Today I've completed an update of our Poythress/Poytress Surname Y-DNA Study for (1) the DNA section of our Poythress Research website at www.Poythress.net and (2) Maynard & Michael to use on the next generation of the CD of Poythress stuff, to be mailed out. I prepared it in my word processing program. For those interested in seeing it before it gets posted to the website, below is a text version of it, since the "doc" version won't transmit thru RootsWeb to our Poythress-List. Barbara Poythress Neal = = = Poythress/Poytress Surname Y-DNA Study Note: This Study is an all volunteer effort; it is not a commercial entity. Barbara Poythress Neal serves as the volunteer Group Administrator of the Project; she does not receive any funds for coordinating participants' DNA results. She has no connection or affiliation with the company being used for the testing. General Background on Surname Study Our surname is a relatively rare one. In England, the POYTRESS surname has been around for more than 400 years. In America, people of the POYTHRESS surname have been here for almost 400 years. In America, the earliest of the name we have found is Francis Poythress, who came prior to 9 Feb 1632, when he was in James City County, Virginia. We know he served as a factor (or an agent) for a London merchant, Lawrence Evans, in the year prior to Sep 1637, and served as a Burgess representing Charles City County, Virginia in 1644 and later. (See citations for these and more early information at our website's "17th Century Records" section) The christening that researchers have found in England (apparently for this man), was that of Francis POYTHRESS, christened on 12 July 1609 at Newent, in Gloucestershire, a son of John PEWDREIES (who owned nearby Ploddy House until 1647/48). Another son of John PEWDREIES of Newent, Christopher POYDRAS, was christened in early Sep 1616, according to St. Swithun's Parish Register, Worcester. Christopher did not leave England and left many descendants there who spelled the surname POYTRESS. To better determine whether the current POYTHRESS and POYTRESS surnamed people indeed descend from one progenitor, this Surname DNA Study Project was launched in June 2003. It is open to any male, in any country, born of a father who was surnamed Poythress, Poytress, or other possible spelling variations. As of April 2006, we have 13 participants and would welcome more. DNA Testing as a Genealogical Research Tool DNA testing is a valuable tool developing for genealogical research. A brief introduction is below regarding this non-invasive genetic DNA testing, and how such tests can give valuable information in our genealogical searching. More detailed information is available at the website of the company (Family Tree DNA) being used for this Study: www.familytreedna.com That company has an excellent reputation, and is very professional. They are the company partnering with The National Geographic Society for the worldwide Genographic Project. The answers to many Frequently Asked Questions appear on their FAQ page: http://www.familytreedna.com/faq.html A tutorial by FamlyTreeDNA regarding DNA for genealogy purposes is located at the following part of their website: http://www.familytreedna.com/tutorial_A.html For Surname Y-DNA Studies, the company gives a discount from the price that would be charged to an individual not affiliated with a Surname Study. The price as of April 2006 for Study participants for the 59-marker test is $269; tests of fewer markers cost less. To join the project, go to our Study's page at: http://www.familytreedna.com/surname_det.asp?group=Poythress Or if you are interested in participating in our Study, and need assistance in affording it, please privately contact our volunteer Group Administrator, Barbara Poythress Neal: bp_neal@earthlink.net Anyone interested in helping to sponsor a participant (perhaps the father, brother, or uncle of an interested female) can also contact Barbara to discuss how this can be accomplished. Surname DNA Study projects look at certain distinct markers within the Y Chromosome of the DNA, which is a small part of the DNA that a father passes to his son. Since these markers are consistently passed through the male line, the markers occur in the men of that surname: thus Poythress or Poytress surnamed sons inherit them from their Poythress or Poytress surnamed fathers. The Poythress/Poytress Study Methodology Most participants in our Study have upgraded to the 59-marker test which became available for Y-DNA testing in Spring 2006. The test is as easy as brushing one's teeth. The DNA test kit consists of a cheek scraper and a collection tube. Using the cheek scraper is similar to brushing the inside of one's cheek with a soft-bristled toothbrush. The Y-DNA test kit does not test for any disease, or hereditary condition; it looks only at specific markers within the man's Y Chromosome. When men match one another exactly on all or most of the markers, and when they share the same surname (or variant), the scientists report that those two factors clearly demonstrate they are related to one another. Their reports get more technical, and give terms of probability: for example with an exact match on all 59 markers, they show a 90% probability that the Most Recent Common Ancestor (or MRCA) of those men lived no longer ago than within the last 4 generations (the great-great-grandfather of the current man), and a 95% probability that the MRCA lived no longer ago than within the last 5 generations (3rd-great-grandfather). When the markers of tested men of the same surname (or variant) vary just a bit, by only one or two "repeats" on only one or two of the markers, the probability of them being closely related is still very, very high. Such slight variations come from normal changes, or mutations, that develop randomly within the Y-DNA, as it repeats itself over a period of time. Thus when testing a number of men of the same surname (or variant), results begin to show sub-groups of men develop, who are more closely related within various branches of the same surname line. Findings In our Poythress / Poytress Surname Y-DNA Study as of April 2006, we have 13 participants. One is in England and is known to be descended from the above-mentioned John who owned Ploddy House in Gloucestershire in the 1600s, through John's son Christopher. Our other 12 participants are Americans, many of whom had ancestors known to have lived in Virginia before most of their family lines moved further south to North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. Our English participant and 11 of our American participants are in Haplogroup R1b, which is from the British Isles. One American participant is in Haplogroup A, a group that shows some American Indian ancestry. 