Hello to the Carpenter and Zimmerman lists. ?Are you descended from the Zimmerman/Carpenters from Steffisburg, Berne, Switzerland, and Lancaster Co., PA? Do you feel much like a brick mason, just working away at that big brick wall and never seeming to get anywhere? If you answered yes to either, you need to stop procrastinating and log onto ftdna.com. When you have their web page, select Surname Projects, then select C77 or the latest CNo., and then select CARPENTER. Now select members.cox.net...... and scroll down to the chart. You are now looking at the DNA results from 9 different groups of Carpenters. Look at Group 5. Notice the minute differences in the 25 marker Y-Chromosome DNA test results among these three people. 6060 is a descendant of Christian “CZ” Zimmerman, son of Hans Zimmerman. (paper trail suggests a connection, DNA proves the connection or common ancestor) 14756 is a descendant of Peter Zimmerman, son of Hans Zimmerman. (paper trail proves the connection and DNA also proves the connection or common ancestor) 17011 is a descendant of Unknown Zimmerman. (There is no paper trail to prove or suggest a connection. However, DNA proves that there is a connection or common ancestor) DNA test results show that there is a 99.9 percent likelihood that each of the above descend from a common ancestor. Based upon what we know, each could descend from: 1) Hans Zimmerman; 2) his brother Peter; 3) brother or father of Hans and Peter. Remember, DNA is passed from father to son. Scientists say that our male Y-Chromosomes are passed from father to son with little or no changes for up to 500 generations. That easily computes to 1500 years if you allow 30 years per generation as the rule of thumb. FTDNA through the Carpenter Cousins group charges $171 for your 25-Marker Y-Chromosome DNA test results that you can access from the about FTDNA site. From the time you initiate the request it will take about six weeks to receive your results. Granted, $171 seems like a fairly large amount, but if you are like me, you have spent that much for two nights and meals at a motel or hotel while looking through microfilm or large dusty books and not finding much of any thing. Lets say that you did find a birth record from a Bible which was dated 1834, and it included marriage records and death records for your ancestor. What would be the absolute accuracy of that information? Granted, we would like to think we could trust our ancestors. But, do we know for sure that our ancestors wrote the information as it happened, or years later? I believe that you would agree that it is not nearly 99.9 percent accurate. FTDNA uses the University of Arizona to test their DNA samples and your name is never known to them. Their results are scientific and based upon four Nucleotide Bases: Guanina (G), Adenine (A), Thymidine (T), and Cystosine (C), it is the interrelationship of these four Bases that form our specific Y- Chromosome DNA results. If you want family history results that are accurate and will stand the test of time, then it is time for you to have your DNA tested by FTDNA. A couple of year ago the standard was 12- Markers, then 25-Markers. Now it appears that 37-Markers will become the standard in years to come. As males we have 46-Markers or Y-Chromosomes, including two that determine each person’s sex. If these are X and X, the person is a female; if X and Y, male. The DNA test simply measures the lengths of certain specific sequences on the Y-Chromosome. These sequences are smaller than genes and don’t have any genetic function, so the test will not reveal any physical characteristics or innate tendencies. These particular sequences have been chosen because they tend to mutate very rapidly (compared to most DNA). The current understanding is that each locus can be expected to mutate (typically getting longer or shorter by one unit) about once in 500 generations on average. Look again at the results for 6060 and 14756. The DYS Locus ID for 439 shows a value of 11 for 6060 and 12 for 14756. Getting results back like this is almost heart stopping. It doesn’t suggest a connection. These DNA results provide a 99.9% likelihood that the two people involved share a common ancestor. Only a mother giving birth to twins has that kind of proof and accuracy. For 6060 and 14756 that common ancestor is Hans Zimmerman. Questions regarding our Hans Zimmerman? You can e-mail Robert C. Carpenter at [email protected] or Bob Carpenter at [email protected] We will look for your name to be added to the FTDNA list of satisfied customers in the near future. Bob Carpenter