The DENNISON DNA Project: Patrilineage 1

DENNISON DNA Patrilineage 1

The DENNISONs of this patrilineage who came earliest to America were evidently Scotch-Irish, since they first appear on the western frontiers of Pennsylvania and Virginia in the 1730s and 1740s, and bear the characteristic Scottish given names of this group, as well as the original Scottish form of the surname: “Denniston”. With the addition of two new project members (D-12 and D-13) whose ancestors, possibly brothers, emigrated from Ireland to Canada about 1825, we have for the first time, definite evidence of an Irish origin for this patrilineage. Both these DENNISONs emigrated from Ireland to Canada, not the US, one of them (somewhat oddly) from Cork, at Ireland’s southernmost tip, and the other from County Leitrim in the north, hear Ulster. There is also circumstantial evidence that these two had both a third brother and a father who also emigrated to Canada from county Leitrim, and there are records for a DENNISON family in Leitrim which match all the Canadian immigrants in a general way.

The DENNISONs of Ireland and Scotland have been extensively researched by new project member Barry Bradfield, who has shared with me much of his evidence, the most exciting single piece of which for current project members is the record of two children baptized to Daniel and Margaret Dennison of St Mary’s Dublin: an Andrew, baptized in 1721 who died the same year, and a Daniel baptized 15Jun1722. Since this latter record corresponds almost exactly with my estimate (say 1720) of the birth date of Daniel, son of Daniel Denniston of Beverley Manor, and given the comparative rarity of the surname, this piece of evidence from surviving Dublin parish records may well be the “smoking gun” descendants of the SW Virginia lines have been looking for as a guide to further research in Ireland. Only the name of the Dublin wife is wrong—the immigrant Daniel’s wife was named Sarah—but a far-flung emigration to the western wilderness of America, and a much later second marriage there, would go a long way toward explaining why Daniel Denniston of Beverley Manor appears to have had only two surviving children.

Although I have seen a few DENNISONs in the records of the western PA counties (Chester, then its derivative counties, Lancaster and York, and later in the far western counties of Washington and Allegheny) I think it likely that all the other tested project members so far (besides these new Canadian ones) descend from one of two related families who settled in the westernmost VA county of Augusta by 1760. And even though the two family heads, Daniel and John, probably came first to PA, they appear to have left no trace there in the records.

Daniel1 Denniston, the ancestor of member Alan-05, purchased land in heart of Augusta County, Virginia, in 1739, and was one of the first few hundred settlers of upper Valley of Virginia, and John1, whom I think was probably the ancestor of Lane-01 and Russell-07 (and likely also of John_A-04) was there by 1757. If I am right about John, he was the father of the Robert Denniston who removed from Augusta deeper into SW Virginia, into the VA panhandle, and it was this Robert whom I think more thorough research will reveal was the father of Scott Dennison.

Just recently, new member John G. Denison, who appears to have descended from the same TN Dennistons as John A. Dennison of Patrilineage 1, has brought forward evidence linking Scott to the paterfamilias of the JeffersonCoTN families, one John Denniston who married there in 1794. This is a major breakthrough, though it certainly complicates the picture for the panhandle DENNISONs. John G. and others, it turns out, have researched the Dennistons of JeffersonCo rather thoroughly, and I have gone through all their material carefully, but there is a crying need to research the career of Scott in the primary records of at least one other Tennessee county, as well as in the Virginia panhandle counties where he known to have dwelt. This new find also provides for the first time, a way to account for the divergence between member Cindy-02’s DNA results, and the research has compiled on these families which suggest circumstantially that he is a descendant of Scott.

As an alternative to my theory that the panhandle DENNISONs descended from John Denniston of AugustaCo in the Valley of Virginia, it’s also possible that these families came independently, and later, but what is indubitable from the DNA evidence, is that they are rather closely related to Daniel Denniston of Beverley Manor, in AugustaCo. As indicated by the mutation history tree, the mutation DYS439+ appears to mark all but one of the descendants of these SW Virginia pioneers (all but Scottie-06) although more work needs to be done, especially with the Virginia tax records, to show that the Rob[er]t Denniston of WashingtonCoVA in the 1810 USCensus was both the father of Scott Denniston, and the son of John, the immigrant to Augusta. As for Scottie-06, I think that she too is probably a descendant of this line, for reasons I have gone into in more detail in Appendix C, page 60, of my paper, “The Daniel Dennistons of Beverley Manor”.

If I am right about the ancestry of these VA panhandle DENNISONs, how closely related were the immigrants Daniel and John? The answer evidently is: not too. In the first place, it is highly unlikely that they were father and son, both because the latter was not mentioned in the former’s will, and because the records show no associations between these men, or between their descendants. In fact, for these same reasons it’s less than likely that they were uncle and nephew, but the may well have been first cousins, once removed.

Other American DENNISONs

There is a well-known family of early New England DENNISONs, descended from William Dennison, baptized 3Feb1571 in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, and in fact most DENNISONs were clearly of English, and not Scottish origin, as the surname distribution maps on the DENNISON Surname page indicate. Correspondingly, only a small minority of American DENNISONs came in with the Scotch-Irish of PA, and then migrated south to greater AugustaCoVA, and I consider it extremely unlikely that they are of the same blood as the New England DENNISONs. However, none of the latter has apparently been tested, and only DNA-testing can tell us about that for sure.

DENNISON Patrilineage 1 Descendancies

The following ancestral descendancies are based on the research of patrilineage members, and on the sources listed in the project bibliography. Although there are areas of weakness in the posted lineages below, due both to less than exhaustive research, and to inherently sketchy records, a significant and ongoing effort is being made to ensure that what is posted here in abbreviated form represents the best current thinking on these trees of descent.

Nothing should be inferred from the absence of specific dates, or of cited evidence. In most cases, full dates have been abbreviated to year dates, and this web-publishing format is unsuited to the presentation of evidence and argument. In many or most cases, evidential material, or more complete descendancies, are available via source links in the headnotes below, or directly from the listed researchers, as well as from the more general sources listed as links under “Other Patrilineage 1 Resources&Evidence”, above, in the left navigation panel.

Each descendancy begins with the earliest known male ancestor of a particular sublineage and continues down to the tested male descendant. Since this DNA patrilineage project is focused on tested or testable males surnamed DENNISONs, these descendancy trees have been pruned not only of daughters, but also of most male lines which are known to have gone extinct or “daughtered out”, though in some instances all the sons, or even complete reconstructed families including daughters, will be included because of their broad-based genealogical interest; in such cases males (or their wives, if given) known or presumed to have no sons, or no male descendants with their surname, will be flagged as appropriate with: “no (known) sons” (NSons or NKSons), or “no (known) surviving patrilineal descendants” (NSPD or NKSPD).

The information provided for each male DENNISON should be sufficient in most cases to uniquely identify him in the USCensus and other readily available sources. These data comprise (insofar as is known): date and place of birth, date and place of death, the name(s) of his wife (or wives) and the date and place of marriage.

Places are abbreviated to the most important jurisdictional place where records are to be found). For most states/colonies these are counties; for New England, towns.

Indefinite dates are always qualified as either approximate (“abt”, “bef”, “aft”, or “by”) or merely guesstimated (“say”). Approximated dates imply supporting evidence which merely fails of complete accuracy, while “say” dates are guesstimates based on typical patterns of the time, place, and social group.

The yDNA-tested male descendants are flagged below with their Project #s and the “handle” of the Principal Researcher, e.g. Alan-05).

Inferences about the placement of the distinctive yDNA mutations of project members have been interwoven with their descendancies, below, in red text; please note, however, the careful qualifications in these DNA notes where they appear. Most inferences drawn from DNA evidence are probabilistic in nature and one needs to keep an open mind about alternative interpretations, just as one does with the genealogy itself.

SOUTHERN DENNISONs

1--Daniel Denniston of Augusta County, Virginia, born say 1688

Sources: Alan Denison, Randle Dennison (see RD), and John Robb (see JBR-DENNISON).

1--Daniel Denniston (say 1688 - bef 1Dec1749 AugustaCoVA) m. Sarah c1717

The mutation DYS439+ links Daniel’s line to the patriarch [Robert?], below.

