YDNA Results

 

YDNA

The Y DNA holds the clues of the paternal line of your family. Everyone has 23 chromosomes. 22 are for the passing of distinct family traits: eye color, hair color, the amount of melatonin, a dimpled chin, etc. The 23rd set of chromosomes is designated for the sex of the child. Women carry 2 X chromosomes, and Men carry 

1 X and 1 Y (see the above charts). 

The Y chromosome can take us backward into our families past through the paternal line. It is shared by all common male members of the family and can trace back from son to father to grand father to great grandfather. This would then also include the uncles, brothers, cousins, etc that descend from the same Y DNA ancestor. 

HAPLOGROUPS & THE HAPLOTREE

Also, included in a YDNA match test is the Paternal Haplogroup of the YDNA tester. The haplogroup contains the information about the original progenitor of the YDNA line, thousands of years ago.  The haplogroup is the larger view back and helps us trace our ancestry back to the origin of our male family line and place it on a larger family tree known as the haplotree. Think of it as one large floating tree and there are locations on the tree. The name of the location of your very most distant paternal ancestor is the branch from where your paternal ancestor descended from. It is the name of your haplogroup. 

One other way to describe a haplogroup is by using the analogy of a search engine. 

When you type the name JOHN SMITH into the search engine you only get a few hits. But if you broaden your search to just the letter J you get thousands of hits. Now add JO and your hits are reduced. With regards to haplogroups, J represents the largest of the groups hits, (or the name of the entire branch) and with each letter added you get more specific of a find until you are able to have just one JOHN SMITH.  The haplogroup is the genealogists way of organizing everyone whose alleles are similar and come from similar branches of the haplotree. So men who have a haplogroup R come from a different branch on the haplotree, than say E, or U, or I.  More information can be found on FTDNA.com 

The knowledge of one's haplogroup is imperative to knowing which John Smith to look for. You could have a JOHN SMITH with a haplogroup I, or U, or R. All are named JOHN SMITH but all of their paternal lines come from different branches of the haplotree. Using the haplogroup as a guide keeps you from doing the genealogical research on a line that is not the same as your line and therefore, even though the names are the same, and they may have even lived in the same town, county and state, if the haplogroups are different, they are NOT from the same families and could never be a YDNA match. 

Noah JACOBS haplogroup EM-2

Based on family lore, naming patterns and even some DNA findings, Noah Jacobs father was believed to have been John Jacobs. This name is as difficult to trace as John Smith. I have done extensive genealogical research and am therefore somewhat familiar with many of the John Jacobs that were born in the 1700's and lived somewhere in the southeastern states of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Only when I understood the power of knowing your haplogroup did I understand how these men, though likely candidates could not have been Noah's father because they all had haplogroups different from Noah's. 

From our YDNA JACOBs test, we gained great information about our family line. 

EM-2 

From FTDNA we learn: 

• The E-M2 paternal line was formed when it branched off from the ancestor E-V38 and the rest of humankind around 38,000 BCE.
• The man who is the most recent common ancestor of this line is estimated to have been born around 16,000 BCE.
• He is the ancestor of at least 2 descendant lineages known as E-M4901 & E-FT183172.
• Haplogroup E-M2, also known as E1b1a1-M2, is a human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. E-M2 is primarily distributed within Africa followed by West Asia.

From YourdNAGuide.com we learn: 

• 35% of African Americans who get YDNA testing, they discover their haplogroup is of European origin. This sadly shows that the sexual exploitation of African American women by those who were of European descent was real. 
• 65% of African American and other Free People of Color find that their haplogroup of origin comes from Africa. 
• The most common haplogroup of the above group is EM-2
• The total amount of E-M2 in the America's varies greatly, but the presence of EM-2 tells a story of a paternal line connected back to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. 

Noah's Family and EM-2 

   There are many different scenarios that could have transpired to give Noah's line a haplogroup of EM-2. One that I am partial and proud of is that his family, his people, were from a group of people known as FPC, or Free people of color. These men and women were not the upper crust of American society, they were not classified as white on the original census of this county, but that does not mean they were not men of integrity, honor, and family values. What they were can only survive in our imaginations for there is little evidence here. But one thing for sure, they fought hard to maintain the freedom of their families and America. They were frontiersmen who worked hard and believed in the hopes and promises that our new nation brought. 

INTERPRETING NOAH'S RESULTS

The two different YDNA test results we have back show that yes, the SURNAME IS JACOBS! We are not dealing with a NPE (non parental experience)! The reason we know this is because of a match that is 2 steps off, or 2 generations removed from Noah. That simply means that the match between the other tester and our YDNA tester was in the late 1600's or more likely the very early 1700's. This 2 step match's surname was ALSO JACOBS. 

