Kerchner's Genetic Genealogy Y-DNA Surname Project

DNA Spiral ISOGG Logo

Researching Kerchner / Kirchner / Karchner / Kaerchner
Kercher / Kircher / Karcher / Kaercher
and Similar German Surnames
Using Y Chromosome (Y-DNA) Y-STR Haplotype Analysis


Project Expanded to Include Kershner/Kerschner/Kirschner Surnames and Other Soundex Variations
(Primarily Soundex Codes: K625, K626, C625, and C626. Metaphone Code: KRXNR)

Link to current website with more members and up to date results:
https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/kerchner/dna-results

One of the first Y-DNA genetic genealogy surname study projects.
More participants wanted. Especially Europeans with these surnames.
Interested in the project? Read on as to why you should join and how.

Genetic Genealogy DNA Testing Dictionary

Filename:   kerchdna.htm

Internet:   http://www.kerchner.com/kerchdna.htm

Key Dates:  Project Started:                Feb 2001
            First Two Test Kits Ordered:  6 Mar 2001
            Webpage Created:             12 Mar 2001
            Last Updated:                 3 Oct 2007

By:         Charles F. Kerchner, Jr., P.E.
            (GGP-Genetic Genealogy Pioneer)
            3765 Chris Drive
            Emmaus PA 18049-1544 USA

Notice:     Copyright 2001-2007 Charles F. Kerchner, Jr.  All Rights Reserved.
            Establishing links to this page is encouraged and permitted.
            But, reuse or reprinting it in it's entirety or in part in other
            websites, or in any other media or publication, without my
            permission, is not permitted. Printing a hard copy of this
            report for your own personal, non-commercial use is permitted.

Subj:       A genetic genealogy surname project to determine the unique Y-DNA
            chromosome markers for various unlinked Kerchner and similar sounding
            (in English) germanic surname family groups in the USA and to
            determine if these various descendants of various immigrants
            have one or more common male ancestors in Germany in the last
            400-600 years and if possible to find their ancestral home villages
            or regions in Germany.

Keywords:   GENETICS GENEALOGY DNA Y CHROMOSOME GERMAN ANCESTOR SURNAME PROJECT

Original Goals

The original three goals of this project when it was launched in February 2001 were:

1. Determine if the two immigrants who lived near each other in colonial Berks County PA, i.e., Adam Kerchner, who arrived in PA in 1741, and Frederick Kerchner, who arrived in PA in 1751 were related via their direct male lines. This was surmised to be the case by the prior traditional research but no solid paper trail evidence exists to prove they were related, and if so, how closely they were related. This first goal was achieved and the Y-DNA tests proved that these two early Kerchner male lines were related within a time frame of genealogical interests. See the Project Success Stories page link below.

2. Find the ancestral home villages in Germany or a Germanic region of Europe, since both these two immigrants spoke German as their native language when they arrived in PA. Finding the home village would been done by testing other Kerchner, Kirchner, Karchner, Kercher, Kircher, Karcher lines here in the USA who do know their ancestral home village in Germany from existing traditional genealogy records and/or testing native Germans still living in Germany who share the same or similar surnames to see if the two Pennsylvania Kerchner/Kirchner lines' Y-DNA Y-STR haplotype "signatures", which will be determined in goal one, match any of the other lines in the USA and/or Germany/Europe. In testing to date, while this project has successfully linked together other K625 and K626 soundex code surnamed groups and in some cases finding matches to surname groups still living in Germany and thus to the home villages in Germany, this project has not been able to find any matches for the lines of Adam Kerchner and Frederick Kerchner except of course to distant cousins of descendants of these two lines who of course were previously known to be related within their respective descent trees from the prior traditional evidence. But doing those tests internal to each clan were essential to goal three below. The project now enters its second five year plan with this goal number two still a major goal. This goal is also the major goal of several other groups of K625 and K626 surnamed clans who joined this project since February 2001 as it expanded from a personal genetic genealogy search to a wider one name study type genetic genealogy project and search designed to help all male lines in the K625 and K626 soundex codes surnames.

