Tracking Down DNA Matches and Digging Deeper

Tracking Down Matches The newest match for Roger Forgey came in yesterday and was a 25 marker match with Kenneth Ferguson who had a genetic distance of 2.  It seems like there is a match every week now. This is due to the efforts of the The Ferguson DNA project which seems to be growing tremendously. We are lucky to have a large project relating to our surname.

Above is a list of Roger Forgey's DNA matches. I decided to copy the image from FT DNA and add the places of origin for his matches. I got this info from emails sent to me by matches, and family histories posted at the Y Search DNA website.Several of the matches had no place of origin in the old country for their ancestors. A quick survey of the places does confirm our belief that the Forgeys were Scots Irish. All of the families, except a Hernandez match, appear to be Scottish or Scots Irish. Also the Scottish matches have Southwest Scotland origins. These people settled Ulster in large numbers. 

Digging Deeper The chart below is from the Ferguson DNA project which shows marker associations for I2b1 British Isles subclade. It seems that the Gabriel Joseph match and Wayne Forgie match share the markers most often found in those from Cavan and the Belfast area of Ulster.

There is an I2b1 study at FT DNA. You can see all of the participants and their countries of origin here http://www.familytreedna.com/public/M223-Y-Clan/default.aspx?section=yresults . The countries of origin for this Haplo group also confirm Scottish origins for Roger Forgey's line. Something which stands out is the prevalence of the I2b1 group in Germany. After doing some additional research I have come the conclusion that the early Forgeys might have migrated to Southwest Scotland from England. I believe the Forgeys were likely Anglo-Saxons or Norse. The Anglo-Saxons had invaded England in the 5th century A.D. Most experts agree that the I2b1 Haplo group mainly stem from two sources, Norse and Anglo Saxon invaders. About 200,000 Saxons invaded England. Southern Scotland was heavily populated by Anglo Saxons, French, and Flemish settlers.The Saxons took refuge in Scotland where they fled from the Norman invaders.With the I2b1 Haplo being more common in Saxony, Germany the most likely scenario is that the Forgeys were Anglo Saxons, with a more slight possibility that they were Norse. According to some the I2b1 haplo type originated in Saxony 9,000 years ago. 

As more research and DNA testing is completed we should be able to get a better idea of our Forgey family origins.