8 5 2022 Update

There is a new tool now provided that gives an age estimate for any Haplogroup you are interested in, a discussion of its ancestry, and gives the number of members and lists their subclades.  It should be of particular value for those who have done the BigY test.  Go to your Dashboard at FTDNA and look down for Additional Tests and Tools and then click on Discover More.  You can then put in your Haplogroup and get a report.

The group formerly called "Haplogroup R-L21 subclade DF13 William Fox Loudoun,VA, Descendants" has been renamed Haplogroup R-L21>DF13>BY10454 and Subclades.  It includes descendants of William Fox b1710 Loudoun,VA, and Hugh Fox of Virginia with connections back to Ireland

The Discover More tool has now been applied to this group.  See the discussion in the Results section.  It is now obvious that this group needed renaming and that the William Fox and Hugh Fox descendants are remotely related with an MRCA back about 900 years

It has also been applied to the groups labeled Haplogroup R-S26/L1 - The Null439 Foxes and  Haplogroup I-P109>S14887>Y4115 & Subclades _Mostly Thomas Fox of Concord MA Descendants  Again seethe Results section

1/10/2022 Update

We are now at 412 member but a large number of autosomal only members have been added in the hope that they will find Fox cousins who will choose to be Y-DNA tested.  There have been additions to a number of our family groups and we now have close to 20% who have taken the BigYtest.  Some of these BigY results have led to interesting new connections and have further divided family groups  Testing of ancient remains is leading to a better understanding of how different subclades traveled across Europe and Asia to their final destinations

10/16/2016 Update

The study referenced below has finally been published and can be found in the first issue of the new Journal of Genetic Genealogy.  The article is called Y-DNA Testing of a Paper Trail: The Fox Surname Project  Information can be found there not only on the Henry Fox/Anne West descendants but also: on our Abbeville, SC, Foxes and other members of Haplogroup R1b-L1/S26: on descendants of William Fox, born about 1710, who came to Loudoun County, VA, in 1757: on descendants of Richard Fox (1707-1771) and Hannah Williamson of Mecklenburg County, VA; on descendants of William Fox (1710-1764)who married Sarah Avent; and on descendants of Andrew Fox (1749-1819) who married Sarah Render of Culpeper County, VA.

Regarding the Loudoun County Fox family, Kevin Daniel writes:
"Loudoun County, VA was not created until 1757, so William could not have been born there in 1710! The 1710 birth date is just a guesstimate on my part, based on the approximated ages of William's children. William first appears in Virginia records in 1755 when he used Pennsylvania currency to purchase land in Fairfax County, VA. There is a record for the marriage of James Fox, son of William, to Mary Bartleson on 1 September 1758 at Old Swedes Church in Philadelphia, PA. This may indicate that this Fox family either came from Pennsylvania or had strong ties to that colony. The Bartlesons had strong ties to Old Swede's Church and James Fox named sons Bartleson and Cephas, after Mary's brother Cephas. The Bartleson family was in Pennsylvania by 1700. Mary Bartleson also had a brother named Braden Bartleson and her son Bartleson Fox married Mary Braden."

11/1/2013 Update

The Fox Project has a new co-administrator, Georgia L Fox, (sponsor of Kit Number 311698) to replace Dr. Roland Fox who died on September 30th.  Georgia’s first job will be to help organize and update the website.

The Fox Surname Project continues to grow and, as in 2012, new members are often finding matches within the project.  David Edward Fox has been actively recruiting new members who may help resolve some of our conflicts with published information on Virginia Fox families.  The intent is to publish our results somewhere in 2014.  Our big news, of course, was that Kit 263408 gave us a descendant of Thomas Fox who married Mary Tunstall, and his matching haplotype has proven that Thomas Fox and Henry Fox 2nd were brothers - sons of Henry Fox 1st and Anne West.  Thus we now have a well documented Henry Fox 1st haplotype to compare with new results.

While much of the emphasis in Genetic Genealogy has switched to testing all ancestral lines via programs like Family Finder, we continue to emphasize Y-DNA testing of the Fox surname using STR markers. This test gives the most reliable confirmation of deep relationships and is the best way of tracing a surname.  We continue to recommend 37-marker testing for new recruits but a number of our members have tested 67 markers and, a few, 111 markers.  Upgrading can be helpful in clarifying family lines and in estimating which SNPs to test to determine the Y-Haplogroup subclade of the family group.

Y-Haplogroup subclades are being extended deeper and deeper (i.e. closer and closer to present time) as new SNPs are found. This may eventually help in grouping test results for a better understanding of the origins of genealogical trees.  We are not there yet but a number of Haplogroup Projects with this goal in mind are open to membership once SNP testing has been done. Three project members have taken the Geno 2.0 test and transferred results to FTDNA.  Some 35 or 40 have done deep clade testing at FTDNA and all these results are reported on the Y-SNP tables on this website.  Geno 2.0 results can easily be identified by the large number of SNPs tested. 

The Fox Project encourages SNP testing for at least one member of a related group or for unmatched individuals.  This is particularly true in Haplogroup R-M269, where we have a large number of unmatched members.   FTDNA’s deep clade testing is no longer available but intermediate and even terminal SNPs can often be estimated and tested individually and the cost of the Geno 2.0 test is starting to come down.  Full sequencing of the Y-chromosome is also available elsewhere at a price.  If any member of Haplogroup R-M269 has tested 67 markers, there is an Excel spreadsheet that can be made available to estimate likely SNPs for testing.

Following is a summary of the results of Y-DNA surname testing during 2013:

New Results in 2013

Geno 2.0 Testing Project members 14179, 231195 and N30820 have had their Geno 2.0 results transferred to FamilytreeDNA and are reported as Haplogroup R-L1, R-U152 and I-M253 respectively.  As more is known about deep clade SNPs, these results may be expanded.   Actually 231195 may have a downstream SNP called F1493.   R-L1 is the SNP that defines the “null at DYS 439” group.  There will be no more null results reported at DYS 439 due to a change in FTDNA’s primer. There are indications in Haplogroup R-L1 of a possible deletion in the vicinity of the L132 SNP and FTDNA reports that, for 14179, they actually failed to get a result, despite reporting L132-.  This will bear further investigation.

