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The Armstrong Clan Society has
been organized to:
1) Seek friendship and unity among Armstrongs
and associated families.
2) Provide for the preservation of Armstrong artifacts unique to the
family and to maintain a library. 3) Serve as a genealogical and historical
recorder of the membership, 4) Provide quarterly news, Armstrong
history and genealogy via The Armstrong Chronicles, 5)
Establish
geographic membership representation.
Membership
All Armstrongs, Croziers, Fairbairns,
Groziers and Nixons, regardless of spelling, and their descendants, are
eligible for full membership in The Society. All others interested in
furthering the goals of The Society may become associate members. In the
United States and Canada, dues are $25 per year, including two adults and
all minor children. In all other countries dues are $35 per year, payable
in US funds.
You can click here
to download a membership application.
Any questions? Email Peter Armstrong at
parmstrong2@sc.rr.com
or mail to Peter A. Armstrong 128 Essex Dr
Summerville, SC 29485
Lord Lyon, King of
Arms, Recognizes an Honorable Company
On September 24, 1984 the Lord Lyon, King
of Arms granted warrant to the Lyon clerk to matriculate in the Public
Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland in the name of Armstrong
Clan Society, Inc. "acting world-wide and in particular within the
United States of America" to further the interests of the Armstrong family. Matriculated in the 8th day of February 1985 in the 110th page
of the 62nd volume of the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in
Scotland.
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DNA Surname Projects
By Milton Armstrong, Editor The Armstrong Chronicles from the April 2006
issue.
Those of us who are amateur
genealogists and family researchers have noticed a huge increase in
articles on the web and in genealogical magazines about using DNA in
surname research. I will attempt to provide a brief summary of this field
and what I have found on the Armstrong name and specific Armstrong DNA
projects. Please be aware that I am not an expert in this area and barely
understand it so I would encourage members to do their own research. If
you are more familiar with DNA Surname research, etc. write or send me an
email for future publication. The use of DNA for genealogical research
will only become a more useful tool in the future.
All individuals carry a record of their ancestors in a complex chemical
compound found inside almost every cell. Analysis of this
molecule-deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA can help genealogists trace male- and
female line ancestors, prove and disprove relationships, reveal
undocumented illegitimacies and adoptions, and identify familiar ethnic
and geographic origins.
DNA is packaged in threadlike structures called
chromosomes. Humans receive twenty-three chromosomes from each parent and,
in turn, give half of their own DNA to each of their children. Parents,
therefore, funnel a molecular record of their ancestors to their
descendants.
More than 99 percent of each person's DNA is
identical to that of all other people. This shared inheritance defines
humans, yet the remaining 1 percent contains enough variation to make each
person unique. The DNA of two closely related people has more similarities
than that of distant cousins. Consequently, similarities and differences
in DNA can show how closely individuals are related. (The Science of
Molecular Genealogy by Ugo A. Perego and others; National Genealogical
Society Quarterly 93, December 2005, 245) There is a lot more involved in
DNA analysis but the details are much too lengthy for this article. The
most popular DNA test for genealogists is a Y-DNA test (for males), which
tests locations, called markers, on the Y chromosome. A small section of
the Y chromosome is passed from father to son, typically unchanged. By
testing this small section, you can determine if two men are related.
(Please read more on this subject because relationships are very complex).
The other DNA type is mtDNA. Testing is performed on a section of mtDNA,
which is found in both males and females, but only passed on by females.
These mtDNA test results apply to the direct female line; the mother, her
mother, and so forth, up through the family tree.
I found several resources available to us. There
are vendors who maintain surname and other databases and charge for this
service. [Links are not active - cut and paste into browser.] Three
of these are: www.familytreeDNA.com ;
www.relativegenetics.com ; and www.DNAheritage.com . On the first website
I found 48 Armstrongs who had submitted their DNA. There are also links to
several other DNA type websites including one on Border Reivers and
Scottish Clans. They had hundreds of surnames in their databases.
Another resource is DNA Databases for Genealogy.
They do not charge for collecting DNA. They mail the necessary kit for
collecting and returning your DNA. Four of these are: www.ysearch.org ;
www.mitosearch.org ; www.ybase.org ; www.smgf.org . All but Mitosearch are
YDNA databases. Mitosearch is a mtDNA database (female). The Sorenson
Molecular Genealogy Foundation ( www.smgf.org ) has an excellent DNA
educational section with graphics, etc.
I hope the above information stimulates you to
research this subject more. As these databases become larger, it will be
easier for Armstrongs and other surname researchers to find relatives.
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New 30 Oct 2006
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