DNA Testing: The Skaggs and the Isle of Man

In my previous post we were introduced to the Big Y DNA test and Christopher Keig from the Isle of Man was gracious enough to explain how his Big Y testing project determined that the Keig and Skaggs families were related and that the Skaggs family was of Manx origin. Below the fold I'll let Chris' project description from the Family Tree DNA website describe the findings so far.  Finally, I'll make another call for males with the Skaggs, Scaggs and Skeggs surname to volunteer for his Big Y project at FTDNA.

DNA Testing: The "Big Y" Testing for Skaggs Origins

Recently I received e-mail from a correspondent who took the “Big Y” DNA test at the Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) testing service.  He is a descendant of Old Peter Skaggs with the Skaggs surname and his results are very interesting, perhaps pointing the way toward finding the European origins of the Skaggs family.

Pounding on Brick Walls: Elizabeth Skaggs

A few months ago a correspondent presented me with a Skaggs mystery.  I must admit I've spent some time working on it and am stuck.  This mystery involves an Elizabeth Skaggs whose parents disappeared prior to the Civil War.  I'm posting what information I know hoping that someone out there can piece together the puzzle of who were Elizabeth's parents.

FamilySearch: It's All Starting to Come Together

I can recommend updating FamilySearch with Skaggs family tree information.  The LDS genealogy site has attracted a lot of Skaggs activity from all branches of the family: e.g. the Long Hunters, and this crowd-sourcing has substantially improved the quality of the family tree information on that site.

Wasting Time with the Long Hunters

I’ve avoided researching the Skaggs Long Hunter family since there has been extensive research done in the 100+ years since Lyman Draper’s work.  However, the internet has created an opportunity for a lot of “fake news” regarding the Long Hunters. People are posting trees without any evidence that create a dog’s breakfast of confusion for Skaggs family researchers.  Some folks are also ignoring well-documented prior research in their haste to tie their ancestors to famous Long Hunters like Henry Skaggs.