Rachel (Skaggs) Lester and Mitochondrial DNA

If you go out to the Wikitree genealogical site to Rachel (Skaggs) Lester there is a mitochondrial DNA test result for one of her descendants.  Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) testing is similar to Y-DNA testing, except that the mtDNA is passed only from mother to her children.  Male children have the mtDNA but cannot pass it down to their kids.  Mitochondrial DNA testing is great for answering questions about your female line.

The test result on Wikitree is for a female descendant of the Rachel Skaggs who married William Lester.  The tester has reasonably good documentation back to Rachel, so I think this is an important result for Skaggs researchers.  This test indicates that Rachel Skaggs was I4a mtDNA haplogroup, an Old World haplogroup, so Rachel would NOT have been American Indian on her mother's side.  She could have been on her father's side, however, not likely with the surname Skaggs.  Also remember, her mother was supposedly Ruth (Elkins) Skaggs Bishop.  If so, then Ruth's mtDNA haplogroup was likely I4a since she would have passed it to her daughters (unless a rare mutation occurred).  This is important because now we have a chance to prove Ruth Bishop was born Elkins.  The wife and daughters of Ralph Elkins appear to have been I4a based on this single test result.  Two Elkins sisters married two Pedigo brothers and their lines can be traced to the present.  If we can get mtDNA testers from those Elkins lines and they match the I4a mtDNA haplogroup passed down from Ruth then we can be more confident that Ruth and the two Elkins sisters were either sisters or aunt and nieces.  Either way, Ruth could be demonstrated to have been Elkins through this testing.  If she was not Elkins, the results may also lead us in other directions that we cannot foresee.