The McCabe DNA Surname Project - Family Project Website

The McCabe DNA Surname Project

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Group Administrator: James Freed jmfreed@midohio.net

Project Surnames:

McCabe	Mecabe

Project Background:

The McCabe Family DNA study was started in the spring of 2001 in an attempt to find the father of an 1840's orphan in the U.S. Since that time, the project has significantly expanded as explained below under Project Goals.

Project Goals:

1. To study the Y-Chromosome DNA of any male McCabes who descended from McCabe families who were located in eastern Illinois and western Indiana (states of the USA), in the early 1840's (to test the hypothesis that a specific McCabe was the father of the orphaned McCabe).

2. To study the Y-Chromosome DNA of male line descendants of circa 1740's immigrants to North America (from Northern Ireland), including Owen McCabe (Pennsylvania, US), John McCabe (Delaware, US), and James McCabe (Nova Scotia, Canada), based on oral history that a family relationship existed. If there are other pre-1776 immigrant McCabes to North America (in addition to the three just mentioned), male line descendants of such are encouraged to participate in this study.

3. Expansion of the project to study the Y-Chromosome DNA of any male McCabes (worldwide) in order to determine if there are any relationships between the current McCabe families present around the world. Since this is a Y-Chromosome DNA study, only males can provide DNA samples for testing.

4. Expansion of the project to study the Y-Chromosome DNA of males of the Mecabe (yes, MECABE, not McCabe) family in order to determine if this family (as recorded in oral history) actually descended from the very early McCabe families.

[McCabes/Mecabes interested in participating in this DNA study are strongly urged to participate in the 37-marker study or the 67-marker study rather than the 12 marker study, with the minimum recommended being the 25-marker study. The 12-marker study can no longer be used effectively to compare results and draw tentative conclusions.]

Project News:

March 2004: Expansion of the McCabe family DNA project to include any and all McCabe and Mecabe males from throughout the entire world.

December 2005: Inclusion (on this webpage) of the opportunity for any McCabe/Mecabe family researcher to contribute to the success of the project by providing funds to support these genetic genealogy studies. For more details, click on the "Contribute to the Surname Project General Fund" at the left. Contact the Project Administrator to request that these donated funds be used for a specific study and/or if you have any questions about these procedures.

January 2008: Discovery that some of the McCabes (Group B) are in Haplogroup R1b1c7. See discussion below in the Group B results

Project Results:

NOTE: Click on the FAQ section at the top left of this page to answer many questions. Brief explanations of the results shown below follow: The kit # is used to link the results with a specific individual known to the Group Administrator. The numbers in a specific row provide a specific "haplotype" for that individual. The "Haplo" column provides the "haplogroup" (cluster of similar haplotypes, usually related to an origin in a specific area of the world). Y chromosomal tests on most of these McCabe families have produced an "estimate" of R1b1 as the haplogroup, which indicates a Western European ancestry for each of these McCabe families. Note that this haplogroup designation may not support a Nordic or Viking ancestry for these McCabe families as has been suggested for the McCabe families in general.

SPECIFIC PROJECT Results based on the Five Groups on the Results Table shown below:

I. GROUP A, the R1b1 OWEN McCABE FAMILY STUDY. (Updated 3/30/2008)
This group contains individuals who, concluded from the results shown, descend from Owen McCabe who emigrated from County Tyrone, Ireland, in the 1740's, to Philadelphia, settled in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania in the 1750's and later moved to southwestern Pennsylvania. There he died in the 1805-1815 period, either in southern Allegheny County or northern Washington County.

