yDNA
Ancestry.com first did yDNA testing. They later changed to autosomal DNA testing & no longer do yDNA testing.
Paternal Haplogroup—male Y chromosome branches that have occurred from mutations of the original A group. The branch naming has evolved as more information becomes available. The R1b branch (mutation that is estimated to have happened 14,000 to 18,500 years ago) is a branch of the R-L47 branch. The R1b branch mutated & the most common branch in Western Europe is R-M269 (estimated at happening 3300 BC-2600 BC). It has been divided into groups according to Y-DNA test matching. James Taylor I descendants are in group 002 (or 02). Richard Taylor descendants are in group 035 (or 35). John Taylor descendants are on a different branch of R1b. Isaac Taylor (son Andrew) is in group 005 (or 05).
Therefore, John cannot be the father of Richard and James; & Richard & James cannot be brothers. And the Isaac/Andrew Taylor line is not related to the others.
Family Tree DNA–yDNA Taylor group
https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/taylorfamilygenes/about/results https://www.familytreedna.com/public/taylorfamilygenes?iframe=ycolorized
from above links:
R1b-002 Group 02 R-M269 James Taylor I, d. 1698 of New Kent/K&Q Co. VA, descendants
R1b-035 Group 35 R-M269 Richard Taylor, d. 1679 of North Farnham Co., VA, descendants
R1b-006 Group 06 R-FGC18451 John Taylor, d. 1652 of Lancaster Co., VA, descendants
R1b-005 Group 05 R-M269 isaac Taylor (son Andrew), d. 1781, Montgomery Co., VA, descendants
Taylor DNA is not all the same. We see wide genetic diversity among our members. We have identified at least 350 individual & unique Taylor lineages among the more than 1,000 members who’ve tested yDNA. There is also variety in the mtDNA and autosomal DNA.
- There is not one Taylor patriarch from whom we’re all descended, but many Taylor families unrelated to each other in a genealogical sense. Having yDNA that falls into many haplogroups is more proof of separate Taylor lines dating back many millennia.
- The reason for the many lines of descendancy and genetic diversity is probably the occupational & multi-point origin of the name. The name seems to have been adopted by many widely dispersed families over a relatively short period of time in the late 14th century.
- Taylor is a common surname. It was the 13th most common name in the 2000 US census (0.31% of the population, ~720,000 people) and 5th most common in England (about 350,000 people). About 1,500,000 people worldwide bear the Taylor name.
- The commonness of the name puts a premium on careful and thorough research, supplemented by DNA testing. We recommend at least a 37-marker Y-STR test to discriminate between Taylor lines.
- We have identified, to date, more than 120 paternal lineage groups of multiple project members (i.e., “genetic families” or “clusters”). Most could not share a direct paternal ancestor more recent than a thousand years ago.
Females who wish to determine their direct paternal DNA ancestry can ask their father, brother, paternal uncle, paternal grandfather, or a cousin who shares the same surname lineage (the same Y-DNA) to take a test for them.
Therefore, females who descend from a Taylor may be able to find a proven living Taylor cousin to find their Taylor yDNA haplogroup. Example: Carolyn Smith’s proven 6th great grandfather is Harrison Taylor. Harrison Taylor is the 5th great grandfather of Nathaniel Taylor. Carolyn & Nathaniel are 6th cousins 1 x removed. Nathaniel has had a yDNA test that shows he is in the R1b-35 Taylor group at FTDNA. That means that Carolyn is not related to James Taylor I through her Taylor line. (see Autosomal DNA below *)
See also:
https://isogg.org/wiki/Y_chromosome_DNA_tests
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_R1b
https://you.23andme.com/reports/paternal_haplogroup/details/
FTDNA Taylor family group
https://www.familytreedna.com/public/taylorfamilygenes?iframe=ycolorized
from page 1 (of 3)
R1b-002 Group 02
Row # Name Paternal Ancestor
247 Taylor James Taylor (1610 ENG – 1698 VA))
248 Taylor Rowland Taylor 1510-1553 England?
249 Taylor David Taylor (1798? NC?- xxxx xx)
250 Taylor James Taylor (1610 ENG – 1698 VA)
251 Taylor James Taylor, Born 1610
252 Taylor
253 Taylor James Taylor I b, 1610 d.1698 ENG –
254 Newman James Taylor I b, 1610 d.1698 ENG –
255 Taylor James Taylor (1610 ENG – 1698 VA)
There are 9 men in this group who are related by yDNA.
The row # is assigned by the Taylor group at FTDNA
The name is the last name of the individual tested (Newman’s biological father was a Taylor)
The paternal ancestor is supplied by the individual tested & is supposed to be the oldest PROVEN Taylor ancestor.
Individual 248 believes that Rowland Taylor is his proven ancestor.
Individual 249 does not know David Taylor’s genealogy but from this Y-DNA test David descends in some way from James Taylor I.
Individual 252 did not supply a paternal ancestor.
AUTOSOMAL DNA
Autosomal DNA tests can be used to confirm relationships with a high level of accuracy for parent/child relationships and all relationships up to the second cousin level. For all relationships additional contextual and genealogical information is required to confirm the nature of the relationship.
