This FamilyTreeDNA Clark(e) Surname Project started in 2001 to determine if the early Clark families in Virginia were of the same family, and/or if they were connected to Explorer William Clark. It appears that many early families in Virginia had that tradition. The project has now expanded to include a broader scope of Clark families in the US, Canada and other countries.  We hope that all male Clark(e)s will consider joining our project and help with the brick walls many of us have encountered.  

Please read before making a request to join.

Our Family Tree YDNA project tracks ONLY male Clark(e) members. The participant's swab must be collected from a with the surname of Clark(e).  If you wish to participate with an mtDNA test sample, your results will be displayed, but we do not include those within our family groupings.

• Participants in the Clark(e) Surname YDNA project must be males named Clark(e) who had a father named Clark(e), a grandfather named Clark(e), a great-grandfather named Clark(e), and so forth. It must be an unbroken male descent from the surname Clark(e) prior to 1900. Paper records should be combined with Y-DNA testing in trying to prove (or disprove) a connection between two males with the same or similar surname. The paper trail helps to establish that the participating male must be from an unbroken male direct line.

• The identity of the "family group" is only as good as the paperwork of all participants. DNA is not a substitute for doing "genealogy" the old fashioned way -- corroborating each and every generation with good sources, connecting all the dots, making sure "the John Clark here" is your "John Clark there." For privacy reasons we don't publicly post any data after 1910 without the express permission of the kit owner.

• The belief that two participants with exact 12-marker matches are closely related, is no longer supported.  The Project will not accept new members who have tested only 12 markers.  It is highly recommended that a minimum 37-marker test be ordered for a higher degree of accuracy.

YDNA will show you the large family group of Clark(e)s back to before surnames. It might even show that your forebear wasn't a Clark, but another surname -- called Non-paternity events or NPE's.  YDNA won't tell you the name of your grgrgr-grandfather or whether you descend from his son George, John or William. It will only get you into a ball park family group IF other relatives have participated in this study. This is what our study is attempting to do...

The identity of the family group is only as good as the paperwork of all participants. DNA is not a substitute for doing genealogy the old fashioned way -- corroborating each and every generation with good sources, connecting all the dots, making sure the John Clark here is your John Clark there. For privacy reason we don't publicly post any data after 1900, thus it is in everyone's best interest that people exhaust the paperwork sources before taking the test.