Ancestor Surnames And Locations

A fellow researcher suggested I create a list of ancestor surnames and their associated geographic locations which can be sent to DNA matches to review for possible shared connections. This is something I have actually been meaning to do for awhile now, and this latest suggestion prompted me to finally go ahead and get the list created. I’ve added it to my website (http://danstone.info/charts.htm), and am also including it here:

Paternal Grandfather’s Line (http://danstone.info/stoneancestors-0.htm)

Stone (possibly Stein or Stine originally): Virginia [now West Virginia] (Monongalia County, possibly Loudoun County, possibly Pendleton County), Iowa (Adair County, Clarke County, Jefferson County), Pennsylvania (Fayette County, possibly Greene County), possibly Germany, possibly Maryland (Frederick County)

Childs: Pennsylvania (Fayette County)

Wade: Virginia [now West Virginia] (Monongalia County)

Lewark/Luark (possibly Ruark/Rheuark): Virginia (Washington County), Indiana (Madison County, Rush County, Wabash County), Washington (Chehalis [now Grays Harbor] County), Delaware, North Carolina, possibly Maryland (Dorchester County)

Phillips: Kentucky (Anderson County), Missouri (Clark County, Pike County), possibly Virginia (Amherst County)

Sneed/Snead: Missouri (Clark County)

Evers: Germany (Hanover), Indiana (Jefferson County), Missouri (Pike County)

Sinkler (possibly Sinclair or St. Clair): Pennsylvania

Paternal Grandmother’s Line (http://danstone.info/dromenskancestors-0.htm)

Dromensk/Dromenski/Dromenske: Germany/Prussia, Michagan (Mecosta County)

Schmidt: Germany

Leissa: Germany/Prussia

Delainey/Delaney: Ireland, Canada (Ontario), Michigan (Huron County), Canada (Saskatchewan)

Brodbeck: Germany, Michigan (Huron County)

Schmitt: Germany, Canada, Michigan (Huron County)

Maurer: France, Canada, Michigan (Huron County)

Maternal Grandfather’s Line (http://danstone.info/wrightancestors-0.htm)

Wright: Ohio (Clinton County, Ross County), New Jersey, possibly Scotland, Missouri (Mercer County), Oklahoma (Beaver County), Iowa (Monroe County), Indiana (Putnam County)

Myers: Kentucky, Indiana (Putnam County)

Moore/Moor: Iowa (Decatur County), Indiana (Brown County), Virginia

Hashman: Ohio

Egbert: Nebraska (Blaine County) and most surrounding midwest states, Indiana (Boone County, Franklin County), Pennsylvania (Beaver County), New York

Schott: Ohio

Seaver: Massachusetts (Hampden County, Middlesex County, Worcester County)

Burlingame: Pennsylvania

Maternal Grandmother’s Line (http://danstone.info/hillancestors-0.htm)

Hill: Ohio (Mahoning County, Trumbull County), Delaware (Sussex County)

Martin: Ohio

Mapes: Kansas (Republic County), Ohio, New York

Vining: Pennsylvania

Boyer: Canada (Quebec)

Flanders: New Hampshire (Franklin County, Grafton County, Merrimack County, Rockingham County), Massachusetts (Essex County)

Brock: New Hampshire (Grafton County, Merrimack County)

Luark/Lewark DNA Testing Update

Over the past several months, I have been exchanging research with the wife of a descendant of Elijah Lewark, who appeared on paper (despite the variations in spelling of the last name) to be the half brother of Anna Luark, one of my paternal third great grandmothers. This proposed cousin’s wife is a scientist, and very enthusiastic about DNA testing. With her help, I’ve learned a lot about DNA testing for genealogy, and she and I have been working together to use DNA to verify the mutual connection back to John Luark/Lewark (1774 – 1866) between her husband’s line and my line.

For comparisons, we’ve used the Ancestry DNA autosomal tests my dad and I took, the 23andme autosomal test her husband took, the Ancestry DNA autosomal test her husband took, the Family Tree DNA Y-DNA test my known Luark cousin took, along with uploads to gedmatch of all the autosomal tests for use with their comparison utilities. While results of the comparisons were promising, they were far from conclusive. Recently, her husband took advantage of Family Tree DNA’s Holiday Sale to take their Y-DNA 67 test.

Comparison of this new Y-DNA 67 test result with my known Luark cousin’s Y-DNA 37 test result (http://www.danstone.info/lewark-luark-ruark-rheuarkdna.htm) now shows there to be a very likely close connection, supporting the paper trails back to John Luark/Lewark. The results of this newly confirmed Lewark cousin’s test also further substantiate the likely connection previously found between my known Luark cousin’s test and at least one branch of the Ruark family line. There seem to be several Ruark/Rheuark family members who have tested, so it will be interesting to see if the specific connection between their line and the Luark/Lewark line can now be determined.

Luark/Lewark DNA Testing Update

A cousin with a paper trail leading back to John Luark/Lewark has taken advantage of the Family Tree DNA holiday sale and ordered a Y-DNA test. He is descended from the marriage of John Luark/Lewark to Mary Elizabeth Hutton. While researches have always been under the belief that the John Luark/Lewark who married Catherine (Varner) Alderman (my line) is the same John Luark/Lewark who married Mary Elizabeth Hutton (my cousin’s line), I have yet to find anything definitive to verify this. The results of this new test, in comparison to the results of the test my other Luark cousin previously took, should finally be able to answer this with a great degree of certainty. Based on the autosomal DNA comparisons we have previously done, we will both be quite surprised if this new test result does not show a match, although the possibility of an undocumented adoption or non paternal event in either of our lines must always be kept in the back of our minds when doing DNA testing. Results are expected about mid January.

Lewark/Luark DNA Test Upgrade Results

At long last, the results from the upgrade on my Luark cousin’s Y-DNA test to 37 markers came back yesterday. There are six matches. Three of them are with people with the last name of Ruark, with two of them being two step matches, and the other being a three step match. One of the remaining matches is a two step match with someone with the last name of Roark. The last two are a three step match with someone with the last name of Shenton and a four step match with someone with the last name of Thomas.

Of the three Ruark matches, only one has a family tree posted. The earliest ancestor is Timothy Ruark. His birthdate is unknown and he is listed as dying before 27 Sep 1813 in Pulaski County, Kentucky.

Using this information to check my autosomal test matches, I see that I have two matches that both trace back to a Stancil B. Rheuark (1804 – 1892). His father, is recorded as either M. or Nicholas Ruark, born in Brunswick County, North Carolina.

I’m especially curious to learn the known lineage of the Shenton match, as they are as close of a match as the Ruark matches are. In regards to DNA projects which contain the Ruark surname, I came across https://my.familytreedna.com/group-join.aspx?group=LowerDelmarva which looks to have three Ruark members listed in the results page, and https://my.familytreedna.com/group-join.aspx?group=Hoopers-Island which mentions an interesting tradition about an early Ruark settler marrying an Indian woman.

This will be very interesting to work on. Just as with the Wright DNA test, these results seem to call into question what some other researchers have posted. This time, it’s about the Lewark/Luark family not being related to the Ruark family. DNA seems to clearly show that at least one Lewark/Luark family is related to at least one of the Ruark families, as well as Roark possibly being a related family.