So far, there have been 9 Hartley BigY tests taken by men in my branch of the YDNA Tree. Here is the FTDNA Time Tree:
All these Hartleys fall under A11134. Here is a new tree that FTDNA has called the Classic Tree:
This shows the same information in a different way. The date I am interested in here is 1500. This is the estimated date that our Hartleys descend from based on currrent BigY testing. Four of the BigY testers are A11134. The next group which is FT225247 also descends from 1500 but with seven SNPs.
Finally, there is what I call the Quaker Hartleys. Their ancestor was from NE Lancashire and left for Pennsylvania ostenibly to avoid religious persecution. This group also harks back to 1500. That means that there are four individuals and two subgroups that descend from an ancestor who was born around the year 1500.
Before I tested my brother, I was in the A11134 Group.
How Do STRs Fit In?
At this point, I am interested in my group of FT225247 and the A11134 Group. I am not as interested in the A16717 Group as they already have an older defined subgroup and we know about their genealogy. It is possible by an analysis of the STRs to try to determine which line is closer or further from the other non-Quaker Hartleys.
SAPP
I have used a program called SAPP to analyze STRs in the past. This time, I will try plugging in just the 6 BigY tests that I am interested in to see how the branching looks. I had previously run Ethan through SAPP in this Blog. Ethan is the latest BigY Tester in my Hartley Group.
Here is an initial screen when I run SAPP:
As expected, I (275990) am close by Genetic Distance to my brother (757486), but not to the others as we go back to roughly 1500 in our Hartley Lines. Here is the tree that SAPP comes up with for these 6 Hartleys:
So here where the SNP Tree has 5 Branches coming done from 1500 (not counting the Quaker Hartleys), the SAPP Tree has 3 branches coming down from 1600. Some observations:
- Group MRCA is also A11134
- TMRCA is 1600 versus the SNP Tree’s 1500. However, these are within the ranges we might expect
- The Genetic Distance (GD) between John and me is the least at 6, but the SAPP Tree has John in a different branch (Node #8)
- Node #8 is one of the most interesting aspects of this tree as it suggests that Nutter and Ethan are most closely related to each other (after my brother and me) and that John, Nutter and Ethan are in a group together.
- Confusingly, the TMCRA for the Group MRCA, Node #9 and Node #7 are the same. By the configuration, it would appear that these should be at least a generation away from each other.
Adding Two More 111 STR Testers
The two who have tested to 111 STRs but have not yet taken the BigY Test are Mervin and Gary. I will add them in:
Mervin and Gary are at the end of the list. Gary is closest by GD to Nutter and Ethan. Let’s run the SAPP Tree:
I think that this is the best 111 Hartley Tree which does not include the Quaker Hartleys. Notice that by adding two more 111 STR Hartley tested men, the tree is now more complicated. Some observations and thoughts:
- Group MRCA is now at the year 1500 which compares well with the STR Tree. This suggests to me a more accurate STR Tree.
- Now Mervin and Nutter are in their own old branches
- This suggests that Ethan and Gary would have a common ancestor around the year 1600, if the tree is right. That suggests that it may be helpful for Gary to take the BigY test
- Further, the tree suggests that Steve and my branch have a common ancestor around the year 1650. I question whether that is right because my branch of FT225247 has 7 SNPs in it. There are 450 years between 1500 and 1950. When I divide 450 years by 7 SNPs, that means that my branch has a new SNP every 64 years. That being the case, there should have been a new SNP between the year 1500 and 1650 where my family should have matched Steve if this STR tree above was right.
Finally, Add in Two More 111 STR Quaker Hartleys
Of the three BigY Quaker Hartleys, only two have STRs tested to the 111 level. That means that I need to add in John Robert and Lawrence. Here are the GDs:
The Quaker Hartleys start with 693 and 117.
Here is the latest (and greatest?) STR SAPP Tree:
I like this tree better as it is wider and seems to mirror the STR Tree more.
Notes:
- The STR Tree sorted out the Quaker Branch on the right (Node #13). I did not tell SAPP that they had their own SNP Branch.
- I question Node #12 that has my branch in the same group as John Nicholas. My reasoning is the same as above. It would mean that there were no SNPs between 1550 and 1700 where my branch would mach John. However, if the STR tree is right, it would mean that the mutations in my line were even more frequent perhaps averaging a mutation per generation.
- Group MRCA is now 1550 which suggests a more streamlined tree. Because of my objection to Node #12, it may be that the tree is too streamlined.
- This tree seems more accurate that my attempt in a previous Blog which looked at tested Hartleys at levels below 111 STRs.
Next Steps
Here is the A11134 Block Tree:
Including myself, there are 9 BigY tested Hartleys. There are 15 Hartleys in our Branch of the Hartley YDNA Project at FTDNA:
Perhaps the other 6 would consider taking the BigY test to see if we could get any further branching in our group. I have been in touch with a second cousin of mine to take the BigY, but that would only help on my own narrow Hartley Line.
Summary and Conclusions
- The most recent BigY tester was Ethan. I was hoping that Ethan’s BigY results would give us more branching in the YDNA Hartley SNP Tree.
- It didn’t, so I thought that I would look again at the Hartley 111 STR results.
- The most accurate results appear to be when I looked at the 10 Hartleys who tested for 111 STRs. 8 of those 10 had taken the BigY test. An additional Quaker Hartley Line tester had the older BigY test which did not include the 111 STRs. However, he is from his Branch is fairly well defined as to genealogy and has its own SNP Branch of A16717.
- The last STR SAPP tree above suggests that Steve and Ethan have a more recent common ancestor from about the year 1650
- The same STR tree produced from SAPP suggests that my brother and I may be more closely related to John Nicholas with a common ancestor from around the year 1700.
- Due to the vagaries of STRs, these interpretations are up in the air. However, they do suggest possibilities which may be looked into.
- As always more BigY testing should result in more clarity in this Hartley Branch of mankind.