CONTENTS

• Introduction
• Background and History
• Project Objectives
• Project Results
  • 1-37 Marker Data
  • 38-67 Marker Data
• Interpretation and Discussion of Results
  • Mumma\Momma Haplotype
  • Mutations
  • Genetic Distance
  • Relatedness
  • Mutation Rates
  • Cladograms/Phylogenetic
  • Generational Time Span
  • Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA)
  • Results within Groups
    • Group 1 Discussion - European Momma/Reenstjerna
    • Group 2 Discussion - Immigrant Jacob
    • Group 3 Discussion - Probable Immigrant Jacob
    • Group 4 Discussion - Immigrant Peter
    • Group 5 Discussion - Immigrant Leonard
    • Group 6 Discussion - Probable Immigrant Leonard
    • Group 7 Discussion - Unconnected Participants
    • Group 8 Discussion - Mumma-Mummey
    • Group 9 Discussion - Moomey
    • Group 10 Discussion - Mumaw-Webb
• MYS1 Results
• Haplogroups
• Project Historical Timeline
• Summary and Conclusions

INTRODUCTION

This report summarizes the DNA Y-chromosome data that has been obtained for the Mumma Surname DNA Project since its inception in April of 2000 to the present time, more than six years later. This was the first privately funded surname project started with Family Tree DNA shortly after the company was formed and began offering DNA testing services.

The MUMMA Surname DNA Project utilizes several unique properties of Y-Chromosome found in the DNA of men to augment and compliment traditional genealogy. First, only males carry the Y-chromosome and it determines whether a person is male or female. The other unique characteristic of the Y-chromosome is the fact it is passed from father to his sons, essentially unaltered or changed, generation after generation. Therefore, a man's Y-chromosome is representative of his male ancestors and thus provides a small window or glimpse of their Y-chromosome "fingerprint" or "signature". As a result, male cousins will also share almost identical DNA Y-chromosome "signatures" since they too share a common male ancestor from whom they received their Y-chromosome. Hence, the DNA from very distant cousins should also match and this is the reason you don't need the DNA from a deceased ancestor to infer their Y-chromosome "signature". There are occasional small mutations (or changes) of the Y-chromosome and it is these mutations that can be used to identify specific branches of a family. At the current state of the technology, the results will not allow the determination of the exact generation two men share a common ancestor, but within a range of generations. Greater precision can be obtained by sampling more men from a family surname.

There are many excellent web pages which discuss and further describe the fundamentals and terminology used in analysis of a man's Y-Chromosome. Instead of repeating much of that information, I refer readers to these sites.
http://www.familytreedna.com/dna101.html   Family Tree DNA web site tutorial
http://blairgenealogy.com/dna/dna101.html   Blair DNA Project - DNA 101: Y-Chromosome Testing
http://www.kerchner.com/dna-information.htm   Kerchner's DNA Testing & Genetic Genealogy Info Resources Page
http://www.smgf.org/pages/dna_links.jspx    An excellent page of links to excellent DNA resource information

Additional information can be found in an excellent book entitled "Trace Your Roots with DNA"  written by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak and Ann Turner in 2004. The results of this Mumma project have also been discussed in a book, "DNA & Genealogy" written by Colleen Fitzpatrick & Andrew Yeiser in 2005.

BACKGROUND AND HISTORY

There were many Mumma surname branches in the United States that could not be connected together through civil or church records. For example, we did not know whether or not the immigrants, Jacob, Leonard and Peter Mumma were brothers, cousins or not related at all. We were not sure from which immigrant various "unconnected" branches descended. They arrived in Philadelphia in 1731, 1732 & 1748 respectively. There were questions as to whether individuals with the Mummey, Moomey surname or the Canadian Mumas descend from a common Mumma ancestor. In addition, the Mumma surname does not exist outside the United States, except for a small isolated group in Estonia. Family traditions and legends suggest a variety of the family origins. Some suggest the progenitors were Swiss Mennonites or from the Alsace-Lorraine region of France and were Huguenots. Other stories suggest that the Mumma family descends from Lucium Mummius, the Roman General who destroyed Corinth in 146 BC. Yet another family tradition suggests the surname originated from one of the ancient kingdoms of Ireland called "Muma". The most likely tradition suggests that the MUMMA spelling is a variation of the surname, MOMMA, which can still be found in Germany today. The Wilhelm Momma family has been documented as living in the Aachen-Stolberg area of Germany (then the Holy Roman Empire) near the intersection of the current German-Belgium-Dutch boarder. This family was first identified in that area around the 1500's and descendants of the Momma family reside there to this day. Unfortunately, there has been little proof or evidence to support these family traditions, all of which probably have some truth in them, but selecting the correct pieces is always difficult. The chart to the right shows the five major branches of the Momma and Mumma families. The question marks at the top of the Mumma lines indicate the uncertainty of the correct connection to the Momma family.

