An R1b-FGC36974 Stephens/Stevens Group

[Stevo]

A few years ago, I started the thread, A DF41+ Stephens/Stevens Group, back when DF41 was as far up the R1b tree as we had gotten. Now, thanks to Big Y-500 and Big Y-700 testing with FTDNA, we've made a lot more progress. The SNP our entire group of close Stephens/Stevens matches share is FGC36974. So, I'm starting a new thread about it. From DF41 to FGC36974 goes like this: DF41>FGC5572>BY168>BY166>FT92330>FT83585>FGC36974.

Here's the R1b-FGC36974 descendant tree so far. I'm kit 59080 in the FGC36981 box in the lower left, downstream of FGC36982, which is downstream of FGC36974. Augustine Stevens (c. 1750) is my fifth great grandfather. James H. Stevens (b. 31 Dec 1835) is my second great grandfather.

Stephens_Stevens FGC36974 Tree.jpg

[Stevo]

You might have noticed the block on the right under FGC36974. It contains the kit numbers of those Stephens/Stevens men who are R1b-FGC36974 but thus far don't share a downstream SNP with anyone else. That problem might be resolved, at least in part, if those men who have only had the old Big Y-500 would upgrade to the Big Y-700. The upgrade might reveal a shared SNP among those SNPs not covered in the Big Y-500, like one of the FT series SNPs.

By the way, all that lovely branching is the product of Big Y testing with Family Tree DNA. I can't recommend it enough. It's been a tremendous blessing to me. I am grateful to God and to FTDNA for it. I don't regret a single penny I've spent on DNA testing with FTDNA.

If you're really interested in your fatherline, you just have to do Big Y testing with FTDNA.

[Stevo]

R1b-BY168 descendant tree.jpgThe graphic above shows how we break out in the larger R1b-BY168 haplogroup under R1b-FGC5572, under R1b-DF41.

Once again, all that wonderful branching is the product of Big Y testing with FTDNA.

[Stevo]

Since almost nobody else posts here, and certainly very nearly nobody else posts in these Stephens/Stevens threads, I feel pretty free to talk about my own terminal Y-DNA SNP, FGC36981. So far, there are three of us who have tested positive (derived) for FGC36981: myself, a second cousin, and a second cousin once removed. All three of us share my second great grandfather as MRCA, so we know he was derived (positive) for FGC36981. We were blessed by God to also get a couple of my 5th cousins Big Y-700 tested. They share with us my 5th great grandparents as most recent common ancestors. Those two guys are derived (positive) for FGC36982, but ancestral (negative) for FGC36981. That’s how we know my 5th great grandfather was FGC36982+ (one step upstream of FGC36981), but FGC36981-.

So, my terminal SNP, FGC36981, arose no later than my 2nd great grandfather, but no earlier than my 4th great grandfather. We would need to test at least one Stevens Y-DNA match who shares my 4th great grandfather with us as MRCA, and one who shares my 3rd great grandfather as MRCA, to pinpoint with which ancestor FGC36981 arose.

(It was a pain in the you-know-what just typing all that up!)

[Stevo]

Joan Peake, a professional genealogist who really did some stellar work for us in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, in 2016, said she thought we were derived from the Stevens family of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, especially Talbot County. Unfortunately, Joan passed away in early 2021, so she hasn't been available to follow up on her earlier discoveries.

I had a couple of contacts with Stevenses who still live in Talbot County, and I got my hopes up that at least one of the males would order a Y-DNA test from FTDNA, but so far none of them has.

One of those Talbot County Stevenses was Samuel Stevens, 1778-1860, Governor of Maryland from 1822-1826. He is buried in Springhill Cemetery in Easton, Maryland. Wish we could exhume his remains and get a sample for DNA testing, especially Y-DNA testing.

[Stevo]

Last night I was complaining to my youngest daughter Anna that nothing exciting has happened on the personal DNA front in a long time. That is certainly true, but I don't really have room to complain. I've been blessed by God tremendously when it comes to genetic genealogy (and in many many other ways), especially on my Y-DNA line. I have learned a lot that I didn't know before and that I never would have found out but for the grace of God and the handy tool of DNA testing.

Back in July of 2018 I got a small (9 cMs) match at Ancestry DNA with a man with my surname who has a solid paper trail to two people whom I suspected are my fifth great grandparents. I was thrilled. I sent him several messages in July and August asking him to have his y-dna tested with Family Tree DNA, but I never got an answer. Needless to say, I was heartbroken. Then, in November of that same year, I was looking at that match again at Ancestry and decided to give messaging him one more try. This time, however, I prayed first and asked God for help. Miraculously, within a couple of days, the man answered and agreed to order a Y-111 test and pay for it himself, even though I had offered to pay for a Y-37 test! THANK YOU, GOD!

On 04 Jan 2019, his Y-111 results came in, and he matches me 110/111! Not only that, but he also ordered a Family Finder test and matches me on 31 cMs with a longest block of 16 cMs! He shares matches with me to my dad, my youngest son, and a number of my other paternal line matches. I could sense his own amazement at the results, which he proved by upgrading to the Big Y-700. Needless to say, this man is also a Big Y-700 match for me.

