I thought I would update anyone who's interested on my search for my gr-gr-grandfather's identity using dna analysis. I have made some progress!
I had my Dad's Y-dna done to 37 markers. Unfortunately, it wasn't as conclusive as I'd hoped. Apparently, at 37 markers you CAN get people who match to a significant level, but are NOT, in fact, related. So, I got a list of people who match my Dad's Y-dna and there was quite a range of surnames, though most seem to be of Irish/Scottish origin. However, I do now have a decent clue as to what my mystery man's surname may have been.
There were a total of 59 dna matches to my Dad at 37 markers. Out of that 59 there were 13 whose names were McLaughlin or a derivative thereof. The next most frequently occurring names were Donnelly and Dougherty, each with 4 matches. No other name had more than 2 occurrences among the matches on the list.
So, it is logical to presume that McLaughlin MAY be the surname of my gr-gr-grandfather. I also noted that most of the McLaughlins on this list indicated that their furthest back known ancestor was from Ireland, usually Tyrone or Donegal. So I may be more Irish than I thought I was!
I have contacted all of the McLaughlins on the matches list and some have responded. However, none could offer me a clue that would help me discover my mystery man's identity. None had ancestors in the time/place configuration that I am looking for.
So, I coughed up another $99 to have a further SNP panel done. This was the test recommended to me by the owner of the Dougherty family dna project (there are various surname projects associated with FTDNA which analyze dna data of folks with that surname). I am not yet well enough educated on the details of dna analysis to be specific about this test, but the gentleman told me that it will at least tell me if my Dad has the dna segment found in most Doughertys or McLaughlins. It will also show me which of the names on his match list are closest genetically and give me a better indication of how far back a common ancestor might be.
Now that I'm waiting for those results to come in, I think I will contact the Dougherty gentleman again and ask what specifically I should be on the lookout for when the results come in. If I do not end up with a more definitive possibility for a surname, I may have to think about extending the markers tested to the next level.... yes, another $99.
In the meantime, I have searched the census records for McLaughlin men who lived in the area where my gr-gr-grandmother Caroline was in 1871 who were of an age to have potentially produced a child. From this data, I have compiled a list of "suspects" - men who could be the culprit, based on a number of factors that would have potentially put them in contact with Caroline.
I have deduced that Caroline MAY have been "plying her trade" when she became pregnant with her sons. This is based on the fact that she had two children out of wedlock within 2 years, and one interesting fact gleaned from her death record. It lists Caroline's occupation as "pauper, formerly washerwoman". In all previous records of Caroline, she was listed as either mill worker or bleacher (thread bleacher). I have also been perusing the city directories of these years, and found that they had "female houses of refuge", which were apparently efforts to get "fallen women" off the streets and into honest work. To this end, most of them ran laundries out of these homes for women. I wonder if that is what she was doing prior to her death, thereby being listed as washerwoman. Just speculation, but interesting.
At any rate, I will update again when I get the newest dna results from FTDNA. Maybe I can find this Mr. McLaughlin, or whoever he was!
p.s. - Grandmother Caroline, sorry if I'm wrong about my theory. No offense intended.
