U.S. President Andrew Jackson; using DNA comparisons to establish ancestry & familial relations.

Question

Earlier, I found a thread focused on the discussion of President Andrew Jackson’s ancestry, but I cannot find it now. So, I’ll post here & hope it reaches the intended audience. There appears to be a good number of descendants who’ve uploaded their autosomal DNA in connection with this particular line of Jacksons. To my understanding, when using autosomal DNA, many profiles/samples are needed to determine/confirm a common ancestry. My question is, how many samples/profiles are needed? Is there not some way we can use the available samples, to “narrow” it down, or at least gain some insight? I guess what I’m asking is; How do we use the DNA confirmation feature to achieve this? Or is it even possible? 

Autosomal DNA tests found on the following profiles may be of use

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Jackson-3146 , https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Jackson-4740

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Jackson-34062

NOTE: I am a direct descendant of the Samuel Jackson mentioned in the sourced excerpts below. My GEDmatch is DF7006601. Let’s figure this out!

"Josiah Jackson was a son of Jacob Jackson, the first minister of Clark township, whose brother, John Jackson, was the first settler in Wayne Township, this county in 1802. Another brother, [[Jackson-34062]], built the first cabin in Jefferson Township in 1812. Samuel was a famous hunter in his day and was characterized as a second Daniel Boone. He was a typical frontiersman and finally found his way to Cass County, Texas where he died about a quarter of century ago, at the age of one hundred years.These brothers are said by Judge Harlan, in his excellent sketches of Clinton County history, to be probably first cousins and intimate friends of President Andrew Jackson whose father in 1765 came from the same locality in north Ireland, as did their ancestor Isaac Jackson, a few years earlier. These brothers were sons of Samuel Jackson, a son of the aforesaid Isaac Jackson, who was a descendant of Ralph Jackson, who was burned at the stake as martyr at Stratford, England, in 1556. Isaac's father and uncle Anthony and Richard Jackson, had gone with Cromwell from England into Ireland, had become followers of George Fox, and founded the first Friends church in Ireland, with which Andrew's progenitors were evidently not affiliated." - "History of Clinton County Ohio: It's People, Industries, Institutions"; contributor Albert J. Brown A.M.; pub. B.F. Bowen, 1915 pg.404 (https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_6dYyAQAAMAAJ/page/n411)

"Samuel Jackson and his brothers Jacob and John, Quakers from North Carolina, settled on Rocky Fort as early as 1801. They were the sons of Samuel Jackson, Sr, native of Ireland. Samuel Jackson the immigrant was a direct descendant of Ralph Jackson who was burned at the stake, as a martyr, in Stratford, England in 1556. The brothers remained in a crude log cabin for a few years after their arrival. They were all good hunters who had served as Indian spies. They made enough money or equivalent to live by selling pelts." - “Highland Pioneer Sketches and Family Genealogies" by Elsie Johnson Ayres: pg.227

Comments

I haven't had time to study your information in detail, thus a comment and not an answer.  It looks to me like the profiles you mention need some basic work to add sources, and a paper trail is always part of the picture in confirming ancestry.  Andrew Jackson's profile, because he is a U.S. President, is better documented, and his genealogy is fairly well documented. (Correction:  See Barry Smith's answer below.)

To answer your question about DNA matches, to really establish a relationship, you need at the very minimum a DNA match to one or more of the people listed on the profile, then in addition and a paper trail or plausible theory. Then, various analytical techniques such as triangulation, chromosome mapping, and cluster analysis can add to your evidence.

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I am working on adding sources to the profiles. As for the DNA comparisons, I match at least 3 of those listed. The first match I'm posting is significant.

Comparing Kit A162252 and DF7006601

Largest segment = 10.4 cM

Total Half-Match segments (HIR) = 10.4 cM (0.290 Pct)
Estimated number of generations to MRCA = 5.2

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Comparing Kit M537925 and DF7006601

Largest segment = 5.5 cM

Total Half-Match segments (HIR) = 5.5 cM (0.153 Pct)
Estimated number of generations to MRCA = 7.7

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Comparing Kit T050749 and DF7006601

Largest segment = 5.3 cM

Total Half-Match segments (HIR) = 5.3 cM (0.147 Pct)
Estimated number of generations to MRCA = 7.7

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Those segments are small enough that it's entirely possible they're identical just by chance, not because of common descent.  It would take a fair bit of work to demonstrate that they're tied to Andrew Jackson.  I think a good approach here might be to gradually work your way back, documenting genetic and paper trail links at each step (parent, grandparent, etc.) to help build your case.  The techniques Julie mentions will be important.

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10.4 cM with a MRCA of 5.2 seems a little more than chance, though, don't you think? The relationship finder places us at 7th cousins once removed, MRCA Samuel Jackson (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Jackson-3146)

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10 cM is more likely to be a genuine match, but unless you have complete trees for both you and your match going back that far, you don't know whether you might actually match because you're related through some other common ancestor.  That's part of why you need triangulation.  If you can find several people who all have a paper trail to that shared ancestor (and no other) and who match each other on the same segment of DNA, that starts to give stronger evidence for the relationship.  (I'm in a similar situation right now... I've found an 18 cM match to my mom whose tree includes our ancestor Edward Bangs, a Puritan immigrant.  I'm excited about it but have a lot more work to do before I can be at all confident that that's actually where that DNA segment came from.)

