Welcome to the Marlatt-Merlet Family DNA Project. This project officially started on 31 October 2011 with the creation of this site.

The goals of this project are to: 1) identify the common ancestors of all Marlatt family members, and 2) identify the descendants of Gedeon Merlet b. ca 1624. Surnames of interest include: Marlatt, Marlett, Marlette, Marlot, Marlott, Merlat, Morlatt, Murlatt, Malat, Malott, Mollet, Mellott and similar spelling variants.

Y-DNA is solely passed from father to son. Hence, the study subjects must be in an unbroken, male line of Merlet descendants. Marlatt-Merlett females would need to ask a male proxy, such as a brother or father, to test on their behalf. The Y-chromosome genetic material does not change as it is passed from one generation to another except for chance mutations. Tracking the genetic differences amongst the male descendants of a family can help identify the different branches of a family and determine common ancestors.

One aspect that makes this study so interesting is that it could confirm or refute the long standing belief that the Marlatts, Malotts and Mellotts all descended from Gedeon Merlet.

We need more participants in the study to achieve the project goals and to support documentary research. The larger the number of participants, the more valuable the data becomes in sorting the Marlatts, Malotts and Mellotts into the correct family lines.

We have selected Family Tree DNA to conduct the DNA testing since it has a good reputation and matches you against their DNA database, one of the largest of its kind. We recommend the Y-DNA 111 marker test, although the 37 marker test may also provide useful information. All it takes is a painless cheek swab to initiate the DNA testing. Although the testing is not inexpensive, we do get a discount as part of our project making it reasonable enough.

We would really appreciate your involvement in this study. Please join our DNA project and sign up for your discounted DNA test kit. If you have questions, go to http://www.familytreedna.com/faq/ or call Family Tree DNA at (713) 868-1438. You can also contact the project administrator at: Bill Marlatt (bmarlatt@aol.com).

Thank you for supporting this project.

Bill Marlatt
Project Administrator