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For the Corson Cousins newsletter, April 2006

Corson Surname DNA Project

Since last issue’s report, six participants joined the project and three of them, with surnames Vroom and Corson, received results. The results corroborated male-line genealogies for all three of them and, most significantly, allowed us to establish the ancestral genetic signature for another Corson family Division.

Division III

The new Vroom participant’s (#21) genetic signature matched exactly that of Participant #17, his fourth cousin, once removed.Consequently, it is almost certain that their most recent common ancestor, John Vroom (1757-1833), had the same genetic signature that they do. The other Vroom participant, #13, matches them on 41 out of 43 markers, indicating a slightly more distant relationship. Their genealogies corroborate this, since he is documented as their sixth cousin. All document descent from Hendrick Vroom (1683-1769), grandson of Division III progenitor Cors Pieterszen (1612-1655). This still leaves us unsure of the Division III genetic signature, since two Corsons who descend from Benjamin Corssen (1686-1740), another documented grandson of Cors Pieterszen, have a genetic signature very different from that of the Vrooms. To resolve the uncertainty, we need to find and test male-line descendants of (1) Hendrick Vroom’s brothers Cornelius (b. 1677) or Alfred, or (2) Benjamin Corssen's brothers Christian (1676-aft. 1764) or Jacob (1681-1742). Can you help?

Division I

A new Corson participant (#22) who documents descent from Zebulon Corson’s (1712-1786) (Div. I-A) son Aaron (c.1741-c.1812) received his results.His results matched the genetic signature estimated for Division I on all 43 markers, corroborating his documented male-line genealogy.To date, descendants of three of Zebulon’s four sons have had their DNA tested.

Division VII: Progenitor Haplotype Established

A new Corson participant (#24) documented his descent from Jacob Corson, Jr. (1801-1875), second son of Jacob Corson (ca. 1735-bef.1822), progenitor of the Division VII Corsons. His genetic signature matched that of the other Division VII participant (#3) on all 43 markers. This not only corroborates both participants’ male-line genealogies but establishes the genetic signature of Jacob Corson himself. We now can deduce that Division VII Corsons did not descend in a direct male-line from Divisions I or II or from the Division III descendants of Benjamin Corssen (1686-1740). Jacob Corson’s genetic signature has a few close matches with individuals of English ancestry; thus, we’re beginning to consider that his ancestors may have come from the British Isles.

Coming Soon

In the next issue, I’ll report on upcoming test results from a Division Va Corson of Scottish descent. Will his genetic signature match that of anyone already tested? If you can’t wait until the next issue (and you have Internet access), you can look for the results at the DNA project website: http://www.geocities.com/misccorson/dna/