1. Orphan's Father Study. The Y chromosome DNA (originally 12 marker tests) of two male line descendants (kits 826 and 827) of two sons of the "orphan" James J. McCabe (1843-1914) matched exactly the same 12 markers of two male-line descendants (825 and 1106) of two sons of James B. McCabe who was born in 1807 in Ohio, died in 1892 in Kansas, and is a descendant of Owen McCabe's son, John. Kits 825 and 1106 come from McCabes who are third cousins of each other. Kits 826 and 827 come from McCabes who are first cousins, once removed. Extension of the 12-marker test to 67 markers was performed on DNA samples from each of these four McCabes. Note that the James J. McCabe descendants may be considered to have the ancestral haplotype (determined by including the results of kit 54231 which will be discussed later). Kit 825 has only one one-step mutation (marker 481); kit 1106 has two one-step mutations (markers 464d & 576, both fast-mutating markers) from the proposed ancestral haplotype. These results strongly support the very strong circumstantial evidence that led to the hypothesis that James B. McCabe (born in 1807) WAS the father of James J. McCabe born in 1843.

2. In this group are the results for kit #54231. The provider of this kit, whose family has lived in southern Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, for a long number of generations, did not know his McCabe ancestry past his 3rd g. grandfather McCabe. Studies in the Allegheny County Court House in Pittsburgh suggested that he is most likely a descendant of Owen's youngest son, William McCabe. At 67 markers this kit's DNA differs from the proposed ancestral haplotype of the Owen McCabe descendants at only two markers, 449 and CDYb, both fast-mutating markers. Combining the information from the courthouse records and the DNA results very strongly supports the hypothesis that this individual is a descendant of Owen McCabe, specifically through Owen's son William.

3. Haplogroup determination for Group A: The DNA from Kit #827 has been tested for specific haplogroup determination to the fullest extent possible as of March 2008. Y chromosome Haplogroup R1b1c identification is the result of this test, which means that all individuals within this Group A share the same haplogroup, R1b1c. The haplogroup test also determined that this haplogroup R1b1c cannot be subdivided further as of this date; i.e., the haplogroup is NOT any further division, R1b1c1 through R1b1c9. (See Group B for discussion of R1b1c7.) The majority of men of European extraction are in this R1b1c haplogroup. The R1b1c haplogroup is "believed by some to have existed before the last Ice Age and has been associated with the Aurignacian culture (32,000 - 21,000 BC)". The quote is from the R1b1c section of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For more information google on R1b1c.

II. GROUP B, the R1b1c7 MECABE-McCABE FAMILY STUDY. (Updated 1/16/08)

1. This group study involved at least two different hypotheses. The first was that the immigrant ancestor, John McCabe of the provider of Kit 9586, may have been a brother to Owen McCabe, since they both emigrated from Ireland in the 1740's. This John McCabe, however, settled in Sussex County, Delaware. When comparing the results of the modal value of the Owen McCabe descendants (just to the first 25 markers), there is a difference of 25 mutation steps, so that there is absolutely no possibility that Owen McCabe and John McCabe could have been brothers, or have any close relationship at all. The second hypothesis was that the Mecabe (yes Mecabe, NOT McCabe) families (descendants of Elisha Mecabe, born 1799, Monmouth, New Jersey) are actually descended from a McCabe family. Results to the 37 marker level show only two one-step mutations between the providers of kit 40344 and 9586. Reports from the Family Tree DNA Company state that with 35 out of 37 matching markers, there is 99% likelihood that they share a common ancestor! Further traditional genealogical investigations within American or Irish records are necessary to determine the exact relationship.

2. An unexpected, yet fascinating result of this study was produced when the provider of kit 99404, who also descends from the Sussex County, Delaware immigrant, John McCabe, had his DNA haplogroup studied to the furthest extent currently possible. The resulting assignment to haplogroup R1b1c7 (which means that the other kit providers in the Group B are also R1b1c7) indicates that their roots are in the area of northwestern Ireland, Ulster and lowland Scotland. For more information, google for R1b1c7, and you will find that this is the haplogroup of the descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages, Niall Noigiallach, the hypothesized High King of Ireland in the Fourth-Fifth Century and ancestor of the Uí Néill dynasties.

