Fox FamilyTreeDNA Project Website

Project Background

Updated 3/29/2010

While the FTDNA test results posted here are up-to-date, results from other test labs are available. Go to the Fox Surname Project Supplemental Website for further test data and interpretation.

Initial efforts to trace the origins of the Fox surname via DNA testing of the Y-chromosome began in Britain at the University of Leicester in 2002 as part of a general survey of British surnames by Mark Jobling and Turi King. Only two Fox men were tested. Further testing of other Foxes was begun in the United States in 2004, when the Fox Surname Project was established with Familytreedna (FTDNA) as the testing laboratory. Both Y-DNA (male line) and mtDNA (female line) testing are offered but the emphasis is on Y-DNA testing of the Fox surname. The Y-Chromosome is ideal for tracking the Fox line since only males have this chromosome.

DNA in the Y-Chromosome has many microsatellites where the nucleotides (adenine, guanine, cytocine and thymine) form repeat patterns, eg GATAGATAGATAGATAGATA. These are known as "short tandem repeats" or STRs. They are hereditary and the number of repeats is normally passed on from father to son without change. A change in length of a marker is a random event that occurs primarily due to recombination effects as the chromosomes rearrange during the conception of a child (the process of meiosis.) This is termed a transmission event. Sons are separated by 2 transmission events, first cousins by 4. Thus, divide transmission events by 2 to obtain generations back to the most recent common ancestor (MRCA).

Changes in the number of repeats do occur – on the average - once in every 350 transmission events, which makes these markers valuable for genealogical purposes. With 37 markers tested, a change might be expected - on the average – once in 350/37=9.5 transmission events or 4.75 generations. Very roughly, if two men having the Fox surname have 33 out of 37 matching markers they can be considered related within a genealogical time frame. Generally speaking, the 37 marker Y-DNA test is the best choice for a new recruit. A 67-marker test will provide further confirmation in cases where a relationship is questionable as well as additional information on stable markers useful for deep ancestry studies. 12 markers can sometimes conclusively disprove a relationship but cannot reasonably confirm one.

Cheek scraping samples are submitted to the laboratory where specific primers are used to isolate sections of DNA containing these microsatellites. These are then amplified with polymerase enzyme and subjected to separation by electrophoresis. The number of repeats at that marker show up as a peak height on the resulting electropherogram. The resulting set of numbers - number of repeats at each marker tested - is called one’s "haplotype." This is the result one sees when the laboratory submits their report. You will then be given access to your results and their interpretation on your personal web page at FTDNA.

Genetic Distance (GD) is often used as a measure of deviation between two haplotypes. It is the numerical differences between haplotypes summed up for all markers tested. The number of markers tested should always be specified along with the GD. FTDNA makes it possible to search their entire tested database for matches by GD and number of markers tested but results are only shown where the GD is indicative of a possible genealogical relationship. (You must agree to this search in your personal preferences.)

Since two-step changes can sometimes occur in a single transmission, simply counting the number of matching markers is also useful and is usually used in predicting the number of generations to the MRCA. (Note that such predictions must be hedged in probabilities and that certain markers require special care in interpreting deviations.)

The exact function of these STR markers is not yet known and they have no known medical function but recent research shows they have some sort of regulatory function on the genes. While there is no medical information in these numbers, the absence of a certain few markers near a fertility gene could indicate sterility - something that would certainly already be known.

The results do provide a partial means of personal identification and, for this reason, our haplotype tables list only the FTDNA kit number and the most distant known male line ancestor. Within the project, however, the administrators feel free to disclose identities, particularly when a close match occurs.

Another type of mutation can also occur, but much less frequently – so much less that they are known as unique events. This is a change from one nucleotide to another at a specific site on the Y-Chromosome, say a change from C to T. This is called a "single nucleotide polymorphism" or SNP. The chances of this occurring are once in 10,000 to 15,000 transmission events at a specific site but there are so many places on the Y-Chromosome where this can occur that sons are predictably different than their father. These are private SNPs unless they happen in a founder situation, where they are passed down for many generations.

Certain specific SNP events have been identified over the course of history, however, that have proven useful in tracing the migrations of mankind over time. These public SNPs identify ones "Haplogroup” and the subclade of that Haplogroup to which one belongs. They fall into a sequential tree-like structure with branches and twigs. Often Haplogroup subclade can be predicted from one’s haplotype but, to be absolutely certain, SNP testing needs to be done. The Haplotree section of ones’ personal web page provides further information.

New SNPs identifying important subclades of the main Haplogroups are continuously being identified. Some of these newer subclades are as recent as 2,000 years old. This is already of some help for genealogical work since two closely matching haplotypes in different subclades cannot be related within a time frame less than the age of the subclade. This would be an extremely rare occurrence but could happen due to back mutations.

