Willard Family History

Jennifer Seely of Tulsa, Oklahoma has accepted the role as Administrator for the Willard Family YDNA Project hosted by World Families Network and Family Tree DNA. This position is one that will involve Willard family members the world over and encompasses all family lines of Willard and variant spellings. As Administrator, Jennifer will coordinate all new participants in the testing program, be the point of contact for those interested is such a program, and maintain the website whereupon our DNA test results will be posted.

YDNA test kits for Willard family members have already been ordered and submitted to Family Tree DNA. The lab advises that the expected time for results to be returned to the participants is six weeks. It is our hope that this effort is fully underway by January 2007 and that we have test results that can then be compared. Those that are interested in joining this project, I encourage you also to move forward now so that we can quickly establish our Willard line YDNA pattern. Those interested in participating should contact Jennifer Seely by e-mail at: docbroker@cox.net

Genetic genealogy has rapidly become the most new and exciting tool available to family researchers. Once we have established our YDNA footprint for our Willard family line, it will become possible for any person in the world to compare their test results with that of our line to determine if they are related. Conversely, we will be able to compare our YDNA results with other Willard lines to determine if we share a common ancestor. Only by testing, however, does either of these options become available. Finding a close match through YDNA testing confirms a common ancestor and confirms that the research path we are on is either a correct or an incorrect one. This scientific study can add great support to the paper documentation of our research effort. It can also guide us as to where we should be looking to find that documentation when a match with another individual takes place.