A Probable History of the Golden Family
of Newberry, South Carolina Since 1761
Updated 2023.08.15
Traditional ‘Golden and Golding’ colors and design are red and gold. Shown below are elements from three different Golden, Golding and Goulden family crests.
DNA and yDNA testing analysis indicates that our Goldens have no historical or lineal relationship to Irish or UK Goldens, Goldings or similar names. [1]There are 230+ Goldens that are yDNA tested via FamilyTreeDNA as of 2022. Our Goldens are among the largest of all tested families. There are no yDNA matches with Goldens that do not have origin in … Continue reading
Wanting something to put on my coffee cup, colors and graphics associated with our known history and DNA geographic origins prior to settlement in the USA were selected.
The blue, green and white colors indicate our close association with English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh families. DNA indicates only the most minor affiliation with Irish families except for those having resided in Northern Ireland.
DNA ethnicity will vary among our Goldens. That said, our Goldens have been southern Americans since origin in 1760 in South Carolina. The South’s population has until recent generations been relatively stable and similar to its demographic mix since the 1700s.
My demographic origin mix (2023 Ancestry model)
We can expect the percentages to continue to fluctuate up and down a point or two as SNPs and other information like grave DNA tests better define who lived where and when.
Comparing 2023 to 2022: my Scottish went up 9% and Irish went down 10%: Northern Irish we predominantly Scots, not actual Irish. Being born in Ireland did not make them Irish, especially when they rarely married outside of their own community. In 2023, we have a better definition of being ‘Welsh’ with my English decreasing 11% and Wales going from 0% in 2022 to 11% in 2023.
My demographic origin mix (2022 Ancestry model):
- 60% — England & Northwestern Europe
- 20% — Scotland
- 17% — Ireland
- 3% — Norway
Most ancestral DNA tests do not differentiate between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
LivingDNA testing has the ability to match DNA down to local county level in Ireland and the UK.
LivingDNA can match UK origin DNA with living Britons by county region[2]https://livingdna.com/ . My atDNA matches the following areas:
- 32.5% South Central England
— This region is where the James Keeling family came from when they immigrated to New York, USA. These Keelings are a 62 of 67 marker yDNA match to our Golden male line. - 15.3% South England
- 12.1% South Yorkshire
- 9.1% Aberdeenshire
- 4.6% Ireland
- 4.3% Central England
- 4.2% Devon
- 3.2% Northwest Scotland
- 2.2% North Wales
- 2% Northwest England
- 1.7% Northern Ireland and Southwest Scotland
- 1.1% East Anglia
- 1.1% North Yorkshire
Viewing the two DNA demographic maps above, there may appear disparities between Ancestry and LivingDNA. There really are not. Our yDNA has Scandinavian cousins but is overwhelmingly UK and northwestern Germanic.
Golden male yDNA is R-U106 R-Z405 R-DF98 R-S18823 R-FGC20605 R-FGC20581 R-BY103979.
This line spread from the Benelux/Frisia area to what is now the United Kingdom and to Norway and Sweden, as well as much of northern Germany and Poland.
I use the term ‘Germanic’ because Denmark and the Benelux do not consider themselves ‘German’, yet they share yDNA that has origin in what is modern Germany.
Grandfathers and origin according to SNP:
- R-Z405 … born about 4400 years ago in the modern Benelux or Frisia area (northwest Germanic)
- R-DF98 … born about 4100 years ago, lived in the same region
- R-S18823 … born shortly after R-DF98, probably within 1-3 generations
- R-FGC20605 … born about 2700 years ago
- R-FGC20581 … born about 2500 years ago
- R-BY103979 … born about 1400 years ago – Anglo-Saxon settlement of England >> however, presence of the next SNP grandfather R-BY61503 indicates that our line was still living in north central Germany. There are living Y700 descendants in Germany, Sweden and the USA.
- R-BY61503 … born approximately between 900-1100 CE in Germany. Male descendants of Samuel Golden, 1770-1859, and Nathaniel Green Golden, 1783-aft.1822 are both R-BY61503.
- R-FTB95535 … born about 1750 … R-FTB95535 is the 19th SNP grandson of R-BY61503 … this SNP was born as probably Thomas or William Golden that settled at Newberry, South Carolina by 1761. Male descendants of Samuel Golden, 1770-1859, and Nathaniel Green Golden, 1783-aft.1822 are both R-BY61503/R-FTB95535.
> Further Y700 testing will show that the grandsons of Thomas and William Golden experienced yDNA branching in the 1800s.
- R-BY70029 … born about 1890 +/- 20 years; this is probably Henry Roosevelt Golden, born 1904-1987, or possibly his father Henry Hambright Sterling Golden (1866-1937). This is a Nathaniel Green Golden line, 1783-aft.1822.
- FGC28926 … born about 1950; is probably William David Golden, born 1956. This is a Nathaniel Green Golden line, 1783-aft.1822.
The Stars come from the design of the first American flag indicating unity of the 13 English colonies. The white cross design is common through the UK but also in Scandinavia countries. YDNA testing indicates that our origin before life in the United Kingdom was with families that today are Norwegian and Swedish.
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©2023 William Golden, Norfolk1956@gmail.com // Material may be shared without requesting permission and with appropriate attribution: A Probable History of the Golden Family of Newberry, South Carolina Since 1761, by William Golden