The mutation DYS576- marks the descendancy of Daniel himself.

|--2-Ann Denniston (abt 1718 -); m. Patrick Gillespie;

|--2-Daniel Denniston Jr (say 1720 - abt 1793 FayetteCoKY) m. Elizabeth

| |--3-Margaret Denniston (bapt Jan1745/1746 AugustaCoVA -)

| |--3-Ann Denniston (bapt 2Aug1747 AugustaCoVA -)

| |--3-Mary Denniston (bapt Feb1748/1749 AugustaCoVA -)

| |--3-John Denniston (abt Jan1751 AugustaCoVA - 1824) m1. Mary King

| | |--4-John Dennison (abt 1779 RockinghamCoVA - 1834 AugustaCoVA)

| | | ---m. Hannah Henderson

| | | |--5-Washington H. Dennison (abt 1801 AugustaCoVA -) m. Rebecca Geating 1826

| | |--4-Daniel Dennison (abt 1787 AugustaCoVA - bef 1860 [KY?]) m. Nancy McFall

| | |--4-Samuel M. Dennison (say 1792 AugustaCoVA - aft 1830)

| | | ---m1. Betsey Parris 1816, m2. Nancy Parry 1828 (4 sons in 1830, all by 1st wife)

| |--3-Sarah Deniston (abt 1754 AugustaCoVA -) m. James Davison

| |--3-Elizabeth Dennison (abt 1757 AugustaCoVA - bef 1824); m. Andrew Douglas

| |--3-David Dennison (abt 1759 AugustaCoVA - 1Oct1828) m. Mary Ann Douglas

| | |--4-James D. Dennison (1794 KY - 1879 BatesCoMO) m. Elizabeth Ware

| | | |--5-Allen B Dennison (1827 MadisonCoOH - 1906 MadisonCoOH)

| | | ---m1. Isabella Dountz

| | | | |--6-Robert Anderson Dennison (1861 MadisonCoOH - 1916 AlbertaCAN)

| | | | | ---m. Emma Jane VanSyckel

| | | | | |--7-Harrison Allen Dennison (1889 FayetteCoOH - 1949 FranklinCoOH)

| | | | | | ---m. Anna Ruth Justice—sons: Robert Allen, Roger McGill

| |--3-James Denniston (abt 1761 - abt 1831) m. Hannah Fulton

| | |--4-Daniel David Dennison (1794 - 1832 BourbonCoKY) m. Elizabeth Morrow

| | | |--5-John Dennison (1827 BourbonCoKY - 1878 FayetteCoKY) m. Malinda Morrow

| | | | |--6-John J. Dennison (1854 BourbonCoKY - 1925 KY) m1. Julia Ann Renick

| | | | | |--7-Abraham Renick Denison (1886 BourbonCoKY - 1967 ButlerCoOH)

| | | | | ---m1. Tinnie Emma Collins

| | | | | | | --8-Woodrow Wilson Dennison (1919 BourbonCoKY -) m. Ellen Jane Beyer

| | | | | ---m2. Margaret Castator—sons: William Gobel, Howard Herman

| | |--4-John Dennison (abt 1790 - 1829 BourbonCoKY) m. Rebecca Marshall

| | | |--5-Shelby James Dennison (1815 BourbonCoKY -) m. Susan Barker

| | | | |--6-Jacob S. Dennison (1842 MonroeCoMO -)

| | | | ---m. Sarah Jane; sons: James, Eddie, George

| | | | |--6-also sons: Dillard, Thomas, Willard Filmore, Robert

| |--3-Eleanor Dennison (abt 1763 - bef 1825) m. William Rice

| |--3-Isabella Helena Denniston (1765 - bef 1833) m. Hamilton Atchison Sr.

| |--3-William Denison (1767 AugustaCoVA - 1838 LawrenceCoIL) m. Margaret Dunlap

| | |--4-Robert Denison (1794 - 1863) m1. Nancy Eastham

| | | |--5-Braxton Eason Denison (1823 LawrenceCoIL - 1903 LawrenceCoIL)

| | | | ---m. Harriet Malinda Jordan

| | | | |--6-Victor M. Denison (1870 LawrCoIL - 1942 LawrCoIL) m. Emma Stivers

| | | | | |--7-Owen Foster Denison (1893 LawrenceCoIL-1947 LawrenceCoIL)

| | | | | | ---m1. Jennie Rae Coleman

| | | | | |--7-Hugh Braxton Denison (1899 LawrenceCoIL-1952)

| | | | | | ---m. Dorothy Hood—son Braxton

| | | | | |--7-Ellis Mack Denison (1903 LawrenceCoIL - 1953 WabashCoIL)

| | | | | | ---m. Hazel Frances Buchanan—sons Ellis Mack Jr, Donald

| | |--4-Daniel (1795 FayetteCoKY - 1868 WapelloCoIA) m. Sally Scott Riggs

| | | |--5-William S. Denison (1830 IL - aft 1900) m. Hannah J.

| | | | |--6-Elvadus Scott Denison (1857 IA - 1912 KS)

| | | | ---m. Harriettia Maye Ricards

| | | | | |--7-John Francis Denison (1900 ChaseCoKS - 1989 MorrisCoKS)

| | | | | | ---m. Harriet Daisy Edwards; sons: John Francis Jr., Charles Scott

| | | | | |--7-Benjamin Scott Denison (1905 ChaseCoKS - 1987 JoaquinCoCA)

| | | | | | ---m. Frances Victoria Albin; son: Benjamin Scott Jr.

| | |--4-Alexander D. Denison (1807 FayetteCoKY - 1871 LawrenceCoIL) m. Mary Ann Crane

| | | |--5-William Dunlap Denison (1850 LawrenceCoIL - 1931 LawrenceCoIL)

| | | ---m. Sallie Sappington Ryan

| | | | |--6-Raymond Ryan Denison (1885 LawrenceCoIL-1943 RichmondCoVA)

| | | | ---m. Barbara Crow

| | | | | |--7-Raymond Robert Denison (1913 CrowWingCoMN - 1987 HennepinCoMN)

| | | | | | ---m. Pauline Marie Farmer

| | | | | | |--8-sons Robert John, Thomas Haigh, William Walter, Charles Raymond

| | | | |--6-Roy Everett Denison (1892 LawrenceCoIL - 1947 LawrenceCoIL); m. Ruth Adams

| | | | | |--7-Roy Adams Denison (1918 LawrenceCoIL - 1977 ChampaignCoIL)

| | | | | | ---m1. Ruth Melva Humphrey

| | | | | | | --8-Alan Jay Denison *** Alan-05 ***
(mutations DYS439+, 576-)

| | | | |--6-Walter Harold Denison (1895 LawrenceCoIL - 1953 LawrenceCoIL); m. Nina M. Lowe

| | | |--5-Henry Howard Denison (1856 - 1902); m. Mary E. Saums

| | |--4-George Madison Denison (1809 - 1846) m. Isabella Underwood

| |--3-Thomas Denison (abt Dec1768 - d.aft 1844)

| | |--m. 1792 Jane Douglas, in BourbonCoKY

| | |--4-James Henry Denison (1794 BourbonCoKY - 1845 MadisonCoOH)

| | | |--m. 1819 Margaret Alkire

| | | |--5-Griffin A Denison (1819 MadisonCoOH - 1863 Nashville, MadisonCoTN)

| | | | |--m1. 1842 Catherine Wickell, in MadisonCoOH

| | | | |--6-John William Dennison (1842 MadisonCoOH - 1924 ClarkCoMO)

| | | | | |--m. 1868 Rozilla Thomas, in PickawayCoOH

| | | | | |--7-Edgar Griffin Dennison (1869 MadisonCoOH - 1935 StClairCoMO)

| | | | | | |--sons: John Ernest, John Dale, Elmer Newman

| | | | | |--7-Francis Joseph (1871 MadisonCoOH - 1945 LeeCoIA)

| | | | | |--7-Warner Huston Dennison (1875 MadisonCoOH - 1953 MorganCoIL)

| | | | | |--7-Ernest Howard Dennison (1877 MadisonCoOH - 1955 SchuylerCoMO)

| | | | | | | | --9-T. Randle Dennison *** Randle-22 ***
(mutations DYS439+, 576-)

| | | | |--6-Samuel Huston Denison (1851 MadisonCoOH - 1920 BlaineCoOK)

| | | | | |--sons: Howard Griffin, John William, Franklin Houston, Leonard Green

| | | | |--6-Greene Henry Denison (1854 MadisonCoOH - 1908 MadisonCoOH)

| | | | | |--m. 1877 Susan A Baughman, in MadisonCoOH

| | | | |--m2. 1859 Isabella Schnell, in MadisonCoOH

| | | | |--6-Joseph McClelland Denison (1862 MadisonCoOH - 1940 MadisonCoOH)

| | | | | |--m. 1889 Louisa B Graham, in MadisonCoOH

| | | |--5-Henry Green Clay Denison (1820 MadisonCoOH - 1907 MadisonCoOH)

| | | |--5-John William Dennison (1822 OH - 1920 MadisonCoOH)

| | | |--5-Thomas Denison (Aug1825 - Oct1825)

| | | |--5-James Monroe Denison (1827 MadisonCoOH - 1921 PickawayCoOH)

| | | | |--sons: William H, Henry Harrison, Abraham Jonathan, Albert Sherman, Charles, George

| | | |--5-William H Dennison (1831 MadisonCoOH - 1906 FranklinCoOH)

| | | | |--m. 1857 Alice Emeline Sale, in MadisonCoOH

| | | |--5-Harvey Denison (1832 MadisonCoOH -)

| | | |--5-Abraham Denison (1835 MadisonCoOH - 1863 at Chickmauga)

| | |--4-Thomas Denison (abt 1798 - abt 1823 MadisonCoOH) m. 1818 Elizabeth Kerr—NSons

| | |--4-Joseph Denison (abt 1800 BourbonCoKY - 1849 SchuylerCoIL)

| | | |--m. 1825 Martha Moore, FayetteCoOH

| | | |—sons: George W, Benjamin, and Jasper Moore Denison

| | |--4-John Denison (abt 1802 BourbonCoKY - aft 1800)

| | | |--m. 1832 Barbara Moore, FayetteCoOH

| | | |--5-Philip Moore Denison (1833 FayetteCoOH - 1913 DarkeCoOH)

| | | | |—sons:Sherman Moore, John E, William Anthony, Edward Harry, & Clark A Denison

| | |--4-George Washington Denison (1813 MadisonCoOH - 1843 MadisonCoOH)—NSons

| |--3-Catherine Denison b.1770, d.aft 1850

| |--3-Daniel Dennison b.abt 1772, d.Nov1824

invisible writing

1--James A. Denison of Augusta County, Virginia, born abt 1829

Source: Scottie Dennison, who has published key source material
for this family on her DENNISON website.

