This web site seems to be notably missing any link to the project join request form, which one is supposed to get to by a lengthy separate process.    Here is the link.

http://www.familytreedna.com/project-join-request.aspx?group=McKinstry

Distant family history

The Y DNA results so far are I2b1a1, Isles-Scottish haplotype.   The Isles-Scottish haplotype is a subgroup within I2b1a1, which is defined by two single point mutations on the Y chromosome.   One member of hte project was tested for those two mutations, which confirmed that this family group carries them, but everyone who has the Isles-Scottish haplotype always does.  

This haplotype developed in southwestern Scotland, most likely in Galloway, best estimate around 300 AD.   At that time Romans were all over southern Scotland, but they left Galloway pretty much quiet and isolated.   The Isles-Scottish haplotype underwent some kind of founder effect that required isolation and quiet.   The haplotype did not spread beyond southwestern Scotland in any great numbers, and probably didn't spread toward Glasgow until the industrial revolution.   Along hte rest of the Scottish border, people were in motion in Roman times.   The Isles-Scottish haplotype is now common in northeastern Ireland and among the Scotch Irish of North America, because of the Scotch-Irish migration.  

It is possible that the Isles-Scottish haplotype was once found further east of its current strong concentration in southwestern Scotland.   Anglo-Saxon settlers of the kingdom of Northumbria, which extended northward to present day Edinburgh, pushed earlier people westward.  Nevertheless given its apparent origin in Roman times, Galloway looks like a more likely place of origin.  

I2b1a1 probably developed in England, though it may have been carried from the German Rhineland soon after I2b1a developed.   I2b1a was believed to have developed in England for a long time, but though it is rare outside of England, it has more variation in continental Europe.  It could have been brought to England and become more common due to a founder effect.   Its parent clade, I2b1, originated in the German Rhineland, and I2b1a may have originated there.   These clades spread during several mass migrations across Europe, beginning with the western European Neolithic.   Large bronze age migrations may also have brought I2b1 and even I2b1a to England.   The mutation is not recent enough in England to have been brought from mainland Europe by the Celts, though their immediate predecessors, the Urnfielders, could have played a role.   The Urnfielders are the current most likely explanation of how the Goidelic version of the Celtic language family got to Britain, because they were literally an earlier version of the Celts and would have spoken an earlier version of their language family.   It was the last mass migration from the German Rhineland and Belgium that affected Ireland as a whole in the same proportion as England and Scotland.   I2b1a is as common throughout Ireland as in England and Scotland, but I2b1a1 is not.   

Linkages between McKinstry families

So far the results in terms of STR markers are very preliminary.   The finding that the Bucks County PA McKinstry family is related to that of William McKinstry of Sturbridge encourages thinking that many McKinstry families will prove to be related.   This is consistent with the notion that the name McKinstry descends from a single family, but it takes much more than this to prove it.  

If I had to base a conclusion on what I know now, my best guess would be that the common ancestor of the Bucks Co PA and the Sturbridge McKinstry families was born about a century and a half before they were.  That isn't necessarily true.   In particular the behavior of DYS 576 and CDY in these three haplotypes requires far more work on these families, and some work within the families, to get a timeline.   

Two more people, a South Carolina McKInstry and a McKinstry whose family settled in Meigs and Athens County Ohio, have bought kits, and each is trying to recruit a distant relative in his own family group.   Our Bucks County McKinstry is hoping that descendants of James, Nathan and Samuel will step forward.   Atleast a descendant of Nathan or Samuel would be ideal.   However, while it is clear that Nathan and Samuel were cousins of Alexander Sr, it is not clear to what degree they were related.  They came from County Antrim, and if they were from the Carrickfergus area they would have been very likely to be close to fairly distant cousins.   I have Noyes ancestry in Massachusetts, consisting of two brothers and their third cousin, from the same village, who migrated close together in time and settled near each other.  