With the advent of genome testing by 23and Me and DecodeMe, additional information on the Y-Chromosome has become available and amateurs and professionals have been mining this information for new SNPs. As a result, Haplogroups R and I, in particular, have been split into smaller subclades and Haplogroup designations are getting longer and longer. FTDNA has recently adopted a revision of the 2008 YCC Haplogroup Tree of Hammer, et al, and this is now pretty much in agreement with the 2009 ISOGG Tree. There is a general tendency nowadays to use the limiting SNP as the Haplogroup designator and this, for the most part, has been adopted by the Fox Project. Haplogroup R-S26/L1, for example, would be the subclade of Haplogroup R which tests positive (or derived) for the SNP called S26 – which is identical to the SNP called L1. In contrast, the long name for this subclade is R1b1b2a1a1c.
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Fox Families Currently in the Project

The first thing any Fox researcher interested in family ties should do is to look at the Y-Results tables, which are organized by Haplogroup and genetic distance to emphasize possible family connections. Wherever this has been supplied, the most distant known male line ancestor (MDKA), his location and date of birth are shown. Next, go to Ysearch.org and search for the surname Fox. The administrators endeavor to get every member into the Ysearch database, where their test results, most distant ancestor and, often, their pedigrees (prior to 1905) are made available to researchers.

As the project builds in numbers, an increasing number of family connections are being made. The following summary describes these family connections:

Haplogroup R
The Null439 Fox Group

While open to all with the Fox (and related) surnames, the project continues to emphasize a Fox family of British origin, which was the subject of its original investigations. The story is given in the book "Growing with America - the Fox Family of Philadelphia," written by the project administrator. An American Fox family, descended from Justinian Fox, a non-Quaker who came to Philadelphia in 1686 with the Plymouth Friends, has been linked via DNA testing with the leader of the Plymouth Friends, James Fox. James was the son of Francis Fox and Dorothy Kekewich of Cornwall and their numerous descendants in Britain and elsewhere are listed in Burke’s Landed Gentry. Francis Fox was born in March 1606/1607 in Wiltshire and tradition says he was a relative of Sir Stephen Fox. The haplotypes of descendants of both lines matched closely enough to indicate that Justinian and James were related, backing up an extensive but indirect paper trail.

These two Fox families have in turn been linked to another American family descended from Matthew Fox of Abbeville, SC, son of John Fox, a Revolutionary War soldier killed by the Cherokee Indians. In fact, Matthew’s descendants are an even closer match to the well-known British Quaker Fox family. Tradition (backed up by the research of Joseph Steadman) had it that Matthew Fox was descended from Henry Fox and Anne West of Virginia. This has now been conclusively disproved.

Several lines of inquiry are being pursued for the South Carolina Foxes, including possible descent from another non-Quaker member of the party of Plymouth Friends, who was also named John Fox. His line disappeared in Philadelphia in the early 1700s and, it now appears, may have shown up in South Carolina. This source might also explain an adoptee named Clarke in Lycoming County, PA, in the early 1800s whose descendant matches this Fox line closely at 67 markers and is now a member of the Fox Project.

These three families all are in Haplogroup R1b and have a singular identification mark on the Y-chromosome in the form of a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) adjacent to Marker DYS439, that makes it impossible for FTDNA to find that marker, resulting in a “null439” result. This SNP, now called L1 or S26, may be something like 2,000 years old and helps to confirm the family relationship. FTDNA has recently included L1 in their deep clade R1b Haplogroup test and, in agreement with ISOGG, call this Haplogroup R1b1b2a1a3. You will not see this on the Y-Results tables for our null 439 Foxes, however, since the only actual SNP testing was done by Ethnoancestry, who returned a result of S21+ and S26+ (equivalent to FTDNA’s U106+ and L1+) for our Kit No. 14179. Thus this group can be considered definitive members of Haplogroup R-L1/S26.

On the basis of SNP testing by 23andMe, Neal Fox has identified a possible new SNP dividing Haplogroup L1/S26. Basically, it is a no call by 23andMe at position rs7893044. It is called L132 and several member of the Fox project have ordered this test. Apparently it is giving FTDNA some problems and we are awaiting definitive results but the expectation is that they will prove to be L132+.

Finally, in a striking new development, another Fox has been found to test null at DYS439. He is a descendant of Dudley Fox, born bet 1802 and 1806, in Londonderry, Vermont, who moved to the vicinity of Ontario, Canada, and assumed the name Thomas Fox and then Thomas Dudley Fox. Family tradition says that he moved to Canada because he did not want to fight against “his brother.”

