I have several goals for this project:


 1.  To determine if all Kaighins share a common ancestor.  

So far, except for an NPE (Non-Paternal Event) in the New Jersey Kaighn branch of the family about six generations ago, all Kaighins who have tested so far match each other within a reasonable genetic distance, proving that we all share a common ancestor.  There are 11 branches of the family still alive today.  So far, we have had Kaighins from six of these branches tested, and all show a genetic match, indicating that we do indeed share a common ancestor who lived about 600 years ago.  But until I'm able to test the remaining branches, I am unable to conclude this.



 2.  To determine the pre-historic wanderings of our ancestors.  

The Kaighin Y-DNA haplotype is part of the I1 Haplogroup (AKA I-M253), subclade I1a3a1a and with a terminal SNP of Z140/Z141.  The terminal SNP or Single Nucleotide Polymorphism is equivalent to a leaf at the end of a twig of the human genetic tree.  The Haplogroup is equivalent to a large branch.  The common ancestor of Z140/Z141 lived about 1850 years ago, probably somewhere in northern Europe (Norway, Sweden, etc.), and the common ancestor for I1 lived about 15,000 years ago, also in northern Europe. The rest of the human migration, traced through Y-DNA can be viewed here: http://www.familytreedna.com/pdf-docs/2010-ydna-migration-map.pdf

To read about the I1 Haplogroup, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_I-M253



 3.  To collect DNA samples from each of the 11 branches of the Kaighin family.

To date, we have samples from members of six of the 11 branches.  We still need more Kaighins to test, so I would like to encourage any Kaighin reading this to contact me at kaighin@iname.com.



 4.  To determine our connection with the MacEachans of Scotland.  

The Kaighin Y-DNA haplotype contains three specific markers that contain values that are found in less than .5% of people tested.  The combination of these three specific markers makes the Kaighin Y-DNA modal extremely unique.  So any matches that we find with non-Kaighins within I1 that contain the same values on the three markers in question can be considered genetically related.  So far, we have had no matches with any Scottish MacEachans (or phonetic equivalents).  However, we did discover a match with Duncan Robertson from Scotland who can trace his earliest ancestors to Ayre, close to the area where I theorize that our MacEachan ancestors came from.  Duncan is such a close match that there is no doubt that he is related to us.  So this means that our common ancestor with Duncan probably resided in Scotland sometime between about 800AD (the beginning of the Viking invasions of Scotland) and about 1092 (the estimated arrival of the first MacEachan in the Isle of Man).  



5.  To solve the mystery of Elias Kaighn.

a.) The New Jersey Kaighn branch has been the most challenging to research of all 11 branches of the family.  Their immigrant ancestor, John Kaighin arrived in American as an indentured servant in 1682 and eventually settled in what is now Camden, New Jersey.  The first two New Jersey Kaighns to test their DNA did not match up with the rest of the broader Kaighin family, indicating a NPE (Non-Paternal Event) occurred somewhere in this branch.  I have spent the last four years trying to unravel this mystery along with Brian Kaighn Remmey and Joan Kaighn.  After some exhaustive research, we have discovered that one Elias Kaighn (1762-1830) was not born a Kaighn, but more likely was born Cain.  Due to his proximity to other actual Kaighns in Gloucester County, New Jersey and also likely due to his own illiteracy, we theorize that record keepers began spelling it as Kaighn and by the time literacy stuck in his children's generation, the spelling was settled.  Other researchers have in the past attributed Elias parents as John Kaighn and Sarah McMullin, but Y-DNA results from some of his descendants prove that this is not the case.  So I set out recently to find a descendant of the immigrant John Kaighin who was not descended from Elias Kaighn.  Using conventional genealogy methods, I have been able to determine that there are 240 New Jersey Kaighns alive today and all but one single family are descended from Elias.  The only living descendants of John Kaighin reside between Oklahoma and North Carolina.  I was able to contact Grady Kaighn from this family and he recently tested and the results show that he matches up genetically with the broader Kaighin family, but not the descendants of Elias.  This proves that Elias was the source of the NPE.

b.) Among the descendants of Elias Kaighn, two separate and unique DNA signatures (haplotypes) have emerged through Y-DNA testing four of his descendants.  So this means that one group of his assumed descendants are actually descended from another source.  Elias had three sons who have descendants who are alive today.  They were George, William and James Kaghn.  We have tested two descendants of George and two descendants of William and these results show that the results of George's descendants do not match results of William's descendants.  So we are currently (12/2013) seeking a descendant of James to test.  If this kit matches one of the other two groups, we can conclude that this person shares the Y-DNA that was passed down from Elias Kaighn.  Once that is determined, we can then start searching for others who match Elias' haplotype and hopefully learn his true ancestry.