One Year Gilbert Y-DNA Project Update
Hi Everyone,
Having hit the one year mark on the Gilbert DNA Project, I thought I'd send out a recap on the year and the project's current status.
As of today, we have 22 participants in the Gilbert DNA project with the results of 17 returned. Participants come from the U.K., Australia and the U.S. It seems we are still in the mode of establishing unique Gilbert lines as there have only been a couple of incidental matches between participants. I'm certainly hoping that as more and more participants join, we'll start seeing more and more matches and will be able to start piecing the lines together.
Highlights of the first year...
- Three known descendants of the Richard Gilbert of Yardley, Worcester line ( a very old line that settled in New England) were tested and an ancestral baseline has been established.
- One participant with a brick wall with an ancestor in NC genetically matched the Richard Gilbert of Yardley, Worcester line. He hasn't yet figured out how he connects to the line, but at least he knows his family probably came south from New England. As more participants join, there's the potential that mutations from specific branches might help him eventually find the connection.
- Two Gilbert lines that both lived in Frederick Co., MD with no known connection were genetic matches
- My Gilbert ancestor in SC was stated in a local history book to have likely descended from the Richard Gilbert of Yardley, Worcester line. No researchers have found any data to support this, but regardless, the information in the book was taken to heart by some and has made it into many family files and even the DAR. The results of the DNA testing show there is no relationship between our line and the Richard Gilbert line.
- Two participants whose research show they should both be descended from a Timothy Gilbert who lived in NC and VA, were not genetic matches. Since both participants are confident of their research, this mis-match was likely due to either an adoption or an "oops." They're trying to find other descendants to be tested to help isolate where the non-paternity event occurred.
Haplogroups...
One of the characteristic of a family line that can be determined or predicted by DNA testing is what "haplogroup" the line belongs to. (If you're not familiar with the concept of a haplogroup, below are two links with good explanations.)
http://www.familytreedna.com/hap_explain.htmlhttp://www.familytreedna.com/hap_explain.html
http://www.dnaheritage.com/masterclass2.asphttp://www.dnaheritage.com/masterclass2.asp
In our project, our lines thus far have all fallen into one of four haplogroups R1b, R1a, I1a and G2*, with the majority being in R1b. R1b is the most common haplogroup amongst Europeans so this is not a surprise. R1a is more of a Eastern European haplogroup, I1a is a Central European/Scandinavian Group (e.g. the Vikings were likely I1a), and finally, G2* is believed to have descended from a man who lived on the eastern edge of the Middle East some 30,000 years ago.
What's coming up...
We have five participants on whose results we are still waiting. They should start trickling over the next few weeks. Two of these participants should be matches as their research indicates they both descend from the very old Jarvis/Garvis Gilbert line of Baltimore Co./Harford Co., MD. I would not be surprised to see them match one of the lines that's already been tested as this is a very large family line that migrated south and west from Maryland during the 1700s when it was so difficult to track ancestors.
We'll also be getting the results in from a one very old southern line from NC and then another line that hatched from an egg (or so it seems) in Alabama.
And finally, we're also anticipating the results of a descendant our first Pennsylvania-Dutch Gilbert line from the 1700s which hails from Germany. Because Gilbert is often strictly associated with Anglo-Saxon roots, it could be a surprise to either current or future participants who match this line to learn they have German roots!
So that's where things are right now. I'd certainly encourage anyone who's thinking about participating in visiting the project website to learn more about the project.
Please e-mail me if you have any questions.
Jane Gilbert
Gilbert Y-DNA Project Admin
http://www.janegilbert.org/gilbertdna/index.htmhttp://www.janegilbert.org/gilbertdna/index.htm
More Replies:
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Re: One Year Gilbert Y-DNA Project Update
Donna Gilbert 5/12/06