3. Verify the traditional genealogy research work within each group of descendants, those of immigrant Adam Kerchner, and those of immigrant Frederick Kerchner to verify that the genetic genealogy evidence affirms and reinforces the traditional paper trail research and evidence. With very few exceptions probably due to hidden adoptions, etc., that turned out to be the case. Therefore project goal three was also achieved. See project test results basic twelve marker data tables showing how the Henry Number traditional relationship analysis matched up with the Y-DNA genetic genealogy evidence at 12 through 37 markers of testing for the various groups.

Project Success Stories To-Date

Some early Kerchner/Kirchner/Karchner/Kaerchner and Kaercher/Karcher/Kercher/Kircher and Kershner/Kerschner/Kirschner progenitors:

 ADAM1: Adam #1 Kerchner (spelled Kircher on one ship list) arrived 1741, Philadelphia PA, ship Thane of Fife. Adam had only one known son name Frederick. Since his son was younger than the other Frederick who arrived in 1751.
ADAM2: Adam #2 Kirchner of Mannheim, Germany, arrived 1748 Philadelphia PA, ship Edinburgh. Descendants known as Kartchner.
ANDR1: Andreas Kerchner of Oberlustadt, Germany, arrived 1749 at Philadelphia PA on ship Dragon.
ANTHONY: Anthony Kirchner of Lokut, Hungary. Spoke German and arrived in USA circa 1899 per census records. Settled in Norwich CT.
CONRAD1: Conrad Kirschner, 1669-1746, of Langenselbold, Hessen, Germany, who in turn is a descendant of Enders Kirschner of Herbstein, Hessen, Germany. Descendants of Conrad arrived in PA in early 1700's and settled in PA and MD.
CONRAD2: Conrad Kirschner, 1717-1791, of Windsor Township, Berks County PA, married to Catharine Bek.
FREDK1: Frederick Kirchner arrived 1751 at Philadelphia PA on ship Brothers.
FREDK2: Fredrick Kircher, born 16 May 1828, Wuerttemberg, Germany. Last of Louisburg, Miami Co KS.
GEOG1: George Kirchner arrived 1751 at Philadelphia PA on ship Brothers.
GEOG2: George Kerchner of Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany, arrived about 1860 and settled in Pittsburgh PA.
ANDR2: Andreas Kerchner of Mainflingen, Hessen, Germany. Settled in Holland, the Netherlands, in 1758. Descendants known as Kerkenaar.
GEOG3: George Kerchner of Germany, arrived in PA pre-1850 and settled in Cumru Twsp, Berks Co PA. He died in the Civil War. Descendants found in Lancaster Co PA.
HENR1: Henry Kerchner of Darmstadt, Germany, arrived 1851 and settled in York Co PA.
HENR2: George Heinrich (known as Heinrich) Kaercher of Obersulzen, Germany. Arrive in USA in 1853. Settles in OH. Married in OH. Descendants in DE.
JACOB: Jacob Kerchner a pre-1800 settler in York Co PA.
LOUIS: Louis Kircher, born about 1836, of Weinsburg, Wuerttemberg, Germany per U.S. Civil War discharge papers. Probably arrived in USA via NY as he was living there when he enlisted. Settled in Philadelphia PA after the Civil War. Descendants found in PA and NJ.
MICHL: Michael Kerchner of Freudenberg, Germany, arrived 1832 via Philadelphia PA, settles in Baltimore MD.
PHILIP1: Johan "Philip" Kercher, born circa 1720 in Germany, 24 Feb 1798, died 24 Feb 1798 near Manheim, Lancaster Co PA. He arrived at Philadelphia PA on 24 Sep 1742 on the ship Robert and Alice. This excerpt from the Kercher Family History written by John W. Kercher, Sr., around the year 1957, provides information on some of the early generations.
PHILIP2: Philip Kerchner arrived 1744 at Philadelphia PA on ship Phoenix.
Johann JAKOB Kircher born in 1731 in Geisselhardt, Schwabisch Hall District, Wuerttemberg, Germany.

