wlgreene@ij.net writes: My understanding is your surname has to be Strother and all 25 of your DNA markers must match perfectly with a male descendant of William Strother to prove you are related to him. DNA testing can be part of genealogy, but its purposes and limitations should be recognized. There was an article about it by John Seabrook, in the New Yorker, a year or so ago -- unfortunately, I don't think it's available anywhere online. Male-chromosome DNA is passed on from father to son, unchanged, except for occasional variations. 24 out of 25 would probably work, over several generations. If one Strother living today, has DNA that substantially matches the DNA of another Strother living today, it may prove that the two are related. However, it does not prove that either one of them is a descendant of William Strother, or anyone else. Only Mrs. Strother knows the father of her sons, and she probably didn't leave a diary. Also, the Strothers may have adopted two sons, neither of whom had any DNA in common with their adoptive parents. This could have resulted in two lines of Strothers with differing DNA but equal claims to the Strother heritage.