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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