With this information we have a gap between Circa 1690 and 1720  to 1803 when Noah was born. In other words, one of the great grandfather's of our 2 step off match was also one of the great grandfather's of Noah!. What we don't know is who the family is in between these two matches. We have a good idea but no real proof.

What this also tells us is that Noah's original immigrant ancestor from the early 1600's was most likely an African American slave who gained his freedom early on. In working with other researchers, we have a good idea who this slave was and when he gained his emancipation but that will be another post. 

What is important here is that we understand that Noah's great or great great grandfather was freed early on and lived as a FPC.  It would have meant that he would have worked to free other members of his family. The life of FPC in colonial America was not easy and some of the hardships they endured might have been: 

• Double Taxes - for no other reason than they were not 100% white
• Living on the edge of society- they were not allowed to be part of the English Colonial America other than to provide the wealthy with needed labor skills. 
• Being dependent on the mercantile system for work and compassionate souls that would offer protection from the ever changing slavery laws.
• Never receiving the same rights of freedom guaranteed to the more English Americans. 
• Hiding their children of mixed relations from the powers that would a. either seek to enslave them or b. seek to give them the privileges of a white America forever separating them from their family of birth.  It all depended on how their DNA fell out as to the life they would be forced to live. 
• Living in a society that valued people based on the amount of melatonin and esteemed family pedigree. 
• After the American Revolution - always being afraid of being captured and sold into slavery
• The condemnation and execution of the laws that prevented the intermarriage of race. 
• The ever-changing laws against FPC such as ones that prevented them from the carrying of arms. These arms were mandatory for their hunting and obtaining food. 

Many of the FPC intermarried with Native Americans, run away Irish, English or Scottish indentured servants, emancipated or run away slaves of all races, and African Americans that may be current slaves of families they worked for. I am certain that the scenarios were many and the circumstances heart breaking. 

The Free People of Color welcomed all of the whiter societies outcasts and did not love a person based on the amount of melatonin in their skin, but the amount of compassion in their hearts and souls. 

NOAH's FATHER

Because we have the 2 step YDNA match to Noah's YDNA paternal line, we know that ALL of Noah's father's in his paternal line were FPC all the way back to the early 1700's. So there were no men of a different haplogroup ( I, R, U)  having families with the women of his family, HOWEVER, it is very possible and probable that Noah's paternal line chose to have families with women who were not FPC. By doing this they could ensure their children's place in a society that valued the lighter melatonin levels. And their EM-2 haplogroup would not be interrupted. 

These women may have been:

•  the daughters of men who DID NOT HAVE EM-2 haplogroup
• the daughters of Cherokee chiefs - a good way to obtain land to hunt on
• the daughters of men with mixed heritage but with less melatonin than the African or Native American race. 
• the daughters of other FPC with whom they lived and worked and socialized. 

What I believe is of most importance here is that we understand that Noah Jacobs, nor his father nor his father's father ever consider themselves as Free People of Color. This is a 20th century term that has been used to differentiate the class of American's that were neither slave or owners of slaves. They were outside of the realm of societal standards and they knew this, but they never classified themselves in such a manner. They knew they had freedom from slavery, AND they knew they would always have to fight for that freedom; it would never be free to them. 

Freedom is more than a term used to classify a group of people, its a sense of pride in what you have done and who you have become because of the challenges you have overcome. I am proud to be a descendant of the JACOBS family of southeastern NC. I am proud because of all they have overcome and the sacrifices they have made for me, their next generation. When I consider how they loved and existed and cared for one another as a community, I know they had something special. 

I wonder sometimes what I am searching for in the search for Noah's father's identity. I believe I am searching for an understanding of not just their names, but who they were and why they were families that understood what it means to live in a nation that values freedom enough to fight for it. Look around the world and you will see that there are many countries where Freedom is not free for everyone. 

EXACT MATCH 

I saved this paragraph for the last on purpose. I wanted you to understand that living in a marginalized society meant that you interacted with others who too were marginalized by society. 

Noah's one exact match was an NPE. (Non Parental Experience) with a woman of color who was a slave to Thomas Nicholson when he lived in Brunswick County NC and before he moved to Tennessee. This slave woman gave birth in 1812 in Tennessee to her son Sam Nicholson, (the surname comes from the slave owner). I have tried to research this line but it is worse than a needle in the haystack. 

The descendant of this exact match is a product of slavery and her ancestors suffered greatly and paid with their lives for the sins of slavery in America. 