Kit 270307 is a descendant of Matthew Fox (1766-1854) Abbeville, SC through his son John S. Fox, b. abt. 1800 in Abbeville County, South Carolina; died aft. 1870, Murray County, Georgia.  He is a 36/37 match with other Matthew Fox descendants 25481, 52944 and 96656, the distinguishing marker being DYS (389ii-3289i).  The others descend from Matthew’s son Anderson Fox 1814 - 1901 b: April 27, 1814 in Cocke Co., TN.

This result added a new Fox Project member to our Haplogroup R-L1/S26 Null at DYS 439 grouping, now at 13 members. Eleven of these are definitely related.

Kit 272249 is a British descendant of Robert Fox b~1769 in Blyborough, Lincolnshire, England.  He has been put in the Haplogroup I-P109 Thomas Fox of Concord, MA, Group even though FTDNA shows a GD = 5 in 37 markers.  This relationship could be interpreted to be closer than this.  Two of the markers showing a mismatch with this group are the multi-copy markers DYS 385 a,b and DYS 464 a,b,c,d.  He is 14,14 at DYS 385a,b - while the others are 14,15.  He is 14,14,16,16 at DYS 464 a,b,c,d while the others are 12,14,15,16.    These multicopy markers are on a palindrome section of the Y chromosome, which is capable of recombination.  On conception, an error may occur in one arm and the other arm makes a correction - a safety measure that has developed to protect the fertility genes.  This is undoubtedly what has occurred and explains why the 14s and the 16s are repeated in his case.  The issue here is that these changes could and probably did all occur in one birth event.  

In addition, he is 16 at DYS 458 while the others are mostly 15.  He is 36,37 at CDY a,b while the others range from 36,39 to 36,41.    This could well be called a GD of 3 or 4 in 37 markers.   An upgrade to 67 markers could be useful and testing for the P-109 SNP could give further confirmation.  272249 is the first British citizen belonging to this group, which probably has a Scandinavian origin.

Kit 274095 is a Family Finder tester named Hughes with Fox connections.  Margaret Fox, his paternal great grandmother was born in 1850 somewhere in Ireland.  At 3 markers, he has no close Fox matches but does have some with men named Hughes.  Probably Haplogroup  R-L21.

Kit 276171 is a British descendant of William Fox, born ~1700, who was married in Braughin, Hertfordshire, England, on October 24 1723. He has a close match (GD=2 in 37 markers) with Kit 99981, a Canadian who traces back to Herbert Fox, born 1880, Cromer, Norfolk, England.  99981 is 14,15 at DYS 385 a,b and 120 at DYS 570, whereas 276171 is 13,14 at 385 a,b and 19 at 570.  FTDNA counts the mismatch at DYS 385 a,b as a single mutation, whereas Ysearch counts it twice.  Both have tested Haplogroup I-M253 and 99981has been found negative for many downstream SNPs.

Kit B3858 is a British transfer from Ancestry.com who upgraded to 37 markers at FTDNA so he has 48 marker results posted.  He traces back to Robert Fox born in Kilnwick, Yorkshire, England in c1650.  H e has no matches in the Fox project but has several at GD=2 and 3 with other surnames. Since he is close to the modal R-M269 haplotype these may or may not be significant.

Kits B3847 and 281833 are two new additions to our Haplogroup R1a1a (R-M198) Group with connections to Glastonbury, CT, and Dorset, England.  Both tested at 67 markers, they match each other on 66 markers, the mismatch being on DYS 444.   B3847 lists his MDKA as William M Fox, born1815 either in NY, MA or CT.  281833 lists his MDKA as Asa Fox, born 1769 in Elmira, NY.  B3847 was originally atDNA tested at 23andMe and transferred his results to Family Finder at FTDNA.

Other members of this group are kit numbers 133409, 134182, N55006 and 167994.  133409 traces back to Richard Fox of Glastonbury, CT, 134182 traces back to Vaniah Fox of Long Island and Glastonbury, CT, and N55006 to Harry Fox of Lydlinch, Dorset.  All of these are 36/37 matches or better.  167994 is an adoptee who is 63/67 match.  134182 has tested Haplogroup R-M417, a subclade of R-M198 also known as R1a1a1.

Kit B3896 claims descent from Christoffel Fuchs, b 1608, Gravenweidt, Germany.  So do Kit Numbers 140364 and 224622.  B3896 is a member of Haplogroup R-M269, 140364 is a member of Haplogroup J2 (J-M172) and 224622 is a member of Haplogroup E1b1b1 (E-M35.1).  Obviously all cannot be correct and it is believed that 140364 has the best claim of descent.  This needs further study.

B3896 was mistakenly assigned a kit number for a transfer.  He is not a transfer despite the kit number.

Kit 278828 has tested Family Finder only.  A descendant of William Fox (1809-1843) of Pennsylvania.

Kit 286266,a female, has tested full genome sequencing of her mtDNA.

Kit 289519 is a descendant of George Ludwig Fuchs, born 1726 in Schullar, Germany, near Wunderthausen.  He has apparently pulled out of the Fox Project.

Kit 291972 is a descendant of Adam Fox, born in 1767, and his son Michael who was born in 1801 in Philadelphia.  Tested at 67 markers, he is an exact match at the 32 markers that they have in common with a man who was tested several years ago by the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation (SMGF).  Since the line of descent is the same down to John Grace Fox born in 1884, this other person must be a close cousin yet to be identified. Called Haplogroup G by FTDNA he is a 36 for 37 match with a man named Miller who has been tested Haplogroup G-P303  or G2a3b1.  Miller lists his ancestry as Prussian.

Kit 292052 is a female who has tested Family Finder and mtDNA FGS.

Kit 297130 is a first cousin of 153424, both of them descendant of William Fox, born ~1710, of Brunswick County, VA, and Sarah Avent through their son Thomas Avent Fox.   Several genealogists had listed this William Fox as the son of Henry Fox 2nd, and a grandson of Henry Fox and Anne West.  Tested at 12 markers, he matches 153424 exactly, confirming the haplotype, which is not a match with our Henry Fox/Anne West descendants (GD of 17 on 37 markers).  A fairly rare R-M269 haplotype, 153424 has no close matches in the FTDNA database on 37 markers.  The project is hoping to test descendants of other sons of William and Sarah Avent  Fox thus confirming that Steadman and other researchers were wrong. 