III. GROUP C, the R1b1 "OTHER" McCABE FAMILIES (Updated 3/14/08)

MODAL VALUES. The modal values (most common values for each marker) for this group are similar to Group A (the Owen McCabe group), with the first 12 markers being exactly the same. At 25 markers only one mutation step exists (marker #458) and at the 37 marker level, only two mutation steps exist (markers 458 and CDYa, both fast mutating markers) when comparing Group A with Group C. [At 67 markers, an additional three mutation step differences (markers 413a, 490, and 572) appear, but with only four of the thirteen men having results to 67 markers, a comparison is not appropriate.] However, there does not appear to be any historical evidence that indicates a relationship of any of these men in Group C with the Owen McCabe family (Group A) since the 1740's in America, and these similarities may be due simply to all the results being in Haplogroup R1b. Further, based on information available so far, there does not appear to be any common ancestors among any small grouping of these thirteen men, but this may be due to insufficient information. If any reader knows of such evidence of a relationship, please contact the administrator of this McCabe Surname DNA Study. It is hoped that those with only 12 markers will extend their studies to at least 37 markers so that more information is available for additional comparisons.

COMMENTS on a few results: Kit 9587 was provided by a descendant of James McCabe, the 1740's immigrant to Philadelphia who soon left for Nova Scotia. An early hypothesis was that this James McCabe was a brother to Owen McCabe, since they arrived about the same time in Philadelphia, and were both from "northern Ireland", but no specific county of origin was associated with the oral history of James McCabe. When comparing the 67 markers of Kit 9587 with the ancestral haplotype of Owen McCabe, there are ten one-step mutations between them, almost precluding their being any relationship between these two families in historical time. [It is hoped that another descendant of the Nova Scotia James McCabe (descended from a different son than the son, also named James, whose descendant provided Kit #9587) can be found to provide a DNA sample for testing and comparing with the results of Kit #9587.] Submitter of Kit 97685 lives in Scotland but traces his ancestry back to County Cavan of Ireland.

IV. Group D, E3b1 Haplogroup. (Updated 3/13/08) The DNA samples from Kit number 75386 have been assigned to haplogroup E3b, whereas most of the other McCabes have a haplogroup designation of R1b1. This means that the E3b individual does not share any ancestors in common with any of the R1b1 group. On the map, "Y Haplogroups of the World", which is supposed to represent the situation about 1500 A.D., the E3b haplogroup is highest in Morocco (ca 75%) with other large percentages in Maori (ca 25%), Sudan (ca 25%) and Ethiopia (ca 50%). However, E3b was NOT absent from Europe, with from about 3% to about 15% in Scotland, "Norwegian", Russia, Iberia, Italy and "Turkish", with a higher frequency in southern Europe and lower frequency in northern Europe. For more information google on "E3b".

V. Group E, Cabeen Family. (Updated 3/5/08) The person with the surname of Cabeen (Kit 56221) hypothesized that his Cabeen name may have been derived from the McCabe surname. That may be true, but so far, no close matches have been found between his results and any of the McCabes studied in the project so far. He is included in haplogroup R1b1c (as is several of the McCabes tested so far), but considering his results at the 12 marker level (with no closer than 5 one-step mutations from any others tested in this McCabe surname project), it is relatively certain that he has no McCabe family connection, within historical times, with other members of this McCabe Surname DNA study. As more and more McCabes have their DNA tested, it IS possible that a closer match will be found.

DNA Test Results (Alleles) for Project Members

* Haplogroups in green have been confirmed by SNP testing. Haplogroups in red have been predicted by Family Tree DNA based on unambiguous results in the individual's personal page. This has been placed on this GAP page for your ease and convenience. Please note that for any predicted results we see no reason for ordering a SNP test to confirm the Haplogroup. if a – is in the HAPLO field then we feel that the comparative results are not clear and unambiguous and if the kit holder wants to know their SNP with 100% confidence they may consider ordering a SNP confirmation test.