Messages From Wade:


November 30, 2006
Greetings friends and family,

The Hooper DNA project has been in progress for a little more than four
years now. When we started the project we knew little about DNA testing. We had
no idea what to expect from our first test results. We've learned a lot since
then and have seen firsthand how DNA testing can reconnect families that went
their separate ways generations ago.

To date we have results for 76 Hooper men from the testing company, Family
Tree DNA. So far 61 of these men have had their results posted to the Hooper
Connections website. The results break down into 17 unique Hooper families. The
largest of the groups has 24 participants. Through DNA testing, this group
of Hoopers with ancestors in the western Carolinas, northern Georgia and
southeast and middle Tennessee have been reconnected after their family branches
had gone their own ways more than 200 years ago.

Project participants come from throughout the United States as well as from
Australia and Canada.

If you have tested through the Hooper DNA project at Family Tree DNA and
have not had your results posted on the Hooper Connections web site
<www.hooperconnections.com/dnatable.html> contact: Clay Hooper at <clayhooper@sbcglobal.net>.
Clay will need your express permission to publish your results
as well as a "mini" family tree. This tree should trace your Hooper line as
far back as you know. Look on the Hooper Connections web site and click on any
of the participant numbers. This will show you the "mini" tree for that
participant and give you an idea of the preferred format.

If you are interested in DNA testing check out the information at
<http://www.hooperconnections.com/dnaintro.html> as well as general DNA testing
information at <http://www.familytreedna.com>.

Hopefully we can continue to connect families and learn even more about the
history of the Hooper family.

Take care and have a joyous Advent.

Wade Glascock

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November 10, 2003

Hello friends and relatives,

The Hooper family DNA project is now more than a year old and in the last
year we've learned so much.

We now have results for 46 Y-chromosome DNA tests and have several more on
order. We've also just gotten an order from our first international participant.
Welcome to Gary from Australia! Maybe some of the American Hoopers will soon
have a new cousin Down Under.

All of the received results are from American Hoopers and they fall into
eleven different families. One recently received result is a fairly close match to
one of the families but there isn't enough information to classify this
result. It's possible this result may end up constituting a unique twelfth family.
You can see all the results and other information about the project on the
website at http://www.hooperconnections.com/dnaintro.html

Several of the participants are finding that they have DNA matches with
people with surnames other than Hooper and are wondering if these may be relatives.
The answer to this is somewhat tricky. Technically these Hoopers and
non-Hoopers are related but only in the sense that everyone is related if you go back
far enough. Participants end up with non-Hooper matches for a couple of
different reasons. One possible explanation is that there is a relationship but it
goes back to before surnames became hereditary. In Europe surnames became
hereditary between 500 and 1000 years ago. By example let's say that 500 years ago
Bob the farmer and John the hooper were brothers. In 2003 Bob's descendant,
Tom Farmer, and John's descendant, Mike Hooper, take the Y-DNA test. There's a
good chance that Tom and John's results will come out very similar. Tom and
John are genetically related but there's no way to prove it. With DNA testing as
with standard genealogy the first sorting tool is the surname. You're always
going to look for possible relatives amongst those with the same surname.
Another possible reason for matches between people with different surnames
has to do with the DNA itself. For each of the DNA markers there are several
possible values. However one value for each will be the most common. If you end
up with a set of marker values where most or all have the most common value
then you will end up with erroneous matches and near matches. Once again the
solution is to look for matches with people of the same surname.

I would also like to remind everyone that there is funding available for
those of you who are interested but don't feel you can pay the full amount of the
test. Persons with confirmed genealogical ties to Europe and those from U.S.
lines that haven't been explored or that are poorly represented have the best
chance of receiving funding. You can find details at
http://www.hooperconnections.com/fundingfrontpage.html

That's all for now.
Take care.

Wade Glascock

***************

June 14, 2003

Hello all,

To date 43 Hooper men have participated in and received results in the Hooper
family DNA project. Ten distinct Hooper lineages are represented. So far all
the participants have been from the U.S.