12-Marker Test Results: Almost all our participants (including our English participant) match completely on the initial 12-marker test. As shown below, the one participant in Haplogroup A matched on only 3 of those initial 12-markers, and the one participant whose family line has stayed in Virginia had a different reading on only DYS-439 (which is one of the "faster mutating" markers); on that marker he had "12" repeats while the other 11 of our Haplogroup R1b participants (including the English participant) had "13." The number of the reading basically tells how many times that part of the DNA has changed (or "mutated") by repeating itself. DYS 393 = 14 in Haplogroup R1b; 13 in Haplogroup A DYS 390 = 24 in Haplogroup R1b; 23 in Haplogroup A DYS 19 = 14 in Haplogroup R1b; 14 in Haplogroup A DYS 391 = 11 in Haplogroup R1b; 11 in Haplogroup A DYS 385a = 11 in Haplogroup R1b; 16 in Haplogroup A DYS 385b = 14 in Haplogroup R1b; 17 in Haplogroup A DYS 426 = 12 in Haplogroup R1b; 12 in Haplogroup A DYS 388 = 12 in Haplogroup R1b; 10 in Haplogroup A DYS 439 = 13 in Haplogroup R1b, except for the participant whose family line stayed in VA, who had 12; 12 in Haplogroup A DYS 389-1 = 14 in Haplogroup R1b; 13 in Haplogroup A DYS 392 = 12 in Haplogroup R1b; 11 in Haplogroup A DYS 389-2 = 30 in Haplogroup R1b; 31 in Haplogroup A 25-Marker Test Results: When 11 of our 12 Haplogroup R1b participants got results from the 25-marker test, we saw two distinct groups develop, along with another few men who varied slightly from them. (Since the participant in Haplogroup A had radically different results, his results are not listed below.) Results in the 13th through the 25th markers are: 4 men whose family lines moved from Virginia to North Carolina, Alabama, or Mississippi have completely identical scores to date (referred to below as the NC-AL-MS group). These 4 men have the following readings for the 13th through the 25th markers. DYS 458 = 16 DYS 459a = 9 DYS 459b = 10 DYS 455 = 11 DYS 454 = 11 DYS 447 = 25 DYS 437 = 15 DYS 448 = 19 DYS 449 = 30 DYS 464a = 15 DYS 464b = 15 DYS 464c = 16 DYS 464d = 18 4 men, including the English participant, and men whose lines moved from Virginia to Florida or Georgia (referred to below as the English-FL-GA group) share another completely identical set of scores, which vary from the NC-AL-MS group only by one repeat on DYS-464c (another of the "faster mutating" markers) having a 17 instead of the 16 shared by the above NC-AL-MS group; two other men whose family lines moved from Virginia to Georgia differed from this English-FL-GA group, on only DYS-458 (another faster mutating marker) but they differed in different directions to 17 and 15, instead of 16 shared by both the NC-AL-MS group and the English-FL-GA group; the one participant whose line remained in Virginia differs from all the above men on two faster mutating markers - he has fewer repeats on both DYS-464c and DYS-464d, having 15 & 16 respectively, versus the 16 & 18 of the NC-AL-MS group, and versus the 17 & 18 of the English-FL-GA group and of the two other GA participants mentioned above. 37-Marker Test Results: We also have gotten results on the 37-marker test for 8 of our 12 Haplogroup R1b participants. (Again, since the participant in Haplogroup A had radically different results, they are not listed below.) Results in the 26th through the 37th markers are: again completely identical results for the 3 of these 8 who were in the above-mentioned NC-AL-MS group. These 3 men have the following readings for the 26th through the 37th markers. DYS 460 = 11 DYS GATA-H4 = 10 DYS YCA-Ia = 19 DYS YCA-Ib = 23 DYS 456 = 15 DYS 607 = 15 DYS 576 = 18 DYS 570 = 16 DYS CDY-a = 37 DYS CDY-b = 38 DYS 442 = 12 DYS 438 = 12 our participant whose ancestors stayed in VA differs from the NC-AL-MS group on only faster mutating DYS-576, having one more repeat, 19, versus 18 for all of the other 7 Haplogroup R1b participants whose readings are already available through the 37-marker upgrade; our English participant had a difference from the NC-AL-MS group on only faster mutating marker, DYS-456 - he has one fewer repeat, 14, versus 15 for all the other 7 Haplogroup R1b participants whose readings are already available through the 37-marker upgrade; one of our GA participants had a difference on only one faster mutating marker, DYS-CDYb - he has one more repeat, 39, versus 38 for 6 of the other 7 Haplogroup R1b participants whose readings are already available through the 37-marker upgrade; our FL participant shares the "39" with the above GA participant on DYS-CDYb, and he has a further difference on marker, DYS-YCA-Ib (which is not listed as a faster mutating DYS): he has 19 versus 23 for all the other 7 Haplogroup R1b participants whose readings are already available through the 37-marker upgrade; another GA participant had a greater difference on that same DYS-CDYb: he has 40 repeats on it, and he further differs on faster mutating DYS-CDYa by having 38, versus 37 for all of the other 7 Haplogroup R1b participants whose readings are already available through the 37-marker upgrade. 59-Marker Test Results: As of April 2006, the newly available 59-marker test has been ordered for most of our group participants. Those results should be available in early Summer 2006. Further detailed findings and analysis will be posted to this website as the study progresses. We continue to work with more customary genealogical source materials (including census, tax, land, Bible, etc records) and to look for such source materials that are harder to find, in our effort to better determine how the various branches relate to each other. If you have further questions, please personally contact our volunteer Group Administrator, Barbara Poythress Neal: bp_neal@earthlink.net