This Fox is GD=10 from other null439 Foxes on 67 markers although these mutations are in only 5 markers and might represent as few as 6 single event changes, with some being multiple value jumps. The odds are that he is in the same Fox line but of a fourth branch that may share a common Fox ancestor in England back in the 1500's. Another member of this Fox family would be welcome news to the project.

Thomas Dudley Fox was married to Mary Elizabeth Sweet and it is believed that his father was John Fox, born in Connecticut about 1767, who married Mary Glenn on December 3, 1786 in Andover, Vermont, and moved to Italy Hollow, New York, where he died in 1841. One researcher has John Fox as the son of Timothy Fox and Abigail Dudley, both born in Littleton, Massachusetts in 1741. They were married in Littleton in about 1760. Abigail Dudley was a descendant of Thomas Dudley, an early governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Timothy Fox and his descendants seem to have been constantly on the move. Bear in mind, however, that these were Revolutionary War days and this must have been unsettling times for many.

The only trouble with this story is that another researcher has identified Timothy Fox as a descendant of Thomas Fox of Concord, MA, the ancestor of a number of other Fox Project members who are in Haplogroup I – see below. The Y-DNA results conclusively deny a family connection between a Thomas Fox of Concord descendant and our null439 Thomas Dudley Fox descendant. Locating a known Timothy Fox descendant for testing could resolve the issue.

Van Fossen/Van Vossen Descendants

A set of ten Fox Project members trace their roots back to Holland and Arnold Van Vossen who immigrated to Germantown, PA, in the 1700’s. (Six of the ten had changed their surname to Fox.) Four of the ten trace back to Arnold’s descendant, Peter Vanfossen, who bought a farm in Chester County, PA, in about 1785. They all are close matches. One of them has been tested M269+, S21-, S26-, S28- and S29- so they are all also in Haplogroup R1b1b2a1*. He would quite possibly test P312+ based on his value of 12 repeats at DYS 492.

Another five Van Vossens from the Netherlands and a Van Fossen from the United States do not appear to be related to the first nine. The Van Fossens have their own website at
VanFossen Project where more detail is available..

Henry Fox and Anne West Descendants

Joseph Steadman and others have exhaustively documented the family line of Henry Fox, who married Anne West, a grand niece of Lord De La Warr, and left many descendants in the United States. He was the son of John Fox, a sea captain who also settled in Virginia in 1661, and this line has been traced back to a Henry Fox (1521) who married a Hawes of Missenden and possibly to a William Fox (1497-1559) of Missenden, Buckinghamshire, who lived at Stewkley Manor. A William Vaux, descended from a Norman Invader named Robert de Vaux, is known to have inherited Stewkley Manor by marriage in 1424. If the Fox/Vaux connection is substantiated, this would carry the line back to 1066. At least eight project members surnamed Fox thought they might descend from this line but DNA testing showed that they were not.

We do now have five well-documented members of this line in the project. For the original three of these, the most recent common ancestor is Henry Fox (1768-1852), who married Sarah Harrell. Two are second cousins and the third is a fourth cousin. They match exactly at 37 markers. In the Summer of 2008, results began coming in for several more Henry Fox/Anne West descendants, taking the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) back another two generations to Henry Fox, III, a grandson of Henry Fox and Anne West who married Mary Goodwyn. They match the other three exactly at 25 markers but show several mutations in the 25 through 37 marker series. The line back to Henry Fox, III, goes back 7 generations.

The only qualification is that some researchers still question that Henry Fox, 2nd, was the son of Henry Fox, 1st. The story is that his sons Thomas Fox and John Fox are mentioned in the will of their maternal uncle John West (son of Col. John West, the brother of Lord De La Warr), whereas Henry Fox 2nd is not. This could well be because Henry was first in line to inherit his own father’s estate; nevertheless doubt remains in some minds. The project would like very much to get a male descendant of Thomas Fox (b abt 1680, who married Mary Tunstall) and of John Fox, (b abt 1676) into the project.

We know there are some around. John Fox married about 1699. Dr. J. Ben Robinson, one of his descendants, states that his wife probably was a daughter of Edmund Bacon of New Kent County. In addition, there was a genealogical group in Washington, DC, back in the late 1930's called "The Society of the Descendants of the Hon. Henry Fox and Anne West” under the leadership of George H. S. King, a Thomas Fox descendant. Henry Fox 1st, is also said to have had a brother named John Fox b abt 1652, who married a Lightfoot (either Margaret or Frances) and left descendants in Virginia and Maryland.

