Kerchner / Kirchner Surname Y-DNA Project
Early Timeline


Filename:  timeline.htm

Internet:  http://www.kerchner.com/timeline.htm

Date:      Project Started:     Feb 2001
           Webpage Created:  12 Mar 2001
           Last Updated:      2 Jul 2001

By:        Charles F. Kerchner, Jr.
           3765 Chris Drive
           Emmaus PA 18049-1544 USA
           
Notice:    Copyright (2001) Charles F. Kerchner, Jr.
           All Right Reserved.
           Establishing links to this page is encouraged and
           permitted. But, reuse or reprinting it in it's entirety
           or in part in other websites, or in any other media or
           publication, without my permission, is not permitted.
           Printing a hard copy of this report for your own
           personal, non-commercial use is permitted.

Subj:      A project to determine the unique Y-DNA chromosome markers
           for various unlinked Kerchner family groups in the USA to
           determine if they have a theoretical common male ancestor
           in Germany somewhere back in antiquity.

Keywords:  GENETICS GENEALOGY DNA Y CHROMOSOME SURNAME PROJECT TIMELINE

Kerchner / Kirchner Surname Y-DNA Project Time Line


Feb 2001: Idea considered of using Y-DNA to determine relationship, if any, between individuals such as myself, as a descendant of the 1741 immigrant ancestor Adam Kerchner (ADAM1), and descendants of other early immigrant ancestors, such as the one who arrived in 1751 named Frederick Kerchner (FREDK1). These two early immigrants lived near each other in the 18th Century in Berks County PA. They also named their children with the same given names. While no records in history have been found to prove or deny a relationship, it often has been theorized that these two immigrants were related. This idea was discussed via email with a known male descendant of the 1751 immigrant Frederick Kerchner. This descendant is also a hobby genealogist like myself. His group of Kerchner/Kirchner's spell the surname as Karriger, a phonetic variation. Seeing that we had a mutual interest in using genetics as a tool we agreed to using Y chromosome DNA typing, if the cost was not too prohibitive. A match would be useful in cofirming the relationship between our two immigrant ancestors and would help in finding a common Kerchner genetic link back in Germany, if one exists, as neither one of us knows the German home village for our immigrant ancestor. Ideally, at least two male participants, known to be distant cousins, in each clan would be needed to verify the male Y-DNA haplotype for each clan. And if the two haplotypes match it would be conclusive proof of our common male lineage in Germany somewhere back in antiquity. Another question Y-DNA testing could answer is to determine if there is any genetic linkage to any of the Kerchners who arrived in the 19th Century such as Michael Kerchner (MICHL) and/or other early immigrants such as Andreas Kerchner (ANDR1) who arrived in 1749.

5 Mar 2001: Found the Family Tree DNA website and a couple of DNA studies done by others and published online. Contacted via email coordinators of the other studies to learn the pros and cons of their experiences with Y-DNA testing.

6 Mar 2001: Shared my decision with FREDK1 descendant to use the FamilyTreeDNA.com organization. Cost of Y-DNA testing is $219 per person and uses inner cheek cell swabbing done at home, not blood, so this is very convenient and takes only a few minutes. FREDK1 descendant and I ordered Y-DNA Sample Collection Kits from FamilyTreeDNA.com via their website. Link to the company's website is listed below.

7 Mar 2001: I contacted several other known male Kerchner descendants of the 18th Century immigrant Adam Kerchner in order to try and get more male participants in this clan to identify with more certainty the Adam Kerchner clan Y-DNA haplotype.

12 Mar 2001: Y-DNA sample collection kit received by me, an ADAM1 Descendant. Kit #577.

12 Mar 2001: This website created to track and report project progress for participants.

13 Mar 2001: FREDK1 descendant received Y-DNA sample collection kit and submits his DNA sample. Kit #581.

13 Mar 2001: DNA sample submitted by me, ADAM1 descendant. Kit #577.

17 Mar 2001: DNA sample kits #577 and #581 arrive at FamilyTreeDNA.com in TX.

19 Mar 2001: DNA sample kits #577 and #581 are sent to University of AZ for processing.

13 Apr 2001: Contacted a known male descendant of Andreas Kerchner, the ANDR1 clan, whose 18th Century immigrant ancestor arrived in 1749 and asked him to participate to determine the Y-DNA haplotype for his Kerchner clan. He agreed and I requested a Y-DNA sample collection kit from FamilyTreeDNA.com be mailed to him.

