Hello fellow listers: For those of you who have not been following the DNA results posted on the HILL DNA PROJECT website, you might want to take a look at what is going on. Here's a brief success story for you. For years I have been following the footsteps of many before me, researching the Green Berry HILL/Martha IVEY line. Many of the researchers have either given up or moved on to research other things, hoping to someday hear that someone has broken through with new found evidence. A core group of some of the more diligent researchers has continued to exhausted every known resource and have still seemingly reached a dead end with the quest to find the origins of Green Berry HILL, born in VA about 1775. Does this story sound typical? Along comes DNA testing. One of our Green Berry HILL researcher's DNA perfectly matched the DNA of a line we had no idea we connected with. The match was with a descendant of William HILL b.ca.1774 (who married Hescenia SMALLWOOD), a family with trails from VA to TN in the late 1700's/early 1800s. We had looked at this family several times before because of this William named a son "Green Berry Hill". Now it all made sense. The DNA proved that the living descendant of our Green Berry HILL and the living descendant of William HILL had a common ancestor within approximately 14 generations! An enhanced DNA test that is being done may show that this common ancestor was within 7 generations, therefore allowing us to possibly (note..."possibly") claim that our Green Berry Hill and William Hill were brothers. What a find! Though the exact relationship is not conclusive, what else did the DNA test prove?? Lots of things. It eliminated MANY other lines that we have spent years trying to connect with, one being the HILL/SMITHER line of Surry Co. NC. This was one of the most likely families that we thought we were connected to...that is....until the DNA results came in. We can now say that our Green Berry HILL (who married Martha IVEY) was not related to the HILL/SMITHER line! Again...what a find! The above is just one of the many success stories coming out the DNA results. If you are interested in reviewing what is going on and tracking the results, please do so by visiting the HILL DNA PROJECT website at: http://www.livingston.net/hilldna/ If your family has reached a "dead-end", find a living HILL male fro your line who is willing to take the simple cheek swab DNA test. It's easy and your results will be posted a few weeks later on the website, possibly connecting you and your line with others. Enjoy! Byron Hill HILL-L Administrator