I have met, visited and enjoyed a delightful afternoon with this wonderful genealogist and historian. Sharon Morgan is the author of many books. Look her up. It will change your life. Especially when you realize she is the Jacobs family  DNA cousin. 

The above paragraph is just one scenario and is unconfirmed. What is does tell us is that because Noah was too young at the age of nine to father a child,  a member of his paternal line, his father, gfather, uncle, brother, cousin with the same haplogroup and allele sequence fathered Sam Nicholson. Because the Jacobs family and the Nicholson families lived next door to one another in 1800 in Brunswick County, North Carolina and because Thomas Nicholson later moves (dates unknown) to Tennessee, it is most likely that Sam was conceived in NC and then birthed in Tenn. However, we are not sure that the Jacobs did not go to Tenn, so another scenario would be that the ? Jacobs lived near Thomas Nicholson or even worked for him in Tennessee where Sam Nicholson was born. Thomas Nicholson dies young in Tenn. and it is assumed that all of his wealth and slaves went to his relative Judge Isaac Whitehead Nicholson of Noxubee Mississippi. This would explain how Sam who was born in Tennessee, ends up in Noxubee Mississippi where he is emancipated in 1865. 

There is a third scenario involving Felix Winston of Nashville Tenn. and his family as he purchased a 16 year old slave in 1828 ish in Tenn. from Wilson McClellan. He later removes to New Orleans where he dies from Malaria. His slaves are put on the selling block back in Virginia where his family originated from. I have not followed the trail from there, but that too could have been ... 

All this makes me really grateful to the slave owner who granted our ancestor emancipation in 1696 back in Virginia. If Noah's ancestor had not been granted emancipation at such an early time in the history of slavery in our country, it is probable he would have never obtained it. And we would have never known the story of the JACOBS family and their fight to remain free in a politically unstable environment. 

Daniel Pinckney Jacobs 1861-1931

 In the beginning of my research I learned the best tactic was to keep it close to home. This means to research the closer generations to discover more about them and consequently learn clues to your earlier ancestors. It works for the beginning of the 19th century because Americans were not as mobile then as they are now. 

It worked because ancestors tended not to relocate as often and they lived, worked, and socialized with the same families. Their children married into families that either were already family or had farmed next to one another for two or three generations. The people your ancestor's children married were comfortable, established friends and hold clues to your ancestors past. Todays post will be about my 2nd Great Grandfather who was from Pireway, Columbus County, North Carolina. He was the father of Noah Needham Jacobs who was the father of Jake Jacobs. 

"Big Catfish" Watercolor by Linda Conkey Shaw Jan 2026 

Daniel Pinckney Jacobs born in 1861 when Noah Jacobs Sn. was fifty eight and his mother was forty-six.  He was, according to the census records, Noah's and Keziah's youngest child and son. When his father passed away sometime between 1882-1884 (sourced from land records) he had been married to Sarah Jane Benton close to one year, and when his mother passed not too much longer afterwards he was still in his early twenties. 

SarahBentonJacobs 
Daniel Pinckney Jacobs 
Mary Elizabeth Jacobs Grice  Circa1920's

It must have been difficult for him to loose his parents while just starting a life of his own. I can only imagine that he leaned heavily on his older sisters and brothers for guidance, comfort and counsel. 

Sarah Benton Jacobs' grandfather Arthur Benton Jr. was born the same year as her father in law Noah E. Jacobs Sn., 1803. According to census records, both were born in Brunswick, North Carolina. We know that Arthur Benton Jr. was born in Brunswick County NC because the Benton family came early to New Hanover and what later became Brunswick County and then even later to Columbus County. There are reasons to believe, however that Noah may have possibly been born in SC. This is based on the amount of DNA matches we have to the Jacobs of Richland County South Carolina. 

In the end, Noah ends up in Brunswick County and would have been at least a neighbor or peer of Arthur Benton Jr. The reason we don't know the exact location of Noah Jacobs 1803 birth is because family lore states that his father died young and that he was raised by extended family members who took him and his siblings or 1/2 siblings in. It is most probable that he was born in Brunswick County and that the DNA we have in SC is from a close relative of the family. 

Children of Daniel P. Jacobs & Sarah Benton Jacobs
Noah Needham, Agnes Jane, Daniel Lewis, Gabriel Cleveland, Patty Ella, Ulessa Manago,
Kitsey Belle, Ruth Elminor, Henry Herman, and Joseph Jonas.
Daniel Lewis died in 1932 and is not in the photo.

Sarah and Daniel were married in 1881 in Pireway, NC. Most probably in either one of their parents home. Together they brought ten children into the world. 