An Example of Spelling Variations Observed in Germanic Surnames in Various Records

Spelling of German surnames in colonial and USA records is quite variable. Major spelling variations will probably be found with any and all the Germanic surnames included in this project. But as an example I will list here some spelling variations I found in ancestry records of known descendants of my ancestor Adam Kerchner: Kerchner, Kirchner, Karchner, Kaerchner, Kergner, Kirkner, Kerchener, Kirchener, Kirkner, Kirckner, Kerkner, Kerckner, Karriger, Kariger, Kartchner, Kercher, Kircher, Kirchen, Karcher, Kaercher, Kerkenaar. Some other way off spellings found: Carrichner, Carrickner, Cerchner, Circhner. And to add further confusion it has been recently proven that one group of Adam #1 Kerchner descendants permanently changed the spelling of their surname around the 1880's to use an "sh" in their name instead of the harder sounding in German "ch" spelling and sound, confusing the line with a completely different German surname family, i.e., the Kershner surname. The Kirschner, Kerschner, and Kershner German surname has a completely different occupational source root meaning than does Kirchner, Kerchner, and Karchner.

See this webpage for more on phonetic spelling and translation variations in German names
or check out one of these books on German names
German-English Genealogical Dictionary, by Ernest Thode
German-American Names, by George F. Jones
Dictionary of German Names, by Hans Bahlow, translated by Edna Gentry

Learn more about using DNA to aide genealogical research.
Download My "Genetics & Genealogy - An Introduction" Report
or
Check out my new Genetic Genealogy DNA Testing Dictionary

The Beginning and Project Evolution

This pioneering genetic genealogy surname project was started in Feb 2001 as a personal project to determine if there was any close biological relationship between individuals such as myself, as a descendant of the 1741 immigrant ancestor Adam #1 Kerchner, and descendants of other early immigrant ancestors, such as the one who arrived in 1751 named Frederick Kirchner. The early immigrants Adam and Frederick lived near each other in the 18th century in Berks County PA. They also named some of their children with the same given names. While no paper trail records in history have been found to absolutely prove or deny a relationship, it often has been theorized that these two immigrants might be related. The idea of using the newly available (back in 2001) genetic genealogy tests was discussed via email with a known male descendant of the 1751 immigrant Frederick Kirchner. This descendant is also a hobby genealogist like myself. His group of Kerchner/Kirchner descendants spell the surname as Karriger, a phonetic variation. Discussing this idea and seeing that we had a mutual interest in using genetics as a tool we agreed to using Y chromosome DNA typing, if the cost was not too prohibitive. A match would be useful in confirming a relationship between our two immigrant ancestors and would help in finding a common Kerchner/Kirchner genetic link back in Germany, if one exists, as neither one of us knows the German home village for our immigrant ancestor. A search of the internet for various labs offering these new tests and discussions with other leaders of other similar early projects led me to select FamilyTreeDNA to do the testing. Ideally, at least two male participants, known to be distant cousins, in each clan would be needed to verify/validate the male Y-DNA haplotype for each clan. To establish the haplotype for Adam #1 Kerchner, I was able to get my 5th and 2nd cousins to participate and our 12 Y-DNA markers matched exactly, as was expected. This verified the historical records for the Adam #1 Kerchner clan and thus provided a proven, validated haplotype to a 12 marker resolution for the Adam #1 Kerchner descendants. And then when the data for ADAM#1 is compared to the data for FREDK1's descendants, if the two clan haplotypes match it would be strong scientific evidence of a common male ancestor in Germany somewhere back in genealogically recent time. Unfortunately for the kick off of this new and exciting project, we did not match exactly. We were off by one step on two different markers. According to the interpretation of Y-DNA results back in 2001 since a variation can happen at any time, a variation at one marker location between two individuals is still considered closely related. However when a variance occurs at two different markers the likelyhood of a historically recent close common ancestor diminishes. When the difference is only at two markers, more markers need to be tested. As newer higher resolution (more markers) tests became available, additional testing was done. Statistically as additional markers are tested if the number of variances increases the likelyhood of a close genetical relationship decreases. But if the number of variances remains constant as the number of markers tested is increased then the probability of a close genetical relationship increases. This is called mathematical convergence. Additional testing of more markers indicated a closer relationship between participant #581 and participants #577 and #784 than the initial test results indicated. More Y-STR marker tests were then done using multiple labs. More matches were found until a total of 35 markers were tested. Matches were achieved on 33 out of those 35 markers. Thus, while Adam #1 Kerchner and Frederick Kirchner were initially indicated as not being closely related, based on the initial 12 marker test data, the two clans moved statistically closer together as more and more markers were tested. It was just the unlucky, luck of the draw that our two family line mutations occured in the first panel of twelve markers. Further validation testing was needed, since initially only one descedant of Frederick Kirchner was tested, at least one more descendant of the Frederick Kirchner clan was needed to confirm the extent of the non-match. This second person was eventually found via U.S. census and public records searches using reverse genealogy techniques and tested and his results matched Kit #581. Therefore the clan haplotypes for both immigrants were verified and confirmed, i.e., validated. We were thus now comparing verified clan haplotypes and they closely matched. This further validated that the immigrant ancestors of both clans were probably related in a recent genealogical time frame. Our initial question was answered. These two 18th century Kerchner/Kirchner immigrants were probably fairly closely related.

