DENNEY - DENNY DNA PROJECT, STEPS TO JOIN DENNY DNA PROJECT

To answer this question you need to know who the participants are, so that you can collaborate with them on your Denny line(s). All participants are encouraged (but not required) to provide contact information so that they and others can share genealogical information on their Denny line. After your DNA test information is received from DNA Heritage, it will be posted to our website and you will have the opportunity to review your Denny DNA test results, as compared to others. If you have provided a RELEASE and WAIVER form, the information you have allowed us to use will be posted along with your DNA test data. No contact information will be provided without a WRITTEN RELEASE and WAIVER form from you.

Only the person providing the DNA sample and the Project Administrator will know what his results are (unless he decides that he would like to share that information). All samples and identifying information will be received by the DENNY DNA Administrator (Bill Denney) and will be assigned an identifying number. This ID number will be the only identifying information anyone else sees, so that no one other then the administrator will know who participates in the study or which DNA results is from which person. The portion of the DNA tested (marker) gives a distinctive "signature" for a lineage rather than for an individual, so there is no risk of this data being of any use to anyone for personal identification of you as an individual

A WORD OF CAUTION BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO JOIN THE DENNY DNA SURNAME TEST GROUP

There is always a possibility that you could get disappointing DNA test results. Samples that vary by three or more markers from the main group may do so for a number of reasons. One possibility is that they represent distinct lines that are either older or younger than the currently observed most frequent DENNY line. Another is that there has been a "non-paternal event" at an unknown past time. There are several possible types of non-paternal events (in addition to a pregnancy that occurred outside of normal marriage). For example, a child may be adopted and given the DENNY name; a man may take the DENNY surname when he marries a DENNY daughter; a DENNY man may marry a pregnant woman whose husband has died; a couple where the wife or grandmother is the DENNY may choose to give their children the DENNY surname for various reasons; a clerical error in recording administrative data may assign a DENNY name to the wrong person; babies could have been switched at birth; etc.

It should be stressed that adoptions were quite common in every era (i.e., parents died by disease or war and a relative took the children and raised them with their name; or young daughters had a child out of wedlock and the parents raised it as their own).

Some may not want to see a result indicating a "non-paternal event" but we are all legal DENNY's, and a small sample size could be misleading. One may get a DNA sequence which suggests a "non-paternal event" but they could be out of the original blood DENNY line. Let me explain: Twenty people are tested and 19 are very similar but the last is clearly different. It could turn out that the 19 descend from the same person 300 years ago and this person was an adopted DENNY, while the other is of the original blood line going back 800 years.

IF YOU STILL WISH TO PROCEED WITH DNA TESTING, YOU ARE A DENNY MALE OR HAVE A TEST VOLUNTEER, AND YOU ARE ABLE TO PAY FOR THE TEST (SEE THE DNA FAQ BUTTON)

2. If the DNA test is for you, click on the "JOIN DENNY DNA HERITAGE PROJECT" button. At the bottom of the DNA Heritage webpage, fill in your name, phone, and email address, etc and click on the button "Place my request."

However, if the DNA test is for someone else (father, brother, etc. who is a male Denny being tested in place of yourself), enter the details for the person being tested, except, at the email address box, type in your own email address. In this case, the kit will go to the person being tested, but the invoice and DNA test results will go to you. Later, when your test results are ready, you can use the MY DNA TEST STATUS button to log into your account, and download the report and certificate. (The hard copy of the DNA test results will be mailed to the person who is being tested but you will receive the email copy).

3. Bill Denney will send you a "Join Form" (via email) for the DNA Heritage website, which will give you our group's reduced price for the testing kit. (If you have any questions, please send me an email by using the Home webpage button titled EMAIL BILL DENNEY).

4. When you receive your Join Form via email, under Step #2, either accept the markers as they are (to test the minimum of 25 and "pick" the "Use These Markers" button), or select the button titled "Full Marker Panel 43". The Denny Surname project requires a minimum of 25 markers (as shown by the default check marks-do NOT change them, if you are not selecting the full 43 marker test). We recommend that you select all 43 markers for the best results in your later genealogy research. When you select the "Use These Markers" button or select the "Full Marker Panel" button, a new webpage will open.

