Why I'm Using Y-DNA to Solve a Family Mystery
How genetic testing can break through brick walls
One of the brick walls in my genealogy research is a man named Samuel Delany (also spelled Delaney/Dulany/Dulaney), who was supposedly born in Ireland and became the first American in this line of my family.
His life is relatively well-documented between 1774 (Botetourt County, Virginia) and his death in 1812 (Montgomery County, Virginia), but there are no sources providing proof of his birthdate, birth place, or parents’ names.
The only evidence pointing to Samuel’s Irish heritage is a newspaper article written by his grandson, William Dulany, in 1875.1
The article goes on to describe William’s family (his parents, siblings, and children) in great detail, but nothing else about his grandfather Samuel. A transcript of this article has floated around the internet for decades (I first remember seeing around 2002), but I recently found the original document thanks to the digitization efforts of Garnet A. Wilson Public Library of Pike County.
With narratives like this, it’s important to validate the information with other sources. Not only do you want to make sure you have the right person, but memory can be a fickle thing! William Dulany was in his 70s when this was published, so there’s a chance not all the details are accurate.
Through additional research, I was able to confirm that William Dulany was indeed the grandson of “my” Samuel Delany. William’s father was Benjamin Dulany, who was one of Samuel’s sons. The article mentions Samuel living in Franklin County, which aligns with the records of Samuel appearing in Franklin County, Virginia tax lists from 1786 through 1810.
The key pieces of the article that I have not been able to validate are his birthplace of Ireland or a wife named Rachel Davis.
DNA testing has helped me solved other family mysteries, but autosomal tests (the type you get through AncestryDNA, MyHeritage, etc.) can only help you trace back five or six generations at most (about 150 years). Since Samuel is my 6th great-grandfather and he died more than 200 years ago, autosomal testing is unlikely to help me trace his lineage.
But, there’s good news! There are other types of DNA tests available that help you trace your lineage back even further.
What is Y-DNA?
Y-DNA comes from the sex chromosome “Y,” which is passed down from a father to his sons. Genetic females do not receive a Y chromosome.
Testing the Y chromosome explores a male’s paternal family line and can help identify surnames, relatives whose Y chromosome is similar, and ancient migration routes paternal ancestors may have taken.
Who can take a Y-DNA test?
Only genetic males can take a Y-DNA test, since Y-DNA is only passed down from a father to a son.
If you are a genetic female, you would need to have a brother, father, uncle (father’s brother), nephew (brother’s son), or paternal grandfather take the test.
What kind of Y-DNA test should you take?
FamilyTreeDNA is the premier DNA testing company for Y-DNA.
There are currently three tests to choose from, based on your needs:
Y-37
This is the lowest cost version and will help give you a broad overview. It helps you identify distant relatives by testing 37 STR (short tandem repeats) markers in your DNA. You’ll see your paternal line’s surnames in the FamilyTreeDNA Y-DNA database (if there are any matches), plus their ancestral locations. You’ll get your Y-DNA haplogroup and the story behind it’s origins, plus a detailed Y-DNA migration map.Y-111
This is the next price level up, which includes everything in Y-37, plus it helps you identify closer relatives by testing 111 STR markers.
Note: You have the ability to start with the Y-37 test and later upgrade to Y-111 without submitting a new sample.Big Y-700
This is the most comprehensive level of testing currently available. It includes everything in Y-37 and Y-111, and it offers additional reports, including your family’s unique Y-chromosome mutations.
How I’m using Y-DNA to solve a family mystery
To help me solve the mystery of Samuel Delany’s heritage, I’ve had to be creative. There are no living direct male descendants of my most recent male Dulaney ancestor (Madison A. Dulaney; 1842-1900). That means I would have to look at Madison’s brothers to see if they have any living direct male descendants.
What I did next was thanks to a happy accident. I was reviewing my AncestryDNA matches and noticed a male Dulaney. When I reviewed the tree attached to his profile, I was delighted to see that he was a direct male descendant of Samuel Delany! I contacted him to see if he would be willing to take a Y-DNA test… and he said yes!
When his results came in (I chose the Y-37 test), I was a little concerned that most of his matches did not have the surname Dulaney. But… there was ONE! And it’s the one that mattered. This match, Dale Dulaney, is ALSO a descendant of Samuel Delany, through a different branch of the family! Sadly, I learned that Dale has since passed away. I’ve been in touch with his niece, who now manages his account, and we’ve been sharing our Dulaney family research.
So, what’s next? Upgrading to the next level of markers would finetune the results, but since there is only one Dulaney match right now, upgrading would not be helpful. My plan is to find more descendants of Samuel Delany that are eligible to test.
If you are a direct line male descendant of Samuel Delany/Delaney/Dulany/Dulaney
(with proof of lineage) and you are willing to DNA test,
I can arrange to send you a kit at no cost to you.
Just send me a message.
Finding living descendants of a man born in the 18th century is a daunting task, so I used AI to help me organize a project plan and tracking spreadsheet.
Here’s what ChatGPT recommended:
GOAL: Identify living direct male-line (Y-DNA) descendants of Samuel Delany (~1750–1812) for genetic genealogy.
1. BUILD THE DELANY MALE-LINE TREE
2. IDENTIFY AND CONTACT LIVING MALES
3. ORGANIZE Y-DNA TESTING
Suggested Test: FamilyTreeDNA Y-37 or Y-111 for multiple testers; upgrade best candidate to Big Y-700
4. DOCUMENT AND COMPARE RESULTS
Compare haplogroups of testers
Determine the Y-DNA signature of Samuel Delany
Publish results (optional) or use to confirm uncertain branches
Those recommendations weren’t particularly helpful, as I was already planning to take that approach, but where AI did come in handy was its suggestion for organizing the data.
SPREADSHEET: TRACKING DESCENDANTS AND Y-DNA TESTING
Each row represents a descendant in the male line (with the Delany surname), organized by lineage, generation, and testing status.
Column Name Description
ID Unique row identifier
Full Name Name of the individual
Line of Descent Line from Samuel: e.g., Samuel > William > John
Son of Samuel Which of Samuel’s four sons this line descends from (William, Benjamin, Daniel, or Elijah)
Generation Generation number from Samuel (Samuel = 1)
Birth Year Estimated or known birth year
Death Year If known
Current/Last Known Location State/county or modern location
Contact Info Email, phone, or other if known
Research Source Where this info came from (e.g., Ancestry tree, census, obituary) Contacted? Yes/No (for DNA testing request)
Agreed to Test? Yes/No
Kit Sent? Yes/No
Kit Returned? Yes/No
Y-DNA Results Haplogroup and test level (e.g., Y-37, Big Y-700)
Notes Anything notable (e.g., “descendant of Elijah”, “needs verification”, etc.)
Feel free to use this if you’re working on your own Y-DNA project!
Now comes the fun part that AI can’t do (yet)… Building the family tree, then identifying and contacting the living male descendants. Wish me luck!
Pike County Republican; Waverly, Ohio; February 25, 1875; Old Folks Interviews: William Dulany
https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/p16802coll24/id/38512/rec/99