- Details
- Written by: Eric Burgess
BURGESS SURNAME DNA PROJECT
CONCLUSIONS
What do the numbers really mean? How can we be certain that the conclusions we draw are true and accurate?
Every human male carries a Y chromosome—this is what determines that a child eventually develops into a man rather than a woman. Scattered over the Y chromosome are individual genes and groups of genes. Some of these have no obvious function, and are loosely termed “junk DNA.” At certain places on the Y chromosome (we call them “loci”; one of them a “locus”), these junk DNA segments can repeat themselves over and over again, sometimes as many as twenty times or more. These can be counted physically by lab technicians. The counts of these gene repetitions at specific locations on the Y chromosome make up the series of numbers reported back to us by Family Tree DNA. These gene repetitions are themselves inherited virtually unchanged in the direct male line over dozens—even hundreds—of generations.
- Details
- Written by: Eric Burgess
Burgess DNA Project Report #19
Dear Cousins,
It's been awhile since my last report. I was involved earlier this year in writing another book (currently in press), and then began a major revision of the Burgess DNA Project website in June, doubling the size of the two Ancestral Families sections. These additions have recently been uploaded, and can be now viewed at www.millefleurs.tv by clicking on the "Burgess Genealogy" link. I'd very much appreciate any corrections or updates you can provide on your own families.
The project has grown substantially, now approaching some 200 participants worldwide. Each revision of the website has taken more time and effort, as I try to provide additional background material on each of the families represented in the Project. For example, I worked for more than a month this summer on just one line (the Thomas Burgess family of Orange and Pittsylvania Cos., Virginia), since this was the least developed of the large Burgess families in the Project. I'll continue to add background information on the progenitors of the lines as I have time and energy, citing as many sources as possible--but not all of the family groups listed on the site have yet been thoroughly researched.
I encourage those of you who haven't officially joined the Project (even if you've already been tested by a company other than FT DNA) to please do so, and those of you who haven't yet provided me with background data on your families to send me what you have on your earliest known Burgess ancestor. Your ancestral information helps other Burgess researchers establish a context for your lines, and also encourages other participants to join the Project. I also encourage all of our participants who can afford to do so to enhance their records to at least 37 markers.
For those of you who want to participate, Family Tree DNA usually offers a specially discounted price for ordering tests in December. And, as before, if any of you wish to join the Burgess DNA Project, but can't afford to do so during these tough economic times, please write to me privately, and we'll find the funds somewhere. Remember that we need individuals who have a direct-male descent from the original progenitor of your line. (Those of you who wish to contribute to our group support fund may do so through FT DNA at www.familytreedna.com/contribution.html; every dime we receive goes towards funding DNA tests for other members of the group.)
I'm excited to tell you that we have a number of major new matches.
At the head of the list is the family of Joel Burgess of Bedford Co., Virginia, and Laurens Co., South Carolina. A known descendant of this line joined the Project early this year, and his results, when received, matched the numbers of three other lines--a great outcome! Since Joel lived earlier in time than the heads of the other three families, he may be the common progenitor.
Descendants of Adam Burgess of Dumfries Co., Scotland, and Joseph Drury Burgess of Sumter Co., South Carolina (originally of County Antrim, Ireland) have matched. The Scottish family is earlier in time, and may be the senior line here.
A descendant of James Burgess of Sussex Co., England, has matched the representatives of two New England families.
We also have our first random match between two British lines, with descendants of Francis Burgess of Berkshire Co. and Richard Burgess of Hertfordshire Co., England, now shown to be part of the same family group.
The family of John Burgess of Humphreys Co., Tennessee has been tentatively pushed back another generation into North Carolina--and what we thought might be a possible cognate line, the family of Austin "Auzy" Burgess of neighboring Dickson Co., Tennessee, has actually matched separately with the family group comprising Edward Burgess of Pittsylvania Co., Virginia, and William Burgess of Montgomery Co., Maryland. Sometimes NOT finding a connection between two neighboring families is as important as proving one.
We also many other new matches with the larger Burgess family groups already represented in the Project.
