The Caverly Family Association Newsletter
Fall 2005
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PURPOSE: The Caverly Family Association Newsletter is prepared and published for the purpose of connecting the broad distribution of Caverly relatives where ever they may be. Although the Caverly Family Association was organized by members from the Caverly line which began its presence in the U.S. New England area during the mid-late 1600’s, the association now includes several lines and crosses international borders. Whether descended from England, Ireland or France, all Caverly (s) (of many spellings) are welcome to join our association, provide input to this newsletter and enjoy the benefits of a family connection.
The SPRING publication of this newsletter was delayed to allow time for DNA test results to be presented . We felt that this information would be of interest to you, and of some value, as well. Paul Caverly (CAN) has spearheaded an effort to find the CAVERLY connection thru DNA testing. We asked him to summarize the DNA program and the results of the search to date. We encourage anyone who has an interest in pursuing this avenue of research to “hop on the band wagon”, follow Paul’s direction and add your name to the data base. Who knows where it may lead, or who we are really related to. Of course, we would like to know the results. Good Hunting!
FAMILY EVENTS AND NEWS
Many of you may know that last year Lenny Caverly and sons Art and Bob competed in a national contest to see who could build the best engine. Lenny and his boys were picked as one of the 50 finishers to participate in the actual engine building and performance testing. Even though they were competing against some professional engine builders, they finished 25th out of 50. Lenny says, of the experience,” Art, Bob and I had a wonderful time building that engine and it was a once in a lifetime experience for us all.” Congratulations to the Barrington Caverly men!!
Dick and Louise Caverly can’t seem to get enough of Ireland. This year they made their third trip to the Island with 23 other hardy souls. They visited Killarny, Tralee, Clonakility, Blarney (Blarney Woolen Mills), the Emigrant Museum at Cobh (Cork) and Bunratty Castle, Galway. If you want to catch the excitement in their voices just mention “Ireland!”
KATRINA’S IMPACT ON FAMILY The following may be only the tip of the iceberg!
On Friday before the storm hit New Orleans, Joe Caverly, his wife Dianne and their four children Emma (15), Richard (14), Gretchen (!9) and Mathew (18) flew to Detroit to attend a family wedding, to return home on Sunday. Now Emma and Richard are attending new schools in Detroit, and Gretchen and Matthew are leaving for college in the east, but not from their home in New Orleans. Their lives have changed, all the plans made for school and college have had to be altered, new clothes had to be purchased. But their family is intact! (A portion of this information was extracted from a news article written by Ben Schmitt about the family, published Sept 1, 2005.
Joelle Bouchard finished her teaching studies at the Univ. of Maine in May. She accepted a teaching position in New Orleans and moved to that city in early July. She had completed just two days of teaching 2nd graders before the weekend hurricane landed. She was able to leave town on Saturday morning with a friend and with her three cats but left her belongings and her truck in New Orleans in a flooded area of the city. She is now in Ft Worth, Tex where she says she will stay, and start over.
OBITUARIES
Mary Alice Hilgenberg Caverly, 81, died Thursday March 31, 2005, in Petersburgh, NY. Mary married Joseph M. Caverly March 31, 1951. Mary led an active life.
2006 REUNION A reunion is being planned for 2006 in Bow Lake, NH.The date is not confirmed as we are looking at a September time frame. We would like your thoughts on that
MEMBERSHIP: Please renew you membership for 2005 and 2006. Dues are $3 (single) and $5 (family) for each year. Payable to: CFA ,% Mary Caverly, 280 Hale Rd., Sanbornton, NH 03629
Family Genealogy and DNA by Paul R. Caverly
For hundreds of years people trying to search their family histories relied on stories passed down from father/mother to son/daughter and any documents they could locate. The verbal history often becomes lost in time and reliable paper documents become scarce as one tries to go back in time. Finding documents going back more then 200 years in North America is almost impossible; only a few have been successful tracing their roots overseas.