Kit 300313 lists his MDKA as Herman Fuchs of Austria (but this may now be Poland) through his son Abraham Fox, born in 1883, who  immigrated to the United States ~1897.  At 37 markers he matches none of our Fox Project members but does match N30890 on 11 out of 12 markers.  He also has many close 37 marker matches with other surnames, a number of whom have been tested Haplogroup I-P215 (or I2) and has joined several Jewish projects.  3003313 and N30890 are grouped on the Y-Results tables as Probable Haplogroup I-P37.2 (I2a).

Kit 302098 has the surname Allen but family legend has it that his great, great grandfather was a Fox.  He matches on 36 out of 37markers, two Foxes descending from related Fuchs families in Bavaria, Germany, 133998 and 209041.  Matching these two families back in Germany was one of the Fox Project’s notable success stories.  Now it appears that 302098 adds an additional touch to the story.

Interestingly, difference in this group are all at multicopy markers, 209041 has an extra two copies of DYS 464, while 133998 is 34,39 at CDY a,b, whereas the other two are 35,39.  They are all predicted as Haplogroup I-M223 or I2b1.

Kit 303373 is a descendant of John B. Fox born1745 in Orange County, VA, and Ann Barber.  As such, he should match 26653 and 93795.  Some well known researchers have traced John B. Fox back to John Fox who married Frances Lightfoot and then to Henry Fox, 1st, and Anne West of Virginia in the 1600’s but our Y-DNA test results deny this connection.  The sample kit has yet to be returned.

Kit 311698 is a descendant of Andrew Fox born about 1750 probably in Virginia and Sarah Render. They settled in Cocke County, TN.   As such, he should match 131451 and 131454.  The sample kit has yet to be returned.

1/15/2013 Update

The Fox Surname Project is maturing.  We grew at a slower rate in 2012 but our new members are now getting many more matches to other Fox Project members, often leading to further refinement of family trees. Whenever such a discovery is made, all parties involved are contacted with the pertinent information so that they may continue the investigation.  In some cases this has led to the discovery of new family linkages, several originating before arrival in the United States. 

While much of the emphasis in Genetic Genealogy has switched to testing all ancestral lines via programs like Family Finder, we continue to emphasize Y-DNA testing of the Fox surname using STR markers. This test gives the most reliable confirmation of deep relationships and is the only way of following a surname.  We continue to recommend 37-marker testing for new recruits but a number of our members have upgraded to 67 markers and several, to 111 markers.  Upgrading can be helpful in clarifying family lines and in estimating which SNPs to test to determine the Y-Haplogroup subclade of the family group.

Y-Haplogroup subclades are being extended deeper and deeper (i.e. closer and closer to present time) as a result of research and the development of new techniques like the Geno 2.0 test of National Geographic’s Genographic Project.  Several Fox Project members have submitted samples for the Geno 2.0 test and will transfer their results to the Fox project when they are available.  Eventually this will help make our grouping of Y-Results more scientific.

Geno 2.0 will also provide information on the movement of peoples – its main purpose – and on deep ancestry.  Family Finder and 23andMe already provide the percentage of Neanderthal ancestry.  That’s not the province of a surname project, though we do permit men and women interested in Family Finder or mtDNA testing to join the project.

Following is a summary of the results of Y-DNA surname testing during 2012:

New Results in 2012

We now have four members of our Haplogroup R1a1a Glastonbury, CT, and Dorset, Eng. Group

Kit 134182, a descendant of Vaniah Fox (born in England in 1725, emigrated to Long Island and married Abigail Cadwell 1848 in Glastonbury, CT), has now upgraded to 67 markers and done deep clade testing.  He is in a grouping of four project members of varied backgrounds who are in a subclade of Haplogroup R1a1 called R-L664 or R1a1a1a on the ISOGG Haplotree (FTDNA does not yet recognize R-L644 on their Haplotree):

Kit 167994, tested at 111 markers, is an adoptee looking for roots. Matches our Haplogroup R1a1a Glastonbury, CT, and Dorset, Eng. Grouping.  Also SNP  tested L664+.

Kit N55006, tested at 67 markers, is descended from Harry Francis Fox of Lydlinch, Dorset, England, 1849, but there is a question as to Harry Francis Fox’ ancestry.  SNP tested L664+, L872-, L873- and L874-.

Kit 133409, tested at 37 markers, claims descent from Richard Fox, born 1741 in Glastonbury, CT, 133409, 134182 and N55006 define our of Haplogroup R1a1a Glastonbury, CT, and Dorset, Eng.

Markers which showed mutations in this group are as follows:

All of this group appear to be related within a genealogical time frame.  167994 more closely matches N55006 and differs from 134182 and 133409 but is still very close to the group modal.

Kit 188815, tested at 37 markers, also claimed descent from Richard Fox, born 1741 in Glastonbury but is clearly not related to the above group.  We had estimated he may be another R-L48 (presently R1b1a2a1a1a3b2) in a cluster that is null at DYS 425. He has confirmed this by testing the Z326 SNP, downstream of L48 and L47, so ISOGG presently calls him Haplogroup R-Z326 or R1b1a2a1a1a3b2b2.  Unfortunately FTDNA’s Haplotree does not yet recognize Z326.  He would thus be in the same R-L47 Haplogroup as several other project members but is not a match for them (GD=19 or greater on 67 markers.) He has many close matches with other surnames, particularly a large group of Cunninghams.  Clearly more testing of Richard Fox descendants is needed since our two proposed descendants do not match each other.  Grouped in Haplogroup R-M269 & subclades at present.

Kit 205722, tested at 67 markers, has now been deep clade tested as Haplogroup R-L1/S26 null at DYS 439 (he is also null at DYS 439.)  He traces back to Peter Wilhelm Joseph Fuchs (1821-1896) Monheim, Germany, but a German genealogist has traced the line back to Johann Caspar Voß - - - B. 21 Oct 1677 in Dormagen, Germany. At 67 markers, he is a genetic distance of 20 to 23 from other null 439 Foxes.  He is placed in Cluster 2* in the Null 439 Project Website, whereas the other R-L1/S26 Foxes are placed in Cluster 1b*.  Tested previously by Ancestry.com, he has results on 76 markers.

