ODonnell of Ireland and Y-DNA

ODonnell is a common Irish surname.

My maternal grandmother was Jeannette ODonnell (1920 - 1993).  Her mother, Anna Preston (1890 - 1921), died the year after Jeannette was born.  Jeannette was raised by her paternal grandparents, Patrick Francis ODonnell (1857 - 1931) and Delia Joyce (1862 - 1929).  Jeannette's stories about her grandparents and great grandparents were great leads when I set out to document the family history.

The oral story was that Patrick ODonnell immigrated to the United States from County Donegal in Ireland.  To uncover more, I visited cemeteries, court houses, archives, and libraries.  I viewed census records; birth, marriage, and death certificates; wills; newspapers- all the possibilities in a genealogist's treasure chest.

Patrick was single and living in Bayonne, New Jersey in the 1880 census.  I found a few siblings born in the 1840s and 1850s and uncovered their father's name: Peter ODonnell.  They were from Ardara in County Donegal.  And that is as far as I could stretch.  It's not that I can't find ODonnell; rather, the opposite is true:  there are so many people named ODonnell (or Ó Domhnaill in Gaelic), that I can't distinguish my ODonnell line from any other.

Enter Y-DNA testing.

The immigrant Patrick ODonnell passed his Y chromosome virtually unchanged onto his sons and they passed this same Y chromosome onto their sons.  An ODonnell cousin in this direct male line agreed to test at FamilyTreeDNA and the results are in.

Surname ODonnell
37 marker Y-DNA test

I was surprised to see a flag and "Niall of the Nine Hostages."  The results for two other Y-DNA tests, Lutter and Duryea, did not have any special designations.

I had to do some reading.  Niall was a man who may or may not have existed.  According to legend, he was a king of Ireland in the 4th and 5th centuries, which accorded him the right to have relations with many women, resulting in abundant offspring, and some of them also ruled and made lots of babies.

My ODonnell cousin has 772 matches on the Y chromosome.  For comparison, my father has zero matches.  My Duryea cousin has 38 matches.

Whether or not Niall actually existed, about 20% of men in northwestern Ireland (where County Donegal lies) and 1 out of 50 men in the New York area have an almost identical Y chromosome that originated from a prolific man.  To be allowed such behavior, the man would have to be a king or man of great power, hence the idea that he was Niall of the Nine Hostages, or a very close relation to Niall.

This reminds me of the idea that Charlemagne may be an ancestor to most people of European heritage.

A study from the journal Genome Research offers that our collective maternal heritage is much more diverse than our paternal ancestry.  In genetic bottlenecks throughout history, for every 17 women who passed their genes onto the next generation, only one man did so, reflecting the power of a few elite men who procreated abundantly.

This information about Niall is interesting, like looking into a crystal ball, but into the past, not the future- where one of my ancestral lines was located 1500 years ago.  In the meantime, I am stuck in the 1820s in County Donegal.

In a separate post, I will discuss the more recent ancestry that the matches provide.

Amanuensis Monday: 1780 Will of William Winterton of New York City

WILL OF WILLIAM WINTERTON

of New York City, New York County, New York

Signed July 23, 1780

Proved October 8, 1785

New York County, New York, Wills Volume 38, pages 196-199

In the Name of God Amen.  I, William Winterton, of the City of New York, Mason, being of sound mind, memory, and understanding, do make and publish this, my last will and testament, in manner following, that is to say.

First.  I desire that all my just debts and funeral expences be paid so soon after my decease as possibly may be and after payment thereof I leave, devise, and bequeath all the rest, residue, and remainder of my real and personal estate of what kind or nature so ever and wheresoever to my dearly beloved wife, Ann Winterton, to have and to hold to her and her assigns for and during and unto the full end and term of her natural life, provided and upon this special condition that she will not marry any other husband after my decease.  And in case she shall or will marry any other husband, then and in such case, I desire that all my real and personal estate may be sold to the best advantage and divide between my dearly beloved wife, my son, William Winterton, and daughter, Jane Winterton, the wife of John Johnston, share and share alike.  But in case my said wife shall not marry after my decease but shall die in her viduity, then and in such case my will is that all my real and personal estate shall from and immediately after such conti[n]gency happening, go to and be divided between my said son and daughter, share and share alike as aforesaid.  And in case either my said son or daughter should die before my said wife without issue, then and in such case I leave, devise, and bequeath the share and Proportion of such child so dieing as aforesaid to the other survivor, his or her heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns.  And my will is that the said John Johnston, the husband of my said daughter, Jane Winterton, shall not have any power whatsoever over any part of the proportions or share of my estate hereby devised and bequeathed to her, but that the same shall descend to the children of the said Jane by the said John Johnston or any other after taken husband or as it shall or may be disposed of by her last will and testament.  Immediately preced.g her decease.

