User:LindaMac/DNA immigrants

Y-DNA RESEARCH PROJECTS for EARLY NEW ENGLAND IMMIGRANTS Compiled by Linda MacLachlan

For years the New England Ancestors magazine has been publishing monthly stories describing how DNA testing is being used to pierce genealogical brick walls and monthly announcements of various DNA research projects. DNA research is particularly important to colonial New England genealogy because these paternal lines have been in America for ten to fifteen generations and therefore tend to have a very large number of direct paternal descendants who can both participate in the research and benefit from the results.

One surname project after another is approaching a firm identification of the Y-DNA markers of a man who is known to have immigrated to New England before 1700. With such identification established, persons with that surname will be able to fairly easily determine whether or not they are part of the family blood line of that immigrant.&lt;ref&gt; DNA testing alone generally cannot establish actual descent from that individual, as opposed to his brother, uncle, or nephew, or – for that matter – from more distant members of the family who never immigrated at all. See, e.g., William Howard, DNA Y-Chromosome Testing and Reporting, submitted herewith for online publication @NewEnglandancestors.org. Traditional genealogical research will always be necessary, too. In this compilation, the term “other” is given to YDNA samples whose genealogical connection to the immigrant ancestor is not clear online.&lt;ref&gt; Such identifications can also be used to link immigrants &lt;ref&gt;For example, the Eaton DNA Project has recently proved that William and Jonas Eaton of Reading, MA (who have been merely presumed to be either brothers or father and son) and John Eaton of Dedham, MA are genetically indistinguishable. See Douglas MacMillan, DNA Evidence Rewrites History: Seven Eaton Lineages Become Five, http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/eaton/pats, downloaded 21 Sep 2008.&lt;ref&gt; and explore an immigrant’s European origins.

To enhance and accelerate this new research process, paternal-line descendants of all early New England immigrants are encouraged to contribute samples of their Y-DNA for testing. &lt;ref&gt;Each surname project here listed will have its own recommendations concerning the particular DNA testing company to be used and the number of markers for testing. This article takes no position on this subject, except to note that all commercial companies are competent.and that results can also be obtained without charge from a research project such as smgf.org if one is willing to wait a year or more.&lt;ref&gt;

Of course, virtually all surname projects for early New England surnames also include the test results of many men who have no relationship whatsoever to colonial New England. Indeed, many surname projects are managed by individuals quite unfamiliar with New England genealogical resources and only coincidentally include New England immigrants with that surname. NEHGS members are encouraged to review the genealogical information posted by the Surname Projects of all their New England ancestors and contact the project directly with suggestions, additions and/or corrections to whatever New England genealogy they present.

This list seeks to compile all early New England immigrants whose descendants have submitted their Y-DNA for testing to identify their paternal line heritage, and maintain up-to-date hyperlinks to their respective surname projects. If you are aware of additional New England immigrants whose Y-DNA is the subject of research reported online, please submit the information requisite for posting &lt;ref&gt;Columns one and two are the name of the immigrant, using the spelling that is conventionally recognized today. Columns two and three are the date and place of first settlement in America. For pre-1636 immigrants, these represent the determinations of the Great Migration Study Project. See Linda MacLachlan, Pre-1636 New England Immigrants: a Comprehensive List, www.newenglandances tors.org/pdfs/gmb_gm_Aug08.pdf, downloaded 12 Sep 2008. For later immigrants, they are represent the determinations of James Savage, A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England before 1692, http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/newengland/savage, or documentation on the website itself. Where an immigrant is commonly associated with a subsequent resettlement, that place is also included. Column five names the son of the immigrant whose line is purportedly represented and the number of such samples tested. “Other” means that the sample has not been genealogically connected to any particular son of the immigrant and/or that the connection to the immigrant’s line may predate his immigration. Column six is a hyperlink to the website of the surname project researching that immigrant, and Column seven is the email address of a contact involved with the research project.&lt;ref&gt; to Linda MacLachlan at ggrandmac@cox.net.