Advances in Wathen Y-DNA Research

Although there have been many developments in genealogy over the past twenty years, recent advances in DNA testing are perhaps the most significant. Genetic testing can often help resolve genealogical mysteries that have remained unsolved for decades.

A Personal Testimony

My own interest in family history began more than a decade ago with a series of unexpected emails. Because I work at St. Aloysius Church in Leonardtown, St. Mary’s County, my name has tended to appear in online searches such as “St. Mary’s County Wathens.” Over the years, a few people have reached out to ask whether I knew anything about John Wathen, a carpenter who sailed from Bristol to Southern Maryland in 1670. Many Wathens and Warthens from across the United States trace their ancestry to this early settler.

I decided to begin researching my own family tree, and I discovered that there are three distinct branches of Wathens in Southern Maryland: the descendants of James Hanson Wathen (c. 1765–1826), of George W. Wathen (c. 1803–1852), and of Benedict Aloysius Wathen (c. 1830–1873). Despite extensive research of the available records, no one could figure out how these three branches were connected to one another or to the original settler, John Wathen.

With my curiosity piqued, I turned to genetic testing to help solve this baffling puzzle. By studying books like The Genealogist's Guide to Y-DNA Testing for Genetic Genealogy, I began to understand how Y-DNA might be able to piece together the Wathen family tree. I eventually decided to recruit Y-DNA test takers from Southern Maryland and around the country in hopes of finding the answers I was seeking.

Genetics 101

Each of us generally has 23 chromosome pairs: 22 pairs of autosomal chromosomes and one pair of allosomal (sex) chromosomes, inherited from our mother and father. Most of our biology is shaped by our autosomal chromosomes, but our biological sex is determined by our allosomal chromosomes. Females have two X-chromosomes, while males have one X-chromosome and one Y-chromosome.

Most chromosomes are a seemingly random blend of DNA from both parents. To use an imperfect analogy, imagine shuffling together two decks of cards, then cutting the deck to form a new one. Most of your genes contain bits of genetic material from each parent, spliced together to form a new and unique set of chromosomes.

The Y-chromosome, however, behaves very differently. Because males inherit Y-DNA only from their fathers, the Y-chromosome is passed on intact – that is, unshuffled – from father to son. Imagine a deck of cards in a specific order (Ace of Spades, King of Hearts, Two of Clubs, and so on) that is handed down, generation after generation, without ever being shuffled. You can imagine how powerful that kind of consistent genetic connection across generations is in genealogical research.

An Introduction to Genetic Testing

There are several types of DNA tests that are available commercially these days. The most popular kind of test – available from companies like 23andMe, AncestryDNA, FamilyTreeDNA, Findmypast, and MyHeritage – compares your autosomal DNA (not Y-DNA) to others to help you find cousins and estimate your ethnic group. By measuring how much autosomal DNA you share with a relative, you can estimate how closely you are related. Autosomal DNA tests are effective at identifying relatives within the past five generations or so, but they become much less helpful beyond that range.

Unlike the more popular autosomal DNA tests, Y-DNA tests offered by companies like FamilyTreeDNA are effective at connecting you to very, very distant relatives on your paternal line – i.e., the genetic line of your father, his father, his father, his father, etc. Instead of focusing on all 23 chromosome pairs, these tests examine the one male Y-chromosome that is passed down from father to son over many generations.

Because last names are usually passed from fathers, Y-DNA tests are extremely helpful for tracing a particular surname, like the Wathens. In other words, all male-line genetic descendants of John Wathen should have very similar Y-chromosomes today, even though more than ten generations have passed.

Two Types of Markers

Even though Y-chromosomes are passed down unshuffled, small copying errors are sometimes introduced from one generation to the next. When these “mutations” occur, they are then passed on to all future generations, giving each branch of a family tree its own genetic signature. Y-DNA tests allow you to compare two different kinds of markers on the Y-chromosome – STR markers and SNPs – so that you can estimate how closely related two males are.

