Who are the Baden Baden Whipples?

The Whipple DNA blog went online nearly nine years ago. Its initial goal was to use Y chromosome DNA testing to determine if Captain John Whipple of Providence, Rhode Island was biologically related to Matthew and John Whipple of Bocking, England and Ipswich, Massachusetts.

Interpreting Non-YDNA Test Results

Several weeks ago I received a file of DNA test results from a biological male Whipple descendant of a disconnected biological male Whipple listed on the Disconnected Whipples page of the Whipple Website. The file had 668,961 lines of data from a test performed by a large genealogical company. I was unable to draw any conclusions from that file. (I lack the expertise necessary to interpret that file.)

Raymond Whipple of Hamilton, Massachusetts

On August 26.  Raymond “Ray” Whipple of Hamilton, Massachusetts, sent an email reminding me that he is in the Y-DNA T haplogroup. (I helped him get the test several years ago through Family Tree DNA.)

Who Is Henry Whipple?

According to the Whipple Genweb, Henry Whipple (one of many Henrys in the database) was born on May 13, 1788, in Rhode Island. He died March 19, 1848, in Cumberland County, Illinois.

Are Whipples Descendants of Scandinavians and Normans?

On the Whipple Website Facebook group this morning, a Whipple posted the following:

After watching the series “History of Britain,” it seems to me that Whipple’s may either originally be from the Scandinavian countries (viking hordes) or from Normandy in northern France, who were also from Scandinavia originally …..anyone who’s a direct line descendant, who’s had a DNA profile, did it show either of those ethnic origins, along with Britain?

Y DNA Test Not Part of AncestryDNA

Yesterday I came very close to ordering a DNA test from Ancestry.com, assuming that it would include Y Chromosome  test results.

Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in DNA Testing

Last evening I spoke briefly with a friend of mine who is a genetics professor at a local university. I asked him in passing if I’m missing anything new in genealogical DNA since I first read about Y DNA and mtDNA. He responded with the following in an email:

Another Whipple in Y-DNA Hapolgroup T

This past week I received another email from a patrilineal Whipple descendant whose Y chromosome DNA shows him in the T haplogroup.

Ipswich Whipple Y-DNA ... So Far

This past weekend I received a report from yet another patrilineal descendant of Matthew Whipple (b. 1590). He reported his haplogroup as T1. Previous Ipswich Whipples had reported haplogroups T (without the 1) and I2b1. One disconnected Whipple also reported a haplogroup of T.

Huge DNA News!

During the past 2-3 years (or more?), patrilineal descendants of the Rhode Island and Ipswich MA Whipples have been submitting DNA for testing. During that time, known Rhode Island descendants (descendants of Captain John Whipple at https://whipples.org/366) have belonged to haplogroup:

DNA Test Results ... So Far

The very small sample of Y Chromosome DNA test results submitted so far seems to indicate that the Ipswich (Massachusetts) Whipples and the Providence (Rhode Island) Whipples don't share a "recent" common ancestor.

Another Match!

Four days ago I received another email with the subject: "Family Tree DNA Y-DNA12 Test Match 12 for 12," indicating that yet another Whipple is a descendant of Captain John Whipple of Providence, Rhode Island. Because Family Tree DNA has a strict privacy policy, I'm not certain who that person is. (I do see, however, that there are five Whipples listed whose Y-DNA 12 Test matches mine.)

12-Marker Y-DNA Test for $99.00!

This week Christopher Congdon reported a way to purchase a 12-marker Y Chromosome DNA test from FamilyTree DNA: Visit https://www.familytreedna.com/order-form.aspx?ty=58&Group=Whipple&code= -- it takes you directly to the page for the 12-marker test.

Which Y-DNA Test?

Now that I've had time to look at the results of different relatives' Y-DNA tests, I have formulated a new opinion about which Y-chromosome DNA tests are best. The tests with the fewest "markers" (which are also the cheapest) are probably sufficient--for starters, at least.

Ipswich Whipple Y DNA: More Uncertainty

A few days ago I posted preliminary results of an Ipswich Whipple Y Chromosome DNA test. That test indicated no close relationship between the Rhode Island Whipples and that descendant of Matthew Whipple (brother of John) of Ipswich.

Accessing Your yDNA Test Results on FamilyTree DNA

A fellow Whipple reported that he received an email in the past few days from FamilyTree DNA, informing him that some of his Y chromosome DNA test results were available. He indicated that he didn't know how to access the results. I recalled that when I first received my test results, it took me several weeks to "discover" where the results were on the web site. With that in mind, I've decided to share how I accessed my test results.

Preliminary yDNA Test Results: Ipswich and R.I. Whipples Not Closely Related?

Yesterday I received an email reporting the results of Y Chromosome DNA tests of an 8th great grandson of Matthew Whipple (born about 1590, died 28 Sep 1647) of Ipswich, Massachusetts.

Do the DNA.Whipple.org and the Whipple DNA project work together?

I just read the following question on the RootsWeb Whipple mailing list:

So do the DNA.Whipple.org and the Whipple DNA project work together or are they complete separate entities. What is the best way to do an DNA test? Would the National Geographic test work as well? I was interested in that project before I started researching my ancestry but have not done any at this time. Looking forward to seeing what develops.

67 Marker Y Chromosome DNA Test Results Arrived Today

Today I received an email from FamilyTree DNA, informing me of the results from the 67 Marker DNA test ordered earlier. (This completes the tests I've ordered.)

Update: Trace Your Roots with DNA

Last night I finished reading the book Trace Your Roots with DNA: Using Genetic Tests to Explore Your Family Tree by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak and Ann Turner (Rodale, 2004; ISBN 1-59486-006-8). I strongly recommend it to anyone seriously interested in genetics and genealogy. Here are a few things I learned/concluded.

The Whipple DNA Project at worldfamilies.net

As proof that I'm still a "newbie" at genealogical DNA research, I realized this afternoon that the Whipple DNA Project has been around for at least two years at http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/whipple/. Even more surprising (to me) is that my pedigree is already online. (I recall uploading it somewhere a month or so ago. This afternoon I realized that it is posted--with a few others--at the worldfamilies.net URL mentioned above.)

My 37 Marker Y-DNA Results Arrived Today

FamilyTree DNA emailed the results of my 37 marker Y-DNA test today (having previously sent the results of the 12 and 25 marker tests). They are still working on the 67 marker tests.

Welcome to the Whipple DNA Blog!

About two months ago at a relative's wedding reception, I struck up a conversation with an ardent fan of genealogical DNA. Until that time I had always been a skeptic of its benefits, preferring instead to identify actual relatives by name, using vital records and other sources.