Hi Everybody, In answer to if mtDNA can Help with a genealogy study.... Nelda Bill, The question from a person on that list was does mtDNA actualy bring two different paper trails together or does the paper trail prove why they both have a particular mtDNA result? Would your links provide that type of info? (to me that is a silly question but....?? ) Nelda 1.) Reply: I would rather say that they collaborate like land transactions and daughters' names in wills. Rebekah ~~~~~~~~~~~ 2.) Reply: Hi again cousin Nelda, In the beginning was the paper trail. But the paper trail was missing the keystone; that is, there was no piece of direct evidence connecting the two Kelly sisters. Only several pieces of indirect and circumstantial evidence. In a sense, the perfect mtDNA match is just another piece of circumstantial evidence, but it happens to be completely independent of all the other evidence. Looking at the mtDNA match one way, you could say that the common mtDNA ancestor of my two cousins could be further back - much further back - than the mother of the Kelly sisters. But from another point of view, the odds of two people picked at random having exactly the same mtDNA is extremely low. Of course, in this case the two were not picked at random; they were picked because my paper research had determined that the two Kelly women were sisters. Another answer to your question: chicken, egg. Bill Hurst ~~~~~~~~~~~ Bills reply: Here are two references to the results of my "Kelly sisters project." The first is the original posting on this list. Wow, almost three years ago. Time flies. The second one is to a fuller discussion of the background of the project. There is also a brief discussion starting on p. 70 in the Smolenyak and Turner "Tracing Your Roots...." book. http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/GENEALOGY-DNA/2003-10/1065235553 http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~wrhurst/lindsey-kelly/catherinekellyparents.htm Bill Hurst ~~~~~~~~~ And page 69 has a story about identifying the maiden name of a Mrs. Scott, which would tie in with your Scott list, too. Ann Turner ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi there Scot-DNA folks, I'm wondering if there are any participants of Mi'kmac descent? We're conducting a study that seeks to prove Scotsman, Prince Henry St. Clair discovered North America nearly 100 years before Columbus. Thanks, Steve