Aug 27, 2012

Anabaptist-Mennonite DNA project participation

Mark Rabideau / Active Research, Mennonites, Technology & Tools / Henss, Rabideau, Rich, Senger / 2 Comments

As many of you may have already guessed, our families and ancestries are crowded with Mennonite and Amish peoples- Anabaptists. For years, we knew of the Rich (Henss Family Branch)  connections to the Swiss- Elsass/Alsace,  Montbeliard/ Bern communities. More recently, we have come to understand quite a bit of the Senger (Rabideau Family Branch) connections to the West Prussian / East Prussian Mennonite communities.

Because of the smallish nature of these original communities, we (Becky, my wife, and I) have elected to purchase DNA tests from 23andMe and submit our DNA test results for inclusion in the Mennonite DNA Project. This past weekend our 23andme DNA test kits arrived!  Now all we have to do is study hard and take our tests.  ;^)  Which actually means, we have to ‘spit in a tube’.  It is our hope that we will both contribute useful research data as well as benefit from the new information we obtain regarding our heritages & lineages.

As our adventure progresses, I will post more information regarding our DNA ‘project’. But for now, if you, like we, are genetically linked to any of the Anabaptist, Mennonite, Amish communities, please consider participating and adding your ‘voice’ (read, DNA) to this worthwhile research project.

Who knows what kind of insights and discoveries might arise from our collective efforts!

Anabaptist-Mennonite DNA research links:

• Anabaptist Genealogy At 23andMe; Genetic Genealogy of the Amish, Brethren, Mennonite, and Reformed Groups
• GRANDMA Genealogy Database Project
• Mennonite DNA Project

If you are wondering whether you might be an Anabaptist- Mennonite descendant, here are several articles that provide pointers to Anabaptist Family Surnames:

• Family Names of the Prussian Mennonites
• Mennonite Family History -Surnames
• [Family] Names (Mennonite)