One of the Henry Fox/ Sarah Harrell descendants has been SNP tested by Ethnoancestry and is S21+ and S29-. He has also been tested L47+ by FTDNA. This is a brand new SNP dividing L48, which in turn divides S21 (S21 is called U106 by FTDNA.) He would also be S26-, of course. (In FTDNA terms, he is U106+, L48+, L47+, U198- and L1-). Interestingly enough, both the null439 and the Henry Fox/ Anne West groups have been found belonging to Founder haplotype clusters that include names such as Callaway and Smith. This leads us to believe they may have both once belonged to a clan containing both Haplogroups that may be of Norman origin – Callaway being a Norman name.

These Henry Fox descendants match 35 for 37 and 63 for 67 with a descendant of George Elder, born a slave in 1831, in Rutherford County, Tennessee. He has also tested L47+. The exact connection is being pursued but has yet to be established.

A number of new SNPs are now being offered, which divide L47. L44 divides L47 and L45, L46 and L164 further divide L44. The project will monitor progress as these SNPs are tested and, if they appear useful, further testing will be recommended. Meanwhile, these members have joined the L48 Project at FTDNA.

William Fox/ Sarah Avent Descendants

In Joseph Steadman’s genealogy book, the Henry Fox who married Mary Claiborne and lived in Brunswick County, Virginia, was Henry Fox, 2nd, the son of Henry Fox and Anne West. We now have evidence that this was not Henry Fox, 2nd, but another Henry Fox. To quote Steadman, “A careful study of data on the Fox, Kendrick, and Claiborne families indicates that Henry Fox, 2nd, probably married Mary Kendrick about 1697 and that after her death he married Mary Claiborne about 1705.” The connection he made was highly circumstantial.

We now have one Fox Project member who descends from William Fox (1710-1764), who married Sarah Avent in 1734 and lived in Brunswick County, VA. William is listed by Steadman as the son of Henry Fox and Mary Claiborne. He is clearly not closely related to our Henry Fox/Anne West descendants, coming in at a GD=17 from them in 37 markers. Steadman’s circumstantial evidence again seems to have been wrong.

More members of this family would be valuable additions to the Fox Project and would help in resolving the authenticity problem with Henry Fox, 2nd, mentioned above in discussing the Henry Fox/Anne West descendants.

Andrew Fox Descendants

The project has two descendants of Andrew Fox (1750-1819) who is believed to have come from England in 1772 to Culpepper County, Virginia and then settled in Greene County, Tennessee. His son Jacob moved to Rutherford County and lived near a white family named Elder. Testing has shown, however, that they are unrelated to the Henry Fox/Anne West line. Interestingly enough, while the two match exactly at 25 markers they differ at three fast mutating markers in the last of the 37 marker set, with a genetic distance (GD)=5. They are fourth cousins, once removed, and the MRCA is Jacob Fox, son of Andrew. FTDNA estimates them as Haplogroup R-M269 or R1b1b2* but there is reason to believe (from cluster analysis) they may be Haplogroup R-L21, indicating deep Scots-Irish ancestry.

Descendants of James D. Fox and Thomas J. Fox of Alabama and Henry Fox of Gloucestershire, England

Two project members descend from James Davis Fox, born in Alabama in 1824. They have been connected via DNA testing with a descendant of Thomas J. Fox, born in Georgia in 1820. The first suspicion was that they were Henry Fox/Anne West descendants. When this was proven wrong, the working hypothesis became that Thomas J and James D. Fox were brothers, sons of Johan Fuchs, an immigrant from Perish, Germany. Testing of a descendant of Jesse Fox, known son of Johan Fuchs, showed this premise to be false. They have now gotten a very close 37 marker match with a British descendant of Henry Fox, b 1750 in Gloucestershire, England, giving this family’s research efforts a sudden boost in a different direction.

Descendants of William Fox of Loudoun Co., VA.

We now have several descendants of William Fox, Sr., b 1710 in Loudoun County, VA, and a another member of this family (which includes John Fox, the author of "The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come") has been tested by Relative Genetics. The line goes back 7 generations. Again our first member of this family line had postulated a Henry Fox/ Anne West ancestry but family researcher Kevin Daniels traces them both back to two sons of William Fox, Sr., named James Fox and William Fox, Jr. He also believes that the family may originally have come from Philadelphia, PA. William purchased his land in Virginia with Pennsylvania money and his son James Fox married his first wife, Mary Bartleson, there on September 1, 1758 in Old Swedes Church, Philadelphia.

The third project member, descending from Enos Fox b 1814 in Kentucky, matches the James Fox descendant closely at 67 markers (GD=2 with one step deviations at DYS 448 and DYS 557). Both have a common Kentucky heritage and a link back from Enos to James Fox has been postulated by Kevin Daniels.

