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1-17-2009
The
Lost Colony project is 18 months old, and the administrators have taken a look
at the project and our goals and have focused somewhat more concisely upon the
various areas that need attention in order to solve the mystery.
First,
the Lost Colony project is very interesting, and unfortunately, it’s
attracting many people who want to compare their DNA against the colonists.
As you folks know, we are looking for the DNA of the colonists, we
don’t have it, or if we do, we don’t have the documentation for that yet.
This has become problematic because now our project has people who
legitimately may be descended from the colonists, and about as many who have a
similar surname or other connection, but can’t get their genealogy back far
enough to really fit the criteria for a potential colonist.
While we don’t want to make anyone feel unwelcome, we clearly need to
focus on those most likely to have colonist connections.
In
order to maintain this project as a group of volunteers, particularly for Nelda
who has reorganized the website where each surname and kit have an entry, it’s
overwhelming to have so many excited people who really don’t connect to the
area via the DNA lines they have tested.
Therefore
we have tightened the criteria a bit for the DNA portion of the project and
focused more on those individuals who may be colonists’ descendants.
Here
is the slightly revised criteria for membership.
You
can join the Lost Colony DNA projects if you fulfill one or more of the
following criteria 3 for the Y-line or mtdna lines you have been tested for:
·
Your surnames include those of the
Colonists or others on the interest list AND your family is proven to descend from Eastern North Carolina,
preferably before 1700, or the areas of interest shown on the maps later in this
document.
·
You have a history of Native
Ancestry from this area, confirmed or unconfirmed.
·
You have an oral history of Lost
Colony ancestry.
The
list of colonist names and other surnames of interest can be found here:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~molcgdrg/sur/1surnames.htm
We
will be changing the join process such that new participants must request to
join and they will be required to provide a mini-genealogy of the DNA lines on
which they wish to join back to their oldest ancestor and that ancestor must be
of some significant interest to the Lost Colony project.
Having
a similar surname but that does not track back to the Lost Colony area is no
longer criteria to join.
However,
just because your DNA lines don’t qualify you to join or remain in the DNA
project doesn’t mean you can’t participate.
There are many other ways.
You
can continue to be a member of the Yahoo Lost Colony DNA and Genealogy Research
Group. You can work on your DNA
pedigree chart if your potential Lost Colony ancestor is not in your direct
mitochondrial or Y-Line family branch and then find an appropriate cousin to
join. Instructions for this
are here: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~molcgdrg/pubs/p3.htm
You
can also join a broader project that would be better suited to you such as the
Early North Carolina Project here:
http://www.familytreedna.com/public/NorthCarolinaEarly1700s/default.aspx?section=yresults
You
an even continue to compare your results to those in the Lost Colony project by
checking here periodically:
You
can see the results for the Yline project at:
www.familytreedna.com/public/lostcolonyydna.
You
can see the results for the mitochondrial project at: www.familytreedna.com/public/lostcolonymtdna.
You
can continue to research and work on your genealogy and if you do connect to the
area and timeframe where our colonists are likely to be found, you can of course
join again.
Therefore
I need each participant to complete a mini-genealogy form for the DNA line with
which you joined the Lost Colony project(s).
If you are a member of the Yahoo group, you will receive the form in a
mailing to that group. Those who
are not a member of the Yahoo group will need to go to the following links and
download the yline or mtdna files entitled either “Need Y-Line Info” or
“Need Mtdna Info”, to complete the form.
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~molcgdrg/pubs/Need_Mtdna_Info.rtf
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~molcgdrg/pubs/Need_Yline_Info.rtf
I
apologize for this inconvenience, but FamilyTreeDNA is temporarily unable to
support file attachments in their project mail feature for administrators.
You
will also be asked the question, “why did you join the Lost Colony project”
so that we and others can see how you might connect.
We will be putting the genealogy and any history you provide on the
website, without information about living people.
That will be reflected as “participant” and “parents”, but with
no names or other information. We
would also like to put your e-mail address as a contact for your kit number and
genealogy.
I
would ask you to complete these mini-genealogy forms promptly and return them
complete with your kit number to me. I
will send one follow-up e-mail if necessary, but if I don’t hear from you with
your information at that time, you will be removed from the project.