Kit 206923, tested at 37 markers, traces back to Larkin Fox, born in 1783 in Burke Co., North Carolina and married to Margaret Lefurn.  Larkin’s father was Allen Fox, born in 1760 in North Carolina. Another Haplogroup R1b, his closest match in the Fox Project is 65065 with a GD of 13 in 37 markers.
65065 has been tested Haplogroup R-L21 and is of Irish descent.  206923 has quite a few matches at 37 markers with a GD of 5 or 6. Many of these matches show ancestry going back to Ireland and eight of them show a measured Haplogroup of R1b1a2a1a1b4b or R-M222. This is the subclade of the Ui Neill descendants.  Grouped in Haplogroup R-M269 Origin Southern US.

Kit 208921, a descendant of Morris Fox/Fuchs/Fuks of Odessa, Russia, bef 1900, is another member of Haplogroup J2.  He has been tested L556+ and L560+, new SNPs that have not yet been placed on the ISOGG Haplotree but may be subclades of, or equivalent to, Haplogroup J-M92, which they call J2a3b1.  Others who have tested L556+, L560+ trace back to Poland, Germany, Hungary, Belarus, Russia, Ukarine and Lithuania.  208921 has no matches in the Fox project as yet but has many matches with other surnames at 111 markers and has joined the WIRTH Project, a group of Jewish surnames that may have a common ancestor back in the late 15th or early 16th centuries.  Grouped in Haplogroup J2.

Kit 209041 is a descendant of Johann Adam Fuchs, b: 1716, Dörrenbach or Werschweiler, Germany d: 1768, Fredericksburg, VA.  He matches Project Member 133998 on 33 out of 37 markers, indicating a probable family connection back in Germany.  133998 descends from Johann Conrad Fuchs, Buergermeister in Dudweiler-Nord around 1766, Kontrolleur of the mine in Burbach, 1776.  A similarity in family names and locations tends to confirm this relationship, which is being followed up by the participants.  These men are grouped as Haplogroup I-M223 Johann Adam and Johann Conrad Fuchs Saarland Descendants.

Kit B2043 is a transfer from Ancestry.com (Relative Genetics) who joined the Fox Project and upgraded to 37 markers. We have his original SMGF results which differ from FTDNA at 441, 463, A10 and are considered correct.  There must have been an error somewhere in transmitting his results to FTDNA.This group now has eight members with the following lines of descent:

B2043 and 164558 descend from William Fox 1710 Loudoun County, VA, through his son William Fox, Jr., whereas 58674 and 184502 descend through his son James Fox.  B2043’s new results in the 26 through 37 marker panel match those of the other William Fox descendants but his closest match overall is with Kit Number 112106, a descendant of Enos Fox (b1814, KY). Kit numbers 204318, 210491 and N32693, descendants of Hugh Fox (1745, VA and NC,) also closely match this group.  58674 has been tested DF13+, which is a subclade of Haplogroup R-L21 not yet recognized by FTDNA. ISOGG presently calls this Haplogroup R1b1a2a1a1b3a.  Grouped in Subgroup Haplogroup R-L21 subclade DF13 William Fox, Loudon, VA, Descendants.

N64076 is a female Genographic Project transfer who has upgraded her mtDNA results to the full genome sequence.  She is Haplogroup U5a1 (mtDNA).  Hopefully she will transfer her brother’s Y-DNA results as well.  He may well find a match since she reports his MDKA as Jacob Fuchs, b. 10 Jan 1703, Palatinate Wurt, Germany.

Kit 216976 ordered Family Finder, mtDNA and, more recently, Y-DNA 67.  His 67 marker results have now indicated strongly that he is related to a groups of Foxes descended from Jacob Fuchs who immigrated to Buck County PA in 1739, though the connection may well be back in Germany.  Comparing 67 markers he is a genetic distance of 4 from 86766 and 5 from N31409.  Comparing 37 markers, he is GD = 3 from 86766 and 143344 and GD = 4 from N31409 and 24157. Comparing 67 markers he is a genetic distance of 4 from 86766 and 5 from N31409.  He deviates from the rest at 2 out of the first 12 markers but then starts matching quite closely.  FTDNA had to run a backbone test to determine that he is Haplogroup I-M253 or I1, the same as the others. His gggg grandfather was George Fox who died 6/8/1807, York County PA. Grouped in Haplogroup I-M253 Jacob Fuchs of Germany Descendants.  Kit 222791 is a female first cousin of 216976, who has ordered the Family Finder test.

Kit 218953 was previously tested by Genebase and appeared to connect with 89347, whose MDKA was George Fox, who married Mary Wood at Christ Church, Philadelphia, PA, on August 4, 1751. He has now tested 67 markers at FTDNA and they match on 60 out of 67 markers, two of which are CDYa and CDYb and may be the result of a single mutation event.  Both are predicted  Haplogroup I-M223 or I2b1.  They may well have a common ancestor back in Germany, which is where 89347 believes his family originated.  Both are presently grouped in Haplogroup I-M223 Other.

Kit 219447 is another Fox Project success story.  A known descendant of William Fox (1732-1783), who married Mary Kendrick and lived in Mecklenberg Co., VA, he matches 71539 on 36 out of 37 markers.  The latter is a known descendant of Col. Richard Fox (1701-1771) and Hannah Williamson of Mecklenberg, Virginia, through their son, Jacob  Fox (1745-1807) who married Elizabeth Lark of Mecklenberg.  This confirms that William Fox was another son of Col. Richard Fox and Hannah Williamson, as suspected.  The two project members are thus 5th  cousins, once removed.  It also confirms the haplotype of Richard Fox and shows that he was not a descendant of Henry Fox and Anne West of Virginia, as some have proposed.

219447 also matches 68367and 206892 (a nephew and uncle respectively) on 66 out of 67 markers, whereas 71539 is a 37 for 37 match. 68367 and 206892 are descendants of Francisco Fox who was born in Matamoros, Mexico, between 1842-1848 and married Petra Garcia in Brownsville, Texas. They have been tested as Haplogroup I-L39 (presently I2a2b.)  Possible connections are under investigation.  These men are all grouped as Haplogroup I-L39 Richard Fox of Virginia Descendants.

222791 is a Female who has joined Family Finder. First cousin of 216976 – see above.

224622 A descendant of Christophel Fuchs, 1608 – 1698 but does not match 140364 who originally claimed such ancestry. Matches 144536 with GD=1 in 37 markers in our Haplogroup E1b1b1 Grouping. I44536 traces back to Barnaby Fox, b 1750, Cumberland County, NJ, and a connection back to Christophel Fuchs is predicted.

