You all,

[It's all right for me to use that phase because after all we are a "Southern" family]

I have wanted to let all of you know something about the status of the Renny Belue/ Belew DNA Project.

To do this, please see the Word attachment which is a three plus page narrative. I have inserted some not very readable truncated data tables into the Word document. This is to give you a preview. I am also attaching an Excel file with three different full up versions of the data tables for those of you that have Excel on your computer. I can send hard copies if you would like to see it that way. Just send me your address.

Helen B. of Tishomingo, AL has been my co-partner on this project. Much of the success of this endeavor has been because of her. Both of us have had great fun and some days so exciting we couldn't stand it.

You all take care and have a great July. We hope to have another update out soon as soon as we make some sense of all the data that we are collecting.

Sincerely,

Ron Mitchell


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Copied from the Word document...

July 2007 Update on Renny Belew DNA Project

Background.
Three known direct-male descendants of Renny Belew submitted DNA samples for analysis. They are Thomas Dale Belew of Loveland, Co; Paul Lee Belew of now Cripple Creek, CO (until recently of Woodward, OK); and Herschel (Bud) W. Belew, Jr. of Huntsville, Alabama.

Immediately, we discovered matches with two other individuals already in the Ballew Family DNA Project database. They are Troy Belew of Oneonta, AL, and Thomas Malon Ballew of Dacula, GA. Troy and Thomas M., however, have not yet discovered how they are connected to Renny. The connection could be a generation or two, or possibly, even three or four generations back. The task is now to use more traditional genealogical research on their lines to see where and when our lines may have intersected. All 5 participates tested at the 37-marker level and now together constitute “Group 2” on the Ballew Family DNA website.

We also discovered DNA matches with several other individuals that have non-Ballew/Belew surnames i.e., Farmer, Jackson, Cardwell, and Pruett/Pruitt. We are currently in correspondence with these individuals to learn about their respective family genealogies. Helen B. of Tishomingo, MS, my close partner in this endeavor, has now had some contact with each of the “non-Belew” lines and collecting family history information from each one. We hope to identify some common thread that links these lines. This may be in the form of kinships, common geographic locations, and time frames when our our Belew line may have been in close contact with these other lines. It was not uncommon for neighbors and extended families to intermarry and live near each other for several generations. Sometimes several of the same families in an area relocated to new lands together. We are hoping this information may provide valuable clues to Renny’s pre-Union County, SC, origins.

Table 1 shows the DNA results for the Ballew/Belew and non-Ballew/Belew surname participants. Here immediately below is a truncated version of the table.

Table 1. Renny Belew DNA Project Test Results with Non-Belew Surname Matches


Loci Number: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Hershel Belew a 12 24 14 11 11 14 12 12 11 13 14 29 18 9
Paul L. Belew a 12 24 14 11 11 14 12 12 12 13 14 29 18 9
Thomas L. Belew a 12 24 14 11 11 14 12 12 12 13 14 29 18 9
Troy Bellew 12 24 14 11 11 14 12 12 12 13 14 29 18 9
Thomas M. Ballew 12 24 14 11 11 14 12 12 13 13 14 29 18 9
L. Jackson 12 24 14 11 11 14 12 12 12 13 14 29 18 9
David Lee Farmer 12 24 14 11 11 14 12 12 12 13 14 29 18 9
H.G. Farmer 12 24 14 10 11 14 12 12 12 13 14 29 18 9
Rand Cardwell 12 24 14 11 11 14 12 12 12 13 14 29 17 9
T. Pruett 12 24 14 11 11 14 12 12 12 13 14 29 17 9
E. W. Pruitt 12 24 14 11 11 14 12 12 12 13 14 29 17 9
Modal Values 12 24 14 11 11 14 12 12 12 13 14 29 18 9

The full up version of Table 1 can be seen in the Excel attachment, showing data for all 37 markers. There are a lot of numbers in the table, and for us lay people the numbers do not have much meaning. To the DNA expert, the specific numbers are a type of shorthand description of the complex patterns found at a specific location on the Y-chromosome. What is important for us to note is how closely the DNA patterns match. There are four exact matches and five individuals with only one number different out of 37 markers. What this means to me is that we have a good set of numbers that well represent Renny’s DNA values for these 37 markers and we have strong matches.

Table 2 compares the 7 distinct subgroups, representing a total of 47 individuals, in the Ballew DNA Project data base, against the Group 2 or “Renny” group. The “nn/25” show the degree of agreement with the Group 2 set of numbers on the basis of 25 markers with 25/25 being a perfect match.