Each chromosome is made up of four different types of building blocks called nucleotides, represented by the letters A, T, G, and C: adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G), and cytosine (C). The male Y-chromosome, which is one of the smallest human chromosomes, contains a sequence of about 60 million pairs of these nucleotides!

An STR, or short tandem repeat, is a place in your DNA code where a sequence of nucleotides – represented by the letters A, T, G, and C – repeats a certain number of times. A Y-37 test from FamilyTreeDNA, which is currently their most basic test, looks for repeating patterns at thirty-seven specific locations on the Y-chromosome and reports the number of repeats. For example, if the pattern “AGAT” repeats 11 times at one of those 37 locations on the Y-chromosome, your Y-DNA results will report a value of 11 for that STR marker. These STR values are usually the same from father to son, but occasionally increase or decrease from one generation to the next. The more closely the STR results of two test takers match, the more closely the two test takers are most likely related.

A SNP (pronounced “snip”), or single nucleotide polymorphism, is a very small mutation – the change of a single letter – on your DNA code. Once these mutations occur, they are passed down to all future generations and seldom change back, making SNPs even more reliable for genealogical research than STR markers. As SNPs at new locations on the Y-chromosome are discovered, they are given unique alphanumeric names, like A13102 or BY11750. If two males share a set of SNPs on their Y-DNA, then you can be very confident that they both inherited those SNPs from a shared ancestor.

FamilyTreeDNA’s Big Y-700, which is currently their most advanced and most expensive Y-DNA test, reports 700 STR values and hundreds of thousands of SNPs on the Y-chromosome. Big Y-700 test takers are organized into Y-chromosome “haplogroups” based on the SNPs that they share and are placed on FamilyTreeDNA’s “Big Y Block Tree” to show which other test takers belong to their branch and closely related branches.

To put this all in very practical and simple terms, by comparing Y-DNA tests – especially Big Y-700 tests – from Wathens and Warthens around the country, we can get a clearer picture of how the various branches of the Wathen family tree fit together. The Warthen–Worthen–Wathen FamilyTreeDNA group project gathers test takers and allows them to compare results. There were two Big Y-700 test takers in the project who descend from John Wathen when I began my research, and I’ve since helped to recruit eight more.

My Own Branch of the Family Tree

As I began to recruit Wathen and Warthen Y-DNA test takers in 2021, the test results helped me to confidently place my ancestor, Benedict Aloysius Wathen (c. 1830–1873), on John Wathen’s family tree.

First, I discovered that all confirmed descendants of the colonial immigrant John Wathen share a distinctive SNP named A9040. All three local branches, including that of Benedict Aloysius Wathen, also possessed this SNP.

Two test takers from Southern Maryland – kit 834650, a descendant of Benedict Aloysius Wathen, and kit MK74705, a descendant of George W. Wathen – share SNPs FT274726 and FT460575 with kit B534451, who descends from John through Hudson. These SNPs are not found in kit 978240, who descends from John through Ignatius.

From this we can conclude:

1. SNPs FT274726 and FT460575 were not inherited from John Wathen himself, but arose on the line of his son, Hudson.
2. Kit 834650, descendant of Benedict Aloysius Wathen, and kit MK74705, descendant of George W. Wathen, inherited SNPs FT274726 and FT460575 from Hudson Wathen or one of his descendants.

With this Y-DNA evidence, we can say with confidence that Benedict Aloysius Wathen and George W. Wathen descend from the colonial immigrant John Wathen through John’s son, Hudson.

Kits 834650 and MK74705 also share yet another Y-DNA mutation, SNP FTB74899, that is not shared by kit B534451 (…, Hudson², John¹), meaning that Benedict and George W. Wathen shared a still more recent common male ancestor in the male line.

In 2022 I discovered a court document at the Maryland State Archives stating that George W. Wathen was the son of Bennett Wathen Jr. (Bennett³, Hudson², John¹). With this additional discovery, I was able to conclude:

1. SNP FTB74899 did not originate with Hudson but with his son, Bennett Wathen.
2. Kit 834650, descendant of Benedict Aloysius Wathen, and kit MK74705, descendant of George W. Wathen (Bennett⁴, Bennett³, Hudson², John¹), inherited SNP FTB74899 from Bennett Wathen Sr. (Hudson², John¹) or one of his male-line descendants.

