In genealogy research, oral family traditions have more than just a grain of truth in them and quite often will point in the direction of historical truth ahead of the more traditional “paper” evidence. A notable example of this was the case of the descendants of Thomas Jefferson’s slave, Sally Hemmings. The Hemmings family for centuries have maintained that Thomas Jefferson himself is the father of her children and by extension, they too were descendants of the 2nd president.
The claim was hotly contested by the more traditional Jefferson descendants while the Hemming family remained firm in their oral tradition even in the face of intense opposition. Finally, DNA evidence was discovered that supported the Hemming’s family claim as Jefferson descendants. The Hemming’s oral tradition is now accepted as true.
A similar situation exists with the North American descendants of Francois Joseph Savoie. Many of his descendants found in Canada, New England and Louisiana have long claimed in for centuries that Francois Savoie was the son of Tommaso Francesco Francois Savoia di Carignano (di Savoia), Prince of Carignano, an Italian Prince of the House of Savoie of Turin Italy. For simplicity, he will be referred to as Tomaso. Tomaso’s father was Charles Emanual, Duke of Savoy, his mother was Princes Catherine, the daughter of King Phillip II of Spain. Through both his parents Tomaso has ancestors from the House of Savoie, the French Royal houses and the famed Medici family.
Although Francios Savoie’s descendants have stood by their oral family tradition, the story has it’s detractors who cast doubt on the story asking “where is the paper trail”. So far, no one has found any baptismal records stating that Tomaso is Francois’ father and it’s unlikely that any have survived the four hundred years since his birth. Can DNA evidence prove the claim that the north American Savoie’s are from the House of Savoy from Turin Italy? DNA tests taken from Fancois Savoie descendants with strong signals of Spanish, French and Italian are consistent with the assumption that Francis Savoie is the son of Tomaso. On a side note, many Savoie males also have a weak signal of East Asian ancestry. As compelling as the DNA results are, they are not the smoking gun. What is needed is a DNA sample that would serve as a “rosetta stone” bridging the North American Savoies to the European House of Savoy.
That rosetta stone may have been found in a Mr. Bill Gabunia Debuque. Bill, as he will be referred to, is only about three percent European. His European ancestry DNA is from Spain, Portugal and Italy. His European ancestors come from the House of Savoy from a generation before Tomaso. It is his only European link. What Bill has discovered, and this is the key, is that he matches the DNA sample from three of my mom’s sibling, who are Savoies through their father. I will refer to them as the 3 Savoies.
As Bill explains: “The extrapolated MRCA of the average match size on the 3 Savoies is exactly 17 (8.5/3.4x6.8) and not 16.8 as initially calculated. The individual extrapolated MRCA of the 3 Savoies would be as follows: Savoie A (3.0 cM) = 19.3 MRCA, Savoie B (3.3 cM) = 17.5 MRCA, Savoie C (3.9 cM) = 14.8 MRCA. My paper MRCA of 15 with Charles Emmanuel I and 16 with Felipe II fall exactly within this range.”
This match to Bill has been found only among Savoie descendants and not among other French Canadians.
Bill further explains: “The extrapolated MRCAs are now within or very near the estimated paper MRCA ranges (not more than 16 for me; not more than 13 for the Comeau and Boucher descendants). This strongly supports the possibility that these Acadian descendants have a common Acadian ancestor who descended from the Habsburgs and/or the Bourbons. And currently, the Acadian who has the most well-supported claim for the same is Francois Savoie, who is supposed to be a grandson of Felipe II's daughter.”
And Bill’s conclusion: “I have a 6.8 MRCA autosomal match with a Comeau descendant at Gedmatch. And I have no other known possible connection with Acadian descendants other than through the Savoies. I am both a Bourbon and Savoy descendant through the Ponce De Leons who got exiled to the Philippines. So I am inclined to believe that Francois is also a blood descendant of both the House of Bourbon and the House of Savoy.”
Bill has no ancestors from North America, they only way this DNA match to the 3 Savoies is if they share a common House of Savoy ancestor and the only way that could be possible is if Francois Savoie is the son of Tomaso. Add this evidence to the strong and persistent centuries old family tradition and it becomes beyond reasonable doubt that Francois Joseph Savoie is the son of Tomaso.
Now I know this conclusion will still have its detractors, even now the Hemming’s family has faced a few hardline hold outs to their claim of Jefferson ancestry. However, there is no such thing as 100% certainty in genealogical research! Like a good detective, you build a case from ALL the evidence and accept the most likely and the simplest conclusion. In the mystery of Francios Joseph Savoie, the strong evidence is that he is the son of Tomaso.
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