First of all, I want to express publicly my appreciation for Eleanore'sbeing administrator of the MASSEY DNA Project! If you haven't checked the data base lately, it's at: http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~mandaley/MasseyDNA.html [click on: MasseyDNATestResults] Whether or not your DNA test leads to finding new or to validating already known specific ancestry or cousins, it will give a clue as to where your ancestors in the direct male lived before they bore a name similar to MASSEY and before migrating to England, Scotland, or Ireland. Twelve Massey men have submitted their MASSEY DNA for testing. These fall into eight different groups. but only three different MAJOR groups (Haplogroups.) Ten of the submitted samples are in major group "R1b", with one sample in "I" and one in "G". Reduced to simplest terms, "R1b" means you descend in the male line from the most common group of humans (farmer-gatherers) that populated SW Europe after the last glaciers melted; "I" most likely means from the Scandinavian Vikings, many of whom invaded England and left their mark on the population there; "G" means being from central Asia before migrating to and introducing "improved" agriculture to Europe. [My own SMITH DNA showed to be in Haplogroup "I".] Using the combined power of researching traditional source documents with the 21st century techniques of DNA testing is far superior than using either method by itself. The better known purpose of DNA testing - the finding and/or validation of specific ancestors requires samples from at least two MASSEY men with the same ancestor. Most discovered matches occur within the last 5 to 15 generations. From the way DNA is passed (virtually unchanged from father to son}, all direct male descendants of a common ancestor will havethe same DNA pattern. Mutations do occur but they are very rare. So far only one [Group 1; Haplogroup "R1b"] of the eight groups represented have had a sample from more than one Massey man. The families of this group were first found in VA; then in NC, SC, TN, GA, AL, MO, etc. These appear to be descendants of [but definitely closely rerlated to] the three men - Hezekiah(2), Joseph(2), and Richard(2) - who are clearly identified as BROTHERS in the books by Judge Frank Massey (1979) and William W. Massey (2000.) I will provide a review in another post of the interesting results and conclusions from the DNA submitted by the four men from this group. I believe other Massey branches can achieve similar results if more men will submit samples for analysis. In particular, samples are needed from MASSEY groups such as descendants from Thomas Massey of Chester Co., PA; the Maryland Masseys [we already have two samples from this area, but the DNA is not the same]; Peter Massie of New Kent Co., VA [we may already have one sample from here] and Masseys from other VA areas. Samples from descendants of Massey families who didn't leave England could also find help in unraveling the many Massey groups and their relationship to each other. I would especially love to see results of samples from the Cheshire and Cambridgeshire areas of England. For any Massey man interested in DNA testing, I will include the following based on Eleanore's recent directions: Just click onto the Internet link listed above. Then on the Massey DNA page, click onto the underlined word 'form' to bring you directly to the order page. You can fill out and submit this form on-line. I would recommend that you choose the 25-marker test [Y-DNA25; $171.00, including S & H] You can pay directly on-line or wait until your kit arrives and pay by check or credit card when you return the DNA kit. In the kit is a 'release' form, which you need to sign and return with the kit - to give Eleonore permission to share the results on the webpage. Your kit number and earliest proven ancestor, but not your identity will be displayed on the webpage. Best regards to all, Theron Smith Private Email: (myself) [email protected] (Eleonore) [email protected]