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Y-DNA Haplogroup R-YP658

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Surnames/tags: R_YP658 Martin Williams
Profile managers: Ken Williams private message [send private message] and David Martin private message [send private message]
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Contents

Background

This project was created in September 2023 as a "launch pad" or master table of the proven lineages of every member of the R-YP658 Haplogroup Project and Martin Y-DNA Project "Group 8" (A & B) at Family Tree DNA, so that each branch is linked on a single web page, even when the actual links between branches have not yet been identified. If you're here, you might already be a member of our Y-DNA haplogroup project, but if not and you think your Y-DNA is a match, please join us.

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R-YP658 Ancestors

The true patriarch of this haplogroup was likely born more than 1250 years ago, several centuries before the use of hereditary surnames was widely adopted across Europe. This man might have been born in the Nordic region, where our only known "cousins" with a common ancestor dating back this far still live today. To date, there are only two non-U.S.-born members of the project, both in the Netherlands. One shares only that earliest R-YP658 ancestor who was probably born circa 750 CE. Our other Dutch cousin is much closer, sharing a common ancestor whose birth is currently estimated to have been 1178 CE, forming the subclade (sub-haplogroup) R-FTB69987, but this ancestor also predated surnames.

The next subclade, R-BY27212 is currently estimated to have formed circa 1502, and was almost certainly the haplogroup that our earliest known ancestor (EKA) to have used the surname Martin carried into St. James parish in Bath, Somerset, England when John Martin (abt.1540-abt.1580) arrived there sometime before about 1570. Little is known about John, but he is believed to have been the common ancestor to all known branches in the USA. He was the document grandfather of Dr. Jeremy Martin (1604-1670) of Redland Court in Bristol, England, who in turn was the well-documented progenitor of the second largest Martin branch in America, under the subclade R-BY146935 that appears to have formed when Dr. Jeremy was born in 1604.

The largest Martin branch in America is R-FTB64834, which is a subclade that appears to have formed with the birth of Martin Martin about 1668. Martin Martin was probably born in New Kent, Virginia, where he lived his entire life. New Kent is a county for which no colonial records have survived except for two fragmented church books. It is only through extensive Big Y-700 testing that Martin Martin's five sons have finally been identified, and all R-FTB64834 descendants have now been placed on the branches of his tree.

NPEs & Double-Crosses

Adding to the confusion caused by records lost in courthouse fires and the like is the presence in America of a large number of men with matching Y-DNA that was passed down from men not named Martin. Some cases where a single non-paternal event (NPE) led to a crossover from a Martin ancestor to a line of cousins with a different surname seem relatively straightforward:

  • Shadrach Martin (1725-1803) was in the right place at the right time (with the right name?) to have fathered Martin Wigginton (1777-1830), who in turn appears to have fathered Irvin Kennedy (1813-1870) (all R-FTC63205). See the comment in Wigginton's profile for more details.
  • Shadrach's great-grandson lived next door to a lady named Jane Vassey, whose son was named Vassey but carried Shadrach's Y-DNA (R-BY116548).
  • Our Peddycord member was simply adopted, but is the biological son of a Martin man.
  • William Small (1760-1805) appears to have been a son of Lawrence Small (1720-1785), but his descendants' Y-DNA appears to show that one of these Small ancestors was a son or grandson of James Martin (1699-1775) (R-FTC86023), and Lawrence Small first appeared in Amherst, Virginia in 1748 buying land from the same man that James Martin bought land from the previous year, and the two tracts were very near each other...
  • Our Hale cousin is still a bit of a mystery, but his Y-DNA tells us that he and another Martin member both descended from a son or grandson of Thomas Martin (1750-1805) who is currently estimated to have been born circa 1792 (R-TY472010).

Other cases have proven to be much more complicated, requiring huge investments of research time and extensive, targeted Big Y-700 orders to home in on answers. A primary complicating factor in each case appears to have been "double crossovers," where a single Martin man fathered multiple sons who carried a common surname other than his own:

