Descendants of the Palatine emigrants who left Germany in 1708-09 and settled in the far reaches of the British Empire, including the Hudson Valley in New York and beyond, may soon be able to connect with long-lost family members and learn far more about their German roots than they ever thought was possible. A Palatine DNA Project has been established that welcomes all direct descendants of these brave and hardy men and women. The goal is to determine if and how these families are related and to reunite those families that were split apart during the great exodus from Germany and resettlement throughout the world. DNA testing can make this possible, and this new Palatine DNA Project will coordinate test results from all companies in an effort to reach this goal. Not only can participants learn about their connections to Germany but they will also learn about their very deep roots, the path their ancestors took out of Africa many thousands of years ago that led them eventually to Germany. All that is needed to take part in this important new research effort is to visit the website www.ftdna.com/public/PalatineDNAProject and order a DNA test if you have not already had one. If you have, instructions for transferring the results and joining the project are explained at the website. Doris Wheeler, Palatine DNA Project Administrator

This is indeed exciting news -- but... Membership and access to the results seems to be limited to direct descendants willing to purchase a testing kit. But what about us historians and genealogists who have an interest and are perhaps not related? Speaking as a trustee of the Little Nine Partners Historical Society, we have an abiding interest in these results, since the L9P Patent had many Palatine settlers. -R. Doris Wheeler wrote: > Descendants of the Palatine emigrants who left Germany in 1708-09 and > settled in the far reaches of the British Empire, including the Hudson > Valley in New York and beyond, may soon be able to connect with long-lost > family members and learn far more about their German roots than they ever > thought was possible. > > A Palatine DNA Project has been established that welcomes all direct > descendants of these brave and hardy men and women. The goal is to determine > if and how these families are related and to reunite those families that > were split apart during the great exodus from Germany and resettlement > throughout the world. DNA testing can make this possible, and this new > Palatine DNA Project will coordinate test results from all companies in an > effort to reach this goal. Not only can participants learn about their > connections to Germany but they will also learn about their very deep roots, > the path their ancestors took out of Africa many thousands of years ago that > led them eventually to Germany. > > All that is needed to take part in this important new research effort is to > visit the website www.ftdna.com/public/PalatineDNAProject and order a DNA > test if you have not already had one. If you have, instructions for > transferring the results and joining the project are explained at the > website. > > Doris Wheeler, Palatine DNA Project Administrator > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NYDUTCHE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > -- Regards, Rod Dav4is / P.O. Box 118 / Hyde Park, NY 12538 / USA Genealogy, et Cetera: http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~dav4is/ 491 ancestral & collateral families, mostly 17°-19° century New England & European roots. Total population: 120,100+ Annex: http://www.gencircles.com/users/dav4is/ email: DAV4IS@YAHOO.COM Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple. -Barry Switzer