
The FGC14605 SNP occurred around 1200 years ago. Perhaps this group will never be able to find a common ancestor that lived as far back as the 8th Century, but it is very possible that we can find a common ancestor who lived in the 13th Century. One of our goals is to determine if Shabtai Klonimus b. ca 1285 in Italy is the patriarch of many of our members.
Shabtai Klonimus of Italy had a son Kalonimus who moved to Speyer,and his offspring took the surname SPIRA. So it’s quite interesting that a large number of the males in this haplogroup have the surname SPIRA or some variation like SHAPIRO or SPIER! Additionally, quite a few of both SPIRA & SPIER have an oral history that they came from Spain. Kalonymus of Speyer had a son Rabbi Samuel SPIRA who married into the famous TREVES family of France and they also spent many years in Spain. It’s very likely that his family returned to Germany after the Spanish troubles in the late 14th Century. At any rate, his son Rabbi Shlomo lived in Landau an der Pfalz, Rheinland. So not only does this fit with the oral history of some of the men in this group, but it is very apparent that there are several men in this group of Spanish origins. This suggests that there are branches that fled Spain to the new world to escape religious persecution.
So how can we validate this story though DNA and recreate the Spira family tree? This really is possible, and thanks to the six men who have already done Big Y, the history and the DNA are starting to align. (with my thanks to Janet Akaha ... LR)