Boo

More dribs and drabs from FTDNA.   These additional partial results were returned yesterday and are now posted to the website:13030      markers Y-DNA48-60        10/30       Jim Berry, #7
15097      markers Y-DNA38-47        10/30       Jonathan K., #12
22287      markers Y-DNA48-60        10/30       Charles Redmon, #27
50372      markers Y-DNA38-47        10/30       John Edward, #55




This is the dance caller from the October Old Time Week Halloween Dance last Friday night, Dolores Heagy, pictured second above, and jamming with her fiddle later in the evening.

Dolores is a fixture as caller at these Halloween dances and always dresses and plays her role to the nines, and this year was no exception.







103 U.S. service members killed just this month in "W"'s War.

Catchin' up

I'll postpone my report of all my fun and frivolity until we run into another day with nothing DNA to talk about.

There seems to have been a sporadic return of results in dribs and drabs from FTDNA while I was absent for the week.   These partial results have been returned and are now posted to the website:

13030          Y-DNA38-47 Markers          10/23          Jim Berry, #7
22287          Y-DNA38-47 Markers          10/23          Charles Redmon Berry, #27
26075          Y-DNA38-47 Markers          10/23          Walter Michael Berry, #34
67364          Y-DNA38-47 Markers          10/23          Todd Andrew Berry, #72
15097          Y-DNA61-67 Markers           10/24          Jonathan K. Berry, #12
22442          Y-DNA61-67 Markers           10/24          James Dennis Berry, #28
50372          Y-DNA61-67 Markers           10/24          John Edward Berry, #55
67364          Y-DNA61-67 Markers           10/24          Todd Andrew Berry, #72
73459          Y-DNA1-12 Markers              10/24          Kenneth Ray Berry, #80
69574          Y-DNA13-25 Markers           10/26          D. F. Berry, #76

D. F. Berry, #76, is definitely confirmed as a Benton Co. Berry (gold) which raises some interesting possibilities and hopefully some clues as to this line.    D. F. is the second person verified (the other being Rodney Fancher Berry, #81) whose earliest ancestor is of age with the children of Samuel Berry but not previously known as children of his.   The possibility exists that one or both come from a collateral line to Samuel's and share a common ancestor further back up their ancestry.

* * * HIATUS * * *

This is my last (scheduled) trip for this year (unless you count that we leave for the New Year's event on December 27).   We leave this morning for the Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, WV.   October Old Time Week.   This week I'm taking an intermediate fiddle class with Erynn Marshall, pictured at right, and Betty's working as a staff assistant with the elderhostel folks.

October Old Time Week is followed immediately by the Old Fiddler's Reunion next weekend, so we'll be back on Sunday next.


Since we invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003:

      2,791 U.S. service members killed.  78 so far just this month.

     20,687 U.S. service members wounded.

     - Iraqi civilian deaths estimated at between 44,380 and 49,297 

          in "W"'s War.

Click here to Think Peace

SMGF Website Update

Last night SMGF announced the addition of new haplotypes and genealogical records to the Sorenson mtDNA and Y-chromosome databases.   I took a look to see what I might find and, while I can't be sure that there aren't other additions, I do believe that 21 markers for Dane Eaton Berry, #35, is a new addition.   The SMGF posting confirms 10 of his FTDNA marker values and adds 11 new markers.   Dane now has allele values for a total of 48 markers.

Any of you who have submitted your samples (that should be ALL of you!) might want to take a look to see if you recognize your pedigree.   Be sure to let me know if you do.

October 20

New results last night for Walter Michael Berry, #34, of the Berry Plain Berrys.  His YDNA26-37 results came in and are posted.   At 37 markers he is a genetic distance of 3 from James Dennis, #28, and Todd Andrew, #72, and of 4 from Jesse Thomas, #21.

Mike's YDNA26-37 were in batch 167, expected Oct. 11.   His YDNA38-67 results were expected Oct. 9, as were mine, #7, and Charles', #27, all in batch 167.   Maybe it's that range of markers because James', #28, YDNA38-67 are still out and he is in batch 166, due Oct. 2.   The same thing goes for Jonathan, #12, and John E., #55, who are in batch 168, due Oct. 16.

