YDNA Matching Five Maynard Lines from Colonial North Carolina

By Harold Ward Maynard • 15 Oct 2023 • wardmaynard@yahoo.com
Copyright © Harold Ward Maynard – see end of document for details

Family genealogists trace their ancestors using routine documentation (e.g., births, marriages, deaths, census data, land records, photos, etc.). DNA analysis can significantly supplement the effort by focusing on a person’s cellular structure whenever this becomes difficult due to a lack of available and relevant documents. DNA research allows a person to trace their family back much further than traditional genealogy records, even back to eras long before surnames were common. Autosomal DNA is helpful while researching five or six generations back, sometimes more, especially when the line between male and female ancestors passes back and forth. Mitochondrial DNA, found in each cell’s nucleus, is passed from a mother to all her offspring, and this type of DNA is essential for tracing all-female lines (i.e., daughter to mother, to grandmother, etc.). By contrast, DNA from the Y-chromosome (YDNA), found only in males, is beneficial for tracing all-male lines (i.e., son to father, to grandfather, etc.). This type of DNA varies little, even when going back thousands of years.

The Maynard-North Carolina project at FamilyTreeDNA.com focuses on finding and linking together the descendants of Maynard males who lived in North Carolina during the Revolutionary War. As of mid-2022, this project has identified and connected via YDNA over 60 all-male lines comprised of descendants of a core group of Maynard men living in central and northwestern North Carolina before 1800. The hope is that this research will help identify a named male ancestor (or family of Maynards) from which these men descend as far back as the early-to-mid 1600s, which is when churches in England were required to keep parish records of births, marriages, and deaths.

These 21st Century men have lines that have also been well-researched by standard genealogical methods leading back to colonial days in North Carolina. These lines are organized into five groups, which appear to descend from known, named progenitors, which are sometimes informally referred to as the “fountainheads.” Each of the five groups has successfully tested to an advanced level (Big-Y700), and all five groups share a very close YDNA connection. These YDNA results reveal that each of the five progenitors was closely related (e.g., brothers, uncles, and cousins). However, it has not been proven precisely how closely those Maynard “fountainheads” were related.

Nonetheless, the project has confirmed by YDNA testing and analysis at FamilyTree DNA (FamilyTreeDNA.com) that they came from a single male progenitor who lived before 1750. By that year, each of the five fountainhead men had been born. Their most recent common ancestor (MRCA) may well have lived in northeastern North Carolina, or he may have lived several generations back and may never have set foot in the New World.

Whether a living Maynard’s all-male line derives from this fountainhead group of five North Carolina men can be determined by taking a specific test at FamilyTreeDNA.com. This test can evaluate repeated patterns at 111 specific marker locations, each genetically located by values on a string of prior points on the genome. This test looks for patterns known as Short Tandem Repeats (STRs). The 111-marker test is often unnecessary; FamilyTreeDNA’s 37-marker STR test is usually sufficient to prove descendancy from one of the fountainheads, though it may not confirm which of these five men. This proof is remarkable because the human genome consists of about 3.2 billion nucleotide pairs (points on the genome). A nucleotide is a sugar molecule attached to a phosphate and a nitrogen-containing base. The four nucleotide bases are identified by a single letter: A (adenine), C (cytosine), G (guanine), and T (thymine).

For most family genealogists, the science behind this genetic testing is not essential, and few family genealogists have studied the scientific details. However, to link family trees when standard documentation is insufficient, it is crucial to find shared variants (SNPs to create haplogroups) or repeated patterns of nucleotides that start at a specific point and are counted a specific number of times (STRs).

With the advent of FamilyTreeDNA’s advanced BigY testing, shared SNP variants between BigY testers to create new phylogenetic haplogroup branches is the preferred method for DNA genealogy. However, this method is extremely costly and not always feasible. In cases where there is insufficient BigY testing, STR patterns are sometimes utilized.

For example, an STR pattern begins at a known point on the genome named DYS426. Here the nucleotide pattern of GTT is repeated 12 times for descendants of the core group of North Carolina Maynards. The search then begins for more matching STR patterns. If more matching STR patterns are found (or very close), there is more confidence that these ancestors were part of the same nuclear family. STR results for Maynard men that have been YDNA tested are on the FamilyTreeDNA Maynor project’s DNA Results Chart page

However, the 111-marker STR results for dozens of all-male North Carolina Maynard lines are more easily analyzed and sorted into valuable groups on the Maynard-North Carolina project’s DNA Results Chart page.

