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Johnson/Johnston/JohnstoneDNA Surname ProjectA Pioneer DNA Surname Project |
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In Memorial of
Harold Johnson Fortest and Tree Wise is the person who sees the forest May we then in living life (Participant
58215) |
R1b1b2
Group Sweetgum
(American
Sweetgum) Haplogroup Definition
Haplogroup R1b/ R1b1b2 is the
most common haplogroup in European populations. It is believed to have
expanded throughout Europe as humans re-colonized after the last glacial
maximum 10-12 thousand years ago. This lineage is also the haplogroup
containing the Atlantic modal haplotype. Members
Group Leader: Jim Friar
Information:
R1b1b2 Group Sweetgum’s Results The Niall Haplogroup Recent stories in the popular and scientific press have
identified a large number of men in northwest Ireland, together with
substantial numbers elsewhere in Ireland and along the Scottish coast, with a
pattern in their Y-DNA called the "Northwest Irish haplotype" or
the "Niall haplotype." The location of the greatest concentration
of these men and their family names suggests that they may be descendants of
an Irish king with the delightful name, Niall of the Nine Hostages. This
haplotype, or DNA pattern, is available on the FamilyTreeDNA web site. It is
quite close to that of my uncle, Don Johnson. Our Johnson family (from Noble
County, Ohio and Frederick County, Virginia) originally spelled their name
"Johnston", indicating a Scottish or Scots-Irish origin, the latter
agreeing with our family oral history. Although we have not yet been able to
trace our family into Virginia (I am stuck around 1785), we have identified a
cousin (Bryan Johnston) living in Northern Ireland, who has a very similar
Y-DNA pattern to my uncle Don (part of our "Sweetgum group"). This
stunning result highlights the present and future importance of DNA studies
in genealogy. It is also interesting that most of the near or exact matches
to our Johns[t]on haplotype have Scottish or Irish family names. Changes in the Y-DNA occur according to the laws of probability.
This means that one can compute the odds that a particular outcome will occur
if enough information is available to make the computation. Many different
outcomes are possible, each with a different probability of occurrence. When
our former Project Administrator, Harold Johnson, pointed out to me that the
Sweetgum group corresponded closely (but not exactly) to the Niall haplotype,
I was curious whether the number of differences from the Niall haplotype (in
our case 5 out of 37 sites that were tested on the Y chromosome) was a
reasonably likely occurrence, being neither too many nor too few differences
from the Niall haplotype. Although it is known that changes in the Y-DNA pattern at
different sites will occur with different rates, these rates are not very
well known. For a rough estimate a common rate of change can be assumed. For
example, it is not unreasonable to assume that at each site the probability
of a change is 1/500 per generation. Niall lived roughly 1500 years ago, a
length of time that is usually assumed to correspond to about 60 generations.
This large number of generations means that the probability of a change at
any one site over that time is roughly 1 out of 8. Doing the necessary math
within a simplified model, one finds that it is very UNLIKELY that a
descendant of Niall would have no changes from Niall's pattern if 37 sites
were tested, and that the most likely number of changes would be 4, although
3 and 5 changes are nearly as likely (the latter corresponding to my uncle
and Bryan). These three patterns represent over half of the total
probability. For a 12-site test the most probable number of changes is 1,
although 2 changes or no changes are nearly as probable. These three patterns
together correspond to about 85% of the total probability. If one assumes a
different probability for changes per generation at each site, the results
will be different. My conclusion is that differences between my uncle's pattern
(and that of the other members of Sweetgum group) and the Niall haplotype are
about what one would expect over the very long time since Niall is supposed
to have lived. Jim Friar Sweetgum group The Sweetgum Group At the present time our group
comprises 4 different, but closely connected, genealogical lines. Three of
these lines were known from genealogical research to be closely related. Our
haplogroup classification is calculated to be R1b1b2. The three connected lines arise
from the emigration to Ohio of two related Johnstons (probably brothers) from
near the town of Winchester in Frederick County, Virginia. The emigrants were
Armstrong Johnston and George Reed Johnston. The families of these two men
are shown on this <CHART>, where they were assumed to be
brothers. Both men ended their lives in Noble County, Ohio, one in Noble Twp.
