Andrew Ayers Martin's DNA Results

Andrew Ayers Martin
(Cherokee)

I would be happy to share these profiles with Dennis. I am attaching the initial analysis on my DNA done at Ancestry as well as the breakdowns done on the FTDNA results by analysis at GedMatch. The proportions of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean DNA are relatively stable. Some others not related to me whose families have traditions of being part Cherokee show similar percentages. The stable proportions are consistent with the Hardy Weinburg principle of biology. Only my uncle [kit 185473] shows detectable Amerindian DNA at 1.83%. My uncle and daughter show Red Sea [Jewish] DNA.

My relatives have been in Northeast Georgia since the 1700’s, and my ancestor Lt. Simon Terrell was a part of the original Wofford Settlement. I grew up in Toccoa, hearing stories about how my Ayers and Massey ancestors were part Cherokee. My grandmother has an unusual last name: Acree. My GGG uncle Dr. Richard Banks vaccinated the citizens of Northeast Georgia including the Cherokee against small pox, and for his service Banks County was named for him in 1858.

My ancestor James Yarbrough, a Revolutionary soldier who served under Col. Jacks and General Elijah Clarke, was killed in the Creek Indian Massacre of 1792, as was Major Jesse Walton of Traveler’s Rest, whose wife was a Martin, and whose son in law Joseph Martin inherited the place called Jarrett Manor then sold it to the Wylys who sold it to the Jarretts. In some reports to Jacks and Clarke, James Yarbrough was killed by white Indians, consistent with the Bohurans described in the Early History of Jackson County, Georgia.

We expected to find a small quantity of Native American in our ancestry, but instead my paternal aunt and maternal uncle had mostly European with a small amount of Middle Eastern DNA. This was an interesting find, since my father, uncle, sister and I were often mistaken for Jews or Italians. I was rushed by a Jewish fraternity when I entered Emory in 1976.

My DNA showed 47% Scandinavian, 30% British Isles and 23% Southern European. As a descendant of the original settlers of the region, I was a little surprised. The admixture might have come in Europe from the Romans, Spaniards, French, Jews or others, but the large quantity also raises the possibility of admixture with Spaniards or others in Northeast Georgia. Tugaloo Towne near Toccoa on the SC border had been established as a Cherokee trading post on the Crossroads of the Unicoi Parkway which went to Helen then the Unicoi path then Tennessee to the west, and to Tygertown in SC to the East. The Tugaloo River fed into the Savannah River, then to the Ocean,and would provide a way to sell goods, gold and slaves, and as a conduit for imports.

I enjoy your open minded thinking, which seems not to have been accepted by some in academics. My DNA and that of others in Northeast Georgia may help to tell part of the story.

It may also be beneficial to show pictures of some of my family members who appear Mediterranean: Italian, Jewish, Spanish. Most of my lines have lived in Northeast Georgia since the late 1700’s or early 1800’s, and some apparently longer such as the Histaloos and Hinkles.