Origin in southwest France for the Bays/Baze/Baize lines of Peter (I)
The following information applies to the Bays/Baze/Baize (Bayes/Baise, etc.) lines who descend from Peter Bayes/Peter Bays (I) (est. b.ca1690) of Virginia and who belong to the E3b1a haplogroup (likely "E-V13" aka E3b1a2).[This includes the Baze/Baize families who descend from Abednego Baze (b.ca1783, VA) and the Baize families who descend from Abednego's likely brother, John Baize (b.1781, VA).] It may or may not apply to the Bays lines who descend from the John Bays families who lived in Pittsylvania Co., VA in the 1700's and who have thus far been found to belong to the unrelated R1b1 haplogroup (through testing in the Bays/Baze/Baize DNA Project at FamilyTreeDNA).
An interesting theory was presented by Abraham D. Lavender, Ph.D in a 1996 article* which, if true, appears to harmonize the alleged French Huguenot ancestry [via Peter (I)] for our Bays/Baze/Baize lines with a Jewish ancestral theory first presented by David Baize in 2006 based on his analysis of the Bays/Baze/Baize haplotype (it was only in 2007 that DNA testing revealed that the Bays/Bayes and Baze/Baize lines of families are related and that both descend from Peter (I) or his ancestors). Assuming the French Huguenot and Jewish aspects are true, then Dr. Lavender's theory, which proposes that some French Huguenots may have originally been Spanish Jews who fled from Spain (or Portugal) beginning in the 1300's to escape persecution (and eventually the Spanish Inquisition), allows us for the first time to potentially pinpoint our Bays/Baze/Baize family's likely European geographical origin as being in the southwest of France near the Pyrenees mountains which border Spain. This is also consistent with the theory of a French woman, Yves Bazé (accent mark on the "e"), who lives in this same part of France in the town of Bayonne and who made several postings to our GenForums in 2004/2005 regarding her belief that the French Pyrénées were the likely origin for our surname (Bayes, Bays, Baze, Baize, Baise, etc.). We can't at this time say with any certainty that we are of Jewish origin through the DNA testing, because the genetically closest E3b1a2 (E-V13) individuals of known Jewish ancestry who have been tested thus far (as part of the E3b Jewish Project at FTDNA) have genetic "distances" of about twelve (12) units from our lines (at the 37-marker level), which is far too great to show a familial relationship. But perhaps this might change as more Jewish individuals are tested.
In any event, whether of proven distant Jewish ancestry or not, we now seem to have a specific area in France, and even specific cities (e.g., Bayonne and Bordeaux - see Lavender's article*), to focus on for finding Frenchmen with surnames similar to ours to be tested in the Bays/Baze/Baize DNA Project in order to attempt to determine whether this possible geographical origin for our family is indeed correct. Unfortunately, I've thus far been unable to contact Yves Bazé, as male members of her family would be an excellent place to begin testing, but will continue trying. Finding relatives in Europe could potentially help us extend our genealogy back well prior to Peter (I).
If anyone would like to participate in the DNA Project for our surnames, signup is here:
https://www.familytreedna.com/surname_join.aspx?code=F74581&special=true
We are needing direct male descendants to take at least a 37-marker level Y-DNA test (12 and 25 markers are no longer helpful at this point - with the exception of test-takers living in France).
*Here is the article by Dr. Lavender referred to above:
SEARCHING FOR CRYPTO-JEWS IN FRANCE:
FROM SPANISH JEWS TO FRENCH HUGUENOTS
by Abraham D. Lavender, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Florida International University, Miami, Florida
from HaLapid, December 1996:
http://www.cryptojews.com/HUGANOTS.htmlhttp://www.cryptojews.com/HUGANOTS.html
More Replies:
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Re: Origin in southwest France for the Bays/Baze/Baize lines of Peter (I)
Mark Baze 12/20/07