1--James A. Denison (abt 1829 - 1859) m. Jane Given 1854

|--2-John Elliot Denison (1858 NicholasCoWV - 1922 RockbridgeCoVA)

| ---m. Fannie Shelton Henderson

| |--3-Walter Elliot Bruce Denison (1900 RockbridgeCoVA - 1984 StauntonVA)

| | ---m. Vernie B. McCrory

| | |--4-Boyd Emory Dennison (1921 RockbridgeCoVA - 1978 StauntonVA)

| | | ---m. Rose Chambers Goode

| | | |--5-John Emory Dennison *** Scottie-06 ***
(mutation DYS576-)

invisible writing

1-[Robert?, Joseph??] Denniston of Washington County, Virginia, born abt 1750

Robert was likely the (grand)son of the John1 Denniston found in AugustaCo by the mid-1750s.

Sources: John Robb, on John1 of Augusta and his sons (Appendix A of JBR-DENNISON),
and on Robert of WashingtonCoVA; Cindy Denniston’s extensive descendancy for Scott;
and Lane Teaff with material on his son, James.

1--[Robert?, Joseph??] (abt 1750 - bef 14Jan1817)

---m1. Margaret Dougherty abt 1777

The mutation DYS439+ links this descendancy of [Robert?] to that of Daniel Denniston, above.

However, because these descendants lack the DYS576- mutation, they’re not descendants of Daniel.

|--2-William Denniston (say 1785 -) m. Rachel say 1810

|--2-Samuel Denniston (say 1790 -)

---[m2. Rachel Scott?] say 1793

|--2-Scott Denniston (1794 WashingtonCoVA - 1882 RussellCoVA)

| ---m. Sarah Hannah Umbarger 3Sep1820

| |--3-Leah Denniston (abt 1821 - abt 1836 SmythCoVA)

| |--3-Robert Denniston (abt 1823 WashingtonCoIN -) m. Annie Eliza Patrick

| | |--4-John L Denniston (abt 1855 SmythCoVA -)

| | |--4-James W Denniston (abt 1857 SmythCoVA -)

| | |--4-Margaret Ann Denniston (1861 KY - 1934 MenifeeCoKY)

| | | ---m. James Philip Denniston (son of her Uncle James)

| |--3-Rachel Denniston (1824 WashingtonCoIN- 1890 RussellCoVA) m. Hezekiah Patrick

| |--3-Sarah J. Denniston (abt 1826 WashingtonCoIN - 1890) m. William Samuel Moore

| |--3-Philip Jefferson Denniston (1828 WytheCoVA - 1908 MenifeeCoKY)

| | ---m. Martha Vermillion Johnson 1853

| | |--4-George Washington Denniston (1855 RussellCoVA - 1902 MenifeeCoKY)

| | | ---m1. Nancy Hogan—son George

| | | ---m3. Martha Moran

| | | |--5-Elbert Franklin Denniston (1878 - 1958 MenifeeCoKY) m. Melinda Castle

| | | | |--6-Otha Charles Denniston (1904-1982) m. Evaline Esther Martin

| | | | | |--7-sons: George Franklin, Charles David, & Ronald Martin

| | | | |--6-George Onan Denniston (1910-1977) m. Mabel Stinnett

| | | |--5-Forecher B. Denniston (1892 KY - 1958) m. Nancy Courtney

| | | | |--6-Fred Denniston Jr m2. Frances Wagoner—son Fred G.

| | |--4-Christopher Columbus Denniston (1858 RussellCoVA - 1920) m. Madge Wells

| | | |--5-Thomas H. Denniston (1878 - 1920) m1. Hazel Green

| | | | |--6-Edward Denniston m. Ruth Bradley—son Charles Edward

| | | |--5-Sewall Moody Denniston (1880 - 1950) m. May Lou Campbell

| | | | |--6-Jack Denniston (1904-1964)—son Sewall

| | | |--5-Leonard W Denniston (1882 - 1925) m. Rosie Rutherford

| | | | |--6-Patrick D.—sons: Leonard,Michael,Denny,Omer,Homer,Robert,Jack,Donald

| | | |--5-Richard J Denniston m. Mildred—sons: Robert &James

| | | |--5-Charles Oren Denniston (1894-1958) m. Eunice —sons: Stanley &Jack

| | | |--5-William Arthur Denniston—son Gene Carl

| | | |--5-James Bruce Denniston m. Alice Gertrude Hutton—son Thomas Bruce

| | |--4-Joe Clinton Denniston (1870 - 1962) m. Nancy Anne Griffey

| | | |--5-Arlie Denniston (1892 - 1972) m. Lula Brown—sons: Norval & Thomas C.

| |--3-Mary E. Denniston (1831 WytheCoVA -1811) m. Thomas Preston Jones 1858

| |--3-Margaret Denniston (abt 1832 SmythCoVA -); m. William Taylor

| |--3-John R. Denniston (abt 1834 SmythCoVA -); m. Anna Eliza Thomas

| |--3-Regina Denniston (1836 SmythCoVA - 1892 RussellCoVA) m. John William Stallard

| |--3-James W. Denniston (abt 1837 SmythCoVA - 1864 FtDelawareDE) 1858

| | ---m. 1858 Sarah Jane McGraw

| | |--4-William Robert Denniston (1861 SmythCoVA - 1941 RedRiverCoTX)

| | ---m. Sarah Ellen Paxton 1884

| | | |--5-Paul Arthur Denison (1889 AdamsCoIL - 1955) m1. Ida Bell Disker

| | | | |--6-sons: Charles Tracy, Leroy Paul, James Robert

| | | |--5-Glenn Davis Denison (1891 AdamsCoIL - 1950) m. Dorcia Barnham

| | | |--5-Carl William Denison (1896 RedRiverCoTX - aft 1963) m. 1919 Beulah Eaves

| | | | |--6-Carl William Denison Jr (1921 CrosbyCoTX - 1991 WilliamsonCoTX);

| | | | ---m. Emily Violet Sitton—son Robert Lawrence

| | | | |--6-Howard Gilmer Denison *** Lane-01 ***
(mutations DYS439+, 449+, CDYa-)

| | | |--5-Dallas Denver Snavely Denison (1900 RedRiverCoTX - 1892 TerryCoTX)

| | | ---m. Ida Gladys Condron

| | | |--5-James Russell Paxton Denison (1904 RedRiverCoTX - 2003 AR)

| | | ---m. Glenda Crawford

| | | | |--6-Russell Paxton Denison *** Russell-07 ***
(mutations DYS439+, 449+, CDYa-, CDYb+)

| | |--4-James Philip Denniston (1862 RussellCoVA - 1932 MenifeeCoKY)

| | ---m. 1863 Margaret Ann Denniston (dau of his Uncle Robert)

| | | |--5-James Edgar Denniston (1893 MorganCoKY - 1878 LuzerneCoPA)

| | | ---m1. Stella Little

| | | | |--6-Raymond Denison (1901 PowellCoKY - 1989 GreeneCoOH) m. Imogene Peck

| | | ---m2. Eva Stapleton

| | | | |--6-John Henry Denison (1925 PowellCoKY - 1989 AllenCoIN)

| | | | ---m. Dorothy Powers

| | | | |--6-Levi Denison (1932 BathCoKY - 2004 WabashCoIN) m. Sheila Ann Salyer

| | | | | |--7-Steven J. Denniston *** Steve-02 ***
(mutations DYS464, 456+, 570+, CDYa-, CDYb-2)

| |--3-Helen C. Denniston (1840 SmythCoVA -1922) m1. Fullen Taylor, m2. Preston Jones

| | | |--5-Russell G. Denniston (1895 KY - 1969 MenifeeCoKY) m. Ada Bell Hur

| | | |--5-Leonard Denniston (1899 KY - 1969 KY)

| | | |--5-Robert F Denniston (1887 KY -) m. Mary Lee

|--2-John Denniston (say 1798 -)

invisible writing

1--John Denniston of Virginia, say 1770

Sources: John A. Dennison and John Robb,
with important evidence provided by John G. Denison.