5. At the bottom of this webpage, fill in your "Personal Details " and then, place a checkmark by "Yes! I have read and accept the terms and conditions including the refund policy*."

6. Select the "Submit" button and within a few days you will receive a DNA test kit from DNA Heritage via regular mail.

7. While you are waiting for your test kit to arrive, please take time to create four forms (or three forms and a GEDCOM file) as listed below.

   a . At the left side of this page, click on the "WAIVER" button. You will have choices to electronically fill out the form and submit it. Or, if you have problems with this,  print the form out, read, complete and sign form and mail completed form to Bill Denney.  This form must be signed by the person taking the DNA test.

    b . For experienced computer-literate genealogists, we would also like a GEDCOM file of your Denny ancestry from yourself to your eldest known Denny male ancestor, so that we can add your test data to our website as soon as your DNA data is ready at DNA Heritage. If you cannot produce a GEDCOM file, simply click on the button titled "ANCESTOR REPORT FORM" and fill in the blanks for your Denny ancestors. Or, if you have a problem with this, print out the "ANCESTOR REPORT" (print out from the ANCESTOR REPORT button), complete, (including vital dates and places) for your Denny ancestors and send it to Bill Denney via postal mail. (If you are having another Denny male tested, the Ancestor Report should be for him, and he must sign the Release and Waiver forms.) If you don't have an Ancestor Report or a GEDCOM file, you can still participate in the Denny DNA Surname Project, but others may not be able to see how they might connect to your family tree. (We also will not be able to analyze your test results if we do not find a match with other DNA test participants.)

   c . In addition, at the left side of this page, click on the "INFORMATION RELEASE FORM" button. You will have choices to electronically fill out the form and submit it. Or, if you have problems with this, print the form out, complete it, sign it, and mail to Bill Denney. The form must be signed by the person taking the DNA test.

8. You will receive a DNA test kit in the mail. (Click "HERE" to see what the kit will look like) Take your DNA sample (see the Home page button titled DNA HERITAGE TEST PROCEDURE), and mail it back to DNA Heritage.

9. DNA Heritage's test lab (SORENSON GENOMICS) in Utah will analyze your DNA and send an invoice directly to you (via email) plus a copy to Bill Denney, project administrator.

10. You will pay DNA Heritage via the Internet (or you can call them if you wish, with a credit card number).

11. You can check your DNA results directly on the DNA Heritage Website (about halfway down on the left side, type in the codes that DNA Heritage sent with your test results and select the Login button). You will also receive a copy of your DNA test results via postal mail. (Click "HERE" to see a demo version of a Test Certificate and Report) The test results by themselves won't mean much (kind of like one hand clapping). You'll need to compare them with other results posted on the Denny DNA website at the DNA TEST RESULTS button to see how/if you connect with other Denny lines.

1. Click on the PRINTER FRIENDLY button and print out a hard copy of the join steps to enable you to follow the steps after you leave this page.

12. Once you have received your Y-DNA results, we recommend that you visit http://www.ybase.org and http://www.ysearch.org and post your test results so that others DNA test participants whose results match your DNA markers can contact you.

13. Your DNA TEST RESULTS will be posted to the Denny Surname Project website (select the button DNA TEST RESULTS to view them) and IF you have signed the release and waiver forms, your contact information will also be there so that others who find Denny DNA matches can contact you directly

14. If you are not already a member of the DENNEY/DENNY SURNAME LIST at Rootsweb, we encourage you to join by performing one of the following steps, using your email program:

a. For letter mode (to receive only one message at a time), just send an email to
       DENNEY-L-request@rootsweb.com , enter only the word subscribe in body,
       nothing else!

b. For Digest Mode (bundled messages for each day), send an email to
       DENNEY-D-request@rootsweb.com , enter only the word subscribe in body,
       nothing else!

You may have noticed that one of our overall Denny DNA Surname goals is to determine which Denny researchers should be collaborating because they share a common ancestor (which was determined via DNA testing/analysis).

This page last modified on Tuesday, March 21, 2006

FAMILY TREE DNA LINKS

REQUIRED FORMS TO JOIN