About us
| The purpose of this project is two-fold. First, we hope it will be educational, and that members will feel free to ask questions about genetic genealogy. This is a new discipline that augments and extends the "paper trails" of your heritage through the use of small variations in the DNA that each of us carry. This technique can be useful for documentation of family relationships but it is not a substitute for digging out historical information from old family and public records. The second purpose of this project is to gather data on the ethnic and geographic origins of our European ancestors. Early Anabaptist recruits came from local enclaves which in turn were likely established by peoples of multiple origins. We are united by our common Anabaptist heritage today and are often lumped together as "one people", but DNA and some historical information suggest that there may have been considerable genetic heterogeneity among the early converts. If so, then DNA samples from living descendants should reflect that diversity. By collecting DNA results in a database such as this, it should be possible to establish detailed information regarding Anabaptist origins and diversity. |