I've neglected to remind you before but I'll remind you now and try to repeat it from time to time,   -  when you get new results in you should remember to go to your FTDNA personal page and click on the button to upload them to YSearch.   It doesn't happen automatically.   Also, I should note that several of you have never uploaded your results at all.   If you would like instructions on how to do it, or would like me to do it for you, just let me know.

newsy bits

I mentioned Tuesday that YDNA1-12 results had arrived for D.F. Berry, #76, and that his first twelve markers seem to indicate a match with the Benton County Berrys.   His results weren't expected until Nov. 3.   I'm holding off posting those results in the 'Family View' because where 12 marker results are concerned 'there's many a slip 'twixt cup and lip' and we'll just have to see whether the Benton Co. match holds up.   It will be an exciting thing if it does because it may mean that we can approach the ancestry of the elusive Samuel Berry (m. Nancy Crow) from another tack.   The balance of D.F.'s 37 markers aren't expected until Nov. 17.   If you want to see what they are, they are posted to the 'Numerical View'.

Then yesterday evening, without any announcement, James Dennis Berry's, #28, YDNA38-47 results just showed up.   I just happened to look at FTDNA's 'Received Lab Results' page or I wouldn't have seen it.   Those results were part of Batch 166 and had been due (as had 48-67) on Oct. 2.   You can check here to see which results are still overdue.

Well, sadly, we lost a member last night.   William Carl Berry, #43, left us, I suspect to explore the Street and/or Kuykendall projects.   Carl may have been the victim of the dreaded 'NPE'.   I can't recall the details now but he had had a yAncestry posted expecting to match an established line, but didn't so asked me to pull it several months ago.   We wish him well in his search.

the trip

Headed North -
Out the side window -
Fast food news -
The Berry Graveyard in Rye, New Hampshire -
A Concord, Massachusetts graveyard -
Lunch -
My new camera takes photos with such detail that I may think about modifying the way I post a graveyard.   Until now, I've always tried to be careful to transcribe the entire epitaph in my notebook so that I could post it whether it was legible in the gravestone photo or not, mostly because it very often was not.   The photos I took in Rye and Concord show as much detail as I could see there.   It would sure save some time both in recording and in coding and formatting the web pages!   We'll see.   Be sure to click on the gravestone photos above to see what I'm talking about.

Oh, I also notice that we got results back yesterday for D.F. Berry, #76, whose first twelve markers seem to indicate a match with the Benton County Berrys.   I don't recall whether this was the expected result or not.   Well, we'll see if the rest of his 37 markers bear out this match.

* * * HIATUS * * *

Another short one.   We're going for a weekend visit with our son in Maynard, MA, but that means we'll have to leave early this morning and won't get back till late Monday or maybe even Tuesday.   No music.   No festival.   Well, maybe a wee bit of genealogy.

As long as we're in the neighborhood I've always wanted to see if I could find "...the Berry Family Cemetery in Rye, NH  . . .  located on Breakfast Hill Road approximately 0.3 miles from Route 1.   A stone fence about three foot high surrounds this well kept family burial ground" as described by James McComb.   Don't know who might be buried there but, as I understand it, this is the area, between Portsmouth and Rye, in which the the Strawberry Bank Berrys settled.   Like to see what I might find.

Since we invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003:

      2,758 U.S. service members killed.

     20,687 U.S. service members wounded.

 but the Iraqis must be much better off for our being there, right?

  - Iraqi civilian deaths estimated at between 43,937 and 48,783 

but, according to a study released Wednesday by the Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health and Al Mustansiriya University in
Baghdad, that estimate is 601,027.  Whether that figure is correct,
or whether it is only nearly 50,000 killed, Iraqis are not better off

          in "W"'s War.

Click here to Think Peace

mtDNA

A quick note of a 'visualization' change I've just made to the Project website.   On each person's personal mtDNA page, reachable from the mtDNA Test Results page by clicking the haplotype, I've changed the visualization of the actual mtDNA sequence.   On your personal FTDNA page the CRS value is shown so the person can see what they would have had, as opposed to what is listed in the mutation list.   The designers decided to leave the CRS as it is so you could see where you were different, and also see what would have been there if you had not had the mutation.

It makes more sense to me to show your own actual mtDNA sequence rather than the CRS so I have inserted your actual mutations at the places indicated.   The added advantage of this approach is that if you ever need to insert your sequence anywhere you may now simply copy it from your personal Project mtDNA page to paste wherever needed.