Another early similar question in my mind was to Y-DNA test to determine if there is any genetic linkage to any of the Kerchner/Kirchner immigrants who arrived in the 19th century, such as Michael Kerchner who arrived in the USA in 1832. But it would take me a couple years to find a willing participant from this clan.

Another question that will hopefully be answered as the database of tested K625 and K626 soundex coded family lines increases, and the number of DYS locus tested is increased from 12 markers to 37 markers, is where in Germany, or the German speaking areas of Europe, did our ancestors come from. What was the home village in Europe of out ancestors. With determining Adam #1 Kerchner's genetic Y-DNA profile/signature with sufficient detail we may be able at some time in the near future to run those Allele values through the growing database of native Germans who have been tested and learn what region or area of Germany Adam #1 Kerchner, Frederick Kirchner, and other immigrants were from. Thus we are encouraging participants to sign up for the high resolution 37 marker test.

And so the project began and continues. It also continues in order to increase the K625 and K626 soundex coded surnames Y-DNA database in hopes of providing useful information to other individuals bearing the same and similar German surnames. The total benefit and results of this ongoing project will not be totally known for several years, but the potential results is inspiring ... linking together previously unlinked clans and finding the home region or home village for some of these early immigrant ancestors for which no traditional historical genealogical records exist which can provide that information.


37 Y-STR Marker Haplotype Y-DNA Test Results Data Table
View All the Data on One Page Organized by Groups


Initial Panel - 12 Markers Test Result Comments


Kits #577, #784, #816, #4085, #5726, and #8335 have an exact 12 marker match which when added to the fact that these individuals have the same or similar surnames indicates with 99% probability that they have a recent common male ancestor. Thus the genetic tests have exactly confirmed the known genealogical historical records for individuals submitting Kits #577, #784, #816, #5726, and #8335 who genealogically were known to be related. #4085 had strong genealogical evidence indicating that even though that descendant branch spelled their surname name with an S, they were probably descendants of ADAM #1 Kerchner. The Y-DNA results proved this since the results for #4085 matched exactly the results of #577, #784, #816, #5726, and #8335. Kits #2953 and #2998 were off by one step for one marker in the 12 marker test and are thus also considered closely related with a high probability. #581 and #1108 are off by two steps. Two step variances for individuals with the same or similar surnames when only 12 markers are tested are inconclusive. It could be a false positive or a false negative. Additional markers should always be evaluated when other than an exact match is achieved with the first 12 markers. Additional marker results and comments about those results are listed below in the section discussing the high resolution, additional 13 markers, test results. The other individuals did not closely match either the above mentioned 10 individuals, or each other. Also, as can be seen the results for Kit 3074 did not match the ADAM1 profile even though the traditional genealogical research predicted it should. Either an error exists in the traditional genalogical work or there is an unannounced adoption or false paternity in that branch somewhere back in time. As additional individuals submit samples in the future, matches for these other haplotypes or profiles may be discovered. In addition, hopefully tests can be obtained from individuals living in Germany which may help determine the village or locale of origin of Adam #1 Kerchner and some of the other early immigrants whose home village of origin in Germany is not known via historical records uncovered to date. Or those future results may link more previously unlinked groups. The project is steadily growing and getting more participants. We definitely need more participants from Europe. The ultimate potential results of using genetics for genealogical research is still evolving. Using genetics for genealogy is a state-of-the art project. We are on the cutting edge. We are pioneers. As our immigrant ancestors were pioneers in emigrating to America we are now pioneers in reverse in our efforts to discover our genetic links back to our European homeland villages. In time I know we will reach our goal. See the results for the initial 12 markers in the first table below.

Initial test results for the first 12 markers for Kit 20395 did not match any of the other Kircher individuals, nor anyone else in the project.

