Hi,
I'll just put the link here. I don't agree with every word, nor with all the numerous comments, but the majority is good information.
http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/07/how-dna-proved-my-family-tree-connection.html
Lalia
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Taylors in the USA
If you are interested enough in Taylors to be reading this blog, you’ve probably already searched for Taylors in public records. Not an easy task, is it? Then, if you combine the Taylor surname with a common first name, say John or James, you are in real trouble. You can find many of them even in the same counties you know your ancestor of the same name lived…
But here’s proof of how many Taylors are out there. This information was obtained from Ancestory.com’s census records and then corrected, because a number of censuses underreported in some years. Thanks to Ralph Taylor and Josh Taylor, project administrators who did the hard work.
Consider these numbers:
US Federal Census Data for Taylor, 1790-1930
From search on "taylor", exact match, exact spelling at Ancestry.com US federal census indices, with corrections for underreporting in some jurisdictions.
1790 9,710
1800 13,300
1810 17,940
1820 23,600
1830 33,650
1840 58,560
1850 67,430
1860 85,620
1870 133,270
1880 171,360
1890 211,160
1900 248,515
1910 283,066
1920 313,925
1930 341,174
So, how do you find the right Taylor ancestors? Glad you asked that. Y-chromosome DNA is one way to go about locating the right Taylor family. Go to www.familytreedna.com and look for the Taylor surname project. We are now at 277 members and just beginning to fully elucidate the Taylor gene pool.
And, yes, there are other ways to find your correct Taylor ancestors. Go for the paper trail with public and private documents. And, realistically, you need to do both. The combination of biological proof and a paper trail will make definite proof that you are investigating the right ancestors.
Good luck with your genealogy research! Remember to get back to the Taylor surname project when you have updated your Taylor family tree.
Lalia
But here’s proof of how many Taylors are out there. This information was obtained from Ancestory.com’s census records and then corrected, because a number of censuses underreported in some years. Thanks to Ralph Taylor and Josh Taylor, project administrators who did the hard work.
Consider these numbers:
US Federal Census Data for Taylor, 1790-1930
From search on "taylor", exact match, exact spelling at Ancestry.com US federal census indices, with corrections for underreporting in some jurisdictions.
1790 9,710
1800 13,300
1810 17,940
1820 23,600
1830 33,650
1840 58,560
1850 67,430
1860 85,620
1870 133,270
1880 171,360
1890 211,160
1900 248,515
1910 283,066
1920 313,925
1930 341,174
So, how do you find the right Taylor ancestors? Glad you asked that. Y-chromosome DNA is one way to go about locating the right Taylor family. Go to www.familytreedna.com and look for the Taylor surname project. We are now at 277 members and just beginning to fully elucidate the Taylor gene pool.
And, yes, there are other ways to find your correct Taylor ancestors. Go for the paper trail with public and private documents. And, realistically, you need to do both. The combination of biological proof and a paper trail will make definite proof that you are investigating the right ancestors.
Good luck with your genealogy research! Remember to get back to the Taylor surname project when you have updated your Taylor family tree.
Lalia
Monday, May 25, 2009
DNA and the Genealogical Time Frame
Hi,
We Taylor administrator team members have discussed moving this blog, and I was holding off on posting. But so far, it looks like the blog will remain here! This is a submission from one of the administrators, Ralph Taylor. Ralph has a keen interest in the statistical side to genetic DNA and he has submitted several other pieces which I'll post in the coming days.
Lalia
~~~~~~
Sometimes, Y-DNA matches point to a common ancestor who might have lived thousands of years in the past. Finding a name or other information about this man can be an almost insurmountable task; the range of time exceeds the"genealogical time frame".
While it's fun to imagine our Taylor ancestors fighting alongside King Arthur against the Saxons (or, fighting with the Saxons against Arthur) it's not genealogy unless we can link a line of descent with specific people. The International Society for Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG) defines "Genealogical Time Frame: A time frame within the last 500 up to 1000 years since the adoption of surnames and written family records..." Though extending to the present, the genealogical time frame (GTF) has no definite & universal beginning point. It depends on the practices and record availability of the specific area in which we want to look. But, we can make some general observations. Genealogy, linking individuals into a pedigree, depends on: 1. Surnames, to identify one John from another in the same place and time and suggest kinship; & 2. Written records naming most people in a community.
Surnames: If you've struggled with too many men of the same name in the same time and place, you know how important surnames are to genealogy. Without surnames, it gets even more confusing. The practice of surnames passing from father to children came into common use only as far back as the mid-14th century (about 650 years ago) in England and even more recently in other places. We believe it traces to a 1353 edict on the issue by King Edward III. With few exceptions, the occupationally-based Taylor surname dates from this time. Earlier ancestors would not have had a surname.