Idle Hands Are The Devil's Tools

Well, I had thought that I was going to be really busy these past few days, what with all the new results coming in and all.   Apparently not.   Several are now overdue and, having not much else to talk about, I'll just post an update of outstanding and past due orders for Project members.

Kit      
Product              Test               Name        Batch EstResultDate 
13030   
Y-Refine37to67   Y-DNA38-47 Markers   Jim,#7         167   10/09/2006  
                 Y-DNA48-60 Markers                  167   10/09/2006  
                 Y-DNA61-67 Markers                  167   10/09/2006
DYS434           DYS434                              174   11/27/2006   
DYS435           DYS435                              174   11/27/2006  
DYS485           DYS485                              174   11/27/2006  
DYS495           DYS495                              174   11/27/2006  
DYS643           DYS643                              174   11/27/2006 

15097   
Y-Refine25to67   Y-DNA38-47 Markers   Jonathan,#12   168   10/16/2006  
                 Y-DNA48-60 Markers                  168   10/16/2006  
                 Y-DNA61-67 Markers                  168   10/16/2006  
                 Y-DNA26-37 Markers                  168   10/18/2006 
22287   
Y-Refine37to67   Y-DNA38-47 Markers   Charles,#27    167   10/09/2006  
                 Y-DNA48-60 Markers                  167   10/09/2006  
                 Y-DNA61-67 Markers                  167   10/09/2006  
22442   
Y-Refine25to67   Y-DNA38-47 Markers   James D.,#28   166   10/02/2006  
                 Y-DNA48-60 Markers                  166   10/02/2006  
                 Y-DNA61-67 Markers                  166   10/02/2006  
26075   
Y-Refine25to67   Y-DNA38-47 Markers   Walter,#34     167   10/09/2006  
                 Y-DNA48-60 Markers                  167   10/09/2006  
                 Y-DNA61-67 Markers                  167   10/09/2006  
                 Y-DNA26-37 Markers                  167   10/11/2006 
32218       
Y-Refine12to37   Y-DNA13-25 Markers   Michael J.,#38 173   11/22/2006   
                 Y-DNA26-37 Markers                  173   11/22/2006  
37201   
DeepSNP-R1b      DSNP-R1b             Brian JL,#49   149   06/09/2006
50278   
DeepSNP-R1b      DSNP-R1b             Keith,#54      144   05/01/2006  
50372   
Y-Refine37to67   Y-DNA38-47 Markers   John E.,#55    168   10/16/2006  
                 Y-DNA48-60 Markers                  168   10/16/2006  
                 Y-DNA61-67 Markers                  168   10/16/2006  
67364   
Y-Refine37to67   Y-DNA38-47 Markers   Todd,#72       169   10/23/2006  
                 Y-DNA48-60 Markers                  169   10/23/2006  
                 Y-DNA61-67 Markers                  169   10/23/2006  
67852
DeepSNP-R1b      DSNP-R1b             William, #73   173   11/20/2006  
69574       
Y-DNA37          Y-DNA13-25 Markers   D. F.,#76      171   11/17/2006   
                 Y-DNA26-37 Markers                  171   11/17/2006  
                 Y-DNA1-12 Markers                   171   11/03/2006 
69605  
Y-Refine37to67   Y-DNA38-47 Markers   C. E.,#77      170   10/30/2006  
                 Y-DNA48-60 Markers                  170   10/30/2006  
                 Y-DNA61-67 Markers                  170   10/30/2006  
73459       
Y-DNA67          Y-DNA38-47 Markers   Kenneth, #80   173   11/29/2006   
                 Y-DNA48-60 Markers                  173   11/29/2006  
                 Y-DNA61-67 Markers                  173   11/29/2006  
                 Y-DNA13-25 Markers                  173   12/01/2006  
                 Y-DNA26-37 Markers                  173   12/01/2006  
                 Y-DNA1-12 Markers                   173   11/17/2006  
N8296  
Y-Refine37to67   Y-DNA38-47 Markers   William A.,#79 170   10/30/2006  
                 Y-DNA48-60 Markers                  170   10/30/2006  
                 Y-DNA61-67 Markers                  170   10/30/2006

As you see, we now have several orders a little past due, the Deep SNP orders quite badly past due.

