This Family Tree YDNA project was started in 2001 by Suzanne Johnston and Linda Sparks Starr as a way to verify and/or correct the previously published linages of the early Clark(e) immigrants to the Colonies.  As a result of it's early beginning, the Clark(e) Surname DNA Project is historically listed as a Pioneer DNA Surname Project. While this project was started at FamilyTreeDNA, we welcome submissions from others who have been tested through other projects.  For those that seek a more detailed scientific explanation you are urged to visit FamilyTreeDNA. 

Do you really want to do genetic genealogy?  The use of YDNA has proved invaluable to genealogical research.  YDNA won't tell you the name of your gr, gr, gr-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 the study. If you understand the risks associated with genetic genealogy (such as the detection of a non-paternal/misattributed  events and other risks) and are ready and willing to accept the results, then genetic genealogy might be for you. 

DNA testing has really opened a can of worms that many families, until now, have been able to keep hidden. However, what happens when you don’t match anyone with the same last name?  This is referred to as a non-paternity or a misattributed event.  Trace Your Roots with DNA, by Megan Smolenyak and Ann Turner, states that one study showed the rate of 1.3% per generation or a 15% chance of a non-paternal at 12 generations.  A paper by Hermyt G. Anderson of Univ. of Oklahoma used data from 66 published studies to establish how frequently non-paternal events happened in  father-son test subjects. He divided his finding into 3 groupings based on the test subject’s confidence level of their paternity. The High Paternity Confidence average rate of non-paternity was 1.9%.  The second group was of Unknown Paternity Confidence level from 14 studies was 3.9%. The last group of 30 studies was of Low Paternity Confidence level. dramatically jumped to 30.2%. http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/A/Kermyt.G.Anderson-1/papers/. Another study, http://www.world-science.net/othernews/050812_dadsfrm.htm states that their study from 1950 to 2004 showed 1 in 25 Dads could unknowingly be raising another man’s children.

Before requesting to join our research group, please read:

• Our Family Tree YDNA project tracks ONLY male Clark(e) members. The participant's swab must be collected from a male with the surname of Clark(e).

  • Participants in the Clark(e) Surname YDNA project must be males 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 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. 

• We also require that each of our participants submit his pedigree to be posted on our web page for others to observe and compare DNA test results. No names will be posted after a birth date of 1900.  The line must go back to before 1900. After submitting the appropriate pedigree, we will send a join request.

• If you tested through another laboratory, you need to follow the instructions listed on this page. For more information, you can read the FAQ's at the links below.

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. YDNA won't tell you the name of your gr,gr,gr-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...

Adoptees: While we cannot accept a participant without a paper trail of CLARK, there is hope for you.  With the power of an autosomal DNA test, confidently match to male and female cousins from any of your family lines. This can provide you with the clues you need to learn more about your birth parents' families. The possibilities abound! Discover Parents, Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles. Find Half Siblings Make contact with 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th cousins. When you take the Family Finder test, your results are compared against our Family Finder database. Your list of matches is designed to be quickly sorted to allow you to focus on your near or distant cousins. Email addresses are provided for easy communication with your matches. When new matches are found, we will notify you by email. Your raw data is freely available for download. Every adopted person, or those who know that one of their parents or grandparents was adopted, will want to order a Family Finder test to help identify close and distant relatives. FAMILY FINDER.

There can be unusual circumstances that create exceptions. Although it is usually the case that the male being tested must "bear the surname," there can be exceptions. This is where old fashion genealogical research comes into play.  If the paper trail from genealogical research showed that at some point in the line the name was changed and the change was retained through future generations, then this non-Clark(e) male and his male descendants would still be eligible to participate in a Clark(e) Surname Y-DNA project.
 

Please be sure and visit Linda Sparks Starr's website Colonial Virginia Connections for a wealth of information on many of these families.