1--John Denniston (say 1770 VA - bef 4Jul1842)

|--m. 1794 Phebe Williams, in JeffersonCoTN

|--2-James Dennison (abt 1812 TN - after 1880)

| |--m. 1833 Emeline Milliken, in GraingerCoTN

| |--3-Samuel M Dennison (abt 1835 TN -) m. bef 1890 Lizzie _?_

| |--3-William Dennison (abt 1849 TN - aft 10Oct1887)

| |--3-[James?] Allen Dennison (1851 TN - aft 1920)

| | |--m1. 1873 Mary A[gnes? or “Nancy”] HILL, in HamblenCoTN

| | |--4-Samuel Lillard Dennison (1881 BristolTN - 1942 New OrleansLA)

| | | |--m3. abt 1921 Angeline _?_

| | | | |--5-John Allen Dennison (1924 FtWorthTX - BeaumontTX 2006)

| | | | | | |--6-John Allen Dennison *** John_A-04 ***
(mutations DYS439+, CDYa-, 570+, 456--)

| | |--m2. 1890 Mary E. TRAVIS, in HamblenCoTN

| | |--m3. 1904 Maggie MEADOWS, in HamblenCoTN

NORTHERN TIER (& IRISH) DENNISONs

invisible writing

1--[?John Dennison of county Leitrim, Ireland, born abt 1758]

Source: Barry Bradfield, who has researched DENNISONs extensively in Ireland
and elsewhere)

1--[?John Dennison (abt 1758 Ireland - 1842 NewBrunswickCAN)]

|--m. say 1780, Mary CAMPBELL]

The mutation DYS446- links this line to that of Barry-13, below.

|--2-John Dennison (say 1785 co.LeitrimIRE - 1851 OntarioCAN)

| ---m. 1819 Catherine ALEXANDER, in IRE

| |--3-Alexander Dennison (1817 co.LeitrimIRE -)

| |--3-John Dennison (1819 co.LeitrimIRE -)

| |--3-Robert Dennison (1820 co.LeitrimIRE - 1905 HuronCoCAN)

| |--3-James Dennison (1826 IRE - 1897 CalhounCoMI)

| |--3-Thomas Dennison (abt 1838 OntarioCAN - OntarioCAN)

| |--3-Ingram Dennison (1843 OntarioCAN - 1925 ShiawasseeCoMI)

| |--3-William Dennison (1844 PeelCo,OntarioCAN - 1915 HuronCo,OntarioCAN)

| | |--m. 1873 Martha Ann Ingram, in DetroitMI

| | |--4-William John Dennison (1874 HuronCo,OntarioCAN - 1945 OntarioCAN)

| | |--4-Alexander Isaiah Dennison (1878 -) m. 1900 Clara Edith CLARK

| | |--4-James Thomas Dennison (1880 HuronCo,OntarioCAN -) m. 1910 Maude JOHNSTON

| | |--4-Alfred Wesley Dennison (1883 HuronCo,OntarioCAN -) m. 1903 Lillian M. WILTSIE

| | |--4-Joseph Edward Dennison (1885 OntarioCAN - 1960 OntarioCAN)

| | | |--m.1907 Mable Clara COLLINS, in Palmerston,OntarioCAN

| | | |--5-Louis Claire Dennison

| | | | |--6-Robert Edward Dennison *** Barry-13 ***
(also downstream mutations DYS458+, 481-, and 576-)

| | |--4-Robert Edwin Dennison (1896 OntarioCAN); m. 1920 Marjory HILBORN

invisible writing

1--[_?_]

Source: Barry Bradfield, and Elaine Baker, who is a direct descendant of 2-James.

1--[_?_]

The mutation DYS446- links this line to that of Barry-12, above.

|--2-James Dennison (abt 1801 CorkIRE - 1869 PeelCo,OntarioCAN)

| ---m. 1843 Mary Ann McBRIDE, in OntarioCAN

| |--3-William Alexander Dennison (1851 YorkCo,OntarioCAN - 1922 PeelCo,OntarioCAN)

| | |--m. 1879 Anne Elizabeth DOSEWELL, in PeelCo,OntarioCAN

| | |--4-William Wesley Dennison (1883 PeelCo, OntarioCAN - 1968 Hope, BritishColumbiaCAN)

| | | |--m. 1907 Annie Josephine BROWN, in PeelCo,OntarioCAN

| | | |--5-Sidney Dennison

| | | | |--6-Sidney Robert Dennison *** Barry-12 ***
(still the RPH, despite mutation DYS446-)

| | | |--5-George Alexander Dennison (1910 SaskatchewanCAN - 1959 AlbertaCAN)

invisible writing

1--Hugh Denniston of County Tyrone, Ireland, abt 1784

Sources: Tee Branch and Barry Bradfield, who has contributed this research paper
on the Dennistons of County Tyrone, Ireland, and possible relatives.

1-Hugh Denniston (abt 1784 CoTyroneIRE - 1871 WashingtonCoNY)

|--m. say 1808 Ann GALBRAITH in CoTyroneIRE

|--2-Andrew Dennison (abt 1816 CoTyroneIRE - 1881 WashingtonCoNY)

| |--say 1840 Jane McFARLAND

| |--3-Thomas Henry Dennison (abt 1844 CoTyroneIRE - 1884 SenecaCoNY)

| | |--m. 1867 Mary GALBRAITH, in WashingtonCoNY

| | |--4-Thomas Arthur Dennison (1868 IL -)

| | | |--m. 1889 Delia BROUSSEAU, in WebsterMA

| | | |--5-Thomas Arthur Dennison (1890 WorcesterCoMA - 1956 HampdenCoMA)

| | | | |--m. 1909 Nettie Margaret TRAVIS, in ColumbiaCoNY

| | | | |--6-William Dennison (1913 WindhamCoVT - 1984 SaratogaCoNY)

| | | | | | |--8-William Dennison *** Tee-20 ***
(mutations DYS437-, 570+)

invisible writing

1--[?Samuel Denniston of County Longford, Ireland, 1744]

Sources: Wayne Denniston and Barry Bradfield.

1-[?Samuel Denniston (abt 1744 LongfordIRE - 1804 Drumnacross, LongfordIRE)

The mutation DYS446- links this descendancy to those of Barry-12 and Barry-13, above.

It’s likely that these three have a common ancestor born, say, in the mid-1600s.

|--m. Rebecca _?_

|--2-Samuel (“Perpetual Motion”) Denniston (say 1771 LongfordIRE - say 1852 WayneCoMI)

| |--m. abt 1797 Margaret _?_

| |--3-Samuel Denniston (abt 1820 GrandIsland (ErieCoNY) - 1885 CalhounCoMI)

| | |--m1. 1845 Elizabeth RAYMO, in WayneCoMI

| | |--m2. 1847 Rosanna FENTON, in WayneCoMI

| | |--4-Elmer Augustus Denniston (1871 CalhounCoMI - 1945 AlleganCoMI)

| | | |--m. 1896 Estella Adeliah PARKER, in CalhounCoMI

| | | |--5-Asahel Samuel Denniston (1910 KentCoMI - 1993 MadisonCoIN)

| | | | |--6-Wayne Earl Denniston *** Wayne-19 ***
(mutations DYS446-, 439++, CDYb+)

Navigating from here

The menu buttons at top right take you to other pages on this site, while the nav panel above targets other points on this page, or brings up other resources (papers I’ve written, and the like). If you find yourself lost, the browser BACK button will take you back to where you were (some people also have a convenient BACK button on their mouse, right under their thumb). Or hitting the HOME key of your keyboard will take you back to the top of this page where you are now.

Some Key Terms: haplotype, haplogroup, NPE, patrilineage, RPH.

DENNISON Patrilineage 1 Researchers

Active researchers of this DENNISON patrilineage are shown below. Those with highlighted names may be e-mailed by clicking on their names, and their posted descendancies may be viewed by clicking on their highlighted Patrilineage Project#s. Satellite members of the project are listed immediately after the principal researcher for the sublineage they are interested in, and their names are preceded by a dash. Where the person tested is not also the principal researcher, the former’s name appears under the latter’s, in parentheses.

Proj#	“Handle”	Researcher (Test Subject)	Test Panel	FTDNA Kit#

D-05	Alan	Alan Denison	F67	64558

D-13	Barry(Robert)	Barry Bradfield Robert Edward Dennison	F67	182046

D-12	Barry(Sidney)	Barry Bradfield Sidney Robert Dennison	F67	179645

D-12a	Elaine	—Elaine Baker

D-02	Cindy	Cindy Denniston Steve Denniston	F37	20617

D-04	John_A	John Allen Dennison	F67	58472

D-01	Lane	Lane Teaff (H. G. Denison)	F67	17970

D-22	Randle	T. Randle Dennison	F37	216370

D-07	Russell	Russell P. Dennison	F67	143588

D-06	Scottie	Scottie Dennison (John E. Dennison)	F67	64729

D-20	Tee	Tee Branch (William Dennison)	F37	212273

D-19	Wayne	Wayne Earl Denniston	F37	200149

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PUBLISHED SOURCES

RD
T. Randle Dennison and Rachel E. Dennison,
Scotch-Irish Dennisons of Virginia, Kentucky, and Points West
(published by the authors, 2002)

This is a very well researched descendancy of the immigrant, Daniel Denniston, the pioneer settler of AugustaCoVA in the 1730s, and ancestor of project members Alan-05, and Randle-22 (the author himself). It takes into consideration all the principal sources on the early generations in AugustaCo and its derivative, RockinghamCo, and follows the descendants of Daniel as most of them migrated to Kentucky and “points west” in subsequent generations. Some lines are worked out in full, and carried down to the present day.