and one in neighboring Buffalo Twp., where they lived less than 6 miles
apart. Both men changed their names from Johnston to Johnson while living in
Ohio. Armstrong Johnson (I call him
Armstrong I) was born between 1784 and 1790 (based solely on census
information) and died about 1831. He first married Catherine Riegle in 1809
in Frederick County, Virginia, and then Elizabeth Chilcote in 1816 in
Jefferson County, Ohio. He had at least 10 children, of whom at least 6 had
descendants and have been identified. One of these was his (oldest) son named
George Reed Johnson, while another son was named Armstrong (whom I denote
Armstrong II), whose descendant on the <CHART> is Dean Johnson. The existence of
two George Reed Johnsons (indicated by the dashed arrow) strengthens the
supposition that the older one was Armstrong I's brother. My ancestor was
John P. Johnson, the youngest son of Armstrong, whose descendant on the <CHART> is my uncle, Don Johnson. The
37-site Y-DNA results for Dean and Don are identical. Because the probability
of a mutation is only about 1/500 per generation per site, it is easy to
demonstrate that it is far more likely that no changes occurred in those 37
sites in passing from Armstrong I to Dean and Don than if identical changes
occurred in the SAME site or sites for both of these lines. Therefore the
pattern that Dean and Don share is also highly likely to be the same as that
of Armstrong I, which I call the "Armstrong haplotype". The Noble County Probate Court
death listing of John Johnson in 1899 lists his parents as Armstrong (I)
Johnson and Elizabeth Chilcote (Armstrong's second wife). This is one of the
few pieces of extant documentation that ties Armstrong I to his descendants.
Fortunately the naming patterns of his family are sufficiently unusual that
assembling a family tree was not too difficult even without DNA evidence. George Reed Johnson (the elder)
was born in 1787 in (or likely near) Winchester, Virginia, and died in
Buffalo Twp. in Noble County in 1871, according to his Noble County Probate
Court death listing. His full name is also identified in a document in
Frederick County, Virginia, where he married Hannah Keckley. His descendant
on the <CHART> is Dan Johnson. Dan's 37-site Y-DNA
pattern differs in only 1 site from the Armstrong haplotype. A rough
calculation shows that no changes would be expected about 65% of the time in
the 6 generations from the unknown Johnston on the <CHART> to Dan, with 1 change expected about
30% of the time, so a single change is not unreasonable. I have had little luck locating
that "unknown Johnston". There were many, many Johnstons in
Frederick County, Virginia between 1750 and 1800. The 1787 personal tax
records for Frederick County and the town of Winchester list 18
Johnston/Johnson households. The remaining member of our
group is located in an unexpected place: Belfast, Northern Ireland. Bryan
Johnston's haplotype differs from the Armstrong haplotype in two sites, with
a numerical distance of three (one of the sites differs by two units). The
oral history of my Johnson family states that we are Scots-Irish, so a branch
of the family in Northern Ireland is not unexpected (but I was nevertheless
shocked when Bryan responded to my email!). Neither of us has any idea when
our relative(s) left for the Colony of Virginia. Jim Friar Sweetgum Group |
Links To Sites of Interest
Our Testing Lab Clan Johnston/e’s Associations
Please send Queries to Cecil Johnson UK Clan Johnstone DNAQueries: Website of
Linda Sparks Starr |
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Contacts: Lee Johnson Administrator | Sherrie Boone Co-Administrator |
Barbara
Hockman Pedigree Coordinator
| Tony Johnson Librarian US |
Don Johnston
Librarian NZ & Australia | Cathy Cadd
Librarian Canada
Euell Johnson Research Analysis
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