Sproul Project Newsletter from August 2017

SPROUL Project Group
Newsletter
Dear Members,
Please excuse the appearance of this “newsletter” as it is more of an update than anything else. I’m currently working on an email format with graphics, etc. so please stand by. If you have a desire to contribute something from your particular line, have any ideas or suggestions for the newsletter please feel free to email me. Due to the recent (and exciting) participation in the FTDNA summer sales there are things already to announce from results.
Before we get to that however, I’d like to announce that one of the features of the newsletter will be for our members to have an opportunity to discuss your brick walls. I’m going to call this the “Demolition Zone.” We may not solve the brick wall immediately but over time, and as folks continue to test and upgrade a larger picture will emerge.
Family Feature
I would like to feature several family lines in the newsletter. Giving some background into the family you are researching may provide clues to readers of the newsletter and help them in their research. Below is a brief background on my earliest ancestor.
My earliest known ancestor was Thomas Sproul. It has yet to be determined if he was my emigrant ancestor. The earliest known record of him was in New Castle County, Delaware in 1754 as a renter or boarder. Family lore has always been that we were of Scots-Irish heritage but no link to Ireland has ever been revealed. If you are interested in learning more about my Sprowl line feel free to visit my family website at www.sprowlgenealogy.com This is the current state of my research. I am hoping that the Sproul DNA group project will reveal close relatives and also be used as a tool to develop the many related lines of Sproul back to Ireland, Scotland and other parts of Britain.
DNA Testing
As some of you may know I had my Y-chromosomal testing done through Full Genomes Corporation, or FGC. There was much wrangling over deciding to either go with FamilyTreeDNA’s Big Y or FGC. What decided it for me was that I could not find any results anywhere of any Sproul or variant that had yet purchased that level of Y-chromosomal testing. The reasoning was that if I were going to take that leap I wanted to have as many SNPs identified as possible for analysis. FGC does identify more SNPs than Big Y but at a higher cost. I am not in no way implying that Big Y is inadequate because it isn’t.
The long term plan is to be able, with much more Big Y or FGC testing to eventually develop a panel with the known novel SNPs so that we can identify our closest cousins here and abroad. If we can get to the point by using a panel it would be much cheaper, easier and quicker to test cousins in Ireland, Scotland and England to identify where our individual emigrant lines may have originated. It is one goal to identify our closest cousins where we live now but I’m sure many of you are like me and trying to make that connection to where our emigrant ancestor came.
A question that I have been getting lately is “what do I need to do now to advance my DNA testing?” This can be a complex question but in general, and for the group to be successful as a whole, we want to try and upgrade our ySTR results to 111 markers as much as we can. Most administrators find it is necessary to be at least to 67 markers for confidence in accuracy but if you want to have a definitive answer as to the closeness of the relationship from one cousin or relative to another it is recommended to get to 111. If you test with Big Y, those markers will be identified through the results of that test anyway. If you have any plans on testing Big Y it may be better to put those financial resources towards Big Y and get a better bang for your money. There is talk in the DNA testing industry that ySTR testing may be expanding the number of ySTR markers beyond 111 to accommodate future testing technology that has yet to be developed.
In conclusion to address this question and in general terms, try to take advantage of the sales to upgrade your ySTR markers as much as you can. For the long term, if you are hoping to connect your line to Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, etc. you may want to plan for an eventual test with Big Y until a panel can be developed. At the membership level we are at currently and the number of Y-chromosomal testing already ordered or completed, a panel is likely but still years down the road. The reason for this is it will take a significant number of Big Y tests to reveal with consistency all of the known branches of Sproul SNPs to include in the panel.
SNP Results
We have results from our very first Big Y tester that came in recently. His results moved our last known Clade from BY3320 to a new, more recent Clade identified as FGC60974. The Big Y results were compared and confirmed with my FGC results making it a Clade in the Sproul tree. It was recommended by Terrance MacFarlane, administrator of the Clan MacFarlane project group (which we all should be members of) recommended all Sproul members test for this SNP. Unfortunately FTDNA, although they have it identified on their tree does not test for it. I have submitted a request to FTDNA to consider it in their “Request a SNP” program. They will take a look at it but they do not have to approve it. Fingers crossed! My feeling is FGC60974 will likely be the last SNP pre-genealogically recorded history and any future SNP identified we will be much more interested in.
Project Membership
The Sproul project group as some of us know was created by Philip Sprowl. It was basically created as a place to move results from a previous project that Philip created at Heritage DNA. Philip’s goal of the project was to prove out his hypothesis that Sproul and all variants came from the same man, Walter Spruell of Dumbartonshire, Scotland cir. 1280. He was satisfied that his theory was proven and ended the project. Since then our results have basically sat dormant until recent prodding convinced me to take over administrator duties.
In a few short months we’ve really ramped up the testing, the activity and enthusiasm which is tremendous. We are an extremely small group of 23 tested members of 36 cousins reading this update. This is great news because we have tons of room to grow!
Where do we go from here? We need more Sproul and Sproul variant members of course! This means testing and collaboration is vitally important if we want to advance and more importantly, verify our research. We need to get the word out that we are here. The more members we have translates into more known cousins whom are testing which helps advance our desire to move our collective genealogies forward. Let’s locate and test those Sproul cousins!
FTDNA Sale
As many of us are aware, FTDNA is a little halfway through their Summer Friends and Family sale.
Many of the products in this sale are about as low as they have ever been. If you are thinking about upgrading your DNA results please consider taking advantage of this sale. Please act quickly as the sale ends midnight Houston, Texas time, August 31, 2017. Below are the current offerings;
Autosomal
·        Family Finder (FF) - $69
Y DNA
·        Y37 - $139
Big Y
·        Big Y - $395 (To my knowledge the lowest price ever.)
Y Upgrades
·        Y12 to 37 - $69
·        Y25 to 37 - $35
·        Y37 to 67 - $79
·        Y37 to 111 - $168
·        Y67 to 111 - $99
Mitochondrial DNA
·        Full Mitochondrial Sequence (FMS) - $159
·        Mitochondrial HVR1 or HVR2 (either one) upgradeto full sequence (FMS) - $119
Combos and SavingsBundles
·        Y37 + Family Finder - $198
·        Y67 + Full mitochondrial (FMS) + Family Finder -$430
·        Full mitochondrial sequence (FMS) + FamilyFinder - $218
Suggested Groups to Join at FTDNA
Sproul Project – The primary location of Sproul DNA results for analysis and colaboration
MacFarlane Project – Sproul is an ancient sept of Clan MacFarlane and the administrators are an importance resource in helping us understand our results and how it relates to Clan MacFarlane
U106 Project – The administrators at U106 analyze our results and is an important resource for education
If you have any questions please feel free to email me directly.
Kind Regards,
Joe Sprowl

joesprowl@gmail.com

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