Hi Fellow Taylors!
Whenever I run into a new Taylor in my life, I tell them about the Taylor project. It's hard to explain in a simple soundbite, and sometimes I'm less than successful. So I met yet another Taylor Tuesday evening, and got his e-mail and sent him this letter. It is adapted from the letter we are now sending to anyone who contacts the project, without yet being a member. I recommend you take it and modify it to your needs. I'm wondering, myself, if it would be too OCD to carry copies in my purse to hand out...
See letter below.
Lalia
~~~~~~~~~
Dear...
Here is information about the Taylor DNA project, hosted by FTDNA (Family Tree DNA). It allows you and the rest of us find our ancestral lines. Our Taylor Family Genes project posts the DNA results and family trees for members of the project. The public is welcome to view our public page, http://freepages.misc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~taylorydna, and to explore the FTDNA websites--which together have a wealth of information about genetic genealogy and about the Taylor project.
To become a member, you'll need to go to FTDNA, http://www.ftdna.com/, and click on the "Products" tab at the top of the page and scroll down to the list of tests, then order a kit. There are many products available so we recommend our new members purchase the 37 DNA marker test (or the 67) because when you do get a match, it is easier to zoom in on the generation in which a common ancestor lived. These kits are for men. For Taylor women with no male Taylor to be tested, you have the option of following your maternal line, through testing mtDNA, or testing autosomal DNA, through the new Family Finder test. These two tests are also available to males.
Once your kit is turned in for processing there's about a 1 month waiting period for your results to come back. You can join the Taylor surname project at that time and we will request that you send your family tree to be posted on the site. Once your markers are in, FTDNA will post them and send you a certificate with all the data.
We hope this has given you the information to get you started. We look forward to you joining the 350 Taylors already participating in the project, who currently are sorted into about 35 family groups (i.e. related markers) and a number of "singles" awaiting family matches.
Showing posts with label Taylor family tree. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taylor family tree. Show all posts
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Success in Finding Your Ancestors
Your participation in the Family Tree DNA project is to find your ancestors. Most likely your fantasy was that you would swab your cheek, send in the sample, and a few days later get a letter depicting your family tree! And most likely that did not happen.
In order to determine your family tree several things need to happen. Some of those things have to do with having closely related people in the FTDNA database. Several hundred thousand samples are in the database. It is the largest one in the world, at least about which there is public knowledge and public access. However, there are close to 7 billion people on the planet. So the samples only represent about one for every 15,000 people. The samples also are not a random sample of human DNA, but instead a sample of people who (for the most part) live in North America, have college educations, have the means to participate in the project, and have an interest in genealogy.
Usually participants enter the project because they have heard about it from a family member or a friend. Thus, we have clusters of people with known common ancestors. And they already know about their shared connection and are seeking more connections to help them look back in time to earlier ancestors.
To accomplish this goal, more participation in the Taylor project as well as other projects will bring in more samples. (Since there are so many Taylors, telling people about the project will inevitably bring more Taylors into the project.) In addition to the samples, we need two more things from you: a willingness to share data and cooperate with other project members—your more distant cousins—and as accurate a family tree as you can provide. For the family tree, follow the guidelines you received from Leigh Taylor to supply a tree that is easily read, is useful, and keeps information about living people private.
Then be patient. If your relative who has the missing clue isn’t already in the project, he may be soon!
Wishing all of us good luck and good family connections!
Lalia
In order to determine your family tree several things need to happen. Some of those things have to do with having closely related people in the FTDNA database. Several hundred thousand samples are in the database. It is the largest one in the world, at least about which there is public knowledge and public access. However, there are close to 7 billion people on the planet. So the samples only represent about one for every 15,000 people. The samples also are not a random sample of human DNA, but instead a sample of people who (for the most part) live in North America, have college educations, have the means to participate in the project, and have an interest in genealogy.
Usually participants enter the project because they have heard about it from a family member or a friend. Thus, we have clusters of people with known common ancestors. And they already know about their shared connection and are seeking more connections to help them look back in time to earlier ancestors.
To accomplish this goal, more participation in the Taylor project as well as other projects will bring in more samples. (Since there are so many Taylors, telling people about the project will inevitably bring more Taylors into the project.) In addition to the samples, we need two more things from you: a willingness to share data and cooperate with other project members—your more distant cousins—and as accurate a family tree as you can provide. For the family tree, follow the guidelines you received from Leigh Taylor to supply a tree that is easily read, is useful, and keeps information about living people private.
