Re: DNA testing Can Be Helpful!
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In reply to:
Re: DNA testing Can Be Helpful!
Donald DeWitt 10/11/09
This is my post to Wayne Bates Witt on the Witt Genealogy Forum. It was suggested I should also post on the Dewitt Genealogy Forum.
"It would be helpful the DNA Haplogroups for Witt-Whitt tests from the Family Tree DNA project could be accessed. If the Haplogroups such Haplogroup R or I (this is an "i") were known it would rather quickly let people know if there was any chance of people being related and facilitate further comparison. Knowing the major Haplogroup groupings would facilitate matching modern individuals with PROVEN lineages in the past and help everyone sort through the maze of Witt, Witt, Dewitt, and other variants used by individuals now using the modern surname, Witt. As more and more people are tested we are able to use "probability calculators" that convert specific DNA results into probability of country of origin. Males in our family from the Dewitt-Dewhitt Family Association descended from William Dewhit/Dewhitt b. 1794 in SC and Joseph DeWhitt b. 1800KY participated in the Dewitt DNA Project on Family Tree DNA. Most Dewitts are Haplogroup R (with several variants). Our Dewitt/Dewhitt/Dewhitts are in Haplogroup I (i) with 100 % probably of Danish DNA origin. [The Danish DNA Project on Family Tree DNA used individuals with proven DANISH origin to investigate SNPS common to Denmark]. Our family of DeWhitt-DeWitts test results were identical to some individuals who participated in the Witt-Whitt Project (can be seen on Ysearch). Results for the Dewitt Project can be accessed on FT DNA. I find it disappointing that the Witt-Whitt results can not be accessed on Family Tree DNA and are not revealed. It has a feel of "family secrets" and works against the exciting time we are experiencing as DNA and good historical research can be combined to shine light on years of "brickwalls" and contradictory conclusions using the same data. I would welcome hearing from anyone whose family might have used Witt, Whitt, De Wit, Dewitt, Dewhitt in generations past. If you are a male descendant of William Dewhitt's brother, Samuel Dewhitt (b. 1792 SC) ---an early minister in middle TN-KY, I would be glad to give you the information you need to be tested and compare results. The wives of William DeWhit/DeWhitt (b. 1792 SC) and Samuel DeWhit /DeWhitt were McWhorter/McWhirters whose families lived in Abbeville, SC, and are recorded in the 1790 SC census near a "Sam'l Dewhit"."