The Moffat Colonial DNA Project - Family Project Website

The Moffat Colonial DNA Project

REQUEST TO JOIN THIS GROUP

BOOKMARK
THIS PAGE

FAQ about DNA
testing and genealogy
by genetics

Group Administrator: Kyle Moffitt Kyle.Moffitt@education.nsw.gov.au

Project Surnames:

Clark	Maffett	Moffat	Moffet
Moffett	Moffitt

Project Background:

The Moffat Colonial DNA Project was started in February, 2006 by a group of Moffitts and Moffetts interested in defining the colonial American family lines of "Moffat". This project intends to be as expansive as possible and welcomes all variants of the surname "Moffat". It is independent of the official Clan Moffat organisation and its affiliated DNA Project. It differs from that project in that it is strictly interested in the immigrant American Moffat ancestors of the 17th and 18th centuries.

To participate in this project you need not know that your ancestor was a colonial American immigrant. The project is open to all male "Moffats" regardless of their nationality or spelling. It is understood that a large international database can assist what intends to be a local project and we welcome your contribution.

This project is new and will develop as new data is submitted by members.

This project uses DNA testing of the Y-chromosome. Because males inherit the Y-chromosome from their fathers, the DNA acts like a surname, passing from father to son, and allowing the reconstruction of ancient family lines. This testing cannot tell you who your distant ancestor was, but it can tell you who you are related to and how closely (on the order of hundreds or thousands of years). You can then make assumptions or predictions about your own genealogy.

Due to the specific nature of Y-chromosome testing, this project is only applicable to males with any variant of the surname "Moffat". Female "Moffats" will need to obtain a DNA sample from a male "Moffat" relative if they wish to participate.

Family Tree DNA - Genealogy by Genetics, Ltd.
World Headquarters
1445 North Loop West, Suite 820 Houston, Texas 77008, USA
Phone: (713) 868-1438 | Fax: (832) 201-7147
Contact Us
All Contents Copyright 2001-2004 Genealogy by Genetics, Ltd.
Project Background, Goals, Results and News are copyright of the specific Surname Project

Project Goals:

The goals of this project are to:

1. Establish the different colonial American "Moffat" family lines.

2. Prove or disprove theories about our colonial American ancestors.

3. Validate existing genealogical research.

Project News:

21 May 2007
A descendant of James Otis Clark has joined the project with a 100% match to several "Moffitt" and "Moffett" samples. Clark families with origins in Randolph County, North Carolina or vicinity may be interested in this participant's results.

26 September 2006

Mike Konzac has offered to sponsor the DNA testing of a patrilineal descendant of Charles Moffitt (b. 14 Feb 1742/43) of Randolph County, North Carolina. He is also interested in funding the DNA testing of Moffitts living in or near County Donegal, Ireland. Contact the Group Administrator if you think you qualify.

11 September 2006

The Moffat DNA samples in this project have been seperated into three sub-groups based on haplogroup and STR analysis using fluxus engineering software. Three groups have been identified as having a common origin: Viking, NW Irish and Paleo-Briton. Find out which one you belong to!

19 May 2006 - A phylogenetic tree showing the relationship between 11 "Moffat" haplotypes belonging to haplogroup R1b1 has been developed. This tree clearly shows a core group of related "Moffats" and a North West Irish Group, some related to the Irish Ui Neill Dynasty. Since most "Moffats" belong to haplogroup R1b1, your haplotype is probably listed. Go to:

www.freewebs.com/phylotree

24 April 2006 - An article by Donald Moffitt appeared in the Encore section of the Wall Street Journal on Monday, 24 April 2006. The article, title "Missing Links" relates to the DNA testing of male descendants of Robert Moffitt and his children who settled in North Carolina in 1760. It also refers to an associated group of Moffetts living in colonial Virginia and a mysterious Mr Rutherford who appears to be related to both groups. This article is especially relevant to project members whose results fall into the NW Irish Moffat sub-group (see Project Results).