Since about 1980-85, the scientists have been trying to utilize human DNA for all kinds of purposes. Five years ago testing human DNA was made available to the family genealogist. Most of us know how DNA is being used in crime investigations and some of us have heard about DNA being used in archeology. DNA is also used in medicine to help understand hereditary diseases. Although the procedures for researching DNA are similar in all the fields, the type of DNA looked at in each process is different. Law enforcement looks for specific DNA unique to one person. Genealogy looks for DNA a number of people share.
Genealogy focuses on surnames. We try to trace our roots back as far as we can. Sooner or later every Family Genealogist reaches a dead end (referred to as a brickwall) where they can no longer find a family trail to their ancestors. Even one of the main books for the New Hampshire Caverlys, by Robert Boodey Caverly, can only take us back several hundred years and cannot confirm the family surname back to Europe. We do know there are many individuals with the Caverly surname, including variations, located in Europe. The main concentrations of the surname appear to be in the United Kingdom where most Genealogists believe the Caverly surname originated
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the chemical inside the nucleus of all cells; it carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms. In some ways DNA is very basic as it is made up of only four base molecules adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine (C), guanine (G). These base molecules, ATCG, join together in different sequences to form a DNA structure for all cells. For Genealogy we look at some very specific parts of the DNA called markers and compare these markers between individuals. When they all match, the individuals are related. Scientists have categorized different DNA into groups called “Hapogroups”. These Hapogroups are normally associated with geographic locations on earth and time periods.
In family Genealogy, we are interested in the DNA of the Y-Chromosome. Men only carry the Y-Chromosome and normally an exact copy is passed down from father to son. I say normally, because a mutation can cause small changes in the DNA of the Y-Chromosome. Fortunately this mutation does not happen often and usually mutations are spread out over hundreds to thousands of years. In Genealogy we can use the DNA of the Y-Chromosome to try to confirm relationship and since surnames are normally passed down from father to son we hope to use the two to help in our family research.
Even more recently, DNA has been used to research women. Just like the Y-chromosome only men have it has now been found women have a unique DNA called mtDNA. The mtDNA is passed down to both male and female children but only women can continue to pass it down. The mtDNA is much more difficult to use in Genealogy because many cultural traditions have women changing their surname when they marry.
Reference Reading:
DNA and Family History by Chris Pomery
Trace Your Roots with DNA by Megan Smolenak and Ann Turner
The Seven Daughters of Eve by Bryan Sykes
Unlocking Your Generic History by Thomas H. Shawker
CAVERLY FAMILY DNA PROJECT by Paul R. Caverly
Introduction: FamilyTreeDNA allowed me to setup a Project page on their web site. If you go to www.familytreedna.com and type in the Caverly surname in the “search by surname” box at the top right hand side of the page you will be connected to our DNA web page. I am acting as the administrator of this project but the project belongs to all Caverlys and their relatives.Joining the Project: Anyone can join the Project. If you join through our Caverly Project the price of a DNA kit is reduced. Normal price for a basic 12-marker test kit is $159. A kit order through the Caverly Project is $99. Individuals can also have tests conducted at a different lab then compare their results to those of the Caverly Project at Familytreedna.How to Test: When you join the project and pay the fee you will receive a DNA kit. Instructions explain what to do; use a special cotton swap stick supplied to rub the inside of your mouth. Send this swap to the lab in special packages provided with the kit. All correspondence is handled through the Internet so there is a need to have a computer or know someone who does have a computer connected to the Internet. Anyone interested in joining who does not have a computer can contact me through normal mail and I can help with the process. (Paul Caverly, 28 Marchbank Cres., Brampton, Ontario, Canada, L6S3B1.)
The following has been extracted from the Caverly FamilyTree DNA Project page:
Group Administrator: Paul Caverly pcaverly@rogers.com
Project Background:
Caverly, Caverley, Cavalier. North America: Several Caverly Genealogy researchers have discovered five major branches of Caverly family descendents. We have not been able to link these branches together with documentation. This project is to try and determine if these branches are related.
1.) New Hampshire branch - William Caverly 1648-1732, married Mary Guptil.
