Wheaton Wood

Success for Jean! And Barbara

Posted on July 13, 2013     Leave a Comment

I was hoping Jean might post this but since she hasn’t I am going to take the liberty of sharing with all of you how a DNA project works at its best. For those of you who do not know Jean is the “Keeper of the Trees” and manages her WHEATON ONE NAME site brilliantly. She has sorted out thousands of Wheatons across the globe and is my go to person for all things WHEATON as well as a dear friend through our shared interests and sometimes daily correspondence. When I first decided to launch the project I approached Jean to help me contact as many Wheatons as possible. And of course I twisted her arm to get her hubby Den to test. Well when his results came back he did not match any of the other Wheatons so I spent the next couple of days frantically trying to figure out someone he did match and I got lucky. He happened to match a WETTON who tracked back to Staffordshire however he is not a part of our project having tested elsewhere. In the meantime Den has been awaiting some company in WHEATON Group E. Meanwhile someone Jean expected should match up tested and Voila! It tied all these Wheatons in America back to their common ancestor in England. Thomas Wheaton who married Anne Sparrow had a son William who had nine children. One is Jean’s husband’s ancestor and one is Barbara’s husband’s (BD) ancestor and there are two others who also immigrated to America. So this is how DNA works at its best to prove a relationship and a lineage. Oceans, continents and centuries are something DNA transcends with incredible precision and grace. Congrats to Barbara and Jean and their respective husbands!!!!

Latest News

Posted on June 22, 2013     Leave a Comment

FAMILY FINDER

Well the atDNA (Family Finder) has posted for some of you and within the WHEATON GROUP B it is a bit of a bust so far. However any of you NEW BRUNSWICK folks stay tuned. Over at ANCESTRY.com my husband got a moderate atDNA match who is descended from Hester Wheaton and  Joseph Sears. She the daughter of James WHEATON who I have speculated may be the son of Obadiah 3, 2, Robert 1. (michael being descended I suspect from this same Obadiah 3) And here is the really good news. She is already uploaded her RAW DNA (its been processed) to FTDNA and will join our project which might yield a few more clues for some of you who are descended from the NEW BRUNSWICK WHEATONS. Now it could be that the connection is elsewhere but every little clue builds up more of the puzzle. So in the next few weeks be on the lookout for any over your matches with WHEATONS in their tree.

If you have Family Finder results and have not done a search for WHEATONS please do so and let me know if you turn up any. Also feel free to invite them to join the project. The nature of atDNA is that it stays in tact through about 5th cousins and then there is a steep drop off so that you may only share segments with less than 2% of your relatives at the 6-10th cousin level.

UPGRADESTHANK YOU to those who chose to upgrade their markers in the last sale!

We have a few results coming in the next month including a new mystery member Dale WHEATON.

Latest news

Posted on May 15, 2013     Leave a Comment

UPCOMING RESULTS

Several results are expected next month. David J., Rodger and Adam WHEATON and Michael BEAL all took advantage of the recent Family Finder sale so their results are due in 6/11 or 6/19. We have two new members BD WHEATON and Thomas Phillips WHEATON whose tests have been ordered but not yet batched so I expect they will be due back in July.

MEMBERSHIP

The Wheaton project now has 42 members!

MORE NEW TESTSIn other NEWS I heard from one of the Admins of the U152 project and he is personally doing a new comprehensive Y-DNA test which tests the whole Y-Chromosome SNPS and STRS. I was reluctant to mention it since the GENO 2.0 and WTY did not yield anything particularly helpful. However if folks wanted to pool resources this is one of those once you’ve done it—it does not have to be done again. It will likely uncover many downstream SNPS and many STRs previously untested. Here is their website: http://fullgenomes.com/

The regular price is $1499 but they have an introductory offer for a limited time they are offering an Early Bird Special of $1,299 for our “Comprehensive Y-Chromosome Sequencing” I am awaiting news from Rich Rocca to see how his test turns out. He is R-L2* which is of particular interest to our R-L2* folks in WHEATON Group B. If anyone is interested let me know.

FREE OR SUBSIDIZED KITS

I have two Kits available for FREE or reduced cost to WHEATONS recently from Wales or SW England or descendants of Christopher or Obadiah WHEATON. Please contact me for further info.  These are kits I bought on sale with my own funds to further our research.

FTDNA SALE

Posted on April 19, 2013     Leave a Comment

These are the lowest prices for the 37 marker and Family Finder tests I have ever seen.   The big sale usually occurs in late Nov. or Dec. Sometimes they offer a short sale in the summer. If you are considering either of these tests now would be a great time. If you would like to upgrade from 12 to 37 or 37 to 67 or 111 markers they are not included in this Sale but I have heard they will be on sale on Father’s Day so plan accordingly.

