This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Fortney, Pell, Myers Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/IEC.2ACE/1176.1.1.1.1 Message Board Post: I have been intrigued by the discussion about the possible (and very likely) relationship between the Fortney and the Pell surnames. First, in the 1870 census, the Pell family was in Rowlesburg, Preston Co., WV, probably neighbors of my g.g grandparents, the Daniel and Eva Myers family. Secondly, and more important, is that this is a case "just begging" for DNA studies to be used to support the suggestion that the father of Draper and Vernon Fortney was Albert W. Pell. For this DNA test, you'll need a male line descendant of Mary Fortner (with the surname of Fortner) and a Pell-named male who descends from either Albert W. Pell, or one of his three brothers that I see on the 1870 census, George, Francis or Thomas (not sure if "Thomas" is the correct interpretation of the rather difficult-to-read census image). I am an administrator of two surname DNA studies (Freed and McCabe) and if you want more information on this type of study, please contact me off-list at [email protected] Jim Freed, Delaware, Ohio.