Chat
|
Daily Search
|
My GenForum
|
Community Standards
|
Terms of Service
|
|
|
Let it not be said that we would let a major promise of research go undenied, and so The Eaton Families Association has started a DNA project for all male Eaton family members. The following memo is provided for anyone who might be interested in such a project:
Hi Eaton cousins:
This memo is designed to start our Eaton DNA Project rolling. We have already collected a mixture of cousins who have volunteered to give samples of Eaton DNA for our Y-chromosome test; plus a number of other cousins who would like to follow this effort as observers, some with an eye to joining at a later stage. Not all are EFA members, nor do they need be: we gratefully accept all the help we can get, including surrogates who can stand in for female Eatons and those of us whose fathers were not Eatons.
Now to the heart of the matter. We have decided to lodge this Eaton DNA Project with the FAMILY TREE DNA organization (FTD). This happens to be the largest company handling surname projects like ours, although we did not pick it entirely on that score. Equally important were the considerations that it is equipped for other tests we might want to try down the road, and its lab work is done at a DNA research lab with a glowing reputation among the relevant scientific community, located at the University of Arizona, although the FTD is located in Houston, TX.
I urge all interested parties to visit the FTD web site at "http:www.familytreedna.com" Here you will also find the group rates when you move to an ongoing surname project, which you can do by entering the surname
"Eaton." It is these Eaton pages that Test-Takers will visit to place their order for kits. I, Phil Converse (pconvers@umich.edu), will act as Group Administrator for the Eaton DNA Project, but please note, that neither I nor any of my EFA colleagues are directly involved with or will monetarily benefit from utilizing this site. This is in no way an endorsement of this site, but rather a personal choice by The EFA.
You will note that kit orders can be placed by either phone or e-mail. Basically those being tested apply by e-mail for kits to take their cheek swab; and kits are sent upon receipt of payment in Houston, which can also be done electronically. The lab work takes about seven weeks, which means that even if our volunteers send off for kits with speed, we shall probably lack any significant results to report before the November Newsletter. Incidentally, if you are still pondering whether or not to participate, please understand that there is no "train leaving the station" in the next few days. Any Eaton wanting to get a DNA test later should get in touch with me: we can proceed with it at any time you want: summer, fall or next year.
The vast majority of Eatons descendants believe that they have descended from one or another of the Eaton lines whose founders came to these shores from England in the Great Migration (1620-1642). Francis of Mayflower fame; John who settled at Dedham, Mass.; William & Jonas Eaton, both of whom settled at Reading, Mass.; Theophilus Eaton of Connecticut,and a second John, who settled at Salisbury and then Haverhill, Mass. This DNA project is not limited, however, to New England descendants. For example, the John Eaton out of Wales & Shropshire who went to Pa. with further migrations into No. Carolina, came from close to the old Eaton family seat in Cheshire, and is thus an equal candidate for the same high-resolution DNA work that is of interest to New England descendants. It is also true that Theophilus Eaton's eldest male child, Theophilus Eaton, Jr., returned to England and then to Ireland, so if you believe you may have descended from Eatons with Irish roots, this may very well prove connections again to the earlier Cheshire Eatons through Theo, Jr.'s line.
Theses migration patterns suggest the "research design" for our DNA work to follow. We should first aim to establish a unique DNA fingerprint. Some of these "fingerprints" may not be perfectly distinctive, one from another. This will suggest that they may share a common ancestor in the period just before the migration. For example, the two Reading patriarchs were probably brothers, and hence are one line, not two. Since the Dedham line also migrated about the same time also from the shire of Kent, its members may share a common ancestor with the Reading Eatons. There is probably greater genetic distance between the Kent lines and the others, but, of course, we shall learn more about this as we proceed. Possibly all of these lines will turn out to share a common ancestor in "deep time" and, with a little luck, this is discoverable with further DNA work.
Meanwhile, establishing the "fingerprints" for these lines is of high value for those who have hit "brick walls" in their searches. Obviously, the more definitive DNA patterns we can associate with each founder, the easier it will be to find lost children of these lines, here and abroad, whom we would be able to recognize in principle even if they had only taken 12-marker tests.
My role will be that of an advisor, making suggestions with an eye to the biggest bang for a buck for the group as a whole. For test-takers willing and able to follow such choices, I also will try to keep an eye out for how rationally we are filling in the information, and try to recruit to fill in missing places (such as descendants of FranPly and WmRed). I will act as the coordinator of this project, so feel free to contact me with questions or concerns, and, of course, to let me know you are interested so I may add you to the list and work with you to get the most information for the group as a whole and each DNA donator individually.
Phil Converse
pconvers@umich.edu
As provided by
Barbara Fitzsenry
VP/Web Editor/Web Master
The Eaton Families Association
b.fitzsenry@comcast.net
www.eatongenealogy.com
Notify Administrator about this message?
Followups:
|
| http://genforum.genealogy.com/eaton/messages/7052.html | ||
 |
Link to GenForum Add Forum |
|