Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2010 14:28:07 -0230 (NDT)
From: David Pike 
To: pike-dna-l@rootsweb.com
Subject: Group 8, Group 17, and an update on autosomal DNA tests



Hi everybody.


I'll start this message with Group 17, which was last discussed in the 
email bulletin that was sent out on 25 January 2010: 
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/PIKE-DNA/2010-01/1264462404

Since then two new developments have taken place.  One of them pertains to 
the ancestry of Alun Pike (kit 134124).  Thanks to a very persistent 
effort on behalf of Eric Hillier to try to trace Alun's lineage, several 
more generations have now been established.  What's been learned since 
January is that Alun's Pikes, who were resident in Bristol in the 1800s, 
came to Bristol from the village of Tetbury in Gloucestershire.  We're now 
at the point where Alun's most distant known Pike ancestor is a William 
PIKE/PICKE who married at Tetbury in 1669.

The other recent development involving Group 17 is that Joe Pike (kit 
168595) who lives in London, received the results of a 37-marker test that 
revealed that he too belongs to Group 17.  But just how Joe relates to the 
other members of Group 17 is not yet clear.  Joe's Pike ancestors have 
lived in London since at least the late 1700s.  Moreover, Joe has two 
Y-DNA markers that are different from the other people who are currently 
in Group 17 (specifically, Joe has a 13 on marker #9 (everbody else in the 
group has a value of 12) and a 16 on marker #13 (the others have either a 
17 or 18), so at first glance it appears as though Joe's lineage might 
represent a distant branch of the Group 17 family tree.



To now turn to Group 8, Alston (kit 170365) has recently received his 
37-marker results and found that he's a 36/37 match with some of the 
members of our Group 8.  Several generations of Alston's family lived at 
Roanoke, Alabama, where a large number of Pikes still reside.  Our belief 
is that Alston's Pike ancestry traces back to a William Pike who settled 
at Edgefield, South Carolina in the mid 1700s, having possibly arrived 
there in 1754 on board the ship "Ruby" but we're still trying to verify 
some of these details... on this note, if anybody has a copy of either of 
the following two books, would you please let me know:

1. "Descendants of William Pyke / Pike and related families"
    written by Wilma Garrett McCutcheon (244 pages, published in 1999).

2. "William T. Pike, 1799-1882: South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and westward"
    written by John E. Pike (520 pages, published in 1996).


The final item for this email message is to provide a bit of an update on 
the autosomal DNA testing that several of our project members have done 
through 23andMe.  Rather than post a lengthy description here, I've 
instead put together a webpage with some details of what the tests have 
been able to show and some of what we've learned about them: 
http://www.math.mun.ca/~dapike/family_history/pike/DNA/index.php?content=23andMe.html

Regarding the usefulness of this type of test as a genealogical tool, it 
seems to work best at determining whether two people (either male or 
female) are 3rd cousins or closer in relationship.  It can sometimes 
detect shared autosomal DNA between people who are 4th cousins or more 
distant, but it isn't always possible to correctly assess the degree of 
relationship in such cases.  Nevertheless, the 23andMe "Relative Finder" 
utility does work well in the sense that it can reunite distant cousins 
who are found to share some segment(s) of DNA with each other.

Something new that is on the horizon in this regard is that a similar 
autosomal DNA test is starting to be made available by Family Tree DNA. 
What they are calling a "Family Finder" test is briefly described on their 
website at:
http://www.familytreedna.com/landing/family-finder.aspx

It too will detect autosomal DNA segments that are shared by people 
(again, either male or female) and will enable cousins to make contact 
with one another.  Some people who have already had their DNA tested by 
Family Tree DNA may already be able to order this test, although it might 
be several more weeks before the test becomes more generally available.

One quick comment for people who have been tested by 23andMe:  there is a 
possibility that Family Tree DNA might allow data from 23andMe to be 
uploaded into the FTDNA system.  I'm waiting to hear more details about 
whether this will indeed be permitted.

- David.