Hi, Winnie, I am very interested in participating in such a study, if possible. I do not live in Franklin County, VA, (I now live in Loudoun County, VA), but I spent my first nine years in adjacent Henry County and both sides of my mother's tree are people who lived in Henry and Franklin Counties -- my father's tree, with people mostly in North Carolina, also links up to my mother's tree very remotely several times. I have a tree that goes back quite far on both my parents' side (part of it perhaps into the royal families of Europe several times, if some of my pre-American links hold up -- and I believe that many of them do because of the duplicaton of information in so many places - too many coincidences and lots of supporting information, and the fact that the younger brothers of the English peerage were involved heavily in the American tobacco business in early VA and NC), with almost 67,000 people in my database, including the lines of my ancestors' siblings, other wives, etc. I am related to almost everyone in Henry and Franklin Counties who did not move into the counties just recently. I am trying to create a database of everyone in the counties, to learn as many details as possible of local history and family connections. Much of what I have in my database was taken from Internet research during the last two years, but information about most of my closer ancestors is first-hand knowledge and much is backed up by primary documents, and earlier "real world" research I did starting back in the late 1960s in Washington at the DAR Library. (I may even have you and/or your ancestors in my database!) I remain in contact with my extended family in Henry/Franklin Counties, VA, and visit periodically, so if a study were done ther and that I be there for the study, I can manage that. (Although I believe I could contribute blood via a local plebotomist, as I did so recently for a genetic test for a family medical disorder.) I also could probably get some family members in the area to participate. My mother's immediate family names are Stultz, Turner, Ross, McGhee, Minter. Intertwined with those are also Griggs, Thornton, Gravely, Richarson, Wells, Ramsey, Prillaman, Mullins, etc., etc., etc., and just about all the names you find now in Henry/Franklin Counties. Although my research has taught me that many families everywhere in the 18th century and earlier commonly intermarried, I believe that the people of Henry and Franklin Counties are unusual in the amount of intermarrying -- most of the traditional families of the two counties include numerous first-cousin marriages. In the 1700s, people from Eastern Virginia, Pennsylvania and various European countries came through Henry/Franklin (old Pittsylvania) Counties on their way to Revolutionary land grants and Louisiana Purchase land further west, as the Great Wagon Road mountain gap to the Ohio Valley and on to Texas and the rest of the US was at the nearby "corner" area of VA, NC and Tennessee. (Most of the traditional names in Tenessee and Kentucky, particularly, are from our part of Virginia -- also descendants of our ancestors.) The Great Mountain Road parallel to the Blue Ridge Mntns. split near our area of Virginia into a separate fork that ran down to Georgia, which was the major interstate travel route during the migration period, thus taking many of our people throughout the South to populate that region. Those people who remained in Franklin/Henry Counties, VA, have ancestry that includes English, German, French and other nationalities, as well as Cherokee and the mixed blood (probably Portuguese/Spanish and perhaps Turkish) of the Melungeons, of which I believe you must be aware. Our people also are descended from and/or related to many of the Jamestown and other earliest Virginia settlers, including the Washington and Jefferson families, etc., etc., and Pocahantas' descendants. In fact, we are related to almost everyone (original families) in Virginia! (And northern North Carolina) And our people settled and populated much of the central and Western United States. I like to think of Henry/Franklin Counties as the "Cradle of America," in the sense that many Americans in the West and South are descended from families who passed through and stayed a while or were the early settlers of Henry/Franklin Counties. After the 1700s migration period, the population that remained in Franklin/Henry Counties remained quite stable, with very few new additions of blood. New generations were primarily the offspring of repeated cousin marriages, both distant and close. Because the area was off the beaten path (a fter the mid-1700s), with few people leaving and few new people coming in, the population is almost "pure" in the sense of being a distinct population. I think it must be an unusual population and one that could be of intense interest to geneticists, particularly since people who are part of the same larger family tree still remain in the area and are easily reachable for research. As I am a writer/journalist by profession (semi-retired), I have been contemplating a book on the topic (not just a family history, but a larger historical piece), and I had been thinking of suggesting the population to the National Institutes of Health for a possible medical/genetic study (I live in the Washington, DC, area), or finding someone else in appropriate academic/medical circles who might be interested in studying it. By the way, are you aware that Henry/Franklin Counties, VA, are purportedly within the area of Appalachia where the English spoken is the closest to Elizabethan English of any other now found on earth? That's because the population was isolated for a long period. Please let me know how we might get on with participating. I can think of ways to perhaps get many people in Henry/Franklin counties to participate, I believe -- although I know Henry County much better since my grandparents lived there and my aunts and uncles and immediate cousins still live in the Fieldale area. One branch of cousins (Mullins and Prillamans) still live in the tiny town of Henry, in Franklin County. I know the blood lines pretty well for the whole of Henry County and am learning more every day about Franklin County's blood lines. I have become quite addicted to genealogical research now and add new names and knowledge to my database almost daily. Best, Francine Modderno (ne Moss, mother Doris Turner Stultz) In a message dated 08/31/2000 8:01:44 PM Eastern Daylight Time, VAFRANKL-D-request@rootsweb.com writes: << Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2000 19:03:59 -0400 From: "Winnie" <winnie@i-plus.net> To: VAFRANKL-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <000401c013a2$ab4f3b20$e71664d1@drmsr3> Subject: [VAFRANKL] DNA-BYU Found this message on my Franklin Co Tenn list. Wonder if we could get enough folks in the local area to bring them here. I don't know how to go about it myself, but if enough persons are interested, it would be worth checking into. Winnie Minson Hi there, For those of you who are local to Franklin County, I have recently found out that BYU in Utah are doing DNA Research Genealogy study. Molecular Genealogy links individuals together in "family trees" based on unique identification of genetic markers. In order to reconstruct molecular genealogies it is necessary to utilize known biological relationships and correlate this information with the transmission of genetic markers through time. Throughout the world there is intense interest in the origins and histories of people. Some of this information is transmitted through oral or written histories. Unfortunately, the history of some peoples and communities has been lost or destroyed through time. By utilizing the genetic record that each individual retains of his/her past, it is possible to reveal important clues as to their origin and relationship of any individual toother persons orpopulations. It will be possible to establish ancient immigration and migration patterns... Anyway, I was very interested because my grandmother would not talk about our Indian heritage. I want to do this to see if I have any Indian blood or not. I checked to see how I could participate in this study. I was told if I could get 100 + people, they could be here in about 3 months. You have to be 18. They will take about two tbsp of blood and it will be drawn by an experienced phlebotomist. You have to also have a four generation pedigree chart filled out as best you can. This will be used for future study. It is completely private. The results will be under lock and key. It takes about 10 mins. to do and they will pay you $10. Shoot, I would pay them $10.:) If any of you locals are interested, call or e-mail me. Thanks, Judy Phillips Franklin County >>