The subject question is also occasionally directed to me and others. The following was written by Ken Graves in the current Graves Family Association Newsletter and is very relevant to all families. "HOW CAN WE DETERMINE THE DNA OF ANCESTORS BY TESTING LIVING PEOPLE? Every now and then I get asked this question. Since others probably have the same question, but haven't asked, this explanation may be helpful. "In simple terms, the Y chromosome is passed on from father to son with almost no changes from generation to generation. So your Y-DNA is almost exactly the same as that of your grandfather, your g-g-g-g-g-grandfather, etc. Therefore, if two men have the exact same Y-DNA or almost exactly the same Y-DNA, they are descended from a common ancestor. The more differences there are between the two DNA samples, the farther back in time the common ancestor is. "It is extremely likely that the DNA test results that were the same in both living descendants were ones that the common ancestor had also. If we test more than two descendants and they all share the same test results, that increases the confidence even more that the ancestor's DNA had those values. So we don't need to dig up and test our ancestors. We can discover their Y-DNA by testing the Y-DNA of their descendants." --- If you haven't visited Eleonore's Massey DNA site recently, you're in for a treat. http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~mandaley/MasseyDNA.html> Type "form" to get an application.<grin> There are some new entries and several of the earlier testors have upgraded their results to 37 markers. The five testors in Group 1 all appear to be from or related to the Masseys of Surry and Prince George Co., VA - three of them have conventional family trees going back to Richard(1) of Charles City Co., VA This is also my MASSEY line through a maternal descent from James L. Massey of Barbour Co., AL and Wood Co., TX. Another group 1 DNA line is from a family that is traced back to a Richard Massey [born about 1755] of Patrick Co., VA for whom no definite connection has been made to Richard(1) of Charles City Co., VA, but they have to be closely related. Regards to all, Theron Smith.