Smith Official (All)

Official Smith/Schmidt/Smythe/Smidt DNA Project at FamilyTreeDNA
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Wallace Smith Wallace Smith
Admin
April 14, 2018 @ 9:00am
I get this question often. OK, I’ll give you the basic overview. YDNA is passed only from father to son. It is the best way to locate potential paternal ancestors through STR matching. The Str markers mutate at a rate which allows for sorting out paternal ancestors in the genealogical time frame, say 5-10 generations back. MTDNA is passed only from mother to daughter therefore it is of no use in tracing one’s paternal line and is of limited use in finding a maternal ancestor. You would get hundreds of matches with people who have a common maternal ancestor 20.00 years ago or more. Autosomal DNA is passed down randomly from both parents, their parents and parent’s parents and so on back through history. The only way to tell which side a match may have passed through is to test many relatives with known relationships so you can compare and sort them out. There are 23 chromosomes in all humans. 1-22 are autosomal DNA, 23 is special, in that it is the one where you get your XDNA. A female has no YDNA because the father passes his XDNA that he got from his mother to daughters only. She gets X from both parents. The son gets X from mother and Y form father. So in summary, Yes, you may get some benefit by testing your autosomal DNA, but the only way to really prove a paternal match is to test a known male descendant of the direct line male to male from the earliest known ancestor to the male testee and hope for matches with someone who has a well documented tree and go from there.
21 Comments
D Harper
January 14 @ 9:53am
This is a sad reminder that Wally Smith has passed away in case of replies to him on this thread
Tim Smith
January 16 @ 2:37pm
Thanks for putting his post at the top again.
Henry Smith
March 9 @ 5:09pm
Margaret Bowers, Your story sounds like mine. My 3x great grandfather is James Smith who was born in NC and moved to GA. But he married Elizabeth Poe. I was a little excited when I read your comment but my James Smith was born in 1784. We have no earlier information.
Patricia Boardman
March 15 @ 6:41pm
Henry, my 4th grandmother Caroline Tyler Smith was from GA. She married John Kingston Candler and we know nothing about her family. My cousin, Governor Allen Candler did not mention her parents in his book he wrote about the Candlers.It would be amazing to find her family. Perhaps she is related to your James Smith.
Brandon Smith Brandon Smith has a question!
2 hours ago
“ Hi all! I was wondering if anyone could help provide me with any context/information regarding my Smith ancestors from the northern neck of Colonial Virginia/Maryland. The earliest ancestor I've been able to trace is John J Smith, b. circa 1725 in Somerset County, MD. He was a tobacco planter in/around Prince William County, VA who appears to have diversified his crop interests with cotton (and maybe indigo) in Chester District, SC beginning in the years just before the revolution. His sons include Joshua, Moses, Caleb, and Amasa; this naming pattern may have come from his wife's family, who appears to have been Patience/Prudence of the Stafford County/Overwharton Parish area of VA. An early family history indicates he was of the Baptist faith, indicating he may have been a dissenter from the faith of his earlier Anglican ancestors of the British Gentry. His subsequent ancestors (my direct) eventually migrated to Texas via TN > AL > MS > TX. Any information or leads would be very much appreciated!! ”
Gregory Smith Gregory Smith has a question!
March 15 @ 5:59pm
“ Doe my YNDA result automatically be included in the project? If not, how do I send it to you? Many things not clear on using YDNA. Also confusing that you can not download / upload raw FT YDNA. I received results for 37 markers but now FT suggests I should test for SNPs. Seems like money-making to me. ”
Craig Smith
March 16 @ 1:43am
Yes, your y-DNA results will be included in the project on joining subject to you making the results available to Admins in your Account Settings.
Gregory Smith
Yesterday at 8:22pm
Great, thanks, Craig.
Pattie Shelton Pattie Shelton has a question!
March 8 @ 5:26pm
“ MyDNA results came in and now I am even more confused than before. Where to begin to figure out my family tree, who I am and my family history. I really want to learn my family history. Any help would be appreciated. ” ”
Gregory Smith
March 15 @ 6:00pm
Same here, Pattie.
Pattie Shelton
March 15 @ 9:58pm
Glad I’m not alone.
