y-Chromosome DNA STREETER Surname Project

Project launched 19 May 2003 < Page created 25 May 2003 < Page updated 25 August 2007

Origins of the STREETER Surname and Common Spelling Variants

The name, STREETER, is of English origin and designates one who lives near an ancient roman road or on the main street of a village; it is almost exclusively unique to Sussex. It is a variation of STREET, which comes from the Old English stroet for roman road which comes from the Latin strata, from the past participle of sternere, to strew, cover, surface. Other variations include STRETE, STREETE, STREETS, STREATER, and STREAT (Patricia Hanks and Flavia Hodges, A Dictionary of Surnames, [Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1988]). For more details, please see an excerpt from my documentation, The Origin of the Streeter Name in Sussex.

Thus, with few exceptions, all STREETERs can trace their origins to Anglo-Saxon or Norman forebears in Southeast England. However, multiple English STREETER families may have adopted STREETER as their surname so not all STREETERs are related. Exceptions include STREETERs whose ancestors adopted the surname as an Anglicization of a non-English synonym surname such as the German surname, Streider.

In the United States, there are also STREETER families of primarily African ancestry who acquired the STREETER surname during slave-holding times. Participation in this project would permit these families to establish connections with each other as well as prove or refute any speculation that they may have regarding the genetic paternity of slave ancestors.

In any case, all male STREETERs, regardless of race or ethnicity, are welcome and encouraged to participate. Female STREETERs do not inherit a y-Chromosome from their fathers so they are not eligible to participate.

Project Background

The STREETER surname project was launched on 19 May 2003 by Perry Streeter. I am the President and a Life Member of The STREETER Family Association and the Listowner of STREETER@rootsweb.com. I encourage STREETER descendants worldwide to participate in both of these valuable groups. However, participation in the y-Chromosome DNA STREETER Surname Project is not dependent on participation in the association or the surname list.

Geneticists can now study the DNA of males bearing the STREETER surname to determine whether or not they are related and approximate their degree of kinship. For an excellent explanation of this process, please see DNA 101 at the BLAIR DNA Project.

Specifically, for genealogists, if you match another person exactly you have a 99.9% likelihood of sharing a common ancestor with that person. This individual is described scientifically as the Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA).

Explained another way, if you match exactly on all of the markers except for one or a few of the markers we have determined mutate more quickly, then despite the mutation this mismatch only slightly decreases the probability of two people in your surname group who match 11/12 or even 23/25 of not sharing a recent common ancestor.

— Family Tree DNA

Using an ethical and competent testing company, Family Tree DNA, we are creating a STREETER DNA database. To address any concerns that you may have about privacy, please click here. To collect a DNA sample, a simple, painless cheek-scraping test is used instead of a blood test; the instructions are easy to follow.

I offer one caveat—DNA testing can also reveal secret adoption or maternal infidelity anywhere in a lineage, so any STREETER male testing his DNA should be prepared for the statistical possibility that he may not be a STREETER, genetically speaking.

Project Objectives

Identify how many distinct STREETER families originated in Southeast England, particularly in the counties of Sussex, Surrey and Kent.
Enable living STREETERs in England and around the world to identify their family of origin by comparing the DNA test results of those with unknown lineages to those with well-documented lines of descent.
Determine whether or not any of the English STREETER emigrants to a given country were related to each other or not. The following English progenitors and emigrants are already by current project participants:

§ Henry Streeter of Maresfield, Sussex, England

§ Jarvis Streeter of Kent, England and New York, USA

§ Robert Streater of West Hoathly, Sussex, England and New Zealand

§ Stephen Streeter of East Farleigh, Hunton, Kent, England

§ Stephen Streeter of [Goudherst,] Kent, England & Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA

§ Thomas Streeter of East Grinstead, Sussex, England & Steuben County, New York, USA

§ Thomas Streeter of Wisborough Green, Sussex, England

§ William Streeter of East Grinstead, Sussex, England & Greene County, New York, USA

Other English STREETER emigrants that we would like to see represented in the project by living descendants include:

§ Abel STREETER of Buxted, Sussex & Pennsylvania, USA

§ Dr. Charles STREETER of London, England & Pennsylvania and Texas, USA

§ Edward STREETER of England & Boston, Massachusetts, USA

§ Edward STREETER of England & Virginia and the Carolinas, USA

§ George STREETER of Shipley, Sussex, England & Elmira, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

§ Henry STREETER of England & Lancaster, Erie County, New York, USA

§ James STREETER of Hunton, Kent, England & New Zealand

§ John Charles Streeter of England & North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada

§ Joseph STREETER of England & Colden, Erie County, New York, USA

§ Thomas STREETER of London, England & Barbados

§ Join the project today to see your immigrant ancestor represented here!

Project Results

As of 23 August 2007…

We have confirmed the long-standing theory that William STREETER of East Grinstead, Sussex, England and Greene County, New York, USA was the nephew of Thomas STREETER of East Grinstead, Sussex, England and Steuben County, New York, USA; their descendants matched on 12/12 markers. The earliest known ancestor in this family was Richard STREATER (d. 1764) of Dunnings Farm, East Grinstead, Sussex, England; he may have resided in Charlwood, Surrey, England prior to 1750.

An American descendant of Richard STREATER of Dunnings Farm, East Grinstead, Sussex, England has matched on 35/37 markers with an English descendant of Henry STREETER of Maresfield, Sussex, England. The parishes of East Grinstead and Maresfield are adjacent.

An American descendant of Jarvis STREETER of Kent, England and New York, USA has matched on 24/25 markers with an English descendant of Stephen STREETER of Hunton, Kent, England, confirming the latter’s theory that Jarvis was a descendant of Stephen. This Stephen STREETER should not be confused with Stephen STREETER of Kent, England and Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA; test results indicate that these two progenitors, both named Stephen STREETER, were unrelated.

We were initially surprised to learn that the descendants of Richard STREATER of Dunnings Farm, East Grinstead, Sussex, England matched on 11/12 markers with the descendants of Stephen STREETER of Kent, England and Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA. However, follow-up 25-marker tests yielded a match on only 22/25 markers, suggesting that these are, as previously thought, probably unrelated families.

Multiple descendants of Stephen STREETER of Kent, England and Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA have matched on 12/12 markers with each other and with another probable descendant, confirming the latter’s descent from Stephen.

Another known descendant of Stephen STREETER of Kent, England and Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA has matched on 11/12 markers with other known descendants; this one-step mutation may prove useful to descendants of Stephen who are still trying to determine their exact line of descent. Other one-step mutations are observed among those with 25 markers available for comparison.

A English probable descendant of Thomas STREETER of Wisborough Green, Sussex, England has matched on 11/12 markers with the majority of the known descendants of Stephen STREETER of Kent, England and Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA.

For a current and complete table of results to date, click here.

How to Participate in the Project

If you are direct line male STREETER descendant and would like to have your DNA tested for matches with others, simply click on the following link to get started…

Click here to join now!

As a project participant, you will be eligible for a discounted test prices. There is also a small fee for shipping & handling and return postage. Also, you can start with a 12-marker test and later upgrade to a test with more markers if desired.