This work stands out from the mass of published amateur genealogies in at least two respects. First, and most important, the research on the early generations (the ones of the greatest interest to the greatest number of people) has been quite thorough, and partly for that reason, the conclusions are both judicious, and largely sound.

Second, and most unusually for a work of this kind, detailed citations are provided for specific facts adduced. However, these are heavily abbreviated, and it is often far from clear whether the original primary (manuscript) source has been examined, or instead, the evidence has been gleaned from secondary sources of compiled abstracts. While for the most part such compilations are of fairly high quality, since they are, after all, abstracts, errors of both transcription and interpretation can creep in, and few collections of abstracts do an adequate job of describing, or even considering, the actual records context. It’s not always necessary to consult the actual primary sources, but it is always necessary to cite to the exact source one has consulted, so that those who make use of the published work can properly appreciate the thoroughness of the research, and make their own judgements about whether they had better check the primary sources themselves.

JBR-DENNISON
John Barrett Robb,
The Daniel Dennistons of Beverley Manor and Descendants
(published by the author in PDF format initially in 2008, but subject to ongoing revisions)

This report, commissioned by project member Alan-05, focuses on the early generations of Alan’s descendancy from the same Daniel Denniston whose descendancy is the subject of Randle and Rachel Dennison’s book, RD, above. However, despite the fact that both the matter and the sources for these two studies substantially overlap, the present work is in no way based on the former, but represents a fresh look at the evidence, often at the primary records level, and includes detailed citations and analytical argument not found in the previous work, as well as a more detailed bibliography. The two works are linked in just one respect: after working out his own conclusions, the author carefully examined the corresponding parts of RD, and where supplemental material of interest was found, included this in quoted form, usually without comment, in his own work. Virtually all of this supplemental quoted material from RD concerns the grandchildren of Daniel the immigrant after they had migrated to Kentucky.

The scope of JBR-DENNISON was largely confined to greater AugustaCoVA from the period of settlement in the 1730s until about 1800, though the one DENNISON family that remained in Augusta, that of John Dennison of Naked Creek, grandson of Daniel the immigrant, is followed down to about 1830.

However, in addition, an effort was made to locate and account for all occurences of the surname DENNISON in the records of Augusta and it’s immediately derivative counties, and this expansion of scope has provided the basis for a reconstruction of the family of the John Dennison, a younger contemporary of Daniel, and like him an early settler of AugustaCo. The author believes this John to be the ancestor of project memebers Lane-01, her cousin Russell-07, and John_A-04, and of most of the DENNISONs who trace back to the early settlers of that name in the Virginia panhandle counties of Washington, Wythe, and their successors. Furthermore, the DNA evidence clearly links these two early Augusta pioneers, Daniel and John, and shows that though neither descends from the other, the two must have been quite closely related.

Analysis of Patrilineage 1 DNA

Before getting into this analysis, I would suggest that you open the haplotype chart in a new window, so that you may better follow along with the references made below to the specific colored mutations in the chart.

Both the DNA probability calculations and the genealogy for DENNISON Patrilineage 1 point to a MRCA (Most Recent Common Ancestor) who was born say 1620, for at least all but one of the tested members. The remaining member, Cindy-02, may well descend from an ancestor further upstream, considering the large number of mutations in her surrogate’s haplotype. In choosing the haplotype of Barry-12 as the RPH for this patrilineage, I therefore excluded both Cindy-02, and Russell-07 from consideration—Russell because he is a known close cousin of Lane-01, so his haplotype already has representation in the group.

At least 18 mutations have occurred to the MRCA’s original haplotype across the considered descendant lines (even the RPH has a mutation), three of which are candidates to be shared upstream mutations—the only kind of mutation that can help us sort members of the same patrilineage into distinct family branches. The markers that are candidates to be shared upstream mutations are DYS439=14, DYS576=17, and DYS446=12—the latter in the extended set of markers numbered 38-67 for which 7 of the 9 have been tested.

There is always some chance that a mutation that appears to be shared (inherited by two or more tested descendants from a common ancestor) in fact occurred separately and independently in each of the family branches. While the chances of this are quite small, they are not neglible, especially for the most highly mutable markers—the two CDYs, and to a lesser extent DYS576. DYS576 is one of the three markers being considered here, and there is reason to believe that it did in fact mutate independently in different branches, as I shall argue below.

The DYS439=14 Mutation

The other two shared mutation candidates, DYS439 and DYS446, have, respectively, about a half and about a quarter of the mutation rate of DYS576. Even for the more mutatable of these, DYS439, the chances that it mutated independently in the lines of descent of Alan-05, Lane-01, and John_A-04 are less than 1%, as are the chances that DYS446 mutated independently for Barry-12 and Barry-13. We may therefore conclude beyond reasonable doubt that the DYS439=14 mutation occurred upstream of the earliest known ancestors of Alan, Lane, John_A (and of course, Lane’s cousin Russell-07), and that the DYS446=12 mutation occurred upstream of 12- and Barry-13 in their common ancestral line. And because these two sets of haplotypes do not share the other’s inherited mutation, neither can have descended from the other: they must therefore have different MRCAs.

The earliest known ancestor of Alan-05 is Daniel Denniston (born say 1688 in Ireland; emigrated to AugustaCoVA say 1735), and there is pretty solid genealogical evidence that Lane-01 is not descended from Daniel1, the AugustaCoVA immigrant, but rather from a John Denniston who immigrated to AugustaCo a couple of decades later. This John1 was not a son of Daniel1 and almost certainly not a brother, but he may have been a nephew, or was otherwise probably a close cousin.

There is some very suggestive evidence that Daniel1 lived in the vicinity of Dublin about 1720 and emigrated to America from there, and he may therefore have been a son of one George Denniston (1658-1717), who owned a large estate in County Leitrim, but was also a merchant of Dublin; project member Barry himself is thought to be a descendant of George through the latter’s son William. If the Daniel1 who came to Augusta was also a son of George, and if the John1 who followed him to Augusta was Daniel1’s nephew, then George himself must have carried the mutation DYS439=14, as well as all of his descendants, including any male Dennistons of Barry’s line. Or if John1 were instead a first cousin of Daniel, descended from one of George’s brothers, the mutation would be pushed back one more generation, to George’s father, the Rev. Archibald, born say 1620, and would be found in all of Archibald’s descendants. If any known male descendants surnamed DENNISON of these Irish lines could be tested, we should be able to get a better idea of when this DYS439 mutation occurred.

Meanwhile, Scottie-06’s ancestral line most likely traces back to AugustaCoVA too, but several generations after Daniel1. Thus, like the putative descendants of Daniel1’s immigrant cousin, John1, she too probably descends from a close cousin in this branch of the family. And if this is so, given that Scottie lacks the DYS439=14 mutation, it is highly unlikely that the mutation goes back more than a generation or three before Daniel1.

The DYS576=17 Mutation

Now that we have the test results for new member, Randle-22, whom we know from his excellent published genealogy (RD) is a fifth cousin once removed of Alan-05, and like him a son of Daniel2 (the only son of Daniel1, the AugustaCoVA pioneer), we can also make a couple of inferences about the mutation they share, DYS576=17, but which their DYS439=14 cousins, Lane-01, Russell-07, and John_A-04, lack.

First, we have to consider the possibility that this DYS576 mutation that Alan and Randle have in common didn’t occur independently in their separate lines. If Daniel2 inherited the mutation from his father, Daniel1, the probability that he would have passed it on to both of his sons, Alan’s ancestor William3, and Randle’s, Thomas3, is 98%, but in this case, since both Alan and Randle ended up with the mutation, if Daniel2 inherited it, almost certainly it was passed on to these two descendants with no further mutation. Now, if, on the other hand, Daniel2 did not inherit it, given the fact that both Alan and Randle possessed it, the identical mutation must have occurred independently in each of their lines. The probability that DYS576 will mutate in any given generation is .01022, according to the best present estimates, but since it can mutate in two ways (up or down—for simplicity we are ignoring the low probability of a multistep mutation), the probability that it would mutate down (losing one ySTR repeat) is just .00511. Given that there are 6 generations from Alan back to Daniel2, and 7 for Randle back to Daniel2, the probabilities that DYS576 would mutate to 17 independently in their ancestral lines, are .03 (3%), and .035 (3.5%), respectively (e.g. 1 - (1 - .00511)^6 for Alan). Thus, the probality that both would have experienced this particular mutation in 6 and 7 generations respectively is .03 x .035 = .00105 (.1% or 1 in 1000). We may therefore conclude beyond reasonable doubt that Alan and Randle inherited this mutation from Daniel2, who inherited it from his father.

This is not to say that the mutation actually occurred during the genetic transmission from Daniel1 to Daniel2, though it may well have. If not, though, it probably occurred no more than a generation of two upstream of Daniel1. I have argued above that the DYS439 mutation occurred no more than 2 to 3 generations upstream from Daniel. And since DYS439 is shared by Alan and Randle, and also by Lane, Russell, and John_A, but the latter lack the DYS576 mutation, DYS439 must have occurred at least one generation upstream of 576. Therefore the DYS576 mutation most probably occurred in the transmission from Daniel1 to Daniel2, or in the transmission from Daniel1's father (George?) to Daniel1, or just possibly one generation farther back. For convenience, if a bit arbitrarily, I have slotted the DYS576 mutation on the mutation history tree in its latest possible position: between the two Daniels.