Gregory Smith
March 15 @ 10:32pm
Seems like the usual hit-and-miss, dependant on someone who may be a match having taken a test and posting it. Plenty of notices about buying further tests.
Alan Smith Alan Smith has a question!
March 8 @ 12:37am
“ Hi, Just to introduce myself, I am Smith by Marriage, I am doing my hubbies tree for him, unfortunately we know little about his Smiths other than immediate Family, unfortunately his Grandfather William Smith left the marital home in East Ham, essex in 1933 and it is said that no one knew where he went or what happened to him, we are really struggling as to find any links with matches on all sites he has his DNA including a few fairly close at 224 cMs, he took the Y37 to see what that threw up but struggling with that to. Any tips as what to do? William was born in 1892 approx dont know where he was born but married hubbies gran in 1916 East Ham, Essex, down as in the Army but no luck there, his Father was down as George Smith again dont know where he was born etc, so you can see its an up hill battle. Sue ”
Gary Smith Gary Smith has a question!
February 22 @ 2:00pm
“ In SWW I found a Joseph Smith b1728 M. Rachel Smith. SWW ID-37623. It shows a ydna has been done. The kit#ends in 9197. How do i see what haplogroup Joseph Smith is in? ”
Douglas Smith
March 6 @ 11:52pm
Gary- This man's Y-DNA is listed, both, on http://www.smithsworldwide.org/ and right here on the Smith Official (All) Project at FTDNA. I was a little confused because you said his kit # ends in 9197. After some searching, I found him, and his kit #, actually, starts with 9197: http://www.smithsworldwide.org/tng/showbranch.php?br=zicAC9BohN This kit # is shown as 9197**** (starts with); at other times, I see kit #s listed, for example, as ****9197 (ends with). To find this man on the SWW Home Page, in the left-hand column under "Site Menu" click "Smith DNA - YDNA Results." Then, you can search each page for his partial kit #: on Windows, press and hold "Control" then tap "F" (on Mac, press and hold "Command" then tap "F"). In the search window that pops up in the upper-right corner, type-in the partial kit #. I'll save you some time finding him on the SWW website, because he is already here on this project. If you scroll-up to the top of this "Activity Feed" page, in the left-hand column click on "DNA Results." Then, under the "Y-DNA" heading, click on "Classic Chart." Now, I will save you even more time: this man is on page 3 of the Y-DNA Classic Chart; his full kit # is 91975; his surname is Smith; his Y-DNA Earliest Known Ancestor is from an Unknown Country Of Origin; his Y-DNA SNP Haplogroup is R1b-M269, but it is listed in red, which means he is only "predicted" to be of that haplogroup (but probably is), and needs to "confirm" it to green by doing some Y-DNA SNP testing; and, finally, he has tested out to 25 Y-DNA STRs.
Frederick Smith Frederick Smith
March 4 @ 12:27am
I was wondering how I can add my ancestor's information to the Y DNA charts? Mine is listed under kit B322958, haplogroup R S-3058. I'd like to add the name of my earliest known ancestor where it is left blank. He was Mordecai Davis Smith, born ca. 1796 in Maryland, died 1879, Brooklyn, NY. Thanks in advance.