One other thing to note - the new markers ordered this week were transferred, as we've observed in the past, on Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time.

Google acquires YouTube

Do we care?   Maybe.

Zoe on DNA -


DNA Molecular Biology Visualizations - Wrapping And Replication -
Notice who did the animation?

DNA -

R.I.P.

Key West, Florida
Key West, Florida
Gresham, Oregon
Natchez, Mississippi

Happy Birthday, Marlena!

The Tribe of the Twelve Benjamins (part 4)

Benjamin 11 has not been tied into the family tree.   All we know is that he was born in King George about 1748 and that his father was Richard.   A best guess is that he was a great grandson of Richard, the youngest son of Henry the Immigrant.

Benjamin 12 was born about 1771, possibly a son of Joel (son of Henry III or grandson of Enoch?).   He was a resident of Stafford County, Virginia in 1781 and in King George in 1783, a change probably based on altering county boundaries rather than an actual move.

I have not exhausted the stable of available Benjamin Berrys.   In the 1810 and 1820 census in Virginia and Kentucky one can find another five or six others about whom I have done no research.   And several of the sons of Benjamin 2 named sons Benjamin. But enough is enough.

While this may have been a bit of overkill regarding these Benjamins, consider this.    They not only had the same given name, they tended to congregate in the same areas with other Benjamins or with other Berrys who had a Benjamin as a brother, just not that Benjamin.   Here are the Benjamins that resided near each other:

• -Benjamins 1 and 4 were born about the same year and raised near each other along the Rappahannock.   Later they separately moved to Frederick where they both lived to a ripe old age.


• -Benjamins 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7 were all in Frederick during some part or all of the period from 1760 to 1810.   In the Frederick tax list for 1792 there are four Benjamins listed.   The missing one was probably Benjamin 7 who was already living in Kentucky.


• -Benjamins 2 and 7 were living in adjacent Fayette and Woodford Counties in central Kentucky during the 1790s and early 1800s.   By 1820 they each had sons, Benjamin 3 and Benjamin 8, living with or near them.


• -Benjamins 5 and 6 were living near the brothers of Benjamin 2 (Thornley, Reuben and John) in Union and Hopkins County in western Kentucky by 1820.   But lest we forget, the wife of Benjamin 5 was the sister of Benjamin 2 and his brothers.


• -Benjamin 9, 10, 11, and 12 were contemporaries in King George County, Virginia.   Benjamin 9 and 10 were also connected to Mason County, Kentucky.

When you find a document in one of these counties referring to Benjamin Berry, you always have to puzzle over which Benjamin is being referenced.   Sometimes it is totally unclear.   Sometimes there are clues that help to differentiate.   The most helpful is when their spouse is named.   Of course that wouldn't even help in Frederick if you find a Benjamin Berry with wife Winifred.

I truly hope this has not further confused the Benjamin Berry conundrum.
_____________
Responsibility for this report is solely with the author, Gerald Jones.   Please send any additions or corrections to jones64k@msn.com or phone me at (520) 825 0728 in Tucson AZ.
Copyright January 2006, Tucson AZ
Revised:   23 Sep 2006

FTDNA acquires DNA-FP

Some of you may not have heard that Family Tree DNA recently purchased the DNA-Fingerprint laboratory in Germany, thereby acquiring the expertise of its Principal and lead scientist, Thomas Krahn.   DNA-FP was a leader in the development of individual and advanced marker testing.   His research was focused on asymmetrical multicopy markers in the palindromic region of the Y chromosome with the purpose to explain apparent mismatches in closely related individuals by recombination processes on the palindromic arms.

To accomodate the merger and continue DNA-FP's offerings, FTDNA has constructed a new laboratory in Houston which will allow multi-parallel processing with modern equipment including a new ABI 3730 sequencer, a state of the art robot platform and customer DNA library to preserve samples in an automated storage freezer system.