This page connects to an extensive table that shows five groups descended from a “Most Recent Common Ancestor” (MRCA):

                   

Because this table shows at least five anonymously numbered YDNA kits under each of the five named Maynard progenitors, there is considerable confidence in their group cohesion. In addition, the kits placed in these five groups have respectable paper trails leading to that progenitor, which also increases the confidence that the paper genealogy and genetic genealogy match. Of course, it is possible that with further testing and analysis, the project may later have to move a few of these sample kits to a different “fountainhead” group.

The informed assumption is that men in these five core groups descended from a common ancestor who lived in the Virginia colony or North Carolina colony between 1650 and 1750 (i.e., before these five men were fully grown). There is a high probability that these lines emigrated from England in the early days of the American colonies. Traditional genealogical documentation has not yet identified the name of the five fountainheads’ most recent common ancestor (MRCA). However, this MRCA most likely bore a popular English first name, such as William or George.

Since 2012, significant efforts to locate this elusive MRCA have occurred. For example, a professional genealogist named Terry Moore worked in the North Carolina Archives in Raleigh on the project’s behalf from 2012 to 2015. She made a determined effort to find the MRCA through conventional genealogical documentation. Terry Moore could not prove the name; however, she did find a small group of likely forefathers in records going back into the early 1750s. She found men named William Maynard and George Maynard, with a probable mother named Mary, in the counties of Granville, Bute, and Johnston [Note: County lines frequently changed in that era, sometimes more frequently than the men themselves moved.] Terry Moore could not find names like Gibson Maynard and Christopher Maynard that far back. This lack of information may suggest that these latter men were not yet of an age when they could vote or hold land in their own names.

“An early history of Alleghany County, NC” mentions three Maynard brothers who eventually moved to Kentucky (Internet source: New River Notes, Western NC History, Chapter VIII). The relevant quote follows:

“Western North Carolina: A History (1730-1913)” by John Preston Arthur – pages 197-198.

Though this history does not provide the first names of these three Maynard brothers, they may well have been James, Christopher, and William—all of whom migrated to Kentucky from Surry and Wilkes counties in northwestern North Carolina in this general timeframe. That would have left Gibson Maynard behind, where he died in 1802 in Wilkes County just south of the Blue Ridge, where settlement was legal (i.e., not in an area still reserved as Native American hunting grounds). That would have also left behind in Wake County their close genetic cousin, William Maynard, who died in Wake County in about 1817.

The 1771 tax list for Surry County (northwestern North Carolina) lists Gibson and Christopher Maynard, Jacob Maynard, and George Maynard. Surry County split in 1777 when the western-most part became Wilkes County. Gibson and Christopher were also found many miles to the east in 1771-1772. They were working on a road crew near Moccasin Creek, which partially defined the eastern border of Wake County. Given the typical make-up of such crews (i.e., sons working for their fathers), one may speculate that Gibson and Christopher were brothers or first cousins building a road linking their family’s homestead to local market towns. Perhaps their road even connected with the Fall Line Road, which came from the northeast and paralleled the line separating the Piedmont and coastal plain regions.

Years later, from 1785 to 1796, Gibson, Christopher Columbus, and James were all mentioned in the records of the Old Roaring River Baptist Church near Traphill (Wilkes County, NC). Furthermore, years after that, Agnes Maynard (daughter of William Maynard of Wake County, who died about 1817) married Absalom Smith in Wake County (bonds on 27 Nov 1800, with Jacob as a witness) and moved to the Blue Ridge just above the Old Roaring River Baptist Church. This couple is known to have visited relatives in Norfolk, Virginia (source: “Smith Family History” article by Ray V. Smith; published in the Alleghany News), which suggests their families may have come into northeastern North Carolina from southeastern Virginia. This “paper trail” reinforces the YDNA results that link the family of William of Wake County to the Maynards who were in Surry and Wilkes counties and whose descendants moved to Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia (present-day West Virginia). Furthermore, another William Maynard had a cabin in the area that later became Ashe/Alleghany County near the Virginia border. Still, it is not known the identity of this William, though he may have moved to Pike County, Kentucky (this William is also mentioned in the “Smith Family History” article by Ray V. Smith).

