Periodically, family members have asked the questions: “Who
is the start of our McKinney line?” “Where did the McKinney’s come from?” “Are
we related to the McKinney’s over there?” etc. None of these are unusual
questions. These are typical questions for anyone who is interested in their
family history.
I’m going to use DNA genealogy along with oral and written
family history to discuss my findings on the McKinney Family thus far.
Here is an excerpt from the McKinney Family History. “The McKinney journey began somewhere in the
early 1800s. A black female was born. She was given the name Rodie, a slave name which means
“servant”. Rodie gave birth to a
male child named Marion. Her sister
gave birth to a male child named Lorm
Perry. Marion and Lorm were brothers, since Rodie and her sister had a child by the
same white slave
owner. Such an occurrence was prevalent during slavery. Marion was a
victim of circumstance. It was forbidden that a black child use the last name
of his white paternal parent. It was through the providence of God that Rodie married Jim McKinney, thereby giving Marion
a last name.”
Let’s compare this written family history to the DNA
results of my great Uncle, the grandson of Marion McKinney.
Figure 1
Figure 2
In figure 1, my great Uncle's Ancestry composition consist of 60%
Sub-Saharan African, 38.7% European,
and 0.8% East Asian & Native American.
His ancestry composition was
passed down to him from his paternal and maternal side. So, his European composition is a combination of several ancestors.
Figure 2 shows his haplogroup. His maternal
haplogroup (in pink) is L2a1a2 and his paternal haplogroup (light blue) is R1b1b2a1a2f. If you google his
paternal haplogroup, you will discover that his paternal haplogroup is
European. So, what does this mean? A male receives his paternal haplogroup from
his father, who received it from his father etc.
So, let’s go backwards on my great Uncle's paternal haplogroup.
Great Uncle McKinney < Green McKinney Sr. (his father) < Marion
McKinney (his grandfather) < white father (his great grandfather)
So therefore, my great Uncle’s DNA results coincide with the
family written and oral history that Marion McKinney’s father was white.
Let's go back to the original questions.
1. Who is the start of our McKinney line? For the time being, the earliest known male-line ancestor of the McKinney
Family is Marion McKinney.
2. Where did the McKinney's come from? In the Census reports, Marion stated that he was born in Mississippi. His mother, Rodie/Rhody, sometime listed Mississippi and Tennessee as her birthplace. Jim McKinney listed he was born in Tennessee.
3. Are we related to the McKinney's over there? It depends. The majority of the McKinney's in Panola County were descendants of Marion McKinney. Keep in mind that Marion acquired his last name from his step-father, James "Jim" McKinney. Census Reports indicate that Jim and Rodie/Rhody had other children. Some of these children disappeared from the Census. So, it is possible that they move away or died.
Look for upcoming blogs revealing the last slave owner and the name of Marion's father.
