignment.  However, someone to whom I am related on paper has had a DNA test done (a YDNA, or patrilineal test) and there is a Dillman DNA Project that has data for a number of separate Dillman family lines through the Dillman Family Association, and assuming all of the paper genealogy is correct, that related person is in the T haplogroup.  We're related only loosely, our common ancestor being Michael Dillman, my G-G-G-grandfather, of whom I've blogged in the past.

Have you had your DNA tested?  Which sort of test did you have?  How many markers?  Did you learn anything surprising?


This and all other articles on this blog are © copyright 2011 by Daniel G. Dillman

Surname Saturday - Straugh(a)n

I'm attempting to do a better job of crediting others where they provide data or inspire me.  I've neglected to credit the sources of the memes I've been using.  Here's the one for Saturdays:  

Surname Saturday – create a post in which you discuss a surname and mention its origins, its geographical location(s) and how it fits into your genealogy research. Surname Saturday is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

This Saturday's surname is Straugh(a)n.  I've seen it with and without the 'a', more often with than without.  I tend to include the 'a' when I use it, and will continue to do so here.  That said, my surname should be Straughan!

If you've been following my previous blog entries, you will have noted Peter and Elizabeth Dillman, who had (among others) a daughter named Jemimah Hattie Dillman.  She was born 03 Aug 1866, married John W. Straughan on 12 Feb 1885, and died young on 26 Apr 1886, shortly after giving birth to my paternal great-grandfather, Clyde.  Around that time, John abandoned them.  After Jemimah died, her parents Peter & Elizabeth adopted Clyde, and he was raised as a Dillman with the Dillman surname.  On Clyde Taylor's Social Security application, he listed his surname as Dillman, and his parents as Peter & Elizabeth.  For some reason he also gave his middle name as 'Pabler'.  As I mentioned in other posts, Clyde is pivotal in my paternal line, being my great-grandfather.

John W. Straughan was an older man.  Much older.  He was born 05 Feb 1819, which makes him significantly older than Jemimah's father, Peter, who was born 05 Dec 1833.  In fact, John W. Straughan and Peter Dillman both served in the Civil War in the 144th Indiana Infantry, Company D, together.  There's something pretty odd going on here, but the story is pretty well hidden or forgotten.

Family history notes claim that John was a cruel man, and beat Jemimah.  Was he responsible for her death?  Why did he marry Jemimah, who was almost 50 years younger, was it a shotgun wedding?  Did he leave before Clyde was born, or was he unable to deal with being a single parent when Jemimah died?  I don't have answers to these questions, but would dearly love to know!

The modern twist on this is that my family has been Dillman, but the DNA testing (Y chromosome) should show us as Straughan, which makes it difficult to link us with other Dillmans.  I am part of the Dillman Family Association, which is involved in DNA testing to link family groups, but I have held off on testing in part due to the fact that those Y chromosome tests will likely fail to link us. 

I have not yet found a death location or date for John W. Straughan.  However, he is buried in Dillman Cemetery in a plot very near Jemimah.  The cemetery is near Curby, Crawford County, Indiana.  In that same section of Dillman Cemetery is another gravestone, for Lucy J. Straughan, wife of John W. Straughan!  Her death date is shown on the stone as Sep, 13, 1883, aged 27 Ys.9M.9D which shows her as being yet another much younger wife of John, who died early.  As Lucy died before John married Jemimah, it makes me wonder if Jemimah knew anything about John's history?  How could she not, that area of Crawford County is rural, and the sort of place where everyone knew everyone else's business!  But if Peter knew, why would he have allowed his daughter to marry a potential abuser? 

I really wonder if we have a criminal abuser on our hands!  So many questions!  I know there's more to the story here, if only I can find it...

Have any odd stories in your history?  How have you solved the mysteries?  I'd love to get ideas, post them in the comments below!