WICKIZER, WECKESSER
& RELATED FAMILIES
SURNAME DNA PROJECT

A smaller but more frequently updated project website can be found at:

www.familytreedna.com/public/wickizer-weckesser/

Including Families Named:

Kaiser, Kayser, Kiser, Uffinger, Ueffinger, Uiffinger, Vickerson, Wacaser, Wacaster, Waycaster, Weckesser, Wickheiser, Wickiser, Wickizer, Wickkiser, Wickkizer

Project Participants’ Page

This page provides a basic guide for participants in the Wickizer-Weckesser Surname DNA Project, including information on how to order tests, what the tests provide, and the other services and options available to group members.

OUR PROVIDER

We use Family Tree DNA, located at 1445 N. Loop West, Suite 820, Houston, TX 77008 (713-868-1438), or through their website, www.familytreedna.com, as our provider. They were among the first companies to offer DNA testing for genealogical purposes, beginning in May 2000. There are other companies that offer Y-chromosome DNA testing, but we chose this firm because we were comfortable with their professionalism, knowledge, experience, responsiveness, and commitment to expand their services on a continual basis.

THE WICKIZER-WECKESSER SURNAME PROJECT

The Wickizer-Weckesser Surname DNA Project attempts to trace the paternal ancestry and descent of every major and minor Wickizer/Weckesser families in the world, as well as those of related names, thereby making connections between these lines that cannot be made currently through conventional genealogical research. This is possible because repetitions of “junk DNA” segments on the Y chromosome are inherited through the direct male line, and the inheritance is remarkably stable over long periods of time. Thus, males of the same surname with identical sets of markers have a common male ancestor. Conversely, if the numbers don’t match, the individuals are not related in the male line.

WHAT TO ORDER

We’re primarily interested in Y-chromosome DNA tests. Family Tree DNA currently provides four levels of testing: 12 markers, 25 markers, 37 markers, and 67 markers. These numbers record repetitions of DNA segments at specific sites on the Y chromosome. By testing more sites, we can significantly reduce the period that has elapsed since the time when the Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA) of the two individuals actually lived, assuming, of course, that they both match. A 37-marker match may cut the elapsed time down to as little as 125-150 years, and 67 markers to 75-100 years.

We strongly recommend that participants order at least a 37-marker test initially, and expand that to 67 markers if necessary. The surname group prices for the Y-chromosome tests are:

12-marker test—$99 + $4 shipping
25-marker test—$124 + $4 shipping
37-marker test—$149 + $4 shipping
67-marker test—$248 + $4 shipping

A 12-marker test can be enhanced to 25 markers for $49, to 37 markers for $99, and to 67 markers for $189. A 25-marker test can be upgraded to 37 markers for $49, and to 67 markers for $148. A 37-marker test can be upgraded to 67 markers for $99. No shipping is charged for the enhancements.

Family Tree DNA also offers several levels of mitochondrial (mtDNA) testing for both men and women. These examine direct maternal ancestry back tens of thousands of years, and while the numbers are interesting in and of themselves, they provide relatively little information that can be used by genealogists. They tell you nothing about the inheritance of surnames.

HOW TO ORDER

The easiest way to order a test is to log on to the Family Tree DNA website (www.familytreedna.com), type the word “Wickizer” in the surname search box in the right-hand side of the main page, and then click on the link to the Wickizer-Weckesser group on page two. You’ll be asked whether you want to join the Wickizer-Weckesser Surname DNA Project. If you click “yes,” then you’ll be taken to an order page, and you’ll qualify automatically for the best discount that FT DNA currently offers.

On the order page, you need to type your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address. Family Tree DNA has to have a physical address in order to mail you the DNA testing kit. You can pay for the kit on-line through a secure credit card link, or you can ask FT DNA to invoice you, or you can phone FT DNA with your credit card number (713-868-1438). Also, we’re willing to act on your behalf if you’d rather not deal directly with an organization. We have no business connection whatever with Family Tree DNA, and We earn no income from them. Our role as project coordinators is wholly done on a pro bono basis.

If you already belong to the Project and want to enhance an existing test, please go to your own page on Family Tree DNA (to do this you need to log in with your kit number and password), and click the “Order Tests” icon in the top right-hand portion of the page. You’ll be taken to an order page. If you don’t remember your kit number and password, just contact us, and we’ll get them for you.

We have also made a commitment to fund those tests or enhancements which we believe will advance the goals of the Wickizer-Weckesser Project. If an individual who wishes to participate is unable to do so due to financial constraints, just contact us privately through the e-mail below, and let us have your basic ancestral information.

In addition, many other genealogists have contributed funds to support the Project. If want to make a contribution to support the Wickizer-Weckesser Surname DNA Project, please log on to the contributors’ page at Family Tree DNA (www.familytreedna.com/contribution_html), and indicate that you wish to donate funds to the Wickizer-Weckesser Project. You can also reach us directly through the e-mail link at the bottom of this page. Every dollar contributed to the Project will be used to support Y-chromosome DNA tests or test enhancements.

