Mitchell / Miller Adoption in the 1850's

[MitcheR1]

My great grandfather (named G. W. Mitchell, b. 1854)) was suspected of being adopted, with his original somehow connected name being Miller. His assumed biological parents were a J. Mitchell (male b. 1819) and S. Booth (female b. 1822). Using Ancestry Shared DNA matches, I was able to prove that indeed one of G.W.’s parental lines is a Miller line, and the actual Miller family (not the individual) has been identified. I have a write-up about this on Ancestry. The problem here is that I can’t tell whether G.W.’s true male parent was a Mitchell, a Miller, or neither. I obviously can’t tell which. This looks like a Y-Chr analysis is in order, but I’m a little concerned how well this particular separation (between Miller and Mitchell) from an ancestor that far back can be achieved using only my own Mitchell Y-DNA. Can you please advise, and suggest which Y-Chr kit might be best appropriate??

Thanx in advance for your help,

Mitch Mitchell

[ech124]

A lot depends on how much you want to spend to solve the problem. Generally a Y-37 is the modern entry level test. This is a good time of year to do it due to the sales available. I would try that and see if you match existing tested people that show a Miller or Mitchell line. If you do not match someone closely, the next step would be to find a male descendant from the Mitchell/Miller family you suspect and sponsor a Y-37 test for them. If you are related in the past few hundred years, a match should occur. Y tests can always be upgraded in the future for a fee. If you are feeling lucky, you could gamble on doing a higher Y level test immediately to avoid upgrading.

[KATM]

MitcheR1, just FYI (since this was your first post and you may be new to FTDNA): if you wish to invest in Y-DNA testing, the sale prices are shown at https://www.familytreedna.com/products/y-dna#/compare. Use code MERRY5 for orders under $100, or code MERRY10 for 10% off orders over $100. Shipping is reduced to $9.95 through Dec. 16th.

[MitcheR1]

Thank you both for your insightful posts. There's a lot to think about here before I proceed.

Mitch