I have a question about the participants in the DNA study. Have they conclusively proved their descent from the ancestor claimed? My reason for asking this is that the family of Elder John Parker is one of the most claimed Parker lines but one of the hardest to prove (on paper). Because of the historical interest in this family, it has been my experience that almost every Parker with any connection to Texas has at some point considered that they may descend from this man; however, many of their lineages are incorrect. It would be a huge genealogical breakthrough if the line from the DNA test participant has an unquestioned line from himself back to Elder John. However, I have encountered several persons who claim to descend from Elder John whose lineage will not stand scrutiny in the generations between themselves and Elder John. It seems to me that if there is an error in their work between themself and the claimed ancestor, the DNA test might prove their descent from the family group they are placed in but still not prove their descent from the claimed ancestor. Betty ----- Original Message ----- From: <dwest3@utk.edu> To: <PARKER-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2005 7:35 PM Subject: [PARKER-L] PARKER DNA update, 3/30/05 > Hello cousins, > > We have added more PARKER DNA results to > the project web pages at: > http://web.utk.edu/~corn/parkerdna/ > > Greg will have his page updated soon: > http://www.nhn.ou.edu/~parker/Genealogy/DNAResults.htm > > One of the new results is from a descendent of Elder > John PARKER, the line of Cynthia PARKER, mother > of Quanah PARKER. A real surprise was his match > to the line of Robert PARKER of Plymouth Colony. > > Two new family groups resulted from the latest > DNA tests. > > Please email Greg or I if you have any questions > about the project. > > Dennis West > descended from Isham PARKER, 1815, Al or Md > PARKER DNA coordinator > >

Hi Betty: You are correct in your interpretation of the DNA test results. I am one of the few who does not have an oral tradition of kinship to Elder John, so I have not verified the genealogy and the documentation to support the descendency of our DNA participant. My correspondence with the researchers who submitted the sample, indicates that they are careful, thorough, and dedicated to finding the truth. That said, a single DNA sample does 'prove' a line of descent. It really takes two matching samples to identify a common ancestor. For example, in Parker Family Group #5, http://web.utk.edu/~corn/parkerdna/park5.htm which now includes the descendent of Elder John, we are confident that these 3 men share a common ancestor. Nothing in the DNA test tells us that Elder John is one of the descendents in that line. The person tested is descended from John's son Daniel. We have another sample in progress from a descendent of John's son Benjamin. If those two samples match, we will be confident that they share a common ancestor, and the evidence indicates that the common ancestor is Elder John. We will have that second result in May. Please email me if you have questions. Dennis West descended from Isham PARKER, 1815, Al or Md PARKER DNA coordinator ========= Betty wrote: It would be a huge genealogical breakthrough if the line from the DNA test participant has an unquestioned line from himself back to Elder John. However, I have encountered several persons who claim to descend from Elder John whose lineage will not stand scrutiny in the generations between themselves and Elder John. It seems to me that if there is an error in their work between themself and the claimed ancestor, the DNA test might prove their descent from the family group they are placed in but still not prove their descent from the claimed ancestor. Betty