24 May 2016

SNP Results for Tester in Cooley Group CF02

A descendant of Abraham Cooley (c1740-1820) has tested positive for Y-SNP Y15926. To date, this is the terminal SNP for David Cooley, a prior president of the Cooley Family Association of America and descendant of Benjamin Cooley (c1615-1684) of Springfield, MA. This marker, however, is about 2500 years old and, therefore, can't be used as evidence that Abraham was Benjamin's descendant. Still, its appearance has prompted me to make a small change in the way I have the group organized, which will continue to evolve as new genetic evidence comes in.

I've moved the test results for Hezekiah Cooley's descendant, once part of the original broad grouping of CF02, to CF03. That tester is positive for U152 which is negative for all other CF02 members, including David. The results for Abraham and his brother Thaddeus Cooley (-1814) of Wythe County, VA are now in CF02/C. By definition, like David, both would be negative for U152. Likewise, the two testers in CF02/A are negative for it.

Another descendant of Benjamin's is waiting for Big Y lab results. Because he's descended from a different son than David is, all shared SNPs have come to them from Benjamin. Their SNP differences, which may be no more than a dozen or so each, will have emerged during their separate lineages from Benjamin. Once the lab results are completed and analyzed, we will know Benjamin's terminal SNP, one that would be roughly contemporaneous with his birth in c1615. Others can then test for that SNP. But because we won't know exactly when it came into Benjamin's own Y-lineage, those who descend from a collateral line might share it. Testing individually for the SNP, then, will not prove descent from Benjamin but the likelihood of it will be strengthened. Of course, those who will be negative for the now-hypothetical Benjamin SNP could not possibly be a descendant of his, and that in itself will hold significant value for such testing.

For more information, see the Y-STR results at the Cooley DNA Project as well as additional postings here.