In 1986, Paul E. Dyer published a large book named ”James Maynard 1750-1852 of Virginia and Descendants.” It is a great resource book, but it is now out of print and difficult to find. On page 11 of this book, Dyer states that James had brothers named William, Christopher Columbus, and possibly Gibson. Dyer did not reveal his source for this assertion. However, one may surmise that he relied on family lore and the minutes of the Old Roaring River Baptist Church, which can now be found at the “Minutes of The South Fork of (Old) Roaring River Baptist Church, Wilkes Co., N.C.” webpage. Another excellent reference book for descendants of North Carolina Maynards (especially for those looking for the family of Christopher Maynard, who died abt. 1828) is “The Maynards of East Kentucky” by Roland Burns Maynard (Pike County Historical Society, 1979).

The Maynard-North Carolina project at FamilyTreeDNA.com has looked for YDNA matches linking the five core-group Maynards with men whose ancestors lived in Virginia or England. No Maynard male from Virginia has DNA linked to a Maynard male in the project. However, one YDNA match (kit 151931 at FamilyTreeDNA.com) does have good documentation tracing the male line back to a Thomas Maynard, born about 1797 in Ramsey, Huntingdonshire, England. Interestingly, this Maynard line came into the United States via the Mississippi River Valley, thus never passing through North Carolina. This YDNA match is genetically close to the core group of five men, but it is certainly not as close as these five “fountainhead” men were to each other. That link to a specific village in England does not mean that a common ancestor of the five core lines also came from Huntingdonshire. These Maynard lines may be related to another common ancestor who lived elsewhere in England —possibly in Yorkshire and perhaps even before 1625, when English churches began recording births, marriages, and deaths.

More on genetics: When looking at short tandem repeats, the letters DYS stand for DNA Y Sequence. Precursors can identify the named location of a specific STR nucleotide pattern (i.e., where a sequence of repeats starts to be counted). Few genetic genealogists want to know the particular pattern for a named STR pattern. However, it will typically read something like the following: GTGAGTTAGCCGTTTAGCGA. If that pattern repeats itself 12 times at the specified location, the  STR value is 12. Some STR markers are tricky because the same pattern is found in several locations, in which case the FamilyTreeDNA lab counts the number of times it repeats at each of those locations. For example, DYS464 has locations a, b, c, and d (where the group of Maynards typically has 15, 15, 17, and 18 pattern repeats) — and sometimes even more locations (e and f) where the same pattern also repeats. Among the Maynard DNA kits tested by FamilyTreeDNA.com at the level of 111 STR markers, all Maynard men representing the core group from early North Carolina have perfect matches (number of times the specific nucleotide pattern repeats itself) for 85 markers. However, that is not particularly surprising, given that many of these STR markers change very slowly and have a common value among men in the large haplogroup (R1b or R-M269).

What FamilyTreeDNA looks for in making matches is how closely the values match and whether they match at a particular marker in a pattern-repeat sequence that is NOT typical for the larger haplogroup. The following are some of the STR markers where the fountainhead group of Maynard always has the same number of nucleotide pattern repeats with a relatively rare value:

               

The algorithm used by FamilyTreeDNA does not heavily weigh any slight mismatches (e.g., 29 repeats vs.28 repeats), especially when the specific marker pattern changes/mutates rather rapidly (e.g., over less than ten generations).

It is not particularly important that the core group of five early NC Maynards has a DYS472 value of 8 pattern repeats or that DYS425 has a value of 12. Almost 100% of men in the R-M269 group score the same way, and this pattern only mutates very infrequently over many thousands of years. Conversely, it is rather significant that all have a DYS439 value of 12, a DYS449 value of 29, and a DYS456 value of 16 because those marker values do change relatively quickly, and well under half the men in the R-M269 haplogroup share this value.

Before addressing mutations at single points on the genome (single nucleotide polymorphisms, SNPs; pronounced “snip”), refer to the table previously mentioned in the FamilyTreeDNA Maynard-North Carolina Project’s DNA Results Chart.

