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First allow me to state who I am. My name is Larry Vizenor and the Vizenor Family of Minnesota are the descendants of a French Canadian settler named Pierre Vezina.
In the process of working on my family ancestry, on the internet, I have run across several sites i.e. French Connection and Yahoo Message Boards which have made reference to Vezina being a French name of Sephardic origins. At first, I simply dismissed this as being the result of mere spelling coincidence as the original ancestor was named Vesinat and not Vezina. However, to reassure myself I engage in some additional internet research. Now, I happen to know that there are certain genetic diseases unique to Jewish people so I figure lets see if French Canadians have any incidence of similar genetic diseases. To my surprize I discover that the carrier rate for Tay Sachs disease is nearly the same amoungst descendants of the Eastern Saint Laurence Valley as it is amoungst Ashkenazi Jews. Naturally this discovery re-invigorates my interest in the possibility that Vezinas may be of Sephardic origins.
At this point in the reasoning process it occurs to me that, as a male, I happen to possess one vital little item remaining from Jacques Vesinat which might be instrumental in making a determination as to the possible origins of Jacques Vesinat. That item, of course, is my Y chromozome.
At this point I order a 12 marker Y chromozome DNA test from Family Tree DNA with hopes of determining the ethnic origins of my Y chromozome.
The results having now been returned and posted at Family Tree DNA it appears that my Y chromozome belongs to haplogroup G. Haplogroup G is not of European origin.
All haplogroup G males are the descendants of a single male who lived about 30,000 years ago in the area of Pakistan. This ancient male had a mutation (M201) on his Y chromozome which all his descendants carry and is identifiable by means of DNA analysis. Many of the descendants of this male end up moving into the Middle East and are, in part, the ancestors of the people of the Old Testament. Around 5000 BC some of these G haplogroup people migrate into Europe bringing agriculture with them. As a result of this early migration there exists a small constituency of haplogroup G in the current population of Europe. In Northern Europe 1 to 3 % of the population has haplogroup G Y chromozomes. In Spain about 8%, Italy about 10%, and Georgia 30%.
Now it happens that haplogroup G is not just G. There are subclades called G1, G2, and G3 which can reveal more information as to origin. It seems that most people of European origins (those descendants of the haplogroup G population that migrated 5000 years ago) will test out as G2 haplogroup. In contrast people of Jewish origins who test out as haplogroup G will do so as 3 times more G1 than G2. With this additional information in mind I order another test to determine whether my Y chromozome is G1 or G2. At this time I am awaiting the official results of the test, but have noticed that Family Tree DNA has already taken it upon themselves to post G1 to my DNA search page on their data base.
One of the features of Family Tree DNA is that you are able to search their data base for related people who have also taken the test. Interestingly, I have found an exact match to my 12 markers in an individual named Green who's oldest known ancestor is named William Green (born 1834) who was born in South Carolina. At first this seems incomprehensible. How is it possible for a descendant of a French Canadian family from Quebec to share a common ancestor with a fellow named Green from South Carolina?
I should point out that an exact 12 marker match means there is a 90% probability that two individuals share a common male ancestor no longer than 48 generations past. By their generational calculations this would be no farther back than about 500 AD.
At any rate, following a little research into the history of South Carolina I discover that it is home to the largest settlement of Huguenots in America. For those not familiar with Huguenots, they were the Protestants of France who were expelled at the end of the 17th century. Interestingly, many of the Huguenots came from the area of LaRochelle, France which of course is where Jacques Vesinat came from. It would seem likely that the original North American ancestor of the Green family from South Carolina was, at some level, a cousin of Jacques Vesinat.
Although not available for contact there are two other exact 12 marker matches from England as well as several 11 of 12 marker matches (common ancestor in last 85 generations) from various locations in Europe.
Allow me to point out that all of the above is dependant on the conclusions drawn from a tissue sample of a single Vezina descendant, namely me. To preclude the possibility of a false paternity, or unknown adoption, testing of additional male Vezina descendants would be required.
With this in mind let me encourage other male Vezinas to participate in this DNA testing procedure at Family Tree DNA. A 12 marker test runs about 160 dollars.
Notice! To any male descendant of Laurent Vezina, born 2 Nov 1791, married 27 Sept 1813, to Susanne Perrault I will be willing to pay the cost of a DNA test as I have an interest in determining if Laurent Vezina was father of the Pierre Vezina who is the common ancestor of the Vizenors of Minnesota. Additional information regarding Laurent Vezina: Laurent Vezina was the son of Nicolas Vezina and Marguerite Archambault and lived in St. Roch L'Achigan, Quebec. Records indicate Laurent Vezina and Susanne Perrault had a son named Pierre born 28 July 1834.
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