Hello Everyone: I am forwarding this information from our DNA project coordinator Cynthia Wells of North Carolina. PLEASE SEE BELOW Please contact her at the email below if anyone is interested in participating in this project. FURTHER IF ANYONE NEEDS MORE INFORMATION ON THIS PROJECT OR HOW THIS DNA TECHNOLOGY WORKS. PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO CONTACT Cynthia. Cynthia Wells [email protected] THANK YOU! --Gerald Lay P. S. I am deleting the Lay Family Association web link that is usually at the bottom of my emails. This being so aol users may have a better chance receiving this notice. If some one is interested in more info concerning the LFGA Please contact me ( [email protected] ) or Cynthia ( [email protected] ). MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL!! Gerald Lay Founding Member: 1995 Lay Family Genealogical Association ------------------------------------------ Founding Member: 1989 Campbell County ( TN ) Historical Society Hello to All: More great news about the Project. John W. Lay's and Charlie Leigh's 12 marker results are back, Russ Lay's has his 25 markers posted and we now have a Connecticutt Lay descendent who has ordered a 37 marker test! We now have four DNA results posted indicating that the three Lay lines that these participants descend from are NOT related to any common Lay ancestor. John W. ordered the 37 marker so the 25 and 37 markers will be posted in the next week or two. Russ is waiting for the balance of his 37 marker. http://www.familytreedna.com/public/Lay/ As expected, Charlie and John D are exact matches at the 12 marker as both descend from Abraham who is documented being born in England. Charlie and John D's predicted Haplogroup is I. Geneticists associate this haplogroup as having ancient Norse beginnings. John W. Lay, descendent of Rev. William L Lay, is also predicted to have Haplogroup I origins but his 12 marker is unique from the descendents of Abraham and a descendent of William Banks Lay of Gaston Co., NC. Furthermore Russ, our descendent of Willam Banks Lay, is predicted to belong to Haplogroup R1A. This Haplogroup has ancient European beginnings. Russ, being our fearless leader of the pack, has stepped up and ordered the SNP test to confirm his Haplogroup. As more participants join our Project we will begin to see a pattern and be able to identify how they fit into the lines of our 'pioneer' testing group. We should also expect to find additional unique results as there are other major Lay lines not associated with our 'pioneer' group. What is very interesting at this point is the different Haplogroup prediction for the Gaston Co., NC line. Family tradition states a French heritage that has never been proven and has been questioned. Belonging to haplogroup R1A is cert! ainly a plus for this tradition but no conclusions can be reached with any of the results so far until more particpants join and validate the results of our 'pioneer' group. This also has implications for historians who research Bird Lay. Documentation has proven that two distinct Bird Lay's of the same age, lived in the same time period but different locales. Reverend William L Lay is thought to be the son of Bird Lay who died in Campbell Co., TN. William Banks Lay is thought to be the son of Bird Lay who died in Lincoln/Gaston Co., NC. Descendents of these 2 Bird Lay's both claim the Bird Lay of Caswell Co., NC, son of John, as theirs. Now that DNA proves no common relationship only 1 can be right. Which one? A Jesse Lay is documented to be the son of Bird and if a descendent of him is out there and can be found or is known, his participation in this project is greatly needed. Also, all the Lay males out there who descend from the other Jesse's and David's, now is the tim! e to step up and participate! Kits that are still in the testing stage are John R Lay who descends from Isaac Lay whose descendents are recorded in Burke Co., NC before heading to VA/TN, and Missouri; and Maxwell Lay of Australia whose Lay ancestry is documented in England. Our latest addition is John C. Lay. Yes that's right another John. I suppose we will go through every letter of the alphabet for the middle names of Lay men called John. Shall we start a side contest! <g> John C. is a descendent of our Connecticutt Lay's. Other housekeeping items: FamilyTreeDNA headquarters are located in Houston. There has been delays in the posting of results due to Hurricane Rita. Also their lab, located in Arizona, is running at full tilt, keeping up with the National Geographic Society's Genographic Project. The lab has also changed procedures on how they tract the kits. But the results will come! Charles and John W. Please upload your results to YSearch website using the link in your personal preference page. We have funds earmarked for a participant who descends from Charles Lay, of Pendleton District, SC and a pledge to a participant who descends from John M. Lay b. 1790 NC. We also have two participants who benefited by generous donations toward their tests. What does this mean? Please continue to spread the word about this project and consider pledging funds to contribute to the cost of future participants. Scholarships are used in several DNA projects and everyone benefits from the results that come back. Pardon me for being bold but giving the gift of a DNA test as a Christmas or birthday gift should not be ruled out, especially for someone who is anxious to test but has financial concerns. The Project is in need of participants who descend from the Lay's of Pennsylvania, George Lay of MD, the early Louisiana Lay's, Joseph and John Lay of Eastern NC, William Lay, a Quaker living c. 1790 in Georgia, and most definitely our international cousins in England, Australia, and New Zealand. I am trying to keep the technical descriptions at a minimum in describing the Project and the results coming forth. I encouage all member of this project to read 'Trace Your Roots with DNA' by Megan Smolenyak and visit not only the FamilyTreeDNA site but other websites devoted to DNA testing for genealogical purposes to get a better understanding of the terms used and how DNA testing greatly benefits family history research. Take care, don't hesitate to email me with questions, concerns, or anything else for that matter. Cynthia