HELTON HERITAGE

The Hilton and Helton names can be traced back to the Hylton name.  The Conrad Hilton ancestors immigrated from Norway and the name there can be traced back to the Vikings.  In general, the Helton's usually trace back to England and the Hiltons trace back to Norway.  However, US Census record transcribers often change the names from Hilton to Helton to Hilton for the same person on successive Cenus'.

See AncestryUK.com (http://www.ancestryuk.com/HyltonVikings.htm) for more information and a newsletter (http://www.ancestryuk.com/HyltonFHSNews1.htm).  Hylton Castle in England was built around 1400.  The AncestryUK.com site has a wealth of information to read.  It describes the Hylton/Helton/Hilton name as follows:

The original spelling of the family name is believed to be Hyltun, meaning "an enclosure on a hill" - "Hyl" meaning a hill and the word "tun" used originally to describe a fence, then an enclosure, a farm, and eventually it evolved into the word "town".

The earliest written record of the Helton/Hylton/Hilton name that survives occurs on a charter between Alexander de Helton and Bishop Hugh who made a convention with the Prior of Durham, England, relative to the chapel of Hylton, where Hylton Castle now stands in 1172 A.D.

With the invasion of England by William the Conqueror in 1066, the French language became the spoken and written language of the aristocracy and landed gentry. "Hyl" became "Hel" and "Tun" became "Ton"  i.e."Hyltun" was spelt "Helton". Latin remained the written and spoken language of the church.

When King Richard II, the last of the Plantaganet kings was deposed in 1399 and King Henry IV (house of Lancaster and a cadet branch of the Plantaganet family) was crowned, his coronation ceremony was conducted in English for the first time. English became  acknowledged as the written and spoken language of the country.

 "Helton" became "Hylton".

The letter "y" was used instead of "i" until the beginning of the 17th century when Hylton started to be spelt "Hilton".

In the early days, the name was recorded by someone who could write, normally the local preacher, who often wrote down what he heard, and two branches of the same family are recorded as both Hylton and Hilton

Some branches of the family retained the "Helton" spelling, some the "Hylton" spelling and some adopted the "Hilton" spelling. All three spellings of the name can be seen on legal documents of the same family

DNA EXPLAINED

John Blair has an excellent explanation of the DNA process on his Blair Surname Project.  Basically there are 43 DNA Markers which are passed from father to son and remain the same generation to generation with an occasional mutation.  This is why only males can do this test.   All Y-DNA tests allow you to identify your ethnic and geographic origins (Haplogroup), both recent and far distant on your direct male descending line. Among others, you will be able to check your Native-American or African Ancestry as well as for the Cohanim Ancestry.  A description of Haplogroups follows this section.

A wonderful set of videos describing DNA testing and how it can help you in your genealogy research is provided on the Family Tree DNA website at http://www.familytreedna.com/videoaudio.html. 

FTDNA also has an explanation of the genetic distances (when the markers are different) and what it means at http://www.familytreedna.com/gdrules_12.html.   Basically out of 25 markers tested, if you mismatch on:

0 markers – you are related

1 marker – you are related

2 markers – you are probably related

3 markers – you are probably not related, but more tests need to be done

4. markers – you are not related but it is vaguely possible.

5 markers – you are not related but possibly shared an ancestor over 2000 years ago.

6 markers – you are not related but possibly shared an ancestor over 5000 years ago.

7 (or more) markers – you are not possibly related.

WHATS A HAPLOGROUP?

FTDNA Y-DNA tests allow you to identify your ethnic and geographic origins (Haplogroups), both recent and far distant. Among other features, this test will also be able to indicate your Native-American Ancestry and which of the 5 major groups that settled in the Americans you are most likely to be descended from.  It can also describe African Ancestry as well as other ethnic origins. 

Y-DNA Haplogroup Descriptions:

The following Haplogroup Descriptions are from the FamilyTreeDNA.com website which was the testing company used to determine the nearest Haplogroup assigment based on the individual's haplotype results from the Y-DNA test. These verbatim Haplogroup Descriptions and/or excerpts are copyrighted by FamilyTreeDNA.com and all rights to these descriptions are claimed by FamilyTreeDNA.com. These descriptions have been printed here with the permission of FamilyTreeDNA.com. These descriptions cannot be used elsewhere without the written permission of FamilyTreeDNA.com.

Please note that people in different Haplogroups cannot be related within many thousands of years, and that each male test result provides a prediction of the Haplogroup currently about 90% of the time. If your Y-DNA matches suggest that you belong, for example, to Haplogroup R1b, you may confirm that by ordering a Y-DNA SNP test for the R1b clade.

