Music/Musick family DNA Project
The Musick Family Association of America enthusiastically announces the beginning of a project to study our family DNA, and the history and geographical information it provides. Sorry, but scientific limitations permit participation to males only, who believe they are descended from George Musick, Sr, "The Pioneer." The following posting by our President, Doyle Music, gives the best description. All are invited to participate. We especially need identifiable descendants of Elexious, Ephraim, Abraham, Daniel, Ambrose, and George Jr., sons of George Musick, Sr., "The Pioneer." Both Musics and Musicks are welcome. Doyle writes:
Dear Group,
An update on what's happening on the DNA front.
I have spoken to Scott Vaughn and Jortis Webb who have agreed to help out with the DNA project.Thanks go to both of them.My biggest fear is that I will under-utilize them as we get this project off the ground.
A project has been established through FamilytreeDNA.com for the Musick surname.You can reach the site at http://www.familytreedna.com/public/musickhttp://www.familytreedna.com/public/musick .There is information on the site about project goals and how to participate, but I'll give some highlights here.It didn't make a lot of sense to undertake an exhaustive all encompassing study entailing unnecessary expenses.( There is no charge to the MFAA for FamilytreeDNA's assistance with the study.They make their money from the testing they provide only.By establishing the family study participants receive testing at a discount.)The project is basically limited to two objectives.1) Establish a DNA baseline for George Sr. by testing a representative sampling of his descendents, i.e. two male descendents from each of his six sons, if they can be found.Once done this will give us and others a bench mark for determining if a person is descended from George Sr.(2Having established George's baseline, we will t
hen have the opportunity to compare our Musick family with those from other regions and countries to see if we are related.Knowing if we are related or not to other families will allow for some deductive genealogy in determining George Sr.'s origins.If we connect with another family and they have information about their family's ancestors it could provide important information about George's ancestors.
Please check out the site and think about how YOU can help by either being tested or finding another that would be willing to test.Cassie, I'm sure I will need your help to make sure we get representatives from all the sons.The question never occurred to me until recently, but do we have male descendents living from each of George's six sons?I always assumed we did but really don't know for sure.
My DNA test results are back and by themselves provide limited information, but some interesting information none the less.For example,there have been numerous theories about the Musick origins.Wales? England? France? Poland? Germany? Russia? Fromunderarock?DNA can not tell you which country you ancestors came from, remember DNA testing shows information that pre-dates even the formation of countries, but it can identify regions and what they call REO (recent ethnic origins).REO's are categorized by Haplotypes.Each Haplotype represents unique ethnic origins.If we assume, for the time being, that our George is directly related to the George Musicke of Soham, England and we assume England as the family origin, we still can not say the Musick's are English in origin because Briton was historically invaded by Romans, Angles, Saxons, and Vikings.Even if the Musick ancestors had been in England for centuries they still could have been descendents of any of these inv
aders.Fortunately, each of these groups is represented by unique Haplotypes.Because of migration though, no single Haplotype is homogeneous in a region.To some degree no doubt, representatives of each Haplotypes can be found in all areas of the world, so we are talking in probabilities not in absolutes.For instance, the Haplotype for Mediterranean Europe (Roman) will be found in England because of some Roman soldiers fathering children there.
Vikings and Anglo/Saxons would be represented in the I Haplotype.
Southern and Eastern Europe (Roman) could be represented by the G and J2 Haplotype.
Slavic populations of Eastern Europe would be represented by R1a Haplotype.
Any of these can be present in England.So, where does it look like the Musicks fall?The most common Haplotype in Western Europe is R1b.It's density is greatest at the western edge of Europe, along the Atlantic Ocean, and decreases as you move east across the European continent until it virtually disappears.The Haplotype has been named the Atlantic Modal Haplotype (AMH).R1b is the Haplotype of the Musick family (based on current information).This means that the Musicks are Celtic and may be Ancient Britons/Celtic,inhabitants of the region prior to its invasion by the Romans.We are not Scandinavian, Anglo/Saxon nor Slavic, but are we Germanic?From what I've been able to understand, no, we are not Germanic.The AMH is represented by DNA markers this way; DYS394=14, DYS388=12, DYS390=24, DYS391=11, DYS392=13, & DYS393=13.If DYS390=24, this indicates Celtic origins and if DYS390=23, this indicates Germanic origins.My and by extension (until others are tested
) your Haplotype, matches the AMH.It seems that 89% to 90% of the male population studied in the Basque region, Wales and Ireland match the AMH.
I hope you all have found this somewhat interesting, but a word of caution I am a novice at this.Please check my assumptions.There's lots of information about this on the internet and elsewhere.If you find something I've missed or misinterpreted, please let me know.
Finally, please contact me to find out about participating.
Doyle
Doyle Music email:[email protected]