Editors Note … Recently, my cousin Tim Taylor wrote an invitation of sorts to several individuals who were considering y-DNA testing and joining the Taylor Family Y-DNA Project. Tim’s invitation was so informative and well-written that I decided to post it in the hopes that it will encourage participation from others. JT

I would like to invite you to participate in the Taylor family Y-DNA project. This is a “special interest group” and it covers all Y-DNA members with the surname of Taylor. You may find that even if you do not have the Taylor Surname you still belong in the Taylor group. Wince we most likely will not all belong to the same Haplogroup, the administrators separate us into our own family groups based on our Y-DNA test results which allows us to look at each other’s Y-DNA and see where the similarities and differences are. This allows you to interpret the results a bit better and with additional members will eventually allow us to identify branches within our genetic families. The Taylor project sometimes has a better price for FTDNA testing for project members than what is out there for the “non project members.” You do need to join the project in order to benefit from the different pricing structure for testing.

1. To join the project go to https://www.familytreedna.com/my/group-join?group=Taylor or log into your ftDNA home page where you click on Projects or myProjects and then join the project. Choose T and then Taylor and it will walk you through the process. Whether or not you have already tested you can order your initial test or upgrade your testing level here. At times ftDNA’s sale pricing may be better than the standard discount offered to a member of the Taylor DNA project.
2. To find out more about the project go to https://www.familytreedna.com/public/taylorfamilygenes/default.aspx (Other projects have similar pages at familytreedna.com.)
3. From the Taylor project site you can click on the “Join” button link on the right hand side of the top banner/picture.
4. On the page that comes up, select Option B “Order a test” & click the orange link.
5. Choose the Y-## of your choice from the list of options.
6. Complete the process by entering required information, including payment.

If you have already tested the Y-37 with FTDNA and you are at a “brick wall” with your research, you might consider having FTDNA expand the number of markers tested to 67 or 111. This would not entail another swab, rather just having them test the existing sample to a higher number. There would be a second discount, since you have already paid for the 37 they discount the upgrades taking the first tests into account so they are testing fewer markers. You see that discount when your go through the process of choosing the next level of test.

By expanding the number of markers tested it both optimizes your search field in two ways. First, because several other Taylors have taken the 111 test, it gives you a benchmark to compare your new results against. For example, while at 37 if you are one marker different from one match, and zero from a second match, the more markers tested allows for a more complete family picture. For example, two samples may have very close results at 12 and 25 markers, but as the markers tested increase you may start to see more differences at 37, 67, and eventually 111 markers. This gives us you and another match a generational time frame to look in to see when your most recent common ancestor may have lived in and is what has led Johnny and I to William Taylor of New Jersey that moved to North Carolina in the mid 1700’s. In your case the expanded testing may do the same thing. It may wind up that you remain very close, or with no difference, all the way out to as far as you test, or there may be greater separation from Johnny yet stay closely aligned to my results, or somewhere in between. With that information then we may be able to triangulate in on a time frame of when to look for that most recent common ancestor.

Second it provides an opportunity for matching to another Taylor more closely than either Johnny or I and that Taylor may have a more complete lineage paper record that would provide more clues as to your Taylor line.

A third item, and a second test, to consider. We have found that, as Haplogroup G descendants of a single male Taylor in the early mid to late 1600’s and early 1700’s, it appears that we have a unique single marker to test that provides what we could call “proof of lineage”. This marker we find to be common among all of us that have tested for it within our specific line. We share other markers in the SNP tree as well but this one is the deepest so far identified as common between all of us that have tested for it.

The SNP test is not a single option that replaces all standard Y-DNA tests, it is rather the clincher for our line. Other families also have SNP – M3302 such as the Browns and others, but in combination with our Y-DNA (which is different from the Brown’s) it has become our touchstone for the Monmouth New Jersey Taylors. This marker is what is known as a Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP for short), called M3302. Testing positive for this SNP is something that we have seen we have in common and takes us to a common point deep within the HpG structure/tree. The cost for testing one SNP with FTDNA is about $40.00 if you have already taken one of their Y-DNA tests.

Another option, which a few of us have chosen to do is to do what is called a ‘deep clade’ test which tests, when I did it, over 100 SNP’s so it provides the trail from HpG-M201 (this is the highest level common marker we all share in Haplogroup G – M-201 is what distinguishes Haplogroup G from all other Haplogroups) all the way down following the trail to the deepest level that the tree currently goes in our particular branch (we are still breaking ground every year with new discoveries). One of the cousins has participated in some extra tests and his deepest marker is now below M3302. He and I participated in the “mapping” of Haplogroup G several years ago and as they discover where these SNP’s lie within the Haplogroup G “tree” then they come back and add these new markers placing us deeper and deeper within the tree. This is important to us because it can show us where a family tree lineage may branch off and help delineate the children of Joseph from the children of William from the children of John or George. That’s the someday part of the Y-DNA science/testing. As I mentioned, testing for one SNP is about $40.00, the Deep Clade test of HpG is, or was, about $99 or $109, but you have to work with a project administrator like Ralph Taylor to get that testing and the current cost thereof.