Then be patient. If your relative who has the missing clue isn’t already in the project, he may be soon!
Wishing all of us good luck and good family connections!
Lalia
Saturday, September 5, 2009
When Do You "Own" Your Surname?
Since this is the official blog of a surname project—the Taylor surname project—it is reasonable to question, when is a surname yours?
If you have the surname Taylor by marriage or adoption, is it yours? My answer is yes. If you psychologically identify with the surname, and use it as your legal name, it is yours in my opinion. (Readers are encouraged to comment, if they have strong feelings about this.)
Thus, within our Taylor surname project we have y-DNA matches that do not carry the surname Taylor, but trace back to Taylor lines, and we have people who carry the Taylor name and trace back to other male lines and other surnames. All of them are part of the Taylor project because they identify themselves by personal preference, by identity, by law, or by DNA, as Taylors.
We welcome them all.
Consider Jeremy Taylor, the dream expert. Taylor is a founding member and past president of the Association for the Study of Dreams, he has written three books integrating dream symbolism, mythology, and archetypal energy. The latest is: The Living Labyrinth: Universal Themes in Myths, Dreams and the Symbolism of Waking Life. His earlier books, Where People Fly and Water Runs Uphill, and Dream Work, have been translated into many languages. As far as I am aware, he is not a member of this project.
Jeremy Taylor is a most interesting person; I have met him, interacted with him at a week-long retreat, and read one of his books. See more about Jeremy at his website: http://jeremytaylor.com. I mention Jeremy Taylor because, having an interest in Taylor genealogy, I asked him about his Taylor connections. He told me his father had been adopted. While I suspect that his father is deceased, as Jeremy is in his 60s, Jeremy’s y-DNA can still be used to determine his father’s paternal lineage.
By my reckoning, Jeremy Taylor is a “real” Taylor, even though his father was adopted. Jeremy has used the Taylor name throughout his life. What do you think?
Lalia
If you have the surname Taylor by marriage or adoption, is it yours? My answer is yes. If you psychologically identify with the surname, and use it as your legal name, it is yours in my opinion. (Readers are encouraged to comment, if they have strong feelings about this.)
Thus, within our Taylor surname project we have y-DNA matches that do not carry the surname Taylor, but trace back to Taylor lines, and we have people who carry the Taylor name and trace back to other male lines and other surnames. All of them are part of the Taylor project because they identify themselves by personal preference, by identity, by law, or by DNA, as Taylors.
We welcome them all.
Consider Jeremy Taylor, the dream expert. Taylor is a founding member and past president of the Association for the Study of Dreams, he has written three books integrating dream symbolism, mythology, and archetypal energy. The latest is: The Living Labyrinth: Universal Themes in Myths, Dreams and the Symbolism of Waking Life. His earlier books, Where People Fly and Water Runs Uphill, and Dream Work, have been translated into many languages. As far as I am aware, he is not a member of this project.
Jeremy Taylor is a most interesting person; I have met him, interacted with him at a week-long retreat, and read one of his books. See more about Jeremy at his website: http://jeremytaylor.com. I mention Jeremy Taylor because, having an interest in Taylor genealogy, I asked him about his Taylor connections. He told me his father had been adopted. While I suspect that his father is deceased, as Jeremy is in his 60s, Jeremy’s y-DNA can still be used to determine his father’s paternal lineage.
By my reckoning, Jeremy Taylor is a “real” Taylor, even though his father was adopted. Jeremy has used the Taylor name throughout his life. What do you think?
Lalia
Monday, May 25, 2009
DNA and the Genealogical Time Frame
Hi,
We Taylor administrator team members have discussed moving this blog, and I was holding off on posting. But so far, it looks like the blog will remain here! This is a submission from one of the administrators, Ralph Taylor. Ralph has a keen interest in the statistical side to genetic DNA and he has submitted several other pieces which I'll post in the coming days.
Lalia
~~~~~~
Sometimes, Y-DNA matches point to a common ancestor who might have lived thousands of years in the past. Finding a name or other information about this man can be an almost insurmountable task; the range of time exceeds the"genealogical time frame".
While it's fun to imagine our Taylor ancestors fighting alongside King Arthur against the Saxons (or, fighting with the Saxons against Arthur) it's not genealogy unless we can link a line of descent with specific people. The International Society for Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG) defines "Genealogical Time Frame: A time frame within the last 500 up to 1000 years since the adoption of surnames and written family records..." Though extending to the present, the genealogical time frame (GTF) has no definite & universal beginning point. It depends on the practices and record availability of the specific area in which we want to look. But, we can make some general observations. Genealogy, linking individuals into a pedigree, depends on: 1. Surnames, to identify one John from another in the same place and time and suggest kinship; & 2. Written records naming most people in a community.
