yDNA and Philbert/Philburd Wright
Philbert Wright and Esther Becraft are known to have had the following sons in Maryland: Peter (1717), Philbert (1719). Additionally, they are believed to have had Amos (1725) m Rebecca, Richard (c1830) m Ann, Joseph (c1740) m Rebecca McDaniel.
It seems to me that the records have been gone over time and again for more than 100 years. Fresh data is needed. And it's available--through DNA. It may be the only real hope in proving Amos's, Richard's and Joseph's descent.
Here's how it works: A kit is mailed to the participant who uses the small plastic scraper on the inside of the mouth. No blood, very simple, absolutely painless. The kit is then mailed back to the company.
Privacy: Unless you desire otherwise, your name and lineage is not published.And there's no need to worry about what people might do with the results. The tested markers are helpful only to genealogists. There's nothing about them that will reveal health conditions or medical history.
Costs: There are a number of companies and the price can vary. But there is one place that does it at no charge: http://www.smgf.org/http://www.smgf.org/ . The problem with them, however, is that it can take a year or more to get results and they never notify you once it's done. You need to remain vigilant and look for the results on their webpage. However, for those who may not want to pay $200 or so, this is a way to go. In fact, I'd like to encourage anyone to do it. It may be slow but it will get done and all of us will benefit from the results.
Eligibility: yDNA tests can be done only by men. That's because only men carry the Y chromosome--it's that that makes us men. Since men get the Y only from their father and because it passes down virtually unchanged, it can tell us what our paternal ancestor's Y looked liked. In other words, all of Philbert Wright's male Wright descendants will have effectively the same yDNA. (Modest changes do occur due to mistakes in the DNA copying itself.)
I've been trying to track Philbert's Y descendants. I've come close in some instances to finding living people but I've yet to make a connection. I have everyone I could find to date listed at the bottom of my webpage for Richard Wright: http://ancestraldata.com/ahnentafel/260/http://ancestraldata.com/ahnentafel/260/ . That page is certainly not intended to be a work of genealogy and should not be used that way. I'm sure there are mistakes and I'm happy to make corrections. Red denotes lines that have tested (Richard Wright only).
And here's a point I should make. Several of Richard's lines--and only Richard's lines--have tested and they all match. That means that there can be no doubt about Richard's Y. What is true for Richard's Y is also true for his father's, whoever that may have been. The father of Philbert (II), Richard's supposed brother, is proven. If Philbert's Y descendants have the same Y as Richard's descendants then we have it nailed. It they are different, then it's back to the drawing board, which is okay. At least we will know--and what's better than knowing the truth?
I'm happy to answer any questions. Anyone interested in testing should go to the Wright DNA Project: http://www.wright-dna.org/http://www.wright-dna.org/
Michael Cooley
More Replies:
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Re: yDNA and Philbert/Philburd Wright
Bill Wright 6/27/08
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Re: yDNA and Philbert/Philburd Wright
Joy McDaniel 6/16/09
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Re: yDNA and Philbert/Philburd Wright