1. Noah Needham Jacobs 1882-1958 - This is my great grandfather. N.N. as the family came to call him, missed all of the census records that would have put him in his parents home. He was born after the 1880 census, there was no 1890 census and by 1900 he is 19 and out making a life for himself as a servant in the Cox family home.  He married 1st Josephine Metcalf who was from Curtis Mills, Florida and had 7 sons and 1 daughter. He married 2nd Edith Cleaver. She had 3 children from a prior marriage. N.N. Jacobs lived and died in DeLand Florida. He was the owner and operator of a lumber mill and was a well known business man in DeLand. 

2. Agnes Jane Jacobs   1884 - 1960 - The oldest daughter, Agnes married in April of 1902 Alexander Robinson and they had 6 sons and 4 daughters. Alexander's first wife Polly Long died in 1902; they had 2 children together. 

3. Daniel Lewis Jacobs 1886 - 1932  "Lewis" married Dora Caulder. It is unclear why his death certificate mentions his wife's name as Dora Lewis? but then sometimes the informant on the death certificate is misinformed. He lived all of his life in Columbus County and died of complications following pneumonia in 1932. Daniel Lewis Jacobs and Dora W. Caulder were the parents of 6 sons and 3 daughters. 

4. Gabriel Cleveland Jacobs 1888 - 1962 otherwise known lovingly as "Uncle Cleve" married Annie Jane Norris in 1911 and they are parents of 4 sons and 5 daughters. He lived and died in Columbus County NC and is buried in Tabor City, NC. 

5.  Patty Ella Jacobs 1890 - 1979 married Marshall C. Norris and together they brought 4 sons and 3 daughters into the world. She lived and died in Columbus County NC mostly around her fathers and grandfather's land in Bug Hill and Whiteville. She is buried next to her husband in Tabor City, Columbus County NC. 

6. Uless Manego Jacobs 1892 - 1986  Uless followed his older brother to DeLand Florida where he married Alice Painter and they had 2 sons. He lived and died at the age of 91 in Florida. 

7.  Kitsey Belle Jacobs 1894 - 1991 was a beloved mother of 5 daughters and 5 sons. She married John Furney Spivey and lived and died in Columbus County, NC. She did live for a time in Horry County SC. 

8.  Ruth Elminor Jacobs 1897- 1997 married Lennon Soles and they had 4 sons and 4 daughters. She lived and died in Columbus County NC. 

9.  Henry Herman Jacobs 1900-1962 married Blanchie Waddell They had 3 sons and 2 daughters. Henry and Blanchie lived in Wake County, NC and is buried in Tabor City, Columbus County NC. 

10. Joseph Jonas Jacobs 1905-1959 also followed his oldest brother N.N. Jacobs to Florida where he married Viola Long who was from Columbus Co., N.C.  He fought in WWII. We do not have record of any children being born to the couple. He died in Florida and is buried in Tabor City, Columbus County, NC. 

 

 

The Cumbo Family of Brunswick Co. NC

No known family relationship exists (at this time) between the Cumbo and the Jacobs family, however knowing that  Noah Jacobs sold his land on Meadow house Branch in Town Creek, Brunswick County, NC to one Jane Cumbo, makes one wonder if there might have been a family relations. 

It's not so much he sold his ten acres to her but rather that he sold it for only $10. The low amount is suggestive of a family connection. The fact that he sold it to Jane and not her husband Williams shows the changing attitudes with regards to women owning and purchasing land. Later in 1860 when Jane sells the same land to Elenor Blount, she includes her husband in the land deed sale.  

In 1858 Jane Cumbo and her husband William Cumbo sell this same land to Elenor Blount for $75. The description of the land can be compared to the description given in the 1846 deed between Noah Jacobs and Jane Cumbo.

        Noah to Jane Cumbo land description: 

            On Town Creek bounded on McKay's line now Berry's line in the second branch below the Meadow House Branch with that branch to the run o the creek with creek to McKays line. Ten acres more or less.  

signed Thomas Heriden and Allen G. Jacobs. 

        Jane Cumbo to Elenor Blount 

        t

Ten ares on the north side of Town Creek to Elenor Blount of Duplin county. bounded at a stake on McKay's line now Elenor Blounts line, east to the second branch below Meadow House Branch - black gum said thence with Meadow House Branch as it meanders to the run of Town Creek. thence up said creek to McKay's line now Mrs. Blounts line know as Hogue line thence to the beginning. Ten acres more or less. 

signed HC Leonard and Ezekiel Skippper

The Cumbo family of Brunswick County began early on with David, Reubin, Stephen, Solomon showing up on early tax records before the 1790 census. 