DYS439 + DYS576 = The Daniel1 DENNISON Line

It was rather surprising to learn that Randle too had the DYS576 mutation. With 6 generations from Daniel2 to Alan, it figured that this highly mutable marker would have mutated somewhere downstream of Daniel2, not upstream. The fact that it didn’t allows us to identify DYS576=17 with Daniel2 and therefore with (at least) Daniel1, though not uniquely, because both Scottie-06 and Barry-13 also have the mutation. What identifies the Daniel1 descendancy uniquely is the combination of DYS576 and DYS439.

The DYS446=12 Mutation

Meanwhile, the ancestry of Barry-12(Sidney) and Barry-13(Robert) has been traced back with confidence only to about 1790. The mutation that they both inherited (DYS446=12) may thus have occurred at any time before about 1760—whenever the mutual MRCA was born who received this mutation in the transmission from his father. Since these two both lack the DYS439=14 mutation, however, they must have split off the tree before George, Archibald, or whomever was the MRCA of Alan, Lane, and the others.

One thing we can say pretty much for sure, though, is that Wayne-19 descends from the same branch of the family as project members 12 and 13, and he probably has an ancestor in common with them who was born between about 1650-1750. We know this because Wayne-19 too shares the DYS446=12 mutation, and there is only about a 1.5% chance that this mutation occurred independently in 8 generations of Wayne’s line.

The Other Instances of the DYS576=17 Mutation

Now I return to the third candidate for a shared upstream mutation: DYS576, which occurs, not only in the haplotypes of Alan and Randle, as discussed above, but also in those of Barry-13, and Scottie-06. At this point, a look at the mutation history tree I have worked out would be appropriate. I have indicated there that Barry-13’s DYS576 mutation occurred independently of the identical mutation inherited by Alan and Randle because in each instance of this mutation, we are able to infer that an additional distinctive mutation must have occurred upstream of 576 not shared by the other group: in the case of the Daniel1 descendants, DYS439=14 (not shared by the two Barry haplotypes), and in the case of Barry-13, DYS446 (not shared by the Daniel1 descendants).

What, though, of Scottie-06, who also has the DYS576 mutation? Given that her ancestry can be traced back to 1829, to a Virginia county not far from Augusta, where Daniel1 and John1 first settled several generations before, and besides this, a family history and traditions associated with AugustaCo—all this suggests a close affinity to the same family branch that furnished the original AugustaCo settlers, Daniel1 and John1. Nonetheless, as I have argued above, the DYS439 mutation shared by all the other SW Virginian descendants must have occurred higher upstream than the DYS576 mutation shared by Alan and Randle, and Scottie lacks the 439 mutation: her 576 mutation must therefore have occurred independently of the one shared by Alan and Randle—unless Scottie too inherited the DYS439 mutation, but it mutated back to its original state in her line.

If Scottie diverged from these other groups only since Daniel2 (the MRCA of Alan and Randle), there would be 6 generations in which this back mutation might have occurred, or if she diverged as far back as possible, with, say, Daniel1’s DENNISON grandfather being the MRCA, there would by 9 generations for a back mutation: in the first instance, the probability of a back mutation would be 1.4%, and in the second it would be 2.1%. Most people would say that it is beyond reasonable doubt that Scottie’s line never experienced the DYS439 mutation, that her DYS576 mutation occurred independently of that of Alan and Randle (probably in some more recent generation), and that her MRCA with them goes back at least to Ireland.

The odds are heavy, therefore, that all three of the DYS576=17 mutations occurred independently in the lines of Alan and Randle, Scottie, and Barry-13.

Scottie’s Misleading TMRCA Estimate

Although the extension of Scottie’s results to 67 markers appears to reduce the TMRCA estimate between her and Alan to just 136 years, suggesting a most recent common ancestor born about (1950 -136 = 1814), or about 4 generations, this is misleading in a couple of respects. First, we know from exhaustive genealogical research that the immigrant Daniel1 had only one son, Daniel2, and that only one of his sons, John3, remained behind in AugustaCo long enough to be an ancestor of Scottie. Thus, we know that Alan and Scottie have no common ancestor for at least 6 generations. The TMRCA charts I create, unlike FTDNA’s TIP calculator, are not able to factor in genealogical knowledge. This alone, pushes the TMRCA estimate back another 100 years or so. Second, there is 50% chance that the TMRCA estimates in my charts are too close to the present, and still a high probability that the MRCA might be 100, or even 200 years farther back into the past.

If I were to recalculate the 67-marker TMRCA chart so that there was only a 20% chance of an underestimate, the TMRCA would come out to 210 years (1740), and adjusting for the known genealogy would push this estimate further back, well into the 1600s. The FTDNA TIP calculator, after adjusting for the known genealogy, estimates that there’s only a 35% chance that Scottie is descended from Daniel2 the son of Daniel the immigrant, and to get to the 80% confidence level, one has to go back another three generations, to a common ancestor born about 1620. This latter estimate fits much better with what can be inferred from the pattern of mutations I have analyzed above.

How Further Testing Might Help

Now that a shared upstream marker in the 38-67 band has been identified (DYS446=12), we have additional reason to test the remaining Patrilineage 1 members out to 67 markers, namely, Cindy-02, and our latest member, Wayne-19—especially the latter, because he, like Barry-12 and Barry-13, has identifiable Irish ancestry. Both of these haplotypes are also of interest because they are relative outliers, with multiple unique mutations, and as such they point to a broader and deeper ancestral tree than the one that at present, which seems to extend back only into the 1600s.

Knowing whether Wayne had the DYS446 mutation should help both in elucidating his Irish ancestry (and that of 12- and Barry-13), or in pinning down the generation where this mutation occurred. So far two mutations in the 38-67 band have been identified: DYS446, and also DYS481. Even if Wayne is not to be extended to 67-markers now, it would be beneficial for him to test just those two markers. The price for testing a single marker is just $7.20, but there may also be a one-time fee of $9.50 as well. Even if this is the case, the total price for testing these two markers for mutations would be only $23.90.

The Cindy-02 haplotype is particularly intriguing because her earliest known ancestor seems to be part of the ancestral line leading back to John Denniston, the early AugustaCo immigrant, but it is even more likely that it represents a different, earlier branch off the Scotch-Irish tree altogether. Extending this haplotype to 67 should turn up an additional mutation or two, if it really is an outlier, or otherwise, if it turned out to match the RPH (with or without the DYS446 mutation) it would, on the contrary, help bring her back into one of the existing folds.

Further testing beyond 67 to markers to FTDNA’s new maximum of 111, may identify additional shared upstream markers, but as with the extension to 67, the value of such testing is going to be in linear proportion to the number of haplotypes so extended—starting with the minimum number of two (a single extended haplotype would have no one to compare to). Maybe extending two could be considered if FTDNA has a sale on the extension of 67 markers to 111 (the standard price is $129). The first two haplotypes I would choose would be Barry-12 and Alan-05.

DENNISON Patrilineage 1 Project NEWS

17Jul2011

Project member Alan-05 has agreed to be available as backup project administrator in case something happens to me, and he may also be involved with special project that may arise. However, all business of the project will continue to flow through me unless you are otherwise advised.

The DNA results for new DENNISON Patrilineage 1 project member Wayne Earl Dennison (Wayne-19) have been posted, and his genealogy, which goes back to Grand Island, Erie Co NY, and thence (probably) to County Longford, Ireland, will be posted in due course.

The DNA results for Scottie-06 are being extended to 67 markers. Scottie’s extension is thanks to Alan-05, who has made a donation to the General Fund for that purpose. If you are interested in helping to further the DNA side of the project by making a donation yourself, please read what I have posted on the General Fund, here.

A couple of NPE matches have turned up to the haplotypes of patrilineage members Scottie-06, and Wayne-19. We may say that they are NPEs because they have different surnames than DENNISON (Balfour and Stone), and because there is now, courtesy of project member Barry, pretty good evidence that the Dennison-Denniston surname that runs in this bloodline goes back to the original gentry line of Scotland. Both of these NPEs have 67-marker results to compare to, so that when Scottie’s extension to 67 become available, we should have confirmation that they belong to the patrilineage, and I will contact them and offer them membership at that point.

10Sep2011

The DNA test results of extending Scottie-06, and Barry-13(Robert) from 37 to 67 markers have come in, and I have updated all the charts, and provided a new Patrilineage 1 Analysis, above. I have also added a few earliest known ancestral names to the Mutation History Tree.

The ancestral pedigree (descendancy) for Wayne-19 has been posted.

2Nov2011

Please welcome new member Tee Branch (Tee-20) to the project. Her DENNISON ancestor appears to have emigrated to the U.S. from County Tyrone, Ireland, after 1850, settling in upstate New York.

