In an attempt to get some answers, some very gracious male descendants of his male children volunteered for the ydna test through the Courtney surname project. Finally, we would get some answers....or so I thought.
Here in lies my overdue attempt to account for the results we have so far to those who graciously volunteered and those interested cousins standing on the sidelines waiting to hear "the rest of the story."
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The data in the picture above shows our test group on the ynda project managed by Stan Courtney. These are the ydna test results for the 2 kits that I manage, both male descendants of Frederick. One is descended from Henry Davis Courtney, Sr. The other is a descendant of the oldest son, Dr. Franklin W. Courtney.
Think of the series of number like the edges of a set of keys.* Some match up really closely, some don't match up at all. The two in our group match each other really well. If you review the number sequence carefully you will see that they are only off by one digit at two points along the sequence.
These "keys" clearly are from the same bunch. This analogy will become more clear as you look at these two and compare to the two larger test groups that I share with you below.
Think of the series of number like the edges of a set of keys.* Some match up really closely, some don't match up at all. The two in our group match each other really well. If you review the number sequence carefully you will see that they are only off by one digit at two points along the sequence.
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These "keys" clearly are from the same bunch. This analogy will become more clear as you look at these two and compare to the two larger test groups that I share with you below.
Back when we first started to pursue this testing, Stan expected us to fit into the descendant line of Jacob Courtney based on where he settled. His group shows as:
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Notice that he was in the vicinity of Shepherdstown in his later years and at his death. Also he was old enough to be Frederick's father. That sounded nice to me and would make a tidy conclusion to our mystery. The results were negative for this conclusion.
If you look at group 13 and compare our data above with the data for Jacob's descendants, you can see there is not a match there at all. In fact, if you take that little strip of data above and compare it to the results of all the Courtney ydna tests, you can see that there is no clear or strong match to any of the groups. We are a little cluster of 2 off by ourselves.
If you look at group 13 and compare our data above with the data for Jacob's descendants, you can see there is not a match there at all. In fact, if you take that little strip of data above and compare it to the results of all the Courtney ydna tests, you can see that there is no clear or strong match to any of the groups. We are a little cluster of 2 off by ourselves.
Courtney/Courtenay ydna surname group - https://www.familytreedna.com/public/courtney/default.aspx?section=yresults
What I did get with the results of the kits that I manage is a jaw-droppingly strong match to the Trout/Traut surname ydna study. On both kits, at least 2/3 of the kits reported to match our 2 "y's" claim a connection to an ancestor with the surname Trout, with Johann Wendel Georg TRAUT (1689-1760) being the most common ancestor stated. He was born in Germany and quick research has hinted that some of his children were in the right area of Va/WV at the time. Those male children would have been around the right age to be Frederick's father.
If you take the data strip above and look at the results on the Trout page, esp those of B group, you can see there is no more "square peg, round hole" problem, but a nice smooth fit like the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle falling into place. There is definitely a link there.
Trout/Traut ydna surname group - https://www.familytreedna.com/public/TROUT_DNA_Research_Project?iframe=ycolorized
There is some esoteric connection between Frederick, his mysterious Shepherd ancestor, JWG Traut (and or his sons) and maybe even Jacob Courtney (an adoption or just taking in an orphan boy or an out of wedlock baby somewhere). It all centers around that fairly remote part of Va/WV. I don't know if it will ever be revealed and I am beginning to think maybe Frederick wanted it that way...
It is sad that all we have of his beginnings is what he told his children that they managed to remember. Too bad he didn't leave any written records of his origins - a family bible, letters from home, an ancestor's will, something, anything that would give us a concrete clue to work from.
If these clues exist, I have not found them and I have been researching this puzzle since at least 2003. If you know of some existing clue to the early part of his life (1815-1840 in Virginia/West Virginia) or someone who is searching for Frederick, please, contact me so we can collaborate. It is anybody's guess at this point.
It is sad that all we have of his beginnings is what he told his children that they managed to remember. Too bad he didn't leave any written records of his origins - a family bible, letters from home, an ancestor's will, something, anything that would give us a concrete clue to work from.
If these clues exist, I have not found them and I have been researching this puzzle since at least 2003. If you know of some existing clue to the early part of his life (1815-1840 in Virginia/West Virginia) or someone who is searching for Frederick, please, contact me so we can collaborate. It is anybody's guess at this point.
Flimsy clues are all we have right now. This is a mystery that will probably take years or lifetimes to solve. Hopefully as more people test, more will be revealed.
*The learning curve for understanding genetic genealogy study is very steep. The key concept is a drastic oversimplification to help with first time exposure to these concepts. I am still learning...and this stuff is hard, y'all.
