Y Haplogroups and Descendants of James Scott from Monroe County WVA
James Scott settled in Monroe County, West Virginia sometime after 1780 and two separate biographical references indicate that he was born at sea and that his family originated from Scotland and settled in a region of Virginia known as the Rockbridge which is generally identified as the Natural Bridge. Though the life of James is well documented after settling in Monroe, finding specific records of life before locating to "The Sinks" has been difficult. Scott is not an uncommon surname for that region, and James was a popular first name, so its hard to pin a James Scott or Scott surname reference in court, marriage or land records to James Scott who came to Monroe.
My hope is that DNA testing will provide more clues which may eventually narrow down the list of potential people and places from where this branch of Scott's lived prior to coming to North America. To that end, I submitted my DNA for testing, and followed my initial results with further tests which I hoped would yield more useful information. I will provide the details here, and anyone who is a direct male descendant of James Scott may find the results useful in both verifying their own linage and perhaps someday identifying the original settlers from Europe.
I have had my DNA tested by two companies, "23 and Me", and "Family Tree DNA". While each company did a complete analysis of all 23 chromosomes, the most relevant results in regard to finding male ancestors is in regard to the composition of the "Y" sex chromosome. Male children inherit one X chromosome from their mother and a Y chromosome from their father. (Females inherit two X chromosomes). In this way, the Y chromosome is passed from father to son and represents an uninterrupted line of inheritance going back thousands of years.
While Y chromosomes do have important genetic instructions, their use in genealogy comes from the discovery that there are variations in the order and number nucleotide bases which are specific to a linage. The Y chromosome of any male was passed on through their father and, their fathers before them, for thousands of generations, and the genetic patterns on the chromosome place into what is called a haplogroup. The patterns I inherited, and all Scott males in my linage have is called JM-67, which is a more specific subgroup of a larger group called J-M172, which is also a subgroup of the major haplogroup J.
This means that any male who has a J-M67 genetic haplogroup shares a common ancestor with me. So in terms of genealogical searching, the assumption I am making is that I am looking for a male from Augusta/Rockbridge County with the surname Scott who has is part of the J-M67 haplogroup. This may or may not prove true, as names can be adopted. It is a good place to start, but not necessarily a iron clad assumption. It also assumes an uninterrupted line of passing the chromosome from James Scott and that he inherited the same from his father. In my case:
My hope is that DNA testing will provide more clues which may eventually narrow down the list of potential people and places from where this branch of Scott's lived prior to coming to North America. To that end, I submitted my DNA for testing, and followed my initial results with further tests which I hoped would yield more useful information. I will provide the details here, and anyone who is a direct male descendant of James Scott may find the results useful in both verifying their own linage and perhaps someday identifying the original settlers from Europe.
I have had my DNA tested by two companies, "23 and Me", and "Family Tree DNA". While each company did a complete analysis of all 23 chromosomes, the most relevant results in regard to finding male ancestors is in regard to the composition of the "Y" sex chromosome. Male children inherit one X chromosome from their mother and a Y chromosome from their father. (Females inherit two X chromosomes). In this way, the Y chromosome is passed from father to son and represents an uninterrupted line of inheritance going back thousands of years.
While Y chromosomes do have important genetic instructions, their use in genealogy comes from the discovery that there are variations in the order and number nucleotide bases which are specific to a linage. The Y chromosome of any male was passed on through their father and, their fathers before them, for thousands of generations, and the genetic patterns on the chromosome place into what is called a haplogroup. The patterns I inherited, and all Scott males in my linage have is called JM-67, which is a more specific subgroup of a larger group called J-M172, which is also a subgroup of the major haplogroup J.
This means that any male who has a J-M67 genetic haplogroup shares a common ancestor with me. So in terms of genealogical searching, the assumption I am making is that I am looking for a male from Augusta/Rockbridge County with the surname Scott who has is part of the J-M67 haplogroup. This may or may not prove true, as names can be adopted. It is a good place to start, but not necessarily a iron clad assumption. It also assumes an uninterrupted line of passing the chromosome from James Scott and that he inherited the same from his father. In my case:
James Scott------Williams Robert Scott-----James Kincaid Scott---Green Lee Scott--- William Paul Scott---- William Randolph Scott----- Michael R Scott----Conor R. Scott.
My male cousins on the paternal side would have an identical pattern of inheritance and would be in haplogroup J-M67
There are references which state that the family of James Scott originated in Scotland, so it may be possible to find connections to a Scott surname and the J-M67 haplogroup from Scotland. As it turns out, the haplogroup is not among the most common in Scotland, or Europe. It appears that men with this haplogroup were part of a migration from areas where it very common, the Europe where it is not common. The area where it is most common is the Mid East and Black Sea region. It is speculated that the haplogroup may have arrived on the British Isles with the Romans. Here is small post with presents the hypothesis:
https://barryclark.info/geneology/j-m172-haplogroup-y-dna-scotland/
https://barryclark.info/geneology/j-m172-haplogroup-y-dna-scotland/
In general, when one sees a list of men who have this haplogroup, it means we all have common ancestor. The amazing thing about it is that for J-M67, that could go back 10,000 years. And for for the larger group J-M172, it could be almost 40,000 years. Generation upon generation!
I am hopeful that as people contribute their DNA to genealogical sites, more and more information will become available and allow us Scott's to connect our dots back to Europe. Right now, we know of a immigrant names James Scott whose parents are said to have settled in Rockbridge, Virginia circa 1750.
I am hopeful that as people contribute their DNA to genealogical sites, more and more information will become available and allow us Scott's to connect our dots back to Europe. Right now, we know of a immigrant names James Scott whose parents are said to have settled in Rockbridge, Virginia circa 1750.
Here's a graphical look at the Y chromosome pass down:
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