DEMAREST ANCESTRY

French Huguenot ancestor David Demarest was born in 1620, married in Zeeland Province Netherlands, & settled in Bergen County, New Jersey.  His son Jean was our ancestor. A Demarest descendant has provided a yDNA sample which falls into Haplogroup J1. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_J-M267    

Here is the Demarest House Museum, with some of the Demarest history: www.bergencountyhistory.org/Pages/demaresthse.html  In the past there has been a Demarest Family Association, but this does not appear to be currently active. In view of the impressive track-record of genetic genealogy regarding major modifications (and myth-debunking) of several traditional accounts of genealogy and history, one should be very cautious about acceptance of reports of Demarest deep ancestry, crusades, links to royalty, etc. Non-Paternity Events might occur at about 2% per generation. Reports tying our David Demarest to Baldwin I Des Marets (1074 - 1140) “Ain’t necessarily so”.

Jean Demarest (b. 1645) & Jacquemine DeRuine were Gary’s 7th great-grandparents. Some people also descending from this Jean Demarest are among Gary’s autosomal DNA matches in the Family Tree DNA database. There appears to be no other ancestry which can account for these atDNA matches other than Demarest, despite the very long generational reach. The total of chromosomal shared segments with each of these matching persons suggests that common ancestries more recent, so a quest will continue for alternate explanations.  Generally, I have noted substantial cousins’ intermarriages among my Dutch/French Huguenot kinfolk, which might extend the reach of atDNA. Demarest connections to my Van Voorhees kin are quite extensive.

In Gary’s Muffley tree, Jean Demarest is at http://person.ancestry.com/tree/64174501/person/32528171900/facts  My descent from Jean Demarest is à Leah Jansen Demarest (b. 1682; m. Abraham Pieterse Brouwer) à Daniel  Brouwer Sr. (b. 1719; m. Marijtje "Mary" Koning) à Daniel Brewer Jr. (b. 1768; m. Maria "Mary" Voorhees) à Christiana "Tina"  Brewer (b. 1798; m. Johannes "John"  Williamson) à Margaret  Williamson (b. 1835; m. John Skinner McCreary) à Emma Jane McCreary (b. 1862; m. Joseph Pierce Muffley) à Albert Harold "Bert" Muffley (b. 1885; m. Edna Una Jagger) à Robert Pierce Muffley (b. 1911; m. Frances Christine Lindstrom) à Gary.

Jean Demarest is in this Novak-Tuschman tree: http://person.ancestry.com/tree/48882514/person/12941923407/facts  Gary’s atDNA matches include this tree author and 3 other people who report Demarest ancestry. These are among 11 people who match Gary on Chromosome 9. Most of these people do not report enough ancestral information to be able to integrate the overall picture. The graphing tool from https://dnagen.net/  places these Chromosome 9 matches into 3 clusters, and adds to each cluster some people who are Gary’s matches via other chromosomes. Our working assumption is that these 3 groups of people represent the largest groups of Gary’s Dutch/French Huguenot cousins to date in the FTDNA database. Bogart ancestry also enters into this mix. A brother of Leah Jansen Demarest Brouwer was Peter Demarest (b. 1683). Peter was the ancestor of Gary’s Australian correspondent Greg.

This site https://sites.google.com/site/adambrouwerdna/pedigrees reports on the yDNA of my ancestor Adam Brouwer (b. 1620). Search at this site for Kits # 30185 & 55150, who have provided Brouwer yDNA samples. These guys also descend from Leah Demerest Brouwer. Autosomal DNA from either, or both, of these men should match me, barring chromosomal shared-segment dropout. 

DEMAREST ANCESTRY: A GENERATIONAL SEQUENCE OF MOST RECENT COMMON ANCESTORS

My autosomal DNA has now been tested in 2 labs. One of the labs provides the crucial chromosome data, but the other does not. Data from all major labs may be quickly & easily sent towww.gedmatch.com for utilization of a wealth of investigative tools, including the vital chromosome location analyses. Click at the sending lab to create zip files, & click at GEDmatch to load. Done in minutes. My Cousin Aaron is my Dutch cousin via paper trail, but is my atDNA cousin via joint Swedish ancestry. To ignore the chromosome data is to risk erroneous conclusions.  

I now have a sizable number of atDNA matches in 2 databases where the common ancestries are Dutch &/or French Huguenot, & where the Most Recent Common Ancestors (MRCAs) reach back to the 1600s. For the MRCAs David Demarest Sr. (b. abt. 1620, France) & Marie Sohier: Cousins Rohn, Barbara, & John F. My atDNA match with John F. is on Chromosome 9. I descend from Jean Demarest (b. 1645), son of David & Marie. Jean’s brother Samuel is the ancestor of Barbara. Jean’s brother David Jr. (b. 1651, Zeeland) is the ancestor of Rohn & John F.  David Jr. was also the ancestor of Rev. David D. Demarest, author of the 1885 paper “The Huguenots on the Hackensack”.

Jean Demarest (b. 1645) & Jacquemine DeRuine were the MRCAs for me versus the Chromosome 9 Tuschmann-Novak group, who also jointly match John F. on Chromo 9. I descend from Leah Demarest Brouwer, daughter of Jean & Jacquemine. My atDNA matches at this generational level descend from Leah’s brother Peter.

