Rachel (Skaggs) Lester and Mitochondrial DNA

If you go out to the Wikitree genealogical site to Rachel (Skaggs) Lester there is a mitochondrial DNA test result for one of her descendants.  Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) testing is similar to Y-DNA testing, except that the mtDNA is passed only from mother to her children.  Male children have the mtDNA but cannot pass it down to their kids.  Mitochondrial DNA testing is great for answering questions about your female line.

Descendants of John B Floyd Skaggs Wanted for DNA Testing

John B Floyd Skaggs was born 18 May 1853 in the historical Rocky Station district of Lee County, Virginia.  It was the area across the Wallen Creek from the town of Pennington Gap.  His parents were Jeremiah and Mary Catherine Skaggs and he had five sisters.  John B Floyd Skaggs died in the same area 23 August 1929.  The Skaggs Y-DNA project has a gap in the testing that can be filled by male descendants of John B Floyd Skaggs.

Nashville Skeggs Descendants Wanted for DNA Testing

The Skaggs family Y-DNA project is looking for descendants of a Skeggs from the Nashville, Tennessee area.  Male descendants of Thomas Leonard Skeggs (1810-1880) are needed to take a Y-DNA test to identify how this Skeggs family line fits and where they come from.

Marker for Lawrence County, Kentucky Militia Company

Francis "Big Frank" Lemaster was militia captain in 1826 in Lawrence County, Kentucky.  Local residents want to commemorate their service by commissioning a stone monument to the men of that militia company, and they currently are raising funds on Facebook to fund the project.  Some interesting names will go on that monument.

Richard Scaggs, "Chew's Folly" and Y-DNA Testing

Not long ago I wrote a blog post about Richard Scaggs, wife Sarah Selby and their farm "Chew's Folly" on the Maryland Western Shore.  This is an important Skaggs family group because they are so well documented from Sarah Selby's inheritance of "Chew's Folly" in the mid-1700s to the present.  When I was working with Chris Keig from the Isle of Man putting together Skaggs family groups we realized we had several gaps in our Y-DNA testing, a key gap being descendants of Richard Scaggs and Sarah Selby. Well, thanks to a correspondent, Y-DNA testing has provided a surprise regarding this family.