Preliminary
Conclusions
From the Funkhouser DNA Project
Daniel W. Bly
Revised-February 2007
In January 2006, I set up the Funkhouser DNA project in order to see if DNA testing would help answer some of the questions regarding the origins and the relationship of John Fankhauser Sr., Jacob Fankhauser Sr, and Christian Fankhauser, who were in Virginia by 1737 and whose many descendants spell their name Funkhouser. It has long been assumed that they were descendants of the large Fankhauser family which originated at Trub in the Emmenthal Valley of Canton Bern, Switzerland, but in spite of several scenarios and possibilities being proposed, new documentary evidence has cast doubt on those and raised new questions. The parents and the specific links to Switzerland have not yet been identified and it has never been clear how they were even related to each other. Two brothers, Peter and Michael Fankhauser, who were born in Alsace to Swiss parents, settled in Lancaster County in 1743 and 1750, respectively and their descendants have spelled their name Frankhouser. In the 19th century a number of other Fankhauser immigrants arrived in America from Switzerland and so it was thought advisable to include members of the Frankhouser, Fankhauser and Fankhouser families along with the Funkhousers in the DNA study, because a number of these had well documented lineages back to Switzerland and in the case of some of the Fankhausers, documented lineages all the way back to the origins of the name in the fifteenth century. The proven lineages could be very useful markers to which the other test results could be compared.
The DNA test looks at "markers" on the Y chromosome (the male chromosome, passed from father to son) and is able to determine which haplogroup a man belongs to and can determine by variations in the markers how closely or remotely any two individuals are related to each other. The haplogroup refers to the ethnic-geographic origins. The more markers that are studied the more precisely the number of generations any two individuals are removed from a common ancestor, can be determined.
The first series of test were 12 marker tests. Twelve men participated, three from each of the three early Funkhouser ancestors in Virginia, two from the Frankhouser family and one from a well documented Fankhauser (later anglicized to Fankhouser) family that arrived from Switzerland in the early nineteenth century. All twelve markers for eleven participants matched perfectly. One marker for a descendant of Jacob Funkhouser Sr. varied, but it was for a marker that mutates more often and was therefore not a significant factor. These tests showed conclusively that all twelve participants definitely shared a common ancestor within the last 500 years and therefore were all descendants of the Fankhauser family that originated in the Fankhaus Valley in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland over 600 years ago. They were also in the R1b1 haplogroup, the Indo-European people who have inhabited Western Europe for the last 30,000 years or more. While this was an important step more advanced tests on more markers would be needed to determine at what point these individuals shared common ancestors.
Thirty-seven marker tests were performed on four of the original participants, one from each of the three Virginia pioneers and one from the Frankhouser family. They all continued to match at the 25 marker level but at the 37 marker level, only the descendants of John Fankhauser (Funkhouser) Sr. and Christian Fankhauser (Funkhouser) match all 37 markers. The Frankhouser descendant differed from the John and Christian descendants on one marker and the Jacob Fankhauser (Funkhouser) Sr. descendant differed from them on four markers and from the Frankhouser descendant by three! This indicates that John and Christian Funkhouser, two of the Virginia pioneers were closely related, with a 95 percent chance that they could be brothers, or uncle and nephew, but that Jacob Funkhouser Sr. the other early Virginia pioneer was not closely related, at least not through the paternal line. It also indicates that the Fankhauser-Frankhouser pioneers of Pennsylvania were probably more closely related to John and Christian Funkhouser in Virginia than most people had ever assumed.
However, since one sample can be an anomaly three more of the 12 marker tests were upgraded to the 37 marker test, including the member of the documented Fankhauser family, and another descendant of Jacob Funkhouser Sr and the other Frankhouser. The results of these three tests proved somewhat more conclusive. The documented Fankhauser matched all 37 markers with the two Frankhouser descendants. The second Jacob Funkhouser Sr. descendant was only 2 markers different from the John and Christian Funkhouser descendants and one marker from the Fankhauser and Frankhouser descendants. Again the markers for the Jacob Funkhouser Sr. descendant who was four markers different from the John and Christian descendants, varied on several markers that mutate more often, and therefore should probably be more in line with the other Jacob descendant, who only varied by two. This only confirms what the first several 37 marker tests seemed to indicate- that John and Christian Fankhauser-Funkhouser, who were in Virginia by 1737 were very closely related but that Jacob who was in Pennsylvania by 1725 but apparently came to Virginia with them was not closely related in the paternal line. It also confirms that the Frankhouser family of Pennsylvania was closely related to the documented Fankhauser (Fankhouser) line that came over later.
