As of July 23, 2023, we have 49 testers with 35 completed Big Y tests.  We have learned that, except for testers with mis-attributed paternity, all Hathcock testers descend from a common ancestor, known by his haplogroup designation, SK717.  Here is a diagram that utilizes the SNP and STR results to visualize how all the testers MAY descend from SK717.  I say MAY in capital letters because testing has shown that SK717s sons and grandsons, as far as has been seen on testing, had no SNP mutations.  This makes it incredibly difficult to group testers.  I've done my best to use SNPs, STRs and the paper trail to draw out the possible lines of descent.  You can download an an HTML file of this chart at this link.  The chart is too large for this space.

        Here is a chart showing possible descent from John Hathcock Sr., 1745-1833, to 7 contemporary men. As is always the case, the first 3 or 4 generations back from now are generally sound just because we all know our family facts. But the further back we go the more speculative the trees become. Most of these contemporary men have Big Y-700 tests either completed or in the works so in coming weeks we will have much more certainty about this chart.   For much more about John see: http://heathcock.org/genealogy/ps14/ps14_215.html

        Isham Norton had the Y-DNA of a Hathcock man.  There are several theories of how this came to be.  He appears to have been raised in the household of James Norton and his wife Martha Hathcock Norton.  Martha is a daughter of Edward Hathcock.  One possibility is that he was the son of one of Martha's brothers and was orphaned. http://heathcock.org/genealogy/ps10/ps10_395.html. A number of contemporary Norton men have very sound paper trails back to Isham Norton. The below diagram speculates that Isham Norton is the grandson of Edward Hathcock via an unidentified son.  The four testers shaded in blue have Big Y-700 tests either complete or in process.

        This John Hathcock Sr. was born in North Carolina and lived in Elbert Co GA for some time before moving West to the area that later became Madison Co AL, where he spent the rest of his life. Here is more detail: http://heathcock.org/genealogy/ps01/ps01_044.html. Links to six contemporary men are shown and the blue shaded ones have Big Y-700 tests, either completed or in process. In the coming weeks we expect to have more certainty on this tree.

        Joseph Hathcock is the Y-chromosome ancestor of about a dozen contemporary men on the basis of one particular STR mutation--his line has a value of 12 at marker Y-GGAAT-1B07 compared to the family modal value of 11 for this marker. This chart shows likely descent to these men. Two of these lines must have involved non-paternal events (NPEs) and we have some rough ideas about when and where these NPEs may have occurred. The contemporary men who have Big Y-700 results either done or in process are highlighted.   For more about Joseph Hathcock see http://heathcock.org/genealogy/ps16/ps16_066.html

        Thomas Hathcock Sr. is one of the earliest documented Hathcocks; http://heathcock.org/genealogy/ps01/ps01_399.html. It is said that he was 125 years old when he died in 1818. His obituary was published in a number of Southern newspapers. Many of we genealogists think that the man who died in 1818 was probably not the same Thomas Hathcock who was born in 1693, the son of Edward Hathcock. Nevertheless, here is the celebrated obituary: "LONGEVITY--Died in Richmond County, on the 13th instant, at the seat of Colonel Thorogood Pate, Thomas Hathcock, age one hundred and twenty-five years! He left a numerous family of children settled in different parts of the country, two of whom lived in the State of Georgia, one aged ninety-three and the other eighty-seven, and one son in Richmond County, but little over sixteen years of age!" Seven contemporary descendants are shown; those with Big Y-700 tests are highlighted.