Hello, I am a distant cousin that Betty Putnam mentioned in an earlier email. Just like Betty, I have been able to trace my family lineage to James Wilson (1700-1777) of Virginia. However, for whatever reason, the paper trail stops. We have plenty of marriage, birth and death certificates, along with land deeds, military records, newspaper clippings, etc. but these paper trails stop with James. As a result, about three years ago I decided to do a DNA test via FamilyTree DNA. Tests are done at different levels, and I opted for the least expensive 12 marker test. When my results came back with matches for others at the 12 marker level, I was disappointed that there was not a single Wilson included. Rather, all of my matches were with the surname St. Clair or Sinclair (which is an English corruption of St. Clair). However, there is a St. Clair research group, and something about my markers caught the eye of Steve St. Clair who is in charge for the project. He asked if I was adopted or if there had been a name change in our family, etc. After assuring him that none of these things had happened, he asked me to take further higher level DNA tests along with several SNP tests. My category is P-310, R1b1a2a1a1 (R1b-L11). From what I know understand this is a very old marker, but also is an exact match with one of the 12 identified/distinct lines within the St. Clair lineage. However, at the time, very little was known about this line of the family, and while St. Clair lines had been clearly defined, the group with which I have a perfect match was known as the Mystery Group because so little was known about them. However, my match was closer than even some of the people whose surnames were St. Clair or Sinclair, so I kind of offered to be a guinea pig and do more testing. At the same time, a Scottish farmer whose family had been on the same land for 600 years agreed to do a DNA test for the St. Clair project. To make a long story short (and I apologize if it is already too late for that!) he and I (along with the other members of the Mystery Group) matched perfectly. The farm is about 30 minutes southwest of Edinburgh, or about 30 minutes west of Roslin. The closest town that you would likely find on a map is Haddington. However, the name of the farm is Herdmanston, and as Betty mentioned, my wife and I visited it last summer (not too long after Steve St. Clair also first visited). We have now been given the name the Herdmanston line of the St. Clair family, and existing records show that by 1162 we were in Scotland (in fact, there are remains of the original farm house and chapel still standing at Herdmanston). It is thought that the St. Clair's came from the Normandy region of France and arrived in England at different times, but that the Herdmanston line is the oldest in Scotland. The St. Clair Research Project has a very informative web site: http://www.stclairresearch.com/content/news.html Of course the question arrives, how does the surname Wilson fit in with St. Clair. It is interesting if you ever visit Roslin chapel that there are 6 Wilson's buried in the surrounding cemetery. First, Wilson is the 3rd most common name in Scotland (Smith and Brown being the top two) and most researchers agree there is no one distinct Wilson line from which we all sprang, which is why often our DNA's don't match each other, but do show matches with other surnames. In the Middle Ages it was common practice for the eldest son to inherit the title and lands foe his father, and thus carry these with them. Younger sons often learned a trade, became a soldier, etc. Of course, as we all know they became known as William's Son, which was eventually contracted to Will's Son and eventually to Wilson. In digging through piles and piles of papers, one of the things that Steve and I have found is that William was a very popular name within the Herdmanston Line, with it being an inherited title from about 1200-1400). Hence, a lot of younger male William's sons in each generation for about 200 years. While I've tried to connect a specific William St. Clair whose younger son may have started our Wilson line, I have not made much progress. However, we do have very strong DNA evidence along with a lot of historical and circumstantial evidence to suggest that our Wilson line likely became distinct from the St. Clair name somewhere around 1400-1500. So, with that extremely long winded post, it is fascinating what connections can be made via DNA, and also why we Wilson's often show such differences. In fact the Wilson Clan Web Site in Scotland makes this same statement http://www.clanwilsonscotland.com/page1.php. Hopefully nobody feel asleep reading this long post, but I've enjoyed reading posts from others and Betty persuaded me that I should offer some information on our common heritage. And by the way, if you ever need answers to changing names of counties in Kentucky or Virginia, Betty is the person to ask! Best Wishes Gregg Gregory S. Wilson, P. E. D. , FACSM Professor and Chair Department of Exercise Science University of Evansville Evansville, IN 47722 Phone: (812) 488-2847 Sent from my iPad