Surnames: If you've struggled with too many men of the same name in the same time and place, you know how important surnames are to genealogy. Without surnames, it gets even more confusing. The practice of surnames passing from father to children came into common use only as far back as the mid-14th century (about 650 years ago) in England and even more recently in other places. We believe it traces to a 1353 edict on the issue by King Edward III. With few exceptions, the occupationally-based Taylor surname dates from this time. Earlier ancestors would not have had a surname.
The Scandinavian patronymic system -- in which Carl, the son of Peter, was named Carl Peterson & Peter's grandson became Hans Carlson -- persisted into the 19th century. The Germanic practice of men "marrying the farm" and taking the farm's name lasted about as long.
Written records: In Europe, the practice of recording baptisms, marriages & funerals of parishioners began with the slow spread of the Christian Church. Written records were then adopted by secular authorities for other purposes such as taxes, military conscription and worker control. Written records are, of course, dependent on a written language and a minimum level of literacy. Many ancient languages had no written form, so monks & priests wrote in Latin. Even kings, whose first job was warrioring,were often illiterate.
The Bubonic Plague (also mid-14th century) indirectly stimulated record-keeping on previously-ignored ordinary folk. The plague killed two-thirds of Europe's population and the rigid feudal society as well. As serfs - whose masters had died - fled and masters - whose serfs had died -sought replacement workers, unprecedented movements of people & resulting paranoia were created. Suddenly, it was important to write down who was living in your town or county. Previous records (such as the Domesday Book of 1086) named only taxpayers, the aristocracy. Histories named only the major players -- the "stars", not the supporting casts. We are familiar the effects time has on written records. Courthouses burn, churches and archives are bombed, paper molders.
All these and more conspire to make records which once existed no longer available. The more time that has transpired since a record was created, the less likely it still exists.
Conclusion: I believe ISOGG is being generous with its "up to 1000 years", at least so far as Great Britain & Ireland (from which many Taylor families came) are concerned. I'd peg our GTF as beginning about 1350 AD. Genealogy isn't alchemy; we can't turn lead into gold. We can only work with what there is. Most of us have limits on the time, money and effort we can devote to family history; we have to set priorities. A DNA match pointing to a 90% probability of an ancestor who may have lived before 1350 may not be worth making a high research priority.
We Taylor administrator team members have discussed moving this blog, and I was holding off on posting. But so far, it looks like the blog will remain here! This is a submission from one of the administrators, Ralph Taylor. Ralph has a keen interest in the statistical side to genetic DNA and he has submitted several other pieces which I'll post in the coming days.
Lalia
~~~~~~
Sometimes, Y-DNA matches point to a common ancestor who might have lived thousands of years in the past. Finding a name or other information about this man can be an almost insurmountable task; the range of time exceeds the"genealogical time frame".
While it's fun to imagine our Taylor ancestors fighting alongside King Arthur against the Saxons (or, fighting with the Saxons against Arthur) it's not genealogy unless we can link a line of descent with specific people. The International Society for Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG) defines
Surnames: If you've struggled with too many men of the same name in the same time and place, you know how important surnames are to genealogy. Without surnames, it gets even more confusing. The practice of surnames passing from father to children came into common use only as far back as the mid-14th century (about 650 years ago) in England and even more recently in other places. We believe it traces to a 1353 edict on the issue by King Edward III. With few exceptions, the occupationally-based Taylor surname dates from this time. Earlier ancestors would not have had a surname.
The Scandinavian patronymic system -- in which Carl, the son of Peter, was named Carl Peterson & Peter's grandson became Hans Carlson -- persisted into the 19th century. The Germanic practice of men "marrying the farm" and taking the farm's name lasted about as long.
Written records: In Europe, the practice of recording baptisms, marriages & funerals of parishioners began with the slow spread of the Christian Church. Written records were then adopted by secular authorities for other purposes such as taxes, military conscription and worker control. Written records are, of course, dependent on a written language and a minimum level of literacy. Many ancient languages had no written form, so monks & priests wrote in Latin. Even kings, whose first job was warrioring,were often illiterate.
