A Little DNA Goes A Long Way - They took the wrong baby!

If you recall from the previous post under "A Little DNA Goes A Long Way", I attempted to explain that the Y - Chromosome passed from father to son is identical. The theory then being that since I could not find Reuben Johnson's father in the records that possibly, I could find some of his DNA relatives who may have better records than I do. Our lineage back to Eli Johnson is pretty well documented prior to my research both by recorded documents, The Margaret Rhyne genealogy book, and frankly some of the living ancestors at the time that I started my research. Each time that I took an ancestry test, I had them to study both my Y - DNA as well as my mitochondrial because I have a direct line to Cordelia Lambert Johnsons's mother, Oma Mae Howard, who may have been the source of our mixed heritage ( reference my sister's Behcet's Syndrome with neurological involvement ). I would have to review my notes but I do not believe that mitochondrial is copied identically through the female line like the Y-DNA is but since it is on my mother's side as follows: Hettie Hill Johnson, Stella "Doll" Blanch Johnson Hill, Cordelia Lambert Johnson to Oma Mae Howard Lambert, I was hopeful of finding clues.

Most of my results were mostly what I expected because it was only showing cousins who I knew. All of the percentages of DNA shared looked about right and there were basically no surprises even when I did CRI genetics. They analyze one's DNA back 50 generations rather than just 5 like most of the family finder testing through other DNA service providers. However, the test that stood out to me came from Familytree DNA. Again, I had asked them to track my Y lineage attempting to find some of Reuben's descendants who should be about our 5th cousins on Dad's, Hugh Martin Johnson's) side. What I received was disconcerting at best. My first thought was, did someone change my baby bracelet in the hospital. I knew something was wrong, Dad had a full head of black hair until chemotherapy took it and even it grew back. I was practically bald by 32. Dad loved to give people with a bald head a hard time. So either I was reaping what my Dad sowed, my hairline was the Hill hairline on steroids, or they took the wrong baby!! I am kidding about most of that and it always seemed to me that the three of us shared the same characteristics of mom and dad but to varying degrees. For example, ask me which one of us has/had the worst Johnson temper.....don't act like you don't know what Johnson temper that I am talking about. We all have our share. Once someone pushes you too far, you go a little crazy then you are weak in the knees for the remainder of the day and may even be a little sick the next day because you cannot recall exactly what you said or did when somebody pushed a little too far.....nonetheless, something was very much not what I had expected!......I will add to this post following the next deposition post.

Recall the little Y-DNA explanation! If I understand my science correctly to use an old Big Gully expression there is a little something in the woodpile.

I am looking at this information really disappointed because I was looking for JOHNSON's. Additionally, either I was swapped at birth, my sample was messed up, this was random so I needed to do more testing because on this level of the 37SNP analysis, there are zero alleles (think Y-DNA mutations) among almost 30 Ropers and only one mutation on another 20 Ropers. Typically, a one mutation match is pretty good in the last several generations.

Keep in mind, this is before I had found the depositions. Of course then the solution is that they just didn't test enough of my data. I went through two more levels of testing. I ended up comparing 111 SNP's and still no Johnsons. Lots of Roper's but no Johnsons. Most people do not test that precisely, so even though all of my 0's and 1 matches decreased in number, it is likely that decrease can be attributed to the "other Ropers" not taking their tests beyond the 37 point marker.

And then, I get the following email message out of ancestry land:

Dear Brently:

I am the administrator of the ROPER DNA study group at Family Tree DNA. Your recent Y-Chromosomal DNA test shows that you match very closely with a number of test subjects in what we generally describe as the “Majority USA ROPER Family.” For example, you exactly match as to all 37 of the first complement of 37-markers (0 genetic distance) as to Dr. Leon David ROPER (a former administrator of the ROPER DNA study group), as well as ten other ROPER surnamed test subjects. You and I differ by a single marker on the 37-marker test.

You also differ from Dr. L. David ROPER by a single marker on the full 67-marker test, a very close match.

You seem to exactly match three of our ROPER surnamed test subjects on the 67-marker Y-Chromosomal DNA test:

· Jerry Benjamin ROPER

· Richard Samuel ROPER (deceased)

· Nicholas James ROPER

(The reason you do not closely match more ROPER family members on the 67-marker test is because most of the members of our study haven’t been tested to that marker resolution.)

These results are suggestive that you might have a recent common ancestor with each of these test subjects.

Dr. L. David ROPER is from a Burke, NC, ROPER family. Jerry Benjamin ROPER is from a Pickens, SC, ROPER family.

Do you have a known lineage to a ROPER ancestor?

Where are you from and what is your known lineage (if you share this information)?

Regards,

Bill

P.S. – Occasionally, there are inexplicable exact matches by chance alone. For example, I exactly match to a member of a HARVEY family member from Australia on a 37-marker test and there appears to be no recent apparent common male patrilineal ancestor between our families in at least ten generations.

Mr. Bill was trying to be helpful but he was describing the possibilities such as artificial insemination, one of my recent ancestors had an affair......This didn't necessarily make me feel better!!

So by now, I hope that you have read the latest deposition. I will finish that up soon and add a couple more that combined with my DNA evidence, would highly suggest that our biological ancestor is Benjamín Roper and not Reuben Johnson. However, legally, Phoebe was last married to Reuben Johnson so Eli would have taken his mother's name. However, things were so different back then that I am not sure. Before we are finished, I will transcribe the pertinent depositions including the Eli Johnson deposition that names what I believe are his 4 half siblings based on the depositions, timeline and DNA evidence.

Dad always told me that the "money" (Reuben's wealth ) all went to Missouri. In her publication, Margaret Rhyne states that Pem Johnson ( who I remember as a child ) reported the same thing. There is an Isaac Johnson in a Missouri cemetery but I have yet to determine if it is Eli's half-brother or not.

This is mostly speculation with a little history mixed in. If Phoebe's maiden name was Dennis, they were a fairly wealthy family. As I understand it, regardless of what the last will and testament said, the wife's dowry was like a debt that the wife could sue for even if the deceased husband did not leave her anything. In my opinion, that was the interest of all of Phoebe's children. It is my belief based on at least 4 or 5 depositions that only Nancy and Isaac were Reuben's biological children and could have standing to challenge Reuben's Last Will and Testament. There is also evidence that will come later explaining that in earlier wills, he had left Isaac and Nancy something substantial and Mary about a twentieth of that. He must have believed that Mary/Polly could have been his but was not sure. She was not cross-eyed and she apparently was conceived after Reuben brought the "Quean girl" into the household. Eli or another of his half-siblings based on the records, not on Reuben's radar at all.

I hope that these latest posts keep you from falling asleep and if anyone comes across any helpful information especially about Phoebe's maiden name. After this story is finished and these records are exhausted, I will likely shift to the Howard/Lambert side. As previously mentioned, genetically, although my dermatologist wishes that I had gotten more dark skin pigment, I have about 6 percent of Native American, Iberian Peninsula, Spanish, Italian, Turkish, and Northern African DNA. Before that, I hope to write a little about the Melungeon and why we that DNA admixture could make sense and explain why Granny (Cordie) Johnson's family were told that if anyone asks to state that they were Black Dutch and why my sister may have inherited that Old Silk Road gene.

Take care and stay safe!