Paternal

Photo of the Day – March 20, 2015

joelowry1982 Lowry, Paternal, POTD

In honor of the Notre Dame men’s basketball team barely squeezing out a victory over Northeastern University in the men’s tourney yesterday, I give this you image of Our Lady’s University. The golden dome atop the Administration Building is one of the most recognizable university symbols in the country. My grandfather Charles Lowry took this photo during a trip to Notre Dame in November 1941. You can see more photos from that trip on this post.

Source:
The Administration Building at the University of Notre Dame, photograph, taken on either 21 or 22 November, 1941; digital image, photocopy of original, scanned in 2013 by Joseph Lowry; privately held by Mary McCaffrey, [address for private use], Canton, Ohio. Provenance is Charles Lowry to Mary McCaffrey.


Photo of the Day – March 19, 2015

joelowry1982 Lowry, Paternal, Pepperney, POTD

My grandfather Charles Lowry is posing in this photo looking dapper in a double breasted jacket and white tie. I seem to recall other similar photos indicating that this his 8th grade graduation in the spring of 1938 or 1939. The timing is right, as I think the little girl is is his first cousin Catherine Pepperney who was born in 1937 and would be 1 or 2 years old.

Source:
Charles James Lowry (1924-2007) and believed to be Catherine Pepperney Campana, photograph, taken at unknown location around 1939; digital image, photocopy of original, scanned in 2013 by Joseph Lowry; privately held by Mary McCaffrey, [address for private use], Canton, Ohio. Young man in dark blazer and white shirt and white pants standing in front of young child on small bike. Provenance is Mary Pepperney Lowry to Charles Lowry to Mary McCaffrey.

Photo of the Day – March 18, 2015

joelowry1982 Paternal, Pepperney, POTD

My great uncle Francis Witt Jr. married Mary Lou Murray on August 2, 1944. Shown in this photo on their wedding day are Francis’s younger brother Howard (my grandfather) and the baby of the family, his sister Helen. It is unknown to me who the woman on the right is. Less than a week prior Francis had returned home to Youngstown after being reported missing in action. According to a Vindicator report, how he arrived home was not disclosed (but I can let you in on the secret).

Source:
Unknown, Mary Lou Murray Witt (1917-2001), Helen Witt (1934-2009), Francis Witt Jr. (1920-2002) and Howard Witt (1929-2001), photograph, taken at unknown location on 2 Aug 1944; digital image, photocopy of original, scanned in 2013 by Joseph Lowry; privately held by Marie Dockry, [address for private use], Austintown, Ohio. Three women and two men, one in a service uniform, appearing for a wedding. Provenance is Marie Dockry to Joseph Lowry.

Photo of the Day – March 17, 2015

joelowry1982 Lowry, McSweeney, Paternal, POTD

Joseph McSweeney was just 11 months old when his mother Anna Lowry McSweeney died of cancer in March 1920 at the age of 24. Anna was the sister of my great grandfather Charles E. Lowry. After that, young Joseph was raised by his grandparents Michael and Anna Lowry in Salem, Ohio. He died in 1979 in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Source:
Joseph McSweeney (1918-1979), photograph, taken at unknown location around 1920; digital image, photocopy of original, scanned in 2013 by Joseph Lowry; privately held by Mary McCaffrey, [address for private use], Canton, Ohio. Young boy, approximately two years old, standing in front of Model T car. Provenance is Mary Pepperney Lowry to Charles Lowry to Mary McCaffrey.

My DNA Says I Am From Where?!

joelowry1982 A message from the blogger..., DNA, Maternal, Paternal
DNA tests can reveal new ancestors, show your ethnic breakdown and solve genealogical mysteries that would otherwise go unanswered. A problem arises when the same genetic material gives you two different answers to one question:
Where Am I From?
Trying to figure you where you came from historically and genetically is much simpler than it was a decade ago. Several companies offer DNA tests that include ethnicity estimates. These estimates are created by analyzing your genetic material (just a small amount of saliva) and comparing it to thousands of others. While realizing they are only estimates, they provide a little more truth to statements such as, “I’m 50% Irish, 30% German and 20% English,” or whatever you’ve always believed your ethnic breakdown to be. Keeping in mind that these are estimates and that Europe is as much of a melting pot as America can lead to some interesting statistics.
I wrote about a DNA test that my father took a few months ago through Family Tree DNA. I recently took a DNA test of my own through AncestryDNA, another company that offers tests as part of their genealogical product offering (the parent is Ancestry.com). Included in my results was the ethnicity estimate. AncestryDNA writes that they calculate their ethnicity estimates this way:

We create estimates for your genetic ethnicity by comparing your DNA to the DNA of other people who are native to a region. The AncestryDNA reference panel (version 2.0) contains 3,000 DNA samples from people in 26 global regions. 