Please welcome new member Randle Dennison (Randle-22) to the project. Randle is the author of RD, a valuable book that follows the descendants of Daniel1 Denniston of Beverley Manor to Kentucky and “points west”. His DNA test results have proved to be identical to those of Alan-05, his fifth cousin once removed, and establish the paired mutations of DYS439=14 and DYS576-17 as markers for the descendancy of Daniel1.

The DENNISON Patrilineage 1 Haplogroup: R-U106*

Project member Alan (D-05) has sponsored a deep clade test for the patrilineage that shows it to be haplogroup R1b1a2a1a1a* (formerly R1b1b2a1a1*), or R-U106* in the preferred new nomenclature. But what does this mean?

A man’s yDNA may be classified according to a deeper, broader, ancestral tree schema by testing ySNPs instead of ySTR markers. These ySNPs are unique point mutations to the yChromosome that occur so much less frequently than ySTR mutations that they are of no use in sorting people into patrilineages, but by the same token they are ideal for sorting patrilineages into the various haplogroups and subclades of the broad human population. And by correlating the haplogroup subclades of both modern descendants and of their ancient ancestors (by testing their remains) with geographic population flows, and with archaeological evidence signifying cultural groupings, the whole broad history of homo sapiens is gradually being reconstructed.

Each SNP mutation represents a further branching of the human tree, defining a new subclade. The “R” of “R-U106” stands for Haplogroup R, and “U106” is the most recent known SNP mutation in DENNISON Patrilineage 1. The “*” at the end means that additional SNPs have been found to have occurred downstream of U106 in the genomes of some other members of the R-U106 subclade, but that for this patrilineage all those additional mutations have been tested and all have come up negative. The U106 mutation is estimated to have occurred about 4200 years ago.

R1b, the broader subclade into which R-U106 falls, is the most prevalent haplogroup in northwest Europe, and in all its varieties it is shared by about 65% of all those with patrilineal British ancestry. R-U106 follows the main line of R1b, but it has a bit more of a Continental background than its main alternative line, R-L21, which is especially prevalent amongst the Celtic population of Ireland and Scotland.

R-U106 accounts for about 21.4% of all English haplogroups (though only 5.9% of Irish—there are no statistics for Scotland), but it is even more prevalent in the Netherlands (37.2%), Germany (20.5%), and Denmark (17.7%)— or in a word: Frisia. These are precisely the areas of Europe from which the Anglo-Saxon tribes staged in their takeover of England. Consequently, while Britain is today predominantly Celtic in its DNA (at least on the male side), the DENNISON Pat1 DNA probably represents a different, more Germanic strain.

However, this sort of talk is in reality a bit anachronistic because when U106 was differentiated about 2000 BCE, these cultural differences were still inchoate. You can glean a few more details about R-U106 from this Wiki article, which instead of talking Celts and Germans, contains a reference to the Bell Beaker culture.

New SNPs are being discovered all the time, and hopefully new ones will be found downstream of U106 for which DENNISON Patrilineage 1 will test positive, thus further differentiating it by subclade. As of this writing (21Apr2011) Alan’s test was negative for all these additional SNPs recognized by on the official ISOGG haplogroup tree: U198, P107, L1, L48, L6, P89.2, L217, L257, L325, Z18, and Z19.

Given the intense interest in Haplogroup subclade R1b due to the horde of American testers with British patrilineal ancestry, chances are that new SNPs will be discovered and added to the tree every year. Progress in discovering new SNPs can be tracked by checking the ISOGG tree from time to time, and as additional SNPs are found subordinate to U106, it should be possible to order specific additional SNP tests from FTDNA— there is no need to repeat the whole deep clade test. Sometimes it takes FTDNA a number of months to catch up to the ISOGG tree, though, so patience may be required.

At the rate progress is being made in this field, before too many more years have passed, some of these subclades will be brought down into genealogical time, and may even become a shortcut means of identifying patrilineages. In the meantime, you can read more about haplogroups and their distribution across the continents at this site.

DENNISON Patrilineage 1 yDNA Haplotypes Compared

These charts provide some idea of the closeness of relationship between each pair of test subjects of this patrilineage. The cell at the intersection of each column/row pair shows either the GD (Genetic Distance) between the pair (basically, the number of mutations), or the estimated TMRCA—the Time in years back to the Most Recent Common Ancestor of the pair (not the MRCA of the whole patrilineage). For an extended discussion of the application of these concepts, click here.

While the GD is exact, there is no obvious way to tell how the mutations divide between the two subjects, because the haplotype of their common ancestor, from whom they have mutated, is unknown. However, I have developed a procedure using the GD chart for inferring the haplotype of the common ancestor, which I call the Root Prototype Haplotype (RPH), and I use this as a basis for marking mutations in the yDNA Haplotypes chart, following. The FTDNA commentary says that relationships are only possible where the GD between two subjects is less than 6, but this is a mistake. A GD of 6 from the common ancestor would push that ancestor back before the origin of most surnames, but because GD is the sum of the mutations down each of two lines of descent from the founder, there might be no more than 3 mutations to each haplotype which is well within the relationship guidelines. In fact, a GD of up to 10 between two project haplotypes is conceivable, as long as they bear a common surname.

TMRCA provides at best a very loose estimate of the time back to the common ancestor of two patrilineal descendants, so I have restricted the following set of estimates for paired members of this project just to the members who have tested out to 67 markers. The time may be measured in generations or years, but I find the year estimate more useful. I use 34 for the number of years per generation, based on a number of published studies, as well as on an informal one of my own, and I’ve found that the best way to project back to an earlier ancestor is to substract the TMRCA estimate from 1950 (a notional birth year for the a typical contemporary testee) to obtain an estimate for the birth date of the MRCA of each pair of subjects.

In the TMRCA estimates below there is an equal probability that the MRCAncestor of each pair of subjects was born earlier or later than the projected date; indeed, he could quite easily have been born 100 years or more earlier. Besides the inherent inaccuracy of TMRCA estimates (given the limitations of our present scientific knowledge of the mutation process), the values in this TMRCA chart need to be further adjusted to account for the fact that it is known that none of the current members are related to each other within the last 4 generations. This pushes the TMRCA estimates back another 50-75 years. The FTDNA Tip calculator (available from each project member’s personal FTDNA page) is able to factor in such knowledge, but Tip is currently limited to making comparisons between just two individuals at a time. The following chart is meant to provide a rough overview of the closeness of the genetic relationships between members within a time framework. There is much else which can be said about TMRCA, and in fact I have had my say here.

37-Marker Haplotype Comparison Matrices (low numbers are closest)

Genetic Distances, DENNISON Patrilineage 1, from 37-marker yDNA Comparisons

TMRCAs, DENNISON Patrilineage 1, from 37-marker yDNA Comparisons

The number in each cell is the number of divergent mutations
between each pair of haplotypes.

What FTDNA has to say about Genetic Distance for 37-marker comparisons

67-Marker Haplotype Comparison Matrices (low numbers are closest)

Genetic Distances, DENNISON Patrilineage 1, from 67-marker yDNA Comparisons

TMRCAs, DENNISON Patrilineage 1, from 67-marker yDNA Comparisons

The number in each cell is the number of divergent mutations
between each pair of haplotypes.

What FTDNA has to say about Genetic Distance for 67-marker comparisons

DENNISON Patrilineage 1 Mutation History Tree

The following tree chart shows the accumulated mutations for each tested descendant of the MRCA (Most Recent Common Ancestor) of this DENNISON Patrilineage. The MRCA appears at the top of the tree, and the tested members of the project at the bottom, identified by their DENNISON Surname Project#, and the “handle” of the principal researcher for each tested member’s line. The other numbers in the chart represent mutations that have occurred, and accumulated, in certain lineages. The member listed at the bottom of the first column (Barry-12, representing Sidney Robert Dennison) has been selected as the project RPH, even though his haplotype probably has at least one mutation from the MRCA (DYS446=12).

The mutations are represented by the numeric IDs of the ySTR markers with the “DYS” prefixes truncated to save space. The marker number is followed by a “+” or a “-” to indicate whether the mutation was due to the gain or loss of a repeat. Where a marker differs from the RPH by more than one repeat, single multistep mutations will be indicated by two or more “+”s or “-”s, or if the difference is thought to be due to multiple independent mutations, these will be listed on successive lines.

The GD (Genetic Distance) between any two members of the patrilineage is roughly equivalent to the number of mutations encountered when tracing a path from their “handle” at the bottom of the tree to that of another member. For the FTDNA 37-marker panel, each unit of GD between two members pushes their common ancestor back about 190 years, on the average. But this is only a very rough estimate, and each unit of GD could easily be off by a generation or three either way.

Furthermore, where two members are known not to have a common ancestor a certain number of generations back, this pushes their most recent common ancestor back at least that many generations plus at least a couple more. Thus, Barry-12 and Barry-13, who are known not to have a common ancestor for at least 5 generations back, have only a 32% probability that their common ancestor is 6 generations back (that their earliest known ancestors are brothers), even though this might be what the genealogical evidence suggests. The adjustment for the number of generations for which it is known that there is no common ancestor should be made when running FTDNA’s Tip calculator.