224877 Son of 62776  Kit not returned.

Kit 227268 A descendant of Thomas Fox, born 1834 in Ireland, his MDKA. He is predicted to be Haplogroup I-M253 and is GD=8 on 37 markers from our Elijah Fox descendants.  Grouped in our Haplogroup I-M253 Other Category.

Kit 230009 A descendant of Alexander Maxwell Fox, b1794 NC d 1863 GA.  His ancestors were in Smythe, VA.  Tested at 67 markers, he has no close matches within the Fox project.  His family tree is online.  Grouped in Haplogroup G2.

Kit 231195 First member of our listing: Haplogroup R-M269 Subclade Henry Fox 1745 Pfalz, Germany Descendants.  Now doing Geno 2.0 test for Haplogroup subclade. He matches Kit Nos. 239285 and 253008 – see below.

Kit 233233 is a female doing the Family Finder Test.  Her Fox ancestry traces back to Adam Fuchs who was born about 1728 in Germany. He died Abt 1768 or 1769 in Frederick County, Virginia. He was married to Catherine Eilor about 1750.

Kit 235636  Ancestor is Peter Fox, b 1796 Gloucester, Cumberland County, NJ.  Clearly a member of our Haplogroup I-P109 Thomas Fox of Concord, MA, Group but a connection need to be established.  This group is now at eleven members.

Kit 236252 Traces to William Fox 1784 PA and Elizabeth Myers 1798 PA d OHIO matches Francis Fox descendants 59807 and 159919: Grouped with them  in Haplogroup R-M269 & Subclades Descendants of Francis Fox of NC & SC.

Kit 239285 Ancestor is Henry Fox b1745 d1824 Born in Palatinate,Pfalz, Germany.   First cousin once removed to 231195.   These two along with 239285 are grouped as our Haplogroup R-M269 Subclade Henry Fox 1745 Pfalz, Germany Descendants.

Kit 240688 Ancestor is Samuel Fox 1883-1946, born in Russia, He is a member of Haplogroup J2 (tested) with many close matches at 37 markers but no Fox matches.

Kit 246551  GGG Grandfather is Allen Fox 1798, NC, wife Sarah, children, Charles 1821 NC, Barnabus 1823 NC, Levi 1824, Rachel 1825 IN, Lewis Everett 1829 IN, James Harvey 1828 IN, John 1831 IN, Sarah 1833 IN.  246551 joins 26288, 31167, 56554, 76361, 147651 and 164277 in our Haplogroup I-M253 Elijah Fox of NC and TN Descendants grouping on the Y Results tables.  This intriguing group has a common ancestry that needs to be established.

The 37 marker results for 246551 are exactly matching three other project members (36288, 56554 and 76361) and differ only at DYS 477 with 147651  (these four have 22 repeats and he has 21.)   246551 and 76361 both trace back to Allen Fox, b 1798 probably in Wilkes County, NC.
 
147651 traces back to James Fox, b 1754 in VA.  36288 and 56554 trace back to two sons of Elijah Fox, b 1775 in VA;  36288 to his son John Fox, Sr., b bet 1800 and 1810 in NC and died in Cocke Co., TN.   56554 to his son Absolum Fox, b bet 1800-1810.

Kit 253008  Recruited by 185491 as a possible match for her Fox line, 253008 traces back to Ulrich Fuchs abt 1742, Bennhausen, Germany.  It turns out that 253008 is 64/67 match with 231195 and 239285 who trace back to Henry Fox/Fuchs born in Germany in 1745.  231196 and 239285 are first cousins, once removed, who are an exact match on 67 markers. With a more extensive family tree available for 253008, they are now convinced this is the same family.   231195 has now tested out to 111 markers and is also now testing himself in the Geno 2.0 test, which will establish the Haplogroup R1b subclade for the group via SNP testing.  All are now grouped as Haplogroup R-M269 Subclade Henry Fox 1745 Pfalz, Germany Descendants in our Y-Results Tables.

Kit 255226 is the wife of 28579 and has done mtDNA testing.  She lists her ancestry as Welsh and is listed as Haplogroup T2, whereas he is listed as Haplogroup T, ancestry Hertfordshire.

Kit 255262 is another member of our Haplogroup R-M269 Vanfossen group and his results are matching the others.  For more information see http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/vanfossen/disc

Kit 261298 is a descendant of Ransom Fox, supposedly a son of Elijah Fox.  See Kit 246551 above.  Kit yet to be received for testing.

Kit 263208 carries the most recent common ancestors of our Haplogroup R-L47 Henry Fox/Anne West Group all the way back to Henry Fox and Anne West themselves.  He is a descendant of Henry Fox and Anne West via their son Thomas Fox who married Mary Tunstall and is a 36 for 37 match with 48275 and 85202 who claim descent from their son Henry Fox II who married Mary Goodwyn. 108898 and 117867 descend from a different son of Henry Fox III and are a 35 for 37 match.  263208 thus carries the common ancestor back two more generations than before. With nine generations in each line separating them this is very convincing evidence that Thomas Fox and Henry Fox 2nd were brothers and pretty well defines the haplotype of Henry Fox 1st.  Highly significant to the project since some researchers had thought that Henry Fox who married Mary Goodwyn was not the son of Henry Fox 1st.

Kit 270307 is a descendant of Matthew Fox (1766-1854) Abbeville, SC and is expected to add a new member to our Haplogroup R-L1/S26 Null at DYS 439 grouping, now at 12 members. 

Earlier Updates

We retain earlier updates as backup information until incorporated fully into Project Results

11/20/2011 Update

New Results

Kit 210491  We now have 37 marker results posted for Kit No 210491, another descendant of Hugh Fox (1745 of VA and NC). He matches closely 204318, another Hugh Fox descendant, with single step differences at 2 markers; DYS 576 and CDYb - in other word a genetic distance of 2 (GD=2) in 37 markers tested. What is really quite fascinating, however, is that he matches all our William Fox (1710 of Loudoun County, VA) descendants with a GD=3 at 37 markers, whereas 204318 was GD=5 at 37 markers. If we look at his genetic distance from the group modal, he is GD=2 whereas 204318 is GD=4. There is no doubt that we're talking about the same family here and 204318 simply has some extra mutations.  The best guess would be that the connection goes back before the year 1700, perhaps in Pennsylvania.  There was a heavy migration from there to Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley starting around 1720.

