Reeves DNA Project Anniversary 2019
by Barry ReevesOn 21 April 2004, the recently created Reeves DNA Project website added the first two (partial1 ) sets of Y-DNA test results.
As I look back over the last 15 years, I’m amazed by the many discoveries made and the overall progress we have seen as a result of the Reeves DNA Project. The first discussions about using DNA testing in our family research started on the REEVES-L mailing list on Rootsweb in early 2004. None of us really knew what to expect from the DNA test results, but we all had high hopes that the paper trail we all had accumulated for years would finally be validated.
Initially, the Reeves DNA Project began as a Y-DNA project for the Reeves surname or one of its many spellings. As more and more men started taking the Y-DNA test and receiving their results, groupings started to form. The goal being to identify the Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA) for each group.
As one of the first people to take the Y-DNA test and receive my results, I would anxiously await my emails each day hoping to get matches. It didn’t take very long to start seeing those matches as I became the first person in match group 3.
Skipping forward a few years, many of us have been able to confirm suspected relationships and lines of descent. On the other side of the coin, some were disappointed to discover their Reeves line wasn’t the one that they thought it was. Yours truly being one of those. But as anyone who has been involved in family research eventually learns, you accept the disappointments along with the successes and then move on. Genealogy is the story that has no ending.
Now after 15 years, I am still just as excited about our DNA project as I was in the beginning. I get just as much enjoyment from seeing other members of our project find matches as I do myself. Our project has grown to include Mitochondrial DNA tests and Family Finder tests. It has evolved into nearly 20 match groups and 321 members as of April 20, 2019. I can’t wait to see what the next 15 years will bring.
1
In the early days of Y-DNA testing, the results from a Y-25 test were delivered in two parts, initially the first 12 markers (equivalent to the Y-12 test) and then, some days later, the additional 13 markers. Time has moved on and the entry level Y DNA test is now the Y-37 test.