Initial test results for the first 12 markers for Kit 23113 for Mr. Kershner of WI did not match any of the other Kershner individuals tested so far. But his initial results are a near match (11/12) for a Kaercher, Kit number 1108. We need to await the second panel of markers to see if this near match continues. Additional 13 markers resulted in many more non-matching markers. Thus Kit 23113 is not related to Kit 1108.

Initial test results for the first 12 markers for Kit 23339 for Mr. Kershner of NC exactly matched the results of Kit 7049 for Mr. Kerschner of IN. This match combined with their sharing similar surnames indicates that they have a recent common male ancestor. This match thus scientifically confirms the traditional genealogical research for them which indicates that they both descend from Conrad Kirschner of Langenselbold, Hessen, Germany. Additional testing of 12 more markers resulted in 11 more matches between these two. Thus they are 36/37 as of 28 Oct 2004. This is a very, very close match and confirms they share a common male ancestor.

March 2005. Initial test results for our first native German Kerchner participant, who lives in the Rheinland-Pfalz state in Germany (near Kaiserlautern), indicates a near match for the first 12 markers, i.e., 11/12, between his kit number 30528 and kit number 23113, for Mr. Kershner of Wisconsin, USA. Mr. Kershner's family oral history in the USA indicates that his family surname was once spelled as Kerchner. But he loses his family trail in Maryland. So the initial results with the near match was very exciting news. Unfortunately testing of additional markers ultimately resulted in only a 26/37 correlation between kits 30528 and 23113. This large of a genetic distance indicates that they do not share a common male ancestor within a time frame of genealogical interest.

June 2005. The 37 marker test results for kit 34106, who is a descendant of the Michael Kerchner family of Freudenberg (a village near Wertheim), Baden, Germany, matched on 35/37 markers with kit 30528 who is a German native living today in Rheinland-Pfalz, whose earliest known family lived in Spesbach, Rheinland-Pfalz. Based on sharing their same surname and having a 35/37 match this indicates that the two Kerchner families are closely related with high probability on the direct male line in a time frame of genealogically relevant interest to our project, i.e., the last 300 years.

October 2005: Mr. Kushner joins the project by transfering his 12 marker test results from the National Geographic Society Genographic Project to FamilyTreeDNA. His is kit N11535.

December 2005: Results for Mr. Kaercher of NJ, Kit 45853, are received. He is a descendant of the immigrant Michael Kaercher.

January 2006: Results for Mr. Kercher of FL, Kit 48154, are received. He matched two other Kircher individuals in the project, kit numbers 12534 and 13186. Thus, imo, these three male lines share a genealogically relevant recent common male ancestor in Germany. They will be comparing traditional genealogy research notes to see if they can find a connection here in the USA or if it is back in Germany in pre-1700s. See the 37 marker combined data table for the whole project to see the marker differences for this Kircher/Kercher related cluster. See the 12 marker table for haplogroup linked information and genealogy linked information.

March 2006: Results for Mr. Kerchner of TX, Kit 51661, are received. He closely matches the results for his known third cousins, kits 577 and 584. This was the expected result based on the traditional research since he was a known descendant of the immigrant Adam Kerchner.

March 2006: Results for Mr. Kercher of MD, Kit 51568, are received. He closely matches the results for kit 45853 in lineage Group 3. This was the expected result based on the traditional research indicating they are descendants of the immigrant Michael Kaercher.

April 2006: Results for Mr. Kiker of AL, Kit 54063, are received. He has no close matches to anyone in the project and none were expected.

August 2006: Results for Mr. Kerschner of PA, Kit 64903, are received. He has no close matches to anyone in the project which was not what was expected. Nor did he match any one else in the project nor in large public databases such as Ysearch.org. His haplotype is rare.

September 2006: Initial 12 marker results for Mr. Kershner of PA, kit 69186, are received. He has no exact 12/12 nor any 11/12 near matches to anyone in the project. His nearest match is a 10/12 match to Mr. Kershner of WI, kit 23113. A 10/12 is a toss up in my experiences but usually means the two are not recently related. We will have to await the results for additional markers to see if the 10/12 not so close match converges or diverges with the addition of more marker results. It takes 37 markers in most cases to come to any firm conclusions as to whether the two male line Y chromsomes share a genealogically relevant recent common ancestor. Within the week the remaining 25 markers arrived and the haplotypes diverged further. Mr. Kershner of PA (69186) does not closely match anyone in the project and is now only 19/37 with Mr. Kershner of WI (23113). Thus they do not share a recent common male line ancestor within a time frame of genealogical research interest. Kit 69186 is a unique haplotype in the project as are several others.

