Howdy Folks,

Please let me share some observations on my Mitchell DNA results. First of all, I am certainly no expert on this stuff. In fact, I’m probably more confused about this than most people. It seems to me that it is very important to realize up front that these Y-DNA results go back a long, long way… before surnames. I have about 150 close matches, 23/25 or 24 out of 25 markers. Only 2 are Mitchells. Many Dougherty’s, Byrnes, Brennan and others. Fortunately, I am one of those King Niall (lived around 450 CE) descendants and a lot has been written about these folks lately. This family, tribe, clan split up over the centuries and took different surnames…Mitchell, Melville, Mulvihill, Brennan and probably Dougherty and Byrnes and many, many others. My grandfathers probably didn’t start using the name Mitchell until the 1500, 1600s. I only know that we were Mitchells in America since 1793. My point is maybe these Manus matches go back 1000, 1500 years. We really can’t say when Solomon Baldwin’s grandfathers starting using the Baldwin name. At least not yet. These DNA results put us in a family much, much bigger than I ever imagined. A long ago family that took dozens of surnames that we know today.

Just spinning this around in my head. Thought it might shed some light on what to expect in future results. Thanks for listening, and let’s keep searching! Mitch