Family Tree DNA and the genetic genealogical community did a major revision of the haplotype charts twice during this year, in May and October--and in each case much of the terminology of the groups was changed as many new sub-clades were discovered, named, and announced. I was able to put the name changes from the most recent (October) revision only into the two files that list the Project Participants and Progenitors; the Ancestral Families files still retain the terminology from the May revision, which itself was much altered from before. If you want more detailed information, please contact me privately. The changes remind us that much of the science behind genetic genealogy is rapidly developing and altering, with new tools and information becoming available at an ever-increasing rate.
We have a number of new tests currently pending, and some of these results will reveal new connections and new affiliations. Thanks to everyone for your constant encouragement, feedback, and support. It's much appreciated.
All best:
Michael Burgess
Burgess DNA Project Coordinator
- Details
- Written by: Eric Burgess
Burgess Surname DNA Project Newsletter #18 December 5, 2007
Dear Burgess Cousins,
I apologize for the delay since my last report. I've been heavily involved this year with writing and editing, with two new novels and several nonfiction books being published in 2007. I also had surgery in February.
We have a number of new matches to report.
Two branches of the family of William Burgess of Marion Co., Tennessee, have been linked genetically. This was a predicted match, so it's no surprise, but it's always great to have confirmation that the base numbers tentatively assigned to a particular Burgess line are correct. That's why we like to have two tests for each line, separated at least at the third-cousin level.
A descendant from the family of Edward Burgess of Fayette Co., Pennsylvania and Monogalia Co., (West) Virginia has been linked genetically with four other families: William Burgess of Montgomery Co., Maryland, Edward Burgess of Pittsylvania Co., Virginia, Samuel Burgess of Calhoun Co., Florida, and James Burgess of Jackson Co., Tennessee. This overall family group is now one of the largest in the project, and appears to go back into the early 1700s in Maryland.
Descendants from the families of William Burgess of Smyth and Russell Cos., Virginia and Sebray Burgess of Rockingham Co., Virginia, have been linked genetically, the first matches for both. Their common ancestor predates the known information on these lines, and appears to go back to the mid-1700s in Virginia.
The line of Thomas Burgess and his son Stephen Burgess of Ontario, Canada, has been linked to the line of Thomas Burgess of Barnstable Co., Massachusetts. Thomas of Ontario was born in Nova Scotia, which is known to have had numerous descendants from the Mass. family who settled there in the 1700s.
For those of you who have been considering joining the Project, now may be a good time: Family Tree DNA is offering a series of financial credits for brand new tests (but no enhancements of existing tests) ordered through Dec. 31, 2007. If you're interested, please contact me for further details, or go directly to the FT DNA website (www.familytreedna.com). We'd love to have more participants! Those of you who want to join but can't afford to do so, please contact me privately, and I'll facilitate your testing.
Any of you who want to contribute funds to the Project through FT DNA, to help family historians with lesser means to participate or order test enhancements, please contact me directly, and I'll be happy to provide you with a direct link to FT DNA.
I've just updated the pages on the project website (at www.millefleurs.tv, under the "Burgess Genealogy" link), including complete reformats of several sections to make them more understandable and usable; these will be uploaded to the site shortly. There are also e-mail links embedded on the project site through which you can always reach me.
We now have 151 results listed on the website. As the project continues to grow, so will the random matches that appear. I want to thank all of you for participating in the Burgess DNA Project, and for your continued moral support. Without your help, none of this would be possible.
All best:
Prof. Michael Burgess
- Details
- Written by: Eric Burgess
Burgess DNA Project Bulletin #17--Sept. 2006
Dear Cousins,
My apologies for the long delay in reporting. I spent the Spring and Summer months editing a line of books for Wildside Press, and had no time, alas, for anything else.
We now have 120 participants in the Burgess Surname and Related Families DNA Project, including the first family with a cognate name, Burgy. We also enrolled our first participant outside of North America and the British Isles. A hearty welcome to each of our new members.