As a result of these developments, in addition to its usual Y-DNA and mtDNA tests, FTDNA is now offering Advanced Testing consisting of individual markers or panels for the Y-chromosome, X-chromosome, and autosomal DNA.   Through it you may order any individual markers that they offer so as to round out your haplotype or that you may feel you need to make an individual or family comparison, or you may order several markers that they have grouped together as a 'Panel' at an added savings.   There is a one-time transfer fee of $9.50 the first time you use the Advanced Test Order system.   Here are the markers and panels currently offered:


Note: these are new tests that will be performed at their new lab, so initial orders may take longer than usual. In many cases, transference of DNA from the University of Arizona to Houston will be necessary, which will cause up to a two week delay.

The Tribe of the Twelve Benjamins (part 3)

Well, I was going to tell you today about FTDNA's new Advanced Order System but this notice suddenly appeared last night:

We are currently tuning the advanced order system because of some inconsistencies that were found throughout the day. This should be back up and running by the end of the day Friday October 6th, 2006.

I guess maybe I'll tell you tomorrow.

Instead, we'll continue with the saga of The Tribe of the Twelve Benjamins -

Benjamin 6 was the son of Benjamin 5 and Winifred Berry.   He is the nephew of Benjamin 2 as well as his first cousin once removed.

Benjamin 7 (about 1750-1838) was probably the son of Joseph Berry (older brother of Benjamin 1) and Mary Fairfax.   Thus he was a nephew of Benjamin 1 and first cousin of Benjamin 2.   He was born in King George and moved with his family to Frederick in 1759.   By 1775 at about twenty-five, he along with Marquis Calmes and others went to Boonesboro, Kentucky.   This group had made an agreement in Battletown, Frederick County, Virginia (later Berryville) to be partners in Kentucky land acquisitions.   In 1779 a Benjamin Berry is listed with other young men as guarding the people living around Lexington from Indians and the British.   There are numerous other references to a Benjamin Berry in this area during those years and thereafter.   
While there is no absolute proof, the only Benjamin of the right age who was in Frederick before the Revolutionary War and then available to go to Kentucky in the 1770s was this son of Joseph.    This Benjamin 7 is later found in the census records for Woodford County in 1810 and 1820.   This county is adjacent to, and was carved out of, Fayette County

Benjamin 8 was the son of Benjamin 7.   He also appears in the 1820 Woodford census.

Benjamin 9 filed a Revolutionary War pension application in 1833 saying he was 77 years old and had joined the service from King George County, Virginia.   He also mentions a brother Reuben.   In 1813 he moved to Mason County in the northeast of Kentucky along the Ohio River.   The 1810 and 1820 census reports list many Berrys in this county, but no Benjamin.   Nevertheless, it is likely that this Benjamin was the son of one of Benjamin 1's younger brothers, i.e. Withers or Baldwin.   Most likely the connection is to Withers since a Withers Berry appears in the 1810 Mason census.

Benjamin 10 appears to be the blacksheep of the family.   He is probably a son of William, grandson of Enoch, great grandson of William and great great grandson of Henry the Immigrant.   If so, he is a first cousin once removed of Benjamin 1 and second cousin of Benjamin 2.   He was also the nephew of Winifred who married Benjamin 4.   We know something about Benjamin 10 because of a lawsuit he filed in Mason County in 1811 against his sister-in-law, widow of brother Enoch, regarding some slaves.   The suit itself is not important, except that it gives us quite a bit of information about this family, the character of Benjamin 10, and a propensity of this group to do a lot of intermarrying.
In the suit we learn that Benjamin 10 in 1811 was living in King George, Virginia when his siblings were in Mason, Kentucky.   In a deposition of his sister we learn that she had to raise one of Benjamin 10's daughters.   Another deponent stated that Benjamin 10 didn't have a home but lived off the relatives.   It is also recorded that his brother Enoch raised Benjamin 10's other children.

But intermarriage of cousins is the most interesting aspect.   Benjamin 10 was married to his first cousin as were his brothers William and Enoch.   One daughter of Enoch married her double first cousin, William, son of Benjamin 10.   With this degree of intermarriage among close relatives, I am reminded of the accounts of inbreeding in West Virginia.   The two cousin marriages involving Winifreds, reported earlier, pale by comparison.   I suppose we should be pleased that any Berry ancestors that intermarried with cousins were not in our direct line.                                                      (to be continued...)
_____________
Responsibility for this report and the views expressed therein is solely with the author, Gerald Jones. Please send any additions or corrections to jones64k@msn.com or phone me at (520) 825 0728 in Tucson AZ.
Copyright January 2006, Tucson AZ
Revised : 23 Sep 2006

Arms & tests in process

I wrote about the Thomas Berry Arms earlier and you should reread that post in connection with the Arms shown here. Patrick, #60, has gotten permission for me to show the Arms themselves, but not (yet, I hope) the full Confirmation, the narrative of which may be read at THOMAS BERRY ARMS.   This is a photograph of the original rendering of the Arms as presented to the Reverend Francis Keith Berry and now owned by his Grandniece, Kathleen Button, GGG Granddaughter of Thomas Berry.

