Eaton DNA Project
For years, William and Jonas Eaton of Reading, MA, have been described as brothers. They arrived on the same ship (Jonas being listed as a servant of William), both settling first in Watertown and then in Reading, where they lived next to each other.Yet, there has never been hard evidence to prove the relationship and, as a result, most New England genealogists treated William and Jonas Eaton as separate lineages.DNA evidence now has proven that Jonas was either William’s brother or close cousin, sharing a common ancestor not long before the migration.
The Eaton Families Association began its DNA project in 2005 with seven Great Migration patriarchs to the US during the 17th century:Francis of Plymouth (1620); John of Dedham (1635); William of Reading (1637); Jonas of Reading (1637); Theophilus of Connecticut (1637); John of Salisbury and Haverhill (1639-40); and John of Radnorshire/ Philadelphia (1684).
DNA also proves that John Eaton of Dedham, MA, was a close cousin of William and Jonas, which is an entirely new concept and reduces the original list of seven main Eaton lineages to five.The DNA evidence for John Eaton, who was a resident of Dover in Kent, and William and Jonas Eaton, who resided in Staple, a village in Kent about ten miles north of Dover, is so nearly identical that paper-trail genealogy must now be used to establish whether current descendants stem from John, William or Jonas.
Because the DNA entanglement between the three lines mentioned above is particularly close, more data is needed.If you are an Eaton male who has an unbroken list of Eaton sires (or are a female nee Eaton with male Eaton relatives), we invite you to have your own or a surrogate's DNA tested to see if it matches any one of our five signature patterns.In addition, we are adding new signature lines everyday.
For more information, visit the Eaton Families Association website at www.eatongenealogy.com and click on New.