THE RICH FAMILY ASSOCIATION
RICH FAMILY Y-CHROMOSOME DNA STUDY
By Richard D. Rich
RICH FAMILY Y-CHROMOSOME DNA STUDY
October 2008
We now have Y-chromosome DNA data on 72 men representing at least 15 Rich family
lines. Ten other participants have not yet been matched possibly representing
another ten families. Most of the participants have used DNA Heritage, although
two were tested by Family Tree DNA and data from 4 men has been obtained from
Sorenson Molecular Genealogy. The program is still open ended and new
participants can be added at any time.
The Western North Carolina Rich family, probably all descended from or related
to Timothy Rich of Goochland County, Virginia, has the largest number of exact
matches. Eight men, including the latest entry, have exact matches on all of the
comparable alleles. Five other participants have less exact matches and which
may indicate that they are descended from a relative of Timothy from before
immigration to the colonies. The complete descent of these men has not yet been
completed and will require cooperation and communication among these
participants to complete the paper trail.
The eight descendants of Richard Rich of Eastham, Cape Cod that have been tested
match fairly closely. There are only two exact matches, but there are very few
deviations from the modal haplotype. The modal haplotype is the best estimate we
can make of the actual DNA of Richard Rich. Another participant who is descended
from Richard’s son Thomas has been signed up, but has not yet sent in his
sample.
The descendants of Nicholas Rich of Salem. MA, Michael Derich of Salem and
Thomas Rich of Brookfield, MA appear to be related in some unknown way. Seven
participants, including the latest, have what appear to be random deviations
from the modal haplotype. The next four which include my results have consistent
deviations at two alleles and appear to be descended from Michael Derich. The
last five participants have consistent deviations at two different alleles. One
participant appears to be most closely related to the Thomas Rich descendants
although the paper trail is not complete.
The descendants of Charles Coulson Rich seem to match with each other fairly
well and also match with two other Rich men. The data from Sorenson Molecular
Genealogy Foundation are anonymous because their database does not reveal the
names of living persons. One of the men not descended from Charles Coulson
traces back to Thomas Rich, who was born in Germany in 1730, immigrated to North
Carolina and was killed at Camden, South Carolina in the Revolutionary War, the
other non-Charles Coulson descendant traces back to John Horace Rich, who was
born in North Carolina in 1772, but was apparently not the son of Thomas. This
appears to be another relationship that occurred before his immigrant ancestor
came to Colonial America. Some previous publications have claimed that Charles
Coulson Rich’s ancestors were descended from William Rich of Talbot County
Maryland, but this does not appear to be correct.
The four descendants of Jacob Rich of Fayette County, PA, who emigrated from
Rheinduerkheim, Hesse, Germany, including the latest participant all match very
closely. One descendant of Johannes Reich, John Rich of Maidstone, Vermont does
not match. They do not appear to be from related families. We would still like
to find another male Rich descendant of John Rich of Maidstone, VT in order to
confirm this result.
The non-matching of apparently related individuals can result from various
causes. There will occasionally be unrecorded paternal events, where the husband
is not the father of a child. There can be adoptions which are not recorded, or
there can be mistakes in the genealogical records. The next group of
participants appears to be an example of a genealogical mistake. Three
descendants of John Rich of Talbot County, Maryland match each other very well.
One descendant of Peter Rich who was born in Talbot County, Maryland in 1700 to
William and Elizabeth Rich does not match. Julia Rich Hogan concluded in her
book about William Riche that John and Peter were brothers although she could
not find any proof. In other sources, the birth date of John Rich is recorded as
1705, while William died in 1703. Several other descendants of Peter Rich have
been located, but I have not been able to recruit any participants from this
family.
There are six pairs of participants who match each other closely enough so we
can be sure that they are related. Two men are descended from John and Samuel
Rich of PA, and they match exactly. Two men who are both descended from the
Mount Desert Island Rich family match very closely. More members of this family
are known and we hope to be able to recruit them to participate.
Two men whose exact relationship is unknown match very closely. One man’s
grandfather, Alonzo Rich of Alabama fathered a child out of wedlock. The other
man’s family was from Alabama and Georgia, so a connection may be possible. Two
men who are both descended from James Rich (1825-1895) match exactly and there
may eventually be more relatives that will match these two. They belong to a
relatively rare ethnic group I1a which is found most commonly in Western
Scandinavia.
Two men who are both apparently descended from James Rich of Lynn, MA do not
match. They do both belong to the R1a haplogroup which is an Eastern European or
Scandinavian ethnicity. Another R1a participant whose apparent ancestor is
Joshua Rich of Dayton, New York. Joshua should be a descendant of Michael Derich,
but he does not match other members of that family.
Two men are both apparently descended from Thomas Reich/Rich who came to North
Carolina from Germany and died at the “Gates Defeat” battle in 1780 at Camden,
South Carolina match each other but do not match another apparent descendant of
this same immigrant. Further research will be needed to resolve this apparent
conflict. They are both members of the G haplogroup which is most commonly found
in Southeastern Europe. Another Rich man who has not yet been matched also
belongs to this ethnic haplogroup.
Two Reich men are both descended from immigrants from Eastern Germany and
Poland. Their haplogroup cannot be easily defined without further testing of the
SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism). It is interesting that they have retained
the German spelling through several generations while other German families
anglicized the spelling fairly quickly.
One Rich man of North Carolina has not yet been matched although he has a number
of relatives. They have apparently not been convinced that the results of
testing would be worth the cost. A Ritch from Jamaica has been difficult to
reach, but I think I have re-established an Email contact.
One of the greatest disappointments of this program has been the lack of
participants from the European sources of our heritage. The sale of art at our
reunions has raised enough cash so that we can offer some incentive for Rich men
on other continents to join us. I have exchanged Emails with folks in England,
Germany and South Africa, but have not yet found anyone willing.
You can learn more about Y-Chromosome DNA testing from
DNA Heritage
or other Internet
web sites. Megan Smolenyak and Ann Turner have written an excellent
book which explains genealogical DNA testing for the non-scientist. (Smolenyak,
Megan Smolenyak and Turner, Ann, “Trace Your Roots with DNA,” Rodale, 2004.) Buy
this paperback through the Rich Family Association link to
Amazon.com.
Last updated 10 October 2008
Craig R. Rich