2.) New York branch - Jean Cavalier 1644-1699, married Elinore de La Chaire.
3.) Ontario, Canada branch - Amos Mills Caverly 1786-1857, married Laney Loyd.
4.) Quebec, Canada branch - 1769-?, married Sarah Carpenter.
5.) Irish branch - James Caverly - ? , son Robert Caverly 1860-1953 (Pennsylvania) married Elizabeth Sullivan.
There may be more branches to discover. For all of those interested in searching out their Caverly/Caverley/Cavalier roots get involved. Contact the administrator, Paul Caverly, if you have questions.
Please note: The reference to surname BOW relates to my wife's line and the mtDNA results we have received for my wife.
Project Goals:
1. Prove/disprove that there are genetic links among the 5 known branches in North America.
2. Discover new branches of the Caverly family and try to genetically link them into other branches.
3. Allow all those interested in the Caverly DNA Project to provide information and/or feedback. Results as of August 2005: So far we have results for all but the Irish branch. We have found the New York, Quebec and Ontario branches have the same DNA. Results from the New Hampshire Group were a surprise in that they did not match. Is the New Hampshire group from different family trees? They may be a match; presently we have only tested two volunteers. The interesting thing about the New Hampshire results is the fact we matched a number of other surnames to the NH Group that we have never heard of before. At present Richard Caverly is trying to contact some of these other surname groups to determine if there is any possibility of a family tree connection.
Hapogroups for all those tested so far were the same- R1b. This means all of our family trees originated in Europe. For mtDNA we have only tested my DNA and that of my wife. My mtDNA (passed down to me by my mother) is H. My wife’s mtDNA is J1a. Both of these groups also have their main sources in Europe but scientists can show how they took different paths across the continent of Europe.Future of the Project: We would still like to find an Irish Caverly donor to complete our original goal. It may be worthwhile to test a few more New Hampshire Caverlys
WEBSITES FOR COMPUTER GENEALOGIST: The Fall 2005 issue of the NEW ENGLAND ANCESTORS, in an article written by Lynn Betlock, page 46-47, describes several websites for searching N.E. ancestors. Included are: NewEnglandAncestors.Org, Ancestry.com, Genealogy.com, Rootsweb.com, USGenWeb.com, FamilySearch.org, HeritageQuestOnline.com, www.epodunk.com, www.searchsystems.net, www.EdmundChandler.com, www.MayflowerHistory.com, www.DavidRumsey.com (historical maps), www.lib.utexas.edu/maps, http://simmons.b2b2c.ca, http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jdevlin, www.rootsweb.com/~memoca/moca.htm, www.rays-place.com. www.hampton.lib.nh.us, www.hampton.lib.nh.us, www.gravematter.com. Perhaps these will offer some help.
SURNAMES In 1465 legislation was passed that impacted Gaelic surnames in several counties of Ireland, most notably in Dublin. According to John D’Alton’s “History of Co. Dublin”, the following was enacted: “That every Irishman, dwelling betwixt or amongst Englishman, in this county, as well as those of Meath, Uriell (Louth) and Kildare, shall go like to one Englishman in apparel and in shaving of his beard above the mouth and shall within one year sworn the liege man of the King and shall take him an English surname of one town, as Sutton, Chester, Trim, Scrine, Cork, Kinsale; or colour, as white, black, brown: or art or science, as smith or carpenter, or office, as cook, butler, etc. and that he and his issue shall use this name under pain of forfeiting his goods yearly.”
In search of information leading to the identity of RAYMOND F. CAVERLY, b.1905, d.1973, m. MILLICENT E. TRUE, b.1923. Raymond buried at Highland Cemetery, Ipswich, MA. Request any information be forwarded to David Caverly, 2302 Highview, Mexico, MO 65265
This newsletter is prepared for mailing thru both the e-mail process and the USPS. We would like to build up our e-mail mailing list so that we can ultimately save a few dollars at each mailing. If you have internet access and would like to receive you letter that way please let us know. Also if you know of relatives who could receive the newsletter by e-mail please remind them of this option.