A person will find many names that are not even related to Maynards. Why? Because the project is open to all individuals who want to join. The “brown-banner” group will contain most of these individuals, marked “Ungrouped.” Still included in “Ungrouped” are Maynards who have not yet been assigned (or may never be assigned) to one of the five core/fountainhead groups. A person will also find some people who have only tested for STRs at the 37- or 67-marker level. Some of those testers have chosen not to undertake additional testing, either because of funding issues or because they believe their lower level of STR test results makes them rather unlikely to match the five fountainhead groups. A person will also find some colored banners for testers whose ancestors are known to have come from elsewhere in North Carolina—from Maryland, Massachusetts, and Devonshire. Why? Because the project likes to test descendants from other places from which the NC Maynards may have originated. Caution: Just because their YDNA does not match other Maynard men in the project does not prove that these ancestors did not come from those areas; there may have been other Maynards from those areas unknown to us because their descendants have not YDNA tested. For example, many people have taken the autosomal DNA test at Ancestry.com and then declared that they have completed their DNA testing.

The question is now whether a specific point on the genome (SNP) can definitively identify which fountainhead man was the ancestor of a 21st Century Maynard male. Short answer: sometimes yes, sometimes no. First, the project has determined that all descendants of the fountainhead men include a mutation called R-M269 (the previous name was R1b). A person may think of the R-M269 haplogroup as a giant, genetically similar clan that settled in England, Scotland, and Ireland before some of its members moved onward to North America. However, within R-M269, the core group of five North Carolina Maynard progenitors is more narrowly defined. Specifically, all genetically tested descendant males from the fountainhead men fall into the following SNP sub-groups: R-A892, then R-A902, and then R-A911. R-A911 is the named point on the genome where the project participants changed from a reference group of C (cytosine) to T (thymine). R-A911 is the project’s primary focus. It appears to define all the Maynard men in North Carolina during the late 1700s (Note: The Maynard-North Carolina project’s focus is not on the few I-Haplogroup Maynards that have joined the group).

Not all SNPs that form YDNA haplogroups originate with one of the fountainhead Maynard men. Many of these “downstream” (closer to the present) SNPs formed with the fountainheads’ sons or later descendants. A SNP may have started (“formed”) with a fountainhead or formed after a fountainhead with one of their descendants. Regardless, when a SNP forms with a specific ancestor, that ancestor can be called the “SNP progenitor.” A SNP that originated with a fountainhead can be traced directly through all of their sons and male descendants, connecting a YDNA tester directly to their fountainhead line.

As of mid-2022, the project has identified thirteen SNPs that uniquely identify the “SNP progenitor” as well as the most likely fountainhead of specific men within R-A911:

                   

Unfortunately, the sophisticated machines that FamilyTreeDNA uses to read YDNA do not always read perfectly at a single point. One man’s sample may produce such a weak signal at that point that FamilyTreeDNA cannot have high confidence in differentiating among the four nucleotides (A, C, G, or T), so there is a “no-call.” The data may be there, but the technology cannot read it definitively from the provided sample. Conversely, if a person self-reports descending from James or one of the two Williams, but their YDNA shows a mutation at A12956, one should conclude that they descend from Christopher because that SNP is unique to his line. The project is still looking for additional SNP mutations (or patterns of mutations) that appear to be unique to specific fountainheads or some of their descendants.

After years of Short Tandem Repeat (STR) analysis and Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) analysis, in 2013, FamilyTreeDNA very significantly upped its game by offering customers “Big-Y” testing for 500 specific STRs. This upgrade was also in the era when thousands of named SNPs were identified in the Y-tree, connecting hundreds of men. However, by 2018, tens of thousands of men had tested for Big Y-500, and the body of knowledge had grown to hundreds of significant STRs and hundreds of thousands of named SNPs. Thus, FamilyTreeDNA upgraded its Big-Y testing to focus on 700 STRs. (NOTE: The Big Y-700 test guarantees result for at least 700 STRs; however, it checks for 838 STR locations).