The Bubonic Plague (also mid-14th century) indirectly stimulated record-keeping on previously-ignored ordinary folk. The plague killed two-thirds of Europe's population and the rigid feudal society as well. As serfs - whose masters had died - fled and masters - whose serfs had died -sought replacement workers, unprecedented movements of people & resulting paranoia were created. Suddenly, it was important to write down who was living in your town or county. Previous records (such as the Domesday Book of 1086) named only taxpayers, the aristocracy. Histories named only the major players -- the "stars", not the supporting casts. We are familiar the effects time has on written records. Courthouses burn, churches and archives are bombed, paper molders.
All these and more conspire to make records which once existed no longer available. The more time that has transpired since a record was created, the less likely it still exists.
Conclusion: I believe ISOGG is being generous with its "up to 1000 years", at least so far as Great Britain & Ireland (from which many Taylor families came) are concerned. I'd peg our GTF as beginning about 1350 AD. Genealogy isn't alchemy; we can't turn lead into gold. We can only work with what there is. Most of us have limits on the time, money and effort we can devote to family history; we have to set priorities. A DNA match pointing to a 90% probability of an ancestor who may have lived before 1350 may not be worth making a high research priority.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Think You're Related to Zachary Taylor?
The answer is Yes, No, and Maybe!
If you were born a Taylor you may have grown up with a family story about being related to Zachary Taylor. Well, in one sense you are.
Just as you are related to Confucius, the Chinese Philosopher, or Cleopatra, the daughter of Ptolemy XII and ruler of Egypt. In that sense, as a member of the human race, you are cousins with Zachary Taylor, as well as cousins with Confucius and Cleopatra.
If you mean that you are a direct descendant of Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) the American military leader and the twelfth President of the United States, it is likely that you are not. The reason is that Zachary had only one son, Richard "Dick" Taylor (January 27, 1826–April 12, 1879), Confederate States Army General. Richard Taylor had two sons, Richard (born in 1857) and Zachary (born in 1860), who both died during the war after contracting scarlet fever.
Thus, there are no direct male descendents of Zachary Taylor, unless 150 years of public interest and genealogy has failed to locate another male heir.
If your claim to being related to Zachary Taylor, the 12th President of the United States, is based upon having the Taylor surname, you could still be related to him as a collateral relative. That is, your line could trace through his brothers, uncles, great-uncles, great-great uncles, and so forth. To check this go to the extensive list of his Taylor line, found at http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=zachary-taylor&id=I1. Or see http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pmcbride/james/f061.htm.
But wait, there are still two other options. One is that you are a descendant of Zachary Taylor through the line of one of his daughters. Which you can investigate through the links provided. The other option is to be a biological relative of a heretofore unidentified line. That option would require DNA work to prove…
For more research:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zachary_Taylor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Taylor_(general)
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=zachary-taylor&id=I1
http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pmcbride/james/f061.htm
Lalia Wilson, granddaughter of James Bentley Taylor, writing for the Taylor DNA Project
If you were born a Taylor you may have grown up with a family story about being related to Zachary Taylor. Well, in one sense you are.
Just as you are related to Confucius, the Chinese Philosopher, or Cleopatra, the daughter of Ptolemy XII and ruler of Egypt. In that sense, as a member of the human race, you are cousins with Zachary Taylor, as well as cousins with Confucius and Cleopatra.
If you mean that you are a direct descendant of Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) the American military leader and the twelfth President of the United States, it is likely that you are not. The reason is that Zachary had only one son, Richard "Dick" Taylor (January 27, 1826–April 12, 1879), Confederate States Army General. Richard Taylor had two sons, Richard (born in 1857) and Zachary (born in 1860), who both died during the war after contracting scarlet fever.
Thus, there are no direct male descendents of Zachary Taylor, unless 150 years of public interest and genealogy has failed to locate another male heir.
If your claim to being related to Zachary Taylor, the 12th President of the United States, is based upon having the Taylor surname, you could still be related to him as a collateral relative. That is, your line could trace through his brothers, uncles, great-uncles, great-great uncles, and so forth. To check this go to the extensive list of his Taylor line, found at http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=zachary-taylor&id=I1. Or see http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pmcbride/james/f061.htm.
But wait, there are still two other options. One is that you are a descendant of Zachary Taylor through the line of one of his daughters. Which you can investigate through the links provided. The other option is to be a biological relative of a heretofore unidentified line. That option would require DNA work to prove…
For more research:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zachary_Taylor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Taylor_(general)
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=zachary-taylor&id=I1
http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pmcbride/james/f061.htm
Lalia Wilson, granddaughter of James Bentley Taylor, writing for the Taylor DNA Project
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