I am the administrator for the Franklin Y DNA project at Family Tree DNA (FTDNA).  This project was begun in 2001 by a Franklin descendant in an attempt to learn more about his lineage.  The project involves DNA testing by a simple, painless and easy cheek swab procedure.  The test is highly specific and tests only the male Y chromosome which is passed virtually intact from father to son.  Because it is so specific, it allows us to determine which Franklin men are related and can help us trace our Franklin ancestors further back. 

Indeed, in 2007 my father approached me after reading about this test and asked me if I thought it might help us get past our 20 year brick wall with his Franklin ancestry.  We had been stuck in Alabama forever.  I did some research, and learned that the test involves sending you back results that are simply a string of numbers that are good only when compared to someone else’s string of numbers to determine any kinship.  I told Dad this and we decided he should test and see what happened.  He had a match come up that directed us to Pulaski County, GA where we went to the courthouse and found documentation that tied our Franklins in AL back to that county in GA and OVER THE WALL WE WENT…from  Alabama, back to Georgia and on to ENGLAND!  It was exciting for us both!! 

Since that time, the originator, in his 80s, felt the project was too large for him to continue to handle and based on my interest, asked me to take it over.  I agreed and have since been administering the project.  We’ve expanded our project into a full blown surname project with shared resources, files and documentations on our website and we’ve learned a lot and the biggest key is having as much participation as you can. 

We have already had great success placing many of our nearly 300 participants into family groups based on their DNA results & traditional genealogy and there is no reason why we cannot accomplish the same with European Franklin families using this same methodology.  So I am hoping there might be Franklin men living in England, Ireland, Australia, and the UK in particular, who would like to join our project to learn more about their ancestors.       

Our project has a webpage located at
http://trackingyourroots.com/FranklinGenetics
where you can read about the project, its goals, and other information and join if you would like. There is even a link to a video showing how easy the test is to complete.

As more Franklin men test in the project we obtain new information that may lead everyone to new family connections!

Lisa R. Franklin

Admin Franklin Y DNA Project/Franklin Surname Project Wikitree.com
FranklinGenetics@gmail.com