Dear Barb, and Cousins on the List, First, thanks Barb for your always thoughtful and considered responses about DNA. In answer to your question, DNA does not not have to be specifically compared one on one, but if a variety of known (or suspected) members of a direct line are compared then it can be determined whether they indeed come from a common ancestor. Their "markers" to that ancestor will be the same. Once these markers are established, comparisons can be made by others who possibly were not felt to be of the same direct line, but if the same markers exist, then it can thereby be determined that they are part of the initial group. The important genealogical part comes within determining the correct people to test in order to establish a lineage pattern. In the case of many surname groups, particularly since the onset of computer genealogy, people have been ascribed willy-nilly to certain lineages without proper genealogical proof. I made a recent "test" at Rootsweb's World Connect, using Henry Pennington, the most ancient Maryland Pennington immigrant I knew to be heavily "researched." I believe either this Henry or William Pennington the Puritan could be my ancestor -- there are some quirks in my ongoing research which suggest they may have come from the same family origin in England. At any rate, I got 29 "hits" for Henry, and not one of the 29 had correct information for Henry's wife, his children, or his grandchildren. Most of these 29 lineages showed descendency from Abraham Pennington, the Indian Trader, and yet there has never been one shred of evidence to suggest Henry as the answer for Abraham's paternity. Indeed, every thing known about Henry suggests he was NOT Abraham's father! So when a tribe starts DNA testing, and even if they have a bunch of people who may descend from Abraham, they will not prove a descent from Henry, but at best, from some yet undetermined ancestor. I think the mixed results of DNA testing for any of these will be very disappointing for most testees. However, what could be determined would be that some who have only suspected their descent from Abraham would now be able to establish it. And some families who have thought they shared a common ancestor will find they do not. But, it takes a number of comparisons just to determine these very limited things. At the very best it tells if someone is on the right track or not. The article in the Genealogical Helper "DNA Testing Dispels a Genealogical Myth" http://www.everton.com/learn/showcontent.php?id=2051 was very illuminating because it focused on an unusually rare surname Smolenyak, which came from an unusually small locale, a tiny town in the Ukraine, Osturna, Slovakia. The researchers had narrowed their possible ancestors to four households in the village. It could well be assumed with such limited conditions that each of these four households held a common ancestry, but it was found with DNA testing that not one was connected to the other through the common paternal ancestor. The question becomes, WHY? And what are the implications for American researchers? I think the answer lies in the genealogical failure to establish identity rather than researching a surname. I started to say surnames only tell half the story, but actually they don't even tell an accurate half-story. Given the misspellings, erroneous transcriptions, and the distorted picture produced by patronymics it is extremely difficult to produce accurate surname identity for our peripatetic backcountry people. My own Pennington family came out of a nest of Pembertons. So which came first from that nest, the chicken or the egg? My earliest proven ancestor was John Pennington who served in the War of 1812, enlisting in Baltimore County, Maryland and subsequent to that, moving to the area of Belmont and Guernsey Counties, Ohio. Given names in the Pennington families found in the same area with him are Richard, Otho, Jesse, William and Allen. The given names John, Richard, Otho and William all indicate connection to the above Henry Pennington the immigrant of St. Mary's and Cecil County Maryland -- IF the research has correctly ascribed Richard the father of Otho and William, to the Richard who was the son of Henry's son Henry. I believe using some of the theories I've developed increases the positive research outcomes. I have focused on the history and kinship within each locality. For my 1812 John Pennington, I have minutely examined the other members of the units he served in during the War of 1812. (He served with Jesse Pennington in one, and I believe Jesse was his brother.) I've also examined land records, probate records, census records, etc. for each locality where I've found him. The problem is that I don't know where he (and his family and kin are for many years that are needed to prove his identity.) So I have to operate on theory in some cases and try and prove identity for those around him as well. It's a long process. The old saw about paternity testing was that blood tests did not determine who a father was, only who was NOT the father, and in many ways that same basic principle holds true for DNA testing. DNA tests can establish a set of markers for a lineage if several descendants are available for testing and comparison. BUT, if they do not match, there is no way of knowing what the proper lineage would be. That is why large samples are needed so that wide results can be compared and matches determined. With the expense of the individual tests, I don't see how present surname-group projects are going to succeed -- given the limited interpretations possible. It seems a very small return for the cost involved. On the other hand, I keep coming across some very positive genealogical research projects. There is now a complete set of Ashe county North Carolina census transcriptions available at the US GenWeb. Ashe county was formed in 1799, and the portion of Wilkes County that became Ashe is available on the first federal census for 1790 in Wilkes County. Thereafter, through 1920 the Ashe censuses are now available online. This presents is the opportunity and the basis for a really good genealogical study, comparing the census information and other available documents, not just for one surname, but for the kith and kin. http://www.rootsweb.com/~cenfiles/nc.htm Another very worthy project which I've been examining are the e-texts available for Ohio Histories online at Heritage Pursuit. http://www.heritagepursuit.com/ Among a ton of others is a connection of my Quaker Smart family descendants (Williams, Pennington, Tucker, Van Horn, Thompson, Wade) with Andrew Donaldson in Richland County, OH. I have never followed up on this Donaldson connection with the more southern ones connected to your family, Barb, and hope this may prove an impetus to some additional fact-finding. This Andrew Donaldson came from the West Virginia panhandle to Richland County, where some other Pennington families have also roosted before moving on. http://www.heritagepursuit.com/ Heritage Pursuit has a lot of information on Ohio descendants of the Opdyke/Updyke family, who were part of the 13 original Mennonite families to come to Pennsylvania from Krefeld, which lies along the Dutch border with Germany. Some of the Opdykes moved into Cecil County, MD. These Dutch/German settlers, led by Francis Daniel Pastorius, were the founders of Germantown, in Montgomery County, PA. Pastorius himself is a fascinating study, highly educated and brilliantly humane, he initiated the first protest of its kind against black slavery The first Philadelphia settlers lived in extremely primitive structures when they first arrived, some in caves along the Schuykill. Pastorius' cave was "half under and half above ground," at 502 South Front Street in Philadelphia. It was 15 "shoes" long and 15 wide. He put a little sign in the window in Latin: "Parva domus, sed amicus bonus. Procal este profani," which amused William Penn very much when he visited Pastorius and seems to have found there an equally unique person. Freely translated, the sign read: "A small house, but friendly to the good. Depart ye profane." Quite a wonderful sign and thought, and an indication of the character of Pastorius. Also interesting is the idea of so many diverse people coming together in the city of brotherly love. Many, including Pastorius could only communicate with others by using Latin, because they did not have a common understanding of one another's native languages. Within my own household the three of us share the same complications of communication, Tom and Bill of one native tongue (theirs particularly sandpapery and rough, but nonetheless effectively applied by them,) and I of another. We have some universal signs and tones in common, but a common language continues to elude us. They do not seem inclined to learn Latin, and I'm not going to either. I have found rewards work, threats do not. Opening a can of tuna is immediately understood, while, "If you don't stop scratching this sofa I'm going to rip off your fur and fry you for supper," never seems to impress them. I found PicoSearch to be quite an effective search tool at Heritage Pursuit and have installed it at American Crossroads' home page, and will be adding it to the other pages as I continue reorganizing and re-formatting the pages. I've tried several other searches, and have not been happy with them, so I'm hoping this one may be a good answer. Let me know what you think. Love, Your Cousin, Carolyn