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Pittman DNA Project

PITTMAN DNA PROJECT
  • 445 members

About us

WINTER 2024

DISCOVER a blood relationship to any of the Pit(t)ma(o)n lines already tested, or start a new Pittman Project bloodline with your sample.

Founded in 2000, Family Tree DNA pioneered the field of genetic genealogy — the use of DNA testing to establish relationships between individuals and determine ancestry. As leaders in the industry, FTDNA provides advanced technology for users to gain further insight into their family history—all with a simple swab of DNA
The Pit(t)ma(o)n Project is an international genetic genealogy/surname project.  It is designed to find common ancestors among the many branches of Pittman (var.) families now living in the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia, the United States (including African American and Native American Pittman lines), Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and S. Africa.  Eventually, Pittman migration patterns will emerge of interest to all.  For the family history genealogist, genetic links between Pittmans wherever they now live will bridge the gaps caused by lost records. If you are a beginner, a test may help you find your particular Pittman bloodline, simplifying your research task.  

NOTE: The Pittman DNA Project currently has three large groups of testers who have tested at the Y-700 (marker) level. Each group is separate / distinct (non-blood related) to the other two groups. Each Group has its own relatedness chart. Additional groups may emerge in the future, with new testers. We will continue to report here on significant Pittman groupings with multiple Big-Y results and welcome new Pittman testers.

Group A


Virginia: (Capt.) Thomas Pitman, bc 1614 (England) and migrated to Surry County, Virginia about 1649, and Joseph Pittman / Nancy Johnson , Accomack County Virginia - migrated circa 1677, Will probated 1683, and Joseph Wall Sr., bc.1649 Surry County, Virginia – died after 1740 (Edgecombe County, North Carolina??)

SPECIAL DISCOUNT offer for UK Pit(t)mans who match Pittmans in Group A. The Pittman DNA Project is offering Familytreedna.com's most Advanced, yDNA Chromosome (700markers) test worth £328 free to any native-born British, direct male-line Pitman/Pittman with a documented ancestry back to at least c1800. This offer is limited to the first 5 persons not closely related to other Group A testers in the project who take a Y-37 marker test through Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) and who match our Captain Thomas Pitman’s DNA signature. Captain Thomas Pitman emigrated to the American colonies (Virginia) c1649. Contact us for more details!

Below is a chart showing the current branching under the Captain Thomas Pitman clade (as of the timestamp on the chart). This chart pertains only to those who have tested at the Y-700 level. Apart from the suspected ancestor names, it is based on Y DNA evidence, not paper-trail genealogy. Due to display limitations, you will probably need to download this chart and view it on your computer to see the detail (look for pdf download link below).



You can also download this chart in PDF (which is text-searchable) here.

Testers in this chart are all related to each other more recently than roughly 1600AD. In this chart, branches based on SNPs determined from Big-Y testing are quite certain. The branches based on STR markers (blue text) are not as certain and may be revised in the future as additional results come in. Each new Big Y result and each new Y upgrade provides new information that helps all of our testers.

Most-recent common ancestor (MRCA): any two testers on this chart share a common ancestor. To find the branch node for that ancestor, follow both lines back until they meet. This is the the only indication of how closely-related two testers are, until we can further refine this chart. For example, testers 91881 and 19537 share an ancestor represented by the SNP-defined node BY57632.

The Captain Thomas Pittman (CTP) clade represents the largest number of testers in the project presently. It is a lineage that bears the Pittman name since likely the beginning of Colonial America and before. There may be other Pittman lines that are this "old" that we haven't verified yet because we don't yet have the testers.

Group B

England to Upper East Coast US:  Uriah Pitman / Ann Mattson, b30 Jul 1735 Hanover Twp, Burlington Co, NJ – d 1783, and Richard Pitman, bc 1695 Monmouth Co. New Jersey – d aft 1745 Bedford Co. PA

Below is a chart showing branching of this clade determined so far. This chart pertains only to those who have tested at the Y-700 level, and it is based on Y DNA evidence, not paper-trail genealogy.




You can also download this chart in PDF (which is text-searchable) here.


Group C

West Country English: Captain William Pitman b 1647 / 1648- dc 1700 Boston, MA / Portsmouth, NH, and John Pitman bc.1655 VA

Below is a chart showing branching of this clade determined so far. This chart pertains only to those who have tested at the Y-700 level, and it is based on Y DNA evidence, not paper-trail genealogy.




You can also download this chart in PDF (which is text-searchable) here.

For all groups and those interested in the Pittman DNA Project:

Facebook page (not affiliated with FTDNA)

The Y-chromosome DNA test for males remains the basic test to detect Pittman lineage.  The Family Finder autosomal test (atDNA) detects Pittman ancestry along all family lines to refine these relationships. Mitochondrial (mtDNA) tests DNA handed down from mother's-mother's-mother's line. Geno-2 test is primarily for exploring pre-surname ancestry tests, but may shed light on blood relatives in more recent times.  NOTE:   Testers / members who don't have Y results that mesh with other testers, will not be grouped with other Pittman Y testers.  We encourage atDNA or mtDNA testers also, but as a Y (chromosome) DNA Project, members are assigned a Y grouping based on matching other Pittman male ancestral lines.

Select the RESULTS tab (above) to view those Pit(t)man family lines already identified by our DNA Project. Select the Y-DNA RESULTS tab to compare specific "markers" between family lines. 


Use of data and information:
We encourage re-using the project information. All content contributed by project admins, including this page and charts, are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license (CC BY-SA). It means you can use it, but give credit and keep this license reference