The Scandinavian patronymic system -- in which Carl, the son of Peter, was named Carl Peterson & Peter's grandson became Hans Carlson -- persisted into the 19th century. The Germanic practice of men "marrying the farm" and taking the farm's name lasted about as long.
Written records: In Europe, the practice of recording baptisms, marriages & funerals of parishioners began with the slow spread of the Christian Church. Written records were then adopted by secular authorities for other purposes such as taxes, military conscription and worker control. Written records are, of course, dependent on a written language and a minimum level of literacy. Many ancient languages had no written form, so monks & priests wrote in Latin. Even kings, whose first job was warrioring,were often illiterate.
The Bubonic Plague (also mid-14th century) indirectly stimulated record-keeping on previously-ignored ordinary folk. The plague killed two-thirds of Europe's population and the rigid feudal society as well. As serfs - whose masters had died - fled and masters - whose serfs had died -sought replacement workers, unprecedented movements of people & resulting paranoia were created. Suddenly, it was important to write down who was living in your town or county. Previous records (such as the Domesday Book of 1086) named only taxpayers, the aristocracy. Histories named only the major players -- the "stars", not the supporting casts. We are familiar the effects time has on written records. Courthouses burn, churches and archives are bombed, paper molders.
All these and more conspire to make records which once existed no longer available. The more time that has transpired since a record was created, the less likely it still exists.
Conclusion: I believe ISOGG is being generous with its "up to 1000 years", at least so far as Great Britain & Ireland (from which many Taylor families came) are concerned. I'd peg our GTF as beginning about 1350 AD. Genealogy isn't alchemy; we can't turn lead into gold. We can only work with what there is. Most of us have limits on the time, money and effort we can devote to family history; we have to set priorities. A DNA match pointing to a 90% probability of an ancestor who may have lived before 1350 may not be worth making a high research priority.
We Taylor administrator team members have discussed moving this blog, and I was holding off on posting. But so far, it looks like the blog will remain here! This is a submission from one of the administrators, Ralph Taylor. Ralph has a keen interest in the statistical side to genetic DNA and he has submitted several other pieces which I'll post in the coming days.
Lalia
~~~~~~
Sometimes, Y-DNA matches point to a common ancestor who might have lived thousands of years in the past. Finding a name or other information about this man can be an almost insurmountable task; the range of time exceeds the"genealogical time frame".
While it's fun to imagine our Taylor ancestors fighting alongside King Arthur against the Saxons (or, fighting with the Saxons against Arthur) it's not genealogy unless we can link a line of descent with specific people. The International Society for Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG) defines
Surnames: If you've struggled with too many men of the same name in the same time and place, you know how important surnames are to genealogy. Without surnames, it gets even more confusing. The practice of surnames passing from father to children came into common use only as far back as the mid-14th century (about 650 years ago) in England and even more recently in other places. We believe it traces to a 1353 edict on the issue by King Edward III. With few exceptions, the occupationally-based Taylor surname dates from this time. Earlier ancestors would not have had a surname.
The Scandinavian patronymic system -- in which Carl, the son of Peter, was named Carl Peterson & Peter's grandson became Hans Carlson -- persisted into the 19th century. The Germanic practice of men "marrying the farm" and taking the farm's name lasted about as long.
Written records: In Europe, the practice of recording baptisms, marriages & funerals of parishioners began with the slow spread of the Christian Church. Written records were then adopted by secular authorities for other purposes such as taxes, military conscription and worker control. Written records are, of course, dependent on a written language and a minimum level of literacy. Many ancient languages had no written form, so monks & priests wrote in Latin. Even kings, whose first job was warrioring,were often illiterate.
The Bubonic Plague (also mid-14th century) indirectly stimulated record-keeping on previously-ignored ordinary folk. The plague killed two-thirds of Europe's population and the rigid feudal society as well. As serfs - whose masters had died - fled and masters - whose serfs had died -sought replacement workers, unprecedented movements of people & resulting paranoia were created. Suddenly, it was important to write down who was living in your town or county. Previous records (such as the Domesday Book of 1086) named only taxpayers, the aristocracy. Histories named only the major players -- the "stars", not the supporting casts. We are familiar the effects time has on written records. Courthouses burn, churches and archives are bombed, paper molders.
All these and more conspire to make records which once existed no longer available. The more time that has transpired since a record was created, the less likely it still exists.
