I'm pleased to see a rigorous discussion of the Goff/Gough/Goffe Surname Study. This study is of the Y-chromosome DNA, which is only passed, largely unchanged, from father to son. As such, it is a fantastic tool for studying surnames, which also generally pass, largely unchanged, from father to son. I believe the below message was in response to an inquiry from a researcher whose g-g-grandmother was a Goff born in upstate in NY in 1847. This researcher can probably determine the father of the g-g-grandmother through census or other records. With the proper records, skill and determination, this line may be traced back many more generations. Unfortunately, in some Goff/Gough/Goffe families, the record trail is lost. In my case, I know that my earliest Goff ancestor was one of four brothers appeared seemingly out of nowhere in 1765 in Loudoun County, VA. In the early 1770s, James Goff, John Turton Goff, Thomas Goff and Salathiel Goff moved further west into what is now WV and KY. Despite an intensive search of records in the US and databases for other countries, we have been unable to determine the origin or ancestry of these four brothers. The Goff family of upstate NY may also reach this time of brick wall. If so, the Goff/Gough/Goffe Surname Study offers the chance to determine how the various Goff/Gough/Goffe families are related. Because this Goff/Gough/Goffe Surname Study follows the Y-chromosome, only Goff males with a straight line of descent from Goff males may participate. I would encourage any male Goff/Gough/Goffe to signup for this worthy study by following the below link to the project page: http://www.familytreedna.com/surname_join.asp?code=K13572&special=True&projecttype=S -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [GOFF] Fw: Goff DNA Resent-Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2004 09:45:03 -0600 Resent-From: [email protected] Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2004 09:44:47 -0600 From: "WILLIAM JENKIN" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] ----- Original Message ----- From: WILLIAM JENKIN To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, October 11, 2004 9:41 AM Subject: Goff DNA Hello Terry My name is Terry White and I have Goff in the family I belive you do not have to go on her dna as long as you have her Father Name and great grand father name and have the dna and you might need to have your dna as this is suposse to show you have the Goff dna I have not done this my self I done some research and I came a cross all my family tree line and I have a whole bunch of my cousin on line and got more information than the DNA but you might want to do that. If you would like the names of my Goff family please write at [email protected] or [email protected] ==== GOFF Mailing List ==== Rhonda Smith list manager [email protected] ============================== Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237