I’ve been doing genealogical research for many years now. Sometimes I focus on filling in the “leaves” of my family tree, while other times I concentrate on the “roots.” As many of you can probably relate, discoveries sometimes come in exciting waves and other times in slow trickles.

I’m always searching for new sources of information. While I use Ancestry.com extensively in my research, I often find the same information circulating repeatedly — sometimes presented as new discoveries and, unfortunately, sometimes simply incorrect.

One of the greatest advances in genealogy has been the use of DNA testing. DNA has proven invaluable not only in confirming long-held assumptions, but also in correcting errors that had been repeated for generations. In 2019, I purchased what is known as a “Big Y” test from Family Tree DNA, one of the few companies specializing in Y-DNA testing. Since only biological males carry the Y chromosome, and because it is passed virtually unchanged from father to son, Y-DNA testing is especially useful for tracing direct paternal lineages.

The Sheldon Family Association established the Sheldon DNA Project in 2006 through Family Tree DNA with the goal of confirming our understanding of Sheldon ancestry and, we hope, connecting our American lines back to ancestors in England — something that has long proved difficult.

One of the project’s most significant revelations has been the discovery that two distinctly different Sheldon paternal lineages exist among the five primary progenitors. The Isaac 5 and John 13 lines descend from the R1b haplogroup, the most common paternal lineage in western Europe, which originated roughly 20,000 years ago in western Eurasia. In contrast, the John 8, Godfrey, and Richard lines descend from the E-M35 haplogroup, a lineage much more commonly found in North Africa and the Mediterranean than in Europe, which originated approximately 22,000 years ago in east Africa.

I find this information fascinating, and it has inspired me to dig even deeper into the “roots” side of my research. As part of that effort, I joined several projects related to the E-M35 haplogroup. One of the more recent downstream branches in my own lineage is the E-V22 haplogroup, which is believed to have originated around 11,000 years ago and was first identified in 2003.

After joining the E-V22 project, I immediately noticed that many of the participants traced their ancestry to the Middle East or Mediterranean regions of Europe. In fact, there was only one other Sheldon in the project!

Imagine my surprise when I recently received separate emails from two of the E-V22 project leaders asking permission to submit my DNA results to a site called YFull for more detailed analysis. One of the project leaders, Richard, is a Sicilian currently living in Indonesia, while the other, Faisal, lives in Kuwait.

Richard pointed out that we both share the BY7402 haplogroup a sub-haplogroup of E-V22, and that, back in 2019, we were the only two people in the entire project identified with that specific lineage.

Faisal explained that the E-V22 haplogroup may trace back to the Phoenicians — an ancient Semitic people who inhabited what is now present-day Lebanon, Israel and parts of coastal Syria. That could explain the current spread of people with this haplogroup as the Phoenicians were well-known travelers.

Moments like these remind me why genealogy is such a rewarding pursuit. Every new discovery has the potential to connect us not only to names and dates, but also to a much larger human story that stretches across continents and thousands of years. I’m no expert in this area, but I plan to monitor this E-V22 project and keep learning more about DNA!

We look forward to seeing you at the reunion. If you ever have an issue with something SFA related, don’t hesitate to contact me directly at president@sheldonfamily.org. 

Kevin is a Richard 22 descendant, and his Sheldon Number is S8493x6522.