FYI...All this DNA stuff was essentially frontiered by anthropologists and
forms the basis of population genetics. Work had already been done in the
field by comparing the frequency of blood types over the world to help
determine migration patterns. As it turns out, because of the relative
rapidity that parts of the Y mutates, comparisons can made over just a
handful of generations. I believe that that is one of the reasons it's so
popular in America; for most of us, our origins in this country cover just
a handful of generations.
According to population geneticists--and their work is still in its
infancy and will certainly be amended as new data comes in--the Y
possessed by me and the other tested males of our "clan" indicates that an
ancestor crossed the North Sea into Scotland from Norway about 5,000 years
ago. The Benjamin Cooley Y crossed from the continent to Britain about
8,000 years ago.
The Benjamin clan has found a genetic match in England through the
descendant of a William Cooley of Tring. Benjamin is mentioned as his son
in church records. It seems to me to be an almost impossible dream that we
can make the same discovery. But looking for matches in this country is a
good first step. Was, for example, William Henry Cooley (m Sophia Havens)
a grandson of John's or does he represent a collateral line? If he is of a
collateral line, were John and William known to one another, or were they
so removed in terms of relationship that we'd have to go back several
generations in Britain to find a connection?
The CFAA has largely empowered me to look at these questions by helping me
seek out testers representative of other early Cooley lines. As more tests
results come in (the Cooley/Gargus test, for example), we may begin to
unravel the mystery.
-Michael
--
Second VP, the Cooley Family Association of America
President, the Genealogy Club of Humboldt State University
Administrator, the Eldridge Family DNA Project
Administrator, the Ashenhurst Family DNA Project (in the works)
Administrator, the alt-McDowell DNA Project
Co-Administrator, the Cooley Family DNA Project
Instructor (upcoming this fall), "Genealogy and Family History" at
the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), through HSU
Received on Tue Aug 21 2012 - 13:42:21 MDT