This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: jantrevor Surnames: Griffin Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.griffin/6802.2.1.1.1.1.1.2/mb.ashx Message Board Post: How, cool. I'm so glad you posted. It's nice to speak to a descendant....who's ancestors I have seen in all my research. I have had trouble getting in touch with many Native American Griffin ancestors who are still on the Rolls. (Have sent some info into the Cherokee genealogy folks) As to DNA, I have done a variety of DNA testing. (9 tests in all...it becomes addicting) On our Griffin Y-line, we matched 25 markers via Y-Search to a Robert Griffin who stated he currently identified as a tribal member, but he would release no further information to us. We also matched to a Griffin family in Arkansas who also had an oral history of being Cherokee and referred to themselves as Black Irish. I have also done autosomal testing and admixture testing with different companies to cross-check their results. Although autosomal and admixture testing are not line-specific (they look at everything you inherited from both parents rather than just fathers or mother's line) mine did shown NA ancestry. One company estimated mine as 1/8th (DNA Tribes) another in percentages ranging from 4-12% (AncestrybyDNA). This DNA could however be from other NA ancestors as I have tracked down 5 NA Grandmothers in different lines (1 being Griffin). The other group I have not been able to research fully are the African American Griffin lines. I grew up meeting African American Griffins in Houston...but have yet to be able to chat with any southern lines about their ancestry. (Would love to). Although some African American Griffins may have acquired their Griffin surname by taking their master's name after slavery (less common than once thought), some lines may be descendants of Griffin male/slave interractions during slavery or could also be African American women who married either white Griffin males or Native American Griffin lines either during colonial period, during slavery or after. Cherokees and Indian Countrymen in particular held slaves very early in ALA and many took slaves to OK/Ark at removal. Once freed, they became known as Cherokee Freedmen. I would love to learn more about the descendants of any of the Cherokee "Freedmen" Griffins as well. I have spoken with a northern line of African American Griffins, who descended from one Samuel Griffin that they believed traced back to an interaction of a Free Person of Color with a white indentured Griffin servant during the Colonial period. During that period, because rights for Free Persons of Color ! were more limited than for freed servants, the children were sometimes given their mother's surname. In any event, Griffin history is very complicated ...but rich and varied. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.