William Roberts of Danbury, Connecticut

This has been a dead end for years but DNA results from Peter Robert's site indicate that William descended from or is closely related to the immigrant Peter Roberts b.c. 1665 Gloucestershire, England, d.c. 1706 Providence, RI m. Sarah Baker.  The descendants of these two matched on 23 of 24 markers which tells us that there is a 50% probability that the most recent common ancestor is 17 generations or less.  The descendant of Peter Roberts d. 1706 RI was a 10th generation descendant meaning their common ancestor may be farther back.  However, since Peter was an immigrant to the New World it is more likely he was a descendant of either Peter or Mark Roberts mentioned below:

 "The first record of the Roberts family of Rhode Island found in volume I, p. 570, the book of deeds. A house and lot in Providence and right in the commons of the plantation of Providence was bequeathed by Christopher Unthank to Thomas Roberts, June 1663. Thomas Roberts died about 1679, and his administrator, Captain Richard Smith, represented his nephew and heir, Christopher Roberts, of Arlington, Gloucestershire, England, December 5, 1679. There was recorded June 6, 1681, by Captain Smith, as attorney for Christopher Roberts, the title to four acres laid out to Thomas Roberts, deceased. (Book of Deeds I, p. 59). About the same time Peter and Mark Roberts appear at Warwick, Rhode Island. There is reason to believe that they were brothers, nephews or sons of Christopher, and that Peter had the land at Providence. Mark Roberts married, January 1, 1682, Warwick, Mary Baker, and had: Mark, born April 10, 1683; John, December 4, 1685. John had ten children at Warwick, and the name Christopher, which appears in all the families, presumably for Christopher Unthank, mentioned above, undoubtedly a relative." [Ancestry.com. New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004. Original data: Cutter, William Richard. New England Families Genealogical and Memorial. Vol. I-IV. New York, USA: n.p., 1915.]

DNA Comparison

Haplogroup R1a				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
Kit No.	Earliest Known Ancestor (with link to descendancy chart)	Y B a s e	Y S e a r c h	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 i i	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 I I a	Y C A I I 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	Posted
36202	William Roberts d. 1805 Danbury CT Genealogy Thirty	*	*	14	24	14	11	11	14	12	12	13	13	13	29	18	9	10	11	11	25	15	19	28	15	17	17	17	11	11	19	23	16	15	17	17	39	39	12	13	06/05
71901	Peter Roberts b. bet 1635-1665 Glouchestershire, England, d. abt 1706 Providence, RI m. Sarah Baker	*	*	14	24	14	11	11	14	12	12	12	13	13	29	18	9	10	11	11	25	15	19	28	15	17	17	17	11	11	19	23	16	15	17	18	39	40	12	13	10/06

This chart was extracted from Peter J. Roberts site.  It shows that the descendants of William Roberts of Danbury, Connecticut and Peter Roberts of Providence, Rhode Island match on 34 of 37 markers.

“34/37 You share the same surname (or a variant) with another male and you mismatch by three 'points' --a 34/37 match. Because of the volatility within some of the markers this is slightly tighter then being 11/12 or 23/25 and it's most likely that you matched 24/25 or 25/25 on previous Y-DNA tests. Your mismatch will most often be found within DYS 439 or DYS 385 A, 385 B,389-1 and 389-2 from our first panel of 12 markers, or within the second panel: DYS #'s 458, 459 a, 459b, 449, or within 464 a-d. If you matched exactly on previous tests you probably have a mismatch at DYS 576, 570, CDYa or CDYb in our newest panel of markers. Your mismatch is likely within the range of most well established surname lineages in Western Europe. “ [http://www.familytreedna.com/GDRules_37.html]

In fact, the mismatches occurred on DYS 439, DYS 570 and CDYb.  All three of these have a faster mutation rate. 

Unique Characteristics of DYS #439“The unique characteristic of marker DYS #439 has to do with its rapid mutational rate. About 25% of the mutations in the first 12 markers take place in marker #439...thus indicating a faster mutation rate than most of the others. Therefore, if you find a mismatch on marker #439 between 2 participants, and all other markers match, then you have a very good likelihood of a connection and can discount the mismatch of this marker in your analysis. Your conclusions may also be strengthened by good research and documentation if it indicates possible relationships between the two participants.”  [http://www.hilldna.com/mutations.html]

DYS 570 & CDYb“Note that the 37-marker scores … do not include markers DYS607, DYS576, DYS570, CDYa, or CDYb ( from FTDNA's third panel of markers 26-37 ). These markers have very high mutation rates and no modals are to be had at this time. They are very useful for comparison between persons who are suspected to be related but they are not very useful for identifying one's subclade.” [http://www.lrbcg.com/jtCullen/CullenDNA.htm]  

Speculation

William Roberts married Ann, widow of Andrew Sherwood  23 Mar 1762.  Ann's first child, Daniel Sherwood was born 1746 placing her marriage about 1745 and her birth sometime before 1727 if we assume she was age 18 when she wed Andrew.  William and Ann Robert's last child was Sarah born in 1770 indicating when Ann reached the end of her child bearing years at around age 50 so I estimate she was born 1720-1727.

