Yes, DNA can disprove a match even though the last name is the same. When
the Jefferson-Hemings DNA testing was being conducted there was a Jefferson
in New England that did not match the Virginia Jeffersons. DNA can be very
helpful when GOOD family genealogy is considered. We can see that in the
Jefferson-Hemings instance a KNOWN carrier of both Jefferson and Hemings DNA
(John Weeks Jefferson),was tested and I advised Dr Foster to so inform
Nature....he REFUSED, thus a false headline. The Eston family always claimed
"a Jefferson uncle" (Randolph) was their ancestor, NOT THOMAS.

Herb Barger
Founder, Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society (www.tjheritage.org).     

-----Original Message-----
From: Research and writing about Virginia genealogy and family history.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of KAREN DALE
Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 4:08 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VA-ROOTS] Bill Davidson's comment on DNA

DNA testing is hardly a cure all--I now have Mason six brick walls instead
of the one I started with.

But it has done a remarkable job of correcting errors in connection made by
earlier researchers who tended to attach people to the nearest person by the
same surname.

I am a researcher of Masons in colonial Virginia. These families have been
hopelessly scrambled by researchers of previous generations, connections
based mostly on proximity. But through DNA we have begun to realize that
those connections are simply incorrect. More importantly, we have begun to
realize just how many DIFFERENT Mason families lived in colonial Virginia.
Sometimes we are finding there are as many as two or three Mason families in
a single county--yet in the past family historians have assumed--and tried
to force--a connection, mostly based on name alone. 

A major mystery DNA has revealed is a Gerard Alexander Mason who married in
Effingham GA 1818 (of record) and had one son. His descendants, based on the
name alone, tied him to the Gunston Hall Masons.  George Mason had a
grandson named Gerard Alexander Mason. This connection has been in Gunston
Hall files for years.  DNA says no--and connected him to my Mason families
in Stafford and Culpeper, so I started to dig. Did not take me long to
discover the document (his widow's will) in GA that said he was deceased by
1824 (the PW Gerard Alexander died 1849) and "of North Carolina."  The
Gerard Alexander of the Gunston Hall line never left Prince William Co.
Moreover, he was too young to be the father of the Effingham Mason, and he
left a will in PW which named his brother and a nephew--no son in GA. 

It seems very clear to me (and to DNA!) that we are dealing with two
completely different Gerard Alexander Masons--yet every time I post anything
about the one in GA someone sends me the Gunston Hall files!  

Several other Masons in our DNA group have also been attached to the wrong
father. Once DNA reveals a discrepancy, new research begins---and we
discover the smoking guns that earlier researchers missed. 

To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html

To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html