So far, the RASEY Surname Project has results returned
for four members representing two major progenitors in the United States:
Joseph
RAZEE I of Massachusetts, then Rhode Island and Joseph
RASEY I of Massachusetts, then New Hampshire. Testing just these
four individuals has resolved two long-standing issues for RASEY/RAZEE/etc.
genealogists:
1. The two families are not genetically matching based on both
their STR haplotypes and their SNP haplogroup subclades, thus firmly debunking
the assertion that Joseph RAZEE I was the father of Joseph RASEY I.
2. The results for the descendants of Joseph RASEY I debunk the
legend of a connection to Malcolm
MacLEOD of the Isle of Raasay, Scotland, whose kin are Haplogroup R1b,
while Joseph's are a subclade of Haplogroup I2. Being in these
different haplogroups means they cannot possibly have shared a common ancestor
for tens of thousands of years. |
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Haplogroup I is found almost exclusively in Europe where
it is represented in about 20% of the population, making it the second
most common haplogroup in western Europe, after R1b. Overall, Hg
I has a broad European distribution, from the British Isles east to the
Ural Mountains of Russia and south to Anatolia and the Mediterranean Sea.
Hg I is divided into two main groups: I1 and I2, with the former
being more common than the latter. |
It's difficult to generalize about I2 because it contains
a number of geographically separate subgroups. One subgroup of I2
is concentrated in the Balkans and is called "Dinaric" (named for a mountain
range there, the Dinaric Alps), while another subgroup is found around
the Baltic and North Sea coastal areas, another in the British Isles, and
another in Sardinia and Iberia. One subgroup of I2, called "Isles,"
is almost exclusive to the British Isles, with a high concentration in
Scotland, while our members turn out to belong to two different sub-clusters
of "Continental." Continental is believed to have originated
in western France and to have spread from there northwards into
Scandinavia and eastwards to the Black Sea. |
If you are interested in your deep ancestry, as evidenced
by your haplogroup subclade, I would recommend being deep SNP tested, joining
the Y-Haplogroup-I-M223
project, and subscribing to the Y-DNA-Haplogroup-I
mailing list. |
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Legend of Known
Progenitors |
John RASYE
/ RASEY / RAZEY (b. ca. 1530s), of Wiltshire, England |
Joseph
RAZEE I (1686-1755), Bristol Co., MA > Providence Co., RI |
Joseph
RASEY I (c1734-1810), Worcester Co., MA > Cheshire Co., NH |
Joseph
RASEY (b. ca. 1768), of Isle La Motte, VT, through his only known son,
James
RASEY / RACEY / RACY (1792-1883) of Franklin Co., NY
This Joseph RASEY is probably Joseph
RASEY II, s/o Joseph RASEY I (above), but proof is needed. |
Philip
RACEY of Norfolk, England, whose grandson, Luke
RACEY (1750-1813),
immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1773, then settled in Hampshire Co.,
VA [now WV] |
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