Alexander Blair - Elizabeth Cochrane

Conventional Research
The Alexander Blair - Elizabeth Cochrane line is one of the most researched BSGR lines. 27 members (14 of them active) believe they descend from Alexander and Elizabeth.

Known children of Alexander and Elizabeth: John Blair b.1756 m. Eleanor Hamilton; Thomas Blair b.1757 m. Eleanor Evans; Alexander Blair b.1762-63 m. Sarah Ralston; Elizabeth Blair b.1759 never married; William Blair b.1760 m. Catherine Evans; Mary Blair b.30 Oct 1765 m. James H. Manara; Margaret "Peggy" Blair b.1765 m. Robert Wallace; Benjamin Blair b.1767 m. Elizabeth ___ and maybe, Archibald Blair and Samuel Blair.

There is a question as to whether John Blair who married Susannah Ewing was a son of Alexander and Elizabeth. According to the "Blair Society for Genealogical Research Members� Lineages (1983 - 2003)" this John Blair is NOT a son of Alexander.

DNA Testing
We now have the results of five participants who believe they descend from this line. Three participants (#9332, #20208, and #124035) descend from William Blair and Catherine Evans through 3 different sons (Samuel, Alexander, and Thomas) and are an exact match on all the markers they tested. The fourth participant (#7636) also claims to descend through son Samuel. The fifth participant (#3948) descend through John Blair and Susannah Ewing. On his pedigree chart he states "The dispute continues about whether or not John Blair b:1756 is the son of this Alexander Blair. I hope DNA will be of assistance here." The tables below show the number of markers that do not match and the total mutations between each of the participants on the 25 marker test.

Marker	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37
	DYS#
Part ID#	3 9 3	3 9 0	1 9 *	3 9 1	3 8 5 a	3 8 5 b	4 2 6	3 8 8	4 3 9	3 8 9 i	3 9 2	3 8 9 ii	4 5 8	4 5 9 a	4 5 9 b	4 5 5	4 5 4	4 4 7	4 3 7	4 4 8	4 4 9	4 6 4 a	4 6 4 b	4 6 4 c	4 6 4 d	4 6 0	G A T A H 4	Y C A II a	Y C A II b	4 5 6	6 0 7	5 7 6	5 7 0	C D Y a	C D Y b	4 4 2	4 3 8
3948	13	24	14	11	11	14	12	12	12	13	13	29	17	09	10	11	11	24	15	19	30	15	15	17	17
7636	12	24	13	10	17	18	11	12	12	13	13	29	15	09	09	11	11	26	14	20	31	14	16	16	16
9332	12	24	14	11	11	15	12	12	12	13	13	29	15	10	10	11	11	26	15	19	30	14	15	18	18
20208	12	24	14	11	11	15	12	12	12	13	13	29	15	10	10	11	11	26	15	19	30	14	15	18	18	12	11	19	23	15	16	18	17	35	38	12	12
124035	12	24	14	11	11	15	12	12	12	13	13	29	15	10	10	11	11	26	15	19	30	14	15	18	18	12	11	19	23	15	16	18	17	35	38	12	12

The diagram below show the pedigrees of the five participants.

BSGR006

Conclusions
Based on the DNA test results AND the known paper trail it is reasonable to assume that participants #9332, #20208, and #124035 are descendants of William and Catherine Evans and that the identical 37 marker test result of #20208, and #124035 is the "DNA signature" of William Blair. However, because they all descend from the same son, the DNA test results do not provide conclusive evidence that they descend from Alexander and Elizabeth. Matching DNA test results are required from a participant who descends from Alexander through another son.

It is also obvious from the DNA test results that participant #3948 and #7636 do not share a common ancestor with each other or the other three participants. These test results also support that John Blair who married Susannah Ewing was a NOT son of Alexander and Elizabeth.

The discrepancies between #7636 and #9332, #20208, and #124035 have been explained to me and will not be discussed here.

#9332, #20208, and #124035 belong to Group 1 indicating a very high probability that they descend from the Blair of Blair and connect to several other BSGR lines.

This WebPage was last updated 04/05/2015