Rough Start - Robert Shane

My 5th Great Grandfather, Robert Shane, had a pretty rough start in life.  Robert was born in 1745, 31 years before the Revolutionary War.  His father and mother lived in New Jersey, a English colony. His father is presumed to have immigrated from Ireland where he was a member of Clan McShane. (McShane is like Johnson in Ireland; both Johnson and McShane literally mean 'Son of John.')

Before Robert was born, his mother received notice that while her husband was in New York Colony on business he was seized and impressed into service into the British Navy.   Robert's mother was called to New York to receive a small bounty from Great Britain due to her husband's impressment.  While in New York Colony, she gave birth to Robert on Long Island.  She nor Robert ever saw Robert's father again.

When Robert was 7 they were living in New Jersey.  One day his mother decided to visit some friends in New York.  She came to Robert's school to tell him goodbye.  She moved away, married, and deserted Robert.  Robert was apprenticed by local authorities to a harsh, unfair man to learn the trade of weaving.  He stayed until he was 14.  His only possession was a single pair of pants - no shoes, no shirts, no jacket, no blankets.   The master's cruelty was brought to the attention of authorities and he was deemed to have broken the agreement.  Robert was free.  

Robert's fortune took a decidedly better turn after this. He began working for a Quaker family where he stayed for 10 years and was able to save ￡70 pounds (worth a little over $30K in today's dollars).  He used the money to purchase land along the Monongahela River in Washington County, Pennsylvania colony.  

He married and they had 13 children of which 11 reached adulthood. The family didn't stay in Pennsylvania permanently.  Many of the Scots preferred living in less settled areas.  So when Ohio opened up, the family moved West. 

Robert's life is a tale of grit and triumph over hardships.  But, after all, the McShane clan motto is : Nothing Worth Having Comes Easily.

Who's your daddy?

The prevalence of DNA testing has uncovered quite a few secrets and surprises.   DNA testing revealed an inaccuracy in the assumed genealogy line in some of the Plymouth Colony Fullers from Redenhall England.  

Two Fuller brothers, Samuel and Edward, came over on the Mayflower. Edward's son, Samuel (BTW there were a LOT of Samuels), also came on the Mayflower with his parents at age 12.   Matthew Fuller came to the colony a few years later and was presumed to be Edward's son.   That presumption prevailed for decades.

Enter 21st Century DNA testing and Y-DNA identification.  Most of the DNA in humans is packaged into 23 pairs of chromosomes. The first 22 pairs are matching, meaning that they contain roughly the same DNA inherited from both parents. The 23rd pair is different because in males, the pair does not match. The chromosomes in this pair are known as "sex" chromosomes and they have different names: X and Y. Typically, females have two X chromosomes (XX) and males have one X and one Y (XY).

Genetic males receive a copy of their father's Y chromosome   Genetic females do not receive a copy of their father's Y chromosome. The genetic variants found on the Y chromosome are analyzed In order to assign a paternal haplogroup.  A haplogroup is a genetic group of people who share a common ancestor on either their maternal or paternal line. Haplogroups are defined by shared, inherited genetic markers or mutations. 

By examining the DNA charts of known descendants of Samuel (son of Edward) and Matthew, it was discovered that Edward was not Matthew's father; and Samuel and Matthew were not brothers.  Using the DNA charts of other Plymouth colony Fullers, it was discovered that Matthew was most closely related to Robert Fuller who immigrated from England to Plymouth Colony in 1638 on the ship Bevis probably as part of the crew.  My mother whose maiden name was Fuller is descended from Robert. 

When the family tree stops branching - Cousin Marriages

I've ran across quite a few cousin marriages in my family tree.  Today's example comes from 1678 Barnstable, British Massachusetts Bay Colony when 22-year-old John Fuller married his 18 year-old first cousin once removed, Mehitable Rowley.  

Mehitable's mother, Elizabeth Fuller, and John were first cousins because their fathers were brothers.  (Sidenote: This whole bunch belongs to Mayflower passenger Edward Fuller.)

It doesn't seem too scandalous to my sensibilities since the bride and groom are close in age.  With the combination of large families living and working together and limited opportunity to meet others was a perfect storm for inter-familial marriages. 

Cousin marriage was legal everywhere in the US before the Civil War.   There was a cultural shift away from cousin marriage because such marriages were seen as a remnant of a more primitive stage of human social organization.  

Cousin marriage was practiced to keep cultural values intact, preserve family wealth, maintain geographic proximity, keep tradition, strengthen family ties, and maintain family structure.   In other words, it was seen as old fashioned.  Opinion favoring keeping the bloodline within the family gave way to the idea that variety will increase the vigor and variety of the gene pool.

Currently, 24 US states ban marriage between first cousins, 19 states allow marriages between first cousins, and seven U.S. states allow only some marriages between first cousins. In such states, marriages between cousins are allowed in a variety of circumstances such as: when the cousins are over 65; or when cousins are over 55 and at least one is infertile; or the cousins have undergone genetic screening.   

From a worldwide perspective, it appears cousin marriage is allowed more than restricted. Cousin marriage is accepted in Europe, Canada, Mexico, South America, parts of Africa, the Middle East, Japan, and Australia. 

Cousin marriage is legally prohibited in mainland China, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea, and the Philippines.