Reasons to do a Family Finder Test

• You are a male or female with WHEATON lineage but not carrying the WHEATON Y DNA
• You have taken the Y test and still are trying to connect to the proper WHEATON
• You are a Group B  and want to help others in the group.
• You are not surnamed WHEATON but are group B and want to see how recent your connection is to others in the group (If you share atDNA within 5 generations you should share DNA. You may share atDNA within the 8-10 cousin range 1600’s)
• You are interested in all you ancestry and would like to make other genealogical connections

FTDNA SALE 

Here is the list of all tests under the promotion:

Full MtDNA Sequence…. $189
Upgrades to FMS….$129
Y-DNA37 (new and add-on)…. $119
Y-DNA67 (new and add-on)…. $199
Y-DNA37 + Full MtDNA Sequence…. $308
Y-DNA12 + FF…. $218
Y-DNA37 + FF…. $288
Y-DNA67 + FF…. $368
Family Finder…. $169
Family Finder + Full MtDNA Sequence…. $358
SuperDNA….$388 (Y-67 + FMS)
Comprehensive DNA…. $557 (Y-67 + FMS + FF)

The sale will begin tonight, April 18th, at 6PM CDT and will conclude at 11:59PM CDT on Monday April 22nd. All orders must be placed and paid for by the end of the sale to receive the promotional price.

THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO HAVE ORDERED A FAMILY FINDER TEST!

For Wheaton Group B Descendants A book worth buying

Posted on April 10, 2013     Leave a Comment

Richard Bowen (1594?-1675) of Rehoboth, Massachusetts and His Descendants Volume 1

Just a few moments ago I received a copy of this book that I have known about for about a year but finally decided to purchase. (Published in 2011) All I can say is this book’s title  is almost misleading as I had decided not to purchase earlier because it would only have Alice BOWEN and her father and one more generation. Boy was I ever wrong.

Please do not make my mistake.  Not only does it include the first 3 generations in America of Richard Bowens descendants it also includes more generous information on the descendants of each of Richard Bowen’s 3 daughters spouses (their fathers and descendants) so Robert Wheaton, Robert Fuller and George Kendrick are traced along with their descendants for FIVE GENERATIONS .  All early families intermarried heavily so this book provides a wealth of information and careful analysis not previously provided elsewhere. The author has extensive knowledge of not only the early families but the records as well.

I think the price is quite reasonable for a hardback at $39 plus shipping from the RI
Genealogical Society. Available here:
http://rigensoc.org/shoponline.htm#bowen

The full title not even mentioned on the site  that sells it is: Richard Bowen (1594?-1675) of Rehoboth, Massachusetts and His Descendants Volume 1 Generations 1-3 with Notes on the families of Robert Wheaton, Robert Fuller and George Kendrick.

This is an amazing book for the breadth of its research. 300 pages plus another
50 of bibliography and index. And for anyone who knows your descent from Robert it is the first book published in many years that you can actually purchase and hand down as a family heirloom.

The only books to come close to this are the Converse Genealogy published in 1887 (about 35 pages of Wheaton genealogy) and the Lincoln, Pearce Porter Ayer and related families published in 1930 (about 8 pages of Wheaton genealogy). This book has at least 100 pages covering the descendants of Robert Wheaton.

I do not think you will be disappointed!

No new Results expected

Posted on April 7, 2013     Leave a Comment

For the first time since the project started we have no new results pending. I know there are many waiting in the wings to test so eventually this hiatus will pass.

As promised I have updated the Relationship chart for 111 Markers Group B. This shows how closely related this group is and why David Joe WHEATON is most closely related to all others. You can see that Dan HANCOCK is more closely related to the other WHEATONs than Michael WHEATON if we look at mutations. It does show the value of extended markers and how closely all are related.

New Book on the First Baptist Church of Swansea, MA

Posted on April 1, 2013     Leave a Comment

Just wanted to let descendants of the Robert WHEATON (group B). Especially descendants of Ephraim, Samuel, and those with ties to the First Baptist Church of Swansea, MA,  about an upcoming book. More about the project here:

http://firstbaptistinswansea.org/350thcelebration.html

A few of us have met personally with Rev. Hartman. He is delightful and has since retired from active ministry. I do not know how many early families will be included but since Ephraim WHEATON was the church’s third minister he at least should be featured. I provided a couple of photos to Rev. Hartman from postcard’s etc so I look forward to seeing what got included.

To pre-order direct:

http://mupress.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=877

Or at Amazon

http://amazon.com/Baptists-America-Swansea-Massachusetts-Baptist-America/dp/0881464392/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364847911&sr=8-1&keywords=baptists+in+North+America+swansea+brackney

And the WINNER is:

Posted on March 23, 2013     Leave a Comment

In Wheaton Group B the winner is David Joe WHEATON! What do I mean winner you didn’t even know there was a contest?

Have a look here at our latest results:

https://gap.familytreedna.com/ydna-results-colorized.aspx

You can see rather clearly that kit 200230 David J. has the most seen (modal) value at every marker. These are most likely the values held by our common ancestor. What you can also see is that most markers are very stable and do not mutate at all. Those known to mutate more frequently are shown in red (burgundy depending on your browser) rather than a shade of blue. Sometimes these mutations are a sign that two folks are more closely related and sometimes not.

A case in point, at first glance the last two in Group B represent a WHEATON and a RAINES. They share a DYS391 = 12 whereas the majority show DYS391 = 11. You might think that this denotes a more recent common ancestor. But here is where additional markers become most helpful. They do not share any additional mutations that suggest a pattern, therefore I believe these are two more recent spontaneous mutations that DO NOT suggest a more recent connection.