Another William Fox, Jr., descendant joined the project in November, 2009. At 37 markers, all four Foxes match exactly except at DYS 448. Here the new member matches the first supposed James Fox descendant with 19 repeats. The other two have 20 repeats – one a supposed James Fox descendant and the other a known William Fox, Jr. descendant. While it is certainly possible that the same mutation occurred in both lines, this result leads to the conclusion that further study of the relevant paper trail would be wise. It would also be good to have another member of this family tested.

One of this group was SNP tested by Ethnoancestry and is S21-, despite having a value of 13 repeats at DYS 492. He has also been tested P312+ and L21+ by FTDNA. Neal Fox puts this group in his SCOTS II haplotype cluster and the Haplogroup R-L21 status tends to confirm this.

Descendants of Francis Fox, Sr., of England and Wilkes County, NC.

Several descendants of Francis Fox, Sr., born in England about 1749, died abt 1821 in Wilkes County, NC, are now in the project. They are fourth cousins, the MRCA being William Moses Fox who married Morning Ayres. He was born bet. 1801 and 1804 in Wilkes Co., NC and died 4/25/1882 in Yancey Co., NC. They are typical Haplogroup R-M269 members who do not match other Fox project members but match each other exactly at 37 markers.

Descendants of Levi Fox and William Fox of Pennsylvania in 1700s

A descendant of Levi Fox, Sr., (b. 1802 in Washington Co., Pennsylvania), has a typical R-M269 37-marker haplotype. He matches, at 12 markers tested, a descendant of Taylor Fox, born October 1846 in Sheffield, Tippecanoe Co., IN. Further research indicates that Taylor’s father, possibly named Isaac, was the brother of Levi Fox and that their parents may have been Bonham and Temperance Fox, born 1760s in Loudon Co., Virginia. Then there are three unproven earlier generations going back to George, b. 1662 in Leichester, England and Jane (Palmer) Fox, born ca 1670.

Two new project members match the Levi Fox, Sr., descendant on 34 out of 37 markers (GD=3) and 35 out of 37 markers (GD=2,) respectively. They descend from two sons of John Fox, who was born in 1797 in VA and died in Ohio. There is good evidence from a family bible that the parents of John Fox were, like Levi Fox, Sr., born in Pennsylvania. Their names were William (b 1777) and Sarah (b 1792) Fox and they both died in 1857 in Ohio. The common geographical connection (Pennsylvania) should certainly be followed up.

Descendants of John B. Fox of Virginia

A 12 marker DNA connection was recently found between another two Haplogroup R project members and their ancestry has been traced back to John B. Fox, 1745, Orange Co., VA.

Other Haplogroup R Results

The above Foxes are all in Haplogroup R-M269 and its subclades and there are many more Haplogroup R-M269 Foxes in the project - all as yet unrelated to each other. These are listed under Project Results. Many of these had early ancestors from the southern United States and these occupy a separate category in the Y-Results tables. Truly these southern Fox families are proving a challenge but we now have an ample number of targets for new members to shoot at.

Several of these unrelated Foxes have done extensive genealogical research abroad that deserves special mention:

(1) We have a British Fox (50481) who matches a number of Stewarts and Stuarts, including a known illegitimate descendant of Charles II. Peter Beauclerk-Dewar collected a series of DNA samples from his kinsmen who were direct male line descendents of Charles II as part of the research for his book “ Right Royal Bastards”. 67 marker Y chromosome analyses have been performed on these samples. The results show that our Fox Project member has a virtually identical profile on 67 markers to Murray de Vere Beauclerk, the current (14th) Duke of St Albans. He has now tested L2+ and L20-, putting him in Haplogroup R1b1b2a1b4c*.

After exhaustive research, he has concluded that he is descended from Sarah Fox, born 1778 in Margate, and that Sarah’s ancestry went back to Valentine Fox, born 1535 in Canterbury, and possibly back to as early as 1320 in Canterbury. At the age of 22, in late 1801, she gave birth to an illegitimate son, Robert. The father apparently was Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk, Earl of Burford, and soon afterwards 6th Duke of St Albans. He can be placed in Margate at the time when Robert was conceived, in around September 1800. This Robert was our Project Member’s ancestor but, on the basis of his research and DNA match, he has listed as his most distant known ancestor: Hato - Knight of Dol c 990 - c 1055, Le Mans, France.

Interestingly enough, he has also found that Sarah was later legitimately married to Edward Longley of Sandwich, a mariner and customs officer. They had four children of their own and brought up Robert who kept the Fox surname. In 1833 and 1834 the family emigrated to Fort Edward, New York, and later to Erie County, PA. Robert married a woman named Charlotte and had four children, born in Sandwich, but he disappeared in 1834 and is thought to have died at sea.

(2) Another British Fox (28579) had originally thought his ancestry traced back to Wiltshire (and a brother of Sir Stephen Fox) but more definitive evidence points to Thomas Fox born about 1608 in Melton Magnum, near Norfolk, England, as the most distant known ancestor.

