Yoder DNA Results — Batch Two Findings

Batch Two Findings from Yoder DNA Project

Data at the 25 marker level is here posted for the second batch of 4 samples.

In reverse order of significance, it reveals:

1) For the 1742 Amish Yoders, the first sample from the YR2 line (YR23) matches the profile of his assumed brother's descendants in the YR1 ("died at sea -- Widow Barbara") line, and that of the unlinked Amishman Yost YRB.(Value of loci "19" of "16")

2) The first sample in the Melchior Yoder line (thru son J. Peter-M6) contained the loci 19 value of the "non-Amish" testees (a value of "15")-- including Conrad Yoder of North Carolina, and Hans the Mennonite of Bucks County. It does have a one position variation in loci 464d, and we may see in about two months when the result comes in for the descendant of Melchiors other son (Jacob Yoders) whether this is a standard mutation in the line, or unique somewhere under J. Peter's descent.

3) There were so many sons of the Nicolaus and Jost Joder lines of Steffisburg, who seem to have left that town by 1700, and then "disappeared", that I have wondered for many years if they could be among the Jodres in the Palatinate, some of whom became Yordy or Yorty (like the former Los Angeles Mayor) or Yotty in the US. Some of these folk settled in Anabaptist communities in Germany and Alsace, and families came to the US as early as 1717, with others arriving in the middle 19th century. So far we have two testees from the Yordy/Yotty family from Bavaria to Illinois in the mid 19th Century. The first of these has 25 marker results back which show a 23 of 25 marker match to the line with a loci 19 value of the "non-Amish" profile. This degree of match, according to Family Tree" means "You and the other person(s) have matched in 23, 24 or 25 loci, which means that there is a 99.9% likelihood you have a common ancestor." We are working to find a test volunteer from the earlier immigrant line of the Peter Yorty who was in Lancaster Co, PA. by 1717.

4) Either the pattern with a loci 19 of "15" or of "16" represents a branch off of a more ancient ancestral line. It would be a reasonable hypothesis at this point that the "Amish" profile (the one with a loci 19 of "16") is the varience (aka Mutation), and that the profile with Loci 19 value of "15" is the more ancient of the two. This hypothesis is based on the very wide array of pre-immigrant lines showing the "15" value, as compared to the much more narrow family group in the current Amish samples (which are children of two brothers and one "other" Amishman).

5) Two samples from the line of Hans, son of Hans of the Oley line (OH1), DO NOT show a match to the rest of the Yoders. Either some early actions (such as unrecorded adoptions) occurred in this line, or they represent a lineage which is completely separate from the other Yoder families. This later event would completely rewrite a basic premise of Yoder family history. We have additional samples outstanding, and continue to seek samples in the family of Yost Yoder, brother of Hans. These should help us further understand what we are seeing for this line.