Welcome to the Thomas R. Noe DNA project! The objective of this research is to use DNA and genealogical records to determine the biological parents of Thomas R. Noe, who was born on 6 July 1845 in Marion, now Lamar County, Alabama. Thomas died on 22 December 1892 in Pine Springs, Lamar County, Alabama. The purported parents of Thomas are Robert Dugan Noe and Mary Shankle. Robert Dugan Noe died prior to 1850, and Mary Shankle supposedly remarried James Tate.
We are looking for descendants of Thomas R. Noe, Robert Dugan Noe, and Mary Shankle, who are willing to share their DNA results to help validate if Robert Noe and Mary Shankle are really Thomas’s biological parents.
Known Tree
The following is the known tree for Robert Dugan Noe and Mary Shankle. Note that descendants from either of Mary’s proposed marriages will add vital information in the attempt to validate that the parental hypothesis is correct.
Project Progress
The first phase of research produced the following report.
Confirming the Father of Thomas R. Noe
Next Steps
The next step of the DNA research is to locate more of the descendants of Robert, Thomas, and Mary. The additional test takers will test the hypothesis that Mary Shankle was Robert’s first wife and mother of Thomas R. Noe. While the report does indicate that the hypothesis may be correct, there are insufficient test takers to provide genealogical proof of the hypothesis.
Help Needed
If you descend from Robert D. Noe, Mary Shankle, or Thomas Richard Noe and would like to help us with our project, there are a few things you can do:
- If you have already had DNA testing through Ancestry, then you can follow these steps to add us as a viewer to your DNA. As a viewer, we won’t be able to make any changes to your DNA account but will only be able to view your matches to make our needed analyses.
- From any page on Ancestry, click the DNA tab and select Your DNA Results Summary.
- On your DNA homepage, click Settings in the top-right corner.
- On the DNA Settings page, scroll down to the Sharing Preferences section and click “Change” beside DNA Ethnicity and Matches.
- If you’ve never shared your results with the person you’re inviting to view your test, click Add a person and go to the next step. If you’ve shared your results with them before, click their role and change it to Viewer. After changing their role, enter your password and click Assign Role. Skip the rest of the steps below. You’ll receive an email when the person accepts their role as a viewer.
- Enter their email address (jackdnoe@gmail.com), select Viewer, and click Send Invitation. Whether you enter their email address or username, Ancestry sends the invitation by email.
- After acceptance of the invite, you will receive an email to let you know of that acceptance.
- If you have your DNA results on GEDmatch, you can e-mail your kit number to jackdnoe@gmail.com.
- If you have not done your DNA but would like to, you can purchase an Ancestry DNA kit. After purchasing, follow the steps above to add a viewer to your results.
- If you’d like to see if you’re eligible for us to purchase an Ancestry DNA kit for you, you can e-mail us how you descend from Robert D. Noe, Mary Shankle, or Thomas Richard Noe (jackdnoe@gmail.com).
For any questions on the project, please email Diana Elder at Diana@familylocket.com