There has long been a question about possible relationships between
the William Sessell (Cecil) who was in Prince George's County,
Maryland prior to 1697 and died in Frederick County Maryland in 1749
and with the John Cecil who died in Saint Mary's County Maryland in
1698. We now seem to have an answer to this question as a result of
DNA testing.
Two descendents of the John Cecil of Saint Mary's County have
submitted samples for DNA testing. The results were posted on the
Cecil-Cissell Project web site
(<
http://www.familytreedna.com/public/Cecil-Cissell>www.familytreedna.co...
). In addition to this private testing, one of these individuals
also participated in the genealogy DNA project sponsored by Brigham
Young University (BYU).
Through correspondence made possible by the Cecil-Cissell Project web
site, Penny Cecil Bloodhart indicated that a male cousin, who has
traced his ancestry back to William Cecil, had also participated in
the BYU project. She provided a copy of his family tree information
to show the connection with William Cecil.
Comparison of both sets of BYU test results indicates that the
individuals do indeed share a common male ancestor. Both had exact
matches on 28 of 30 markers tested. This means that, the William
Cecil of Prince George's County and the John Cecil of Saint Mary's
County also had the same common male ancestor. These two family
groups, then, are actually just two branches of one Cecil family with
a common origin.
David Cissell