I must second Bill's advice about DNA testing. I had my nephew DNA
tested. After being in a Hall program family and lots of 12 and 37
marker matches with no recent connections, a new family entry solved my
30 or more years search. Although I was 90% sure my ancestor originated
in Gloucester Co., Va., the new entry proved it and connected me to the
original immigrant from England. I still have gaps in the line, but I
now know about Thomas Hall and that completes my search. Now I just idly
look at lists, not seriously. The days of haunting the library are over.
On 3/14/2011 12:06 PM, Bill Davidson wrote:
> While it is only part of the solution, I wish that more people would
> have a man....with the surname of interest....take the DNA test. DNA
> has already shown that some "approved" DAR lineages are "flat wrong,"
> and many such other "myths" have also been "busted" by this
> technology. It is not an "end all/be all answer," but to not take
> advantage of it, where such a male with the correct surname can be
> found, is a huge omission in most cases. It amazes me that people
> will spend thousand of hours (and who knows how much money?)
> researching in courthouses and libraries (and Ancestry.com) for years
> and years, but they won't spend a few minutes and $150 for a 37 marker
> DNA test.
>
> My own DNA test confirmed that my Davidson family in Cumberland Co.,
> VA was part of the same Davidson family as the one in Buckingham Co.,
> VA....and that helped me to "trace" the overall family back to James
> City Co., VA by at least the 1680s. I also learned that I have a
> "Viking heritage" versus the more common "Celtic heritage" for my
> surname. I never could find anything in "conventional documentation"
> that proved a "connection" between the families in those two counties
> in VA.
>
> My mother's family had even more interesting results. Her male cousin
> with the surname of "Brown" took the DNA test, and we found that he
> was actually a "blood Smith" versus a "blood Brown." Since my
> maternal gg-grandfather was named Smith W. Brown, I guess that we
> should not have been too surprised by that result....but nothing other
> than the DNA test would have ever shown this. My "biological maternal
> Smith family" has been in VA since at least the 1650s, and I am proud
> to be a member of that family (and I am happy to finally know the
> truth....that only DNA testing could have provided).
>
> In closing, when I get frustrated with all of the bad data that is
> "out there," I remind myself that it is "just genealogy." Compared to
> what is going on in the world these days (like in Japan), trying to
> prove who my gggggggg-grandfather was seems far less critical.
>
> Bill Davidson
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