He had been found by EthnoAncestry to be S28/U152+ and has now been deep clade tested by FTDNA and is Haplogroup R1b1b2a1b4c1 or R-L20 (L20+ L21- L4- M126- M153- M160- M269+ M65- P312+ SRY2627- U152+.) He is a member of a STR haplotype cluster identified by Neal Fox that includes an L20+ named Faux but the connection would probably be before the adoption of surnames.

(3) We also have an American Fox (38215) who has done extensive research in England and writes: ”My line of descent comes from the much smaller Forz family of Cockermouth, Cumbria (outside of Whitehaven), whose first ancestor was a French Count of Aumale in the late 1100s, whose son, William de Forz, became the Earl of Albemarle.” He now feels that his line became goldsmiths and merchants in London before emigrating to Virginia in 1635.

He has done Deep Clade R testing and is M269+, P310+ and P311+ but U106- and P312-, putting him in Haplogroup R1b1b2a1*. This result is indicative of an eastern Europe origin and is consistent with research indicating that the Forz family may have originally been called Fortibus or Sforza and come to France from Milan, Italy. This project member has joined the ht35 Project run by Vincent Vizachero. Conservatively, we have listed John Fox, b1602, London, England, as his most distant known ancestor. John Fox emigrated to Jamestown, VA, in 1635.

Haplogroup I-M253 and Subclades

Thomas Fox of Concord, MA, Descendants

Interestingly enough, some of the Fox Project's greatest successes have been in Haplogroup I-M253 (now Haplogroup I1, formerly I1a) defined by the SNP M253+. Five of our members definitively trace back to Thomas Fox of Concord, MA, born in England in 1619. Two more project members match these men and appear to be related, as does a Fox tested recently by Ancestry.com. We have also been able to provide them with links to three other Thomas Fox descendants in the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation database. Several have been tested by FTDNA out to 67 markers so that we can estimate the ancestral haplotype out to 78 markers.

These men all belong to a haplotype cluster that has been identified by Ken Nordtvedt, a Haplogroup I expert, as “ultra-Norse.” One of the Foxes in this group has found records that tie Thomas Fox to St. Olaves Church in Southwark, London, an area of Scandinavian immigrants. He is trying to extend family records back still further.

Several have done deep clade testing so that the group can now be considered definitely in the I-P109 subclade of I-M253. This information has been submitted to Nordtvedt, who feels that I-P109 divides his ultra-Norse cluster.

In addition, a fellow with the surname Roy matches them 33 for 37. His ancestor was Louis LeRoy (b 1610 in Rouen, France.) He has been allowed to join the project, though his connection with the Thomas Fox group may go back well into prehistory. Interestingly enough, his most distant known maternal line ancestor was Mary Fox b. Jan 24 1886, Rosscommon, Ireland, and he has done mtDNA testing.

Finally. We have results from another Fox, tested by Ethnoancestry, listed in Ysearch as CGFUN. He states,” The last confirmed most distant ancestor is Josef or Joseph Fox, born 18.12.1887 in Queetz, county (Kreis) of Heilsberg in East Prussia (Ostpreußen), Germany (today Kwiecewo, Poland). He descended most likely from a Petrus Fox who lived in 1825 in the same area.” He lists Antonius Fox, East Prussia, 1825, as his most distant ancestor on Ysearch. His closest matches in our project are in the Thomas Fox group but they are not really that close, GD of 5 with 30 markers to compare.

Elijah Fox and James Fox Descendants

Six other matching Foxes in Haplogroup I1 appear to trace back to North Carolina and Virginia via Cocke County, Tennessee. Four of them trace back to Elijah Fox, born about 1775 in North Carolina. Elijah apparently moved to Cocke County, Tennessee, and fathered three sons, Ransom, Absolom and John Fox. We have two descendants of Absolom, one of Ransom and one of John.

The other two trace back to Allen Fox of North Carolina, 1798, and to James Fox of Virginia, 1754 (via his son Enoch Fox, 1774.) It is possible that Allen Fox was another son of James. Each of these families apparently came through Tennessee on their way westward

Four of these men match at 37 markers with only one deviation, the Allen Fox descendant differs by a single repeat at marker DYS 447, a relatively stable marker. So far only the Allen Fox descendant has been tested at 67 markers. The Ransom Fox descendant and one of the two Absolom Fox descendants have only been tested at 12 markers. Confusingly, both have 15 repeats at marker DYS 385b, where the other four have 14. Thus, this marker does not distinguish between the proposed family lines. It would be good to have these two upgraded to more markers and to have more descendants tested. All are estimated to be in Haplogroup I1 but none have had this confirmed by SNP testing.