I've just sent updated versions of the Project webpages to my webmistress. They'll be posted as soon as she can get to them. In the meantime, here's a summary of our major new finds:
The cluster of families centered around William Burgess of Middlesex Co., MA, William Burgess of Hartford Co., CT, and Ralph Burgess of Cheshire, England, has now added a fourth random match: John Burgess of the Canterbury Region, New Zealand. This line also derives originally from Cheshire. It's beginning to appear as if the Cheshire Burgesses may well develop into one of the largest Burgess families in the British Isles.
Descendants of Thomas Burgess Sr. of Scott Co., KY, and John R. Burgess of Clay Co., AL, have randomly matched; we're doing enhancements of both tests to make certain the match holds.
The families of John Burgess of Henry Co., VA, and Green Burgess of Williamson Co., TN, have randomly matched. Here we've already made the enhancements, and the match is solid. The Green Burgess line may derive from John's family (the likeliest possibility), or they may both have a common ancestor in early Virginia or in the British Isles.
Genealogists have long disputed whether or not Joshua Burgess, mentioned in the will of William Burgess of Franklin Co., AL, was his son. We now have a result from a branch of this family descended from William's known wife, Agnes Partain, and it matches the numbers of Joshua's line. Joshua was either William's son by a first wife, or some other close direct-male line relation.
In addition, we have a new match for Col. William Burgess of Anne Arundel Co., MD, the first to descend from his youngest son, Dr. Charles Burgess. This test is also being enchanced to confirm the match.
We continue to flesh out the major Burgess lines, with three matches for Achilles Burgess of Wake Co., NC, 12 matches for Thomas Burgess of Bedford Co., MA, five matches for the four families centered around Ralph Burges(s) of Cheshire Co., England, two matches for John Burgess of Derbyshire Co., England, three matches for John Burgess of Henry Co., VA and Green Burgess of Williamson Co., TN, four matches for Col. William Burgess of Anne Arundel Co., MD, two matches for John Burgess of Rutherford Co., NC and David Burgess of Hardeman Co., TN, two matches for Thomas Burgess Sr. of Scott Co., KY and John R. Burgess of Clay Co., AL, nine matches for the combined lines of Edward Burgess of Pittsylvania Co., VA, William Burgess of Montgomery Co., MD, and Samuel H. Burgess of Calhoun Co., FL, 17 matches for the combined families of William Burgess of King George Co., VA, William Burgess of Bedford Co., VA, Charles Tucker Burgess of Wilson Co., TN, and Joseph A. Davidson of Platte Co., MO, four matches for the combined lines of Thomas Burgess of Orange and Pittsylvania Cos., VA, Warren Burgess of Van Buren Co., AR, and John Burgess of Union Co., SC, three matches for Sparrell Edward Burgess (youngest son of Keziah Burgess) of Sebastian Co., AR, four matches each for two Scottish families named Burgar and Burgess, three links between a descendant of Armstead Burgess (Keziah's oldest son) and the Hale family, and one match between a Burgess line and a descendant of the MacManus clan in Ireland.
Not bad for a Project that's just two years old!
I want to urge all Project participants who haven't already done so to change the default settings on their personal pages at Family Tree DNA to match their data with the entire FT DNA database--and also to upload their data to YSearch. If you don't know how to do this, please contact me directly, and I'll be happy to help.
It's clear from several recent results that we need to enhance as many records as possible to 37 markers. We lost one apparent random match at 25 markers when we enhanced to 37; I'm told that we could also gain several matches by doing more enhancements. Again, Mary and I stand as the bank of last resort for the Project--if no other option is available, we'll fund any test or enhancement that we think will advance the Project.
Thanks to all of you for participating in the Burgess DNA Project, and also for your many kind notes and phone calls. They're much appreciated.
All best:
Michael Burgess
- Details
- Written by: Eric Burgess
Burgess Surname DNA Project Report #16--April 2006
We had a really neat four-way match this last month with our latest Y-chromosome DNA results. A descendant of Timothy Burgess (1735?-1807) of the Kershaw District, South Carolina, eldest son of Thomas Burgess (1715?-1792) of Orange and Pittsylvania Cos, Virginia, had joined the Burgess Project more than a year ago, but had never had a match until just recently. And then, quite suddenly, three other individuals matched with him in just a matter of weeks.
