Y-DNA Haplogroup T Reversal

This past April 3-4 I wrote a negative post on the value of Y-DNA tests as tie-breakers for Whipples. In the additional thoughts on April 4 (at the bottom of that post) I suggested that male Whipples who reported their Y-DNA haplogroup as T were likely mistaken—that their T-haplogroup was likely a mitochondrial (mtDNA) haplogroup.

My opinions changed completely on August 26.  Raymond “Ray” Whipple of Hamilton, Massachusetts emailed me that day, reminding me that he is in the Y-DNA T haplogroup. (I actually helped him get the test several years ago through Family Tree DNA. [duh!])

How This Changes Things

As stated in my April 3-4 post, Y-DNA haplogroup T is extremely rare in northern Europe. Since The R1b… Y-DNA haplogroup is common among descendants of the Rhode Island Captain John Whipple (http://whipple.org/366)—as well as European populations in general, we can surmise the following:

  1. Any patrilineal male Whipple in the U.S. who is a member of Y-DNA haplogroup T is very likely a descendant of the Ipswich Whipples.
  2. Male Whipples in Y-DNA haplogroup R1b
    • are possibly a descendant of Rhode Island Whipple Capt. John Whipple http://whipple.org/366, OR
    • are possibly a patrilineal descendant of some European male, OR
    • have a very slim chance of being a descendant of an adopted (or otherwise non-biological) son of an Ipswich Whipple.

So this realization radically alters my ramblings of April 3-4.

Ray’s Patrilineal Whipple Ancestry

In 2012, Ray published the 4th edition of his book entitled The Whipples of Ipswich and Its Hamlet. I have a signed (by Ray) copy of the book in my possession.

Ray traces his male genealogy back to Matthew Whipple of Bocking/Ipswich as follows—all his American ancestors lived in Ipswich Hamlet/Hamilton, Massachusetts:

  1. Raymond Arthur Whipple Jr. (http://whipple.org/49296)
  2. Raymond Arthur Whipple (http://whipple.org/49286)
  3. Arthur Eli Whipple, 1872-1926 (http://whipple.org/49278)
  4. John Henry Whipple, 1831-1917) (http://whipple.org/49248)
  5. John Whipple, 1807-1871 (http://whipple.org/49231)
  6. Edward Whipple (Lt.), 1780-1861 (http://whipple.org/49043)
  7. John Whipple, 1743-1832 (http://whipple.org/4791)
  8. John Whipple (Capt.), 1695-1769 (http://whipple.org/4720)
  9. John Whipple (Capt.), 1660-1722 (http://whipple.org/3515)
  10. John Whipple (Lt.), 1632-1695 (http://whipple.org/3484)
  11. Matthew Whipple, 1590-1647 (http://whipple.org/5946)
  12. Matthew Whipple Sr., abt 1550-1618/1619 (http://whipple.org/5929)

Note: The Whipple Website extends Matthew Sr’s ancestry two generations:

  1. Thomas Whipple, b. abt 1510 (http://whipple.org/47862)
  2. Thomas Whipple, b. abt 1475 (http://whipple.org/106442)

Observations about Ray’s Ancestry

  • Half of the ancestors in Ray’s lineage back to Matthew Sr. are named John
  • Two of the six Johns are Capt. John.
  • Neither Capt. John is the Capt. John Whipple of Rhode Island (http://whipple.org/366).
  • The Whipple Blog post entitled “Captain Who?” lists 11 Capt. John Whipples. (The list might be incomplete.) The two Capt. Johns in Ray’s ancestry are numbers 3 and 6 on that page.

Finally

Ray isn’t the only Whipple in Y-DNA haplogroup T. In a note inserted inside the book he sent me in 1912 (?), he states his relief at learning that there are other Whipples in Y-DNA haplogroup T. (Yes, there were other reports of Whipples in that haplogroup before Ray. If only I had kept better records! [sigh])

Feel free to question any information on the web sites of Whipple.org. (I’m certain that many more errors are lurking among their pages.)