ECFensom@aol.com wrote: > > Karen, > > You wrote about DNA and genealogy. There have been several articles in the > Richmond Times-Dispatch about the dna testing planned for descendants of > Thomas Jefferson's uncle (Field Jefferson), Sally Hemings' children, Carr > family (T. Jefferson's nephews), and old VA families for a control group. The > last article was Sun. June 7, '98. They are trying to see if the rumor about > Jefferson and Hemings was true. She was a slave at Monticello and had several > light skinned children. Of course, if they have the same DNA strains, etc., > the Hemings' children could have been fathered by one of T. Jefferson's > nephews or other family members. They are using the Y chromosonal DNA which is > passed on virtually unchanged from father to son. DNA analysis is being done > by experts at Oxford and results will be published in a journal in 6 to 12 > months. Even if a genetic match is made, it will not prove that it was Thomas > Jefferson, only that it was a member of the Jefferson family. Interesting. I'm > not trying to start any controversy on the list but it is in the news and is > genealogy related. > > Edith Edith, Thank you. That is just the sort of information I was hoping for. This is the first I've heard of the "Y chromosomal DNA" technique. Well, it's early days. Eventually, someone will publish a decent discourse on this subject - maybe a reprint of the Richmond Times-Dispatch series. Oh, and it's always good for a smile to be reminded of the Sally Hemmings controversy. Too bad we can't wait a few years before poking into our current politicos' peccadilloes. Regards, -- Jim McDonnell Seattle seamus@seanet.com A surplus of leisure; a bare sufficiency of funds.