Project Results:

13 DNA samples have been submitted to this project. 12 samples have been analysed. These 12 samples can be sub-divided into 3 sub-groups: Viking Moffat, North West Irish Moffat and Paleo-Briton Moffat. Each group represents a different human migration into lowland Scotland starting with the Paleo-Britons circa 8,000 BC, the NW Irish around 500 AD and the Vikings around 800AD.

Additionally each sub-group contains genealogical information submitted by each participant.

From this information it has been discovered that the descendants of three main lines of colonial Moffat families are unrelated. That is the lines of:

1. Gabriel Moffett (b. ca. 1710) and Mary Helms of Prince William County, Virginia (associated with the French Huguenots).

2. John Moffett (d. 1749) and Mary Christian of Augusta County, Virginia (associated with the Colonel George Moffett line).

3. Robert Moffitt (b. ca. 1700) and Margaret Stewart of Northern Ireland (associated with the Randolph County, North Carolina line where several of their sons settled in the 1760s).

These three colonial lines of Moffat represent distinct, unrelated families based on genetic evidence supplied by their descendants. This is significant due to the large number of erroneous genealogies available on the internet showing overlaps between these three families.

The three sub-groups in this project and their explanations follow:

The Viking Sub-Group (Kits 6537 and 68841)

Kits 6537 and 68841 are associated with haplogroup R1a1 - rferred to here as the Viking Sub-Group.

At the end of the 8th Century, Scandinavian raiders and settlers began to make an impact on the genetic make-up of Britain and Ireland. Many of them brought with them a Y-chromosome haplogroup called R1a1, characterised by a genetic marker called M17. R1a1 originated in the Ukraine about 15,000 years ago and is thought to have been carried to Scandinavia by Eastern peoples about 5,000 years ago with the domestication of the horse. It is an uncommon haplogroup in Western Europe but shows high frequencies in Slavic countries and Eastern countries like Pakistan.

The Norse sagas imply an Eastern origin for the Viking peoples and this seems confirmed by the geographical distribution of R1a1. The Norse Vikings brought their DNA to areas of Scotland and Ireland in the 800s and 900s AD. The presence of R1a1 haplotypes in men from Britain and Ireland is evidence of Viking ancestry.

The most famous example of this is the study of Clan Donald done by Oxford University. A group of clan leaders from the MacDonalds, MacAlistairs and MacDougalls were tested and found to have matching Y-chromosome DNA belonging to haplogroup R1a1. All claimed to be descendants of Somerled, an 11th Century Scottish king with Norse ancestry.

DNA samples from kits 6537 and 68841 both belong to the R1a haplogroup. Kit 6537 has been SNP tested for the presence of R1a1 markers with positive results. Kits 6537 and 68841 share a recent common ancestor. These two kits have 36 exact DYS matches out of 37 tested and a single one step mismatch. These kits have a 20.19% chance of sharing a common ancestor in the last 8 generations*.

Kit 6537 relates to a descendant of John Moffett who died in Augusta County, Virginia in 1749. Kit 68887 has not nominated a most distant known ancestor, but it is possible that both kits are associated with the Moffett family from Augusta County, Virginia.

This family traces its origins to John Moffett, an immigrant from Northern Ireland who died in Augusta County, Virginia in 1749. John Moffitt married Mary Christian and had several children including the Revolutionary War figure, Colonel George Moffett.

NW Irish Sub-Group (Kits 6498, 20180, 60620, N17431, N9831, 85401 and 25076)

Kits 6498, 20180, 60620, N17431, N9831, 85401 and 25076 belong to the North West Irish Moffat subgroup. All these kits belong to haplogroup R1b1c. R1b1c is defined by the presence of M269. This lineage (M269) represents 40% of all Europeans today and is most prevalent in Western Europe. It can be further divided into ten subclades, one of which is associated with NW Ireland and this Moffat sub-group.

A Y-STR analysis using Network 4.1 software from Fluxus Engineering produced a phylogenetic tree which shows that the kits in this sub-group share a common ancestor who lived in North West Ireland around 3,500 years ago. A descendant of that modal ancestor went on to produce the Ui Niall Kings of Ireland circa 500 AD. Descendants of that modal ancestor are found in some NW Ireland populations in concentrations of 95%-100%.

