Richard Pemberton: Huguenot
When the second DNA sample from a male Pemberton (who traced his line back into Manakintown, VIrginia Colony) formed a 100% match [Ed. Note. As of March 20, 2016, both samples have been expanded to 67 markers and they still match 100%.] to an existing sample with the same geographical background, we knew we had identified this branch. It is, however, important to be careful with this kind of information and state the facts without inferring things that may or may not be true.
What we don’t know is whether this line is truly Huguenot in its deep heritage, i. e. in its earliest history. We can’t say with certainly that this line will lead back to the French Huguenots. [Ed. Note – As of March 20, 2016, it is now a fact that this line is not French. One of the two DNA samples mentioned here has been analyzed by the Ancestry ethnicity test and found to be less than 4% Western Europe while 71% Irish/British.] We can say that we have the DNA profile of a branch of the Pemberton family which is called Huguenot because it came through the Huguenot village of Manakintown, Virginia. The fact that these two samples are identical and that almost half of their 37 markers are different from those of the Cheshire branch mentioned above, is, on the otherhand, proof positive that these two branches are related only very anciently – something like two thousand years ago. That fact certainly lends substantial credence to the proposition that this newly identified branch is indeed French Huguenot. It is for this reason that the line is identified on the Pemberton DNA Project chart as a Huguenot line.
The tree named “Richard Pemberton, b. 1722, Virginia Colony in our Genealogy Storehouse is one of these two lines.
