Richmond DNA Project UPDATE

With the weight of the evidence so far, we believe that we can be reasonably sure that we have identified the DNA "fingerprint" of John RICHMOND, b 1594, of Taunton, MASS. (Also referred to as John1)

By comparing the results of those tested so far and our knowledge of the markers in the WEBB Surname DNA Project, (Specifically their "WEBB alias RICHMOND" group which is I1a) we can offer the following findings:

The Haplogroup* is overwhelmingly I1. By comparing the four(4) results in this group side-by-side we can use those markers found in the majority as being from our common ancestor of the group. The deviations from this "common set" will identify the various lines and/or branches. (I use the word "branches" to mean smaller or distinct "lines". I don't know if this is scientific or not.) Of course these will get refined as more sets of results are used in the future.

We believe it is now possible to know if you connect to those RICHMOND's from Taunton, Massachusetts with DNA testing. With that said, only time and more participant results will prove these findings beyond a reasonable doubt. If you would like to join us in our study please check out the Richmond DNA Project web site for more information. All RICHMOND'S are welcome!

We also have a participant whose lineage shows descendency from John 1, but his DNA shows a completely unrelated DNA string to the others tested. It may be that Joshua Bailey RICHMOND has an error recorded somewhere in this line. More on this in a separate thread.

For those unfamiliar with the WEBB connection; About 1430, John1's 3rd-great-grandfather William RICHMOND married an Alice WEBB and took the WEBB family name. Some of the descendents kept the WEBB surname and some of them kept the RICHMOND surname.

* "HAPLOGROUP" is defined as a large group of haplotypes that can be used to define genetic populations and are often geographically oriented.

Jeff Richmond
Project Administrator