The Hutterites, as a group, perhaps have the best-known genealogy for its members of any group of an equal size. Of the 35,000 to 45,000 members today, they can all trace their ancestry to fewer than 90 ancestors who lived in the early 1700s to early 1800s. For the present, any relationships among these 90 ancestors are unknown but they probably existed.
Some people believe that no two Hutterites are more remotely related than fifth or sixth cousins. The average index of relatedness is about one and a half cousins. Even if it appears, on the surface, that two people are no more closely related than fourth cousins, they are probably nearer to first or second cousins. This comes about because if two people are fourth cousins by eight different paths, then this is equivalent, I think, to about a first cousin relationship. Or stated differently, the traditional ways of measuring relatedness are not adequate.
Some say the colonies of Hutterites in South Dakota are descendants of no more than 64 ancestors. If one had true diversity, then three centuries ago one would have 512 ancestors (33 years per generation). If this person married, the spouse would come close to having a different set of 512 ancestors (a few duplications would probably exist). Any two Hutterites today have far fewer names in their individual ancestry, and are very likely to share many of these ancestors.
Geneticists have been drawn to the Hutterites because they all live almost the same life under well known conditions. No alcohol, no tobacco. Relatively clean environment on the prairies. Asthma studies have been conducted to see if genetics is important. Six known cases of multiple sclerosis in Hutterites have common ancestors in 1723, which suggests an inheritable disease.
A few snippets from web pages about the Hutterites:
Because of their isolated and self-dependent communal life, Hutterites are perhaps the most genetically homogeneous group of persons in North America. Almost all Hutterites derive from a list of about two dozen surnames, including:
Wurz Knels Decker Waldner Walter Wollman Miller Glanzer Hofer Stahl Wipf Enz Gross Kleinsasser Mandel Pullman Tschetter There is an unusual mix of medical traits that seems to be unique to the Hutterites. Medical evidence suggests a higher incidence of some genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis. Thus, Hutterite populations are being studied by geneticists and medical teams. They are seeking the genetic markers for these and other genetic diseases. They also are interested in determining the genetic basis for the unusual immune system resistence the Hutterite population has to certain infectious diseases like chicken pox. In designing their experiments and conducting their tests, geneticists depend upon detailed Hutterite genealogy to select and link all their donors to a common ancestor.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.