In fact overall there are no clear cut patterns emerging other than that this group clearly  shares common ancestry which may suggest a most common Ancestor overall in the 500 years range. For the time being David Joe is the standard by which all others must be judged. I will need to update our 111 Marker Genetic Distance Chart with the addition of Jerry and Adam’s results. Also new member Paul Ritchie WHEATONs result shall be added to the 67 marker chart.

The old charts are available here  or at https://wheatonwood.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/why-numbers-matter/

Research Results Part One: Salem Massachusetts

Posted on March 13, 2013     1 Comment

This is the first of many posts about my research trip to Salt Lake City. I have lots of material to digest—no stunning finds and more mysteries to solve than when I started! I will be posting more information in parts and I have relevant information on the following

• Wheaton (various spellings) Loyalists who fled to Canada
• Wheatons  (various spellings) and Hancocks in Devon and Somerset parishes
• Howells in Wales
• Baptist foundations in Neath, Wales
• Early Salem, MA records

First off was a look at the microfilm copies of the Salem Town Records for 1636 where Robert Wheaton first appeared in 1636. Should be simple. I have photocopies of the published records with exact date and information. I have the photographed representation of the original record which appears in the Converse Genealogy. So place the microfilm on the reader and proceed to page.  Not there! So look at the transcription of said record yes there it is. In the transcript listed as the 16th of the 11th month:1636

Robt Wheato refused to be Inhabitant.”

I found what follows it in the transcription but it and what is supposed to proceed it were not on the microfilm. And I looked at the microfilm 3 times and went through several times in case it was out of place. I did however find the second and third instances of Robert appearing in the record. So not a complete loss.

In the Converse genealogy the date as shown as a reproduction of the original record shows the 6th day of the 11th month: 1636. So something is amiss. Also earlier notations as to “we have made a show of making him an inhabitant”  refer not to Robert Wheaton but rather to Edward Beachamp. And as explained in an earlier posting may have been for any number of reasons and was not an unusual occurrence in early Salem.

I am not convinced that what I was looking at were even the original records as the originals were written in the shorthand of Gov. Endecott.

So I have just got off the phone after talking to the Essex (now called Peabody Instiute) whose records are all boxed up and inaccessible for the next 1-2 years. They published the records in book format but could not tell me whether they or someone else holds the originals. So I called the Salem Room of the Salem Public Library known to house many early records and have given my problem to a reference librarian so we shall see what that turns up.

In an interesting side note what proceeds Robert Wheato in the transcription was the plight of Debora Holmes:

Debora Holmes refused land being a maid would be a bad president to keep hous alone.”

However the good men of Salem, or at least four of them, each granted her a bushel of corn. Let us not forget that a few years later the Salem Witch trials saw many women and a few men unjustly killed for alleged engagement in Witchcraft.

To be continued….

RESEARCH STRATEGY & UPDATES

Posted on March 4, 2013     1 Comment

I have not posted lately but that does not mean I haven’t been busy!

• Jean and I have been working on sorting out the 1790 US Census for Wheatons & Wheadons and have made some progress since the last attempt a couple of years ago
• Jean and I have also come up with a simplified 6 Generation Chart of descendants of Robert highlighting those males with offspring and those needing further research
• We have yet another Wheaton/Wheadon line pointing back to Devon with Robert Norris Wheadon’s latest results
• No match on the L1358 SNP yet. So it looks like this will be exclusive to Jerry’s lineage having happened somewhere along his line.
• Still waiting on a result for Jerry’s extension to 111 markers and Adam’s should be coming in shortly
• I continue to work on the Obadiah 2 Robert 1 Line in hope’s it will connect to James of New Brunswick and my husband’s Joseph more definitvely
• I tracked down a living descendant of Christopher and sent a letter only to have it returned “no mail receptacle” The phone number is no longer n service so dead end for  now. Anyone live near Barre, VT?
• We did not have any takers on the WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE Conference in London, but it was worth the try.
• And I have been preparing for a short research trip to SALT LAKE CITY

I have about 20 hours of research time at the Family Search Center in SLC. Here are my research areas/goals:

• Look at the original Salem, Boston and Rehoboth early Town Records on microfilm (not transcripts) for more clues to the Wheatons
• I have researched parishes in and around the following Devon areas: South Molton, Tiverton, Barnstaple, Lynton, Ilfracombe, Axminster AND Somerset areas: Cutcombe, Taunton, Chard and Crwekerne and will be looking at over 50 rolls of microfilms (as time permits) of early Parish registers for Wheatons, Wheadon Hancocks, Bowens and others (like Howell and Mallenby).
• Of course I would dearly love finding Thomas Wheadon (Group C) or Robert Wheaton‘s baptism (Group B) but my intention is as much to eliminate places where they aren’t as much as find where they are.
• I also will be working my way backward from South Molton and Robert Hancock. (Group B’s only DNA connection in England to date)
• And picking up stray Wheatons in the hopes they may solve a few mysteries here and there.

So wish me luck! I may not come back with much but I hope to cross lots of places off my list!