Cushman (Y-DNA)
Contents
Status summary
Completed as of September 29, 2020:
- Recruiting direct male-line Cushman descendants for further SNP testing - anyone interested in submitting their DNA for testing should contact Raymond T. Wing (email: wing.genealogist AT gmail DOT com)
Still to do as of August 29, 2020
- NGS/WGS test multiple Y-DNA descendants of Thomas Cushman to firmly place family clade as well as test descendants to discover any subclades unique to descendants lines
Biography
English Ancestry
A wikipedia article on Thomas Cushman stated the family was "Flemish in origin, who with other countrymen came to several regions of England at the invitation of King Edward II around the year 1336. (From Thomas Fuller, Church History of England, 1837.)"
An April 1914 NEHG Register article[1] documents the English ancestry of Thomas Cushman. The article starts with the will of John Crocheman, who apparently never married as he failed to list a wife or children in his will. The will does mention "Johane Crocheman my sister" and "my brother Thomas Crocheman" was primary heir and residual beneficiary.
While not in the Register article, a website[2] states the Cranbrook, Kent parish register has the burial of Thomas Crouchman 14 Jun 1567. This website states his wife was possibly named Joan[3] and they may have had a daughter Anne as well as a son Thomas.
Going back to the Register article, the next generation was Thomas Cowchman/Couchman who originally lived in Hawkhurst, Kent, but was living in Rolveden, Kent in 1578, aged 40 years. This Thomas married Rolvenden, 18 Jul 1568, to Eleanor Hubbarde. Thomas' will, dated "Rolvinden" 10 Feb 1585/6 and proved 12 May 1586, listed his children (all under 21): Richard, Robert, and (daughter) Sylvester. The Archdeacons transcripts of the Rolveden parish records records several children for Thomas (but not eldest son Richard). Most of the children (with the exception of Sylvester and Robert) died young.
Robert Couchman was baptized at Rolveden 9 Feb 1577/8. He became the first of the family to have his surname spelled Cushman. Robert married twice, first to Sara Reder at St Alphege parish church, Canterbury, 11 Jul 1606. She died in Leiden, Holland, and was buried on 11 Oct 1616.
First Generation
(Elder) Thomas Cushman was baptized at St. Andrew, Canterbury, Kent on 8 Feb 1607/8, son of (Deacon) Robert Cushman and Sara Reder. His father was the first of his family to spell his name "Cushman" as Robert was the son of Thomas "Couchman". The family soon moved to Holland to join the English Separatist movement there. Thomas and his father emigrated to New Plimouth in 1621 aboard the Fortune.
Second Generation
References
- ↑ New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 68 pp. 181-85 "Genealogical Research in England: Cushman" by Elizabeth French
- ↑ Cushmansite.com
- ↑ but it may simply be this is the "Johane Crocheman" mentioned in the will of John Crocheman above.
DNA results
Previous Y-DNA testing
The Cushman, Couchman surname DNA Project currently lists eight individuals as "Probable Descendants of Robert Cushman, of Kent"[1] All of the testers have only done Y-STR 37 testing to date. FTDNA predicts the family falls under R1b-M269. Plugging in the modal value for the family into the Nevgen Haplogroup Predictor[2] gives a prediction of: R1b DF27>ZZ12>ZZ41 with a 73.3% probability.[3]
Further needed testing
We need additional direct male-line descendants of Thomas Cushman to WGS/NGS test to both confirm the lineage as well as to refine the haplogroup further and delineate descendant clades.
- ↑ but the STR results appear to have far too wide of a spread (ie some have a GD of 10-12 at 37 markers) for them all to be descendants of Robert Cushman. It is much more likely only five or six of these eight individuals are actual Y-DNA descendants of Robert Cushman.
- ↑ Not set for ANY specific haplogroup, since we are only dealing with 37 STR markers
- ↑ The next highest prediction was R1b L21>DF13>CTS1751>Z17966 at 5%, but a 16% chance of it falling into a "unsupported clade".
Summary of findings
References & External Links
wikipedia article on Thomas Cushman
Cushmansite.com Cushman English Ancestry
New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 68 pp. 181-85 "Genealogical Research in England: Cushman" by Elizabeth French
Mayflower Quarterly, Sep 2013, pp. 226- "Robert Cushman, Mayflower Pilgrim in Canterbury 1596-1607" by Robert C. Cushman and Michael R. Paulick
Cushman, Joseph Augustine, The First Seven Generations of the Cushman Family in New England, 1964, (Bridgewater or Sharon), MA. Dorr's Print Shop