Genealogy of the McKinstry Families

It seems to be traditional to put lineages of people who test with surname projects, on the results page.  This is a very unwieldy system of coordinating information.   I prefer to use a database with links to the founders of each lineage.   I also have found on the McKinstry forums that there is a real need for basic genealogical information on the assorted McKinstry families.  Many young McKinstry's don't know their ancestry, and many ask questions the answers to which are well known, such as, "Are the Columbia County New York and the Chattauqua County New York McKinstry families related?"   (Maybe, but they descend from two different New England McKinstry families.)  Lack of information is particularly important to McKinstry's with ancestors in the mid west, where most older families in this country had people settle, and 19th century immigrant McKinstry families also settled.    There was also a rather amazing array of McKinstry families who sent members to the deep South.   

I count a total of about sixteen sizeable McKinstry families so far, plus two old and large McKinster families.  Since both of those families have well organized genealogical web sites, I am referring people to them instead of adding them to my own database.   

Below are the families and links to the founders.   The home page of the main McKinstry database is here:   


A star means that this family has representation on the project.  This does not necessarily mean that we don't need a second person from that line for Y DNA testing.  

****  Alexander McKinstry, b 1708, Co Antrim, Ireland.  Married Mary Samuels.  founder of Bucks County McKinstry family   http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mckinstrydata&id=I485  Bob Erskine, son Alexander.

   James McKinstry b 1733 m Sarah Huston

   ****  Alexander McKinstry Jr b 1738 m Sarah Ross  -

Three relatives, probably siblings of each other:  (Link to their probable father)  http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mckinstrydata&id=I826
   

 Nathan McKinstry  b 1712 Co Antrim

      Samuel McKinstry b 1721 Co Antrim.  m Priscilla Pearson.  Settled in Warrington, PA

      Elinor McKinstry came with Nathan, m Hugh Young in 1737.  Settled in Wrightstown, PA

**** John McKinstry, m Jane.   From possibly County Antrim, Irleland.  There are two traditions on who the parents were.  d 1795 in Richland County, SC.   Descendants to South Carolina and Alabama.   Owned a Black family whose descendants took the name McKinstry.   http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mckinstrydata&id=I1253

John McKinstry b 1773 Belfast to South Carolina by 1776 with unkown parents who lived near teh Battle of Cowpens.  Married Mary Potter, to Franklin and Washington Counties, Pennsylvania, then Marion County and Bucyrus, Ohio.   http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mckinstrydata&id=I2020

**** Robert McKinstry b 1755 Carrickfergus, County Antrim, Ireland.  Settled in western Pennsylvania, then he and his immediate descendants lived in Meigs and Athens Co, Ohio.   http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mckinstrydata&id=I1640  

New England McKinstry families  (This is not all of the McKinstry families that ever settled in New England.)

Captain John McKinstry b 1712 Armagh, Ulster, Ireland (Armagh appears to be speculation).  Settled in Londonderry NH.  Married Jane Dickie  Includes Columbia Co NY McKinstry family.   http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mckinstrydata&id=I185

Rev. John McKinstry b 1677 "Brode", Antrim, Ireland.  Married Elizabeth Fairfield.  Settled at East Windsor, CT (Ellington, Sutton).  Includes the Chattauqua Co NY McKinstry family.   http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mckinstrydata&id=I165  WE PARTICULARLY NEED MALE LINE DESCENDANTS OF THIS LINE FOR Y DNA TESTING.  He is the only known son of Rodger McKinstry who is otherwise rather vaguely said to have founded several huge family groups in Ireland, and conceivably have quite a number of descendants in the U.S.   Moreover, there was evidently an old notion that the New England McKinstry families were closely related to each other. 

**** William McKinstry b 1722/3 Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, Ireland.  Settled in Sturbridge, MA, married Mary Morse.
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mckinstrydata&id=I12  We have descendants of two of the emigrant's sons in this project. 

