Dan and Tom,
Rather than just passively waiting for years for
people to get tested,
we should somehow identify geograhical clusters that
we suspect might be
related - and then pro-actively solicit people in
those clusters to
either test or donate to a testing fund for their
cluster.
Great idea! I've been wondering if my ancestor,
Samuel Chapman of Caroline/Amelia counties, VA, early
1700's, is somehow related to the Saybrook and Ipswich
Chapman lines.
I (kit number 46365) have a close DNA match (34 out of
37) with someone who suspected he is descendent of a
Caroline county Chapman, mid 1700's, so there's one
geographical cluster already found.
Dan, can you solicit each of the participants (I
assume you have their contact info) to submit the name
of his oldest Chapman ancestor, his region and
century, so we can see if there is a likelyhood or
unlikelyhood of relationships?
Knowing this, if some participants who know they are
descended from those Saybrook and Ipswich lines have
vastly different DNA results than my own, then I can
focus my efforts to finding a link to some different
lines. I think we can all benefit from this kind of
info.
Dave Chapman