This group is shown on the Y-Results Tables as Haplogroup R-L21*  William Fox, Loudoun, VA  Descendants and consists of four known William Fox descendants; 58674 and 184502 from his son James and 164558 and a Fox tested by Relative Genetics (Ancestry.com) from his son William, Jr.; three Hugh Fox descendants, N32693 descendancy unknown, 204318 from his son Hugh Fox, Jr., and 210491 from his son Moses Fox; and 112106 a descendant of Enos Fox, 1814, KY.  Mutations occur at 6 markers but it is not yet possible to associate these with the different family lines nor to tell how Enos Fox fits into the picture.  58674 has tested 67 markers at FTDNA, is in the SMGF database, has tested at 23andMe and has done deep clade testing at FTDNA with an assignment of R-L21*.  Downstream of L21, he has tested M37-, M222-, P66-, and L193-.

Some suggestions for further testing in this group: FTDNA now offers to transfer results from Ancestry.com at a reduced rate.  If our Ancestry.com member would upgrade to 37 markers it would help sort things out since most of the group's mutations are found in his missing markers. 58674, 112106 and 184502 have been tested at 67 markers and we have a difference at DYS 577 that might be instructive if someone else were to upgrade to 67 markers. Finally, some other member of the group might well order Deep Clade Testing since a number of new SNPs are now available.

Kit B1176 is our first transfer of data from Ancestry.com and has yet to upgrade to 37 markers so only 30 markers can be compared and only 27 are in the 37 marker panels of FTDNA.  His closest match in the Fox Project is at a GD=4 in 27 markers with Kit No. 130621 in our Haplogroup R-M269 Probably Pennsylvania Ancestry grouping.  He is a descendant of William H. Fox, born in England in 1813, emigrated to America in the 1840s, married Mary Duff and died in Brooklyn in 1888.   Additional markers would help greatly since a 23/27 match is inconclusive evidence of a relationship..

Kit 55779, a deceased individual with the surname Calkins, has been admitted to the project because he and another Caulkins are GD=3 in 67 markers from several members of our Haplogroup I-P109 Thomas Fox of Concord, MA, Descendants Group.  In addition, there are  Fox/Calkins connections in New England that are intriguing.  Supposedly he is a descendant of Hugh and Ann Calkins, born in England who emigrated to America around 1640 . He is closely matched by 150550 in the Calkins/Caulkins Project, whose paper trail can only be traced back to Issac Caulkins born about 1763 in MA and died 13 Feb 1857 Marion County, Iowa. 

The Fox connection derives from the marriage of Polly Calkins to Minor Fox who is purported to be a descendant of Richard Fox, b. 1641, and Beriah Smith of Glastonbury, CT.  Our one project member descended from Richard Fox and Beriah Smith (Kit No. 133409) is in Haplogroup R1a1a, and obviously not a Thomas Fox of Concord, MA, descendant. Hopefully we can get more Richard Fox descendants to be tested. A grandson of Thomas Fox of Concord moved to Glastonbury, however, and perhaps this is the connection.

These two Calkins/Caulkin results are valuable in that they permit an estimate of a 76 marker Fox/Calkins modal haplotype, which can be taken as an approximation of the haplotype of the common ancestor.  The only marker where both Calkins differ from the Fox/Calkins modal is DYS 442. There seems little doubt that a relationship exists within the time frame in question.

Deep Clade Testing – Quite a number of Fox Project members have undergone deep clade testing and testing of selective SNPs.  For the details, see the Y-DNA SNP tables in this Website. This is helpful in confirming family groupings and, by then joining Haplogroup projects, to learn more about deep ancestry.

mtDNA Testing – Similarly, roughly a third of our member have undertaken mtDNA testing, including a number of females.  See our tables of mtDNA results.  Six of us have elected mtDNA full genome sequencing – the results being private.

Family Finder Testing – Eight Fox project members have now taken the Family Finder test and are currently trying to assess the meaning of matching segments with others in the Family Finder database.  It is important to input a gedcom file or a listing of family surnames and locations to help in this process.

7/28/2011 Update

We now have our first Fox with Native American ancestry.  A transfer from the Genographic Project, N34859 has only been tested at 12 markers but his haplotype is quite distinctive. He has traced his Fox ancestry back to Jim (Trig) Fox, a full-blooded Creek Indian born about 1820 in Oklahoma or Georgia.  A Civil War veteran, Jim Fox married Susan Cordery, the granddaughter of Thomas Cordery (Irish) and Susannah Soniovie Sonicciooie (Cherkoee, Blind Savanah Clan/Wild Potato Clan) listed on Cherokee Land Rolls as residents of the Cherokee Nation. Susanna was the daughter of Sonicooie, town chief at Long Swamp (now Forsythe, Georgia).  Susan Cordery was the daughter of Early Cordery, a Texas Ranger who later moved to Oklahoma (Old Settlers Roll).

N34859 has been deep clade tested and is Haplogroup Q-L53* (or Q1a3a*) but is negative for the downstream SNP called M3, which would mean Haplogroup Q1a3a1.  Haplogroup Q-M3 has been considered the American Indian Haplogroup, so this result is somewhat unexpected but Thomas Krahn (FTDNA) says that the M3 mutation clearly occurred after the Q-L53 people had colonized American territory.  Q-L53 (ex M3) Indians are found mainly in New Mexico, Central Mexico and the Yucatan peninsula but there is one from the Pee Dee River area being tested for additional SNPs.  A full discussion can be found at  http://www.thegeneticgenealogist.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/New-Native-American-Haplogroup.pdf)

N55006 (MDKA is Harry Francis Fox (1849) of Lydlinch, Dorset) has upgraded to 67 markers. He is GD=2 from both 134182 and 133409 at 37 markers.  They are all only GD=1 from the modal 37 marker haplotype for the three of them.  This strongly indicates a connection between our Glastonbury, CT, Foxes and the Foxes of Lydlynch, Dorset, England.  All are assigned to Haplogroup R1a1a.  An upgrade of 134182 and/or 133409 to 67 markers would be helpful.

