.

Here, gathered in our beloved South Dakota, are a few members of our Williamson / Mattson Clan. Charles and Luella are to be blamed (be kind, they didn't know what they were doing). We're generally a happy bunch and somewhat intelligent (notwithstanding our tenuous grasp on reality). I'm also proud to say that most of us still have our teeth.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

The First Results of the Williamson DNA Analysis

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello Williamsons,
The test results are in on the Y Williamson chromosome. The Y chromosome is passed from father to son virtually unchanged over time, therefore the test results of my Y chromosome will apply to all male Williamsons who are descendants of our common grandfathers George Matthew Williamson and then on to his father, Matthew Williamson and then further up the ancestral tree back to a common male ancestor 30,000 years ago (mind boggling isn't it?).


The test results are given above. The map shows the distant history of our common Y chromosome, stretching back to the middle east. We are classified in the R1b haplogroup (more on our haplogroup in another post).

Armed with this information, Ancestry.com compared my Y chromosome to all others in its data bank. A portion of the results are listed below:


And now the mystery deepens. According to the test results, my DNA matches within 1 to 3 generations with someone named Aaron Williamson (the dark orange represents the closest matches possible).

I found Aaron's email and made inquiries thinking I was on the verge of solving one of our family's greatest mysteries - who were the parents of Matthew Williamson? I have a theory based on all available evidence outlined in the following post from the family history blog. (click to read and review).

Today I heard from Aaron Williamson. Portions of his email are below:

Victor,

Sorry for the delayed response, but do see where it looks like we're a close DNA match, but don't have a Matthew Williamson or Selina Dandrige in my line.

I haven't had a lot of family information passed down to me, but from what I've found on Ancestry.com, think I've traced my line back to a Thomas Williamson 1720-1774 who died in Brumsfield Parish, Virginia.

Regards,
Aaron Williamson

I looked at Aaron's public family tree.



And the mystery deepens. According to the DNA results there should be a common ancestor within 1 to 3 generations. You're looking at Aaron Williamson's family tree out to where our 'common' ancestor should be. I can't find one, even after spend all morning and most of this afternoon searching.

And so, this DNA test, meant to answer this genealogy query, has opened even more questions and mysteries than it solved.

The Fortress has one very unhappy occupant today.

Simply,
Victor