Howery and Howry Families Linked by DNA Study

by Dick Eastman, Dick Eastman Online (Dec. 6, 2000).

I believe DNA testing will revolutionize genealogy research. Another example appeared this week. Fred Haury wrote the following:

DNA Y-Tests Link Hauri Families

Hauri genealogists used DNA Y tests to identify and link members of a large Y-linked (coined term) family. The Y-linked Hauri family consists of the Howery and Howry families of Virginia and Pennsylvania, plus the Froschauerhof, Bavaria Haury family. The specific branch links have not been identified by other records/methods.

In October 2000, Frederick Haury (fredhaury@juno.com) and Justin Howery (justin@howery.net) submitted DNA Y test samples (to Family Tree DNA, 1919 North Loop West, Suite 685, Houston TX 77008) for analysis and comparison. On 15 November, Bennett Greenspan (bcg@usernet.com), President of FamilyTreeDna.com, notified them by e-mail: that they matched perfectly for all 12 sites on the Y chromosome, as compared by the lab. This represents a 99.9 percent probability that they share a common paternal ancestor, without any “non-paternal events” (scientific euphemism for adoptions or marital infidelities) in their paternal ancestry.

In 1711, religious/political refugee ancestors of Mennonite Jakob Haury’s (1718 Hamm, Bavaria-1789 Froshauerhof, Bavaria) Hauri branch migrated to Bavaria from Switzerland, with subsequent migrations to USA in 1800s. Justin’s branch departed Switzerland around 1700 and continued to Pennsylvania. A joint theory assumes a “Most Recent Common Ancestor” (MRCA) existed in Switzerland prior to the 1700 families exodus. The DNA Y-test match supports the theory, without proof thereof. The MRCA lived within the past 800 years, the probable time frame when a common ancestor selected the Hauri surname. This time frame also agrees with the Staatsarchiv des Kantons Aargau proposal that: “There is only one Hauri family, that originated in Beromuenster about 1400 (perhaps coming from Interlaken), and spread throughout Switzerland and southern Germany”. The theory does not imply that all HAURIs descended from a single family, but includes those identified by DNA Y tests and/or genealogy records.

Other Hauri men are encouraged and invited to submit DNA Y-samples for testing and comparison. Test results are solicited from French, German, Scott, and other national sound alike surnames such as: Hauri; Howrie; Howry; etc. which may document if surnames are Y-linked or resulted from separate individual surname selections. Tests may reveal differences of genealogical significance, and help identify and combine various Hauri family branches.

Test results for living members of other Beromuenster families could be significant. Some Beromuenster families may have common paternal ancestry with Y-linked HAURIs, but have other surnames. DNA tests may expand the ancestor tree, plus add information on arbitrary surname selection by ancestors.

How else can DNA tests be useful to genealogists?

HAURI sound alike surnamed individuals, plus others with an interest in, or having related information, may subscribe to the HOWERY@RootsWeb  mailing list. They also may contact Justin Howery at justin@howery.net or Fred Haury at fredhauy@juno.com.

Fred’s MRCA could be Jakob Haury’s (1718-1789) grandfather, making Fred an 8th generation descendant.

Bavaria Mennonite Jakob Haury’s family descendants are on GEDCOM files at

  • https://web.archive.org/web/20211001022948/https://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/ with related data on
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20050212093227/http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com:80/~fredhaury/ and
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20070628151650/http://freepages.family.rootsweb.com/~fredhaury/

Note: Fred Haury died in 2006. His data at RootsWeb has been removed.

Author: Justin Durand

Retired attorney. Genealogist. Ethnic Mormon. Moving Left. He/Him. My husband and I own Shining Lotus Bookstore in Denver.