This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: S_Sylva Surnames: Silvy Silvey Silva Silvia Sylva Sylvia Crawford Drake Gash Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.missouri.counties.jackson/6194/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Invitation to join a DNA study for surnames: SILVY, SILVEY, SILVA, SYLVA, SYLVIA Greetings Fellow Amateur Genealogists: Have you hit a brick wall in your research like we have? If so, have you considered joining a DNA surname study? My husband recently sent for a Y-DNA37 marker DNA kit from Family Tree DNA to have his Y-chromosome DNA compared with other males in the SILVEY surname study. Unfortunately there are only two (2) other participants in this study at the present time so that is why I am trying to recruit more participants. By no means, am I endorsing Family Tree DNA, but through investigating other DNA companies for surname projects, I found that Family Tree DNA had a DNA surname project that most closely matched with our SYLVA surname. It is this researcher's speculation that our surname has been misspelled through the years and only DNA can positively determine this. A Surname Project traces members of a family who share a common surname. Since surnames are passed down from father to son (like the Y-chromosome), the test would be for males taking a Y-DNA test. Females do not carry their father's Y-DNA because they acquire a new surname when they marry, so the tested individual must be a male who wants to check his direct paternal line (father's father's father's...) with a Y-DNA marker test. There are several tests available: Y-DNA12, Y-DNA37, or Y-DNA67 If you are not familiar with how DNA works in genealogy, I would suggest that you visit Family Tree DNA's website at: http://www.familytreedna.com for more information. Now, I would like to share a little of our SYLVA family information: My husband's family is as follows: Father: Charles Marion Sylva, son of James Sylva and Amanda Barker. Charles was born Jan 12, 1912 in Lafayette County MO (Odessa) and died in Johnson County KS (Olathe). Mother: Charles married Nellie M. Barker, daughter of Lonnie Lee Barker and Hattie Irene Kimrey. Nellie was born Sept 2, 1921 in Vernon County MO, and died Jul 28, 1966, Wyandotte County KS. Grandfather: James Sylva, born in Lafayette County MO about 1879 and died Mar 31, 1938 in Johnson County MO (Warrensburg). Grandmother: James married Amanda (Mandy) Barker about 1905. James' siblings were: Cassie, Leroy (Roy), Rosa, Ernest, Novella and Lena Belle (who died at the age of 10 months). Great-Grandfather: Thomas W. Sylva, born about 1834 in KY (possibly Lewis/Mason county). He died Feb 17, 1894 Pittsburg KS. His first marriage was to Harriett Gash, who died in Bracken county KY giving birth to their first child (who also died). Harriett and child are buried in Bracken county KY near the town of Germantown. Great-Grandmother: Thomas' second marriage was to Sarah O'Bryant on July 12, 1859 in Fulton County IL (Lewistown). Their children were: Serepta (aka Sarah), Nathaniel T, Harriett, Amanda, Mary, Charles, Matilda, Caroline, James, Rachael, and Lucy. Thomas W. Sylva served in the Civil War as a Private in Company I, 51st Regiment, Illinois infantry. His widow Sarah received a Widow's Pension. (Probable) Great-Great Grandfather: Nathaniel (aka Nathan) Silvy (also spelled Silvey/Sylva in census records). From census records I have found I believe that Nathaniel was born between 1801 and 1810 in KY, (possibly in Lewis/Mason) county. Great-Great Grandmother: Nathaniel's wife's name was Rachael. I am not sure but an Internet message board gives her maiden name as CRAWFORD and marriage date of 1826 in Lewis county KY. Their children taken from 1850, 1860 and 1870 census records in Lewis and Mason county KY were as follows: James (born about 1829), Elizabeth (born about 1830), Aquilla (born about 1833), Thomas W. (born about 1834), Robert (born about 1836), David (born about 1837), Louisa (born about 1839), and Melville (aka Melvin) (born about 1845). All the children were born in KY. 1860/1870 census records for Clay county MO may indicate that Elizabeth (Silvy/Silvey) possibly married Thomas M. Gash. >From Thomas W. Sylva's Civil War Pension file, James Silvy/Silvey states that he was the brother of Thomas Sylva and that he (James) was married to Sarah Gash, the full sister of Harriett Gash, wife of Thomas Sylva. This researcher also believes that Thomas Gash, husband of Elizabeth Silvy/Silvey may have been the brother of Harriett Gash who was married to her brother Thomas, and Sarah Gash who was married to her brother James Silvy/Silvey. 1860/1870/1880 census records for Mason county KY may indicate that Louisa (Silvy/Silvey) possibly married Levi Drake. If any of you have connections to this family I would like to hear back from you. Especially if you are a direct male descendant of any of the following surnames: SILVY/SILVEY/SILVA/SYLVA/SYLVIA and would like to join in the DNA surname project. Thank you for your time. 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.