Sandi, Terry and List. Just in the past three days of 2005 I have come across people who are named Garrard and Brawner, and they proudly display they are African American persons. This may confuse many who forget the Slaves took the surnames of their Master. These DNA studies are all voluntary and for men it shows a better trail of ancestry probability. The women do not carry the gene passed down from their father as do males. There are DNA tests for females that do give traceable ancestry of female ancestry. I am not a big pusher of any DNA testing but maybe the men do want to know they are not of African American lineage, and others vice versa. When we see posts on Rootsweb or the USGenWeb sites we have little knowledge of the race of the posters and their data, unless persons claim their race in posts to give us a clue. Happy New Year to All, JOHN in CA (Caucasian born KY) --- TalkingTer@aol.com wrote: > Dear Sandi, I am still here. I am going to do the DNA test for the Garrard, > Gerard, Gerrard, Garrett, and what ever other spelling send samples. > _http://www.FamilytreeDNA.com_ (http://www.FamilytreeDNA.com) I still have to have > my file put on this new computer. I have been working so much I don't have > much time to be online . Take care Terry Lee Garrard Sr. Hi Terry: From what I've heard, only males in the family do the DNA testing. Actually, I'm just not all that interested in getting involved with it but be sure to let us know whatever it is you are trying to find out from your test. Is anyone else interested in DNA? It seems to be "the thing" to do these days. Best, Sandi

--- RLTJPS@aol.com wrote: > Sandi, Terry and List. Just in the past three days of 2005 I have come across > people who are named Garrard and Brawner, and they proudly display they are > African American persons. > > This may confuse many who forget the Slaves took the surnames of their Master. Hi John: Good to hear from you. You are right about surnames. Some slaves took the surname of a good master. Some were related to that master through a black woman. Thomas Jefferson come to mind? We have run across black Maupins but they claim they are not related. Maybe not, maybe so. Might be a point of pride. I also helped a gal with one of my family surnames who is black. She couldn't get anyone else to help her because of her race. BTW, I've been meaning to let you know SBC dsl is 100% better than AOL EXCEPT I like AOL's email set up better. Sure don't miss it enough to go back. Anyway, you'd asked me to let you know and now I have. Best, Sandi white gal in the rainy California mountains