Capt. Daniel Little's Y-Chromosome Markers

L. David Roper (roperld@vt.edu)
(www.roperld.com)

Parents of Capt. Daniel Little?

There are at least three theories about the parents of Capt. Daniel Little:

Using Y-Chromosome Testing to determine the Parents of Capt. Daniel Little

There is a way to settle at least parts, and maybe all, of the question:

  1. Test the Y-chromosomes for two or more male-line Littles that are certain descendants of Capt. Daniel Little.
  2. Test the Y-Chromosomes for two or more male-line Kleins that are certain descendants of Johann Heinrich Klein.
  3. Test the Y-Chromosomes for two or more male-line Clines that are certain descendants of Sebastian Cline.

If all of these tests yield the almost the same Y-chromosome markers, then all three lines came from a common ancestor. If the Capt. Daniel Little male-line tests are quite different from the other two, then we need to look for another set of parents besides Klein or Cline for him; perhaps Irish parents.

Perhaps a more important result of testing many male-line Littles/Kleins/Cline/Klines would be that sets of Y-chromosome markers would be determined for different families and rare random mutations for branches of those families would provide identity markers for the branches. To see how this has worked out for my Roper family, see http://www.roperld.com/roperconnect.htm.

Elementary genetics teaches that a human egg becomes a female embryo when a sperm gives it an X-chromosome and a male embryo when the sperm gives it a Y-chromosome. Thus, the Y-chromosome is passed down generations only through the male line. The only change from one generation to the next is by mutations, which are rare. So one can determine male paternal lineage by comparing the DNA coding of Y-chromosomes.

There are "junk" regions on the Y-chromosome that contain repeated base-pair sets (microsatellites or Short Tandem Repeats or STR). Over time the number of repeats changes due to mutations. The number of repeats at these locations, called “markers” can be used to distinguish different male-line families. Thus, the detailed structure in terms of base-pair coding is not required; only information about certain aspects of a small part of the Y-chromosome is needed. This does not identify the individual, but only the family to which the individual belongs; determining the 12 or 25 markers (see below) is much less information than that obtained by totally sequencing the Y-chromosome. There are several labs that do such work, at a cost of about $100 for 12 markers and $170 for 25 markers per person.

Little Y-Chromosome Testing Project Progress

The results ("alleles") so far are (DYS=DNA Y-chromosome Short Tandem Repeat):

Little Genetics Project Y-chromosome markers (prefix DYS)
(Markers in red differ from the majority of the marker sets.)
Participant DYS393 DYS390 DYS19(394) DYS391 DYS385a DYS385b DYS426 DYS388 DYS439 DYS389-1 DYS392 DYS389-2
DYS458 DYS459a DYS459b DYS455 DYS454 DYS447 DYS437 DYS448 DYS449 DYS464a DYS464b DYS464c DYS464d
DYS460 GATAH4 YCAIIa YCAIIb DYS456 DYS607 DYS576 DYS570 CDYa CDYb DYS442 DYS438
Douglas Clyde Little DCL (James Little descendant) 13 25 14 11 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 29
18 9 9 11 11 25 15 20 29 15 16 17 17
11 10 19 23 15 14 15 17 37 39 12 12
Lawrence Lewis Little, Jr LLL (Peter Little descendant) 13 25 14 12 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 29
18 9 9 11 11 25 15 20 29 15 16 17 17
12 10 19 23 15 14 15 17 37 38 12 12
J Donald Little JDL (Peter Little descendant) 13 25 14 12 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 29
18 9 9 11 11 25 15 20 29 15 15 17 17
(only 25 markers have been measured)
John Paul Little JPL (Daniel Little, Jr. descendant) 13 25 14 12 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 29
18 9 9 11 11 25 15 20 29 15 16 17 17
11 10 19 23 15 14 15 17 37 39 12 12
Allen Wayne Little AWL (not a Capt.Daniel Little descendant) 13 25 14 11 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 29
18 9 9 11 11 25 15 20 29 15 16 17 17
11 10 19 23 16 14 17 17 37 39 12 12
The single relative mutation in the fourth marker for DCL may define the James Little branch of the Capt. Daniel Little family; more such descendants need to be measure to see if that is correct.
The single relative mutation in the 23rd marker for JDL, may define his branch of the Peter Little branch of the Capt. Daniel Little family; however, that marker is a highly variable marker.
The two relative mutations for LLL in the 26th and 35th locations may define his branch of the Peter Little family.
The three relative mutations in the 4th, 30th and 32nd locations for AWL may define his branch of this Klein family.
The fact that the first 12 markers of JPL agree with the first 12 markers of LLL and JDL and that the middle 13 markers of JPL agree with the middle 13 markers of DCL and LLL and that the last 12 markers of JPL agree with the last 12 markers of DCL, indicates that JPL's 37 markers are closer to the markers of Capt. Daniel Little than either DCL, LLL or JDL. Also, the fact that the middle 13 markers of JPL agree with the middle 13 markers of AWL indicate that those are probably the closest to the markers of the their common ancestor. A descendancy chart below indicates that the common ancestor is probably Johann Jacob Klein (b c1679 Germany).

