OUR FELDBERG FAMILY DNA

We are studying the DNA of our Feldberg family so that we can find out more about our family history, take our family tree back more generations, and hopefully connect with people from hitherto unknown branches of our family.

In order to do this, we have had DNA testing done by a male descendant of Isaac Feldberg. The testing was only done on that part of the DNA molecule that is only passed down from men to their sons, which is called Y-DNA or the Y chromosome. So, since this part of the DNA is not passed down or received or carried by their daughters, we can only compare his results to the results of other men.

There are other parts of DNA that could be tested, but the male DNA is the portion most commonly used for genealogical purposes right now. So, there is no method, right now, to compare the results of male to female cousins, except under extremely complex, unusual circumstances too complicated to explain here.

If you wish to see his entire 37-marker panel of numerical results, as well as to learn about DNA and DNA testing in general, you can click here. And, if you would like to read more about our Feldberg family, you can click here.

Ideally we should be able to register our Feldberg Y DNA results in online Y-DNA databases, and find people whose results match ours perfectly, and who know enough about their family history that we know immediately exactly what our relationships are.

There are not yet any perfect matches, but there are many people in the http://familytreeDNA.com database whose results are very, very similar to ours, with only one tiny bit of the DNA molecule, which is called an allele, differing by just one point from ours. This can be due to normal changes to the DNA that can occur over time, called mutations, so we are corresponding with these people, in the hopes that we can determine whether we are, indeed, related within relatively recent history, the last 200 years or so.

In the meantime, what does all this mean about our history? Scientists have figured out that they can categorize people's DNA in ways that correspond to migration patterns of their ancestors, and these very distinct DNA patterns are called haplotypes or haplogroups. Each person's DNA reflects many things, and one of those is their haplotype.

The forebearers of haplogroup R are thought to have migrated into Europe about 10,000 years ago, from the Middle East. As time went on, after they spread out further into the British Isles and Russia, the DNA of the people with R haplogroup split off into more subtypes, and distinct DNA patterns or fingerprints developed, which are called R1 and R2. As time went on and more changes in the basic DNA structure occurred, R1 and R2 split into more subgroups.

Our particular Feldberg DNA pattern, puts us in haplogroup R1a1, which is a distinct DNA fingerprint that became slightly different in a consistent, unique way, from the basic R1 DNA pattern over time. So, while our DNA matches the R1 DNA of many people, we have more in common in our genes with people whose DNA is in haplogroup R1a1.

The map below to the left, shows the migration patterns of most know male chromosome haplogroups. I suggest you look closely at the map, finding the black line with a little box with the letter R in it in what is now Western Russia. Following the black lines to the left and right, you can see that the forebears of the R, and then the R1 and R1a1 haplogroups spread out to the west over Europe and into the British Isles, and to the east towards western Asia and India.

Y-DNA Migration Map (click to enlarge) Copyright and Courtesy of FamilyTreeDNA.com

Modern Distribution of Haplotype R1a1 This map is copyright ©23andMe, Inc. 2009. All rights reserved; distributed pursuant to a Limited License from 23andMe

If you have trouble getting a sense of the migration pattern from the above map, even when you look at the enlarged image, you can find another migration map, specifically for haplogroup R and it's subtypes, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_R1b_(Y-DNA).

The other map, above to the right, is a recent distribution map. It shows the probable proportion of the population living in each area that have this haplotype. The darker the color, the higher proportion of the population that are haplotype R1a1. Where the color is extremely dark, it means a major portion of the people in the area are R1a1. Conversely, where the color is faint, only a very small percent of the population is haplotype R1a1. For a more details about the ancient history and current distribution of R1a1, check out the webpages recommended in the Further Reading section below.

Finding Matches

In order to connect with other people whose DNA matches ours, we have uploaded our results to a number of databases in addition already being in the database at http://familytreeDNA.com. The additional databases we have registered at so far are http://ysearch.org and http://dna.ancestry.com.

Connecting with people who match our DNA is not an automated process. Instead, it requires studying the matches suggested by the website to see how close the matches really are, and then corresponding with those people whose results match ours the most closely.

The few people we have corresponded with so far who have male chromosome DNA results similar to ours, believe their families are from Western Poland, Lithuania, and the Ukraine. We, unfortunately, have still not found any records definitively telling us precisely where our most distant known Feldberg patriarch, Isaac Feldberg, came from, nor how Annie and Esther, our Feldberg matriarchs who we know lived in Lomza Gubernia in Poland, were related to him.

Annie and Esther Feldberg both passed away in Makow, and we have not been able to locate any records that would show who their parents were. We think Isaac and his children, Sarah Feldberg (1858-1917), Morris Feldberg (1864-1925), and Rose Feldberg (1873-1953), were probably also from Makow, but cannot be positive. The records we have obtained for them, so far, all just say they were from Russia or Poland, depending on which government was in power in the area at the time. All three were were married and living in the United States by 1890.

Another option would be for us to obtain our Feldberg maternal DNA from descendants of either Esther or Annie Feldberg, as a way to find people related to us through their maternal lines, instead of just looking for our paternal DNA cousins. If you are interested in seeing this happen, or in assisting us in our efforts to obtain more records about our family, please do email us.

FURTHER READING

R1b1

R1b1 is a subgroup of the R1b haplogroup. The following is a good discussion of the R1b haplogroup theories including maps:

http://www.dadamo.com/wiki/wiki.pl/Haplogroup_R1a1_(Y-DNA)/Haplogroup_R1b_(Y-DNA)

The following wikipedia article is also more technical but you may find useful information there as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_R1b_(Y-DNA)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Feldberg family history facts and DNA results on these pages are available to us because of gracious contributions of time, effort, and financial assistance by members of our family who assist our research in various ways, and the member of our family who contributed the DNA sample. We are deeply indebted and grateful for their interest and support.

You are at http://freepages.family.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~thecohens/feldbergdna.html

NOTE: The links below will take you off of our personal family site, to various articles at the Learning Center at http://www.ancestry.com