WHAT YOU GET

Once you’ve placed your order, Family Tree DNA will mail you a kit. The package includes several small brushes to rub on the inside of your cheek, and several plastic vials in which to return the broken-off tips of the brushes. No blood is involved. Your cheek is used because the cells on the inside of the human mouth are quite large, and therefore relatively easy to break down for DNA analysis. Once you mail the completed kit back to FT DNA, it takes about six weeks for you to receive a report via e-mail, a copy of which is also sent to us as Wickizer-Weckesser Project Coordinators.

The report provides a list of numbers, either 12 or 25 or 37 or 67, depending on what you ordered. These numbers may be reported separately by sections on different dates; occasionally the test (or parts thereof) will initially fail, and the numbers will have to be rechecked. These numbers are meaningless except in the context of a surname DNA project. There’s absolutely no medical analysis performed on your DNA, and the material can’t be used for any other purpose.

If you’re enhancing an existing test, you don’t need to order another kit; FT DNA will use the sample that you previously submitted once you’ve paid for the upgrade. However, the amount of time it takes to report the test results back to you will be about the same. If by chance your stored DNA has deteriorated, FT DNA will send you a new kit for free.

WHAT DO THE NUMBERS MEAN?

By themselves, the numbers have no meaning. In the context of a DNA surname project, however, they can show a common relationship between individuals of the same last name. Occasionally, they can even demonstrate a relationship between two males of different surnames, although this is a rare event indeed, and often has to be bolstered with conventional genealogical research.

If your numbers don’t currently match those of anyone else in the Wickizer-Weckesser Surname DNA Project, it may mean that your family is rather small in size, or that your line originally derives from another surname that was changed at some point to Wickizer-Weckesser, or that a related Wickizer-Weckesser family has yet to provide a participant to the Project. Any and all of these options are possible. We’ve had a number of exact matches that have randomly occurred many years after the first sample was submitted, so we always try to take a long-term view. Sooner or later a match will occur. However, it’s important that you keep your personal data up-to-date on your page at FT DNA, so that you or a relative can be notified when a match actually happens; and should also keep your contracts current with us, the Project coordinators.

WHAT’S DISPLAYED ON THE FT DNA SITE?

At the time your kit is returned, Family Tree DNA activates a personal page for you on the FT DNA website. To access this page, you need to know your kit number (which consists of a set of numbers, or the letter “N” followed by a number for individuals who’ve joined through the Genographic Project), and your password (which consists of a letter followed by a set of four numbers). This takes you to a page that includes the following linked icons:

Set-Up Preferences. Here you can choose your display preferences for matching purposes. Do you want your results displayed only to the surname group, or to the entire Family Tree DNA database? We strongly recommend choosing and checking the latter option, which you must do in order to get the maximum number of matches—unless you have a very common number set. What levels do you want your test to be matched against? We recommend that you check the boxes for all of the levels up the level that you ordered. Matching your information against the entire FT DNA database, and doing so at an appropriate testing level (12, 25, 37, or 67 markers), will result in many more random matches. Some of these may be Wickizer-Weckesser relations, while others may derive from seemingly unrelated surname projects. Still, most folks usually want to see the largest number of connections possible for all of us.

Gedcom. FT DNA here gives you the option of uploading a gedcom of the ancestral data for your line to your own page, to be made accessible to those who have Y-chromosome numbers that are very similar to your own. If you don’t know how to do this, please contact us, and we’ll you in touch with someone at FT DNA who will help you, even if all you have is raw data.

The Genographic Project.The Genographic Project is a joint venture of National Geographic Magazine and Family Tree DNA. This is a multi-year effort to track the broad overland migrations of early man by crunching large samples of Y-chromosome DNA data. Individuals who initially sign up for this project do a 12-marker Y-chromosome test. In return they get a very general description of where their haplogroup originated, and where their ancestors moved as they migrated across the prehistoric world. This is certainly interesting, but reveals very little about the underlying genealogy of your family.

Members of the Genographic Project are given the option of migrating their 12-marker data to the Family Tree DNA database, and of joining a surname project, if one exists for their name; and we’ve received a few new participants through the back door in this way. If GP members do not transfer their data to FT DNA or join a surname project, their specific numbers remain permanently inaccessible to the rest of us, protected by privacy laws.

Someone who has already done a Y-chromosome test through Family Tree DNA can also choose to uplink his data to the Genographic Project for an additional $15. Only the first 12 markers of the test are transferred. The data upload will not, however, give you any additional information about your specific genealogy or family connections.

Y-DNA Matches. This page displays the other individuals in the Family Tree DNA database whose numbers either match your own exactly, or come very close. Only those persons who’ve signed release forms are reflected in these matches (note to everyone: please remember to sign your release forms when returning DNA kits). If no matches whatever are listed, then no one who has signed a release form comes close to matching your markers. Many individuals in the FT DNA database have not signed these releases. Other reasons why you might not have very many matches generally is that your number set could be scarce. If you have questions about your numbers, please don’t hesitate to write us.