The relative mutations for 25 markers among these five participants are:

Relative
Mutations
DCL LLL JPL JDL AWL
DCL 0
LLL 1 0
JPL 1 0 0
JDL 2 1 1 0
AWL 0 1 1 2 0

Since LLL and JPL descend from different sons of Capt. Daniel Little and they have the same 25 markers, it appears that LLL and JPL probably define the 25 markers for their common ancestor, Capt. Daniel Little. Since DCL and AWL descend from different Klein lines, it appears that DCL and AWL define the 25 markers for the common Klein ancestor of all of them. A descendancy chart below indicates that the common ancestor is probably Johann Jacob Klein (b c1679 Germany).

The relative mutations among the four participants with 37 markers are:

Relative
Mutations
DCL LLL JPL AWL
DCL 0
LLL 3 0
JPL 1 2 0
AWL 3 6 4 0

The larger relative mutations between AWL and the others are due to the fact that his common ancestor with them is further back in time than the other's common ancestor (Capt. Daniel Little).

The following table shows how genealogy indicates that these three participants are related to each other:

Little/Klein/Cline Y-chromosome Project for participants that are believed to be related (Surnames Little omitted.)
(Persons in violet bold have their Y-chromosome 25-markers determined to be the same as Capt. Daniel Little (CDL): 13 25 14 12 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 29 18 9 9 11 11 25 15 20 29 15 16 17 17.) Markers in red are relative mutations to the CDL set.
Southern USA Littles who are believed to descend from Capt. Johann Daniel Little (bc1731 Germany, d1775 Rowan Co. NC)
For another view of these connections see LittleCaptDanDesc.pdf.
Johann Jacob Klein (c1679Ger)
Johann Henrich Klein (1704Ger) Casper Johann Klein (1717Ger)
Gen 1 Capt. Johann Daniel (bc1731Ger) David Little (1769PA)
Gen2 Peter (1752NC) Daniel (c1755NC) James (c1767NC) Samuel (1798PA)
Gen3 Peter, Jr. (1779NC) John Paul (c1786NC) Aaron L. (1800NC) Alexander Little (1830PA)
Gen4 Lewis (1808NC) James Robert (1820TN) James Laban (1835NC) John Franklin Little (1860PA)
Gen5 George Washinton (1844GA) Daniel (1846GA) James Robert, Jr. (1846TN) Eustas Watt (1886) John Marvin (1886PA)
Gen6 William Asbury (1873AR) Lewis Abraham (1871GA) George Robert (1876TX) Eustas Clyde (1905) Wayne Lloyd (1918PA)
Gen7 George Raymond (1898MO) Lawrence Lewis (1911NM) Virgil Hollis (1914TX) Douglas Clyde (1948) DCL
Kit #1898
Allen Wayne (??????) AWL
Gen8 J Donald (1930MO) JDL
Kit #9111
Lawrence Lewis, Jr. (1942OK) LLL
Kit #1901
John Paul (1952TX) JPL
Kit #15209
first 12 markers 13 25 14 12 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 29 13 25 14 12 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 29 13 25 14 12 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 29 13 25 14 11 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 29 13 25 14 11 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 29
middle 13 markers 18 9 9 11 11 25 15 20 29 15 15 17 17 18 9 9 11 11 25 15 20 29 15 16 17 17 18 9 9 11 11 25 15 20 29 15 16 17 17 18 9 9 11 11 25 15 20 29 15 16 17 17 18 9 9 11 11 25 15 20 29 15 16 17 17
last 12 markers not measured 12 10 19 23 15 14 15 17 37 38 12 12 11 10 19 23 15 14 15 17 37 39 12 12 11 10 19 23 15 14 15 17 37 39 12 12 11 10 19 23 16 14 17 17 37 39 12 12

Call for More Participants in the Capt. Daniel Little Family.

We need at least one, and perhaps two members of each major branch of the Capt. Daniel Little family to be tested. The major male-line branches are:

So, we need descendants of Daniel Little, Jr. (at least one more), James Little (at least one more) and Lewis P. Little (we need at least two) to be tested.

Of course, it would be good to test members of the sub-branches of the major branches to determine if any relative mutations distinguish the sub-branches. (We see above that two sub-branches, JDL & LLL, of the Peter Little main branch are distinguished by a relative mutation.)

To join the Little male-line Y-chromosome project, a male descendant of Capt. Daniel Little whose surname is also Little, should contact the Little Y-Project administrator, L. David Roper (roperld@vt.edu), or go to http://www.roperld.com/littlegenetics.htm on the Internet and click on the join link near the top of the web page.

Call for Particpants in the Klein and Cline Families

So far we have not succeeded in getting any members of the Klein or Cline families to be tested. If you know any males with surname Klein, Cline or Kline, please urge them to contact L. David Roper (roperld@vt.edu) about being tested. Funds are available to pay for their tests.

This document is available on the Internet at http://www.roperld.com/CaptLittleMarkers.htm.