114418 has recently been tested by FTDNA as L65+ and L272+ and has been assigned by them to Haplogroup Q1b1a1 as Q-L272.1.  This is an incorrect interpretation and, hopefully, will be corrected when FTDNA updates their Haplotree.  Actually, L272+ has appeared several times (as has L65) and the ISOGG Haplotree shows this to be L272.3+ and equivalent to L38+, L39+, L65.1+ and L40+ in defining Haplogroup I2a2b (FTDNA still calls this I2b2).  He has also been tested by Ethnoancestry as S154+ and S156+, equivalent to L38+ and L40+ and, most recently, he has tested L533+.  Every other Project I2b2 member has tested negative for L533 except for a man named Butler.  Thus R-L533 may soon be recognized as a new subclade. 

In doing all this, 114418 has been cooperating with Ken Nordtvedt, the expert on Haplogroup I, who finds his haplotype a fascinating example of Haplogroup I2b2 because of a couple of large deviations at very stable markers (e.g. 9 at DYS 531 in the 38 through 67 marker panel.)  In this, he matches a man named Brion, who has tested L39+.  Nordtvedt was pushing further testing of  L38, L39, L40 and L65, all of which presently define Haplogroup I2b2.

Haplogroup I2a2 was found in the skeletal remains in the Lichtenstein Cave, a Bronze Age site in central Germany associated with artifacts of the Urnfield Culture.

191095 is a descendant of William Fox, b Jul 1766, Billeston, Leicestershire.  The family later moved to Brimington, Derbyshire.  With a typical R-M269 haplotype, he is a genetic distance of 14 from his nearest match in the Fox project, 65065, who has been tested Haplogroup R-L21.  His combination of 25 repeats at DYS 390 and 15 at DYS 19 is unique to Foxes tested by FTDNA, though this matches a descendant of Frank Faux of York, England, tested by Genebase.

200268 is a descendant of Abraham Fox b. ab 1802 Kentucky and was recruited for the Project by the sister of a descendant of Enos Fox b. abt 1814 KY (Kit No. 112106) as a possible relative.  Actually, it turns out that he is a 66 for 67 marker match with 24049, a descendant of Peter Vanfossen of Chester County, PA.  He has been grouped with our Haplogroup R-M269 Vanfossens and they are looking for the connection.

201278 is looking for a clue as to the ancestry of his father, Harry Fox, born 1901 in San Francisco.  Orphaned at an age 11, all he knows is that his father’s parents were German immigrants named Fuchs.  Tested at 67 markers, his closest matches are men of Ashkenazi extraction from Eastern Europe.  He is estimated as Haplogroup G2.

201967 bears the surname Gordon but does not know his male ancestry and was admitted to the Fox Project because he has Fox connections through his mother.  Tested at 67 markers and deep clade tested he has no close Fox matches but is another member of Haplogroup R-L2* or R1b1a2a1a1b3c*.  This is a subclade of R-U152 and R-U106.  If he has British ancestry, this is indicative of a late arrival in Britain.

204318 is a descendant of Hugh Fox (b ~ 1745, Virginia). He matches Kit number N32693, another Hugh Fox descendant, at 12 markers. He also is a GD=5 at 37 markers with three of our William Fox of Loudoun County descendants, close enough that a remote family connection is possible. Another Hugh Fox descendant (210491) has just joined the Fox Project and his results may help with the interpretation.  An extension to 67 markers and deep clade testing would be most helpful.  58674, a William Fox descendant, has tested Haplogroup R-L21*, with a number of new downstream SNPs still untested.

205722, tested at 67 markers, traces back to Peter Wilhelm Joseph Fuchs (1821-1896) Monheim, Germany, but a German genealogist has traced the line back to Johann Caspar Voß - - - B. 21 Oct 1677 in Dormagen, Germany. He matches in Ysearch, with a GD=3 in 43 markers, a R-L159.2 Haplogroup modal.  This is a subclade of R-L21 presently known as R1b1a2a1a1b4f.  He is also 13 repeats at DYS 492, indicative of Haplogroup R-U106. A deep clade R test is in progress so we’ll soon find out which is correct.

206892 is the paternal uncle of 68367 and they match exactly at 67 markers.  These men descend from Joachim Fox, born in New Orleans in the early 1800s, who married Marie Rivier, and his son Francisco Fox born in Matamoros, Mexico, who died in 1912 in Brownsville, Texas.  Francisco married Petra Garcia in Brownsville in 1867. There was then a name change involved but we know that the original name was Fox and they match exactly, at 37 markers, 71539, a descendant of Col. Richard Fox of Virginia, b abt 1707, and his wife Hannah Williamson.  68367 has been tested Haplogroup I-L39.

206923 is our first Fox to show the Niall of the Nine Hostages haplotype.  Tested at 37 markers, he matches that haplotype at seven key markers (DYS390=25, DYS385b=13, DYS392=14, DYS448=18, DYS449=30, DYS464=15,16,16,17 and DYS607=16).  He is a descendant of Larkin Fox, born in 1783 in Burke Co., North Carolina, who married Margaret Lefurn.  Larkin’s father was Allen Fox, born in 1760 in North Carolina. Niall of the Nine Hostages was an Irish king, the eponymous ancestor of the Uí Néill kindred who dominated Ireland from the 6th century to the 10th century.  This group is identified with Haplogroup R-M222, a subclade of R-L21. The M222 SNP is associated with many individuals whose roots lie in the counties of Northwest Ireland, Ulster and Lowland Scotland.  David Wilson estimates M222 as 1,500-2,000 years old but says the common M222+ ancestor could be much older than that.  A deep clade R test is recommended.

209041, tested at 37 markers, was recruited for the Fox Project by N69127, another Fuchs descendant.  His haplotype does not match N69127 but matches 133998 in all markers in Panels 1 and 2 except at DYS464 where 133998 is 14,14,15,15, whereas 209041 is 14,14,14,15,15,15.  This could well be the result of a single recombinational mutation.  Both 133998 and 209041 trace back to different men named Johann Fuchs of Saarland, Germany, only the middle name is different.  The estimated Haplogroup is I-M223.  Panel 3 markers will tell the story.  The two men also have a 12 marker match with another Fox, not in the project, whose name is John Nelson Greer Fox Jr

210491, results yet to be posted, is another Hugh Fox (b ~ 1745, Virginia) descendant via Hugh’s son Moses Fox.

