Project Results

It's fun to think about our Henderson ancestors and what kind of people they might have been or how they lived during a period of history that we can only imagine. While DNA testing won't reveal their personalities or talents, our ancestors can remain alive through DNA samples maintained for hundreds of years into the future by organizations like Family Tree DNA and the Henderson DNA Project.

As we move into the summer festival months of 2008, I encourage you to take advantage of family gatherings and family reunions as an opportunity to share information about your DNA test and to recruit family participants. You can be prepared for these events by having test kits on hand. You can order these test kits using the invoice method, and then remit payment when they are returned. An invoice will be in the test kit. If you are attending an event and a family member is interested in participating, you can pull out a test kit and begin the process of collecting the sample.

Currently our project website displays 155 DNA signatures including several Hendricks and Henrys in addition to Hendersons. I am pleased that this project has seen such rapid growth in the short time we have been active. Many Henderson cousins, unknown to each other, have been matched up by way of our forum, and we are beginning to see groupings in our DNA tests that point to the original Henderson root families of Scotland. You can view our DNA results table by going to the following link:

Y-DNA and mtDNA TEST RESULTS

These results are posted for the benefit of our project participants and members of the Clan Henderson Society. For this reason, our results are identified by membership and DNA kit number rather than by name.

Let me remind you that membership in the Clan Henderson Society is not a requirement to participate in the Henderson DNA project, but it’s affordable at $15.00 per year and just makes good sense to join. With increased membership in the Clan Henderson Society, we will be able to offer more genealogy tools to help you overcome that brick wall or find cousins you never knew you had. Click here if you would like to join the Clan Henderson Society of the USA.

If you have already tested and received your results from the Henderson DNA Project, you may question the need for another member of your family to be tested. The reason you need a second or third sample is that distant cousins who share a common ancestor two or more generations back in time may have slightly different DNA due to fast moving mutations in certain markers. This is the reason we recommend at least two DNA results at the cousin level (not the brother level) to verify the signature of the family line. More than two results at the cousin level (none of whom are brothers) would be more beneficial to future family genealogists. Once you have the definitive signature of your family line, there is no need for further testing. If you discover a distant family that may be related to you, a comparison with your verified family line signature will confirm or refute the relationship.

Questions or comments about the project may be directed to the Project Administrator, James E. Henderson (dna-admin@clanhendersonusa.org)

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