Vining Newsletter - February 2005
Dear Vining Researchers,
Thank you for the positive response to newsletter #1. Iām very pleased that so many are sharing their Vining information. There are still a lot of gaps in the Vining Family web site ( http://www.vfthomas.com/Viningfamilies.htm ), but every name, and every date, and every place that we add is one step ahead, and every certified copy of a birth, marriage, or death record, and every image of a census record, and every picture of a gravestone is another step ahead.
JANUARY CONTRIBUTORS to the VINING FAMILY WEB SITE
Thank you to David Vining, Phil Vining, and Tom Oatney for contributing data for the Vining Family web site ( http://www.vfthomas.com/Viningfamilies.htm ). David shared information about his lineage. Phil sent information about 4 generations of Vinings descending from Elias Vining (b. 23 October 1745 in Windsor, CT) including a certified copy of the death certificate of Gaius Vining, one of Eliasās sons. Tom sent a wealth of information about Timothy Birum Vining including census data. All of this information has been posted to the Vining Family web site.
BELATED THANK YOUS
A belated thank you to Ruby Gordon for sending her extremely detailed research report about William Vining ćof Marbleheadä including a certified copy of the certificate of marriage of William Vining and Anna Nichols. This has been posted to the Vining Family web site. Another belated thank you is due to Susan Johnson for sending me a photocopy of the 100-page ćHistorical and Biographical Sketch of the Vining Familyä compiled by Fred Harris and Glenn R. Vining. After reading in the foreword to The Vining Family by Dorothea Barnes that this sketch was printed in 1965 and that only 150 copies were made, I thought I would never see it, but thanks to Susan I now have a copy. Finally, thank you to John Flynn for a 3-page account written by his father, John Vining Flynn, some 40 years ago that told about his (John Vining Flynnās) father, Jackson Clarence Vining (b. 1864). Each document adds another piece to the Vining Family puzzle, and I thank all of you for sending them to me.
CENSUS RECORDS
Four more entries have been added to the 1790 census data for Vining families÷Rosena Vining from Freehold (Albany County) and Jonas ćViningsä from Chemung (Montgomery County), both in NY; Thomas Vining from the Fayette District (Anson County) in North Carolina; and Thomas Vining from the Cheraw District of South Carolina. The web site is http://www.vfthomas.com/Vining1790census.htm . Iām sure there are more 1790 Vining families. Please e-mail me what you know, and I will post it for others to see.
HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY
Today is Groundhog Day, and this morning I saw my shadow, so I guess you know what that means ... 6 more weeks of genealogy. Of course, if I hadnāt seen my shadow, it would also have meant 6 more weeks of genealogy. And then after that 6 weeks, another 6 weeks, and so on. You know how it is. Fortunately, no one has discovered a cure.
THE STRUCTURE OF DNA
Last month we focused on the distribution of DNA in our cells. To review, DNA is found in the nucleus of each cell and in the mitochondria. Nuclear DNA is packaged in 2 sets of 23 chromosomes (only 1 set in reproductive cells). A slight variation occurs in males, in whom the two chromosomes of one of the pairs are not identical to each other. One of them is shorter than the other so when the join together at a point near the middle (of the longer one), they look like the letter Y instead of an X. Chromosomes are more or less linear molecules with distinct ends. Mitochondrial DNA is packaged in circular molecules.