For genealogical relationships between second cousins once removed and 5th cousins a more careful approach is necessary and data needs to be collected from multiple family members. For relationships at the 4th cousin once removed to 5th cousin level you may need to test 10 to 20 or more first and second cousins and see how much autosomal DNA they share with a potential 4th cousin once removed or a potential 5th cousin in order to have sufficient data to generate a statistically significant average amount of autosomal DNA that is shared among the entire group, assuming that you are dealing with a non-endogamous population. See Tim Janzen’s summary at http://blog.23andme.com/ancestry/who-were-the-parents-of-jacob-youngman for an example of this type of quantitative approach. For endogamous populations, genealogical relationships are frequently difficult to estimate beyond about the 2nd cousin level of relationship and require careful analysis.
Genealogical relationships beyond the 5th cousin level of relationship are more difficult to prove with autosomal DNA testing and, as a general rule, these can only be approached using triangulation. In some cases yDNA and mtDNA data may also be of help. From: Autosomal DNA-ISOGG Wiki
Centimorgan cM
If there is anything to take from this document, then the centiMorgan is something you may want to focus on. Now the exact definition of the centiMorgan can be a little tricky and hard to understand. It requires knowing about recombination and that’s for another discussion. To make things easy to understand for everyone, let’s look at the centiMorgan as a unit of measurement that represents DNA segment length, number of SNPs, and etc, all rolled into one. The centiMorgan basically gives us a way to compare apples to apples or oranges to oranges.
Based on current evidence and thinking, anything considered above 20cM is definitive evidence of common ancestry within a genealogical time frame. In other words, if you share at least 21cM with a person, then you are related to that person within a genealogical time frame. At FTDNA, the Family Finder test only reports matchings above the 20cM level. Between 20cM and 10cM is considered probable evidence of common ancestry. 23andMe’s Relative Finder appears to report above 7cM [as does GEDmatch but you can change their default setting from 7 cM to 10 cM or 20 cM].
from: DNA Genealogical Experiences and Tutorials: Understanding Autosomal DNA Testing (dnamatches.blogspot.com)
* From the example of Carolyn above:
Carolyn’s autosomal DNA at the GEDmatch Taylor Ancestor Project with the cM value set at 5 cM shows matching of her DNA segments to 93 members of the group. Of those 93 members, 23 are proven descendants of James Taylor I:
| Cheryl 5.7cM | Ann 5.9 | Penny 6.8 |
| Collier 5.0 | Ben 5.1 | Marilyn 7.7 & 5.2 |
| Missi 5.9 | Kris 7.5 | Chuck 6.8 & 6.5 |
| Koreen 5.1 | Lee 7.6 | Lee Ann 5.1 |
| Pamela 7.5 | Megan 5.2 & 6.2 | Claudia 6.2 |
| Hailey 5.2 & 5.8 | Teresa 8.3 | Richard 7.4 |
| David 5.1 | Marvin 5.6 | Michael 5.5 & 5.7 & 5.7 |
| Rachel 6.0 |
You can see that she has six matches at more than 7 cM but no matches over 8.3 cM. GEDmatch has the default comparison search value set at 7 cM. You should change the search value comparison to at least 10 cM (and even better to 20 cM).
Therefore, since Carolyn descends from Richard Taylor all of the matching DNA she shows to the members of the Taylor Ancestor Project is not Taylor DNA. It is DNA from her other ancestor that is matching DNA from other ancestors of members in the GEDmatch Taylor group.
Autosomal links:
Autosomal DNA – ISOGG Wiki
http://debbiewayne.com/pubs/pub_NGSMag_201608_triangulation.pdf
https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2016/06/19/a-triangulation-intervention/
http://dnamatches.blogspot.com/2012/10/understanding-autosomal-dna-testing.html
Using your DNA test results: the Basics for Genealogists
Triangulation
An example of triangulation of 3 people in the Taylor Ancestor Project. Steve & Ben have proven genealogy back to James Taylor I; L.K. does not but is a descendant because of triangulation. The chromosome triangulated is # 3.
| Chr | B Sta37rt Pos’n | B37 End Pos’n | cM | SNP’s | |
| Steve & L.K. | 3 | 173,310,353 | 195,295,166 | 40.2 | 4,847 |
| Steve & Ben | 3 | 178,903,264 | 197,833,758 | 37.9 | 4,089 |
| L.K. & Ben | 3 | 179,207,592 | 195,295,166 | 33.4 | 3,615 |
All of L.K.’s segment of DNA on Chromosome 3 is shared by Steve & Ben.
Here are some more matches of L.K. to the Taylor Ancestor Project who also triangulate (it takes a minimum of three to triangulate).
| Name | Chr | Start | End | cM | SNP’s | MRCA |
| Jim (Steve’s brother) | 3 | 173107443 | 190537545 | 28.9 | 2741 | 4.48 |
| Anne (Ben’s sister) | 3 | 188489540 | 195304653 | 16.5 | 1579 | 4.88 |
| Steve | 3 | 173309839 | 195304653 | 40.2 | 4847 | 4.24 |
| Jamie | 3 | 172374119 | 184366735 | 15.2 | 1586 | 4.94 |
| Ben | 3 | 179191821 | 195304653 | 33.5 | 3615 | 4.37 |
Jamie is Steve’s 5th cousin 1 x removed and Ben is Steve’s 5th cousin 2 x removed. We all descend from Lt. Jonathan Taylor & Ann Berry (along with several other Taylor connections).
James Taylor I (the elder) 