Sylvester Addison McLemore

1911 - 2005  (93 years)

yDNA results for Sylvester Addison McLemore, part of the large R1b1 cluster (hightlighted in salmon)

The main purpose of this study was to prove that the immigrant founders of this family in America, James Macklemore and Abraham Macklemore, were brothers. If brothers, then the y-DNA of the direct male descendants of both men would match. However, instead of confirming this, it appears that we have AT LEAST two distinct yDNA groups, with three additional potential lines. The first cluster of matching yDNA has ten members, who are part of the R1b1a2 haplogroup (highlighted on the spreadsheet in salmon). The R1b DNA haplogroup, is the most common in Western Europe. Two of the ten participants can trace their lines back to the immigrant Abraham Macklemore, the husband of Mary Young. Another member (m268) can trace himself back to Moses McLemore b. ca. 1738 who is thought to be a son of Wright McLemore, grandson of William Macklemore, and great-grandson of the immigrant James Macklemore. If both these members are correct in their paper trails, AND if Amos can be proven to be a great-grandson of James Macklemore, then the assumption that James and Abraham have a common paternal ancestor is correct as descendants of both men share the same yDNA. The other seven members of this first cluster all have the McLemore surname, and all can trace their lineages back to McLemore men who predate the Civil War, but have not conclusively linked themselves back to either James or Abraham.

The second cluster in the study have three members to date (this group is highlighted on the spreadsheet in green). They are all in the E1b1 Haplogroup, which is rare in Western Europe. All of them match each other, but do not match any other McLemores yet tested. All three of these members can trace their ancestry to John Macklemore of Virginia, the husband of Faith. Two of them descend from his son Burwell, and the third from his son Joel. But, as discussed above, IF we have also proven that the immigrants Abraham and James Macklemore are brothers, then it follows that John Macklemore could not be the biological son of the immigrant James, as the yDNA of these two clusters is very different.

Our current thinking is that John was likely a son of Fortune?s and a stepson of James Macklemore, who raised him as his own. Alternatively, it may still be proven that James and Abraham were not brothers. They may share the same surname, but not the same paternal ancestry. More proven descendants of James and Fortune Macklemore will need to be tested to confirm or refute either theory.

As an interesting side note, it had long been assumed that the Revolutionary War Soldier John McLemore, who lived for a time in North Carolina and died in Tennessee, was a son of Burwell MacLemore and Amy Gilliam. However, current DNA evidence indicates this could not be correct. This is because two descendants of Archibald McLemore of Knox County, TN, a son John McLemore the Revolutionary Soldier, are both part of the larger R1b1a2 cluster (highlighted in salmon). They do NOT match the DNA of Burwell?s other descendants in the E1b1 cluster. Therefore, it is evident that the John McLemore who moved to Tennessee and was the father of Archibald McLemore CAN NOT be the same John McLemore who was a son of Burwell McLemore.

In addition to the two groups discussed above, there are three McLemore DNA volunteers who don?t match any of the McLemores in either of the first two groups, OR match each other. One of these men (highlighted in purple on the spreadsheet) is a descendant of Hiram McLemore of Lee County, VA and later Breathitt County, KY. Hiram has been speculated to be a son of John McLemore and Ruth Steelman, a grandson of Ephraim McLemore, and great grandson of the immigrant James. However, if James and Abraham Macklemore are brothers, then Hiram could not be a biological descendant of James. He would have to match the group of ten McLemore?s in the first group. Although Hiram McLemore's descendant is also part of the R1b1 Haplogroup, he is more than 10 markers removed (based on 25 markers tested) from being a match to any of the other R1b1 McLemore?s, and therefore could not share a common ancestor in a genealogically significant time period.

The second unmatched volunteer (highlighted in blue) is a direct descendant of the McLemore family that moved from North Carolina to Jones County, GA and then onto Montgomery County, AL. He is part of the R1a haplogroup, common in many parts of Eurasia and Scandinavia. He can trace his line back through four generations of James McLemore?s to James Macklemore Jr, thought to be the son of James and Fortune. But again, if James and Abraham are brothers, then he could not be a biological descendant of James Macklemore, the immigrant.

The third unmatched volunteer (highlighted in brown) descends from James Madison McLemore born 1861 in Louisiana and died & buried 1918 in Van Zandt County, Texas. He is thought to be a son of William Kearney McLemore b. 1825 and d. 1889, also buried in Van Zandt County, Texas. He is in the I1 haplogroup, which is the most common group in Scandinavia.

It is currently not known why these McLemores do not yet match any other study members. It is possible that there were several founding McLemore lines, instead of just one as has been long assumed. Or another possibility could be that undisclosed adoptions have occurred through the generations of descendants of both James and/or Abraham.

Please help us to continue to unravel these DNA mysteries by volunteering to take part in this study. Email me for more details (stxstrong@gmail.com), or you can enroll directly at this websites listed below.

http://www.geneticousins.com/morrison/

or here

http://www.familytreedna.com/project-join-request.aspx?group=Morrison

Also, if you have had your yDNA tested outside of the Morrison group, please let us know. We would be glad to add your results to the spreadsheet.

If you have trouble viewing this spreadsheet, email me at stxstrong@gmail.com and I can send you an excel spreadsheet or PDF.