This monthās focus is on the structure of DNA, first the chromosomes of nuclear DNA and then the circular molecules of mitochondrial DNA. Perhaps an extended analogy will be helpful here. Let's say that I want to build a new ladder to replace an old worn-out and unsafe one, not a step ladder but one of those straight ones that lean against the side of a building. I don't have a particularly creative mind, but I am reasonably good a copying things so I lay the old ladder on the ground with the idea of arranging the pieces for the new one next to it. Why is my analogy about a ladder? Because each chromosome of DNA, when it is straightened out and laid flat, is essentially a ladder, complete with two rails and lots of rungs. Returning to the analogy ... rather than carry the ladder to the lumber yard, I measure the length of the two rails and the length of the rungs and note how many rungs there are. Great, I'm all set ... until I get to the lumber yard. There I learn that they are all out of the long pieces that I need for the two rails and that they donāt have the pieces I need for the rungs either. But, the clerk tells me, they do have some shorter pieces that I can put together to make the ladder I want. He assures me that he has one at home that he made from the same material, and it works just fine. I agree to attempt the process and purchase the material he assembles. When I get home I begin to sort the pieces by size, shape, and other details. As I am doing this I notice that each piece has a letter stamped on it. When I finish sorting, I have 6 piles, and all the pieces in a given pile have the same letter stamped on them. Two of the piles have rather stout pieces with a square cross-section, and the other four piles have somewhat smaller pieces with a round cross-section. I figure that the thick, square pieces are for the rails. This makes sense because each piece in one of the two piles (the one with pieces marked with an "S") has a hole drilled in it, just right for inserting one end of a rung. So far, so good. I lay out two rows of these heavy pieces (that have the holes in them), making sure that the hole in a piece of one rail faces the hole in a piece in the other rail so as to accommodate a rung between them. Here, I note two problems. One is that the ladder is going to be very short, and the other is that I still have a pile (in which each piece is marked with a "P") of stout squarish pieces that don't have any holes in them at all. Being a Vining, I am able immediately to determine a course of action. I alternate the two sets of pieces, first one with a hole and then one without a hole to act as a spacer. Now I have the rails all laid out, and they are the right length. Next I have to attack the four remaining piles that will form the rungs. Below is one piece from each of these piles followed by the letter stamped on it:
--------) A --------> G ----( T ----< C
Clearly the two pieces with the > and the < ends will fit into each other as will the two pieces with the ) and the ( ends. So, I put them together as follows:
--------))---- ----<<--------
Aha! The rungs are complete. Now all I have to do is insert them into the rails and do a little more joining and my ladder will be complete. What a process, but it did work, just like the person at the lumber yard said it would. I call the lumber yard and tell the clerk of my success, but ask what the letters stand for. He says he doesnāt know; they were put there by a college student who had worked there during the summer.
Now, back to the DNA and those letters. A molecule of nuclear DNA has the form of a ladder. Its rails are composed of alternating sugars and phosphates (hence, the S and the P stamped on the lumber in the analogy). Recall also that it was the sugar (S) that had the attachment point for the rungs. Each rung of the DNA ladder is composed of exactly two of four possible bases (A=adenine, C=cytosine, G=guanine, T=thymine), where adenine (A) pairs only with thymine (T), and cytosine (C) pairs only with guanine (G). Because of this unique pairing, knowing what one "half" of the ladder looks like allows you to determine what the other "half" looks like. It is the sequence of these bases on a "half-ladder" that constitutes our genetic makeup and determines all of the proteins we produce, whether we are male or female, and even what color our hair is (or used to be!). So thatās it for the basic structure of nuclear DNA. Of course, it is much more complicated than that, but for genealogical purposes, that is all you have to know. The circular molecule of mitochondrial DNA is like a ladder with the two ends of each rail attached. You can picture it as an exercise wheel for a hamster or as a circular layout of train track for a model railroad. I prefer the latter because I can draw it easily on a flat sheet of paper. Please, if you have any questions, e-mail me.
Next time, the topic will be DNA fingerprinting.
OLDEST LIVING VININGS
Last time I suggested that it might be interesting to know who the oldest living Vining man and the oldest living Vining woman is. As I indicated, defining what we mean by a Vining woman can be problematic given how DNA is transmitted. Having received no responses to this topic, though, I am wondering if the problem may be something other than molecular biology. I will ask again, particular relating to the male line. Do you know of a living Vining male who was born earlier than 9 January 1920?
SOLVED MYSTERIES
Sometimes genealogical research means long periods sitting in front of a microfilm reader or reading deeds in a county courthouse. Fighting with mosquitoes in a cemetery is another common pastime. In spite of all this, we keep at it, hoping, just hoping that we will find that date or name that has eluded us for so long. And then, seemingly out of nowhere, we open a book or stop at a cemetery, and there it is, the missing link. Do you have a story like this? I bet you do, and I bet that it will make for interesting reading. Why donāt you take a break someday and write a paragraph or two about your experience. Please send it to me, and I will included it in a future newsletter.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Tom
Thomas F. Vining
V. F. Thomas Co.
Delta Institute of Natural History
219 Dead River Road
Bowdoin, ME 04287
207-266-5748 = 207-BOOKS-4-U
http://www.vfthomas.com