by Nancy Thomas In my April 2024 GGFA newsletter article entitled “The Goff/McGoff Connection”, I noted that, based on a Y-67 test, a participant with Scottish ancestry (YDNA Participant 1) and another participant named Robert McGoff (with ancestry from County Mayo, Ireland) likely share a common ancestor from around 1750. […]
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy With a tip of the hat to Big Y 700, the GGFA has now identified 40 genetically distinct Gough/Gough/McGough/etc. families. “Genetically distinct” means that the family arose came into being independently of all other families with a variant of the surname. […]
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy The Gough family of Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England has a refined genetic banner. The previous descriptor of 1849 GOUGH (GB-STS) R-Y61318 has been updated to 1849 GOUGH (GB-STS) R-Y74432. The revised genetic narrative for this family, like all such narratives, is on […]
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy On the GGFA Facebook site, a poster wants to know the origins and family of her ancestor John Goff who first appears in the 1769 tithable records for Leesburg, Loudoun Co., VA. John had a son named George Emery Goff b. […]
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy When researching family tree mysteries, my genetic genealogy time is typically allocated about 90% to autosomal DNA (“atDNA”), such as the Ancestry.com test, and the balance to YDNA analysis. If you have not checked out the three-part blog, “I’ve Taken a […]
by Jennifer Alvarez, President of GGFA Let’s start diving into your DNA information. In Ancestry, open your DNA test and you will see three main categories, DNA story, DNA matches, and Thrulines. I hope through this three part series you have the tools to feel confident to dig into those […]
by Jennifer Alvarez, President of GGFA If you have taken an autosomal DNA test at one of the big companies, your results will initially be listed from closest matches to more distant matches. Matches are measured in a unit called centimorgans, abbreviated cM. In the next entry in this blog […]
by Jennifer Alvarez, President of GGFA There are three types of DNA tests available commercially that are useful to genealogists, mitochondrial DNA, y-DNA, and autosomal DNA. Next time, we will begin to explore autosomal DNA more deeply: strategies for autosomal DNA testing, understanding how matching works and how to link […]
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy As of April 2023, 34 genetically distinct Goff, Gough and other surname variants have been proven through YDNA. At least 10% of these families trace to Ireland. Genealogy research in Ireland is particularly challenging for several reasons. First, most 19th century […]
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy If you search for the term “brick wall” on the the GGFA website or GGFA Facebook site, is mentioned scores of times. These elusive ancestors may have been born as recently as the 19th century and as early as the 1500s […]