I also told you that I would post an update of tests currently in process and their estimated completion dates, so here they are:

Kit      
Product              Test               Name        Batch EstResultDate 
13030   
Y-Refine37to67   Y-DNA38-47 Markers   Jim,#7         167   10/09/2006  
                 Y-DNA48-60 Markers                  167   10/09/2006  
                 Y-DNA61-67 Markers                  167   10/09/2006
15097   
Y-Refine25to67   Y-DNA38-47 Markers   Jonathan,#12   168   10/16/2006  
                 Y-DNA48-60 Markers                  168   10/16/2006  
                 Y-DNA61-67 Markers                  168   10/16/2006  
                 Y-DNA26-37 Markers                  168   10/18/2006 
22287   
Y-Refine37to67   Y-DNA38-47 Markers   Charles,#27    167   10/09/2006  
                 Y-DNA48-60 Markers                  167   10/09/2006  
                 Y-DNA61-67 Markers                  167   10/09/2006  
22442   
Y-Refine25to67   Y-DNA38-47 Markers   James D.,#28   166   10/02/2006  
                 Y-DNA48-60 Markers                  166   10/02/2006  
                 Y-DNA61-67 Markers                  166   10/02/2006  
26075   
Y-Refine25to67   Y-DNA38-47 Markers   Walter,#34     167   10/09/2006  
                 Y-DNA48-60 Markers                  167   10/09/2006  
                 Y-DNA61-67 Markers                  167   10/09/2006  
                 Y-DNA26-37 Markers                  167   10/11/2006 
32218       
Y-Refine12to37   Y-DNA13-25 Markers   Michael J.,#38 173   11/22/2006   
                 Y-DNA26-37 Markers                  173   11/22/2006  
37201   
DeepSNP-R1b      DSNP-R1b             Brian JL,#49   149   06/09/2006
50278   
DeepSNP-R1b      DSNP-R1b             Keith,#54      144   05/01/2006  
50372   
Y-Refine37to67   Y-DNA38-47 Markers   John E.,#55    168   10/16/2006  
                 Y-DNA48-60 Markers                  168   10/16/2006  
                 Y-DNA61-67 Markers                  168   10/16/2006  
67364   
Y-Refine37to67   Y-DNA38-47 Markers   Todd,#72       169   10/23/2006  
                 Y-DNA48-60 Markers                  169   10/23/2006  
                 Y-DNA61-67 Markers                  169   10/23/2006  
67852
DeepSNP-R1b      DSNP-R1b             William, #73   173   11/20/2006  
69574       
Y-DNA37          Y-DNA13-25 Markers   D. F.,#76      171   11/17/2006   
                 Y-DNA26-37 Markers                  171   11/17/2006  
                 Y-DNA1-12 Markers                   171   11/03/2006 
69605  
Y-Refine37to67   Y-DNA38-47 Markers   C. E.,#77      170   10/30/2006  
                 Y-DNA48-60 Markers                  170   10/30/2006  
                 Y-DNA61-67 Markers                  170   10/30/2006  
73459       
Y-DNA67          Y-DNA38-47 Markers   Kenneth, #80   173   11/29/2006   
                 Y-DNA48-60 Markers                  173   11/29/2006  
                 Y-DNA61-67 Markers                  173   11/29/2006  
                 Y-DNA13-25 Markers                  173   12/01/2006  
                 Y-DNA26-37 Markers                  173   12/01/2006  
                 Y-DNA1-12 Markers                   173   11/17/2006  
N8296  
Y-Refine37to67   Y-DNA38-47 Markers   William A.,#79 170   10/30/2006  
                 Y-DNA48-60 Markers                  170   10/30/2006  
                 Y-DNA61-67 Markers                  170   10/30/2006

Sorry, short.

