One of our Germanna families is the Mauck family. Some members lived in the Germanna community and married other people in the Germanna families. Actually, there are several families in America, not necessarily related, who share similar names such as Mock, Mack, Mauk, Mauck, etc. Because some of the names are so close to other names, it is possible that individuals have shifted in the spelling of their names making it difficult to sort the branches which might be quite distinct from each other.
The spring issue of the " Mock Family Historian " announced a project to study the DNAs of participants in a program aimed to sort the branches. First, it is limited to male individuals, but a woman can participate by having a brother or a father act as a proxy. One laboratory will be doing all of the work and the cost per individual will be $99, including the discount because of the volume of work that is anticipated. A twelve-point marker will be used in the test (later notes will explain this more, I hope). A nine-marker test, which has less resolving power would cost only $60.
A participant must sign a release form allowing the lab to use his DNA. Participants will be issued an identity number. One can check online to see how closely he matches other participants. Eventually, I would presume, someone will attempt to sort out the patterns or groups which will appear and perhaps issue names (if participants are willing).
The DNA being test is the Y chromosome that a son inherits from his father, unchanged usually for several generations. Over time, some small differences may develop. The number of differences is an estimate of the number of generations that the common ancestor is removed.
There is little point in two male first cousins (from a common Mock grandfather) both participating as they will tend to show the same values in the twelve point test. If a lot of people do participate then a good data base will be built which will be very useful in future years. When this data base does exist, a new-comer who wonders where he fits into the Mock picture could have the answer by doing a simple DNA test. It could say, for example, that the newbie is descended from Johann Georg Mauck, who came to America in 1737.
The test is very simple for a person to perform. The laboratory mails a few items to the participant and he swabs his oral gum line. The swabs are mailed back to the lab. Nothing very difficult, and no blood to mess with.
Some people may turn out not to be Mocks at all. Suppose one Mock couple took a baby in and raised him as they own. They might have given him their name, and his descendants might have assumed that they were from a Mock family. Therefore, if one enters a test like this, one must be prepared for the unexpected.
(27 Aug 02)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.