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I agree with Lisa.  I'd ignore the two smaller matches (unless they triangulate with the larger one).  It could move the conversation forward if you noted the chromosomes on which each of the three matches occurred, so readers wouldn't need to do it.  If by chance, two or three of them are on the same segment, that would be significant.

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Comparing Kit A162252 and DF7006601

Chr 18

Largest segment = 10.4 cM
B37 Start Pos'n 44,284,184 

B37 End Pos'n 53,702,686

SNPs 1,347

Estimated number of generations to MRCA = 5.2

Our trees match at ancestor Jackson-3146

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Jackson-3146

Would this be enough to do DNA confirmation for this ancestor?

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I don't think so.  As Barry said below, an ancestor that far back requires triangulation to be confirmed by DNA.  

If you go to your "My WikiTree" dropdown menu at the top of the page, one choice is "DNA Confirmation."  There are links and explanations on that page and the page you get by clicking on "more information."

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Hello everyone, my name is Alonzo Jackson. My Grandmother Hannah Jackson was the head house slave of Andrew Jackson's House. Mary died in my grandmother's arm's, my grandmother was at the bed side when MY Grandfather died, my grandmother Charlotte was his daughter. After President Jackson died my family ran to Nashville Grandma Hannah died in Nashville.

My Grandma Charlotte had a large family. She named my grampa Andrew Jackson and he named my Uncle Andrew Jackson. We are still alive and well!! My DNA is on Ancestry.

I challenge anyone!!

A lot of black descendants of Andrew Jackson. My grandmother Charlotte vowed revenge just like her Daddy!

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Alonzo, I think you should post a new question.  This is an old thread about someone else.

Answer 1

There are two questions here: can we confirm genetic descent from this group of Jacksons, and can we confirm connection to Andrew Jackson through his paternal line.

Any genetic confirmation *requires* well-sourced connections made with a “paper trail” as well as genetic confirmation, and this far back in time this would require triangulation. 

Maybe this is possible with the group of Jacksons you linked, with considerable luck. But I am convinced this is not possible for President Jackson. There are simply no primary sources provably documenting his paternal line. Basically, all that is known for sure is his father’s name. Here’s a summary of lots of secondary sources, and there is quite a lot of disagreement and very little sourcing:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Andrew_Jackson%27s_Paternal_Lines:_Research_Page

Also, I’ve seen claims that President Jackson’s Y-haplogroup is known, but again, with no reasonably sourced paper trail, these claims don’t pass muster.

FYI: there was an exciting discovery recently, a Irish land record concerning Dr. Joseph Jackson. You can read about it here:

http://www.thesilverbowl.com/documents/1748Feb25-TODD-JACKSON.html

Comments

Very interesting, the land record.

Facts surrounding my particular Samuel (Silas) Jackson, who is said to be of this line, are as follows: He was born abt. 1775 Guilford, NC. He was either the son or brother of Jacob Jackson that married Ann Beals.  Samuel, Jacob, and a John Jackson are found living next to my Jones and Starr families (whom they intermarried with for many generations) in early U.S. census records. They can be tracked on census records from NC to TN to Clinton County, OH (where Jacob & Ann died. Jacob reportedly being 95 years old). Many of their relatives are buried in Wilmington, Clinton County, Ohio in Sugar Grove Cemetery. Samuel (Silas) Jackson came to Texas with his widowed daughter Lydia Jackson Starr after the death of Lydia's husband, William Starr. They lived in Harrison County, Texas where Samuel obtained a land survey. It is documented as the Samuel Jackson survey, Harrison County, Texas. He was living in Harrison County & can be found on the 1860 U.S. Census in the household of his daughter Lydia & grandson Joel Starr.  He is listed as 87 years old at the time of that census. He moved to Cass County, Texas before his death, & is buried in Mason County, Texas in Long Mountain Cemetery. He is said to have been 100 years old when he died. The dates found on his find a grave profile are estimates & off by a few years. It seems that several of these Jacksons lived to ripe old ages.

The known children of my Samuel (Silas) Jackson:
Lydia Jackson married William Starr
Rachel Jackson m. Garrett Newman
Isom Jackson may have been a son
John Jackson m. Mary Winchester
Sarah Jackson m. Richard Starr
Cornelius Moses Jackson m. Hannah Martin & Martha Brewer.
Nancy Ann Jackson m. George B. Medlin

These family surnames are well known in the early histories of Harrison County, Texas & many descendants still live on the original surveys (including myself).

Answer 2

I am a descendant of Samuel Jackson who resided in Westfield, NC and was married to Mary Catherine Plankinhorn.  Jackson-3146 is my 4ggf.  I continue to find discrepancies in postings that people make about Samuel Jackson.  (It surely would be beneficial if we knew his middle name and his birthplace and date!)  My maternal grandparents were married in the Westfield Friends Meeting Place (church) of which Samuel and Catherine's four sons were charter members.  A friend of mine is a Friend/Quaker and sent me a history of the Westfield Friends Meeting Place in which this fact is stated.  

I just wish that people would verify sources before they copy and paste just anything on the profile or before they change the spouse or anyone else.

Maybe we will figure out who is MY real ancestor!

My GedCom kit is A678621.