They have been joined by a Burris (N30820) who matches them closely (GD=2 in 37 markers) and has been allowed to join the project. Again, these project members did not previously know each other and are still trying to figure out the paper trail connecting them.

Jacob Fuchs Descendants

Two Haplogroup I-M253 members have established a paper trail back to Jacob Fuchs who immigrated with his family from Germany in 1739 to Bucks County, Pennsylvania. One has Jacob Fuchs coming from the Alsace, the other from Wuerttemberg. The MRCA is Jacob’s son, David Theobald Fox. They match exactly at 25 markers and are fourth cousins twice removed.

Two more Fox Project members match each other exactly and match the first of the above on 36 out of 37 markers, the only deviation being 20 vs 21 repeats at DYS 570. One is a known third cousin of number one. The other had postulated being a Joseph Fuchs descendant but only traced back to Nicholas Fox, b. abt 1788 in Chatham County, NC, and d. 1847 to 1849 in Tipton County IN.

FTDNA has identified this group as being in Haplogroup I-M253. There has been no deep clade testing but they appear to fall into Nordtvedt’s M-253 Anglo-Saxon clusters.

Haplogroup I-M223 and Subclades

Lancashire Fox Descendants

Two Foxes from families originating in Lancashire, England, also appear to have been linked back in prehistory. These two match 31 for 37 and are both apparent Haplogroup I2b1 (formerly I1b2a and before that I1c) defined by M223+. Their history has been tentatively traced to a group of Vikings who left Dublin, Ireland, to seek refuge in Lancashire in the year 918 AD.

A descendant of Johnny Fox, b 1787 in Stokes Co., NC, is also estimated to be Haplogroup I2b1 and is a genetic distance of 4 at 37 markers from both of these Lancashire Foxes, who were a genetic distance of 6 from each other. He also matches one of them exactly on markers 38 through 67. So this new result tends to confirm a common ancestry for all three but back some 20 generations or more. Extending the third to 67 markers plus SNP testing could help to confirm this observation.

Christian Fuchs Descendants

Two Haplogroup I-M223 (SNP tested M223+) Foxes who match at 12 markers, turned out to be step cousins, descendants of Christian Fuchs of Berks County, PA (b 1814.) One of them has been extended to 67 markers and is looking for other Fuchs descendants as recruits to the project. They are projected to be in Nordtvedt’s Haplogroup I-M223 Continental 1a or 2a subclade.

Haplogroup I-39 (The Lichtenstein Cave Haplogroup)

Richard Fox and Hannah Williamson Descendants

Another well known southern USA family line is that descending from Col. Richard Fox (died 1771) and Hannah Williamson. Some thought this line might trace back to Henry Fox and Anne West but our one documented member of this family is in an entirely different Haplogroup. This is a case where the judgement of Joseph Steadman has been confirmed.

Another project member matches him exactly at 37 markers and traces back to Joaquin Fox who moved from New Orleans to Mexico in the mid-1800s. The paper trail connecting these two has yet to be developed. The Joaquin Fox descendant has been extensively SNP tested by FTDNA and this testing not only confirms P214+ and M223- but also has L39+ and L40+, confirming Haplogroup I2b2 or I-M39.

Johan Fuchs Descendants

Two first cousins descending from Jesse Fox of Georgia have been identified as probably in Haplogroup I-M39 and are proceeding with testing to prove this out. Their ancestry goes back 5 generations to Johan Fuchs, born in Germany. They are a close match, at 37 markers to a Brion, ancestors from France, who has already tested M38+ and M39+.

Other Haplogroups

Haplogroups E1b1b2 (formerly E3b1), G2, G2c, Q, J1, J2, J2b1a and R1a1 are also represented in the Fox Project. Th only match is in Haplogroup R1a1.

Richard Fox and Vaniah Fox of Glastonbury, CT, Descendants

In Haplogroup R1a1 (ISOGG calls this R1a1a), a descendant of Richard Fox, 1641, of Glastonbury, CT, matches a descendant of Vaniah Fox, who married Abigail Cadwell in Glastonbury, CT, in 1748. They match on 35 of 37 markers. A third Fox matches the Vaniah Fox descendant exactly at 12 markers. His MDKA is Harry Francis Fox (1849) of Lydlinch, Dorset but a correspondent has indicated that the surname may well not be Fox. This group is actively searching for connections.

In “Historic Homes and Places and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts” by William Richard Cutter, the following claim is made on page 1681: “Thomas Fox, of Concord, is believed to be the brother of Richard Fox, who came in the ship ‘Abigail,’ in 1635, and his age is given as fifteen: and that Richard Fox of Wethersfield, Connecticut, born in 1641, was his son. Benoni, son of Eliphalet Fox, and grandson of Thomas Fox, of Concord, settled also in Wethersfield, in the vicinity of the family of Richard Fox, while Thomas Fox, son of Isaac and grandson of Thomas Fox, of Concord, also settled in the same town. These Fox families lived in Glastonbury, across the river from Wethersfield, of which it had been a part.”