While researching my own family genealogy, many roadblocks were encountered which prevented identification of specific ancestors. In an attempt circumvent some of these roadblocks, I began collecting and compiling large amounts of family records. Eventually these records were entered into a database that is now available as an on-line searchable database which currently contains over 68,000 Mumma descendants. Many "unconnected" branches or small twigs remain in the database and the use of DNA technology piqued my curiosity as to whether it might possibly be used to determine family connections and guide traditional research. Thus the Mumma Surname DNA Project was conceived. The specific goals for the project were to determine whether or not the various Mumma branches were related and to provide a bank of data that could be used to identify specific branches.

Because of the embryonic state of DNA testing in 2000 for genealogical purposes, it quickly became apparent that it would be desirable to use a testing laboratory associated with a qualified and recognized genetic research team. Data interpretation would obviously need assistance and guidance from genetic scientists. When I began my search of testing companies in April of 2000, there were almost no companies offering genealogical DNA testing services.

My initial search led me to GeneTree, Inc., a company primarily performing DNA testing for paternity cases, but they were expanding their business into DNA testing for genealogical purposes. I felt that GeneTree, who was working in close cooperation with Dr. Scott Woodward at BYU, would be qualified scientifically.

I also found a new startup company by the name of Family Tree DNA, Inc. (FTDNA). This company was founded strictly for the purpose of performing genealogical DNA testing and analysis. They were working closely with Dr. Michael Hammer of the University of Arizona. Dr. Hammer was a highly respected and well published geneticist who had done much research on a variety of Y-chromosome projects.

Contact was also attempted with another new company called "Oxford Ancestors", a British startup company associated with Dr. Bryan Sykes of Oxford University. Dr. Sykes was also investigating the application of DNA testing for genealogical purposes. While Oxford Ancestors described Y-chromosome testing, they were not offering the service at that time.

After discussions with all of these companies, Family Tree DNA was selected as the organization to perform the DNA extraction and analysis for the Mumma Surname Project. This selection was based on a number of factors including, price, the number of "markers" measured (eleven at the time of initial discussions) and the excellent reputation of Dr. Michael Hammer as a respected genetic researcher and scientist.

After selecting FTDNA to perform the DNA analyses, the project goals were refined and e-mail invitations sent to a distribution list of over 500 people associated with the Mumma surname, requesting men with the Mumma surname (or alternate spellings) to participate. The response was extremely positive and the project proceeded swiftly, the details of which are the subject of the remainder of this report.

The Mumma project is still actively gathering additional information with new participants submitting samples for analysis on a regular basis. Project signup can be done at: http://www.mumma.org/dna/dna_signup.htm or through the FTDNA signup link at http://www.familytreedna.com/surname_join.asp?code=J26528

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this project are to answer many of the typical genealogical questions which haunt most family historians and genealogists. The following objectives were established when the project was started in April of 2000. Many of them remain unchanged today.

• Are the American MUMMA and German MOMMA families closely related? Family traditions and legends suggested they were, but no documentation or proof was available.
• Were the original 1731, 1732 & 1748 Mumma immigrants closely related? These immigrants all lived in close proximity to each other in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, but again no documentation or proof had been found. Intuition suggested they might be brothers or first cousins.
• Are variant surname spellings closely related, including Mumma, Muma, Mummau, Mummah, Mumaugh, Moomaw, Moomau, Moomey, Mumme, Mummey, Reenstierna and Reenstjerna? While the genealogies of many men can be linked together through documentation, there existed many "unconnected" branches and twigs.
• Can DNA “signatures” be determined to uniquely identify specific family branches or trees? Because many "unconnected" family branches exist, it was hoped that DNA testing might provide a tool for identifying to which branch men belonged.
• Can an individual’s DNA “fingerprint” be used to connect them to a specific family tree?

In order to achieve many of the project objectives, results from a large number of men were necessary, especially from men whose genealogies were well known and documented. These results would then become the baseline upon which the results from "unconnected" men would be evaluated and compared.

