I received an e-mail from Dennis West on the RootsWeb Gibbons list -- and he is looking for MALE participants (needs NINE of them) who are descended father-to-son in an unbroken line for several generations. (And he's not being sexist -- the genetic markers that are tested are on the Y chromosome) If you are interested, please contact him directly. We're still looking for OUR Gibbons family members -- and all known to us right now are women. It's a challenge! Warm regards, Karen ****** From: <dwest3@utk.edu> To: <GIBBONS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, June 29, 2003 7:16 PM Subject: [GIBBONS] DNA testing for genealogy Good Evening cousins: I am wondering if we have enough interest to start a GIBBONS surname DNA project. I am coordinating a DNA project for the WEST surname and would be happy to do the same for our GIBBONS surname. The test most widely used is the Y-STR (for Y chromosome, Short Tandem Repeats) which test the male chromosome. Since it uses the Y chromosome, which is passed from father to son unchanged for generations, only living males with the GIBBONS surname (or a variant spelling like GIBBINS, GIBENS, etc.) would be able to submit a DNA sample. The DNA test does NOT tell you who your ancestor was or where he originated, though there is some interesting associated information on deep ancestral origins (thousands of years ago). The value of the DNA test comes when the results from one GIBBONS male are compared with the results from another GIBBONS male. If the two samples match, then they are assured that they share a common ancestor. It would still require traditional genealogy research to find that ancestor, but each person may have information that the other did not have. The test costs $169 for a 25 marker genetic test. There is a test for $99 that test only 12 markers, but the number of false positives is too high for reliability with the smaller number of markers. The sample collection is very easy, a swab is used wipe the inside of the cheek (no blood needed). You can see photos of Bob Dorsey collecting his sample for the DORSEY DNA project at this site: http://davedorsey.com/dna.html If you do not have a living male GIBBONS in your line, you could try to find a distant male cousin descended from the same line and ask him to participate. If we can get about 10 people willing to submit a DNA sample, I will set up a surname project at Family Tree DNA http://www.familytreedna.com/ I have sample number one from one of my GIBBONS uncles, so we need nine more people. There are several webpages with excellent explanations of DNA for genealogy research, here are a few. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~allpoms/genetics.html http://blairgenealogy.com/dna/dna101.html http://www.kerchner.com/kerchdna.htm Please contact me if you or someone from your line would be willing to submit a sample. Also send me any questions you may have. Dennis West in Knoxville TN

Hi Karen, Thats an interesting concept, thanks for sharing that. Unfortunately my mother was a Gibbons, not my father so I don't qualify. I know there were several Gibbons families in and around the Angle at the turn of the century. Who knows, maybe some of your Gibbons' are the same as mine. I would be happy to compare notes with you, who knows. Thanks, Cliff Fortune Kansas City, MO. -----Original Message----- From: karen [mailto:karen@HiattFamily.com] Sent: Friday, July 04, 2003 12:09 AM To: OH-CLEVELAND-IRISH-L@rootsweb.com Subject: GIBBONS family DNA testing I received an e-mail from Dennis West on the RootsWeb Gibbons list -- and he is looking for MALE participants (needs NINE of them) who are descended father-to-son in an unbroken line for several generations. (And he's not being sexist -- the genetic markers that are tested are on the Y chromosome) If you are interested, please contact him directly. We're still looking for OUR Gibbons family members -- and all known to us right now are women. It's a challenge! Warm regards, Karen ****** From: <dwest3@utk.edu> To: <GIBBONS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, June 29, 2003 7:16 PM Subject: [GIBBONS] DNA testing for genealogy Good Evening cousins: I am wondering if we have enough interest to start a GIBBONS surname DNA project. I am coordinating a DNA project for the WEST surname and would be happy to do the same for our GIBBONS surname. The test most widely used is the Y-STR (for Y chromosome, Short Tandem Repeats) which test the male chromosome. Since it uses the Y chromosome, which is passed from father to son unchanged for generations, only living males with the GIBBONS surname (or a variant spelling like GIBBINS, GIBENS, etc.) would be able to submit a DNA sample. The DNA test does NOT tell you who your ancestor was or where he originated, though there is some interesting associated information on deep ancestral origins (thousands of years ago). The value of the DNA test comes when the results from one GIBBONS male are compared with the results from another GIBBONS male. If the two samples match, then they are assured that they share a common ancestor. It would still require traditional genealogy research to find that ancestor, but each person may have information that the other did not have. The test costs $169 for a 25 marker genetic test. There is a test for $99 that test only 12 markers, but the number of false positives is too high for reliability with the smaller number of markers. The sample collection is very easy, a swab is used wipe the inside of the cheek (no blood needed). You can see photos of Bob Dorsey collecting his sample for the DORSEY DNA project at this site: http://davedorsey.com/dna.html If you do not have a living male GIBBONS in your line, you could try to find a distant male cousin descended from the same line and ask him to participate. If we can get about 10 people willing to submit a DNA sample, I will set up a surname project at Family Tree DNA http://www.familytreedna.com/ I have sample number one from one of my GIBBONS uncles, so we need nine more people. There are several webpages with excellent explanations of DNA for genealogy research, here are a few. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~allpoms/genetics.html http://blairgenealogy.com/dna/dna101.html http://www.kerchner.com/kerchdna.htm Please contact me if you or someone from your line would be willing to submit a sample. Also send me any questions you may have. Dennis West in Knoxville TN