We build the reference panel from a larger reference collection of 4,245 DNA samples collected from people whose genealogy suggests they are native to one region. The images below show the process of gathering local samples from various parts of the world. 

Each panel member’s genealogy is documented so we can be confident that their family is representative of people with a long history (hundreds of years) in that region.
Each volunteer’s DNA sample from a given region is then tested and compared to all others to construct the AncestryDNA reference panel. In the end, 3,000 of 4,245 individuals are chosen for the AncestryDNA reference panel (version 2.0). These individuals make up 26 global regions.

We then compare your DNA to the DNA in the reference panel to see which regions your DNA is most like. The ethnicity estimate you see on the web site is the result of this comparison. When we calculate your estimate for each ethnicity region, we run forty separate analyses. Each of the forty analyses gives an independent estimate of your ethnicity, and each one is done with randomly selected portions of your DNA. Your genetic ethnicity estimates and likely ranges for these estimates come from these forty analyses.[1]

With all of that in mind, I was excited to see my breakdown and learn if it matched my research. That research would indicate that I’m at last 60% German, 25% Irish, and 15% English. Keep in mind this is only going back 5 generations on average; going back any further is rather complicated because of the number of grandparents and the gaps in research. Much to my surprise, it was nowhere close!
My AncestryDNA estimate indicates that I am 62% descended from Great Britain, 20% Ireland and only 5% from Western Europe. WHAT?! Where are my Germans?! I have German surnames including Bahle, Witt, Bixler, Governor, Porubsky, Schulmeister, and Pepperney (Anglicized in a few cases) in my family history and they are getting almost no recognition by my saliva!
My ethnic matches from AncestryDNA’s autosomal DNA test. (click to enlarge.)
I was a bit stunned by the results but realize that over centuries people move. These results aren’t meant to capture a single moment in time but ancestral makeups throughout history.
Once I had my AncestryDNA results, I actually transferred my raw DNA data to Family Tree DNA. They have a service that takes the raw data from another company and uses their algorithms to produce an ethnicity report. After only a few days (since they only had to analyze the data and not test saliva), I had my results based on their algorithm.
According to Family Tree DNA, they calculate their estimates based on the following, in part, and with a bit more science in the explanation:

We assembled a large number of candidate reference populations which were relatively unadmixed and sampled widely in terms of geography. From these we removed related or outlier individuals with the Plink software, utilizing identity-by-descent (IBD) analysis and visually inspecting multi-dimensional scaling plots (MDS). Further visualization established that the reference population sets were indeed genetically distinct from each other. We also ran Admixture and MDS with specific populations to asses if any individuals were outliers or exhibited notable gene flow from other reference groups, removing these. Admixture was run on an inter and intra-continental scale to establish a plausible number of K values utilizing the cross-validation method [Alexander2011]. After removing markers which were missing in more than 5 percent of loci and those with minor allele frequencies below 1 percent, the total intersection of SNPs across the pooled data set was 290,874. The final number of individuals in was 1,353. 

To validate our Reference Population set we tested them against a list of well studied benchmark groups whose ancestral background in the literature has been well attested. Additionally we also cross-checked against individuals with attested provenance within the GeneByGene DNA database.[2]

So both companies test their results against certain population groups who they believe have remained relatively static over time. Still, once I checked my result, I was again surprised and this time for entirely different reasons.

My ethnic makeup according to Family Tree DNA. (click to enlarge.)
My Family Tree DNA estimate indicates I am 42% British Isles (Great Britain and Ireland), 30% Scandanavian, and 26% from Southern Europe. A mere 2% Central Asian is a statistical anomaly that I discount. So what does this imply? It’s certainly very different from my AncestryDNA results. It too fails to properly represent my presumed Germanic background. Neither result indicates anything close to the percentages I had assumed based on my research.
This raises so many more questions than it answered. It is forcing me to dig deeper and cast a wider net than I previously imagined in search of the truth of where I come from. I also realize these are simply estimates based on a small bit of saliva. If the tests were run again, the results could be slightly different. Genetic genealogy is a new field for me, and one that I am eager to continue exploring. I plan to share more of these discoveries in future posts!

