[Hooper] Something new

[WadeGlasck@aol.com]

Hello all

My name is Wade Glascock.  My grandmother was one of the middle Tennessee 
Hoopers.  I'm a descendant of Jesse who was born in 1758 probably in South 
Carolina.  I worked on my Hooper line for several years.  Even though I got 
lots of great help from other Hooper descendants I wasn't able to break 
through the brick wall at Jesse.  Lately I haven't done any Hooper research 
since I just can't think of anything else to look for.
In the past few months I've become interested in what is called Genetic 
Genealogy.  In other words DNA testing for genealogical use.  It's taken me a 
while to get a basic understanding of the terminology and procedures.
In a nutshell this is how I understand it to work.  At present the only 
useful form of genealogical DNA testing involves tests on the Y chromosome.  
As you remember from high school biology, men have a Y and an X chromosome, 
women have two  X chromosomes.  The Y chromosome is passed from father to son 
 virtually unchanged.  All direct male descendants of a particular male 
ancestor will have very nearly identical Y chromosomes.  The portion of the 
chromosome that is used for testing involves what scientists call "junk DNA". 
 They don't know why we have this DNA because it doesn't actually do anything 
but it has enough variability that distinct families can be distinguished.
I think it would be interesting to begin a Hooper DNA study.  By having a 
number of Hooper men from many different lines tested there may emerge a 
pattern of relationships.  Since I'm most familiar with the southern Hoopers, 
the questions I'd like answered would involve:
1.  Are all the middle Tennessee Hoopers (Jesse, Absalom, Churchill, Thomas, 
etc.) related?
2.  Are the middle Tennessee Hoopers related to Absalom and Clemmons of GA, 
NC?
3.  Is Obediah related to any of the above?
4.  Is William the signer related to any of the southern Hoopers?
You can probably think of more mysteries you'd like answers to concerning 
your own lines of descent.
I urge all of you to read up on genealogical DNA testing.  The Rootsweb 
mailing list GENEALOGY-DNA-L is very active and the archives to this list is 
a treasure trove of information.  Also for a quick overview of the process 
read the FAQs at www.familytreedna.com.  This is a commercial site but they 
explain the ins and outs of  DNA quite well.
Only Hooper men will be able to actually take the test since they are the 
only ones carrying Hooper DNA on their Y chromosome.  This doesn't leave the 
rest of us out however.  You can't still participate by recruiting your 
Hooper friends and relatives.  Also in order to find candidates from the 
various lines will require research to find living members of the families of 
interest.  Also I realize that some of the possible candidates will have 
little or no interest in their family history.  Fortunately all you need from 
them is the willingness to take the test but someone will likely have to 
finance to testing.
Anyway, I've rambled on long enough.  Please do give this some consideration. 
 Ron Hooper, the owner of this list has expressed a definite interest in 
getting the test.
A discussion here on the reflector would be the best way to get a number of 
people involved.  I'll do what I can to answer questions.  I'm definitely not 
an expert and don't have a science background (though I did get a B in high 
school Biology).
Take care, 

Wade Glascock


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