PROJECT RESULTS

These DNA results have been obtained since the year 2000 and are presented below in ten different groupings as an aid in data interpretation. Some of these groups have only recently been created based on the results. In general, the results are grouped according to each person's known progenitor or probable progenitor. Group 1 contains the results of the European participants, namely 2 men with the Momma surname who still live in Germany. The other man in this grouping has the name of Reenstjerna and his ancestors lived in Sweden before migrating to America about 1875. The unusual spelling of his name occurs because several Momma men migrated to Sweden in the late 1500's. They became so important to the economy of Sweden due to their contributions to shipping and mining that the King of Sweden "ennobled" them and gave them the name of "Reenstierna". This branch has used that surname ever since. The connection of these two families is well documented in Swedish and English court records due to lawsuits. Fortunately for genealogists, lawyers can create large mountains of paperwork. Group 2 contains men who are known to have descended from immigrant Jacob Mumma who arrived in America in 1731. Group 3 was created after the 37 marker data was received. Because of a unique result at one marker, their results strongly suggest they too are Jacob descendants, but for whom documentation is lacking. This group will be discussed in more detail in the data interpretation section. Group 4 are men who descended from immigrant Peter Mumma who arrived in 1748 and they also have a unique "signature". Group 5, the largest grouping, are known descendants of immigrant Leonard Mumma who arrived in 1732. Group 6 is another grouping that was created after the 37 marker data became available. From family traditions and the identification of a unique marker, we believe that these men are also descendants of Leonard Mumma, but definite proof is lacking. The remaining groupings are not Mumma descendants, but were included in the project to evaluate similar surname spellings or because of unusual DNA results. Group 7 are primarily men who were unlikely Mumma descendants, were adopted and not expected to match the Mumma family or they are cases of probable infidelity or unknown adoptions. Group 8 contains men with the Mummey surname spelling or shared a similar DNA signature. Group 9 contains the results of 2 men with the Moomey surname who were tested to determine whether or not men with this surname were related to the Mumma family. The final group, Group 10, has two men with the Webb surname and one Moomaw who also matched their DNA signature exactly. The results of each group will be discussed in more detail later.

A brief description of Y-Chromosome testing is given below to help understand some of the terms used in the data table (This description was written by Kevin Blair http://blairgenealogy.com/dna/dna101.html).

"The Y-Chromosome has definable segments of DNA with known genetic characteristics. These segments are known as Markers. These markers occur at an identifiable physical location on a chromosome known as a Locus. Each marker is designated by a number (known as DYS#), according to international conventions. You will often find the terms Marker and Locus used interchangeably, but technically the Marker is what is tested and the Locus is where the marker is located on the chromosome.

Although there are several types of markers used in DNA studies, the Y-Chromosome test uses only one type. The marker used is called a Short Tandem Repeat (STR). STRs are short sequences of DNA, (usually 2, 3, 4, or 5 base pairs long), that are repeated numerous times in a head-tail manner. The 16 base pair sequence of "gatagatagatagata" would represent 4 repeats of the sequence "gata". These repeats are referred to as an Allele. The variation of the number of repeats of each marker enables discrimination between individuals."

So, it the repeating patterns of the measured alleles of two people which are compared. If they don't match one to one, then we say a mutation occurred. This allele comparison could be between a father & son, any two men or even a group of men. Mutations occur very rarely and so a comparison of the alleles of closely related men should show few differences. Statistically, a probability can be calculated to determine how close two men are probably related. The total number of mutations or allele differences observed between men is called their genetic distance. A genetic distance of zero means there are no differences in the results being compared and they are probably very closely related.

The first column in the table, "Kit#", is the number FTDNA (Family Tree DNA) assigned to the sample kit. The "M#", is a number that I assigned to each participant, based on the date their sample was received. This was prior to FTDNA assigning kit numbers. The next column, "Surname", is the surname of the participant. The next thirty-seven columns, marked 1 to 37, represent an arbitrary identification marker number assigned to the various loci where the STR repeat values were measured and alleles determined. The DYS# is the specific identification number given to a specific location along the Y-chromosome. DYS markers highlighted in blue have been identified by FTDNA as being markers which they have been observed as mutating faster than average. The row highlighted in yellow just below the DYS names is the "ancestral haplotype" or most likely haplotype of the oldest Momma/Mumma ancestor. (A "haplotype" can be thought of as a person's DNA signature and is simply the series of allele values that were measured.) It is this ancestral haplotype or signature from which the haplotypes of each man have changed or "mutated'. The column marked as "Mutate" represents the total number of mutations observed for each man, as compared to the "ancestral haplotype". This number is also referred to as the "genetic distance" of each man from the reference or "ancestral" haplotype. The column marked "HaploGroup" lists the haplogroup to which each individual belongs. Haplogroups identify to which migration group a person's ancient ancestors belonged when they migrated out of Africa to Asia and Europe. The far right hand column is a modified "Henry" reference identification number that has been assigned to all Mumma descendents listed in the Mumma surname database. This database contains over 68,000 descendants or spouses of the Momma or Mumma families. http://www.mumma.org/databases/mumma/mumma.html The Henry reference number is a generation identification number which uniquely codes each person based on the number of generations they are removed from the progenitor of their branch. Each number typically represents his birth order at that generation. These numbers are further explained and identified in the notes beneath the data table.

37 Marker Data [NOTE: People often have difficulty properly printing wide tables presented in HTML format. For convenience, you may download all of the project data in PDF format. This file includes additional results from Dr. Jobling of the University of Leicester and from the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation (SMGF). Downloading and printing this file will maintain proper formatting including cell colors. If you wish to print these pages directly, it is recommended that you print in "landscape" and turn on "print background colors" in your Internet browser "advanced" settings]