It has long been believed that all American Thurbers are descendants of John Thurber (c. 1626-1705) who emigrated from England to Massachusetts in 1671. Many Thurbers today are unsure of their connection to the immigrant--using YDNA testing we should be able to help people verify (or unverify!) their descent and eventually to determine which line they are likely to be connected to if they are unsure. If we had a large number of participants, slight mutations might distinguish one line from another.