All, In June, I reported to you a personal success story about getting an exact 25-marker haplotype match with a distant cousin which validated the haplotype of our Great-Great-Grandfather (Thomas Ross Beaty- 1820-1888). We believe that he descended from L-20 Francis Beaty who died in NC in 1773. In September, we reported another success. A descendant of another of L-20 Francis Beaty's sons (different line from Thomas Ross Beaty) got the results of his DNA sample. His haplotype is an exact match to mine (and my other cousin and Thomas Ross Beaty). With that, we believe we have validated the haplotype of L-20 Francis Beaty, the Surveyor, who died in NC 230 years ago. (I thought I reported this on BP-2000, but I can't find the message so I guess I neglected to do so.) Now, we have another major success to report. In 2000, Tim Daugherty wrote a thoughtful and well-reasoned paper laying out a rationale for proposing that James Beaty who died in Cumberland Co., PA in 1777 was related to Francis Beaty, the Surveyor, who died in Mecklenburg Co., NC in 1773. This James Beaty lineage is L-98. Recently, a male descendant in L-98 submitted a DNA sample in our DNA Project. The results are in. And, his haplotype is AN EXACT 25-MARKER MATCH to Francis Beaty, the Surveyor, Thomas Ross Beaty, my two cousins, and me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What does this mean? It means that the James Beaty of L-98 was at least a close cousin (1st cousin?) or a brother of Francis Beaty, the Surveyor. That is, L-98 and L-20 are very closely related. The next step is to obtain a DNA sample from L-56. This is John Beaty, the NC Pioneer, who is generally believed to have been a brother of L-20 Francis Beaty. If we are correct, this sample should be an exact 25-marker match also. Folks, if you do not yet understand the value of these DNA tests to your genealogical research, I urge you to review your thinking and visit our project website at www.BeattyDNA.org. We are making serious headway in several lineages, and that is with only 29 samples. Think what we could learn with 200 samples! Les Beaty L-20B