Looking for DNA Participants
Hi, I am one of a group of Copeland researchers who are trying to break through our “brick wall” with DNA testing. For a couple years now, there’s been a Copeland DNA study hosted by Julia French Wood. Results can be seen at
http://www.small-stuff.com/COPELANDhttp://www.small-stuff.com/COPELAND
So far, only one grouping has emerged as related to each other and all the rest, including our own line of James Alexander Copeland (b. 1817 GA, d. 1883, DeKalb Co., AL), do not match any of the other participants. We must await some future participants for a match.
Which is why we’re posting to encourage other Copeland researchers to get involved. The more, the merrier! We are particularly interested in finding a fully documented male Copeland from the Irish line out of Spartanburg, South Carolina, the one that arrived in America just prior to the Revolutionary War. If we can find someone in that line who is willing to be tested, we would help pay for it. But whatever your line, if you are stuck, DNA testing is one possible way to help link up to the right line.
There are different kinds of DNA testing these days for genealogical purposes but the Y-DNA looks at the Y chromosome that fathers pass on to their sons. It changes very little over the generations, with only a few mutations on quick-changing gene markers, so it is very useful for surname studies. Of course, there are limits to DNA genealogy. You still have to do your research as best you can. And a match only tells you that you have a common ancestor, not which particular family you belong to, although sometimes there is a mutation that can act as a marker for different branches of the same family.
Some cautions here: the Y-DNA test can ONLY be taken by a male Copeland. That is, an unbroken line from father to son, with no “nonpaternal incidents” as they call them (adoption, infidelity, rape). Women cannot take the test. You have to be MALE and COPELAND. But others can pay for it. In our case, we had one male Copeland cousin who graciously agreed to be tested while the rest of us paid for his test. Then had another distant cousin take it to verify we had the correct DNA for our Copeland line. (We did. It matched.) Sometimes descendants aren’t aware of “nonpaternal incidents” in the line so it sometimes helps to double check.
Unfortunately it isn’t cheap. The 25-marker Y-DNA test, which most consider the minimum for accuracy, currently costs $169 from www.familytreedna.com, where you can find more information on DNA testing and its application to genealogy. But if you have several researchers who are interested in paying for it, it becomes quite reasonable. We paid about $35/each in our group of distant cousins. (Most of whom have never met each other in person, just through e-mail.)
The test itself doesn’t require any blood. ;-) Just saliva. And the name of the tested person will not appear on the Copeland results page, only his ancestry (no living people). As I said, if you’re a male Copeland from the Spartanburg line, fully documented, we’d be very interested in hearing from you, as some researchers believe this may be our line. And, for the rest of you, I hope you’ll consider adding to this project. Who knows, we may one day be able to call each other cousin!
Mary Kay Coker
[email protected]
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Re: Looking for DNA Participants
James Copeland 1/26/08