A Model Letter to Promote the Taylor Project

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.

Taylors in the USA

If you are interested enough in Taylors to be reading this blog, you’ve probably already searched for Taylors in public records. Not an easy task, is it? Then, if you combine the Taylor surname with a common first name, say John or James, you are in real trouble. You can find many of them even in the same counties you know your ancestor of the same name lived…

But here’s proof of how many Taylors are out there. This information was obtained from Ancestory.com’s census records and then corrected, because a number of censuses underreported in some years. Thanks to Ralph Taylor and Josh Taylor, project administrators who did the hard work.

Consider these numbers:

US Federal Census Data for Taylor, 1790-1930
From search on "taylor", exact match, exact spelling at Ancestry.com US federal census indices, with corrections for underreporting in some jurisdictions.

1790 9,710
1800 13,300
1810 17,940
1820 23,600
1830 33,650
1840 58,560
1850 67,430
1860 85,620
1870 133,270
1880 171,360
1890 211,160
1900 248,515
1910 283,066
1920 313,925
1930 341,174

So, how do you find the right Taylor ancestors? Glad you asked that. Y-chromosome DNA is one way to go about locating the right Taylor family. Go to www.familytreedna.com and look for the Taylor surname project. We are now at 277 members and just beginning to fully elucidate the Taylor gene pool.

And, yes, there are other ways to find your correct Taylor ancestors. Go for the paper trail with public and private documents. And, realistically, you need to do both. The combination of biological proof and a paper trail will make definite proof that you are investigating the right ancestors.

Good luck with your genealogy research! Remember to get back to the Taylor surname project when you have updated your Taylor family tree.

Lalia