Current Status: December 5, 2008 - Virginia Gayle Trower had her results come back and they match Sherry Lists' results exactly (both HRV1 and HRV2).
What does this mean? Nannie and Lucy Steele had the same mother of European Ancestry. Keep in mind Nannie was born in 1876 and Lucy in 1886. Mary was born in 1872. It has been established that Sarah Steele was Native American but it is possible Christopher had another wife. What still has never been resolved is in the 1870 Federal Census, Christopher's wife is listed as "Fereby" and in all later censuses "Sarah".
Found a descendant (female of course) of Myrtle Lee - actually at least 4 females, probably many more. Still attempting to touch base (last contact to me was 11/8)...this would be excellent for discovering if Myrtle has same mtDNA.
Haplogroup Results Indicate H - European Ancestry. Our Next Move is to Obtain At Least 1 sample from Myrtle Lee descendant and 1 sample from the female descendant of Mary Rhodes (who I've already spoken with).
Over the years I've attempted through the use of standard genealogical methods to prove that my 3rd great grandmother Sarah Steele was a full-blooded Native American. Many other family members had mentioned our relation to someone in
the Choctaw tribe but there has never been any hard proof of this tie. I've personally spent hundreds of hours scanning census records, reading Indian rolls, old books, marriage records, death records and more but have come up empty-handed. DNA research will allow our family to once and for all prove our N.A. heritage and perhaps even point to a specific tribe. The following individuals will be the tested mtDNA line, beginning with the mtDNA submitter, Sherry.
Submitter1: Sharon List [Antonelli] > Dorothy Mabelese Antonelli [Jenkins] > Edna Verona Clark [Lee] > Nancy Florence Burton [Steele] > Sarah Steele [Herrington]
Submitter2: Virginia Gayle Trower [Stockton] > Frances L. Stockton [Hewlett] > Lucy Tennessee Hewlett [Steele] > Sarah Steele [Herrington]
Submitter 1 mtDNA Results August 14, 2007
Submitter 2 mtDNA Results November 26, 2008
Sarah Steele b. 7 July, 1845 in Georgia
Sarah's Children I've Been Able To Procure Photos Of (Eli Is Adult):
Nancy "Nannie" Florence Burton b. 20 February, 1876 in Tennessee
Eli Christopher Steele b. July, 1863 in Tennessee
Mary M. Rhodes b. October, 1872 in Tennessee
Lucy Tennessee Hewlett b. April, 1886 in Arkansas
A Snapshot Of The Steele Family
Thanks to the following individuals for donating to this special cause. Without your help, it would not have been possible: Dad, Patti and Sherry.
If you'd like to contribute to this research (upgrade to a higher resolution test, joining the Genographic Project), please e-mail me below.