In general the following rule of thumb may be used: R1b = Western Europe, R1a = Eastern Europe, I = Nordic, J2 = Semitic, E3b = Semitic, Q3 = Native American.

Haplogroup B is one of the oldest Y-chromosome lineages in humans.

Haplogroup B is found exclusively in Africa. This lineage was the first to disperse around Africa. There is current archaeological evidence supporting a major population expansion in Africa approximately 90-130 thousand years ago. It has been proposed that this event may have spread Haplogroup B throughout Africa. Haplogroup B appears at low frequency all around Africa, but is at its highest frequency in Pygmy populations.

Haplogroup C is found throughout mainland Asia, the south Pacific, and at low frequency in Native American populations. Haplogroup C originated in southern Asia and spread in all directions. This lineage colonized New Guinea, Australia, and north Asia, and currently is found with its highest diversity in populations of India.

Haplogroup C3 is believed to have originated in southeast or central Asia. This lineage then spread into northern Asia, and then into the Americas.

Haplogroup D2 most likely derived from the D lineage in Japan. It is completely restricted to Japan, and is a very diverse lineage within the aboriginal Japanese and in the Japanese population around Okinawa.

Haplogroup E3a is an Africa lineage. It is currently hypothesized that this haplogroup dispersed south from northern Africa within the last 3,000 years, by the Bantu agricultural expansion. E3a is also the most common lineage among African Americans.

Haplogroup E3b is believed to have evolved in the Middle East. It expanded into the Mediterranean during the Pleistocene Neolithic expansion. It is currently distributed around the Mediterranean, southern Europe, and in north and east Africa.

Haplogroup G may have originated in India or Pakistan, and has dispersed into central Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. The G2 branch of this lineage (containing the P15 mutation) is found most often in Europe and the Middle East.

Haplogroup H is nearly completely restricted to India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.

Haplogroups I, I1, and I1a are nearly completely restricted to northwestern Europe. These would most likely have been common within Viking populations. One lineage of this group extends down into central Europe.

Haplogroup I1b was derived within Viking/Scandinavian populations in northwest Europe and has since spread down into southern Europe where it is present at low frequencies.

Haplogroup J is found at highest frequencies in Middle Eastern and north African populations where it most likely evolved. This marker has been carried by Middle Eastern traders into Europe, central Asia, India, and Pakistan.

Haplogroup J2 originated in the northern portion of the Fertile Crescent where it later spread throughout central Asia, the Mediterranean, and south into India. As with other populations with Mediterranean ancestry this lineage is found within Jewish populations. The Cohen modal lineage is found in Haplogroup J2.

Haplogroup Q is the lineage that links Asia and the Americas. This lineage is found in North and Central Asian populations as well as native Americans. This lineage is believed to have originated in Central Asia and migrated through the Altai/Baikal region of northern Eurasia into the Americas.

Haplogroup Q3 is the only lineage strictly associated with native American populations. This haplogroup is defined by the presence of the M3 mutation (also known as SY103). This mutation occurred on the Q lineage 8-12 thousand years ago as the migration into the Americas was underway. There is some debate as to on which side of the Bering Strait this mutation occurred, but it definitely happened in the ancestors of the Native American peoples.

Haplogroup R1a is believed to have originated in the Eurasian Steppes north of the Black and Caspian Seas. This lineage is believed to have originated in a population of the Kurgan culture, known for the domestication of the horse (approximately 3000 B.C.E.). These people were also believed to be the first speakers of the Indo-European language group. This lineage is currently found in central and western Asia, India, and in Slavic populations of Eastern Europe.

Haplogroup R1b is the most common Haplogroup in European populations. It is believed to have expanded throughout Europe as humans re-colonized after the last glacial maximum 10-12 thousand years ago. This lineage is also the haplogroup containing the Atlantic modal haplotype (HG1).

WHERE WE ARE TODAY

Please join!!  We are trying to find someone from the following lines and would love to add your line to the list:

1. Peter Helton I, b. 1686 and d. bef. Sep 20, 1757 in Orange County, North Carolina.  He married Hannah Hawkins in 1717.  Her father was James Hawkins.
2. John Helton, b. 1710, Halifax County Virginia USA and d. Halifax County, Virginia USA.  His wife’s name is not known but it is believed she was b. 1715 and d. Halifax County Virginia USA.  They had 13 children.  Their grandson Arnold (son of Abraham) moved to Indiana and founded Heltonville, Indiana.
3. Halvor Nilsen Hilton (b. on the Hilton farm near Klofta in Ulsensaker, Norway. (Grandfather of Conrad Hilton of Hotel fame.)