This page describes some results from the Sims Y-chromosome DNA test.
A Sims surname project has been started at FamilyTreeDNA, a company that specializes in genetic genealogy. Jim Sims and Alex Buchanan are the project administrators.
From the results page, I have calculated the genetic distance of all participants using the method followed by FamilyTreeDNA. This method uses the stepwise model for all markers except for DYS464 and YCAII, which are treated using the infinite allele model. See Computing Genetic Distances or the Special Case of DYS389 and DYS464.
The genetic distances for the Sims surname project can be found in this Excel spreadsheet.
Using phylogenetic tree programs such as PHYLIP and Network, genetic trees can be inferred from this data. The trees below were constructed using the UPGMA method of clustering.
The first figure shows a phylogenetic tree for the R haplogroup and for 37-markers. The 25-marker tree is similar, and there are currently not enough participants for a meaningful 67-marker tree. The x-axis is a measurement of genetic distance, which is somewhat related to generational time. The further to the left you go to connect two participants, the more distantly related they are.
Warning: phylogenetic trees are not perfect guides to the genetic relationship between the participants. As we add more participants, the tree will change. Some of the tested DNA markers are more variable than others. This is not taken into account in these trees, making the participants seem more distantly, or more closely, related than they truly are.
The next figure shows the same data, but in a radial phylogram.
Trees for other haplogroups, and other marker lengths:
Participants 44318 and 1751 have a 12/12 match. A recently found family bible gave the exact relationship as 3C2R, both being descendants of Martin Sims.
Participant 65096 was a descendant of James Sims. James and his siblings Littleton, George, Mary and Martha were orphans in Rutherford Co., NC in 1783. No direct evidence of their parents is known. However, it has long been suspected that Burwell Boswell Sims was their father, based on land purchases in Rutherford Co. as late as 1780. DNA evidence now shows participants 65096, N58957, 44318, and 1751 to have a recent common ancestor. Family tree evidence makes this common ancestor either Adam Symes or one of his close ancestors.
Adam Symes b. ~1689 of Brunswick County, VA is not closely related to the brothers Matthew, Edward, George, John, William, Robert & James Sims of Hanover (New Kent) Co., VA
Jane Morris assumed they are related in her book Adam Symes and His Descendants.
Confusingly, the unrelated Adam and George were both granted land in Brunswick in 1726. Later, George sold this land to Adam's son William.
Later, legal documents were found that show that the brothers were the sons of William Sims, Sr. of James City County, VA.
Participant 43277 is a descendant of William Symes of James City Co., VA.
Participant 44318 is a descendant of Adam Symes of Brunswick Co., VA.
Looking for more participants to determine if Adam Symes b. ~1689 of Bruswick Co, VA is the son of George Symes of Antigua, and ultimately descended from John Symes of Barwick.
Roper Y-Chromosome Testing Project
The radial phylogram was created using Dendroscope. D.H. Huson, D. C. Richter, C. Rausch, T. Dezulian, M. Franz and R. Rupp, Dendroscope- An interactive viewer for large phylogenetic trees, BMC Bioinformatics 8:460, 2007
