Holder DNA

September 2008

DNA 101

Women have two X chromosomes

Men have one X and one Y

every egg cell has an X,

and every sperm cell has an X OR a Y

• So men always get their Y chromosome from their father

• Traditionally, they also take their father’s surname

• This means DNA sequences on the Y chromosome tend to track with the surname

• Some of these sequences mutate over a time frame that is useful for genealogical tracking

STR markers

• STR = Short Tandem Repeats

ATAG ATAG ATAG ATAG ATAG ATAG

Some are more complicated

• Slippage of DNA strands during replication can cause a repeat sequence to get longer or shorter

Frequency with which this occurs varies among theSTR markers - some are stable, some change rapidly

HOLDER project statistics• Numbers now go to 58

- 2 who never sent back kits- 1 who goes through a female Holder

• 7 groups with at least 2 samples – All these should be valid Holder groups– Nearly all are associated with southeast U.S.

• 9 single samples that differ from these– May be valid Holder groups, but need more samples to

compare

Group A

• 9 samples

• Thomas Holder and Susannah Bunch of Bertie Co. NC

• Westward movement - Orange Co. NC, Cherokee Co. NC, on to Tennessee, Alabama, Texas, Florida

Group B

• 5 samples• John Holder (1694-1773) of PA• Three sons moved to NC • Another son’s children moved to New

Brunswick• From NC, moved to Indiana, Iowa, Colorado

and further west

• “Moravian line” in Bill’s database

Group C

• A single sample

• James Holder & Lucinda Worley, Indiana, m. 1838

• Descendants in Missouri, Oklahoma

Group D

• 21 samples, which divide into two main groups plus some outliers

• At least three distinct paper trails back to the early 1700s

• We’ll return to this group later

Group E

• Single sample• Paper trail indicates descent from a

female Holder who reverted to her maiden name after a bad marriage

• Her children’s biological surname may be MORGAN, but so far haven’t proved this

NPE = non-paternal event

• Adoption, maybe with no paper record

• Child born out of wedlock

• Husband not the real father of the baby

• Name change for some other reason

Group F

• Single sample

• James Holder b. 1833, Ohio

• Descendants in Missouri, Kansas

Group G

• 2 samples

• Alston Holder, in SC in 1800; later in Indiana

Group H

• 2 samples

• Abraham Holder, Virginia to Pennsylvania

• Descendants in Missouri, Pennsylvania

Group I

• Single sample, only 12 markers, and hasn’t supplied information on ancestry

Group J

• 3 samples

• Sion Holder, Harnett Co. NC

Group K

• 2 samples

• Thomas Peyton Holder, Alabama

• Descendants in Mississippi, Michigan

Do you get the feeling this is

?

Group L

• 1 sample

• James Martin Holder, South Carolina to Georgia

Group M

• 1 sample, only 12 markers

• Family originally from Barbados, later Trinidad

Group N

• 1 sample

• Suffolk, England (our only English donor so far)

• But DNA profile is typical of Siberia!

Group O

• 1 sample, only 12 markers

• No genealogical data yet

Group P

• 1 sample

• William Holder, Lincoln Co. TN and Madison Co. AL

Group Q

• 1 sample, tested at a different company so results don’t exactly line up with FTDNA samples

• Jeptha Holder of Randolph Co. NC - but we have another putative descendant of Jeptha who is in group D

• Group D seems more likely based on migration patterns

Group R

• 1 sample, newest participant

• Don’t have ancestry yet, but he doesn’t match anyone else

An aside on Haplogroups

• Ancient origins

• Can be predicted by overall pattern of STR markers

• Confirm by “deep clade” test

• Not useful for recent genealogy, but may be helpful in working back to origins outside the U.S.

R1b haplogroup

• By far the most common in the British Isles

• May find coincidental matches

• Recommend expanding to 67 markers

• Holder family groups A, C, D, E, J and P

I haplogroups

• Most common in Scandinavia• Several distinct subgroups

• 25 markers are enough to distinguish from R1b types, but more may be desirable to help sort out lines within a family

• Holder family groups: H,K,L (most common type); also B, G and Q (more unusual types)

R1a haplogroup

• More common in eastern Europe, but still significant in the British Isles

• Holder family group F

Where do we go from here?

• More tests for existing donors• Recruit more donors in current groups• Try to cross the pond

– Very little response so far from England– Suspicious of our intentions– Not willing to pay for tests

Group A recommendations

• Samples 004 and 017 could expand from 37 to 67 markers; would establish if they are identical over all 67 markers and provide a basis for later work

• Paper research is likely to be more productive than DNA for now, however

Group D problems

• How far back does the split between D1 and D2 go?

• Can we find a way to distinguish between descendants of the three main D2 progenitors?

D ancestor - before 1700

D1 D2-D4DYS19 = 15 DYS19 = 14

D1a,b,eDYS439=12

D1c,dDYS439 ► 13

D2aDYS464d=16

D2bDYS458=16

D2b,cDYS464d ► 20

D2cDYS458 ► 17

Insufficient data to tell where D3 and D4 diverged

Subgroups are defined by single marker changes

Insufficient data to determine when these occurred

D ancestor - before 1700

D1 D2-D4DYS19 = 15 DYS19 = 14

D1a,b,eDYS439=12

D1c,dDYS439 ► 13

D2aDYS464d=16

D2bDYS458=16

D2b,cDYS464d ► 20

D2cDYS458 ► 17

005, 033

William Presley 1780

TN to MO, TX

018 Jeptha 1784

Randolph Co. NC

019 Gabriel 1768

Russell Co. KY

021, 035Davis?

White Co. TN

009 John 1744 (Col.)VA to KY to MS

John 1749 (Agnes)VA to AL to AR

008 Solomon 1774NC to SC to TN

045, 047 Bledsoe 1783055 Hawkins 1800037 Elisha G. 1813054 Jesse P. 1829SC to MS, TX

022, 046, 050(?)Solomon 1770

SC to TNFranklin Co.

Group D recommendations

• More markers needed for as many people as possible

• One more more D1s expand to 67 markers• Palindromic pack test for D2c group (#s 022,

046, 050

• #040 needs to expand to at least 25 markers

Adding to the web site

• More complete summaries of families

• Migration maps for each group

• Other suggestions?