Pugh Surname DNA Project

Project Background

Welcome to the Pugh Surname DNA Project!! Please visit our home page at RootsWeb and join our discussion group at Tracing Pugh Origins. It's all free and we would love to have your input. There is already quite a bit of information posted at both locations and we are updating the sites all of the time.

Interest in the FTDNA Pugh Surname Project began in March of 2006 when a few descendants of Lewis Pugh (ca.1670-1741) of Merionethshire, Wales wondered if more could be determined about Lewis’ ancestry through DNA analysis.

Many Pugh lines can be traced back to Merioneth, and some still exist there. Some of the early Pugh lines in America are well documented as they were Quakers and good records still exist. James Pugh (c.a.1665-1724) also of Merioneth, arrived in America in 1682 with the first wave of immigrants to William Penn’s new colony which we now know as Pennsylvania. Other Pughs of the Quaker faith soon followed to escape religious persecution. There were James Pugh’s father, Evan Pugh (??-1704) and (by some accounts) his cousin, Ellis Pugh, Sr. (c.a.1656-1718). Evan’s younger brother (by some accounts), Robert ap Hugh (c.a.1660-1717) arrived at William Penn’s new colony in 1698.

Some branches of the early Pennsylvania Pugh lines migrated southward into Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina while others remained in the area surrounding Philadelphia. Jesse Pugh (1711-1794) who was Ellis and Sinah Pugh’s grandson is credited as being the founder and leader of the Back Creek Valley Quaker settlement in Frederick County, Virginia. The Back Creek Meeting was established on December 24, 1759. Jesse was very active in assisting other Pennsylvania Quakers in their move to Frederick County. Among those settlers were representatives of the other early Pennsylvania Pugh lines mentioned above. To date, we have only one known representative from the early Pennsylvania Pugh lines described above. He descends from Robert ap Hugh and Sarah Evans. We are looking forward to expanding the DNA database to gain a better understanding of what the family relationships were among these Pugh lines.

Lewis Pugh (ca.1670-1741) emigrated from Wales to Richmond County, Virginia in 1695. He married Ann in 1704. Her maiden name has not been proven but was probably Webster due to Lewis's relationship with this family. Lewis and Ann's seven children were all born in Richmond County, Virginia and were baptized in the Anglican Church, Farnham Parish. In 1731 Lewis Pugh and his eldest son, John Pugh, traveled back to Wales to collect an inheritance due to Lewis. John left a family in Virginia. A number of years later, word was sent to Ann that Lewis had died in Wales. In 1740, the second son of Lewis and Ann, David Pugh, was given power-of-attorney to travel back to Wales to collect the inheritance due the family. It is not known if David Pugh had a family before he left for Wales. We are trying to sort out the descendants of the couple and DNA testing holds great potential for resolving this question. We have already discovered much about the descendants of Lewis and Ann in America. It can be presumed that descendants of progenitors of our Pugh lines are currently living in Wales; a campaign is underway to bring some of these Welsh people into our DNA project.

Also in colonial times, a Francis Pugh (c.a. 1630-??) from Glendower, Caernarvonshire, Wales settled in Virginia. He came to Jamestown in 1666 and his descendants migrated to North Carolina; quite a bit is known about his line as well. We do not currently have a known descendant of Francis in the Pugh Project. There are a number of other Pugh lines and many Pugh researchers have traced their lines as far back as the 1800s only to hit a brick wall. We know that there are many Pugh lines in America that connect somewhere in history and there are Pugh lines around the world that likely trace their roots back to Wales. The primary purpose of the Pugh Project is to learn as much as we can about all of the Pugh lines that have participants in the DNA study and to see if we can make some connections to guide us in further research.

We wish to invite anyone with the PUGH surname and all its variants (PEW, PEUGH, POUGH, PUE, APHUGH, APHEW, HUGHES, etc.) to join this project. Any male can participant who either carries the surname or who is believed to be paternally descended from a man who carried the surname. If you are female, you can have a male PUGH (or variant) relative submit a sample for your line. To participate meaningfully, testees should be prepared to share their direct male line ancestry back to the earliest known PUGH (or variant) either in the form of a pedigree chart or, preferable, family group sheets (excluding living persons).

This invitation extends to all people, those from the United States, Wales, England, Scotland, Canada, and Australia; just to name a few places where the surname can be found.

Funds are available, as indicated above, to help defray the cost of testing for those of certain known Pugh lines. Please contact the Group Administrator for more information. You may contribute to this Pugh Surname Project General Fund by clicking the link at the left of this page. Your contribution may be made to help participants of a particular Pugh line or for a non-specific participant in the Pugh Project. Just indicate on the contribution form (under "In Memory of") as to how to apply your contribution. Your contributions will be used to offset the cost of testing for those new participants who make a request through the Group Administrator. If you do not want your name to appear with your contribution please check the "Anonymous" box on the contribution form.

You may also send an email to the Group Administrator indicating your willingness to aid a future participant with a matching funds offer. In that case you would not make the contribution until a potential participant responded to your offer. We post the matching funds offers under the News tab. If there is a response, the Group Administrator will contact you with further details on how to make your contribution. If you would like to remain anonymous please indicate that in your email.

Thank you for your interest in the Pugh Surname DNA Project.