PROJECT UPDATE 2025 - Over two thirds of our Y-DNA members have now taken the Big Y 700 test, far above the average percentage for a surname project of this size (76 Big Y kits our of 112 37-marker Y-DNA tests). We have effectively ceased our effort to upgrade existing Y-DNA STR marker tests (12, 25, 37, 67 and 111-marker tests) of existing kits of project members due to the age of earlier DNA samples. We're now instituting a policy whereby we will subsidize the upgrade of any new project member's Y-DNA test (37-marker or greater) if the tester matches our project members' Y-DNA profile. We'll be using our General Fund to offer a $100 subsidy to those who qualify. Nearly 90% of the Childers/Childress surname project members share a common male ancestor dating to the 17th century. It is believed this common ancestor (Abraham and/or Philemon) immigrated to America from the Yorkshire area of England, settling around the James River, Virginia area. If you have the surname of Childers or Childress or a variant thereof and your Y-DNA tests place you in this group, join us in our efforts to trace our common heritage through the use of some great administrative tools and historical documentation and shared family trees and archived photographs. Enrollment is free if you have a Y-DNA test on file and if your Y-DNA matches the group's collective signature. IF YOU ARE AN ELIGIBLE MALE CHILDERS/CHILDRESS TESTER WHO HAS NOT YET RECEIVED COMPLETED Y-DNA TEST RESULTS, YOU SHOULD FIRST JOIN THE CHILDRESS SURNAME PROJECT BEFORE ENROLLING IN THIS SUB-PROJECT. We also welcome those non-Childers/Childress surname male testers whose Y-DNA results are the same as this group. We will endeavor to help you find your connection to the Childers/Childress surname. We also welcome female Childers/Childress genealogical researchers whose interests lie within the scope of this project. Such individuals may join this project if they have Mt-DNA or autosomal (FamilyFinder) FTDNA test results on file. One of the primary goals of this project is to connect contemporary members to the first-known Childers ancestors of the late 16th century. We do this by very carefully analyzing the proposed family trees of our members who have taken the FamilyTreeDNA "Big Y 700" SNP test which reveals a great deal of detailed DNA information. Once accepted, the family tree relationships are added to the "Master Family Tree" at Ancestry.com as well as a publicly accessible family tree at RootsWeb.com. If the reader has an interest in the Master Family Tree at www.ancestry.com, he or she should search for the tree labeled CHILDERS JAMES RIVER VIKING and the latest available version of this Master Tree will be found.