by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy The YDNA pages on the GGFA website are updated regularly for new discoveries and expanded analysis. As of March 2023, analysis of YDNA, atDNA and paper trail documentation has identified 34 genetically distinct Gough/Goff families around the globe. There are undoubtedly […]
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy A January 2023 GGFA Facebook query noted that the book, Esmont, Virginia: A Community Carved From the Earth and Sustained by Story, is dedicated to Lucille (Purvis) Goff. She is described as “Esmont’s leading lady.” The poster was curious about the […]
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy A November 2, 2021 GGFA Facebook post featured a studio portrait of a Native American woman and child ca. 1880-1900 from the Bud Lake and Randy Brewer Crow Indian Photograph Collection, Montana Historical Society. The photographer was “O.S. Goff, Fort Custer, […]
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy A Chinese proverb says that “People from the past plant the tree, so we could hide in its shade.” Trees require nutrients from the soil, rain from the sky and light from the sun in order to grow. In the same […]
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy The genetic family charts on the GGFA website hold important clues. Sometimes these charts, which are based on YSNPs and YSTRs, agree with the paper trail. The charts can also point the way to break down a brick wall. Background: On […]
by Peter Clarkson, Staines-upon-Thames, Surrey, United Kingdom I started my family research about 10 years ago. I was mainly interested in my maternal grandfather’s side of the family and it’s fair to say that over the ten years of research that side of my family has provided a rich seam […]
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA DNA Project Manager DNA carries the history of our ancestors dating back hundreds of years for autosomal DNA and thousands of years for YDNA and mtDNA. Owners of such DNA samples, however, pass away typically in less than a hundred years’ time. More often than […]
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA DNA Project Manager In the September 25, 2021 GGFA Virtual Gathering, I presented on the topic of “Instant Goff/Gough Family Tree: Using Autosomal DNA Results to Find Your Y Haplogroup.” The theme was that autosomal DNA tests from AncestryDNA, 23andme, MyHeritage and LivingDNA include YSNPs. […]
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA DNA Project Manager In the days before YDNA was available to sort out the various Gough/Goff families, well-meaning family historians made leaps of faith in family tree connections. Where there was a brick wall, the isolated family was then attached to another Goff/Gough family that […]
Phillip G. Goff, GGFA DNA Project Manager According the 1850 and 1860 Washington Co., MO federal censuses, William Goff was born ca. 1791/92 in Virginia. A 1950 transcription by Fannie E. Frey of an 1816 letter, asserts that William Goff’s father was not a Goff: “I Robert Heaton of Davidson […]