Best upgrade to do from ydna 37 markers

[cidmac]

I have been doing genealogy research for a friend of mine who is African American, of course we hit the brick wall at 1870, and so I urged him to do the ydna testing at least to 37 markers. His results are back and his closest matches are 36/37, he has 9 matches 36/37. Of the 9, 5 are the same surname, and 3 another surname, and one completely different. None of these are his surname.Through research 2 of the surnames are of Quaker background, and one was a slave owner in the town where his grandfather was born in 1864. His haplogroup is I1. Where should I advise him to go from here, of course he's looking for his progenitor,will going to 67 or 111 markers help us narrow this down, or perhaps Family Finder. What would be his best course of action. So grateful for any help on this.

[thetick]

If others have not tested beyond 37 markers and you can not convince them to test more markers then more markers do you no good. Mostly like some have 67 markers. Look at your YDNA match and you can see how many have tested 67 or 111.

FF would be useful but very difficult to distinguished which line since all lines are included and no way to tell until you test many more people or are able to confirm many matches.

[EdwardRHill]

The problem with matches with different surnames is it leaves you open to being a match on markers only and not share the same Haplogroup. If your matches are not in the same Haplogroup than they are not a match. My guess is most of them are but I like to cover all the bases. Are your matches predicted to be in the same Haplogroup?

[cidmac]

Yes, the matches are predicted the same haplogroup

[EdwardRHill]

Yes, the matches are predicted the same haplogroup

Haplogroup I1 is of Nordic ethnicity so they have a white Grandfather somewhere down the line, but where? 9 matches all have a 36 out of 37 markers I just read on the Y forum a tread "Have a 37/37 match are more test needed" the last tread someone has posted there mentions a Genetic Distant of 2 but when he upgraded to 67 he ended up with a GD of 15 he is no longer a match. I didn't know that was possible to go from a GD of 2 to 15.

Since thats possible I would try to contact the matches and get what information you can from them. Try to triangulate a Common Ancestor or at least an area. While your doing that ask if any of the other matches have tested to or would be willing to test up to 67 markers if you get a yes I would upgrade to 67 to make sure you don't go from GD of 1 to 15.

Thats what I would do to start. I matched 5 others with a different surname Lee and what I mentioned above is pretty much what I did and I have broken down my Brick Wall, now I have a new one. I think I can break that one down too.

[lgmayka]

I didn't know that was possible to go from a GD of 2 to 15.

It's very rare, but possible. That's why I always suggest an upgrade to 67 markers to confirm a match, especially when the match crosses surnames and ethnicities (apparent ancestral origins).

[EdwardRHill]

It's very rare, but possible. That's why I always suggest an upgrade to 67 markers to confirm a match, especially when the match crosses surnames and ethnicities (apparent ancestral origins).

I would consider Deep Clade first with a bunch of matches because I would want to clear out any unnecessary research and the Deep Clade would help with that by identifying matches that would be a waist of time to research.

When asked about the predicted Haplogroup the answer was all the same. If the answer was same haplogroup but different subclade I would do the Deep Clade test first to clear out any unnecessary research.

[PDHOTLEN]

I had my 67 test done ages ago. But it didn't get me anywhere as far as finding family. However, I'm seriously thinking of upgrading to the 111 level for another reason. I belong to a tiny sub-clade that only includes myself. Actually, there looks to be a few more in Norway. The Project experts need my 111 level to classify me and my sub-clade more accurately.

[EdwardRHill]

I had my 67 test done ages ago. But it didn't get me anywhere as far as finding family. However, I'm seriously thinking of upgrading to the 111 level for another reason. I belong to a tiny sub-clade that only includes myself. Actually, there looks to be a few more in Norway. The Project experts need my 111 level to classify me and my sub-clade more accurately.

To confirm your Haplogroup you need to do a Deep Clade test. I Can't think of a reason why he or she would want you to test to 111 markers.