DNA from this group is also found in high concentrations in NW Scotland due to an invasion by the Scotia tribe from Ulster in the 500s AD. These Scotia drove out the indigenous Picts and eventually formed the Highland culture of modern day Scotland. They also lent their name to the country.

Kit 25076 is a direct descendant of the Ui Neill Kings of Ireland, whose most famous descendant was the semi-mythical Neill of the Nine Hostages. The diagnostic marker for this haplotype is M222. The sub-clade for this marker is called R1b1c7. This kit is associated with a descendant of William Moffet who was born in Scotland circa 1630.

The other six kits share a common ancestor with the Ui Neill kings but are not descended from them. All of the kits except 25076 are also marked by an extremely rare marker value of 7 at DYS# 385a. This group was the subject of an article in the Wall Street Journal in April, 2006 titled "Missing Links" by Donald Moffitt.

These six kits share an identical DNA pattern. Four of the participants (85401, 6498, 20180 and N17431) have received 25 marker matches indicating a 84.92% probability of sharing a common ancestor in the last 8 generations*.

One participant (Kit 6498) has had SNP testing which indicates that the five identical kits in this group are not associated with any of the six subclades between R1b1c2 and R1b1c7. The SNP test did not identify a subclade within R1b for this group and it is possible that the group represents an as yet unidentified subclade.

Three of the six kits (20180, N9831 and N17431) claim a common descent from Robert Moffitt and Margaret Stewart, a couple who lived in Northern Ireland in the early 18th century. This couple had several sons who settled in Randolph County, North Carolina in the the 1760s. Two of the samples are from descendants of their son William and one sample is from a descendant of their son, James. Funding is currently available for testing a descendant of their son Charles.

Two other matching kits, 6498 and 60620, both represent descendants of John Moffett who was listed in the 1810 Census of Shelby County, Kentucky. It is speculated that this John Moffett originated in Virginia.

Interestingly, Kit 84501 belongs to a participant with the surname Clark, though he traces his roots to Randolph County, North Carolina where many of the Moffitts above originated.

Paleo-Briton Sub-Group
(Kits N8865, 47337 and 57541)

This group is made up of a collection of R1b haplotypes typically associated with Celtic Britain (an indigenous group often called Britons by historians). They do not have any markers currently associated with other R1b invader groups like the Frisians or Anglo-Saxons (note - there is some controversy among scientists as to what those markers should be).

Kits 67266, N8865, 47337 and 57541 share a common ancestor with the NW Irish Moffat sub-group. That ancestor crossed into Britain at the end of the last ice age (around 8,000 -10,000 years ago) from the Iberian Peninsula. While the ancestor of the NW Irish sub-group moved on to Ireland, this sub-group stayed in Britain forming the paleolithic indigenous population known as the Britons.

Kit 67266 is an exact match with the 12-marker signature of the Western Atlantic Modal Haplotype. This is the most common haplotype in Europe shared by 2.5% of the male population.

Kits 47337 and 57541 are closely related, indicating a 55.88% probability of a common ancestor in the last 8 generations*.

Kit 57541 is a descendant of Gabriel Moffett, a colonial immigrant to Prince William County, Virginia. He was born circa 1710 and married Mary Helms. Many researchers identify his father as Jean Baptiste Muffett, a French Huguenot from Bohain, France.

Kit 47337 is a descendant of William Moffett who died in 1776 at Fort Ticonderoga, New York.

Kit N8865 is more distantly related to the other two kits in this sub-group on the order of thousands of years. Kit N8865 has a DNA signature commonly associated with Scotland due to its 24/10 pattern at DYS# 390 and 391. Some geneticists have suggested that this signature may be associated with the Scottish Picts, but this will only be proven when a diagnostic SNP marker is discovered for that group.

Kit N8865 is asscoiated with descendants of Ephraim Moffitt (1821-1865) of Indiana, USA.

* All probabilities and TMRCA estimates shown here were produced by FTDNATiP™ . FTDNATiP™ results are based on the mutation rate study presented during the 1st International Conference on Genetic Genealogy, on Oct. 30, 2004. The above probabilities take into consideration the mutation rates for each individual marker being compared.