by Peter Clarkson Logging into 23andMe recently revealed a change that many genetic genealogists will welcome — and it arrived with little to no announcement. After previously withdrawing detailed chromosome‑level information following their security issues, 23andMe now appears to have reinstated chromosome matching data and introduced a new clustering feature, […]
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy For families whose paper trail grows cold somewhere in the colonial South of the USA, Y-DNA testing has become one of genealogy’s most powerful torches. The Big Y-700 test offered by Family Tree DNA takes that torch and multiplies its brightness […]
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy The “Luck of the Irish” is truly the Big Y 700 DNA test. In Ireland, hereditary surnames were adopted as early as 1000 AD. Unfortunately, the majority of genealogical records have been lost when 1861 through 1891 censuses were destroyed for […]
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy The genetic name for descendants of John Goff b. ca. 1717 Duplin Co., North Carolina (“John 1717”) is 1717 GOFF/GOUGH (US-NC-DUP) R-BY67755. This is a standardized title used for all genetic Goff/Gough/McGough families and contains a lot of information. The 1717 […]
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy The GGFA recently completed a major update to the 1750 McGoff–McGough–Goff Genetic Family, originally associated with haplogroup I-Y67553. Thanks to new Big Y-700 test results and additional autosomal matches, this family has now been reassigned to the more refined terminal haplogroup […]
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy John Goffe and wife Hannah Sumner are amongst the earliest members of any Goff family in America. In his meticulously-researched book, Goffes/Goffs: Four Centuries of Their History and Yours, pp. 226-227, author John W. Goff notes that “on July 4, 1673, […]
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy Sterling Gawf first appears in the historical records of Brunswick County, Virginia by 1771. Fast forward a decade, and we find Sterling Gawf again, this time in the records of Greensville County, Virginia, from 1782 through 1789. Greensville County was formed […]
by Peter Clarkson Unexpected Discoveries in Family History Research We have all been there: deeply focused on researching a particular topic, only to be unexpectedly drawn away by something else that sparks our curiosity. These diversions, often referred to as going “down the rabbit hole”, can sometimes yield rewarding findings, […]
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy A research team consisting of Peter Clarkson, Camellia Acker, Harry Broad, Maureen Pierce and me has achieved a major breakthrough in the Gawf/Goff family of Tennessee and Alabama. This breakthrough is discussed in the Archives & Research>DNA Surname Study page on […]
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy A GGFA member posted a query on the GGFA Facebook site about how Isham Goff (b. c1810 SC) fits into the genetic family called 1658 GOFFE/GOUGH/GOFF (US-VA-KQN) R-FT367367. The earliest known record of Isham Goff is his marriage to Sarena McBride […]