Thanks to God and to Family Tree DNA, I now have confirmation of the identity of my fifth great grandparents, both of whom were born about 1750, one, Augustine Stevens, in Maryland, and the other, Sophia Young, in England.

https://forums.familytreedna.com/for...790#post328790

[Stevo]

By the way, the breakthrough match I mentioned above not only matches me on the Big Y-700 in terms of SNPs, he also stayed within a genetic distance of one from me, even after the accumulation of all those additional STR markers! He is now a 757/758 STR match for me! That's 99.868%! Whoa! Once again, thank You, God!

As I mentioned, he and I share my fifth great grandparents, Augustine Stevens and Sophia Young, as most recent common ancestors (MRCAs). He is descended on the Y-DNA line from Amos H. Stevens (b. 1778), the son of Augustine and Sophia, via Amos H.'s son Amos (b. 1815). Finding him and getting him to test, as I mentioned in my last post above, was nothing short of a miracle. I will be forever grateful to God for it.

I have also been blessed with a lot of further confirmation of my descent from Augustine and Sophia in the form of numerous autosomal DNA matches, so many of them with other descendants of Amos H. Stevens that it gives me pause sometimes and makes me wonder if I am not also descended from him. However, Amos H. Stevens is so well documented, and had so many kids with his first and apparently only wife, Margaret "Hannah" Cunning, that, no, I don't think he is my ancestor. He was the brother of my ancestor.

Besides the autosomal DNA match I mentioned above to the man who turned out to be my breakthrough Y-DNA match, I have three autosomal DNA matches to descendants of Amos H. Stevens's son Daniel (b. 1822), two to descendants of Amos H.'s daughter Nancy (b. 1801), and one to a descendant of Amos H.'s daughter Hannah (b. 1813). So, you see, I have autosomal DNA matches to seven descendants of Amos H. Stevens. Not bad.

I also have an autosomal DNA match to a female descendant of Elizabeth Stevens (b. about 1796), the daughter of Dr. Benjamin Stevens, Jr. (b. 1774), the son of Benjamin Stevens (b. 1737). That's significant because I have a Big Y-500 (he hasn't upgraded to the Big Y-700) and 106/111 match to a Y-DNA descendant of the older Benjamin Stevens. Documents from Fayette County, PA, indicate that the older Benjamin was the brother of Samuel Stevens, and they were probably the brothers of Augustine Stevens. Augustine and his sons Augustine and Jacob are mentioned in Samuel Stevens's will in Fayette County in 1797.

I also have Y-DNA matches, 107/111 and 108/111 respectively, to a descendant of Obadiah Stevens (b. 1787) and to two descendants of Charles Stevens (b. about 1795), both of whom were in Fayette County, PA, when Augustine, Sophia, Benjamin, and Samuel were there. We don't yet know their exact relationship to Augustine. They may have been his nephews, but we're not sure.

As you can see, I have been blessed by God with a lot of really good and informative DNA testing results, and I am grateful.

Stevens_Daniel_ 04 Dec 1822.jpg re

[Stevo]

I recently noticed that FTDNA Discover has updated some of the relevant SNP age estimates, so I updated my R1b-BY168 Descendant Tree today. Here it is.

R1b-BY168 descendant tree.jpg

[Stevo]

Mal'ta Boy R-M207.jpg

I am interested in both comparatively recent genealogy and in deep ancestry, especially ancient Y-DNA test results. You can see the haplogroup R pedigree of my own Y-DNA line in the box in the upper right on the graphic in my last post. I mention it and am reposting it because it is relevant to the subject of deep ancestry. Here it is again:

R-M207>R1-M173>R1b-M343>L754>L761>L389>P297>M269>L23>L51>P310>PF6538> L151> P312>Z290>L21>S552>DF13>
Z39589>DF41>FGC5572>BY168>BY166>FT92330>FT83585>FG C36974>FGC36982>FGC36981

Mal'ta Boy, who died when he was 7 or 8 years old, but whose remains are about 24,000 years old, was R-M207 (and mtDNA U, and so am I). His remains were recovered near Lake Baikal in Siberia. He is the type model for the autosomal signature known as "Ancient North Eurasian".

The oldest R1b-P310 that I know of us is Sample I6222 from the steppe pastoralist Afanasievo culture in Mongolia (Wang et al, 2020), dated to 3316-2918 BC. There is also an R1b-L151 result (a couple of steps downstream of R1b-P310) from the Afanasievo culture in Mongolia, dated to 2815-2526 BC (Kumar et al, 2022).

Papac et al (2021) found several R1b-L151 remains in early Corded Ware (~2900 BC) in Bohemia in what is now the Czech Republic. Linderholm et al (2020) found several R1b-L51 remains in Corded Ware in SE Poland (~2600 BC).

Of course, thus far, Beaker, which was evidently derived from Single Grave Corded Ware, has been nearly universally R1b-P312, and British and Irish Beaker are nearly universally Rb-L21.

If you look back at the phylogenetic pedigree with which I began this post, you will see that all those SNPs are in my pedigree, which is why I mentioned those ancient Y-DNA results.

[Stevo]

I hope my Stephens/Stevens matches who have never upgraded from the Big Y-500 to the Big Y-700 do so during FTDNA's Father's Day sale, which is coming up soon. I'd like to see some movement on some of those lines currently stuck at R1b-FGC36974.