Hi Lawrence listers, I'd like to get a DNA project started for Lawrence and all variations of the name here in the U.S. It would involve only males whose surname is Lawrence or some derivation of Lawrence, such as Lowrance, Laurence, Lawrance, Lorence, Lorenz or Lorentz. My own line was originally Lorentz from Niederhausen, Germany in 1748 to America, but it was soon changed to Lawrence. My family has been under the impression our Lawrence ancestor was from England for more than 140 years because of that change. The project will involve only males named Lawrence or it's derivations because only they carry the Y chromosome markers inherited from their paternal ancestors. Each individual will have to pay for their own DNA test which we might be able to get at a group rate from one of the several companies now providing genealogical DNA testing. I would imagine, the more participating the lower the cost. Without a discount a 12 marker test is $219. while a 21 marker test is $279. The more markers checked gives a closer look at relationships with less chance of error. We could contact some others who have already started DNA projects to find out how much a discount might be. There are a couple webpages hosted by folks who have already been involved in this and what is required and hints on how to set it up. One of those is: http://www.duerinck.com/results.html As you can see there are already dozens of projects started on families with surnames a lot less popular than Lawrence. I would imagine we could be able to attract a hundred participants from all over the U.S. easily for starters. We also probably should include some Lawrence/Lorentz folks in England and other countries in Europe who might want to participate in order to make connections and verify origins. Since there were so many immigrants to America over the centuries who took the name Lawrence, many present day descendants of those immigrants may have no idea of who and from where their ancestors came. The result of this project would be to define who is related to who, and to subsequently find the origins in Europe of those of us who are searching for their roots. A few of us who have already discovered our ancestral roots could lead the way for hundreds of others who are still in the dark. And some of you who think you're descended from Robert Lawrence of Ashton Hall may just find out, as I did, that your ancestor was from someplace else and you have been wasting valuable research resources on the wrong family. And those who are descended from Robert Lawrence can better find their place in his pedigree. Genealogy after all, is a search for the truth as much as it is for ancestors, and right now nothing tells the truth better than DNA. Anyone with a male Lawrence in their family who is interested in starting this project, please contact me at [email protected] James H. Lawrence 1405 Commissioners Road Mullica Hill, NJ 08062 Researching Philadelphia surnames: (paternal) Lawrence/Lorentz, Hüss, Hotz, Günzler, Kugler, Goodman/Gutmann, Sweitzer/Schweitzer, Etley, Kubler/Cubbler, Moehrle/Möhrle & Montgomery County surnames: Reimer, Shunk & Kugler. (maternal) Philadelphia Marlin & Harrop Bucks/Lehigh/Northampton/Philadelphia: Musselman, Landis, Witmer, Basler & Frock Ottawa Co, OH & Philadelphia: Morgenroth & Bauer. Associated Philadelphia families: (paternal) Frick, Unbehend, Speel, Linninger, Dannecker, Carter, Curwin, Geyer, Sibley, Chapman, Bourquin, Gravenstine, Heimer, Hays, Duff, Hoskins, Lake, Evans, Clark, Graham, Frenchmaker, White & Adair (maternal) French, Ball, Schafer, Spicer, Bythway, Cooney & dozens of others. SAR #153101 for Philadelphia Revolutionary War patriots: Johannes Lorentz, Christian Lorentz, Johann Michael Hotz, Charles Kugler & Simon Sweitzer. Researching following European towns & names: England: Gawsworth, Cheshire: Harrop & Evans pre-1842 Germany: Niederhausen, Pfalz: Lorentz, Lauer & Pistorius pre-1748 Wertheim, Wurtemburg: Hotz, Conrad, Engelhard, Sauer & Klein pre-1750 Mutterstadt, Pfalz: Reimer & Weynacht pre-1715 Grossgartach, Wurtemburg: Kugler, Hoffman, Flinspach, Heller & Schoeckinger pre-1742 Gundringen, Schwarzwaldkreis, Wurtemburg: Moehrle pre-1863 Grossbreitenbach, Thuringia: Morgenroth pre-1866 Erdmannhausen, Wurtemburg: Bauer pre-1854 Kraichgau, Pfalz: Musselman, Landis & Witmer pre-1730 Switzerland: Lauperswil, Canton Bern: Musselman, Apfly, Yost & Jau pre-1700 See my genealogy webpages: http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/l/a/w/James-Harry-Lawrence/index.html http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=lorentz1 http://www.ancestry.com/rd/oft/awtgurtomain.asp