Dear Barbara Way, Thanks for your kind message! I'm taking the liberty of passing it along to members of the Rootsweb Strong, Strange and Strang Lists. I know John Mayer would have been excited by the possibilities presented by the DNA Study. Thank you very much for helping to publicize the Study project. The project will take time to come to fruition; however,.we are slowly gaining momentum. We will be sure to include you in any reports of the results! Our condolances on the loss of your husband. It is always a shock when someone leaves us suddenly. We will look forward to when you have the time to get back to the republication of your brother John's books, but certainly understand your need to attend to everything. I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas under the circumstances. Best Wishes, Dave Strong ... webmaster: Book I: RESEARCHING STRONG(E) AND STRANG(E) IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~donegalstrongs/contents.htm Database and manuscript. See especially Chap. 13, entitled "Lineages"; and Chapt. 15, "DNA Study" http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~donegalstrongs/dnastudy.htm & Book II: THE DONEGAL STRONG PUZZLE: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~donegalstrongs/indxdrft.htm Research and study of Counties Donegal and Fermanagh Strongs and related families. ============================================================== ----- Original Message ----- From: Barbara Way To: David B. Strong Sent: Sunday, December 08, 2002 12:05 PM Subject: RE: LeStrange-Strange-Strang-Stronge-Strong DNA STUDY Dear Dave, Your message fascinates me. I so wish I could call my brother John to tell him. He would be thrilled with the possibilities. It did dawn on me though that I could help you. I forwarded your message to everyone in my Arapacana Press mail list who has an e-mail address. There were 260 e-mail addresses of which at least 20 were no longer good addresses. (You helped me clean up my mail list.) I have many more contacts who don't have an e-mail address. When we publish another book, if I can find room on our brochure which we mail out, I will include a link to the study. We finished a book at the beginning of August but I haven't worked on the books any since then. My husband passed away very suddenly at the end of August and for the time being, there are many more pressing things to do with my time. I'm sure I will get back to it some day. Thank you so much for organizing this effort. I will be interested in the results. Barb Way Arapacana Press ============================================================== -----Original Message----- From: David B. Strong [mailto:dbsandmd@attcanada.ca] aSent: Thursday, December 05, 2002 4:08 PM To: Thomas L'Estrange (Co.Cork, Ireland>Iowa); Ruth Henderson (L'Estrange of Westmeath, India, Australia); Richard Stephen Strange; Patrick Harris (New Zealand, re L'Estrange); Muriel Millwood (California, re LaStrange); Mike Strange (England); Mike Gough (Canada-re L'Estrange); Michael Quin-Conroy (L'Estrange, India, Australia); Kitty McLaughlin; Kelly L'Estrange (Co.Cork, Ireland >Iowa); Jerry L'Estrange (California-re L'Estrange of Westmeath); Janice McGlaughlin(Boston,MA, re LEstrange of Dublin); Jacques LesStrang (California, re Lestrange); Eamonn L'Estrange (re Irish L'Estranges); Don Gregg (Tasmania, re L'Estrange of Westmeath); Barrie J M Wright (re L'Estrange, Loftis); Tom Weir (So.Carolina); Susan Strong Hall (So.Carolina Strongs); Rosslyn Anne Strange Basey (Re Strange); Roger Dellinger (re Co. Antrim); Nancy Williams (re Strang of Cambuslang, SCT); Martin Casterud (Sweden, re Strange of Sweden); Lyn Sanchez (re Strange, Balcaskie); Lowry Betts (So.Carolina); Le! ta Strange (re Strange of Balcaskie); Kevin Strang; JeanStrecker2002@aol.com; Douglas V MacRae (re Strong; Perthshire); David Graham Strang (Strang research?); Bo Larsen (Germany, re Strange of Sweden); Barbara Way; Baille Strong; Nicole Lentz (Strang of NFLD); Helene Attrill (re Strange of Balcaske); Margaret Mitchell (Scottish Strangs); William Frederick Veale; Valerie Boal (English Strongs); Thomas J. Strong; Simon Stronge; Rod Strong (UK, re Strong, Lincs); Rita Robinson (South Africa); Rick Whistler; Paul Christopher Feitz (NL, re Gloucester, Eng Strongs); Paul Arnold (TO, re Co.Armagh & Carlisle); Norma Griffith (Australia); Natasha Doreen Moxon (Strongman Eng.); Martha F.B. Strong (PA, re Southwest England); Mark Porter (Australia, re Somerset Strongs); Maria Elisa Botelho Byington (Brazil frm Copiah, MS); Luis Granados; Lise Elliott (England); Linda Fellober (Strange of England); Len Strong (re Strongs of Hampshire, UK); Juanita Alloway (Strange); Johnny Strong; John! Strong (Leeds, England); Jeanne; Herbert Adams (re Old Perlican, NFLD); Geoff Humble (Australia, re Strong of Dorset, England); Dierdre McCabe (Strange of England); Denis Strangman; Deirdre Snook (Stonemason Strongs, So.Africa); Danielle Kiey; Charles "Chaz" Strong (of Newfndld); Betty Jaekle (Strongs of Kent, England); Anthony Strong (BC re English Strongs); Angela McCarthy (New Zealand Connection); Linda Lindsey Subject: LeStrange-Strange-Strang-Stronge-Strong DNA STUDY Hello Everyone! It has probably been quite a while since you heard from me.... and l suspect there are a few addresses which have changed in the meantime. I am hoping to contact as many LeStrange-Strange-Strang-Stronge-Strongs as possible in order to pass along information about a DNA Study which may be of considerable help to us all. Please consider reposting this message to any message boards or related lists to which you may belong. There is a hypothesis that the names LeStrange-Strange-Strang-Stronge-Strong are all variants of the same name. There is also a related hypothesis that there are at least two different roots to the Strange and Strang surnames.... that the English Stranges are derived from the Norman or Breton LeStrange family, and that the Scottish Stranges and Strangs spring from a separate, possibly Viking root based on the old Norse given name "Strangi". In turn there are various modern families bearing these variant surnames which are all derived in one way or another from these roots. A few years ago John Richard Mayer, a descendant of Alexander Strange, and author of a number of books regarding the various Strange surnames, joined the Strong List for about a year. Unfortunately, he died at a very young age, and is no longer with us to share his love of genealogy. During the short time he was a member of the Strong List, he made significant contributions to the discussions on the list. You might want to explore the Strong List archives in this regard. Upon his