The YDNA1-12 results for Michael Beery, #69, were returned yesterday.   Unfortunately, Michael doesn't match anyone.   He is our first haplogroup G2.   The closest participants to him are distances of 4 - 6 on 12 markers (not related) and are members of the Augusta/Washington Berrys whose ancestry is Scots-Irish and who are all haplogroup I.   Michael's ancestors are German and Swiss while most of the other participants are of English or Irish ancestry.   Some day a match will show up.

Kenneth's, #80, kit was just returned to FTDNA, just in time for the shipment to the lab at 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time this evening.   ...and Michael Berry, #38, has just been upgraded to 37 markers (Thanks Julia).   If anyone else is thinking about upgrades, today's the day.   Kenneth's kit is a 67 marker order.   I think that will make 13 when his results come back, but I've sort of lost count.   At any rate, we're getting closer to having enough 67 marker results to run some meaningful cladograms.

Tomorrow I'll post an update to the tests currently in process with their estimated completion dates, after today's submissions are included.   I can tell you now that 67 marker results for James Dennis Berry, #28, were scheduled to be received Oct. 2, two days ago.   Not here.   Yet.

Give Blood, Give Life

I stopped by the local Red Cross Blood Bank yesterday afternoon (Well, I really had made an appointment online at www.givelife.org) and, as usual, they were glad to see me.   Partly because my blood type is O negative (universal donor) and partly because the blood supply in many regions of the country is critically low.

It's very easy to do and much appreciated.   The first photo above is my premium for donating.   A sports seat cushion.   Looks like it should be for football but I imagine it can be used for other sports as well -- and probably even for non sporting events.

I took a couple of photos while donating just to show how really easy it is.   Takes about an hour and they give you a snack and drink when you've finished.
This is another one of those things that you've thought about but just haven't taken the time to do.   You should.   Call 1.800.GIVE.LIFE and make an appointment now.

The Tribe of the Twelve Benjamins (part 2)

Benjamin 2, sometimes referred to as Benjamin Franklin Berry, was the son of
Benjamin 1 and is our ancestor.   He was born in 1766 in King George County and raised in Frederick County.   He moved to Fayette County, Kentucky about 1797 probably after marrying Jane Bell in Virginia.   Perhaps they moved as a group with John Bell, father of Jane, and his family.   Also moving west at about the same time were his brothers Joseph, Reuben, and John.   Brother John married Jane's sister Maria in Fayette in 1808.

Benjamin, like his six brothers, owned substantial land in western Kentucky, especially in Henderson (later Union) County.   Unlike his brothers he never lived in western Kentucky.   He stayed in Lexington until his death in 1849.

Benjamin 3 (Benjamin Taylor), son of Benjamin 2, was born about 1814.   He is not a direct ancestor, but a brother of Frances Jane Berry Weir, our great grandmother.   He is in this report just to keep track of all the Benjamins who were floating about.

Now for the 'other' Benjamins, all cousins of our ancestors listed above.

Benjamin 4 was a second cousin of Benjamin 1.   He was born in 1725 along the Rappahannock not far from where Benjamin 1 was born.   He was the son of Henry III, grandson of Henry II and great grandson of Henry the Immigrant.   About 1753 he sold his property in the area where he was born and moved to Frederick.   He married his second cousin Winifred Berry, daughter of Enoch Berry, granddaughter of William, and great granddaughter of Henry the Immigrant.   Winifred was also a second cousin of our ancestor Benjamin 1.

Benjamin 4, not Benjamin 1, is renowned for having founded (with his daughter Sarah Stribling) in 1798 the town of Berryville, which today is the county seat of Clark[e] County next to Frederick in northern Virginia.   It is certainly understandable why so many confused these two Benjamins, born about the same time in the same area and both living in Frederick in the latter part of the 1700s.

Benjamin 5 was the son of Reuben Berry, younger brother of Benjamin 1.   To add a little more confusion, he like Benjamin 4, married a cousin named Winifred Berry, but this time it was a first cousin.   This Winifred was the daughter of Benjamin 1 and thus a sister of Benjamin 2.   They married in Frederick in 1789, and in 1790 he first appeared on the county tax list as Benjamin Berry, carpenter.   As the son of Reuben, it was likely that this Benjamin would have been a carpenter since his father was apprenticed as a carpenter in 1755 with the consent of his brother Benjamin 1.