Conclusion: I believe ISOGG is being generous with its "up to 1000 years", at least so far as Great Britain & Ireland (from which many Taylor families came) are concerned. I'd peg our GTF as beginning about 1350 AD. Genealogy isn't alchemy; we can't turn lead into gold. We can only work with what there is. Most of us have limits on the time, money and effort we can devote to family history; we have to set priorities. A DNA match pointing to a 90% probability of an ancestor who may have lived before 1350 may not be worth making a high research priority.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Genetic Genealogy information
Hi,
Naturally, as members of a common surname project, we are all interested in genetic genealogy. I would like to point you to a good article with lots of information at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_genealogy.
I also want to specifically point out this part of that article, which to me makes the case for participating in our project:
Benefits
Genetic genealogy gives genealogists a means to check or supplement the historical record with information from genetic data. A positive test match with another individual may:
● provide locations for further genealogical research
● help determine ancestral homeland
● discover living relatives
● validate existing research
● confirm or deny suspected connections between families
● prove or disprove theories regarding ancestry
That pretty much says it all! Keep working on your family tree and keep getting your friends and relatives involved!
Naturally, as members of a common surname project, we are all interested in genetic genealogy. I would like to point you to a good article with lots of information at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_genealogy.
I also want to specifically point out this part of that article, which to me makes the case for participating in our project:
Benefits
Genetic genealogy gives genealogists a means to check or supplement the historical record with information from genetic data. A positive test match with another individual may:
● provide locations for further genealogical research
● help determine ancestral homeland
● discover living relatives
● validate existing research
● confirm or deny suspected connections between families
● prove or disprove theories regarding ancestry
That pretty much says it all! Keep working on your family tree and keep getting your friends and relatives involved!
New Taylor Genealogy Book by project member
"TAYLOR-TUCKER CHRONICLES" by Wanda M. Taylor is now shipping.
This compilation of descendants of William Taylor and Joseph Tucker, of Perry County, Missouri includes families of: Taylor, Tucker, Miles, Ellis, May, Moranville, & Schlatman.
It is 542 pp., surname indexed and includes some photos & bio sketches for the above named descendant families. These founders of Perry County were some of the Maryland to Kentucky to Missouri emigrants previously researched by Timothy O'Rourke for his "Maryland Catholics on the Frontier". Maternal ancestor lines included are: Byrne, Cambron, Drury, Dunn(e),
Hagan, Heydon, McAtee, McBride, McCauley, McGinnis, Moore & White.
The book has a partial bibliography. The author will share further information from her database.
If you are interested in a copy, or would like to ask other questions, email: wanda.taylor@charter.net
Telephone: 530-222-4278
or, send check for $65 (includes shipping) to: Wanda Taylor
This compilation of descendants of William Taylor and Joseph Tucker, of Perry County, Missouri includes families of: Taylor, Tucker, Miles, Ellis, May, Moranville, & Schlatman.
It is 542 pp., surname indexed and includes some photos & bio sketches for the above named descendant families. These founders of Perry County were some of the Maryland to Kentucky to Missouri emigrants previously researched by Timothy O'Rourke for his "Maryland Catholics on the Frontier". Maternal ancestor lines included are: Byrne, Cambron, Drury, Dunn(e),
Hagan, Heydon, McAtee, McBride, McCauley, McGinnis, Moore & White.
The book has a partial bibliography. The author will share further information from her database.
If you are interested in a copy, or would like to ask other questions, email: wanda.taylor@charter.net
Telephone: 530-222-4278
or, send check for $65 (includes shipping) to: Wanda Taylor
Friday, February 27, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Share Family Trees to support y-DNA studies: If you care, you'll share!
The members of the Taylor y-DNA project have been busy behind-the-scenes. We are close to having a major number of new participants join our project. This means there will be more likelihood that your DNA will be matched. However, as Ralph Taylor says, “In any case, they paid good money to get, essentially, a bunch of numbers. It doesn’t make sense to let that investment go to waste by failing to turn it into real knowledge.” That real knowledge is, of course, comparing your paper trail: family information, pedigrees, with project members with matching or very similar results. Ninety-five participants have already shared their male Taylor ancestral trees. But we have 145 participants who have not yet sent theirs in.
Now about those matching results, you may be aware that having a data match, even at 67 markers, means that your line converges with the other person’s within a few generations. Suppose you compare your earliest known ancestor to mine. If I have Isaac Newton Taylor, born 1824 in Ohio and you have Jacob Taylor born in 1799 in Philadelphia, with a 67 marker match, there is an implied relationship. It does not mean that the above [hypothetical] Jacob was Isaac’s father, or uncle, or cousin. It could be any of those situations. Or it could be something else. But the something else would involve a single man who was a common ancestor of both men!