To put it very simply, it is clear from Y-DNA data that Benedict Aloysius Wathen is descended from Bennett Wathen Sr. (Hudson², John¹). Y-DNA revealed what records alone could not.

An Overview of Current Findings

While Y-DNA testing helped resolve my own branch, it has also revealed several key new insights that can help other Wathens and Warthens place themselves on the family tree. For example, a careful review of records and genetic testing has narrowed down James Wathen (Henry², John¹) as the most likely father of James Hanson Wathen (c. 1765–1826) and his brother, John Francis Warthen (c. 1776–1838).

FamilyTreeDNA tests have revealed the following information about John Wathen and his five sons (John Jr., Ignatius, James, Hudson, and Henry).

1. John Wathen possessed and handed on SNP A9040 (and many others) to his male-line descendants, though he may have inherited the mutation from his father. All male-line genetic descendants of John Wathen should carry this SNP, but carrying A9040 is not proof that one descends from John, since the mutation may predate him.
2. Hudson Wathen (John¹) possessed and handed on SNP A9040 and SNP FT274726. All male-line descendants of Hudson should carry both SNPs, and the combination of A9040 and FT274726 reliably demonstrates descent from Hudson.
3. Bennett Wathen (Hudson², John¹) possessed and handed on SNP A9040, SNP FT274726, SNP FT460575, and SNP FTB74899. All male-line descendants of Bennett should carry this full set of SNPs, and carrying all four demonstrates descent from Bennett.
4. James Wathen (Henry², John¹) possessed and handed on SNP A9040 and SNP A15638. It is not clear whether A15638 originated with James or with his father, Henry, but all male-line descendants of this branch should carry both SNPs. Possession of A9040 and A15638 indicates descent from Henry perhaps through James, though the exact origin of the mutation is uncertain.
5. Based on current FamilyTreeDNA Big Y-700 testing, neither Ignatius (John¹) nor John Jr. (John¹) appear to have passed on identifiable downstream SNPs beyond A9040. With present data, it is not possible to distinguish between their male-line descendants using Y-DNA alone.

Next Steps in Research

Although many puzzles in Wathen genealogy have been solved over the past few years, genealogy is always an ongoing project. Here are several future areas of investigation:

• Recruiting Wathen Y-DNA test takers from England could reveal additional clues about the ancestry of the colonial settler John Wathen. Although I made efforts to find such test takers in the research for this book, I have not yet been successful. Exploring the Y-DNA of Wathens from places like Herefordshire or Bristol would be a valuable next step.
• There are still several branches of Wathens and Warthens who seem to descend from John Wathen but who have not yet been successfully placed on the family tree. For example, Theodorick Warthen (c. 1782–1857) and Alban Warthen (c. 1788–1834) were half-brothers who were born in Maryland but died in Licking County, Ohio. Nicholas Warthen (c. 1785–1872) was born in Maryland, lived with Theodorick for a time, then died in Chickasaw County, Iowa. No one has successfully connected them to the Wathen family tree.
• As additional Wathens and Warthens from across the United States take Y-DNA tests through FamilyTreeDNA, new genetic findings may emerge. The branches of Ignatius (John¹) and John Jr. (John¹) especially deserve additional exploration. If you are interested in taking a Y-DNA test, please contact me!

For more information

To learn more about John Wathen and his many descendants, see my books:

• The Wathens of Southern Maryland (2023), which traces the families who remained in St. Mary’s and Charles Counties down to the present day.
• Wathen’s Adventure (newly released), which explores John Wathen’s life and the first four generations of his descendants, following them as they moved beyond Southern Maryland into Kentucky, Indiana, and Missouri.

Together, these books aim to preserve the history of a family from Southern Maryland for future generations.