27 January 2024 More About Our Causey Haplotree

Last summer I decided to invest in confirming with some confidence my Y-DNA Haplogroup. Most of the members of our Causey DNA Project at FamilyTreeDNA.com have purchased one of their Y-DNA tests. These tests , (Y-37, Y-67, Y-111 and the Big Y 700) provide help in determining common ancestors (grandfathers) as a way of helping us trace of paternal surname back through the ages. I didn’t realize it at first, but, with the exception of the Big Y 700, these test all place you in the oldest branch of our line of fathers T-M70 Haplogroup. T-M70’s paternal line was formed when it branched off from the ancestor T-L490 and the rest of mankind around 18,000 BCE. There are thousands of surname Causey in that T-M70 branch but also thousands of other surnames.

In order to have a better tool for discovering who our latest common ancestor is would require a much more precise measure of all those mutations that happen naturally in our Y-DNA chromosomes. That is why I purchased the Big Y-700. Its job is to check not just 37, 67, or 111 markers but, with the advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS), able to sequence entire regions of the Y chromosome at a time instead of just specific markers. This process means that now mutation well within modern times; mutations creating a new branch can be derived. The latest mutation, once named, provides us with the approximate time period of our most recent common ancestor. The first CONFIRMED Y-DNA Haplogroup I was assigned to was T-FTE36788, which I shared in common with two other Causey boys who had the Big Y 700. But a few weeks ago I realized that FTDNA had changed my CONFIRMED Y-DNA Haplogroup to T-FTE75400. What happened? FTDNA confirmed a new haplogroup with only two members.

I’m now going to load a PDF within which I will show all the mutations in the branch from T-M70 through to MY latest Confirmed Y-DNA Haplogroup T-FTE75400:

So far only two of us have been shown to have this latest mutation. I don’t know who the other Causey Cousin is. I know he has paid for the Big Y 700. I know he claims his parental line goes back to Ireland. That suggests to me he is probably in the clan of Captain William Causey b.1744 late of Amite County, Mississippi. Time will tell.