death, we established a memorial webpage, detailing in part the significance of his writing. See: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/7530/jrmmem.html If you have not previously reviewed this webpage, I think you will find it very interesting. There is a link to an index of his series of books, listing the various Strange lineages which he had distinguished. His sister Barbara Way has engaged in a process of updating the various books based on the material she found in John's computer after his death. It can be said that John Mayer had one of the best overall visions of how the various LeStrange-Strange-Strang-Stronge-Strong lineages fit together. There have nevertheless been questions about the validity of his hypotheses and those hypotheses formulated by some others (including myself) based on John's writings and analyses. Now, we have an opportunity to test the hypotheses. Now we have a new tool which may prove or disprove relationships, and aid us in persuing the most likely research which will prove the connection.... a DNA Study. Recently I have initiated a DNA Study for the benefit of the many researchers and their families who have been unable to break through some of those "brickwalls" . Many of us are able to trace our lineages back several generations before coming up against a frustrating lack of records which tend to make "proof" impossible. Many of us have hunches and a lot of positive evidence pointing to lineage connections, but not enough to establish the links which make the connection. Are the English Strongs and Stranges really all from one root family of Stranges or Lestranges, tracing back to the Lestrange family who came to England with William the Conqueror? On the other hand, we already have a member of the Study who uses the "Strong" surname, but who has traced his lineage to Strangs in 16th century Scotland. To what extent is he related to the other Strangs or Stranges of Scottish ancestry? Is he related to the English Stranges and Lestranges? Are YOU related to him? There is a separate "Strang" family which can trace it's lineage to the "d'Streing" family of France. Many of their members can trace their lineage to a Streing who settled in early New Jersey or New York. Is this your root? Can we establish what Haplotype of DNA markers denotes members of the lineage? Is the Streing/Strang lineage in turn related to the LeStrange families of France and England? There is much information which can be gained by jointly sharing in this DNA Study! In connection with the DNA Study, I have recently established a new webpage setting up the LeStrange-Strange-Strang-Stronge-Strong DNA Study. See: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~donegalstrongs/dnastudy.htm The webpage is now fully operational. You are invited to visit the webpage, and if possible, join the study. You must be a male LeStrange-Strange-Strang-Stronge-Strong, or variant surname, to participate in the testing for the study, but if you are a female or descendant of a female LeStrange-Strange-Strang-Stronge-Strong you can work with your male LeStrange-Strange-Strang-Stronge-Strong relatives to have them tested. It is even possible for you to pay to have your cousin(s) tested! We have obtained one of the best prices available on the market, to the best of my knowledge, and this is your opportunity to take advantage of the research possibilities presented. This study is for the benefit of everyone.... if possible, please consider joining even if you are certain you have traced your lineage as far back as it is possible to go. For example, consider that by joining the study you will be helping others trace their lines as well. How? By establishing a prototype of your LeStrange-Strange-Strang-Stronge-Strong"haplotype" in the DNA Study, you will provide researchers of un-linked lineages with a possibility of matching that DNA haplotype... proving or disproving a relationship link. Interested researchers will not be able to find out the name of their missing link... but they will be able to establish whether they are on the right track, and gain some prediction of how many generations back they will have to go in order to establish a "Most Recent Common Ancestor". The same can be said for many lines being researched around the world. The webpage outlines some of the goals of the study which may be useful to every person researching one of the variant surnames, LeStrange, Strange, Strang, Stronge, and Strong. It is possible we may be able to prove or disprove the hypotheses re the derivation of the surnames above. The DNA Study has certain limitations dictated by the technology involved. The participant must be a male Strong or variant surname. He can't be the male descendant of a female Strong, etc. This is because the DNA tested is from the male Y chromosome, which is "handed" from father to son relatively unchanged thru many generations. A female does not have a Y chromosome, and thus the chain is broken. Not everyone will be able to join the study, but perhaps they will have a male LeStrange-Strange-Strang-Stronge-Strong relative who can join the study. Please try to enlist volunteers from any of these lines in the study. One can join the study directly from the website, and get the advantage of a reduced rate for the test provided to us by Family Tree DNA, a genetic testing company whose services are being used by over 250 "one-name" family surname studies. The company has an established reputation, and is providing us with a service which may prove invaluable. If you have any questions after reviewing the webpage, please let me know. This is a cooperative research effort involving the efforts of everyone who joins the study. I have no proprietarial interest in the results of the study. It's benefits, after the initial cost of testing, are intended to be freely available to all. I invite any and all interested researchers of the various lineages out there to jump in and suggest possible benefits of this study for their particular lines. Volunteers are needed. Please join the study! Regards Dave Strong ... webmaster: Book I: RESEARCHING STRONG(E) AND STRANG(E) IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~donegalstrongs/contents.htm Database and manuscript. See especially Chap. 13, entitled "Lineages"; and Chapt. 15, "DNA Study" http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~donegalstrongs/dnastudy.htm & Book II: THE DONEGAL STRONG PUZZLE: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~donegalstrongs/indxdrft.htm Research and study of Counties Donegal and Fermanagh Strongs and related families. ==============================================================