Rowland/Roland & various spellings DNA Project- Background

Background

There is no dispute that there have been Rowland’s of various spellings in America since the 1600’s. Often there are many of that name in the same area but not at all related! My Rowland line is from Wake County, NC USA….since at least about the time of the American Revolution. For the many years that I have been researching this line, I have been most frustrated by the fact that there are several lines of Rowland’s found in North Carolina that don’t seem to have any connection that I can find…and I’ve spent years trying to find those connections! In following the forums and other correspondence, I’ve noticed this same type of thing occurring in other areas: Botetourt Co, VA Rowland’s vs.the Surry Co, VA ones ; Pennsylvania has lots from England, Germany, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, etc; Connecticut has some of the earliest, as well as New York; Kentucky seemed to get them from all over which further confuses things. Obviously, they’re not all related and with each generation it gets more difficult to trace backwards. Now we have the opportunity to streamline our research! This technique allows us to identify exactly which lines we are NOT related to as well as which ones we are. It can also identify if one’s male ancestor was of Native American descent too (how many of those old family stories are floating around? Now you can prove or disprove it!)