Active Vess Family DNA Project
R1a2 Travers/Vess Lineage
Peter and Willis Vess are part of the R1a2 lineage, descendants of the earlier Travers family, whose history dates back to 1066 in Lancashire, England.
It is currently believed that the VESS surname is a shortened version of TRAVIS (TRAVESS), another name for TRAVERS.
Unfortunately, the TRAVERS family tree is broken down into many smaller family trees, with many gaps in between, making it seemingly impossible to connect together without DNA testing. Therefore, the Travers family is also conducting Y-DNA testing to help reconstruct their ancient lineage, which will hopefully, one day, help the Vess family identify our earlier ancestors.
2026 Test Results
Y-DNA Portion of The Vess Family DNA Project
| Earliest Known Ancestor | Location | Results |
| Willis Vess b. 1810 | Franklin County, Alabama | Seeking Full-Y DNA Tester To Further Confirm R1a2 Lineage |
| Nathaniel Vess b. 1794 | South Carolina | No Results – Seeking Testers |
| Jonathan Vess d. 1848 | Jackson County, Texas | No Results – Seeking Testers |
| Absalom Vess d. 1829 | Wilkes County, NC | No Results – Seeking Testers |
| Possible relation to Pryor or William Vess | Henry County, Virginia | Potential Match To Willis Vess Need Full-Y DNA Test from Willis Vess line to Confirm |
| Samuel & Hiram Vess 1810 | Rockbridge County, Virginia | No Results – Seeking Testers |
| William Tunwell Vest d. 1812 | Stokes County, NC | Potentially Haplogroup I, but not 100% confirmed – Seeking Testers |
| Peter Vess b. 1791 | Rutherford County, North Carolina | R1a2 Confirmed – No Further Testing Needed |
Requirements for Y-DNA Testing
Y-DNA testing from different Vess/Vest families is helping us construct a more accurate Vess family tree, by identifying lost Vess lineages and untangling ourselves from families with similar surnames.
Requirements for Y-DNA Testing:
Must be a direct male descendant with the “Vess” or “Vest” surname.
Project Admins will ask if you have already taken an Autosomal DNA test.
If your Autosomal DNA test was completed through 23&Me or FTDNA, they will ask if your results show M420.
If your Autosomal DNA test was completed through Ancestry, they will ask if you can put your raw DNA data through The Clade Finder to see if your results show YP4141 or R1a.
These results will help them determine which type of Y-DNA test to complete for the project.
If you haven’t done any prior DNA testing, they will likely start with a basic Y-DNA test, and upgrade if needed.
Sponsored Y-DNA Tests Available
We can only sponsor Y-DNA tests that have the potential to further our Vess family research. Thus, we are currently seeking direct male VESS testers for only the following lineages:
🔘 Willis Vess b. 1810 North Carolina settled in Franklin County, Alabama
🔘 Jonathan Vess settled in Jackson County, Texas in 1829 from Lincoln County, Missouri
🔘 Nathaniel Vess b. 1794 in South Carolina, spent a good portion of his life in Haywood County, North Carolina.
🔘 Samuel or Hiram Vess settled in Rockbridge County, Virginia around 1805.
If interested in helping us further our research with DNA testing, please contact the project Admins (here) to learn how to get started!
Vess Genealogy 