Wednesday, April 4, 2012 – DNA results came in today for our latest DNA sample and they have exactly the same values in all 37 markers as a prior sample! This means the two Pembertons who contributed these samples are close cousins and that their research must prove that. It also means that they should collaborate on their research efforts thus dividing their expenses and multiplying their effectiveness.
More to the title of this news item – these two identical results have only 21 of 37 markers in common with the other Pemberton branch in the Pemberton DNA Project, namely the Cheshire, England branch. This is a very large “genetic distance” and means the common ancestor between the two branches lived much more than a thousand years ago making this a separate family branch. Thus the Cheshire Pemberton line and the Manakintown Pemberton line are two very separate branches in the year 1600 and much earlier.
Furthermore, the documentary research of these two men places this line in Manakintown, Virginia Colony, a Huguenot village. This means that we now have identified the DNA of the line commonly referred to as the “Huguenot Pembertons”. This is exciting news for any Pemberton who wonders whether he comes from this line. A DNA sample will prove one way or the other with great certainty.
The Pemberton DNA Project was started a little over a year ago and now has almost a dozen samples in it. The project is looking for more Pemberton males who will donate a DNA sample. Of particular interest are Pembertons still living in the fatherland – England – and from the early Pembertons in Pennsylvania, or from Spotsylvania Virginia, USA.
There are probably more branches to this grand old family, but we will not know until a lot more samples are lodged in the project. To learn more about the project, select “Pemberton DNA Project” in the “Genealogy” menu on this website. Every DNA sample added to the project makes all the other samples more valuable and decreases the expense of documentary genealogical research.
