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What we have learned from Y-DNA testing
The Renshaw Y-DNA project was formed five years ago to help Renshaw, Rencher, Runshaw, Ranshaw, Ramshaw, Olorenshaw, Wrenshaw, Wrench and Wrenn researchers learn whether various families of these names were closely related. Generally speaking, the more DNA marker values two men have in common, the more closely they are related. We now have tests completed or in progress for nearly sixty Renshaws and men with similar surnames. Through DNA testing we have already discovered that several Renshaw family groups are related to each other and we have disproved other presumed relationships. To see the various lines for which one or more Renshaws have tested, click on the Charts link at the top of this page.
Y-DNA testing has enabled us to group together Renshaw and Rencher cousins. As you look at the Charts page, you can see that there are several blocks of test results. Everyone in the top blue block had ancestors in the Baltimore / Harford area of Maryland. We knew or guessed before DNA testing became available that the first four men descended from Abraham Renshaw who moved to North Carolina from Maryland in 1767 or earlier. The last three men in the blue block were known or probable descendants of James Renshaw who was born in Maryland in 1782 but spent most of his adult life in Pennsylvania. We did not know if James was related to the Baltimore County Renshaws until DNA testing came to our aid. Also, we did not know if our research was correct which showed that these three Renshaw males were all descendants of James Renshaw. In this case, DNA testing supported our paper trails. Renshaws in the blue block are distinguished by a shared value of 9 on marker #459b.
The next block on the page, a yellow block, is comprised of two Renchers, descendants of John Grant Rencher, whose ancestry is traceable from England through Scotland to Northern Ireland and then to the United States, plus two Renshaws whose ancestors arrived in the United States from England in the late 1800's. For years descendants of Renshaws and Renchers insisted that there was no relationship between their lines, but Y-DNA testing has proved that there is a close relationship. The two Renchers in the yellow block match both the Harford County Renshaws and the eastern Pennsylvania Renshaws on 36 of 37 markers. In fact, the Renchers are the bridge between the northern Maryland and eastern Pennsylvania Renshaw lines. Like the blue block above them, the men in the yellow block have 18 at marker 458. On the other hand, they have 10 at 459b as does the group in the pink block below them on the chart..
The pink block refers to the eastern Pennsylvania group. Some of the greatest excitement in the Renshaw Y-DNA project has been generated among this group as they discovered new cousins and confirmed possible relationships. Two or three more tests are needed to form a complete picture of the North American Renshaw family relationships originating in and around Philadelphia. The distinguishing value for this group is 19 on marker 458.
The small lighter blue block shows three Renshaw lines which are related to each other and somewhat distantly to all the Renshaws and Renchers above them, although the connections are not yet clear. All of these men have a known connection to English Renshaws.
There are four men in the pale green
block from southern Maryland who are also distantly related to the men above them
but not so closely as we had originally thought. They are definitely related to
each other as they all have 21 at marker 570, an unusual value.
The balance of the page contains many Renshaws and variations whom we hope
to place into wider family groupings as the testing progresses. We are pleased
that there are project members from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand in this
group and we would like to find more who are interested in Y-DNA testing.
