I had a big breakthrough recently and can now trace my Maynard line back one more generation to my 5th great-grandfather with the help of DNA testing. All thanks to this man! If you have an elderly parent or grandparent, this is exactly why a DNA test is just as important as documenting their oral history.
My Dad and I have both taken Y-DNA tests genotyped by FamilyTreeDNA and got the Big Y-700 results back last week. As the name suggests, this is a Y-chromosome DNA test that genetic males can take, useful for sorting out genealogical relationships on the paternal side. The test examines 700 short tandem repeat (STR) markers and sequences 400K+ known single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on the Y-chromosome to help identify unique variations.
Completing the test enabled us to join the 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘠-𝘋𝘕𝘈 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵. The purpose of the project is to study the Maynard lineage that can be traced back to four Maynard brothers who originated in Wilkes County, North Carolina during the American Revolution. There is an old family oral tradition that three Maynard brothers migrated northwest to Floyd County, Kentucky sometime after the Revolutionary War and before 1810. Christopher, James, and William became progenitors of the Maynard family of Appalachia while Gibson remained in North Carolina.
The project has achieved success by analyzing STR markers and establishing ways for a patrilineal descendant to identify which of the four Maynard brothers he descends from. I hit a brick wall while trying to determine which Maynard brother is my direct ancestor because the paper trail ended with my 4th great-grandfather, 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗱. As far as I know, no records exist that show who his father was. But that’s where DNA comes in.
I’m not a patrilineal descendant. My Maynard line ended with my 2nd great-grandmother Naomi “Oma” Maynard who married into the Crider family. But there are at least thirty-four patrilineal descendants who are Big Y-700 tested in the group project with seventeen more awaiting their test results. Tests affirm that five descend from Christopher, five descend from James, six descend from Gibson, and nine descend from William.
When I reviewed the charts, I discovered a familiar name. One of the participants claims to be a descendant of Marcus Maynard. His kit is grouped under William based on analysis of Y-DNA STRs. Patrilineal descendants of William Maynard can be identified by unique values at three specific markers: 13-15 at DYS385, 24 at DYS635, and 8 at FTY1064. But who does this kit belong to?
His pedigree chart indicates that he is the 3rd great-grandson of William Maynard. The autosomal test results reveal he is a very strong match between my Dad and I with a high cM count that suggests a 2nd or 3rd cousin. As it turns out, he is actually my Dad’s 2nd cousin one generation removed. His name is 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗱, my 2nd cousin twice removed. He is the reason I was able to determine that William Maynard is my 5th great-grandfather.
Mark’s grandniece sent me this photograph. Sadly, he and his wife both passed away from covid earlier this year at the age of 97. So I never got the opportunity to talk with him. My cousin told me he was still “sharp as a tack” though. He was a World War II veteran. He enlisted in the Navy after the attack on Pearl Harbor. His oral history was documented in a 2014 interview for The National WWII Museum. He served as a submariner on four attack submarines: USS Snapper SS-185, USS Sturgeon SS-187, USS Marlin SS-204, and USS Cobbler SS-344.
After naval training camp, he volunteered for the US submarine service. He sailed to Pearl Harbor aboard the USS Rainier AE-5, an ammunition ship carrying torpedoes. He was assigned to serve on the USS Sturgeon with a crew of 65 to 70 others including officers.
During his first war patrol, he sailed from Pearl Harbor to Midway. Near the Bonin Islands, the USS Sturgeon sank two Japanese ships. He vividly remembered the 300-pound depth charges exploding all around the submarine. At his battle station, his primary duty was reloading torpedoes in the forward room where the captain regularly checked the sonar.
On its second war patrol, the USS Sturgeon sank three Japanese ships near Okinawa. The sinking of the 𝘛𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘮𝘢 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘶 had a profound impact on the 𝘉𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘖𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘸𝘢 as the ship was transporting more than 6,000 Japanese troops to the island. Two hundred seventy depth charges and aerial bombs were dropped on the USS Sturgeon while it evaded the enemy. By the end of the war, fifty-two US submarines were lost in action, and more than 3,400 submariners were killed but Mark survived.
He was promoted to lieutenant during his service in the submarine division. After the war, he served as president of the Los Angeles Chapter of the WWII US Submarine Veterans. Nearly two dozen veterans of the WWII US submarine service gathered on February 16, 2014 at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station where they were honored at a ceremony in appreciation for their service.