Cumbo Census Records for Brunswick County

1800 : Solomon, Reubin 

1810   Solomon, Reubin 

1820 Solomon, Reubin 

1830 Solomon, Levi, Shadrick, Isaac, Isham, David & Abraham 

1840 William(1804) , Jacob, and Isham(1802) 

1850 William & Isham (brothers or cousins) 

1860 Isham and Jacob

1870 Isham 

1880 Isham 

________________________________________________

JACOBS & CUMBOS

The 1830 census in Brunswick County N.C. is the most telling with regards to relationships with the Jacobs family. Living next door to SHADRICK CUMBO is ZACHARIAH JACOBS.  Both are FPC with HG EM-2. From a Y DNA stand either could be the paternal line, (father, brother, cousins, grandfather) of Noah and his 1/2 siblings or cousins: Mary Polly, Nathan, William Canada and Allen G. , but staying with family lore and the YDNA findings have confirmed that the surname is indeed JACOBS. 

In looking at the 1830 census for ZACHARIAH JACOBS the ages of the family members of Noah Jacobs family could match up? I believe they do match up, however without names it is only a guess. 

It is also very possible that one reason why NOAH JACOBS sold the land on Meadow House Branch off of Town Creek to JANE CUMBO, was because JANE CUMBO was his sister, OR 1/2 sibling or cousin. The close proximity to SHADRICK CUMBO and NOAH JACOBS  is enough to reasonably suggest this. 

We have also postulated that Civil Jacobs who married Shadrack SKIPPER may have also been NOAH JACOBS sister. The Skipper family also lives nearby and we have many AutosDNA matches to the Skipper family. 

William and Jane Cumbo seem to disappear after selling the land on Meadow House Branch. Their three children don't show up in the 1860 census either. Their last name could have been altered, they may have missed the census because of travel, or they may have hit on hard times with illness etc. We will continue the search for the family, but the Civil War highly complicated things. 

James Cumbo born in 1840 has a cousin born in 1839 who was also named James Cumbo and also fought in the Civil War from NC. 

We cannot find Oren Cumbo and I even considered it might be Pren but the search engines did not yield me any results. 

In reviewing other Cumbo names in Brunswick County it is possible that their last name is now Cumbee, Cumbow, etc. McCumbee

Oren born in 1837, James born in 1840, and Louisa born in 1843 may hold the clues to the family relations between the Jacobs and the Cumbo families. 

Connecting the Dots on my Cumbo Family Tree is a very interesting blog about the history of the Cumbo family in America. It is possible and very likely that William Cumbo's family falls within the family tree of this Virginia Cumbo family who fought hard for their families freedom. 

The DNA matches we get when we filter for the name Cumbo are larger than I would have anticipated, but sometimes its because of other family lines that also connect with the match. My mother's DNA matches to several Cumbo, McCumbee, Cumbee family trees but many of these trees also match because of the Benton family of which William and Jane Cumbo lived next door to in the 1840 census. 

We will keep researching the Cumbo family ties to the Jacobs. The DNA seems to hold some clues that could be gems in helping us understand the older generations relationships. 

LS. 

Noah & Keziah - A Family History Brick Wall

Noah and Keziah Jacobs of Columbus County North Carolina are the progenitors of 13 children and a tree load of descendants. It is to Noah's and Keziah's ancestry we dedicate this blog! Not that I won't enjoy sharing the stories of their descendants as we discover them, but that most of this blog will be dedicated to the research my Jacobs' cousins have uncovered over the years and even more recently. 

In 1996 I began researching my grandfather's family history of Jacobs from North Carolina. I kept running into a brick-wall or so I thought. And while I was circling the brick wall over and over, trying to make sense of the information it was or was not giving me, I ran into others who were doing the same. Eventually we started an email group where we shared mutual information about our relatives and tried to discover common ground. 

Karen Jacobs of Sanford, Florida and I struck a chord and we soon learned of our mutual relationships. (or her husbands as she was researching his Jacobs line). In the upcoming posts I will reveal on this blog all of the information that I have discovered and how it has changed me and enlightened me and given me a new take on life.

That is what Family Research does, it helps us realize the power of our ancestors in our lives. It helps us grow just a little bit as humans. It gives our small lives perspective into the larger universe of humanity. 

This photo is of Daniel Pinckney Jacobs (my 2nd great grandfather) and his wife Sarah Benton Jacobs, and his sister Elizabeth Jacobs Grice. Daniel and Elizabeth were 2 of the younger children of Noah and Keziah. Since we do not have a photo of Noah, nor of his wooden grave marker, the next best thing is his children. 

Settle in, Use the search engine on the right side of the page or message me and I will gladly share all that I know. This is also a page of sharing of other members of the family. As we all learn together we will grow in knowledge of our past.