19 Apr 2001: DNA sample collection kit received by ANDR1 descendant. Kit #762.

22 Apr 2001: Another male Kerchner in the ADAM1 clan of descendants joins the project and orders a Y-DNA sample collection kit. His participation will provide the verification and confirmation of the ADAM1 Kerchner Y-DNA haplotype.

25 Apr 2001: Continued contacting more known direct male descendants of various early Kerchner immigrants in attempt to get more participants. The more the merrier and the more interesting and useful the project will be.

30 Apr 2001: DNA sample collection kit received by the 2nd ADAM1 descendant participant. Kit #784.

1 May 2001: Received preliminary results via email of Y-DNA testing for myself Kit #577 as a descendant of ADAM1 and for Kit #581 the descendant of FREDK. The descendant of FREDK1 spells his surname as Karriger. We matched exactly in 10 of 12 markers. For the two markers that we did not match we only differed by 1 step for each marker. Therefore we are related but distantly. Our nearest common male ancestor probably lived about 500-2000 years ago. But given the billions of people walking this earth today our Y-DNA profile is genetically very close. [Historical Note: Later more detailed testing with more markers indicated that these two immigrants were more closely related than first thought. They were shown to be probably related in the order of 2nd cousins, or thereabouts.
See Success Stories

4 May 2001: A third male Kerchner in the ADAM1 clan of descendants joins the project and orders a Y-DNA sample collection kit. This participant is from a different early male sibling descendant of Adam Kerchner #1 than the first two participants, so his participation will be particularly useful. His branch of descendants spell the surname as Karchner. His participation will provide additional verification and confirmation of the ADAM1 Kerchner Y-DNA haplotype.

5 May 2001: Formal results and report received by participant for Kit #581.

5 May 2001: Test results for first two participants tabulated and posted below.

6 May 2001: Contacted three genealogical researchers in the Kercher/Karcher surname clan of immigrant descendants to try and get male participants from that group.

7 May 2001: DNA sample collection kit received by the 3rd ADAM1 descendant participant. He spells his surname as Karchner. Kit #816.

7 May 2001: Formal results and report received by participant for Kit #577, me. Package contains a nice certificate suitable for framing and a three page report with tables and charts which explains the results to the participant. Nice package.

9 May 2001: DNA sample submitted by Karchner, ADAM1 descendant. Kit #816.

10 May 2001: DNA sample submitted by Kerchner, ANDR1 descendant. Kit #762.

15 May 2001: DNA sample kit #816 arrives at FamilyTreeDNA.com in TX.

16 May 2001: DNA sample kit #816 sent to University of AZ for processing.

16 May 2001: DNA sample submitted by Kerchner, Adam1 descendant. Kit #784.

21 May 2001: DNA sample kits #762 and #784 arrive at FamilyTreeDNA.com in TX.

30 May 2001: DNA sample kits #762 and #784 sent to University of AZ for processing.

10 Jun 2001: Test results for Kit #816 results received and tabulated. Y-DNA markers results for Kit #816 were a 12 for 12 perfect match for Y-DNA markers for Kit #577.

2 Jul 2001: Test results for Kit #762 and #784 received and tabulated. Y-DNA markers results for Kit #784 were a 12 for 12 perfect match with Y-DNA markers of Kits #577 and #816. The match of these genealogically linked three known distant cousins verifies the haplotype for their common immigrant ancestor, Adam #1 Kerchner, who arrived in PA in 1741. Their genetics confirms the known genealogical history of their common ancestry. Results for Kit #762 did not match any of the other kits. Since Kit #762 had a different immigrant ancestor than the other kits this is a logical outcome. This indicates that based on the Y-DNA test that the immigrants ADAM1 and ANDR1 were not related.

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Charles F. Kerchner, Jr.
3765 Chris Drive
Emmaus PA 18049-1544 USA
Email: Contact Me

Copyright ©2001, Charles F. Kerchner, Jr.
All Rights Reserved
Created - 12 Mar 2001
Revised - 2 Jul 2001