In the summer of 2006 a member of the Fankhauser family who still lives in Switzerland joined the group and took the 67 marker test. He is from a farm called Hinter Hutten near Trub, and is the eleventh generation Fankhauser to live there, and has a proven line all the way back to the origins of the name. According to his results, he was most closely related to the Fankhouser member of the project whose, ancestor came over in 1819, with only one marker different, and that was on a marker that mutates more frequently. Both of these lines can be proven to share a common ancestor eleven generations back (Christian Fankhauser, of the Vorder Fankhaus line, b. 1570, d. 1632). This is perfectly consistent with the statistical probabilities and predictions established by DNA scientists. The next closest relatives of the proven Fankhauser line are the Frankhousers, descendants of Peter Fankhauser, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1743, and whose father and grandfather can be traced back to Trub. They are only two markers removed from the proven line and at least one of those could be discounted because it mutates more often. The Funkhouser descendants of John and Christian, the early Virginia pioneers are 3 markers removed and the descendants of Jacob are four markers removed from the proven line. An additional 37 marker test in the fall of 2006, for another descendant of Jacob fits right into this pattern.
Since the ancestors of the Fankhauser line from Hinter Hutten and the Fankhouser, whose family arrived in America in 1819, are well documented back 18/20 generations to the origins of the name in the Fankhaus, at Trub (see attached chart) and the ancestors of the two Frankhousers, whose immigrant ancestor, Peter settled in Pennsylvania in 1743, can be identified back ten generations to Trub, it is now possible to make a tentative identification of the common ancestor of these lines. The documented Fankhauser family is what is known as the Vorder Fankhaus line- because in 1495 (15 generations back) the entire Fankhaus valley, which had been the property of Niklaus (Clewi) Fankhauser, was divided between his two sons, Niklaus (Clewi the Younger) and Hans. Clewi the Younger got the portion known as the Vorder Fankhaus (Lower Fankhaus) and Hans got the part known as the Hinter Fankhaus (Upper Fankhaus). Both Hans and Clewi were ancestors of large families that continued to live on and continually divided these properties. Since the 37 marker tests match all markers for the Fankhauser line and the Frankhouser line and had only one marker different on the 67 marker tests, it means there is a 98 percent chance that they shared a common ancestor no more than ten to twelve generations back and virtually 100 percent 14 generations back.
This means that Peter Fankhauser of Trub, earliest proven ancestor of the Frankhousers of Pennsylvania, who married Christina Schwander at Trub in 1663 was definitely in the Vorder Fankhaus line. There were four other Peter Fankhausers born at Trub from the late 1620s to the early 1640s, almost certainly the time frame in which this Peter Fankhauser was born. Two of these can be proven to be in the Hinter Fankhaus line. A third one, born 1633, son of Hans of Schurtenell, would be at least three generations further removed in relationship, but the fourth one, Peter, son of Peter Fankhauser and Christina Stalder, from the farm called Lehn, born 2 February 1640, is most likely the Peter Fankhauser who married Christina Schwander in 1663 and had a son, Christian, who was born October, 1668 at Vechigen near Trub, and emigrated to Alsace about 1700 with his brother, Wilhelm (b. 1675). Christian settled at a farm in the panhandle of Alsace called Hansmannshof, where an Ulrich Fankhauser, aus Schweitz, had gone a generation earlier. This Ulrich was almost certainly an uncle of Christian and Wilhelm because in 1746, Ulrich's son, Christian was back in Trub to collect money due his "cousin", Wilhelm, at that time living in Alsace. Christian Fankhauser (b. 1668), son of Peter, married and moved to the Nehwiller in the parish of Langensoultzbach in Alsace and is father of Peter Fankhauser, the 1743, settler in Pennsylvania and ninth generation ancestor of the Frankhouser participants in the DNA study.
Peter Fankhauser, born 27 December 1607, son of Hans Fankhauser, from the Vorder Fankhaus und Lehn, and his wife, Barbara Wuthrich, married Christina Stalder, 24 August, 1632 and died at the farm Lehn in 1652. He was father of six sons and four daughters. Peter's father, Hans was born about 1575, son of Hans Fankhauser of the Vorder Fankhaus und Lehn, and had an older brother, Christian, born about 1570. Christian (b. 1570) later got the farm Vorder Fankhaus and Hans lived at Lehn. Christian is the tenth generation ancestor of the Fankhouser participant in the DNA project and 12 generation ancestor of the Fankhauser participant from the Hinter Hutten. The older Hans, father of Hans and Christian, was born about 1545, son of Christian and grandson of Niklaus (Clewi) who had received the Vorder Fankhaus in 1495.