My ancestors Leah Demarest (b. 1682, Hackensack N.J.) & Abraham Pieterse Brower were the MRCAs for me versus R. D. (admin. By slh1441 at AncestryDNA). My ancestor Daniel A. Brouwer/Brewer Sr. (b. 1719) was a son of Leah & Abraham. Daniel’s sister Rachel Brouwer Banta was the ancestor of Cousin R.D.

My ancestors Daniel A. Brouwer/Brewer Sr. (b. 1719) & Maritje Koning were the MRCAs for me versus lallen76317. My ancestor was Daniel Brewer Jr. (b. 1768). Daniel’s sister Rachel Brewer Comingore was the ancestor of Cousin L. Allen.

My ancestor Daniel Brewer Jr. (b. 1768) married Maria/Mary Voorhees. Although I do not have the atDNA data, Daniel & Mary were the paper-trail MRCAs for me versus the Brewer-surnamed man whose yDNA Kit # 55150 is Haplogroup E1b1b1 in a group of descendants of Pieter Adamsz Brouwer (b. 1646; d. 1700 Hackensack). My ancestor Christina “Tina” Brewer (b. 1798) was a daughter of Daniel & Mary. Tina’s brother Daniel III (b. 1805) & wife Eleanor McVay were the ancestors of Mr. Brewer of yDNA Kit # 55150.

My ancestor Christina “Tina” Brewer (b. 1798, Mercer County, Kentucky) married Johannes/John Williamson (b. 1790, Dutch Conewago Colony, Pennsylvania). Tina & John were the MRCAs for me versus Cousin Lowell B. My second great-grandmother Margaret Williamson McCreary (b. 1835) was a daughter of Tina & John. Margaret’s Sister Jane Williamson Moore was the ancestor of Lowell.

The total shared chromosomes for Lowell & me represent the entirety of my Dutch plus Huguenot ancestries. Chromosome 9 Demarest, & others. Quite literally, this would be the atDNA master-key to all of these ancestries which still have detectible genetic traces.  There could be shared chromosomal segments representing these ancestries, in addition to Demarest, Brouwer/Brewer, & Koning: Van Dyke (2 ways), Van Voorhees, & Williamson/Willemse.  There are some hints that I might have Van Dyke traces. Progress on the Willemse line would be welcome, as knowledge on this ancestry is limited. For those with access to Ancestry.com, my Dutch & Huguenot ancestries appear at http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/64174501/family

DEMAREST DNA AND HISTORY

In the Demarest yDNA Project, Haplogroup J1, at www.familytreedna.com/public/Demarest/default.aspx?section=ycolorized there are 2 kits from descendants of David Demarest (b. 1620, Picardy): 351905 & 284329. These were tested out to 111 STR (Short Tandem Repeats) markers, thus a high resolution test. The match between the 2 kits is 108 of 111. One of the kits further tested SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism) markers out to BY163094. Currently, this Terminal-SNP is 9 markers “downstream” (later mutating) from P58 (Levant & Arabia). See www.eupedia.com/europe/Haplogroup_J1_Y-DNA.shtml under P58.

Regarding the legendary descent of our David Demarest (b. 1620) from Baldwin I des Marets (1074-1140): Was there a Levantine Non-Paternity Event down the Demarest line during the Crusades?  David’s Haplogroup J1 findings are Levantine, not European.

See www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/2170574-the-patricians-baldwin-ii-des-marets-1074-1140-lord-des-marets-pa

And https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin_II_of_Jerusalem

Going back to the Demarest yDNA Project, we see that the same Demarest Terminal-SNP BY163094 also applies to 2 Ellsworth descendants, who are close STR matches with the Demarest guys. The Ellsworth guys also sent their data to the J-Levites yDNA Project at www.familytreedna.com/public/J-Levites?iframe=ycolorized which is meant for Haplogroup J men with an oral tradition of Levite ancestry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levite

On autosomal DNA: My several Chromosome 9 matches with Demarest Ancestry continue to serve as reference points for this ancestry. E.g., my 7th great-grandfather Jean Demarest (b. 1645; m. Jacquemine DeRuine) was the Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA) for myself versus the Novak group at Family Tree DNA. 22.38 centiMorgans shared on Chromo 9. A small part of this shared segment is also shared by a Fisher guy, with whom my MRCA is one more generation removed: David Demarest (b. 1620; m. Marie Sohier).

My 6th great-grandmother Leah Jansen Demarest (b. 1682, Hackensack) married Abraham Pieterse Brouwer (yDNA Haplogroup E) on March 29, 1700, Hackensack, Bergen County, New Jersey. Leah’s Grandpa David’s place: www.bergencountyhistory.org/Pages/demaresthse.html I think that Samuel Demarest mentioned here was Leah’s uncle, & an ancestor of more of my atDNA matches.

“The French element was so speedily absorbed by the surrounding Dutch, that not a few of the numerous descendants of the Huguenot pioneers, from whom the farms they occupy have come down in unbroken descent through seven or eight generations, verily believe that they are of pure Holland stock, and the story of their French origin is to them a new revelation”.  From “The Huguenots on the Hackensack”, by David D. Demarest, 1886. This David was a 6th cousin of my Great-grandmother Emma Jane McCreary Muffley. The Demarest land between the Hackensack & Hudson rivers was purchased from Mendawasey, Sachem of the Tappan Indians, 1677.