Project Background
Has your Pierce genealogy research hit a brick wall? Has the paper trail found in courthouse basements lead to a dead end? If so, you may wish to take advantage of today's cutting edge DNA technology to jump start your research.
Participants must be male Pierces because the genetic characteristic measured (the Y chromosome) is passed along the male line from father to son. If you are a Pierce, but are female, you may wish to recruit a male Pierce relative-- perhaps a cousin, father, brother, or uncle to participate. The project is limited to Pierces with ancestors from southern states. All variant spellings of the surname including Pearce, Peirce, and Pearse may join.
To participate in the Pierce Family DNA project, please use the "Join" link on the left and complete a "Pierce Project Join Request."
After the request is received, participants will be sent a form to join the group and can order the YDNA-12 marker test ($99), the YDNA-25 marker test ($124), the
YDNA-37 marker test ($149) or the YDNA-67 marker test ($248). Participants can order any one of these tests but are encouraged to select at least the YDNA-25 marker test ($124) because the results are more helpful in identifying matches. The dna project will pay for the YDNA-25 marker test in full if the participant has a pedigree that is documented back to the 1770's in Virginia.
Do not hesitate to email the group administrator with any questions by clicking the email link on the left. Please read the information in the FAQs link on the left which will answer most questions. The test is done by a company in Houston. Family Tree DNA's website has a wealth of information about the use of dna analysis in genealogy. Their site is linked at the bottom of this page.
Haplogroups in green have been confirmed by SNP testing. Haplogroups in red have been predicted by Family Tree DNA based on unambiguous results in the individual's personal page. If a "-" is in the Haplogroup field then the comparative results are not clear and unambiguous and if the kit holder wants to know their SNP with 100% confidence they may consider ordering a SNP confirmation test.
DYS 19 is also known as DYS 394.
Some markers change or mutate at a faster rate than others. While that actual 'faster rate' has not yet been definitively calculated, not all markers should be treated the same for evaluation purposes.The markers in red have shown a faster mutation rate then the average, and therefore these markers are very helpful at splitting lineages into sub sets, or branches, within your family tree.Explained another way, if you match exactly on all of the markers except for one or a few of the markers that are determined to mutate more quickly, then despite the mutation this mismatch only slightly decreases the probability of two people in your surname group who match 11/12 or even 23/25 of not sharing a recent common ancestor.
9/20/08: Another match in group R.
8/28/08: New family group II, the first in the project with surname of Pearcy.
8/8/08: New match in group B. New group HH added.
7/8/2008: New family group GG. A new match in group R. One
participant currently being tested.
4/17/2008: Another match in Group R.
3/10/08: A new match in Group R.
1/27/08: A new match in Group A.
1/11/08: New 25 marker match in Group O.
11/14/07: Another match in group F and also one in group H.
11/01/07: Another match in Group Q. This is our group with New England
ancestors that migrated south.
10/07/07: A new family group FF added.
9/2/07: A new match for group AA.
8/12/07: A new family Group EE added.
6/15/07: A new match in group B.
6/10/07: A new match in group Z and new family group DD added.
5/29/07: Another match for group H.
5/28/07: New family group CC added.
5/26/07: A new match in group J.
4/22/07: A new match in group C.
4/11/07: A new match in group H.
3/24/07: New Groups Z, AA, and BB. Group BB is in haplogroup N, not previously seen in our project. Another match has been found in group B which continues to grow.
3/09/07: New family group Y added. This family has ties in Ireland before
migrating to the U.S.
2/09/2007: A new match in group H.
1/26/2007: A new match in our largest group F.
11/07/2006: Added group W. This family is in the Northern group but
has descendants that moved to North Carolina.
11/06/2006: New match in group T. These families share a common
ancestor in Georgia.
10/20/06: New group V added.
10/13/06: New family group U added. This is another family in Haplogroup
I, but does not match group A.
10/7/06: Another match in our largest group F. This is a very interesting
match and our first in the group with another surname. The father of our partipant had a name change after the remarriage of his mother to an Eaton. Family tradition assumed that there was a connection to the Pierces
thru the first marriage.
9/24/06: A new match in family group Q. The family joining this group is
also in the Pierce North project with migration from Rhode Island into the
southern U.S. New family group T also added. This family was in group H,
however with testing out to 37 markers, the "match" with the other family
in Group H did not hold.
8/30/06: A new match has been added to family group B.
8/2/06: New family group S added.
5/26/06: New family groups Q and R added.
5/06/06: New match found for Group K and new family Group P added.
4/14/06: Another match found for family Group F and a new Group O.
4/8/06: New family group N (first with E3a haplogroup). Also a new match
found from the Sorenson* database for Group B.
3/06/06: New Family Group M added with no matches.
12/29/2005: Family Group L added. This family matches a Pierce in the FamilyTreeDna database, who is not yet in our group.
11/28/05: New family group J added.
11/2/05: Family group D has an interesting dna match with a group in the
Sorenson* database. The Pearsey family matches a North Carolina Pearce family with original roots in Rhode Island.
10/25/05: Groups H and J are merged into single group H as they match after review of their prior results by Family Tree Dna.
10/14/05: Fourth match in Group A.
10/06/05: New Family group K with a 21/21 match from the Sorenson Database.*
This family has the unusual haplogroup of J2. Our family name is proving to be quite diverse with representatives now from R1a, R1b, I1b, and J2 haplogroups.
9/29/05: Another match in Group A. There is a proven connection with the
other two families in this group.
8/7/05: Group A finds a matching family. These two families have a proven
connection in Virginia in the 1700's.
6/23/05: New family Group J.
6/05/05: First Pierce in the Project in Haplogroup R1a, Group I.
5/10/05: A new match in Group B.
4/15/05: Two new matches in group F.
4/09/05: New family Groups G and H added.
3/07/05: Two families in Group F (Pierce and Pearce) are related, matching 25/25 markers.
1/10/05: The results from a recent test reveal the project's first DNA match!
There are now two families in Group E that are related. Identification of the common ancestor of these two families is pending further research.
SOR* Tested at Sorenson. This is an anonymous database. Results are posted at http://www.smgf.org and include pedigrees.
RGen* Tested at Relative Genetics, another testing company.
News
Your haplogroup name was recently updated in accordance with the 2008 Y-Chromosome Phylogenetic Tree. Visit Haplogroup Nomenclature FAQ for
further information.
I have begun putting together relationship charts for the larger groups where
a common ancestor has been found, along with a brief summary of the common
ancestor's history. Group A has been completed.