Bill Wheeler
March 4 @ 1:04am
https://www.familytreedna.com/learn/user-guide/my-account/my-genealogy-page/
Susan Wemett Susan Wemett
March 2 @ 2:07pm
IRELAND Smyths & Smiths: I ran across some information - there was a Family Smythe, Smyth, & Smith in County Meath & County Westmeath. Rev. William Smyth was an Anglican Priest in Ireland, lived 1638-1699. Rt. Rev. William m. Mary Povey and they had 3 sons and 4 daughters. Their son Rev. James Smyth 1683-1759 became Archdeacon of Meath. Rev. James m. Catherine Vesey. They had a load of kids too and can't find where I found that information presently. This document: PAPERS OF THE FAMILY OF SMYTHE OF BARBAVILLA is on the NLI website: https://www.nli.ie/pdfs/mss%20lists/120_SmytheFamily.pdf I'm trying to figure out if my Elizabeth Smyth b.c.1760 could be related. I don't think she's the right age to be a child of either man but she could be a descendent. Also, they were Anglican, she was Roman Catholic. There are a massive mess of Smyths in County Meath, especially around Oldcastle. I found one Find-A-Grave memorial for a Smyth Family. I want to find out if it's mine. The records I've found show my Smyth-Farmer family lived in the area of Killallon, Oldcastle, & Herbertstown/Harbourstown. I find many of the same name relatives marrying, and the same name couple having children after the same named relative is elderly or dead. I'm dying to get a handle on this family to figure out the tree. Thanks for indulging me. Also: Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, Volume 2. Smyth pp. 1253 - 1259. https://books.google.com/books?id=0NEKAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1256&lpg=PA1256&dq=Archdeacon+James+Smyth,+Meath,+Ireland&source=bl&ots=a8OUkSctqc&sig=ACfU3U3adiJPw8hdU1w1eLciw2rsHxAXMw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjj79fCneTgAhWBdt8KHY_PAzoQ6AEwCnoECAsQAQ#v=onepage&q=Archdeacon%20James%20Smyth%2C%20Meath%2C%20Ireland&f=false
D Harper D Harper
Admin
February 18 @ 9:17am
What is X DNA - This is one of the best articles I have read about how to calculate and chart XDNA https://dna-explained.com/2012/09/27/x-marks-the-spot/ Basically, "The 23rd pair is the pair that dictates the gender of the child. If a child has an X and a Y, it’s a male. Remember that the father contributes the Y chromosome to male children only. If the child has two X chromosomes, it’s a female. The inheritance patterns for the X chromosome for males and females is therefore different. Men inherit only one X chromosome, from their mother, while women inherit two Xs, one from their mother and one from their father. In turn, their parents inherited their X in a specific way as well. All ancestors don’t contribute to the X chromosome." Also, on smithsworldwide.org you will see, on a given person's page, an X chart I created to show from any descendant -I'm going to use my own page on smithsworldwide as an example http://www.smithsworldwide.org/tng/fanxf.php?personID=I2136&tree=tree1&parentset=0&generations=7 Notice how only certain ancestors are in the X line due to whether the son/daughter inherited an X from at least one of the parents. So, because I"m female, I'm XX. I got an X from my Dad and an X from my mom. My dad, however is XY. He got a Y from his Dad and an X from his mom. His mom Ethel Major, was XX, got an X from her father Claude and an X from her mother Myrtle. Compare with my brother, who is XY and is male by virtue of getting a Y gene from my dad. http://www.smithsworldwide.org/tng/fanxm.php?personID=I15900&tree=tree1&parentset=0&generations=6 You see that NONE of the ancestors on the left hand side of the chart are applicable. He inherited his X from our mother, so his X matches would be only on the right hand side and only with certain people. Why does this matter? If you have an X match with someone else, you can rule out some of the possible surnames as not being relevant based on an X chart. (And you know that anything that can help to categorize autosomal matches with given surnames is GOOD) So if I have an X match with someone, I'm not going to look at the lines in white on this chart, so that helps narrow down the autosomal possibilities.
Craig Smith
February 18 @ 6:26pm
X-DNA can be a good indicator of where your shared atDNA may come from, but it's also good to keep in mind that FTDNA reports very small X-DNA "matches" that are not significant. The minimum amount of shared X-DNA you need for the match to be significant is at least 15 cM but preferably 20 cM or more.
D Harper
February 20 @ 9:26am
As is the case with any small amounts of data. The above chart is meant to show the type of methodology, via a tree, for ruling out various surnames, assuming they are known, then looking at the amount of DNA one shares with a potential match.
D Harper D Harper
Admin
February 18 @ 8:49am
Autosomal Chromosome mapping explanation http://www.smithsworldwide.org/tng/gbookd.php?id=530&entid=
Jeanie Brown
February 19 @ 2:29pm
Thank you. Can you email me about my results? I answered back to your request
D Harper
February 20 @ 9:23am
Hi, Jeanie. I answered you on the 11th- need your tree
D Harper D Harper
Admin
February 18 @ 8:52am
How does mtDNA work?
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