I have been told that my great great grandmother, Vicey May Goff was either a full blooded Cherokee Indian or half Indian. My brother and I have both had DNA’s done with no report of any Indian DNA. I have a picture (tintype) in which she appear to physically resemble a Native American.
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Do you mean Vicie/Vicey May Charles who married a John Mitchell Goff? Her grave is found here:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/181345138
She can be found on the 1870 and 1880 Census living with her parents, John Charles and Luvena Chadwell.
John’s parents were Kentucky settlers that had moved in from Virginia. Luvena’s father, John Chadwell, was from Virginia and he was a physician. Her mother was born in either Virginia or North Carolina (there are conflicting records listing either place). In any event, they married in Pike County, KY in 1836. There is no indication that any of these people were Cherokee or Native American at all. They show up in White society, listed as White on records, etc.
I just had my DNA tested by Family Tree DNA.. It was determined that I belonged to a haplogroup beginning with T, indicating ancestry from western Europe and England/Ireland. There were no clear markers, however, for Native American groups. This was surprising, as some of the family documents clearly indicate Cherokee connections. While researching why this was so, I made a discovery.
DNA testing reveals an individual’s place in a particular genetic branch, called a haplogroups. A haplogroup will indicate a general geographic location where their ancestors lived, plus the migration patterns where the haplogroup followed from the origin point in Africa. Most native American ancestry is found in haplogroups beginning with the letter A,B,C,D or X. The migration pattern for these haplogroups indicates a Pacific Land Bridge migration.
However, one tribe is different: The Cherokee. Several companies have been testing the Native populations on the reservation in North Carolina. Surprisingly, most of these DNA samples are coming back as belonging to haplogroups beginning with T, the same as populations from England/Ireland.
What this means is that it may be nearly impossible, absent of any documentation, to either prove or disprove any Cherokee connections using DNA testing. There are a couple of hints: my own DNA also contained a few markers for Nepalese Sherpa and Eastern Asian and Japanese. Additionally, I had markers for Semetic groups, both Sheperdic and Ashkenazi Jewish. I am told that these markers were also found among Cherokee populations.
I am a decedent from this line as well and have been told the same thing. I am looking into this and will report back here any information I come up with. I also have an image of Vicy and she does have Native American features.