Date: Sun, 1 Jan 2006 20:35:14 -0330 (NST)
From: David Pike 
To: PIKE-DNA-L@rootsweb.com
Subject: [PIKE] Pike DNA Project: Year-End Review (fwd)

Happy New Year to everybody.  Below is a review of our
DNA project that I sent to the PIKE-L list the other day,
and which I figured I ought to also send to PIKE-DNA-L.

The past year was pretty exciting, but 2006 promises to
be exciting too.

Take care,

- David.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 29 Dec 2005 15:27:12 -0330 (NST)
From: David Pike 
To: PIKE-L@rootsweb.com
Subject: [PIKE] Pike DNA Project: Year-End Review


Greetings.

We're fast approaching the end of 2005, so I thought this might
be a good time to provide a status report about the Pike DNA Project
and its developments in the past year.  For those who don't yet know,
the general idea is to take advantage of genetic testing to help
with our Pike genealogical research.

A year ago the project had 8 participants, for which results for
only 3 had by then become available.  Today we have 23 people in the
project, representing most major spelling variants of the Pike surname
(i.e. Pike, Pyke, and McPike).  Of the 23 current participants, all but
the most recent 3 to join the project now have test results available.

The website for the project is at
http://www.math.mun.ca/~dapike/family_history/pike/DNA/

The "Results" page is where the test results and what they tell us
are displayed.  To offer a few brief comments though, with 20 test
results so far available, we have evidence of at least 9 genetically
different Pike families.  One of these families is that of John Pike
who settled in Massachusetts in 1635 ... among his descendants was
Zebulon Montgomery Pike, who will probably be in the news a fair bit
throughout 2006 (2006 marks the 200th anniversary of the expedition
in which Zebulon sighted Pike's Peak in Colorado).  More information
about Zebulon and his expedition can be found online at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebulon_Pike

To get back on topic, most of the participants in our DNA project
have provided details of their Pike ancestors.  Links to these
paternal pedigrees can be found on the project's
"Participants & Pedigrees" page.

Currently about half of the project's participants are without genetic
matches.  On the one hand, these folks now know that their Pike lines
are not related to those lines with which they mismatch (which is
useful to know, since it means they don't have to waste effort with
trying to find elusive ties to these mismatching lines).  Still, the
hope is that as the project grows, Pike's with matching genetic
signatures will be discovered, possibly allowing newly reunited cousins
to work together to determine how they're related and to pursue their
common genealogy.

To tidy things up now, let me just say that if anybody has any
questions about the project, to feel free to get in touch with me
by email.

- David.