If you haven’t uploaded your data to the free on-line database, YSearch (another service sponsored by FT DNA), a link is provided here to allow you to do so. YSearch (www.ysearch.com) exists solely to provide a publicly accessible index of Y-chromosome number markers, including those whose tests have been conducted by providers other than Family Tree DNA. The records can be searched either by number or by surname. We strongly recommend that all members of the Wickizer-Weckesser Surname DNA Project upload their number markers into YSearch. We want to get as many matches as possible. There’s absolutely no charge for this service, and we’re always happy to do this on your behalf if you don’t know how. Your e-mail address will NOT be publicly displayed here; a link is provided to allow individuals to forward e-mail to you if they think their Y-chromosome DNA numbers match yours. You can respond or not, as you choose.

Recent Ethnic Origins. This is a broader version of the Y-DNA Matches page. It matches your numbers with all of the test results in the Family Tree DNA database, but without displaying any names, numbers, or e-mail addresses. The only information shown here is the country of origin that every individual tested by FT DNA has claimed for his ancestor (these may or may not be correct). Since there’s no way to validate any of the information, this section has very limited utility.

Haplogroup. Geneticists have organized Y-chromosome DNA numbers into a cladistic chart demonstrating general descendency from the primary male ancestor of all humans, the proverbial “Adam.” Each time a major mutation in the genome structure has occurred, a genetic break has been recorded, resulting in the creation of a new “haplogroup.” The haplogroups are numbered sequentially from “A” through “T,” “A” being the oldest group (dating back many hundreds of thousands of years to Africa) and “R-T” the newest. Each of these groups can then be broken down into further subdivisions.

The most recently developed haplogroup, “R,” emerged in Eastern Europe many tens of thousands years ago, and its primary subsection, haplogroup R1b1, dominates the present-day population of northern Spain, France, and the British Isles. It’s no surprise, therefore, that most of the members of the Project (over 80%) belong to group R1b1, and thus share very similar numbers to each other.

A computer program at Family Tree DNA predicts the Haplogroup into which your numbers fall. These projections are almost always correct, and so a confirmation is needed only when you belong to a group that’s relatively scarce in the Western World. If no haplogroup is projected on this page, as sometimes happens, then a link appears here to order a haplogroup confirmation test, which costs $65.

Family Tree DNA also offers the ability to test your haplogroup for further subdivisions (a Deep Clade Test) at a cost of $79 (not all groups are currently available for such analysis). The idea behind this is simple: if you can subdivide your group sufficiently, in theory you can then determine the specific geographical area where that subgroup originally derived. However, the analysis has not reached that level yet.

Only one Deep Clade Test is needed to determine the sub-clades of each Wickizer-Weckesser family group. We think this is worth doing for the larger families.

Y-DNA DYS Values. This is a fancy name for a page that lists your own number markers and their locations (or loci) on the Y chromosome. It’s updated whenever you order an enhanced test with more markers. “DYS” is an acronym for “DNA Y-Chromosome Segment.”

Order Tests. This linked icon is located in the top right-hand field of your main page. Clicking on it will take you to a page where you can order additional tests or services from Family Tree DNA.

Update Contact Information. This icon is located to the right of the icon for ordering tests, in the top right-hand portion of your main page at FT DNA. Clicking it will take you to the page that lists all your basic information: address, phone number, etc. You can use this icon to update your data, including any changes to your e-mail address. In addition, your name and kit number are displayed in the upper lefthand corner of your page.

Other icons (non-linked) that sometimes appear at the top middle of your page at FT DNA include a yellow “Y Search” box to show that you’ve uploaded your data into YSearch, a green “MitoSearch” box if you’ve ordered a mitochondrial (maternal) DNA test and have joined the mitochondrial equivalent of YSearch, and a blue “Join” box to allow you to join some other surname project—if there’s another one at FT DNA that has some direct connection to your own. There are also numerous Haplogroup and Geographic projects. You may belong to as many groups (including your surname project) as you want.

Linked icons for “MTDNA Matches,” MTDNA Searches,” and “MTDNA Results” are added to the bottom of the pages of those members who’ve ordered a mitochondrial (female descent) DNA test. In addition, an icon for “Pending Lab Results” is added above the “Y-DNA Matches” icon whenever you have DNA tests in process; this provides you with projected delivery dates or the status for those tests. It disappears after the results are actually received.

Other icons that may appear at the top of your personal page include “WAMH match,” which means that your numbers match the Western Atlantic Modal Haplogroup, one of the commonest of the R1b1 number sets. Similar matches are noted if you match the DNA base for the sixth-century Irish chieftain, Niall of the Nine Hostages, whose profile is also very common.

If at any point you want us to upload your data into YSearch or to change the defaults on your personal page at FT DNA, we’d be happy to do so on your behalf. If you have any other questions about how to access your information, or you wish to make changes on your own page at FT DNA, or you want to order tests, please send us a note. If we don’t know the answer, we’ll find someone at FT DNA who does.

Mary Wickizer Burgess
Prof. Emeritus Michael Burgess
Coordinators
Wickizer-Weckesser Surname DNA Project