Project Newsletter #1
09 September 2004

Dear Folks,

I've just revised those portions of my website, www.millefleurs.tv, dealing with the Burgess Surname DNA Project, to reflect the new members that we've added in the last month, plus the addition of information on each individual's earliest known Burgess ancestor.

Please go to the main page of the site, and click on the "Burgess Genealogy" link on the left-hand side of the page.  The DNA section is broken into two pages, with test results being linked to the bottom of the first page.  Those of you who are direct participants in the project should review what I've said about your ancestry, to make certain that it's correct and complete, at least for the first generation or two.  If you do not want your name listed there, please inform me immediately, and I'll remove it.

We now have eleven members, with test results due back sometime in October and November from seven individuals.  Two of the latter affiliated when I did background research on their lines, and discovered that both were distant cousins out of the Prince George's Co., Maryland Burgess family.  Their numbers should match very closely when received.

We have one participant from the Keziah Burgess line of Bedford Co., Virginia, and the possibility of a second volunteer from another descendant of her three sons.  This should establish 1) whether the same father sired at least two of her sons; and 2) whether this line is affiliated with the major Bedford Co. Burgess line, for which we already have another test in progress.  No matter what the results, we will know more about this family than we did before.  This is a dead-end line which has frustrated researchers for decades.

I'm still looking for volunteers from the Col. William family of Anne Arundel Co., Maryland, and from the Thomas Burgess family of Massachusetts.  These are very large lines with a great many current-day descendants.  I'm willing pay for one test from each of these groups, if someone will just step forward.

Finally, we have one conclusive result thus far:  the Prince George's County/ Pittsylvania Co. Burgess line is unrelated to the family of William Burgess of Richmond (later King George) Co., VA.  Also, the three tests that we have in hand from the latter family match each other closely enough that those three branches are conclusively linked to a common ancestor.

I welcome any suggestions for improvements to the website.  Please encourage other Burgesses to join the project.  We already have represented in the project enough families to account for perhaps 8-10% of all the Burgesses currently living in the U.S., plus a significant line in the U.K.  I'm expecting some exciting results as the numbers begin to arrive this fall.

All best:

Prof. Michael Burgess

San Bernardino, California