Here is a simple analogy: High school-level analysis would represent 111 STRs, and college-level analysis as 500 STRs of YDNA genetic research. Interpreting 700 STRs (plus thousands of additional SNPs) would represent graduate-school-level research. Admittedly, this analogy may sound a bit too simple. However, just as one must complete college before starting grad school, FamilyTreeDNA encourages each customer to complete 111 STR testing before taking on the Big Y-700. It is currently possible to start with a Big Y-700 test for less than $450.

The Big Y-700 testing option not only increases STR results; it also dramatically improves SNP results. FamilyTreeDNA states that Big Y-700 customers receive about 40% more STRs and 50% more high-quality SNPs than the former Big Y-500. That makes Big Y-700 the current gold-standard YDNA test for male-line genetic genealogy.

What do Big Y-700 results do for the typical family genealogist? First, when a person gets their Big Y-700 results, they can view their “Block Tree,” where a person’s phylogenetic tree and terminal branch are shown. A person’s kit is placed in their specific block (or bin) with other kits that have identical results down to the most detailed level of SNP differentiation. After taking the Big Y-700 test, a person will see that all the NC Maynard descendants fall in a SNP block called R-A911. A person’s branch in the “Block Tree” will list the actual names of men who have been grouped into individual blocks by their specific SNPs.

Second, a person can view their “Big Y Matches,” where they find in rough rank-order their closest matches (with names, number of matching SNP variants, and the specific names, or genome locations, for non-matching variants). Third, a person can view their “Results,” where they can look up any named SNP and compare their test results to the reference nucleotide customarily found at that location. And fourth, a person can view their “Y STR Results,” where they can now see results for testing 838 STRs. These Big Y-700 results provide increased granularity (specificity or focus), which helps one split out sub-groups of ancestors and even improves the ability to estimate when sub-branching occurred.

What is the exact relationship among the five NC progenitor Maynards closely linked by YDNA? William of Wake is not likely to be the brother of the other fountainheads, nor is William of Pike. However, if it is accepted that James, Christopher, and Gibson are brothers, who is their father? One possibility is a man named William Maynard (not William of Wake or William of Pike), and another possibility is a man named George Maynard. These men lived in Granville County (which became Bute County) during 1750-1763 (per land, poll tax, and militia records). Would that make William of Wake County a likely son or first cousin? Here, it is fascinating to note that William of Wake County named some of his sons Gibson, William, and James – plus George, and Jacob, which are names that also showed up later in Surry County and Wilkes County.

Second, from where did these Maynards come? The usual migration pattern would suggest that they came into northeastern NC in the mid-1700s from the Norfolk area of southeastern Virginia. Unfortunately, very few documents remain from southeastern Virginia during the years before the Revolutionary War. Of the few genealogically relevant documents that existed before and during the Revolutionary War, these documents were most likely destroyed, and any records that survived were most likely later destroyed during the Civil War.

Third, did these Maynards come from England? Almost certainly. Even though they rebelled against the king’s taxes and king’s troops, they spoke English, and they were predominantly Baptists who were intent on building new lives on the colonial frontier. Records suggest that these Maynard fountainhead men and their families all sided against the British during the Revolutionary War. But from where in England did they come? The project has only tested one closely YDNA-related Maynard line tracing back to Ramsey, Huntingdonshire (now Oxfordshire) in the early 1800s. Unfortunately, there are virtually no other Maynard documents found in that era near Ramsey, and the common ancestor would have probably lived 100-300 years earlier —possibly in another region. Some researchers have speculated that they came from Devonshire, and some have even said that they sailed to the New World on a ship called “Brothers.” However, there is neither genetic nor documentary evidence to support such speculation. Some family genealogists have asserted that William of Wake was born in 1720. Unfortunately, this claim was first posted on the internet during the 1990s by a man who was near death. He provided no source information, and, following his death, his widow denied that he had done any genealogical research.

Could these Maynards have descended from an English naval officer named Robert Maynard (1684-1751), the man credited with killing the pirate named Blackbeard near Ocracoke, North Carolina, in 1718? Certainly not. His years don’t match well, and his last will mentions only daughters; he had no known male offspring.

Thus, to “leap the pond” back to England will require serendipitous YDNA matches with Maynard men who have discovered credible paper trails around 300 years ago back in England. Unfortunately, very few Brits have taken much interest in YDNA testing. After all, Brits already know they were from merry old England or France at the Norman Invasion in 1066.

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