“The greatest history book ever written is the one hidden in our DNA.” 
                                                                                  —Dr. Spencer Wells

"We declare at the outset that we do not make any positive assertion that anything we shall say is wholly as we affirm it to be. We merely report  accurately on each thing as our impressions of it are at the moment."                         --Sextus Empiricus

  

About this Family History

Many years of intense research have yielded a database that is a major source of genealogical information on most of our families. Some people have been included to show relationships only and are not well documented. This occurs especially where I have not personally researched the family or individual or where information about them is readily available in the public domain -- especially presidents and royalty. Unlike some genealogists, I sometimes cite internet and personal sources that may lack evidence, and I include alternative data. My reasoning for this is that I have often benefited greatly from clues found in undocumented sources and I believe every genealogist should have the same opportunity to analyze every bit of information available.  Therefore, I do not withhold anything that might be of value to a future researcher. By including my sources, I invite everyone to evalute them for themselves, recognizing that there is no such thing as "proof" in genealogy. One will always find conflicting information -- or no information -- that forces us to make assumptions. I have also added a number of collateral lines in an effort to establish a broad database for DNA testing.

My sincere thanks go to all those who have contributed valuable information that has added to our knowledge of our family -- you know who you are! For confidentiality purposes, I have omitted all details for living persons.

Here you will find notable relatives -- Mayflower passengers, Revolutionary War participants, presidents, kings, queens, knights, and more. But you will also find many more ordinary folk -- farmers, blacksmiths, ministers, soldiers, sailors, butchers, postmen, and undertakers. Virtually all came from England, Holland or Germany and settled in New England or New York. We thank them all for their courage and determination. We are their legacy.

Genealogy is a never-ending study, and I am always thrilled to find new information. All comments, suggestions and corrections are welcome, but please help me preserve the integrity of my data by furnishing sources.

Good luck in your quest!

A Word about Navigating this Site

To orient yourself, you may want to use the Search form to find a specific nonliving person by clicking the Search tab, above. Or visit the Charts section first; just click on the Charts tab  then click on any of the chart titles that interest you. Or check the Surnames (top left alphabet block) or Master Index. Find the surname in which you are interested and browse the entries. Names such as Adele of France or Louis III where no surname exists are indexed as surnames. By contrast, females whose birth surnames no doubt exist but are unknown are included under the heading Unknown. An asterisk (*) attached to the first name signifies that this person is an immigrant to America, usually the first person in a line to leave the country of origin. Notice that I have used icons, as follows:

anc_dorisy A tiny pedigree symbol means this person is an ancestor of Doris.

picidx A head means that at least one photo is available for this person.

picicon A camera beside a photo means there is another photo for this person.

iconmilitaryy An American flag means that this person served in one of America's wars.

iconroyaly A crown means that this is a head of state, usually either a person of royalty or a president of the United States.

iconimmigy A globe means that this person was the first in his or her line to immigrate to America.

docicon A document means that a story, certificate or other item can be viewed by clicking.

 If you want to "bookmark" a person in order to find his or her page quickly in the future, just right click on the name in the index and save as or copy and paste the link address in the address bar of your browser. There are links to photos, charts and people throughout, so be sure to experiment. Anything underlined is a link. Every time you click on a link, it will take you to a new page, a different person, a chart or even another  website. I hope you will enjoy browsing my site. It is my privilege to make it available to you. If you use my data, I hope you will first validate it (and let me know if you find errors), then credit this site.

What's Next? The World of Genetic Genealogy

Today, everyone's DNA is valuable. When this website launched, there were only two tests available: Y-DNA for surname studies and mtDNA for finding one's early maternal line roots. Now we also have atDNA for autosomal, pedigree-wide tests that everyone can take... and should. Each person inherits 50% of each parent's autosomal DNA. What happens to the other 50%? It is lost forever unless there are multiple siblings who each inherit bits and pieces other siblings did not. To learn more about DNA testing for genealogy, click on the DNA tab in the menu bar above. The next paragraph describes my personal DNA surname studies.

These projects are underway to solidify my research and that of others for the names Worden/Warden/Werden, Southard/Southworth/Southwood, Tipple/Teeple and Willour/Wheeler (and all similar spellings). See the Charts tab, above, to view results of these studies. In addition, a geographic DNA study launched in January 2008 is specifically designed for the descendants of Palatine emigrants, most of whom settled in the Hudson Valley in 1710 on their arrival in America. I founded all of these projects and am the project manager for all except the Palatine project which I no longer administer. I welcome any questions. All interested parties are invited to visit our websites; simply click on any of the links below. It is important to find more males who carry these surnames to take part in the studies. I encourage all living males, especially the oldest or last in a line, to have their Y-DNA tested, regardless of their surname.

(Reduced prices are available if you join one of the many free projects at FTDNA.) 

Finally, please be sure to write me if I can answer any questions or if you can help me make my database better (more complete, more accurate, etc.). Comments and suggestions are always welcome. Just click on my name at the bottom of any page to send me an email. 

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