December 2006: Results for Mr. Kircher of Illinois, USA, kit 79849, are received. He had near matches to several of the other Kircher and Kercher members of the project in the J2e1 haplogroup. See the 37 marker combined project data table for more details.

February 2007: Results for Mr. Kircher of Schwabish Hall, Germany, kit 80470, are received. He closely matched four other Kircher individuals living in the USA who were previously tested. His haplotype is in the haplogroup J2e1. See data tables.

April 2007: Results for Mr. Kircher of Zeigelbronn, Germany, kit 85642, are received. He did not match any other Kirchers or anyone else previously tested. His haplotype is in the R1b haplogroup. See data tables. We now know there are two distinct groups of Kircher male lines in the Ziegelbronn and Geisselhardt, BaWue, Germany region.

Jul 2007: Results for Mr. Kircher of Lachweiler, Germany, kit 87378, are received. His results closely matches kit 80470 which thus validates that J2e1 haplotype for that clan of Kirchers. See data tables.

Sep 2007: Results for Mr. Kircher of Streithag, Germany, kit 98209, are received. His results closely matches kit 85642 which thus validates that R1b haplotpe for that clan of Kirchers. See data tables.

Oct 2007: Results for Mr. Kirchner of Virginia, USA, kit 99775, are received. His results do not match closely to anyone currently in the project.
FamilyTreeDNA Y-DNA12 Panel One Test Results - Initial 12 markers
Results or Initial 12 DYS Loci/Markers


FamilyTreeDNA Y-DNA25 Panels One & Two Test Results - 25 markers
Results for 25 DYS Loci/Markers


FamilyTreeDNA Y-DNA37 Panels One, Two, & Three Test Results - 37 markers
Combined Results for 37 Marker DYS Loci/Markers


Any male Kerchner, Kirchner, Karchner, Kaerchner, Kartchner, Karriger, Kercher, Kircher, Karcher, Kaercher, Kerkner, Kerghner, Carrickner, Carrichner, Carchner, Carachner, Churchner or other phonetic spelling variations of this German surname(s) wishing to learn more about this project and/or possibly participating in this project, please feel free to Contact Me.

Those with similar sounding (in English) and similar looking German surnames which are spelled with an 'S' in their surname such as Kershner / Kerschner / Kirshner / Kirschner are also welcome to participate in order to develop a Y-DNA haplotype and Y-DNA database for those surnames.

How and Where Do You Order a Y-DNA Sample Collection Kit

I selected FamilyTreeDNA as the company to provide the testing services since they were the first company to my knowledge to specialize in DNA testing for genealogical purposes and also because they provided testing of the most markers for the least cost and other early project leaders spoke highly of their results. But as more testing companies entered this new industry, and since I am an engineer by education and experience I decided to also do my own quality control check by having my Y-DNA tested by another independent genetics testing organization, Ancestry.com/Relative Genetics, which entered this field about a year after my project started. The allele value test results from Ancestry.com for the DYS markers which are used in common by FamilyTreeDNA's lab and Ancestry.com's lab matched exactly. This confirmed to my satisfaction that the quality and reliability of the STR allele values being obtained and reported by FamilyTreeDNA's lab were accuate and reliable. In addition to FamilyTreeDNA's lab results being completely accurate and reliable, the company personnel are very user friendly and easy to work with and communicate with, both by email and by telephone with a real live, knowledgeable person to answer your questions. You get an email notice of your results as soon as they are done as well as getting a written report and certificate with the results sent by postal mail. You also get email notices of other individuals in their database which you may have matched initially as well as in the future as more people are tested. FamilyTreeDNA also has an outstanding website which clearly displays your results and provides extensive information to be used in the interpretation of the results. FamilyTreeDNA also stores your DNA sample for 25 years at no additional charge at their lab for convenient use in future desired tests. Therefore, FamilyTreeDNA is my preferred and recommended organization for managing a Y-DNA surname project. And based on my experiences with both organizations, I also recommend FamilyTreeDNA as the best organization to choose for anyone considering starting a similar Y-DNA project of their own. Here is the link to the merged results for the individuals in my project tested by both labs.

