DNA Project

I've been spending a lot of time on the Early Chesapeake DNA Project this month in order to prepare an article and presentation for the Gloucester Genealogical Society. If you're in the area, the presentation is set for November 24 at 10 a.m. at the Gloucester Public Library.

Do you have family history in the Chesapeake region? Consider joining the group.

Early Chesapeake DNA Project Background:

This initiative has been established to extend the genealogical work of those with colonial and early U.S. (pre-Civil War) roots in the early Chesapeake region of Virginia and Maryland. Those with surnames and family histories linking them to the area are invited to join. Please forward information about your Chesapeake Bay region (Baltimore, Maryland, to Norfolk, Virginia) ancestor(s) to the Group Administrator. The administrator has taken on this project as a volunteer with a long-term interest in adding to the body of knowledge on the evolution of English society in the Chesapeake Bay region. Many immigrants to the area came in response to the need for labor for the large-scale production of tobacco. Since most were young and poor, it has been difficult for genealogists and historians to make the transatlantic connection. Up to the time of the Civil War, Virginia and Maryland received many whose prospects were bleak in the old world. It is hoped that the application of DNA genealogy will illuminate family connections and link researchers to English origins. Evidence based on DNA analysis has already illustrated that some related individuals from England settled near one another once in Virginia and Maryland. Early Chesapeake Project members with the same surname who did not know one another previously have found that their relations were in the same Chesapeake Bay county. An interest in exploring the DNA roots of early Chesapeake settlers began with the Group Administrator's research in Mathews County, Virginia, located on Virginia's Middle Peninsula and discoveries she made after having her father's DNA analyzed. She found she was related to groups that did not share her surname. Surnames were adopted in England from the 12th to the 18th century with the less wealthy being the last to adopt the practice. Many others with roots in the early Chesapeake region may find themselves in the same situation! As an author and freelance writer (www.saraelewis.com), she may ask participants who make interesting discoveries to allow her to publish their stories. If anything is published, no reference will be made to participants or their ancestors without permission. The surnames listed above are related to her Mathews County research, but participation in the group is not limited to them. About Mathews, Virginia: Mathews was formed in 1790 from Gloucester County, Virginia. Hugh Gwynn of Wales was an early settler whose land patents extended along the Piankatank River. Gwynn's Island bears his name and Milford Haven, the body of water that separates the Island from the Mathews mainland, is a clue to his Welsh roots. Other 1600s land records for the area that became Mathews include the names Armestead (Armistead), Bohannon, Billups, Curtis, Davis, Degges (Diggs), Dudley, Elliot, Forrest, Lillie (Lilly), Ludlow, Marchant, Mechen (Mecham), Morgan, Putnam, and others. The boundaries of Gloucester County's colonial period Kingston Parish include most of modern day Mathews. The parish vestry’s register of marriages and births from 1749 to 1827 remains a key tool for genealogists. The modern county is still populated by many descendants of its earliest settlers.