Cutter’s theory has now been pretty well disproven since our Thomas Fox, of Concord, descendants are members of Haplogroup I-P109 and our Richard Fox, of Glastonbury, descendant is predicted Haplogroup R-M198 (R1a1.) Nevertheless, it would be valuable to have another proven descendant of Richard Fox of Glastonbury as a member of the project.

On the previous page of his book, Cutter states, “Thomas Fox, immigrant ancestor of this family, settled in Concord, Massachusetts. He was son, cousin or nephew of Thomas Fox, of Cambridge, who also lived in Concord, and whose only known son, Rev. Jabez Fox, of Woburn, Massachusetts, was baptized in Concord in 1647.” Jabez graduated from Harvard, class of 1665, and according to “Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard University, in Cambridge,” he died in 1703 and had three sons who survived him. The Fox Project would welcome a descendant of this family which, reportedly, descends from the same line as John Foxe, the author of “The Book of Martyrs” and Kevin Fox, a Thomas Fox of Concord descendant, is currently working on this angle.

Two other Haplogroup R1a1 Foxes are known to be of German descent. Another (from the SMGF database) traces back to Staffordshire, England, 1830.

Aside from Haplogroup R1a1, the “Other Haplogroup” members generally trace back to Eastern Germany, Russia and the Ukraine – at least where this can be determined. Several members display haplotypes characteristic of Askenazi Jews and there is one who matches the 6 marker Cohen Modal Haplotype.

Mohawk Valley, NY, Christoffel Fuchs Descendant

We now have one member of the Palatine, NY, Fuchs family described in the book “Mohawk Valley Foxes” in the Fox Project. He has been tested at 37 markers and is projected to be a member of Haplogroup J2. Several members of this family, descendants of Christoffel Fuchs (1608-1698,) came to the Mohawk Valley from Niederbieber in the Rhineland-Pfalz area of Germany in 1709 and left many descendants. We are anxious to get more of this clan in the project.

Summary

The project has found that Fox is a common name with many origins. The majority, including the null439 group and the Van Fossens, are in the very common European/American Haplogroup R-M269 and its subclades or in Haplogroup I and its subclades.

Anyone with the surname Fox or its variants is welcome to join the project, including transfers from the Genographic Study, and we now have enough members that there is a good chance of establishing a connection. There are eight separate families represented in the Fox project that trace back to the VA, NC, TN, KY areas so Foxes with early ancestors from the Southern USA can reasonably expect to find future matches. We have at least seven members of German descent and also have several members with Irish ancestry. We are anxious to get more members of known Irish or German descent.

Several members have ordered Mitochondrial DNA testing in order to establish their maternal ancestry. This is also an option. Mitochondrial DNA surrounds the cell nucleus and is passed from mother to her children of either sex. It is possible to use mtDNA testing to support a maternal paper trail but there are several problems. First, the straight maternal line is often not known back more than a few generations and, of course, the surname changes with each generation. Second, the mutation rate is much slower than in STR testing of the Y-Chromosome and to establish a close connection some people are ordering a full mtDNA sequence (but only a few Fox project member so far.) For both these reasons mtDNA testing has proven most valuable in studying the migration of populations. It is less useful for genealogical purposes.

Nevertheless, a tabulation of mtDNA results is available on this website and can help to verify a paper trail. The results presented show where the sequence of nucleotides differs from one particular reference sample - the Cambridge Reference Sequence - in two regions of the mtDNA molecule - Hypervariable Regions 1 and 2 (HVR1 and HVR2.) Full genome sequencing results are considered confidential and restricted.

The group administrators would like to acknowledge the assistance of other project members who have spent hours analyzing data and making contacts. Clay Fox has recruited members of the Van Fossen clan into the project and Dr. Lewis Fox has been recruiting Foxes with New Jersey ancestry. Genealogists John William Fox and Paul Fox have also been of great help in reviewing the paper trail and in soliciting prospective members. Jon Myron Fox and Roland Fox have also been avid researchers and the latter was the one who got us into DNA testing in the first place.

James Neal Fox is project co-administrator and has done extensive studies that group Haplogroup R results into related clusters. He also administers the Haplogroup L1/S26 (null39) Project at FTDNA. John Henry Fox has provided access to the Steadman Genealogy and, in general, project members have been most cooperative in supplying family background information. When this is done, the project administrator sees that their results are uploaded to the Ysearch database. All of us are unpaid volunteers.







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