Monday, December 30, 2013

Coming up to speed with MtDNA


I received my Full Sequence MtDNA results in December. Of course I had no matches at this level, because so few people have tested at this level. I saw a figure of about 18,000 testers at the full sequence level (this number is probably outdated by one year or so). I would need a large number of Nicaraguans testing to find a close match at his level.
I've done a lot of research on the L2a1, and specifically the F subclade. L Haplo is African and about 55,000 years old. I found out that subclade F is anywhere from 2,000 to 10,000 years old. As you can imagine this subclade could travel far and wide throughout Africa over thousands of years. It is widespread in Northern and Central Africa, and made in roads into the Middle East. It is found in Saudi Arabia, and seems to have been spread into Europe by the Jews.
Example 1
We do now have Nicaraguans testing with Family Tree DNA, and I hope to have a close match at some point.
My results mismatched the L2a1f subclade by two mutations, and I have a number of extra mutations. It looks like this will lead to another subclade, which may eventually lead to a more specific location of origin for my ancestors.
Example 2
I've been attending the new series of webinars presented by Family Tree DNA. The MtDNA session was so enlightening! I really had no idea how to read the results page. Example 2 shows the mutations, or differences, I have in my DNA from the Reference model used. These mutations occur among individuals and are disseminated throughout a population through the generations. In earlier eras, when migration was less frequent, these mutations would be limited to individuals living in a small region. Example 2 shows a letter before and after the number. The first letter represents the reference model, and the second represents our own difference from this reference. For example the first position here is A16129G, and we see the first letter is A and the last G . Position 16129 is A in the reference, and is G in my own sequence. These differences are used to place everyone into a Haplo group and subclades. A and G often shift positions, along with C and T.
I found another site besides Mitosearch and Sorenson to upload my full sequence results and compare; namely the MtDNA Community.org. I found one match there. Not an exact match so we probably share an ancestors hundreds or thousands of years ago.
My best hope for a breakthrough with MtDNA would be a perfect match. I also hope we had a mutation in my line fairly recently, because that would mean we share an ancestor in the genealogical time frame.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

The short life of Isis Forgey

My Aunt Isis lived to be about 5 months old, but her short has always fascinated me. She was born while my Grandfather Charles Lynn Forgey served in the US Marines. My Grandfather married my Grandmother Graciela Del Castillo in Nicaragua on 10 January 1919. Since Isis died in Nicaragua it's been difficult getting any information about her death. I've tried for a decade writing to various record offices in Nicaragua in an effort to get any additional bits of information about my ancestors there. I generally got no response at all. I did get one response from a Catholic Priest stating he could not find any information.
Thankfully the vital records for Managua, Nicaragua were filmed by the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. These records have been digitized and uploaded to Familysearch and are fully searchable (I am hoping they eventually film the records in Granada).
I've asked my mother and her siblings about their sister Isis, but they didn't know very much about her other than she died very young in Nicaragua. My mother was under the impression Isis had broken her neck? She may have come to this conclusion after looking at a photo of Isis taken after her death. Her rigid position after her death may have made it look like her neck was broken? The family seemed to avoid talking about Isis, probably not wanting to bring back the memory of a painful event. No one knew her date of birth or death.
I've located 3 records mentioning Isis Forgey (she was named after her Grandmother Isis Browning Forgey). I now have her birth record, a 1920 US Census record, and a Death Record.
What I learned from these documents is:

  1. Isis was born on 26 January 1920 in Managua, Nicaragua
  2. Isis died on 3 May 1920 in Managua
  3. Isis died of a Gastro intestinal infection, and not a broken neck


Isis Forgey's birth record says her father Charles L. Forgey was in the Military
Isis Forgey's death record
1920 Census for Marine Legation Managua Nicaragua
 By April 1921 my Grandmother was back in her home city of Granada where my mother was born. My grandfather was out of the country in Honduras working in a goldmine at the time, he was discharged from the Marines in June 1920. My mother was born in the home of Horatio Arguello Bolanos. I found a newspaper clipping about him below. He may have been a cousin of my Grandmother?


My mother Edna Forgey-Kapple's Birth Certificate