If you no longer qualify for the DNA project, you can unjoin yourself by
clicking on the little x in a circle beside the group on your personal page that
says Lost Colony.
Secondly,
Nelda has updated the website significantly.
We have reorganized. Take a
look at the new site. The surname
list now has “everything we know” about that surname, the participants,
genealogy history, links to the coordinator other researchers, and more. Be
sure to scroll all the way to the bottom of the pages where the research and
genealogy links for the surname itself are located. If you have more information
about any of these names, we’d love to add it.
If
you check your surnames to see what we have, and if it looks anemic, please
consider writing something for the surname in question and submitting it to
Nelda at nelda_percival@hotmail.com.
We
have encountered some problems with the Y-line project links to Family Tree DNA
since their new website rollout so be patient please while those links are
fixed. It required going through
the entire data base and we have hundreds of participants.
How many, you ask? We have
374 Y-line participants and 202 mtdna participants.
Thirdly,
we have decided to focus this year on 5 surnames which seem possible to research
both here and in England and have a significant number of researchers that are
interested. Those names are:
·
Berry
·
Dare
·
Powell
·
Nichols
·
Chevin (Chavis)
Obviously
this includes derivative spellings as well.
If you have information or research on these names, please contact one of
the administrators.
This
does not mean we’re doing nothing on the rest of the names.
We didn’t choose Smith because the research is daunting, for example.
However, if you’re a Smith and wish to focus on that surname, please
do. These surnames are where our
group resources are going to be focused. For
example, Joe Chandler’s 2008 trip was postponed, but when he can reschedule,
he will be visiting England and researching these names personally. In addition, we are fortunate enough to have a very small
group in England who is also interested and is currently funding a small amount
of professional genealogy research on the Berry surname.
Fourth,
I have opened the Yahoo group for 2 way traffic again, with the caveat that all
must play nicely and stay on topic which is Lost Colony and related research.
Fifth,
I have been very focused for several weeks now on creating a timeline for
anything Lost Colony or indigenous related in NC and lower Virginia.
This includes early maps, early references to Indians, traders, early
documents with names of native people, documents that include people as “free
people of color” which may indicate mixed ancestry, or those that indicate
“mulatto” which means white mixed with any race nonwhite.
I am doing this in order to update our “surnames of interest” in the
vicinity of the colonists or where they would have migrated to.
I
have discovered something quite interesting between the DNA results we currently
have, the related genealogy and the history, in that there seems to be a trend
for Indo-European males to become involved with native women and therefore, for
the offspring, who are considered native, to carry Indo-European DNA.
We
also have the phenomenon of Native males adopting “Christian” surnames, so
it’s very likely we’ll find some of the same surname with “Native” DNA
and other, perhaps in the same family or tribe with Indo-European, both being
considered Native. Therefore
it’s very important to test multiple people from multiple lines for each
surname that is associated with Native families in any way.
Sixth,
I believe we will find much Native history by testing more mitochondrial DNA.
If the theory above is correct, participants who “should” test
native, will instead test Indo-European, but if we can find the mtdna line of
the couple in question, it will indeed show a Native haplogroup.
In the Native culture, as in early English law relating to nonwhites, the
child was considered to be the tribe (Native) or the race (English) of the
mother. I would ask each of you to work on your DNA pedigree chart
and see if you can find an appropriate mitochondrial DNA candidate for Native
ancestry during 2009. We have many
cases where we know the woman is native, based on legal records, yet the family
carries non-native yline DNA. Let’s
find that mtdna and test it!!!
A
refresher about how to create a DNA pedigree chart can be found here:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~molcgdrg/pubs/p3.htm
Seventh,
we are again planning to participate with the Virginia Dare Faire, an
Elizabethan Renaissance Festival, held annually on August 18th, the
anniversary of Virginia’s birthday at the National Park where the Lost Colony
play is performed. Mark your
calendar now. If you can join us as
a visitor or a volunteer, let us know. Anne
Poole is coordinating the event. Croatan56@gmail.com
You
can see more about the play here: http://www.thelostcolony.org/
Thank you for your
participation and let’s make 2009 a banner year!!!
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