I have more data on the family of William McKinstry and Mary Morse, from the records of Katherine McKinstry Williams, as transcribed by Marilyn Labbe of the Killingly Historical Society, at http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=katherinewilliam .

John McKinstry b about 1782 in Ballyclare, IReland.  D 1837 Ballamany, Antrim, Ireland.   M Ann Wilson, b 1782, Scotland.  Two sons, Hugh and Archibald, settled in Wayne Co, Indiana.   http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mckinstrydata&id=I502  This family lived in Ballyclare, one of two large and small (several miles across) aggregations of alot of McKinstry's found in the 1862 Griffith's Evaluation, in County Antrim.   Since most families with roots in County Antrim cannot identify where, and others vaguely cite "Carrickfergus", which is six miles from Ballyclare, it would be REALLY helpful to get some Y DNA testing from these people.   A great grandson of John's son Robert who stayed behind in Co Antrim still lives on the family farm that John had, and raises sheep.   The mythical Rodger allegedly had children born in Templecorran, which next to Carrickfergus.   People in CArrickfergus and Templecorran aren't necessarily of the same family as those in Ballyclare, since anyone rowing across the Irish Sea from Galloway would have landed near Carrickfergus or Templecorran.  

Rodney McKinstry b abt 1780 Carrickfergus, Ireland.  Married Mary McCammon.   http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mckinstrydata&id=I2037 

William McKinstry.  Settled in Virginia in about 1760.   Then to Kentucky, then Butler Co, OH, then Indiana.  He and several sons fought in Revolutionary War.  Most of his probable dozen children are unknown.  One son was John McKinstry who married Charity Gard.   http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mckinstrydata&id=I615  (They have one grandson of John McKinstry and Charity Gard, who strongly appears to have been illegitimate, and whose Y DNA at SMGF.org does not match any other McKinstry's.  It appears to be Celtic R1b1b2.)  

Alexander McKinstry b 1811 Ireland, immigrated to Dearborn Co, Indiana.  M Mary Alexander.   This name was sometimes McKinster in the census.   http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mckinstrydata&id=I1216

Samuel McKinstry b abt 1790 Ireland, m Martha McGookin, settled in Dearborn Co Indiana 
 http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mckinstrydata&id=I1229

Robert McKinstry b 1802 Lisburn, Ireland.   Married Jane Warren or Waring.   Several children went to Canada in the mid 1800's.  I have scant details on this family.   One, Henry, m Mary Smylie and had seven children.  http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mckinstrydata&id=I1127   A family researcher, Linda, is descended from the illegitimate son of their daughter Elizabeth Jane McKinstry.   (They will necessarily have nonmatching Y DNA.)

William McKinstry b abt 1770 Belfast, IReland. M Mary McGinley. Founder of Mercersburg, Franklin Co, PA McKinstry family.  http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mckinstrydata&id=I566

William McKinstry b 1812 Belfast.  Settled in Mendham, New Jersey.  married Catherine Elich. Had eleven children.
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mckinstrydata&id=I1114

Robert McKinstry, founder of a line of McKinstry gentry in Co Armagh, Ireland, 18th and 19th century.  Mythologically tied to Roger McKinstry, known father of Rev. John McKinstry of East Windsor, CT.   http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mckinstrydata&id=I829

Robert McKinstry b 15 Mar 1802 Co Antrim, Ireland, married Jane Warren, had Elizabeth Jane McKinstry b 1849 in Ireland, father of Warren Nelson McKinstry b 1867 in Bradford, Simcoe, Ontario.  I don't have if Elizabeth Jane's parents came with her.   Warren's birth looks to have been a nonpaternity event, from what I have.  This Robert was allegedly of the lineage of Robert McKinstry and the Armagh gentry, above.
 http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mckinstrydata&id=I840

Descendants of James McKinster and Eliza Blackburn  
http://es-es.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=111117372233870&topic=28

Descendants of William McKinster and Elizabeth Hines (Hail)
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/t/h/o/Robert-N-Thompson-OH/GENE1-0001.html