from The Mennonite, July 2011

DNA connects Swiss, Puerto Rican Mennonites
By Darvin L. Martin

Puerto Rico is among the last places one would expect to find ancient relatives of the Swiss-German Martin family of Lancaster, Pa. Yet a recent analysis of Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society director Rolando Santiago’s DNA unlocked a secret.

As I compared my DNA to that of every staff member of the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society, it was Rolando who matched me the most closely. My Swiss Martin ancestry and Rolando’s Puerto Rican Santiago ancestry ultimately originate within the same “tribe.”

While DNA testing often reveals unforeseen family connections that may be difficult to comprehend, research into the political and geographic history of ancient Europe gives us significant clues as to how and why my connection with Rolando is possible.

According to family tradition, Rolando’s ancestry derives from Galicia, the Spanish province in the northwestern portion of Spain. His family name is a tribute to the Way of St. James, the ninth century Catholic pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in central Galicia and the supposed site of St. James’ burial. His ancestors probably settled in Puerto Rico between 1508 and 1528, during a period of Spanish colonization initiated by gold seekers—mainly single men who married native (Taíno) women.

The Mennonite Martin family points to the Emmental village of Eriswil, located in the eastern part of Canton Bern in an area known for a strong Anabaptist presence in the late 1500s and through the 1600s. The surname Martin derives from St. Martin of Tours (316-397), an early Catholic bishop who was revered by many in modern-day France and western Switzerland. Within the Emmental, the surname Martin probably came into common use through the church at Kirchberg, west of Eriswil, which was dedicated to St. Martin as early as 1208.

Why are the Santiago families of Spanish Galicia related to the Martin families of the Swiss Emmental? As a first clue, the Spanish dialect spoken today in Galicia has both Celtic and Germanic influences. Roman history reveals that a portion of the Germanic tribe known as the Suebi migrated from the regions north of Lake Constance in Germany to the Roman province of Galicia between 406 and 409 A.D.

Rolando’s paternal ancestor was likely among the people who took part in this mass migration. During the Roman era, my Martin ancestors also lived in the region north of Lake Constance and made up a portion of the population of the Kingdom of Swabia—a name derived from the Suebi.

The ancestors of these Santiago and Martin families were part of the Suebi tribe prior to the mass migration to Galicia in 406. The ancestors of the Martins remained behind and probably lived for several centuries north of Lake Constance as part of the Kingdom of Swabia before moving south and west into modern Canton Zurich, and then eventually into the Emmental, around 760 years ago.

These movements can be traced nearly perfectly within the political history of the time. Through marriage, the feudal Kyburg lands near Winterthur were passed on to the Swabian counts of Dillingen in 1078. This allowed migration from Swabia into modern Switzerland. The Kyburgs continued as vassals of the Duke of Swabia and expanded their holdings to the south and west. By 1250, they founded the town of Huttwil, only five kilometers north of Eriswil, where the paper trail of the Martins begin.

By the time my Martin ancestors were converting to Anabaptism, Rolando’s paternal ancestry had already moved to Puerto Rico.

The Swiss Yoder and Zimmerman families also relate very closely to the Martins and share this same ancestral profile with Rolando Santiago’s ancestry. One can think of these families each as branches on the same tree. The Martin, Yoder and Zimmerman families form a tight cluster, sharing a common ancestor as recently as 700 years ago and probably all diverge from one man who helped expand the Kyburgs into the Emmental.

It is only after tracing back further than this that Hispanic lines begin to converge with the same cluster. And Rolando’s family is not the first. The Galarza family from Mexico and the Cavalcanti family from Brazil who both have Galician ancestry begin to connect to this same subset of the Swabian families immediately prior to 406 A.D. While part of the same tribe, Rolando’s parental ancestry converges to these others at a much earlier date—perhaps as early as 4,000 years ago, when the proto-Suebi were living further to the north in modern eastern Germany.

This is but one of countless examples how DNA connects families across time zones, cultures, religions and ethnic barriers in surprising and complex ways. We are far closer to those who are very different from us than anyone would have guessed prior to the knowledge of one’s deep ancestry—made possible through studying DNA.

This article originally ran in Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society’s June 2011 issue of The Mirror.