By the last half of the seventeenth century the farm lands of the Fankhaus had been divided until a single farm was barely large enough to support a family and with a large family the only solution was emigration to other parts of Switzerland or down the Rhine into the German provinces of Alsace and the Palatinate. The fact that when Christian Fankhauser, son of Peter, went to Alsace about 1700, went first to the same farm where Ulrich Fankhauser had gone about 25 years earlier would indicate that he was joining a close relative and as indicated earlier he was almost certainly an uncle. In fact, Peter Fankhauser (b. 1607) and his wife, Christina had a son, Ulrich, born 17 November 1644, who is therefore most likely the same Ulrich Fankhauser who settled in Alsace sometime in the 1670s. Yet another Christian Fankhauser, married at Trub in 1690, lived at various sites in the Jura Mountains of Switzerland before settling in the same area of Alsace about 1709. He was most likely another grandson, or possibly nephew, of Peter Fankhauser (b. 1607) and wife, Stina Stalder, of the farm Lehn but his parentage has not yet been identified. There is still a remote possibility Peter who married Christina Schwander in 1663 was actually the Peter born in 1633 to Hans Fankhauser, (b. 1604, son of Rudolph of Schurtenell). , Hans, who married Anna Habegger, was from the Vorder Fankhaus line, married Anna Habegger and had Peter, b. 1633 and also a son Ulrich born in 1643. The most common ancestor of this Peter and Ulrich and the Hinter Hütten Fankhausers is three generations further back than Peter and Ulrich, sons of Peter and Christina of the farm Lehn and would mean almost 15 generations with no mutations in separate lines of descent. This connection through Hans and Rudolf cannot be ruled out completely at this point but it would appear that the Peter and Christina connection outlined above is more solidly supported by the evidence now available.
There is not enough evidence at this point to identify specific ancestors of the Funkhouser pioneers in Virginia, but based on the 37 and 67 marker tests John Funkhouser Sr. and Christian Funkhouser were closely related, possibly brothers or perhaps an uncle and nephew or cousins. Since John Funkhouser Sr. and his children were Mennonites it had been thought for the good part of the last 30 years that John was the Hans Fankhauser, born at Trub in October 1692 to Christian Fankhauser of the Hinter Hutten who had joined the Anabaptists (Mennonites) as early as the 1680s. Hans Fankhauser of Langenthal, who had done remarkable work on the early Fankhausers, went so far to assume they were one and the same and included it in his Stammbaum (family tree), published in 1980. This has been picked up and included in other works as well, including Frieda Wilson's "Funkhouser: A Swiss-American Genealogy" (1978) and my own Funkhouser chapter in "From the Rhine to the Shenandoah", Volume II (1996). Recently discovered documentary evidence cast considerable doubt on this view and now the scientific evidence appears to discount it. The nearest relatives, to the Hinter Hutten family in this project, by all measures and markers, are the Frankhousers, whose most remote proven ancestor is Peter Fankhauser, who married in 1663, and who cannot be any closer related to Peter Fankhauser, of the Hinter Hutten, than first cousin. At a marker known as DYS476 all the Fankhauser and Frankhauser participants had a number 18, while the John and Christian Funkhouser group had the number 19 in that slot. Since both John and Christian's descendant bear this marker it was inherited from a common ancestor who in this case would have been too far back to be a son of Christian the Anabaptist. This is a distinct and significant differential which means they might still be from the Vorder Fankhaus line but with a common ancestor at least two or more generations further back than the common ancestor of the Fankhausers and the Frankhousers.
However, Jacob Funkhouser Sr's descendants differed from the other groups by no less than two and as many as four markers and so it is highly possible that Jacob Funkhouser Sr. was actually from the Hinter Fankhaus line. This is also supported by the fact that while the Fankhauser, Frankhouser and John Funkhouser groups all had the number 17 at marker known as DYS 570, all but one of the participants in the Jacob Funkhouser group had a 16 at that marker, and the one exception was a 14. However, there is a curious anomaly here because the line that shares the most recent common ancestor with the Jacob Funkhouser line is the Frankhouser line. So it is possible that the mutation on DYS470 occurred somewhere around the tenth or eleventh generation back. If this is the case Jacob could still be from the Vorder Fanhaus line.
Jacob came to America before the others but he did settle in Virginia with John and Christian Funkhouser. They were probably from the same community, knew each other from childhood and could well have been closely related through other connections if not through their paternal ancestry. There were many marriages between the Vorder Fankhaus and the Hinter Fankhaus lines as well as other related families in the Trub community between 1500 and 1700. However, at this time we do not have any documented descendants of the Hinter Fankhaus line with which to compare results. As the data base is enlarged it will be easier to determine which markers could be considered the center or norm for a particular sub-group and which ones are obvious mutations at some point in the family genealogy. It is hoped that as we add more participants, even more significant and definitive conclusions can be reached.
For purpose of identifying and documenting the Fankhauser family from the origins of the name to the mid seventeenth century I have used the Stammbaum prepared by Hans Fankhauser of Langenthal, (now deceased) and published in 1980 (see the modified version at the end of this document). He used the old land records and other civil records to document the early generations of the family. After the mid seventeenth century he focused more on his own ancestors in the Vorder Fankhaus line, but his work can be considered far more accurate that those which had focused only on church records which begin with the 1580s and seldom contain enough evidence to prove genealogical lineages. For the ancestors of the Frankhouser line I am using church records from Trub and church records from several parishes in northern Alsace, where the family lived for several generations.
Go to this link for a genealogical chart showing the early generations of the Fankhauser family at Trub (up to about 1600) and the known or projected lineage of the Fankhauser, Fankhouser and Frankhouser participants in this project.
If you are interested in knowing more about this project, please contact me at tomfank@comcast.net. I will forward your inquiry to Daniel Bly. Thanks.