The Relationship of William Hutchinson, Jonathan Hutchinson and John Hutchinson
of Middlesex County, New Jersey
In the writings of Charles Robbins Hutchinson, he comments on the above families. Being he was descended from John Hutchinson and wife, Elizabeth Pearson, he concentrated his work to that line but was always cognizant of the other Hutchinson families living in the same area. In that regard, he states the following: "John Hutchinson, who is my earliest fully identified ancestor of the Hutchinson line in New Jersey, is first met with in 1730, when he is described as ‘John Hutchinson of the Township of Perth Amboy, in ye county of Middlesex, in ye province of New Jersey, yeoman.' He married in that year, Elizabeth Pearson, daughter of the second Robert Pearson of Nottingham Township, Burlington County, as appears by a marriage license..."
He further comments: "Of the origin of John Hutchinson, nothing is certainly known. He appears in Burlington County some seven years earlier than William and Jonathan, who may have been his brothers, although there is nothing to show that such was the case, excepting, perhaps a constant recurrence of Christian names, physical types and traits of character, and the intimate relations which appear to have existed between the families of all three, particularly those of John and Jonathan. Besides, it appears probable that they all came here from Perth Amboy…"
DNA Tests in 2003, Reveals the Relationship of the above William Hutchinson, John Hutchinson and Jonathan Hutchinson
Y-Line DNA tests were taken in 2003, by three descendants of the above early 1700s, central New Jersey Hutchinson families, which were compared against each other. They showed that the three families have a definite family connection to each other through a common male ancestor.
A male descendant of John Hutchinson1 and wife, Elizabeth Pearson, whose NJ Marriage Bond is dated, 24 March 1730, show he was from Middlesex County & she was from Burlington County; a male descendant of Jonathan Hutchinson2 and wife, Elizabeth Dissosway [Dusoswa], whose NJ Marriage Bond was dated, 7 October 1737, she that he was from Middlesex County and she was from Monmouth County; and a male descendant of William Hutchinson3, whose wife was Ann Simpson, and whose first child was born 11 December 1720, were of Middlesex County with connections into Monmouth County, all had their Y-Line DNA tested in a 25 marker test in 2003. The results of the individual tests on their "inherited" ancestor’s DNA shows that and all three descendants matched 100% on each of their 25 DNA markers and indicates that all three Hutchinson lines are in fact related to each other through a common ancestor and that this "Most Common Recent Ancestor," with a 50% probability, is within 7 generations from each of the three descendants taking the test.
Y-Line DNA Tests Expanded In 2004
In 2004, a new expanded DNA test looked at an additional 12 DNA markers and the same three male descendants mentioned above took the expanded 37 marker test. The descendant of John Hutchinson ("Iowa Bill") and the descendant of Jonathan Hutchinson (Richard Hutchinson) matched 100% on their 37 DNA markers. Another descendant of William Hutchinson ("Louisiana Odis") matched all of the other 37 DNA marker participants on 36/37 markers. Again, this showing indicates that all of three ancestors (John, Jonathan and William) were closely related. They could be brothers or cousins or a combination of both.
The DNA labs description of both the 37 marker results of the three above mentioned individuals is even more impressive in reference to the relationship of all three subjects:
37/37 Perfect Match - Relatedness - Very Tightly Related
Explanation - "Your perfect match means you share a common male ancestor with a person who shares your surname (or variant). Your relatedness is extremely close with the common ancestor predicted, 50% of the time, in 5 generations or less and with a 90% probability within 16 generations. Very few people achieve this close level of a match. All confidence levels are well within the time frame that surnames were adopted in Western Europe."
36/37 - Relatedness - Tightly Related
Explanation - "You share the same name (or a variant) with another male and you mismatch by only one 'point' at only one marker - a 36/37 match. It's most likely that you matched 24/25 or 25/25 on a previous Y-DNA test and your mismatch will be found within DYS 576, 570, CDYa or CDYb. Very few people achieve this close level of a match. Your mismatch is within the range of most well established surname lineages in Western Europe."
In fact one-count off on the marker in the 36/37 match of "Louisiana Odis", as stated above, was on DNA marker CDYb, which is a marker that is known to "mutate" (changes) faster than the others, as indicated above.
Y-Line DNA Tests Expanded In 2005
In January 2005, another descendant from the line of William & Ann (Simpson) Hutchinson, expanded his DNA tests from 25 to 37 markers. This descendant, "Ohio Jeff", is the 6th great-grandson of William & Ann of New Jersey. He had matched on his 25 marker test, 25/25, with the three mentioned members above. His 37 marker test in January 2005 revealed that he also matches 37/37 with "Iowa Bill", myself, and 37/36 with "Louisiana Odis."