Even though the CDY markers are the most likely to have mutated early, I have made no attempt to guess how they might have impacted the top of the chart below. This DENNISON lineage is so old (given the divergence of Cindy-02’s haplotype), and the CDYs are so labile, that their RPH values are too uncertain to support any firm conclusions about whether they mutated early or late. And given the likely number of generations back to the surname founder (20-25), one or more of the CDYs may have mutated, then mutated again, back to its original state, in any of these haplotypes. Consequently, I have de-emphasized the CDYs in working out the mutation history tree, arbitrarily assuming that mutations to them occurred downstream of the the DYS439=14 mutation, which is so far the most important one for this patrilineage. Analysis of Patrilineage 1 DNA, above, outlines the detailed rationale behind the construction of this tree.

Dennison Patrilineage 1 Mutation History Tree

* Cindy-02’s apparent double mutation to CDYb is probably due to a rare kind of mutation called a reclOH event affecting Palindrome P1; see also this article.

DENNISON Patrilineage 1 yDNA Haplotypes

The chart below shows the haplotypes for each tested project member of this patrilineage. I’ve decapitated most of the marker names (truncating “DYS393” to just “393”) to improve readability. The colored markers mutate slower or faster than the norm. Thus, [DYS]439 is fast, [DYS]458 is faster, and CDYa&b are blazing, while [DYS]393 is slow. Contrary to what one might think, though, it makes very little difference to the TMRCA calculation whether the markers that mutate are slow or fast. One expects most of the mutations to occur amidst the fast markers, and if slow markers mutate instead that actually increases the TMRCA a bit.

Test Subject Information			FTDNA 37-Marker Panel																																					FTDNA Markers 38-67																														Additional Markers
Proj #	Principal Researcher	Earliest Known DENNISON Ancestor Name, BirthYear, DeathPlace	3 9 3	3 9 0	1 9 / 3 9 4	3 9 1	3 8 5 a	3 8 5 b	4 2 6	3 8 8	4 3 9	3 8 9 I	3 9 2	3 8 9 I I	4 5 8	4 5 9 a	4 5 9 b	4 5 5	4 5 4	4 4 7	4 3 7	4 4 8	4 4 9	4 6 4 a	4 6 4 b	4 6 4 c	4 6 4 d	4 6 0	Y G A T A H 4	Y C A I I a	Y C A I I b	4 5 6	6 0 7	5 7 6	5 7 0	C D Y a	C D Y b	4 4 2	4 3 8	5 3 1	5 7 8	3 9 5 S 1 a	3 9 5 S 1 b	5 9 0	5 3 7	6 4 1	4 7 2	4 0 6 S 1	5 1 1	4 2 5	4 1 3 a	4 1 3 b	5 5 7	5 9 4	4 3 6	4 9 0	5 3 4	4 5 0	4 4 4	4 8 1	5 2 0	4 4 6	6 1 7	5 6 8	4 8 7	5 7 2	6 4 0	4 9 2	5 6 5	4 4 1	4 4 5	4 5 2	4 6 1	4 6 2	4 6 3	6 3 5	G A A T 1 B 0 7	Y G A T A A 1 0
D-19	Wayne Denniston	Samuel,s1771, coLongfordIRE	13	24	14	11	11	14	12	12	15	13	13	29	17	9	10	11	11	25	15	19	29	15	15	16	16	11	10	19	23	16	15	18	17	36	38	12	12																					22		12
D-20	Tee Branch	Hugh, 1784, coTyroneIRE	13	24	14	11	11	14	12	12	13	13	13	29	17	9	10	11	11	25	14	19	29	15	15	16	16	11	10	19	23	16	15	18	18	36	37	12	12																					22		13
D-13	Barry (Robert D.)	John,1789, coLeitrimIRE	13	24	14	11	11	14	12	12	13	13	13	29	18	9	10	11	11	25	15	19	29	15	15	16	16	11	10	19	23	16	15	17	17	36	37	12	12	11	9	15	16	8	10	10	8	10	10	12	23	23	16	10	12	12	15	8	12	21	20	12	12	11	15	11	11	13	12
D-12	Barry (Sidney D.)	James,c1801, coCorkIRE	13	24	14	11	11	14	12	12	13	13	13	29	17	9	10	11	11	25	15	19	29	15	15	16	16	11	10	19	23	16	15	18	17	36	37	12	12	11	9	15	16	8	10	10	8	10	10	12	23	23	16	10	12	12	15	8	12	22	20	12	12	11	15	11	11	13	12
D-06	Scottie Denn.	JamesA,c1829,VA	13	24	14	11	11	14	12	12	13	13	13	29	17	9	10	11	11	25	15	19	29	15	15	16	16	11	10	19	23	16	15	17	17	36	37	12	12	11	9	15	16	8	10	10	8	10	10	12	23	23	16	10	12	12	15	8	12	22	20	13	12	11	15	11	11	13	12
D-05	Alan Denison	Daniel,s1688,IRE?	13	24	14	11	11	14	12	12	14	13	13	29	17	9	10	11	11	25	15	19	29	15	15	16	16	11	10	19	23	16	15	17	17	36	37	12	12	11	9	15	16	8	10	10	8	10	10	12	23	23	16	10	12	12	15	8	12	22	20	13	12	11	15	11	11	13	12
D-22	Randle Dennison	Daniel,s1688,IRE?	13	24	14	11	11	14	12	12	14	13	13	29	17	9	10	11	11	25	15	19	29	15	15	16	16	11	10	19	23	16	15	17	17	36	37	12	12
D-01	Lane Teaff	Scott,c1794,VA	13	24	14	11	11	14	12	12	14	13	13	29	17	9	10	11	11	25	15	19	30	15	15	16	16	11	10	19	23	16	15	18	17	35	37	12	12	11	9	15	16	8	10	10	8	10	10	12	23	23	16	10	12	12	15	8	12	22	20	13	12	11	15	11	11	13	12
D-07	Russell Denison	Scott,c1794,VA	13	24	14	11	11	14	12	12	14	13	13	29	17	9	10	11	11	25	15	19	30	15	15	16	16	11	10	19	23	16	15	18	17	35	38	12	12	11	9	15	16	8	10	10	8	10	10	12	23	23	16	10	12	12	15	8	12	22	20	13	12	11	15	11	11	13	12
D-04	John Allen Denn.	James,c1812,TN	13	24	14	11	11	14	12	12	14	13	13	29	17	9	10	11	11	25	15	19	29	15	15	16	16	11	10	19	23	15	15	18	18	35	37	12	12	11	9	15	16	8	10	10	8	10	10	12	23	23	16	10	12	12	15	8	12	22	20	13	12	11	15	11	11	13	12
D-02	Cindy Denniston	?Scott,.c1794,VA	13	24	14	11	11	14	12	12	13	13	13	29	17	9	10	11	11	25	15	19	29	14	15	16	16	11	10	19	23	17	15	18	18	35	35	12	12

You may click on highlighted Project#s (like D-05) to see the posted pedigree for a particular test subject. Click on highlighted Researcher names, like Alan Denison to go to the project directory that shows the full names of the members, and provides clickable e-mail links for the names highlighted.

The test subject whose “Earliest Known Ancestor” is colored red is the one whose haplotype differs the least from all the others and is therefore designated the Root Prototype Haplotype (RPH)—the haplotype that is likely to be the closest to that of the Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA) of the group. Marker values that deviate from those of the RPH are deemed to be mutations, and are highlighted in lime green—or tomato, for multistep mutations—two or more separate mutations to the same marker.

Where multicopy markers DYS464 and YCA (each taken as a whole) diverge in value from those of the RPH, the whole adjacent set of values will be colored yellow green, and will be counted as a single mutation. In the same way, reclOH mutations, which may affect several blocks of separated markers, will be colored orange and treated all as a single mutation for purposes of calculating Genetic Distance. There is a small probability in both cases that more than one mutation to the set has occurred, and where this is strongly enough suspected, part of the block(s) may be colored tomato. like other multistep mutations.

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The DENNISON DNA Project: Patrilineage 1

DENNISON DNA Patrilineage 1

Other American DENNISONs

DENNISON Patrilineage 1 Descendancies

SOUTHERN DENNISONs

NORTHERN TIER (& IRISH) DENNISONs

Patrilineage 1 Test Results

Also on this page...

Other Patrilineage 1 Resources & Evidence

Navigating from here

DENNISON Patrilineage 1 Researchers

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PUBLISHED SOURCES

Analysis of Patrilineage 1 DNA

The DYS439=14 Mutation

The DYS576=17 Mutation

DYS439 + DYS576 = The Daniel1 DENNISON Line

The DYS446=12 Mutation

The Other Instances of the DYS576=17 Mutation

Scottie’s Misleading TMRCA Estimate

How Further Testing Might Help

DENNISON Patrilineage 1 Project NEWS

The DENNISON Patrilineage 1 Haplogroup: R-U106*

DENNISON Patrilineage 1 yDNA Haplotypes Compared

37-Marker Haplotype Comparison Matrices (low numbers are closest)

67-Marker Haplotype Comparison Matrices (low numbers are closest)

DENNISON Patrilineage 1 Mutation History Tree

DENNISON Patrilineage 1 yDNA Haplotypes