Sources:
Ball, Catherine A., Mathew J. Barber, Jake K. Byrnes, Josh Calloway, Kenneth G. Chahine, Ross E. Curtis, Kenneth Freestone, Julie M. Granka, Natalie M. Myres, Keith Noto, Yong Wang, and Scott R. Woodward. “Ethnicity Estimate White Paper.” Ancestry.com (2013): n. pag. 30 Oct. 2013. Web. 17 Feb. 2015.

Khan, Razib, and Rui H. “MyOrigins Methodology Whitepaper – FTDNA Learning Center.” FTDNA Learning Center. Family Treee DNA, 8 May 2014. Web. 17 Feb. 2015.

Photo of the Day – February 6, 2015

joelowry1982 1940s, Paternal, Pepperney, POTD
The Pepperney family in the summer of 1942. In the photo are my great grand uncle James Albert Pepperney, Sr., his wife Catherine Butsko Pepperney, and their children, Catherine and James Jr. The youngest was born in January 1942, so this photo was no doubt taken sometime that summer.
Source:
James Albert Pepperney, Sr. (1906-1999), Catherine Butsko Pepperney (1910-1975), Catherine Pepperney and James Albert Pepperney, Jr., photograph, taken at unknown location in 1942; digital image, photocopy of original, scanned in 2013 by Joseph Lowry; privately held by Mary McCaffrey, [address for private use], Canton, Ohio. Family of four, including father, mother, boy and girl in light summer clothing standing on grass. Provenance is Mary Pepperney Lowry to Charles Lowry to Mary McCaffrey.

Photo of the Day – February 5, 2015

joelowry1982 1940s, Lowry, Paternal, Pepperney, POTD

Instead of taking a picture of my great grandmother Margaret Pepperney Lowry shovel the snow, perhaps the photographer could have helped her? It was probably either my grandfather Chuck Lowry or great grandfather Charles Lowry who took this image on a wintery day in the 1940s. Fortunately, there’s only an inch or two on the ground so it didn’t take much time to shovel.

Source:
Mary Margaret Pepperney Lowry (1902-1980), photograph, taken at either Thornton Avenue or 50 Bissell Avenue, Youngstown, Ohio in mid-1940s; digital image, photocopy of original, scanned in 2013 by Joseph Lowry; privately held by Mary McCaffrey, [address for private use], Canton, Ohio. Woman in overcoat shoveling snow from a walkway. Provenance is Mary Pepperney Lowry to Charles Lowry to Mary McCaffrey.

Photo of the Day – February 4, 2015

joelowry1982 1920s, Lowry, Paternal, POTD
The caption written on this photo leaves little question as to who it is. My grandfather Charles Lowry was a very well photographed infant. When I think of all the photos of my son that I’ve taken with my iPhone and then just forgotten, it’s quite special to find all of these printed images that my great grandmother cared to take and develop. This one is quite out of focus, but I’ll give my great grandmother a pass since taking photographs of infants outdoors in 1925 wasn’t easy.

Source:

Charles James Lowry (1924-2007), photograph, taken at unknown location in 1925; digital image, photocopy of original, scanned in 2013 by Joseph Lowry; privately held by Mary McCaffrey, [address for private use], Canton, Ohio. Infant in light colored outfit sitting in the grass. Provenance is Mary Pepperney Lowry to Charles Lowry to Mary McCaffrey.

Photo of the Day – February 3, 2015

joelowry1982 1920s, Lowry, Paternal, POTD

This cute little kid crawling in the grass is probably my grandfather Charles Lowry, or Junior as he was called at the time. Based on his age and how bundled up he appears here, I’m guessing this photo was taken in the spring of 1925. Grandpa was born in November 1924, so perhaps this was the first time he was outside to play? How fun it must of been for his parents to be able to photograph that experience!?

Source:
Probably Charles James Lowry (1924-2007), photograph, taken at unknown location in mid 1920s; digital image, photocopy of original, scanned in 2013 by Joseph Lowry; privately held by Mary McCaffrey, [address for private use], Canton, Ohio. Infant in light colored outfit, wearing winter cap, crawling in the grass. Provenance is Mary Pepperney Lowry to Charles Lowry to Mary McCaffrey.