Update on the Skaggs DNA Project

It's been awhile since the last post.  We've been going down genealogical rabbit holes for months so not much new to post.  However, I thought I should provide an update regarding the Skaggs DNA project.  We have some results to share based on both the Y-DNA testing and the autosomal DNA testing.

The Skaggs DNA project consists of both Y-DNA testing along the Skaggs male lines and autosomal DNA testing of both men and women related to Skaggs lines.  The following link provides a high-level overview of each of the Skaggs lines we have identified and tested:

Skaggs DNA Testing: Putting it All Together

We've had a lot of ongoing participation in the Skaggs Y-DNA project.  We have 10 Y-DNA samples from American Skaggs descendants that have been put up on the Y-Full site, which is attempting to document the Y-DNA for the entire human race.  Yes, that sounds like quite an ambitious project and we have a whole Skaggs section in there.  Based on these Skaggs Y-DNA samples it appears the common Skaggs DNA mutated about 650 years ago on the Isle of Man, conveniently located between Ireland and Britain in the Irish Sea.  Since this 650 year old person was also the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of all these Skaggs DNA test subjects, he couldn't have been born in America, so the Skaggs family must have had multiple immigrants to the American Colonies.  Early Skaggs genealogical work from decades ago seems to confirm multiple Skaggs immigrants, with a Richard Scaggs and a Thomas Scaggs having been identified as immigrants to Virginia in the 1640s.  Perhaps there were other immigrants as well. You can find the Y-DNA results from the Skaggs project here.  Not all of these testers have been posted to Y-Full.  If you are male and your name is or sounds a bit like Skaggs and are interested in joining the Y-DNA project you can contact the Group Administrator here.  Interesting background on the Skaggs Y-DNA project and how Skaggs ties in with Viking heritage on the Isle of Man can be found here.

The Skaggs autosomal DNA project is also ongoing.  We've been trying to use autosomal DNA to help punch through Skaggs family brick walls.  We find several connections from confirmed Skaggs descendants to families like Sullivant, Elkins, Lester, etc. and we hope these connections lead us in the right direction with genealogical research and further DNA testing.  We are currently using both autosomal and Y-DNA testing to research families like Sullivan(t) and Staggs that might actually be Skaggs DNA lines in places like Stafford, Essex and Charlotte Counties in Virginia.  Send me an email if you want to join the autosomal DNA project and I'll put you in touch with the administrator.