At the risk of exasperating my fellow COOPER Family Researchers, I feel I should make yet another plea for additional participants in the COOPER Surname DNA Project. I am not the Group Administrator, Hiram "Ben" Cooper is, and he as NOT asked me to make this plea. However, as one of the original few participants, I have a vested interest in this exciting technology, which is still new on the genealogical scene. I would like to invite you to review the website for the Group at: http://www2.arkansas.net/~bcooper2k/. Ben has done and excellent job of setting this up for the Group. I appears that the detractors to participation sometimes have a few fears or concerns that they allow to prevent them from taking the steps to join the group. These fears/concerns are totally unfounded. The participant's personal data is kept under strict confidence and security. Specimens are not used for anything but genealogical purposes, there is no hidden agenda or test sequences to find hidden diseases or make comparisons with DNA from crime scenes, there is no thought of cloning. The tests run on specimens are simply to detect the Y-chromosome that remains unique and virtually unchanged for 500+ years as it is passed on from father to son from generation to generation. There are tests available, if the participants desire them from the service provider Family Tree DNA (www.familytreedna.com), that can used for determining bloodline origins, but these are not run unless the participant orders them. Benefits vary, currently there are 46 participants, with about 30 results reported that have identified 20 different Cooper family lines. Within these 20 lines are about 4 groups who have two or more matches within them. These matches identify relationships that give these participants the opportunity to correspond with each other via email to share information from their research. The emails addresses and confirmation of matching results are the only information shared with those who match other participants. There have been those who discovered new family members, or confirm relationships that they could not otherwise document. The more participants that join, the more the chances of finding or proving relationships increases. I sincerely encourage any male Cooper, or Cooper males who are related to female researchers, to join the Group. There is a link in the website that allows you to join. The group needs all participants that will join from any line of Cooper. Ben and I are particularly interested in Coopers who descend from Anthony Ashley Cooper, James Fennimore Cooper, the Cooper families of Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, and basically the southeast quadrant of the United States. Sincerest Best Regards, Gary [email protected] Gary W. & Christie J. Cooper 653 Lover's Lane Road Dawson, Georgia 39842 ==== COOPER Mailing List ==== To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, send an email message to: [email protected] The ONLY word in your message should be UNSUBSCRIBE. [email protected] Gary W. & Christie J. Cooper 653 Lover's Lane Road Dawson, Georgia 39842