He last appears in the Frederick 1796 tax list, as did Benjamin 2, then listed as Benjamin Jr.    Benjamin 5 apparently went west with his wife's folks, including Benjamin 2, first to Lexington, then further west to the area of Henderson County.   He is shown patenting land there along with Benjamin 2 and Benjamin 2's brothers, Joseph, Reuben, and John.   He resided in the west of Kentucky for the remainder of his life.      (to be continued...)
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Responsibility for this report is solely with the author, Gerald Jones.   Please send any additions or corrections to jones64k@msn.com or phone me at (520) 825 0728 in Tucson AZ.
Copyright January 2006, Tucson AZ
Revised:   23 Sep 2006

Carmen & Andy's 15th

In West Virginia it seems that a favorite way to celebrate an anniversary is with a pot-luck pig roast.
Here's the locale for one we attended yesterday - just south of Moorefield.

And here's our hostess serving beans.

all lined up

and eating

The end.

A Self-Defeating War

by George Soros

The war on terror is a false metaphor that has led to counterproductive and self-defeating policies.   Five years after 9/11, a misleading figure of speech applied literally has unleashed a real war fought on several fronts  --  Iraq, Gaza, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Somalia  --  a war that has killed thousands of innocent civilians and enraged millions around the world.   Yet al Qaeda has not been subdued and, as our intelligence agencies have been telling President Bush, the terrorist threat has actually increased.

Unfortunately, the "war on terror" metaphor was uncritically accepted by the American public as the obvious response to 9/11.   It is now widely admitted that the invasion of Iraq was a blunder.   Yet the war on terror remains the frame into which American policy has to fit.   Most Democratic politicians subscribe to it for fear of being tagged as weak on defense.   The "alternative treatment" of terrorist support has just been codified by Congress.

What makes the war on terror self-defeating?

• First, war by its very nature creates innocent victims.   A war waged against terrorists is even more likely to claim innocent victims because terrorists tend to keep their whereabouts hidden.   The deaths, injuries and humiliation of civilians generate rage and resentment among their families and communities that in turn serves to build support for terrorists.

• Second, terrorism is an abstraction.   It lumps together all political movements that use terrorist tactics.   Al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Sunni insurrection and the Mahdi army in Iraq are very different forces, but President Bush's global war on terror prevents us from differentiating between them and dealing with them accordingly.

• Third, the war on terror emphasizes military action while most territorial conflicts require political solutions.   And, as the British have shown by foiling a plan to blow up to ten airplanes, terrorists are best dealt with by good intelligence.   The war on terror increases the terrorist threat and makes the task of the intelligence agencies more difficult.   Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri are still at large;  we need to focus on finding them, and preventing attacks like the one foiled in England.

• Fourth, the war on terror drives a wedge between "us" and "them."   We are innocent victims.   They are perpetrators.   But we fail to notice that we also become perpetrators in the process;  the rest of the world, however, does notice.   That is how such a wide gap has arisen between America and much of the world.

Taken together, these four factors ensure that the war on terror cannot be won.   An endless war waged against an unseen enemy is doing great damage to our power and prestige abroad and to our open society at home.   It has led to a dangerous extension of executive powers;  it has tarnished our adherence to universal human rights;  it has inhibited the critical process that is at the heart of an open society;  and it has cost a lot of money.   Most importantly, it has diverted attention from other urgent tasks that require American leadership, such as finishing the job we so correctly began in Afghanistan, addressing the looming global energy crisis, and dealing with nuclear proliferation.

With American influence at low ebb, the world is in danger of sliding into a vicious circle of escalating violence.   We can escape it only if we Americans repudiate the war on terror as a false metaphor.   If we persevere on the wrong course, the situation will continue to deteriorate.   It is not our will that is being tested, but our understanding of reality.   It is painful to admit that our current predicaments are brought about by our own misconceptions.   However, not admitting it is bound to prove even more painful in the long run.   The strength of an open society lies in its ability to recognize and correct its mistakes.   That is the test that confronts us.

HuffingtonPost.com
Fri Sep 29, 9:24 PM ET