Logan DNA Project, Part 2

Joining the Logan DNA project

The Logan DNA project is administrated by Pre1800Logans on Family Tree DNA. If you are a Logan or have a Logan ancestor you may be able to participate. The first step is to find a suitable male Logan. If you are a male and a Logan, then congratulations, it is you. If not, you need to find a Male Logan candidate. Using figure 1, in Blog 1, as an example, “Son D” wants to know his Logan Haplogroup. Therefore, he referred to his family tree and noted that his great grandfather had two children. They were “Son D’s” grandmother and great-uncle. He can then reach out to “Son C” and see if he will take a Y-DNA test.

The test

To take a Y-DNA test, you will need to order it from DNA Testing for Ancestry & Genealogy - FamilyTreeDNA.

You will notice that FamilyTreeDNA has many tests. Which one you take is a personal choice. To help with this decision, I would like to introduce the technical terms STR and SNP.

Short Tandem Repeats (STR) occur within the Y-DNA chromosome and are areas where the “code” repeats. For example, your father may have a section in his DNA that reads “AGATAGAT”. You inherited your father’s Y-DNA, but with either an additional repeat or one less. If it was an addition, it would read “AGATAGATAGAT.” All options available at FamilyTreeDNA test for this and identifies people with whom you may share a common male ancestor along your paternal line.

Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) are small copy errors when one chemical (A, C, T or G) is substituted for another. These changes are usually rare. These are the variants that are used build the Y-DNA haplotree (see figure 3 in blog 1). The only FamilyTreeDNA option that tests SNPs is the Big Y-700. Therefore, it is the only one that tells you where you are within the Y-DNA haplotree. Although the other tests are more budget friendly (The Big Y-700 is $449) and helpful, these tests do not let you drill much lower than your super haplogroup.

How to read the test

If you are anything like me, when the results came in, you excitedly went to the website and struggled to figure out where to start. Below is a quick tutorial on how to read your results from the Big Y-700 test.

First, I would suggest starting with your Block Tree. When you select this option, you will see a visual representation of where you and your closest Y-DNA matches have a common male ancestor. As an example, you can see in figure 1 below that I have one match in my haplogroup, R-FTB56855 (name omitted from blog). Looking to the right, my next closest match connects to me at R-FT219836. As you move further to the right, the relationship goes further back in time. The ones on the left are even more ancient.

Figure 1- Sean Logan's block tree

To dig deeper, go to your Haplogroup story. In this I see that my closest match and I share a common male ancestor from around 1800CE. Note, that 1800 CE is just a most likely date, this male ancestor could have been born as early as 1582 CE and as late as 1905 CE. This report also tells me that my next closest match and I share a common ancestor from around 1650 CE, with a similar time range.

Figure 2- haplogroup story

Once you understand your Block Tree, I suggest looking at your matches to see if they have loaded any trees. One of them may have an ancestor that is your direct ancestor. If so, congratulations! You have just broken down one of your brick walls.

FamilyTreeDNA also provides fun reports like “Discover Globetrekker” which gives an approximation of your ancestors’ migration patten from the Y-DNA Adam.

The other report I like in the “Discover” area is “Ancient Connections”. This report compares the DNA from ancient burial sites to yours. One of my examples would be a man they named Inchagreenoge 134 who was found in Inchagreenoge, Limerick, Ireland. He lived between 1270 and 1040 BCE, during the Bronze Age. He is not my ancestor, but we both share a common male ancestor who was in haplogroup R-S1026. This unknown person gave his Y-DNA to both me and Inchagreenoge 134.

Figure 3 - Ancient Connection

How the Logan DNA Project Can help

Joining the Logan DNA project allows testers to be placed on the Logan DNA tree. First you will discover what limb you are in. The limbs appear in the Logan Y-DNA haplotree. If you are in a numbered limb, you are a member of super haplogroup R. Otherwise you will be in a lettered limb, like the Society’s president who is of Viking descent.

Figure 4 - Logan Y-DNA descent tree

You can also find a more detailed limb chart that shows how your earliest known ancestor connects to other earliest known ancestors within your limb. For example, I am in limb 1, and can see how my earliest ancestor, David Logan, connects to the earliest known ancestors of all other members of Limb 1. As we get more members, we increase the chances of breaking down more brick walls then we have already.

Understanding the results of the Logan DNA project

Thanks to the great Logan genealogists and testers, we have learned quite a bit about our Logan history. We have discovered who had ancient male ancestors who were Highlanders, Lowlanders and even Viking invaders.

You can also get other clues. For example, my ancestor, David Logan came to Virginia in the 1730s from Ireland. Based on where he settled, I believe he came from Ulster Ireland. Because I am in Limb 1, and have access to other member’s genealogy, I know that it is likely (though not for sure) that David’s parents, grandparents, and/or great-grandparents came from the Ayrshire region of Scotland.

Some groups do not know where their ancestors came from. However, as more people get tested, the more likely this mystery will be resolved. Hopefully it will be you that helps them out!

Next step:

There is only one last thing for you to do, join the project. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at genealogist@clanlogansociety.org. I would be happy to coach you through this process.