The tests for the distance from the descendant taking the DNA test to the time of his Most Recent Common Ancestor has also been upgraded. It now shows that based upon the 37/37 marker matches for "Iowa Bill" (4th g-grandson of John), myself (5th g-grandson of Jonathan) and "Ohio Jeff (6th g-grandson of William), their Most Recent Common Ancestor is within 300 years with a probability of 99.55%. "Louisiana Odis," who matches us three, 36/37, is the 5th g-grandson of William, but he descends from different son of William than the one "Ohio Jeff" descends from. His matching on of 36/37 markers with the rest of us above is a marker with a one-count difference known as a 1 step mutation. Therefore, somewhere along the line of Odis's descent, this one marker mutated naturally, which statistics says can occur naturally every 500-800 years.
With these conclusive results from the 37/37 marker matches, it has DEFINITELY proven that ALL three lines (William, John, and Jonathan Hutchinson in central New Jersey in the early 1700s) are PATERNALLY related. It is MOST PROBABLE to look upon some of them as brothers, AND THEY MAY BE, but they could also be a cousins to each other to some degree (1st, 2nd), or a combination of both.
Now, Nathaniel Hutchinson, who died in 1785 in Windsor Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey, was married and had children. His widow remarried, and she, her children and new husband headed South to VA and eventually ended up in Georgia. After years of searching and gathering what circumstantial evidence survives, I am of the opinion that this Nathaniel, whose descendants live today in Tifton, Georgia, is the missing 13th son of William & Ann (Simpson) Hutchinson, of Middlesex County, New Jersey. This belief is based upon family history, Revolutionary War Pension Affidavit, NJ Tax Rateables, and many other pieces of circumstantial evidence pointing to this belief. My main correspondent and Nathaniel Hutchinson family researcher in Georgia records, is "Georgia Will", who descends from this Nathaniel Hutchinson.
If "Georgia Will" was related to any of the three Hutchinson lines in central New Jersey in the 1700s, he should match closely to those already tested. In order to prove this relationship, I asked him to have his DNA tested in 2004 and he matched the New Jersey family on 24 of 25 markers meaning there was a relationship. To make this even stronger, in February 2005, he expanded his 25 marker DNA test to the new 37 marker test.
In February 2005, his results were returned from the lab and he matched 36/37, against "Iowa Bill" (4th g-grandson of John), myself (5th g-grandson of Jonathan) and "Ohio Jeff" (6th g-grandson of William, through his son William), indicating that their Most Recent Common Ancestor is within 300 years with a probability of 99%. He also matched Odis Hutchinson (5th g-grandson of William, through his son Robert) in 36/37 markers, with his one-count marker mutation being on a marker different than Odis's one-count marker mutation. With these two natural mutations, on two different lines, they will act as an "identifier" for these two branches for other future Hutchinsons testing their DNA and showing a match with these same mutations.
Therefore, both "Louisiana Odis" and "Georgia Will," matched the three of us above on 36/37 markers. And now, supported by DNA, I can say that Nathaniel IS related to these three lines out of central New Jersey and IS the probable missing 13th child of William & Ann Hutchinson. And, that makes "Georgia Will," also a the 5th g-grandson of William & Ann (Simpson) Hutchinson.
Further DNA Testing
I have also taken other DNA tests to check both my "Ancestral DNA" and my "mtDNA" inherited from my deceased mother. The results of the "Ancestral DNA", shows that I am 92% European and 8% Native American.
The mtDNA is inherited by every person born ONLY from their mother and can ONLY be passed on to the next generation by a female. This test showed that my mother, her mother, and her mother, and continuing on back into time came from a clan of people living in northern France about 17,000 years ago during the last Ice Age, who eventually crossed through the valley that is today called the English Channel and made their way to the area that is today called Ireland. And, my great-grandmother's maiden name, on my mother's side, was "Malsbury."
My Hutchinson branch ends with me. My wife and I had two daughters and my sister had two sons. Being my mtDNA inherited from my mother cannot be passed on by me to the next generation, and can ONLY be passed on by my sister to the next generation, I gave the results of my mtDNA tests to my sister. Being she had two boys, she has passed on our mother's mtDNA to them.
1 - "Iowa Bill," aged 83 years.
2
- Richard Hutchinson, aged 63 years.3
- Odis Hutchinson, aged 77 years.