And Lastly I do hereby constitute my said dearly beloved wife, the said Ann Winterton, the sole Executrix of this, my last will and testament, hereby revoking all former wills by me heretofore made, declaring this to be my last will and testament.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this twenty third day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand and seven hundred and eighty.

  –William Winterton—

Signed, sealed, published, and declared by the said William Winterton as and for his last will and testament in the presence of us who have hereunto set our names as witnesses in his presence at his request and in the presence of each other.

--Ter Kerin

--Lewis Morgan

--Joseph Cary

City of New York.  Be it Remembered that on the eighth day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty five, personally came and appeared before me, Thomas Tredwell, Judge of the Court of Probates of the State of New York, Lewis Morgan of the City of Philadelphia, physician, and being duly sworn on his oath, declared that he did see William Winterton sign and seal the preceding written instrument purporting to be the will of the said William Winterton, bearing date the twenty third day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand and seven hundred and eighty and heard him publish and declare the same as and for his last will and testament, that at the time thereof he, the said William Winterton, was of sound disposing mind and memory to the best of the knowledge and belief of him, the Deponent, and that Terence Kerin and Joseph Cary, together with the Deponent, subscribed the said will as witnesses thereto in the Testators Presence.

--Thomas Tredwell

The People of the State of New York, by the grace of God, Free and Independent, to all to whom these Presents shall come or may Concern, Send Greeting.  Know Ye that at the City of New York, on the day of the date hereof, before Thomas Tredwell Esquire, Judge of our Court of Probates, the last will and testament of William Winterton, deceased, (a copy whereof is hereunto annexed) was proved and is now approved and allowed of by us and the said deceased having, whilst he lived and at the time of his death, goods, chattels, and credit within this State, by means whereof the proving and registering the said will and the granting administration of all and singular the said goods, chattels, and credits and also the auditing, allowing, and final discharging the account thereof doth belong unto us, the administration of all and singular the goods, chattels, and credits of the said deceased and any way concerning his will, is granted unto Ann Winterton, the Executrix in the said will named, she being first duly sworn well and faithfully to administer the same and to make and exhibit a true and perfect inventory of all and singular the said goods, chattels, and credits and also to render a just and true account there of when thereunto required.

In Testimony whereof we have caused the seal of our Court of Probates to be hereunto affixed.  Witness Thomas Tredwell, Esquire, Judge of our said Court at the City of New York, the eighth day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty five.

--Dav Judson Clk

Family Picture from eBay

Another Duryea family image found on eBay- IF the label is correct.  This is a tintype mounted in a paper sleeve.  "Seth and Eliza Duryea & Lucile Raymond" is written in black ink on the paper sleeve.

Seth is an unusual name in the Duryea family.  There are two candidates for the male subject of this picture, both born about 1890.  One was in Nebraska; the other in Lewisboro, Westchester County, New York.  Seth Duryea (1889-1927) from New York had an older sister named Eliza (1896-1966).  Their parents were Stephen C Duryea (1857-1923) and Susan Ophelia Austin (1857-1933).  [Two years ago, letters to this Stephen C Duryea appeared on eBay.  Makes me think there was an estate sale and more goodies might turn up.]

In the 1910 census, Lucile Raymond, age 19, is enumerated on the same page as Seth and Eliza Duryea.  I think this makes a good case that the tintype's label applies to this group of individuals.  Posing for a picture together perhaps indicates that there is a familial relationship between Duryea and Raymond.
 

Donald Riley, born in Ohio in 1922, applied for membership to the National Society, Sons of the American Revolution under Sands Raymond (1730-1797).  [Images of the applications are available at Ancestry.com.]  Donald wrote that he was the son of John Henry Riley Jr and Lucile Raymond, and that Lucile's parents were Charles Asa Raymond and Nancy Denman.

If anyone has any other known or suspected photographs of any of these individuals, we can compare them for similarities.