[email protected] Several participants have found matches of people that were unknown to them as family. Many of the early families had many children and it's hard to trace every member to see if they are "your" family. Some participants started with the basic 12 marker test and when they found matches, same surname of course, they each would have more markers tested. Some were successful and are working together now to find the paper work. In my case I had proven, tenuously, my family was connected with the immigrant Willem Gerritsen, NY. So anyone matching my DNA would have the same immigrant ancestor. Why Gerritsen to Williamson? Dutch patronymics. Willem Gerritsen's children had the surname Willemsen. When the English took over NY (New Netherlands) the patronymics were stopped. Willemsen became Williamson. Also, my line has been published in the NYG&B Society's RECORD down to my 5th g grandparents, who farmed in NJ. The tenuous part was finding the paper work to prove my 3rd g grandfather was tied to a NJ William Williamson. I have since found proof of this relationship. In my own case I found two new cousins, 1 in Iowa, my home state, and another in NJ where my 5th g grandparents came to farm from NY. The cousin in NJ and I have been finding more and more paper work that ties our families together. The Iowa cousin had a cousin that had put their paper work together and was instrumental in getting the "Gerritsen to Williamson" published in the RECORD. Because the rules demand privacy, unless there is a match one member doesn't know names and addresses of another. Then to make sure, as administrator of the project, I ask each member if they would like to communicate with their match. Please visit my web site. I have pictures of Burial Ground found on my 5th g grandparents farm in NJ. The Boy Scouts have cleaned up and my cousins in NJ are doing their best to maintain it. They have also found more markers. There is a list of names at my web site. There is also some copies of court records published at the site. I am working on getting more records at the site. If you have any more questions, please ask. _ Richard Williamson Tucson, AZ y-chromosome DNA Project Adm. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~williamsondnaproject/INDEX.htm _ (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~williamsondnaproject/INDEX.htm) ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com