Roberts Switch
By Roy Roberts
Posted 16 Jun 2025
Y-DNA analysis is different than an analysis of your 23 chromosomes (autosomal DNA) that is conducted by Ancestry, 23andMe and others. Y-DNA testing was pioneered by FamilyTreeDNA starting in 2000 and is only for males. Individual pieces or markers of DNA are passed in the Y chromosome from father to son, generation by generation and defines your patrilineal ancestry. Initial, Y-DNA test only looked at 12 specific markers called short tandem repeats (STRs). FamilyTreeDNA now has a test that looks at 700 STRs. So, the technology and thus the confidence and detail in the data obtained has expanded substantially over the years.
I submitted a sample back in 2018 for Y-111 testing. When the results arrived, I discovered I was a Y-DNA match with Tommy Roberts, this websites manager. My ancestry world had just substantially expanded. An early 2021 Big Y Block Tree included 12 males. So, I started communicating with my other Y-DNA matches and discovered a new avenue of family research.
Up to this point, I was working with only autosomal DNA data and was focused mainly on my Roberts line. In a document compiled by Katherin Roberts Dial about my Roberts line, I learned about John Roberts, who was born 1774 in Rowan County, North Carolina. Rowan County was formed in 1753 from Anson County. Early inhabitants included the Catawba and Saponi Indians, followed by German and Scottish-Irish settlers. Rowan County encompassed the North West section of the state of North Carolina until about 1850. It was then divided into Buncombe and other counties west of the Yadkin River. Buncombe County was further divided into Madison, Mitchell, Yancy, etc. sometime after that.
I’ve provided this settlement history to support information I learned from other Y-DNA matches that trace their linage back to either Rowan County or Buncombe County in the mid to late 1700s or early 1800s. The article written by Gracie Roberts and posted on this website about the Loop, Texas Roberts is an example of one family from this area. Another one of our Roberts’ family lines is documented as settling the Rowan County area in the book “Carolina Cradle, Settlement of the Northwest Carolina Frontier, 1747-1762” by Robert W. Ramsey. It is interesting that some of our Roberts relatives (documented by Ancestry and Y-DNA results) still live in Buncombe County.
The Big Y Block Tree now includes 33 males with two more tests being finalized. We have solved some of our families’ mysteries, but there are still more questions than answers. In some cases, the lack of supporting documentation is hindering our move forward. The new Y-DNA data, along with more autosomal data, will help support our Roberts history. The Big Y DNA Tree indicates we have a common ancestor in the 1600’s. Maybe in the near future we can finally find unquestionable proof about the identity of those early Roberts family members.
You can learn more about Y-DNA through FamilyTreeDNA.com.