To all of you researchers of the brick wall Benjamin Nichols (1735-1799) who married Comfort Vanderbilt (1747-1843) I have some exciting news - DNA results! Many researchers of our line have been erroneously believing for years that Benjamin was the son of a Reuben Nichols from Germany who married Elizabeth Stump. This has now been disproved. The family is of Scottish origin. Possibly Ulster Scots (or Scots-Irish) in more recent times. Moreover, we have discovered that we are genetically related to another three Nichols families (of various spellings) of which we previously had no clue,( Results based on match with 24, 14, 10 R1b motif.), as follows: 1. John NICKLE/NICKELL b. 1700 in County Tyrone, Ulster, Ireland. Based on 37-marker comparison. Probability of sharing a common ancestor within the last 10 generations is 94.55%, within the last 20: 99.88% and within the last 24: 99.98% 2. Wyatt NICHOLS b. abt 1903 in TN Based on 37-marker comparison. Probability of sharing a common ancestor within the last 10 generations is 83.86%, within the last 20: 99.38% and within the last 24: 99.85% 3. William NICHOL b. 1783 in Pittsburgh or Harrisburg, PA Based on 25-marker comparison. Probability of sharing a common ancestor within the last 10 generations is 69.91%, within the last 20: 95.07% and within the last 24: 97.7% 4. Simon NICHOLLS b. 1642 in Scotland. Based on 37-marker comparison. Probability of sharing a common ancestor within the last 10 generations is 62.08%, within the last 20: 96.66% and within the last 24: 98.94% Please note that the comparison for the William Nichol line is based on 25 markers, while the others are based on 37. If the participant upgrades to 37 markers the statistics will likely increase and the timeline may just narrow. The challenge now is to find just where we all connect. If all of us researchers of these lines join forces we may just have a chance to solve this puzzle. Kind Regards, Karen