Leigh Taylor told me: "I was able to find my entire maternal Swedish roots after I posted a query about the family who adopted my great-grandmother. A descendant of that line had collected some court records of his family which included my great-grandmother. He was so willing to share this information and it opened up a huge amount of data for me. I'm so grateful that he took the time to SHARE information."
Some project members are worried about privacy issues. Our project leader, Leigh Taylor, is also concerned about these issues as are the rest of the volunteer team. To avoid problems, we don’t publicly post the names and birthdates of living persons.
Remember to update your contact information, as it's really hard to communicate with those we've matched when the other person changed his email address without updating it with us!
For me, Lalia, I don’t see issues of privacy when the birth dates and information involves people who died more than a hundred years ago. But maybe I’m wrong. Let me know if you see something I don’t on that issue!
In any case, our family information is being shared only with other project members as you provide it. Some of you may be embarrassed to provide the information because you are concerned about errors in it. To me, all genealogical data has errors in it. Family trees are always being revised. So I consider all family trees as works in progress. Provide the best data you have. We hope that you will be able to learn more and make your tree more accurate.
I hope this has inspired you to share your Taylor data more freely within the project. This is especially important as we look at doubling the number of members within a few months. More participants mean more chances of scaling our genealogical brick walls!
Ralph Taylor says, “My experience is that sharing has advanced my own family history research a great deal. By freely offering the results of that research online, people see it and contact me -- saying something like, ‘Here’s more about my great-grandmother.’ Or, ‘You got this wrong.’ That opens a dialogue which benefits both parties. So, the sharing is sort of ‘fishing bait’; I get a nibble and try to reel ‘em in. For example, I would love to contact direct male descendants of James Taylor (1740 NC – 1816 TN) and convince one or more to join our Taylor Project. Maybe, someday, I'll get an e-mail or Post-em notice.”
Lalia says, “I also have benefited greatly, HUGELY, from the generosity of relatives who have shared their side of the family story. I would not know what I know without their input.”
Lalia
Now about those matching results, you may be aware that having a data match, even at 67 markers, means that your line converges with the other person’s within a few generations. Suppose you compare your earliest known ancestor to mine. If I have Isaac Newton Taylor, born 1824 in Ohio and you have Jacob Taylor born in 1799 in Philadelphia, with a 67 marker match, there is an implied relationship. It does not mean that the above [hypothetical] Jacob was Isaac’s father, or uncle, or cousin. It could be any of those situations. Or it could be something else. But the something else would involve a single man who was a common ancestor of both men!
Leigh Taylor told me: "I was able to find my entire maternal Swedish roots after I posted a query about the family who adopted my great-grandmother. A descendant of that line had collected some court records of his family which included my great-grandmother. He was so willing to share this information and it opened up a huge amount of data for me. I'm so grateful that he took the time to SHARE information."
Some project members are worried about privacy issues. Our project leader, Leigh Taylor, is also concerned about these issues as are the rest of the volunteer team. To avoid problems, we don’t publicly post the names and birthdates of living persons.
Remember to update your contact information, as it's really hard to communicate with those we've matched when the other person changed his email address without updating it with us!
For me, Lalia, I don’t see issues of privacy when the birth dates and information involves people who died more than a hundred years ago. But maybe I’m wrong. Let me know if you see something I don’t on that issue!
In any case, our family information is being shared only with other project members as you provide it. Some of you may be embarrassed to provide the information because you are concerned about errors in it. To me, all genealogical data has errors in it. Family trees are always being revised. So I consider all family trees as works in progress. Provide the best data you have. We hope that you will be able to learn more and make your tree more accurate.
I hope this has inspired you to share your Taylor data more freely within the project. This is especially important as we look at doubling the number of members within a few months. More participants mean more chances of scaling our genealogical brick walls!
Ralph Taylor says, “My experience is that sharing has advanced my own family history research a great deal. By freely offering the results of that research online, people see it and contact me -- saying something like, ‘Here’s more about my great-grandmother.’ Or, ‘You got this wrong.’ That opens a dialogue which benefits both parties. So, the sharing is sort of ‘fishing bait’; I get a nibble and try to reel ‘em in. For example, I would love to contact direct male descendants of James Taylor (1740 NC – 1816 TN) and convince one or more to join our Taylor Project. Maybe, someday, I'll get an e-mail or Post-em notice.”
Lalia says, “I also have benefited greatly, HUGELY, from the generosity of relatives who have shared their side of the family story. I would not know what I know without their input.”
Lalia
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