The other two persons, however, were descended from Warren J. Burgess of Van Buren Co., Arkansas, and John Burgess of Union Co., South Carolina, whose ancestors were unknown. I now believe that both of these lines derive from Rev. Thomas Burgess Jr. (1750?-1828) of Warren Co., Tennessee, the second son of Thomas Sr. Thomas Jr. is believed to have moved from Pittsylvania Co. to Spartanburg Co., South Carolina, and from there to Warren Co. by 1807.
Thomas Jr.'s children are not well delineated. I think John may be his oldest son, and Warren J. Burgess may be a grandson by another son (possibly Warren Burgess of Warren Co., TN, who is listed in the early tax lists of Warren Co. with Thomas, and who later served in the War of 1812, after which he disappears). We hope that further research in the records will firm up the genealogy of these lines.
We also had a match between John Burgess of Humphreys Co., TN, and Alexander Burgess, who are listed with their families on adjoining lots in the 1850 census. Their ancestor may be Auzey Burgess of neighboring Dickson Co., TN, who appears there on the 1820-40 censuses. Another individual associated with this line is Plummer Burgess, who appears to have died childless.
However, the numbers from a descendant of William of Bedford Co. failed to match as projected, so there has to be a break in this line. This is the third such anomaly that we've encountered in the Project.
We now have over 100 participants, so congratulations to everyone for achieving this landmark goal.
My personal website (listed at the bottom of this message) has the most recent information on the Burgess DNA Project, including a list of current members and their ancestors. It's updated every couple of months. Any participants who do not wish to be listed by name have only to tell me so, and I will suppress their given names on the website. As Project coordinator, I receive copies of all the reports that you receive, and I have access to all of your personal pages. If you want to change any of the defaults on your pages at FT DNA, or want to upload your data to YSearch--and don't know how--please write to me for instructions, or send me a note directing me to act on your behalf. I'm happy to help in any way I can.
In January, Family Tree DNA renamed Haplogroup R1b, to which 80% of us belong, as group R1b1, to correspond with current usage. FT DNA is now offering a "deep sub-clade" test for those who belong to this group and others, and I've ordered one of these for myself. This basically subdivides the haplogroup into smaller pieces. Another member has ordered a similar test for his "J2" group. I'll report back on the results at a later date, but I don't expect the R1b1 sub-clade test to provide much more information, since it's already known that about 80% of the group falls into subgroup "c"--in other words, R1b1c--and this represents a very, very large number of individuals.
In March, FT DNA substantially reduced the price of Y-chromosome test enhancements (enhancing a test from 12 to 25 markers now costs just $49), and they also added a new test for 59 markers. There are now four basic Y-chromosome DNA tests available: for 12 markers, 25 markers, 37 markers, or 59 markers. Each of these cuts the average elapsed time to the participant's Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA) in half, from roughly 600 years (12 markers) to 300 years (25 markers) to 150 years (37 markers) to 75-100 years (59 markers). In other words, this latest enhancement brings the MRCA down to the level of our great-grandfathers. Wow!
I've ordered a 59-marker test for myself, and will report back to the group on the results. The more affluent among us are certainly invited to do the same--but I need to emphasize that in most cases, a 25- or 37-marker test is quite sufficient to determine whether two Burgess lines are actually related to each other. The higher-level tests do allow us to delineate minor number variations that accrue in different branches of a large family--and the Burgess Project is dominated by a half dozen very large Burgess lines.
Each time a Y-chromosome number changes, that change is passed down to all of the male descendants of that person. The alteration pattern is very slow in most families, so the more numbers you test, the more variations you're going to find.
Finally, I've authorized Wildside Press and Amazon.com to do a facsimile reprint in hardcover and paperback of my 1994 book, The House of the Burgesses, which is down to just a handful of remaining copies. This will be available sometime next fall. The book has not been updated, and it only covers the descendants of William Burgess (d. 1712) of Richmond and King George Cos., Virginia. If I publish anything further on this family, I'll probably do so as a supplement to this 700-page volume.