  • Rial Martin (1765-1845) was the father of both James "Big Jim" Williams (~1795-1851) and John Williams (~1799-1873). Rial Martin was the son of William Martin who was born about 1738 in Henrico, Virginia. William moved to Surry, North Carolina and had only two sons, Rial and Burrell, who were named in his 1 Jul 1809 will, probated 15 Nov 1809. Descendants of both James "Big Jim" Williams and John Williams are in subclade FTA45618, indicating that their father must also have been of this subclade. Autosomal DNA indicated that these descendants matched descendants of William Martin much more closely than any other Martin family, so a Big Y kit was ordered for a proven descendant of Burrell Martin. The results showed that he was a close match, but was negative for FTA45618, proving that his father William was not in this subclade. A second Big Y kit was ordered for a proven descendant of Burrell's brother Rial, and the results proved that he was indeed positive for FTA45618, thereby proving beyond any shadow of a doubt that Rial was the father of both "Big Jim" Williams and John Williams. FTA45618 was created with the birth of Rial Martin himself and only his direct male descendants will be in this subclade.
  • Abraham Martin (1764-1840)'s first son was William W. Clements (1788-1870) and his last son, born 50 years later, was James Powell Clements (1838-1912). In between these two, Abraham had four other sons, all named Martin. The Clements couple who raised Abraham's biological son William Clements lived "next door" to Abraham when William was born, and they don't appear to have had any other children. When William Clements was about 20 years old and newly married, his entire family left Amherst in 1808, never to return. By the time James Powell was born in Amherst, William's Clements parents were long dead and William's entire family was about 700 miles away in Tipton, Tennessee. William's much younger half-brother was born enslaved, fathered by an elderly Abraham, possibly by a slave he owned at the time named Caroline. Abraham's affection for the little boy was made very clear by the terms of his will, which resulted in James Powell essentially being adopted by his half sister Polly (Martin) Clements, who had married into the same Clements family that lived "next door." So although James Powell was not born a Clements, he took that name by the time he reached adulthood and passed it down along with Abraham's R-BY62178 DNA. Direct descendants of two of Abraham's other sons, Lewis & Fendal, match descendants of both William Clements in Tipton and James Clements in Amherst in this subclade. A direct descendant of James Powell's adopted Clements father was also tested and proved to be a "real" Clements, matching Group 12 of that project.

Grouped Lineages

The groupings below represent the R-YP658 block tree where each "block" to the right of the R-YP658 block is a subclade to everything left of it. FTDNA's block tree view is private, but another visual representation is publicly available as a "Group Time Tree"[1] for both the R-YP658 Haplogroup Project (be sure all results are selected except for the "Unmatched Lines of Interest;" (deselect this last one if necessary)) and the Martin Surname Project (select Group 8 Family A (and Family B, if available)) Since not every lineage below is represented by a current member of both projects, some will be missing from each of these views.

Note: Ancestors shown in italics below indicate links to external family trees. These ancestors don't yet have WikiTree profiles.

R-YP658 - (Most recent common ancestor (MRCA) estimated to have been born circa 729 CE)
R-YP658 > R-FTB69987 - (MRCA circa 1177 CE)

Pending Big Y Upgrades

Presumed R-FTB64834 From Lineage(s) Above:

Martin Project Group 8 "Genetic Family B"

The following lineages are all currently grouped in the Martin Y-DNA project separately from the confirmed R-YP658 haplogroup members of "Genetic Family A," whose lineages are outlined above. In fact, every member of "Genetic Family B" is just a yet-to-be confirmed member of haplogroup R-YP658. As such, their lineages are outlined here as well, grouped by earliest known ancestor (EKA) from the above list, where possible:

Lineages That Connect to Proven R-YP658 Ancestors

Presumed R-BY146935 from Lineage(s) Above:
Presumed R-BY62178 from Lineage(s) Above:
Presumed R-FTB64834 from Lineage(s) Above:
Presumed R-FTC63205 from Lineage(s) Above:
Presumed R-FTA46021 from Lineage(s) Above:

Other Lineages (Not Yet Matched Above)

Lineage Problems

Unconfirmed Lineages

These kits might not belong to the men with the ancestors listed. This generally means that we have been unable to contact a kit manager and there is no ancestor information available for the kit at FTDNA.

The "Abram Zachariah" Myth

The internet is littered with trees topped with mythological angels like "Col. Abram Zachariah Martin (1644-1711)," supposedly of County Galway. It is very difficult to discern which, if any, of the commonly repeated details about this man are factual, but a substantial number of independent Y-DNA tests prove that the folks who have paper trails going back to his supposed sons John Martin (1685-1756) and Zachariah Martin Sr. (abt.1698-abt.1763) are closely related members of Martin Group 21.[4] The confusion amongst Group 8 members who also claim Abram as an ancestor appears to stem from the conflation of the above Group 21 John Martin of King & Queen, Virginia and our R-YP658 ancestor, John Martin (bef.1680-abt.1742) of New Kent.

To Do List

Sources

  1. ↑ See the Family Tree DNA Group Time Tree help page for more info.
  2. ↑ "Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5ZX-S4R : Fri Oct 20 00:17:43 UTC 2023), Entry for Wm Martin and Susanna Martin, 28 Mar.
  3. ↑ Martin Surname Y-DNA Project - Y-DNA Colorized Chart.
  4. ↑ See the Y-DNA section of the research notes for Abram's profile.




Collaboration
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Dan Peddycord
Thank you for the time you have dedicated to this, it is appreciated.
posted by Dan Peddycord

Categories: Y-DNA Haplogroups