DNA testing is actually a recent tool added to genealogy research. It can provide a solid bond with one family member and ancestor to each other. It gives us proof and insight of relationship.

A understanding of exactly of what you are paying for between the certain sites that do DNA testing would be a good thing to know. The DNA tests offered differ in the outcome of results. There are 3 DNA tests that are done:

• Autosomal – Autosomal DNA tests trace a person’s autosomal chromosomes, which contain the segments of DNA the person shares with everyone to whom they’re related (maternally and paternally, both directly and indirectly). Because everyone has autosomal chromosomes, people of all genders can take autosomal DNA tests, and the test is equally effective for people of any gender. With an autosomal test, your results won’t include information about haplogroups. Because of the melting pot of DNA tested and the DNA changes between the relations over time, results become muddy and it’s accuracy diminished. It is only accurate to 5 generations.

• Y-DNA – Because Y-chromosomes are passed from father to son virtually unchanged, males can trace their patrilineal (male-line) ancestry by testing their Y-chromosome. Since women don’t have Y-chromosomes, they can’t take Y-DNA tests (though their brother, father, paternal uncle, or paternal grandfather could). Y-chromosome testing uncovers a male’s Y-chromosome haplogroup, the ancient group of people from whom one’s patrilineage descends. Because a man’s Y-DNA chromosome is nearly identical to his father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and so on through the generations, a Y-DNA line can be traced back hundreds, or even thousands of years!

• mtDNA – Mitochondrial DNA tests trace people’s matrilineal (mother-line) ancestry through their mitochondria, which are passed from mothers to their children. Since everyone has mitochondria, people of all genders can take mtDNA tests. Mitochondrial DNA testing uncovers a one’s mtDNA haplogroup, the ancient group of people from whom one’s matrilineage descends. Because mitochondria are passed on only by women, no men (nor their ancestors) from whom one descends are encapsulated in the results.

All of the current DNA testing providers have Autosomal testing available. Currently that is all that Ancestry.com provides. 23andMe provides a Y-DNA Paternal Haplogroup report for males who complete either the Ancestry Service or Health + Ancestry Service testing kits. Family Tree DNA has been offering Y-DNA STR testing since 2000, and has the largest Y-STR database in the world, making them the go-to for detailed, matchable Y-DNA results.

LINEAGE GROUP 3

Surname-focused Y-DNA tests allow genealogists to verify their paternal ancestry, and it can be very powerful when combined with traditional paper trails. The information is useful only when combined with a well-researched and accurate family history.

Patterns have emerged in the Ballard DNA Surname Project.  The families participating in the project are grouped based on their Haplogroups, which are further refined by comparing the “short tandem repeat” (STR) markers.  Participants are placed in Lineage groups based on these similarities.  The more markers that are tested, the greater the reduction in the range of generations back to a common ancestor. This is one reason that it is important to have male relatives have their Y-DNA tested. The bigger the pool the better the result of lineage. 

To help understand what that means, Family Tree DNA has created charts that explains how to understand genetic distance depending on the level of testing chosen.  The Y-700, also known as the Big Y level, is presently the highest available.  The next level down, with 111 Y-DNA markers, is also very informative.  The more markers tested the better ancestral information is provided. There are corresponding charts for each Marker level; visit Family Tree DNA for additional information.  For genealogical purposes, each Lineage Group, while sharing a surname, do not share the same genetic information and therefore, within a genealogical time frame, are separate families.  There may be a common ancestor, but it is likely one who lived prior to the adoption of surnames in Western Europe — put in context, we are talking about thousands of years.

Several of the researchers of Philip Ballard who married Ann Johnson, have named his father as Bland, Thomas, John, William and Richard Ballard (Lineage Group 1), but individuals participating in the Ballard DNA Project who claim descent from Philip Ballard have all been placed in Lineage Group 3, a different family. Unfortunately, currently his father and mother are unknown and no proof of whom they are has yet been forthcoming.

LINEAGE GROUP 3a1

After several Ballard’s either upgraded their tests or took the Y-700 in 2022 a new group was formed from group 3. This new group became 3a1. The results also established a new haplogroup R-FT22020.

On Family Tree DNA, Y-700 results are broken down in to what is called a Big-Y Block Tree of SNP or Single nucleotide polymorphisms, frequently called SNPs (pronounced “snips”) and are the most common type of genetic variation among people. Each SNP represents a difference in a single DNA building block, called a nucleotide. In the Block Tree the results are represented as Haplogroups.

I did the Big Y-700 test. My Haplogroup is R-FT22020 (My Haplogroup Story )

In my Haplogroup Story, R-FT22020’s paternal line was formed when it branched off from the ancestor R-FGC43145 and the rest of mankind around 1600 CE.

In my Block Tree there are 2 individuals that are closest to my Haplogroup. The name is Floyd Ballard and claims that his earliest named ancestor is John Ballard, b. 1782, Culpeper Co., Virginia. The second is Larry Ballard and claims his earliest is Abner Harold Ballard, b. 1819 d. 1901.

The next individual that is close in Haplogroup R-BY197946 with a difference of 3 is Roger Ballard and claims his earliest named ancestor is John Ballard, b. 1635, Gloucestershire, England.

Note: Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world’s most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the original Anno Domini (AD) and Before Christ (BC).

YDNA Haplogroup U152

Ballard’s of Group 3, 3a1 connect to Haplogroup U152. U152 is a subgroup of P312 and is concentrated around the Alps. It is currently considered Italo-Celtic. A estimation is that it appeared first approximately 3600 years ago, around 1650 BC. A few things are clear regarding U152 from present results: U152 is the dominant L11 subgroup in Italy, Hungary and South-East France (Provence), while it is also common in Southern Germany, Switzerland and Austria, together with U106. We can not yet assume how common is it in the Balkans, and without the Balkans we cannot say anything sure about it’s origin.

With it’s birth around 1600 BC, it seems plausible that the first U152 man lived either in the Tumulus culture (Middle Bronze Age, 1600-1200 BC) in Central Europe or in the Terramare culture (Middle Bronze Age, 1700-1150 BC) in Northern Italy. It is likely that this man already spoke some sort of proto-Italo-Celtic language, however we can not be sure regarding the language phylogeny of some extinct languages (Lepontic, Ligurian) and the role and place of Etruscan in the wider picture.

Based on the fact that a line of a single man needs some hundred years to grow enough in population to start expansion, we can put the U152 subgroup expansion times after 800 BC, i.e. in Hallstatt and later La Tène times. However, the common equation of U152 with La Tène Celts is rather a guess than well-based scientific theory. To sum up, we need more research and more deep clade tests to decide how the U152 people spread out during prehistoric times. And ancient DNA testing would help even more.

As regards the British Isles, U152 seem to have a frequency lower than 5% of all males, i.e. it is rather rare than we would expect hearing the “Celtic U152” idea. It is also near-completely absent from Ireland, Wales and Scottish Highlands, which is not favoring a Celtic connection. We have to admit that we do not know the demographic history of U152 well-enough yet, and that U152 arrival to Britain is just as much possible with La Tene Celts as Roman legionaries or some Anglo-Saxon or Danish settlers who happened to have the U152 gene.

Some U152 Famous people: The House of Hapsburg, King Richard III, Dukes of Beaufort, House of Plantagenet, Clan Erskine (Earl of Mar), Abraham Lincoln, Grover Cleveland, Kevin Costner, Mathew Perry.