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Hi, Stephne. Since I'm a descendant of Josian and was the person to whom Larry Churchill's message was addressed, I'll reply to two of your postings.
The internet is of course recent. Therefore, the information on it comes from some more traditional source and is only as good as that source. When what's on the internet is the text of an old document or extracted from an old document and is properly identified, it can be extremely useful. When it's a family posting of the sort you're citing here, the information is unverified when no source is shown and must be treated with great caution.
Josiah was the immigrant ancestor of what are known as the Connecticut Churchills. Nothing is known about him prior to his marriage in Wethersfield, Connecticut, in 1638. You will find in various places, including postings to the Mormon (LDS)data base, a variety of dates for his birth and immigration. None of them have any credibility. We simply do not know when, where, and to whom he was born in England. Speculation as to what his parentage might be is sometimes passed on as fact and takes on a life of its own, but the reality is that to date there is no historical record that provides any of this information.
The Y-DNA testing program has established that Josiah was closely related to John Churchill who immigrated to Plymouth, Massachusetts. Bill Churchill, who regularly posts on this forum, is the appropriate person to answer your question about Y-DNA testing. Bill has made considerable progress in identifying the likely parentage of John Churchill, and we are hoping that Y-DNA testing of Englishmen will further clarify the origins of both John and Josiah. The probability is that both were Dorset Churchills but, particularly for Josiah, that remains to be established.
With respect to my comments above about the unreliability of family postings, I would simply note that the family genealogy you have referenced shows Josiah with daughters Hannah and Ann. Research many years ago in Connecticut historical materials by a cousin of mine established beyond question that Hannah and Ann were in fact one and the same person. "Churchill Family in America" erred in concluding that these were two separate daughters. The problem with the family posting is not that they understandably repeated this error from a reputable source but that their sources are not provided. Without knowing where information comes from, one cannot evaluate its reliability.
Generally speaking, "Churchill Family in America" is the proper starting point for information on the three northern Churchill families in America. Information which differs from it then needs to be documented and verified. An example of that is Josiah's birth date (which most definitely does not appear in "Churchill Family in America"). Of course, none of the American information is going to help you with a South African lineage that presumably went directly from England to South Africa.
The Richard Churchill that Larry Churchill was referring to in his message 2258 was an English Churchill in an entirely different line, the Oxfordshire Churchills who in America became the Virginia Churchills. I believe from skimming through the family posting that you provided that it consists entirely of descendants of Josiah Churchill. Therefore, the Richard Churchill that you found there would not be the same Richard Churchill that Larry was referring to.
I believe that Y-DNA testing could provide you with some useful information, though as I said, I'll leave that to Bill to discuss. However, Y-DNA is passed down only from father to son, so for Y-DNA testing you'll need a male relative bearing the Churchill surname.
You've got quite a challenge. Good luck.
Malcolm
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