Hi Everyone!

Quick post…

My plans to update Vess Genealogy last weekend did not go as planned; however, EXCITING information did pop up in my email from two researchers who have been working on tracing family lines through Y-Chromosome testing!!

Y-Chromosome testing is a very valuable tool for genealogy, for that it can accurately trace parental lineages, but…only if there are enough male participants (only males have Y-Chromosomes) from different descending lines willing to test and share their results.

I have been told that there are no large scale Vess DNA projects out there (like the impressive West Family DNA Project); however, both researchers have introduced me to FamilyTreeDNA.com.

To me, all these haplogroup numbers look like gibberish, but I look forward to learning more about them! Genetics was one of my favorite subjects in college (Biology major), so this should be fun!

If you are a male descendant of the VESS or VEST family, I strongly encourage you to look into doing testing through FamilyTreeDNA.com. If you or someone you know has done Y-Chromosome testing through a different site (or in general), please share with us in the comments below!

I am super excited about this and I absolutely look forward to working with anyone who is willing to share their DNA (Y-Chromosome) results to help make family connections in our family tree!

Together, through DNA and records, I truly believe we can solve many family mysteries!

Confirmation: Vess and West Families Are NOT Related

According to both researchers who emailed me about their Y-Chromosome findings, “the VESS and WEST families are not related!”

For me, this is awesome news that couldn’t have come at a more perfect time!

I had just finished up my research on the WEST family prior to moving and did not have time to update my conclusions on Vess Genealogy, which is that I do not think the two families are related. So, I cannot begin to tell you how exciting it was to get confirmation from two different sources who were able to validate through DNA testing!

The search field for VESS ancestors has shrunk significantly after eliminating the WEST family as possible relatives. As you can see below, the WEST family pretty much dominates the Carolina’s in the early 1800’s. Removing them, leaves us with a smaller search area with the VEST, BEST, and VOSS families.

However, I have not completely shelved the WEST file yet! This is because there are a few (2-3) curious “WEST” names lingering around our family who do not seem to be connected to the well-documented WEST family; suggesting that these few WEST names might be a misspelled surname (perhaps for a VEST, BEST, or VESS ancestor). So, I plan to keep them in mind as I continue my research.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Believe it or not, but I do have a new lead!

Okay, actually, it’s an old lead that has become a new lead since gaining more information from other leads. Still with me?

It’s complicated, but I will explain further in my next post! 🙂

Now that I have a desk again (finished with moving), I hope to be posting way more often!

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