MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL!! Gerald Lay Founding Member: 1995 Lay Family Genealogical Association www.geocities.com/Heartland/Acres/8896 ------------------------------------------ Founding Member: 1989 Campbell County ( TN ) Historical Society ----- Original Message ----- From: "Cynthia Ann Wells" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, October 21, 2005 2:00 AM Subject: Lay DNA Project update > Hello to everyone, > > We have exciting news on all fronts this evening. This is a long email so > you may want to print it out. There is a lot to pass on. New tests results > are back, new participants have ordered kits, AND a potentially > interesting lead discovered through his DNA results for John W. Lay and > his kin who descend from Rev. William L. Lay. > > John R. Lay, descendent of Isaac and Catherine Lay of Burke Co., NC has > his 25 marker results back. His DNA does not match any of our previously > tested participants and his haplogroup is predicted to be R1b, a common > haplogroup for Western Europeans. According to unproven and unsourced > family tradition, Isaac descended from European Layâ?Ts originally from > Alsace Loraine, a French-German province, and Isaacâ?Ts father immigrated > to America from there. Others say that Isaac was kin to the Campbell Co., > TN Layâ?Ts. However these initial results say otherwise. Either way, we > cannot validate or come to any conclusions until further participants come > forward, test, and compare results. We do have another potential tester > for Isaacâ?Ts line in the works but because John R.â?Ts haplogroup is R1B, > descendents of the German Pennsylvania Layâ?Ts will greatly add to our > understanding of Isaacâ?Ts lineage and point to new avenues for > traditional paper research. I know we have a few members of this email > group who descend from these PA Layâ?Ts so hopefully a suitable > participant can be found. > > Our cousin from Australia, Max, has his 12 markers back. As expected he is > not a match with any of our current participants. What is interesting for > Max is that his haplogroup is also predicted to be R1b, indicating deep > European ancestral roots of the 1,000 years + back range. Max can trace > his Lay lineage in England back to the 1500â?Ts. As I have noted before, > Abraham Layâ?Ts line, also back to England is Haplogroup I, indicating > deep Norse ancestral roots of the 1,000+ back range. I mention all this to > highlight the rich ancestral history of England in how the land was > invaded and re-invaded numerous times over the millennia before having > surnames for identification became common. Max has identified several > different Lay lines in Australia and New Zealand, much like our southern > U.S. Layâ?Ts and has been very diligent in spreading news about our > Project to them. I might add to Max and Murray that participant Russ Lay, > is doing the tourist thing right now in your beautiful countries. Our CT > Lay tester, John C.â?Ts kit has been received by the lab and will be > included in the next batch for testing. Expect his results sometime after > Thanksgiving. John C. documents back to England and is a very important > line for Project analysis and comparing to our known English descendents. > > Onward to John W. Lay, descendent of Rev. William L. Lay. His markers had > no exact or close matches in the FTDNA database at the 12, 25, or 37 > marker levels. FTDNA calls John W.â?Ts haplotype unique. John, did you > know how unique you are? â?~VBGâ?T However, I plugged Johnâ?Ts numbers > into another well known DNA lab database, that has their participants > submit pedigree charts and John W.â?Ts DNA is a very close match with two > males who have tested. The first male is a descendent of a French-Canadian > whose surname could have definitely been Americanized into Lay. There is > family tradition in some East TN Lay lines that talk about a French > Canadian heritage. The second male is a Lay who descends from a William > Lay1, John Lay2, and Taliaferro Lay3â?¦..and down the line. This line is > recorded in TN then into Alabama. Now here is the icing on the cake. > Gloria who descends from a William Lay who family tradition states married > a Taliaferro has been hard at work recruiting a participant from her line > since way back when the Project started. Well thanks to her and newest > email group member Catherine, we have a tester for the William Lay line of > Roane Co., TN. Walter H. Lay will be testing for this line. This > couldnâ?Tt have come at a more important time given the DNA match John W. > shares with this descendent of a Taliaferro Lay. Gloria, Catherine, and > John W.; may want to get up and compare pedigrees while waiting for > Walterâ?Ts results. In the meantime John, email me for further information > on your matches, especially the French Canadian match, so you can make a > research plan. Catherine, could you please email me a pedigree of > Walterâ?Ts direct lineage. > > John W.â?Ts match results and Walter's upcoming test also have huge future > ramifications for our other two testers who need to return their kits to > the lab; Greg and Todd. Greg also descends from Rev. William L and Todd > descends from Big Valley Dave. Gentlemen, your results could be the start > of a breakthrough several East TN researchers have been looking for. > > Lastly, a potential participant from John M. Layâ?Ts line may be ready to > order his kit after the first of next year. We still have a part > scholarship available for a 37-marker kit to a descendent of Charles Lay > of Pendleton District, SC. > > Thanks to everyone for participating in this great group. All this could > easily die and we would be just left with 9-10 strings of numbers. > OR...we could get the bigger picture of how all the Lay families are > related. You do make a difference and our Project has been growing in the > right direction. > > Regards, > > Cynthia Ann Wells > > >