Because of the way that the DNA is inherited only males are able to
participate. Moreover only males with an unbroken male only Hooper line can
participate. As a general rule, men with the last name Hooper.

It is possible to test your line even if you aren't a male Hooper. My own
Hooper lineage is on the maternal side of my family. I got a cousin to take the
test to prove our Hooper relationship from our ancestor Jesse Hooper (born
1758). Co-opting brothers, fathers, cousins, etc to test your own line is always
an option.

For those of you having reunions this year, I have written a short two page
presentation about the Hooper DNA project available for you to print out and use to
help familiarize people about the project. Let me know if you would like a
copy.

Thank you to everyone for making the Hooper project the success that it is.
Have a great Summer.

Wade Glascock

***************

December 28, 2002

Greetings friends and relatives,

It's been an exciting year for the Hooper DNA project. We've learned a lot
about our ancestors and found many new relatives. I'd like to summarize some
of the developments from the project.

To date 31 men have signed up for the Hooper project. We have results for 21
of the participants. The lab is closed though Jan. 2 so we won't have any new
results until after the first of the new year.

So far the project has shown that James Hooper (born 1745 from Union County,
KY), Jesse Hooper (born 1758 from Davidson (Cheatham) County, TN), Absalom
Hooper (born 1764 from Haywood County, NC), Dr. Enos C. Hooper (born 1796
from Graham Co., NC and Monroe Co. TN), Andrew Hooper (born 1805 from Bradley
Co. TN) and Absalom Hooper (born 1807 from Polk Co. TN) were all relatives.
Prior to this project there had been suspicions that some of these men could
have been related but no paper records had ever been found to connect them.
For those of you with connections to these men your family tree is now
enormous!

In another development, the project has shown that John Hooper (born 1783
from Haywood/Jackson County, NC) was not a genetic relative of the above
group. Previously John was believed to be the son of Absalom Hooper (born
1764 from Haywood Co. NC). The descendants of John Hooper have found a new
direction for their research and are furiously attempting to discover where
their ancestor fits into the southeastern Hooper scheme.

Also the Obediah Hooper (born 1720 from Hanover Co. VA and Franklin Co. GA)
branch has been shown to be unrelated to any of the other Hooper branches.
Many other Hooper families were also residents of Northern GA before,
during and after the Revolutionary War and the possibility existed that they
and Obediah were somehow related. The testing now indicates that this is not
true.

We also have three participants that thus far have not found Hooper matches.
They belong to the William Hooper (born 1782 from Massachusetts), Wesley
Hooper (born 1814 from North Carolina) and William Hooper (born 1821 from
Kentucky) lines. Hopefully there will be future candidates that will match
with these lines.

Among the participants with pending results are those from the Clemmons
Hooper (born 1770 from Haywood Co./Jackson Co. NC), James Hooper (born 1776
from Georgia or North Carolina), Samuel A. Hooper, Sr. (born 1770 from South
Carolina) and Charles Noah Hooper (born 1802 from North Carolina) lines.
The project continues to grow and expand and hopefully the new year will add
more candidates for all of these lines and many more besides. If you are a
Hooper male or the friend or relative of a Hooper male we invite you to learn
more about our project and to consider taking the test as well.
Please visit the wonderful website of our friend and new relative Clay Hooper
at [old site address deleted].

May you all have a pleasant and joyful new year.

Wade Glascock ~ Hooper DNA Projects Manager

Materials on this page and linked webpages within this site are © 2002-2057 by Clay Hooper, those that have submitted materials, and those that have participated in the HOOPER DNA PROJECT. Family researchers and tax-exempt genealogical societies may freely link to these web pages and/or use the material personally, as described under copyright law. All for-profit reproduction of these electronic pages - in any format - by any other organization or persons is restricted by the author. All others desiring to use this material must obtain written consent of the copyright holder.