[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hat is a Super X-Grandma? That is a good question. It is just a term I made up for an ancestor of mine who I feel a very strong connection to, Tabitha Eaton. She is what I would normally call my X-Grandma due to the amount of her X-DNA I carry but our DNA connection is stronger than that.
Tabitha is one of the ancestors I have inherited my X-DNA from. She is the rock star of her generation. I have 12.5% of my X-DNA from her in that generation and only 6.25% down to 1.563% from my other twelve grandmothers in that generation. Tabitha is the direct line of myself to my paternal grandmothers, paternal grandmothers, paternal grandmother. Due to the awesome way X-DNA works, I have about 26% of my paternal grandmother’s DNA and she has that same relationship with her paternal grandmothers and back to Tabitha. The fact that she is my X-DNA grandmother is not the only reason she has been fun to chart! She is on all of my charts except my mtDNA.
This chart is where I keep track of my Ancestry DNA Circles. She is shown here as one of my ancestors who has an Ancestry DNA Circle for me to explore! There are currently thirty-seven members in my Tabitha Eaton DNA Circle. With more people getting tested all the time this chart has a been a life saver. So now, not only is Tabitha my X-DNA ancestor but I have her in a DNA Circle! This all adds to my excitement over this ancestor! Now we delve into more mathematics. We touched on X-DNA. For her to show up on Ancestry means she and I share At-DNA. The DNA you get really is like a card shuffle where things disappear from one generation to the next. If we always divided evenly, on this chart I would have a chance to have 1/64th of my At-DNA from her.
Math and family are never that straightforward in my family tree. Now there are two red circles on my chart. This is the chart where I track people whom I am descended from two or more times. She is my paternal grandmothers’ great-great-grandmother through her father and she is also my paternal grandfathers’ great-great-grandmother through his mother. This may have increased the amount of at-DNA I have from her. It may not have, again, DNA is random, but it does without a doubt make that paper trail easier! Who knows about the DNA but I felt this pull to her before DNA testing was ever commonplace in the world of genealogy.
This is my X-DNA, mt-DNA, Multiple Ancestor, and Ancestry DNA Circles Charts overlaid onto my At-DNA chart. Tabitha has the deepest shade of pink. In the end, all of these charts are great but do not mean anything. I do not know if it is her beautiful name or the things I have learned about her children throughout my life, but I do know she is and always will be my Super X-Grandma!
You may be familiar with many of these chart types but why are there gray blocks? DNA cannot and does not make our tree. We have to follow GPS, looking at spouses and parents. People who need investigating in addition to people highlighted in any given chart are gray.
A special thank you to a special man has to be included in this post. My husband made the lead graphic of the Super Grandma! Thank you Tom, I love you too! Thank you for your neverending love and support. You are an amazing friend, husband and artist.