Burgess DNA Project Update #1
We now have seven participants in the Burgess Surname DNA Project, just in the first month. These represent individuals from three different early Virginia Burgess lines, plus a British line currently resident in Canada. We have commitments from four others to participate, and the real possibility of getting two additional Brits.
The three individuals from my own Burgess family, out of the William and Edward Burgess line of King George Co., VA, have numbers that match almost exactly, even though their closest relationship is seventh cousin, deriving from ancestors born between 1725-45. The testing does indeed work as billed; the genetic relationship established here firms up the genealogical research previously accomplished in these lines, bridging gaps where only circumstantial evidence was available.
We also have results from two apparently nonrelated Virginia Burgess families: Edward Burgess of Pittsylvania Co. and William Burgess of Bedford Co. Both of these are very early lines; some researchers have suggested that the two families are affiliated. The testing in place will prove or disprove this theory once and for all.
Finally, we have one test submitted from a Canadian Burgess who has traced his family back to England circa 1800; and we hope to get two more British samples from the Shetland Island DNA Project currently underway.
If we get just a half dozen new participants monthly for the new year, at the end of that period we will have genetic number markers for each of the 20-30 Burgess families known to have lived in the American colonies prior to 1800--and we will have gone a long way towards making genetic connections with potential relatives in Britain and other points overseas. Some of the early Burgess families in America will undoubtedly turn out to be cousins of each other; but until the tests are done, we won't know which. These connections will have occurred, more than likely, prior to the time the families emigrated to the United States.
The basic DNA test costs $99. It's nonintrusive--there's no blood involved. It's very easy to sign up for the project at www.familytreedna.com. Your Y-chromosome DNA can't be used for any other purpose than to provide number markers for our project; and the markers themselves are meaningless unless compared to markers in other families. Only direct-male descendants named Burgess can participate, since only males possess a Y chromosome. The Y chromosome is passed virtually unchanged from father to son to grandson, for a period exceeding 500 years.
For all of you out there with seemingly intractable genealogical problems involving Burgess lines, this is the only practical way some of these questions will be ever be resolved. I can't promise immediate results or 100% certain answers, but I do know that this new tool gives us for the first time the possibility of going beyond existing records to determine (with absolute certainty) the genetic connections that exist between the major Burgess families, both here and abroad.
Stand forth and be counted, folks! Let's get this project rolling. I'd like nothing better than to determine the origin of my own Burgess family; and I suspect that most of you who are seriously interested in genealogy share that interest.
I will continue to post updates as the project progresses. My intent is to make certain that any real information we discover about all of our Burgess families and their affiliations is distributed as widely as possible. If you have any questions, please contact me through my personal website, www.millefleurs.tv, which I will also be updating periodically.
Prof. Michael Burgess
San Bernardino, California