DNA samples are collected by yourself in your home using a simple inner cheek swab. It sort of works just like a tooth brush. No blood sample is required. Click here to see a sample test kit. Here is a photo journal of the sampling process demonstrated by Mr. Bob Dorsey who is part of another unrelated surname project. But it very nicely and humorously shows the process so I included the link here. Check it out. Also, to learn more about the DNA collection and lab processing procedures view this animated presentation provided by FamilyTreeDNA. You may also wish to review the various type tests which are available from the test laboratory, FamilyTreeDNA.com. The "35 Marker Y-DNA37" paternal line kit is the recommended kit you need to order for participation in this project. The mininum kit for participation is the "12 Marker Y-DNA12" kit, but it is not recommended, due to the much lower resolution as compared to using 37 markers. Review the various product kits and list prices. Discounts are available to particpants in this project when the test kit is ordered via this group and me as the project coordinator.

Contact Me And Join The Project


Benefits of Participation


Some benefits of participation are:
1. You identify the genetic genealogy profile of your male family line.
2. You may identify your roots when traditional documentary genealogical research methods have failed.
3. Your results may identify information offering clues of where to focus and pursue additional traditional documentary genealogical research.
4. You may be able to verify once and for all that your traditional documentary genealogical work is accurate and scientifically verified.
5. You may get clues or help others get clues as to the village of origin in Europe of their immigrant ancestor.
6. If you live in Europe with a similar surname to one of our current participants you may find descendants and cousins living in the USA you did not know you had.
7. Your DNA will be preserved for the future at no additional cost. Thus, you leave something for posterity for use by future members of your family. This is especially important for older members of a family, particularly if that older person is the last surviving male member of the family. Note: if that elderly person cannot afford the test another family member can sponsor and pay for the test.
8. You may identify new genetic cousins you did not know you had.
9. You will be joining the ranks of the select few early Genetics and Genealogy Pioneers and will have the satisfaction of knowing that you are an early participant in a state-of-the-art project which is contributing to the world knowledge base for this new and exciting field, genealogy by genetics.
10. By donating a DNA sample now for posterity, your descendants won't have to dig you up later. :-)

Click Here to See A Sample Y-DNA Test Results Certificate

To get your sample collection kit at substantially reduced cost, place your order through me as the Kerchner Group Coordinator and you will get the substantially discounted group rate price. When you are ready to order your kit, email me and let me know your complete name and postal mail address, and telephone number, and that you want to submit a sample and order a kit and I will place your order and get you the discounted price. You will receive your invoice directly from FamilyTreeDNA.com with your sample collection kit. As of October 2007 the Kerchner group discounted net prices are: $269 for the 67 marker Y-DNA67 paternal lilne test, $189 for the 37 marker Y-DNA37 test, $148 for the 25 Marker Y-DNA25 test, and and $99 for the 12 Marker Y-DNA12 test. The 37 marker test is the recommended test for new participants. As you can see the prices within the group are substantially better than ordering directly from the testing company individually. For existing FTDNA participants, or those transferring is from the National Geographic Society Genographic Project, who wish to upgrade their results from the 12 marker test to the new 37 marker higher resolution test, the upgrade cost for previously tested Kerchner group members is $99. Any questions, please contact me and I will be happy to try and answer your questions.

Contact Me And Join The Project

Success Stories For This Project

Genetic Genealogy Information Website Links

Kerchner's Genetic Genealogy and DNA Testing Information and Resources Page

Recommended Books

PA German Genealogy Research Help Pages

PA German Naming Customs
PA German Nicknames
PA Dutch Are Of German Heritage, Not Dutch
PA German Name Spelling Idiosyncrasies
Genealogy Research Tips
1812 Project Home Page
Kerchner Genealogy Home Page

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Charles F. Kerchner, Jr., P.E.
3765 Chris Drive
Emmaus PA 18049-1544 USA
Email: Contact Me

Copyright ©2001-2020
Charles F. Kerchner, Jr.
All Rights Reserved
Created - 12 Mar 2001
Revised - 15 Oct 2007