If William was about the same age or perhaps younger, his age is bracketed between 1720-1740.  Peter and Mark Roberts married in 1682 and 1685, respectively.  This means there were only 2-3 generations between William Roberts of Danbury CT and Mark/Peter of Providence RI meaning that William would be the grandchild or great grandchild of Peter or Mark Roberts.

Piecing together descendant information for Mark and Peter Roberts from information posted online gives this: 

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Descendant List - Mark Roberts of Providence, Rhode Island

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1-Mark Roberts

..  b: bef 1661 in England

..  sp-Mary Baker

..  m: Jan 1, 1682 in Warwick, Kent Co., Rhode Island

... 2-Mark Roberts

......  b: Apr 10, 1683 in Warwick, Kent Co., Rhode Island

......  d: Feb 17, 1767 in Sharon, Litchfield Co., Connecticut

....... 3-Nathaniel Roberts

..........  b: 1711

..........  d: Jan 16, 1766 in Sharon, Litchfield Co., Connecticut

........... 4-John Roberts

........... 4-William Roberts (more likely from proximity)

........... 4-Lebbeus Roberts

........... 4-Amos Roberts

....... 3-Sarah Roberts

....... 3-Alice (Ellice) Roberts

..........  b: 1722

....... 3-John Roberts (children?)

....... 3-Mercy Roberts

....... 3-_____ Roberts

..........  b: Mar 9, 1734

... 2-John Roberts (10 children raised in Providence RI?)

......  b: Dec 4, 1685 in Warwick, Kent Co., Rhode Island

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Descendant List - Peter Roberts of Providence, Rhode Island

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1-Peter Roberts

..  b: bef 1664

..  d: 1706 in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island

..  sp-Sarah Baker

..  b: 1665 in Warwick, Kent Co., Rhode Island

..  m: Apr 27, 1685 in Warwick, Kent Co., Rhode Island

... 2-William Roberts

......  b: 1689 in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island

......  d: Feb 25, 1725/26 in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island

..... sp-Amy _____

......  m: bef 1710

......  d: aft 1726

....... 3-William Roberts (possibility)

....... 3-Jane Roberts

....... 3-David Roberts

....... 3-Thomas Roberts

....... 3-Peter Roberts

... 2-Peter Roberts

......  b: 1687

......  d: Aug 17, 1743 in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island

..... sp-Amy Colvin d/o John & Dorothy

......  b: Oct 31, 1690

......  d: 1743

....... 3-Mary Roberts

....... 3-Sarah Roberts

....... 3-Dorothy Roberts

....... 3-Phillip Roberts (more children?)

..........  b: 1721 in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island

..........  d: bef 1800 in Columbia, New York

......... sp-Sara Cory

..........  b: May 8, 1722 in Tiverton, Rhode Island

........... 4-Peter Roberts

..............  b: 1740

..............  d: 1785

........... 4-Phillip Roberts

..............  b: Mar 4, 1768 in Dutchess Co., New York

....... 3-John Roberts (children too young)

..........  b: May 21, 1727 in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island

..........  d: Aug 6, 1796 in Manchester, Bennington Co., Vermont

......... sp-Susanna Mayhew

..........  b: 1723

..........  m: bef 1750

..........  d: bet 1805 and 1807

........... 4-Peter Roberts

..............  b: Oct 3, 1750 in Manchester, Bennington Co., Vermont

........... 4-Benjamin Roberts

..............  b: 1751 in New York

........... 4-Christopher Roberts

..............  b: May 4, 1753 in Dutchess Co., New York

........... 4-Jemima Roberts

..............  b: 1754 in Dutchess Co., New York

........... 4-William Roberts (too young)

..............  b: Sep 14, 1758 in Nine Parthers, Dutchess Co.,New York

..............  d: 1829

........... 4-John Roberts

..............  b: 1759

..............  d: Oct 3, 1842 in Schuyler Falls, Clinton Co., New York

....... 3-Peter Roberts..(children would be too young)

..........  b: 1730 

Posted by: Cornelia Andrus  Date: May 08, 2000 at 08:00:48

 A Mark ROBERTS d. 17 February 1767 "in his 84th year" [so b. c. 1683]. This Mark ROBERTS is buried in "Ticknor's Woods" Sharon, Litchfield Co., CT. (Sharon is very near Amenia, formerly Nine Partners, Dutchess Co., NY, where a lot of Roberts families lived in the 1700's.)

Also buried in Ticknor's Woods is Nathaniel ROBERTS who died Jan. 16, 1766 "in his 55th year" [so b. c. 1710-1711]. A history of Sharon, CT, says that this Nathaniel Roberts moved to Sharon in 1759 from Salisbury, Litchfield Co., CT. When Nathaniel died in 1766, according to the history, he left sons John, William, Lebbeus, and Amos.

Given the DNA evidence that William belonged to the Providence RI Roberts who settled in Duchess Co. New York and from the proximity of Danbury to Sharon, Connecticut, I suspect that William was son to Nathaniel and am seeking DNA evidence to confirm or deny.