BRASWELL-L Archives

From: "Carey Bracewell" <>
Subject: The S/H DNA Group
Date: Sun, 1 Jan 2006 19:16:55 -0600

Happy New Year to all our listers!

Today seems like a good day to take stock of things so I'm offering you
my views on the Steve/Henry Braswell DNA Group to date. Your own opinion and
any contradictory evidence you may have is earnestly solicited.

1. The S/H Group arose from some as yet unidentified 'non-paternity
event' that occurred in or near Southside Virginia in the 17th or early 18th
century. There is an evident pattern of southwesterly migration from
Brunswick County, Virginia-- HENRY BRASWELL (c.1754-1827)--to Johnston
County, North Carolina-- JACOB BRASWELL (1745-1832-- to Anson County
{BRITTON BRASSELL}, to WILLIAM L. BRAZIEL (1778-1809) of Jackson County,
Georgia with also several other S/H group migrants along the way.

2. There is a distinct possibility that this group descends from
SUSANNAH BRACEWELL and RICHARD TOWLE(Y) or from an early unrecorded
adoption--perhaps a boy child of the widow ALICE LEWIS who married JOHN
BRASWELL, JR in Isle of Wight County around 1740. For the group to be so
widely scattered across the South and bearing so many different surname
spellings implies such an early origin.

3. S/H cannot be the haplogroup of Rev. ROBERT BRACEWELL (1611-1668).
Recall that Gary Bracewell's DNA matches the standard group even though his
family emigrated from the Bracewell, Yorkshire vicinity in 1850--200 years
and at least 33 generations separated from us. Too, there are three times
more matches (28) to the standard group than there are to the S/H Group (9),
indicating its primacy. Finally, it should be noted that all three of the
separate lines of descent from RICHARD BRACEWELL (c.1652-1725) match each
other and Gary whereas the S/H group participants only match themselves.

4. Unlike the exciting clue that Cousin Gayle uncovered with her proxy's
match to the RIGGS family, none of the other surname matches to the S/H
haplotype so far reported give a clue as to where this genetic switch
happened. Henry Braswell at Virginia Tech has a couple of TURNER matches.
The Sorenson DNA Database and the ybase show that Steve Braswell in
Florida--the other early participant to lend his name to this
haplogroup--has similar matches to a BENNETT and a couple of Circa 1800
Northern lines going back to a JOHN BEST and a SAMUEL HULL. Not much help.

5. Whatever the true origin of their Y chromosome, we can say that it
came from Northwestern Europe. Their "I" (Viking) clad is not at all
uncommon in England and there are several matches to the S/H string in
samples from Denmark and Germany. The Braswell main haplotype is clad R1b,
the most common in all of Western Europe.

6. And also whatever the S/H's true Y chromosome origin, it is critical
to remember that we are all Braswells, whatever our genetic makeup or
surname spelling preference.

For 2006, please resolve to better share your views and information with
your Braswell cousins. And please do remain as objective as you can,
supporting your opinions where possible with the appropriate documentation
and/or reasoning.

Carey

This thread:

• The S/H DNA Group by "Carey Bracewell" <>