Table 2. DNA Project Group Modal Haplotype Results
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Group
1 13 24 14 10 11 13 12 12 11 11 13 27 17 9 10 11 11 25 15 19 29 15 15 16 18
14/25
2 12 24 14 11 11 14 12 12 12 13 14 29 18 9 10 11 11 25 15 19 30 15 15 17 17
25/25
3 14 24 15 10 14 15 11 13 12 13 12 29 14 8 10 11 11 25 14 20 28 11 14 14 15
8/25
4 13 24 15 11 11 15 12 12 10 13 13 29 16 9 10 11 11 25 15 19 29 13 15 16 18
15/25
5 13 23 14 10 14 14 11 14 12 12 11 28 16 8 9 8 11 23 16 20 28 12 13 15 16
4/25
6 13 26 15 11 11 14 12 12 11 13 13 30 17 9 10 11 11 25 15 20 29 14 15 17 17
15/25
Irish Origin 13 24 16 11 13 17 11 13 11 12 11 28 18 8 10 10 12 25 15 21 28 14 14 15 15
6/25
Matches to Group 2 shown in blue & non-matches in red.
Source: Ballew Genealogy DNA Project -- Results Page

A more readable version of Table 2 is included in the Excel attachment. Use the tab at the bottom of the Excel file labeled “Table 2 Group Comparison.” To see the full Ballew DNA project data base results go to http://ballew.familydna.net/results_page.php

What we have learned from the analysis.
With the DNA results from Renny’s direct-male line we are now able to state with a high confidence that Renny’s line is not connected to several specific Ballew/ Belew lines. Among those his line is not associated with are:
-- Leonard Belew, b. 1646 (Group 1);
-- Dave Ballew, 1789 (Group 3);
-- Rice Merideth Ballew, 1706 (Group 4);
-- George Washington Ballew, 1847 (Group 5);
-- Abraham Bellew, 1745 (Group 6);
-- or with any of the individuals shown in Group 7 on the Ballew Family website.

Knowing to whom Renny Belew is not connected is an important step forward in discovering Renny’s heritage and focusing further research.

What we don’t know.
The type of DNA analysis we are using for genealogical purposes is not all that helpful in identifying specific individuals in the past. It is not the same as a DNA paternity test in which a specific individual at hand is tested for many more markers and that are unique to that particular person. The type of DNA analysis we are focuses on markers that remain the same through many generations from father-to-son. The problem is when we have a match we can not tell when that association occurred. A match with Renny’s DNA line could have occurred in Renny’s era, a generation before, or even from hundreds of years earlier.

What’s next.
First, further research on Troy Belew’s and Thomas Ballew’s lines is needed to see if we can find a historical connection. Second, we need to collect pertinent information on the non-Belew/Ballew surnames where DNA matches to Renny’s line occurred. When we assemble the details we may have a better idea of what the common thread might be. For example, we may be able to identify common locations for the Farmers, Jacksons, Cardwells, and Pruitts that could help us pick up Renny Belew’s trail.

On another note, some of the information on the non-Belew/Ballew surname matches may help confirm, or refute, speculation about Giles and Judith Chastain Belew of Goochland County, VA, as potential parents to Renny. Giles Beloe, died in 1728, leaving one child of record – Peter Belew. According to multiple court appearances in Amelia and Goochland counties in the 1730s and early 1740s, however, Judith Chastain Belew continued to have children some ten years after Giles’ death. Could Renny be a legitimate child of Giles and Judith, just not recorded? Or could Renny be one of these post-1728 offspring?

Again thanks to DNA analysis, we may know in a few weeks if Renny was indeed a legitimate child of Giles. Helen B. was able to locate a direct male descendant of Peter Belew, and by extension Giles Belew. Terry Belew, the living male descendant of Peter, readily accepted an invitation to participate in our DNA project. We are now awaiting the results of his 37-marker test from Family Tree DNA. If Terry’s results match what we have for Renny’s line, we can then say with a high probability that Renny was indeed a child of Giles Beloe. If the results do not match, then we can rule out that Renny was from Giles once and for all.

Important Support Received.

I want you to know that Helen B. has been a tremendous source of encouragement and motivation. She also has been a great recruiter – very often the initial contact for many of the people we contacted. Helen also has been great in following up, collecting information, and, in general, keeping things organized and moving forward.

Of course, the project could not have moved forward at all without Tom, Paul and Herchel submitting their DNA samples for analysis. We are most grateful for their willingness to take a chance and parting with some of their treasure to advance this cutting-edge approach of finding Renny’s origins.

We have also had great support from many others who have spent years of effort acquiring information on the Belew family and have been most generous in sharing this information. We will need more of that knowledge now to follow-up on what the DNA analysis has revealed. Thank you all for your encouragement and other support.

Conclusion.

In short, this experiment has turned out better than I had expected. I do believe we now have some good clues that we can use to discover Renny’s pre- Fairforest origins. It has been a lot of work but at the same time very exciting and gratifying for Helen and myself.

Thank you all for your support. I am most pleased.

Sincerely,

Ron Mitchell


P.S. Tab 3 in the Excel file labeled “Table 3 DNA Results…” shows the same data as Table 1 but is arranged in columns rather than rows for each of the individuals. Some might find that table easier to read.