12/15/2010 Update

21878 (not a Fox) joined the project temporarily on the basis of a possible tie in to the Fortibus/Forz family in France.   He lists his MDKA as Robert de Stallinge, 1297, Gloucester, England, and is a GD of 27 in 37 markers from 38215, who has himself proposed a Fortibus/Forz connection.  21878 has tested R-U106*, whereas 38215 has tested R-P310* an earlier subclade of R-M269.  The * indicates testing negative for all known downstream SNPs.  He is not matching other Fox Project members at all closely – 50481 is closest at GD=17 in 37 markers.  21878 has now dropped out of the project after finding no connections.

139347 is a descendant of William Hayes Fox, born 1760, CT.  He had thought he was a Thomas Fox of Concord, MA, descendant but this was not born out by the testing.  However, he matches closely a group of men named variously as Soles, Soule or Soules descended from George Soules, a Mayflower Pilgrim, and has been admitted to the Soules Project at FTDNA.  He now calls himself a "Lost Soule."  Tested at 67 markers by FTDNA, he has nine additional markers from previous testing by Ancestry.com.  He appears to be Haplogroup I-M253 and is an exact match at 37 markers with 11 men from the Soule Project.

184684 is a descendant of John Fox b. abt 1818 in Whitehaven, Cumberland County, England His grandson, William Henry Fox, immigrated to Canada in about 1900, then to Butler County, PA, where he died 13 Jan 1926.  At 37 markers, his closest match in the Fox Project is 171548 at GD=8.  The MDKA of 171548 is another John Fox b before 1800 in Southwest Ireland and married to Bridget Bourke.  FTDNA had a hard time estimating their Haplogroup, possibly because of the 10 repeats at DYS 391, but now agree that they are both in R-M269.  Any connection between the two would undoubtedly precede the adoption of surnames.
 
185491 was recruited by N69127 as a potential relative, The most distant known ancestor is Samuel B. Fox, 1802, Roscommon, Berks County, PA.  A connection with Christian Fuchs who died 1814 at Maidencreek (near Kutztown), Berks  Co., PA, was suggested. With 37 markers tested, any relationship between the two is denied.  In fact N69127 is in Haplogroup I-M223* or (Haplogroup I2b1*) whereas 185491 is estimated by FTDNA to be in R-M269 (R1b1a2).  Fairly close to the modal haplotype for R-M269, 185491 has a few reasonably close matches with other surnames but the closest matches in the Fox Project are at a GD of 11 to 13.

188202 is a descendant of Charles Fox, (~1700-1756), head of the oldest Fox lineage in Southern New Jersey.  188202 has now dropped out of the project and his money refunded.

188815 joined the Fox Project as another potential descendant of Richard Fox, Sr., b. 1641 d. 1708 in Glastonbury, Hartford, Connecticut, through his son, Richard, Jr. b. 1679. While this still could be the case, Y-DNA testing has revealed that 188815 is in an entirely different Haplogroup (estimated as R-M269) than our previous Richard Fox of Glastonbury descendant – 133409, who is in Haplogroup R1a1.  Obviously, the two are unrelated in a genealogical time frame.  We need another descendant of Richard Fox to step forward and join the project in order to clarify this line of descent.

Our other Richard Fox descendant (133409) closely matches a descendant of Vaniah Fox (134182) who was married in Glastonbury in 1748.  They both closely match N55006, whose ancestors hail from Dorset, England.  N55006 is a GD=2 from both 134182 and 133409 and they are all only GD=1 from the modal haplotype for the three of them.

188815 does not match other Fox Project members but does match other surnames in Ysearch – specifically Cunningham and Moore at a GD of 3 in 37 markers.  These men are tested Haplogroup R-L48 and have a null result at DYS 425 in the 38-67 marker series.  Neal Fox thinks that 188815 would fall in the same cluster and also have the null 425 result.  These matches indicate a common ancestor but, unless geography or family tradition exist to indicate a more recent connection, the MRKA may well have lived some 600 years back in time.  From information provided in Ysearch, the Fox and Cunningham descendants do not appear to have lived in the same area of the United States in the past 300 years.

188846 traces his ancestry back to Rudolf Jeschewski, b. 1896 in Zhitomir, Ukraine, but family tradition has it that Rudolf was adopted by Herman Jeschewski and that his real name may have been Rudolf Fuchs. The 37 marker results for 188846 indicate that he may be in a subclade of Haplogroup R-M269 defined by the SNP P-312.  This result is more typical of Western Europe.  His closest match in the Fox Project is 65065 (GD=8 in 37 markers) whose ancestry is Irish and has tested R-L21, a subclade of R-P312.  A member of this Haplogroup hailing from the Ukraine would interest researchers greatly. There are 37 marker matches for 188846 in Ysearch at GD = 4 with other surnames that also might be worth a follow-up.

8/5/2010 Update

114418 has been cooperating with Ken Nordtvedt, the expert on Haplogroup I, who finds his haplotype a fascinating example of Haplogroup I2b2 because of a couple of large deviations at very stable markers (e.g. 9 at DYS 531 in the 38 through 67 marker panel.)  In this, he matches a man named Brion.  Nordtvedt would like to see some newly discovered SNPs tested further:  L38, L39, L40 and L65, all of which presently define Haplogroup I2b2.  114418 has already tested L-65+ and Brion has tested L39+. He has also ordered DYS 531 tested for his first cousin, 131649, at the request of the Haplogroup I-L38 Project administrator.  FTDNA does not currently test for L38 and L40 so 114418 has now ordered these tests from Ethnoancestry, who call them S154 and S156.  If he tests negative for one of these SNPs, as Nordtvedt suspects, a new Haplogroup will have been identified.

Haplogroup I2b2 was found in the skeletal remains in the Lichtenstein Cave, a Bronze Age site in central Germany associated with artifacts of the Urnfield Culture.

170564, surname Smith, was recently admitted to the Fox Project because of a close match to 56980, 62766, 80721 and 121692 (GD=2 to 4 in 37 markers.)  On investigation, it turns out that ancestors of both 121692 and 170564 were living in St. George’s Parish, Bristol, England in the 1800s.  Other members of this group were in America (Alabama and Georgia) at this time.  An upgrade is in the works for 56980 and 170564, joining 80721 and 121692 at 67 markers tested.  This group is estimated by FTDNA as Haplogroup R1b1b2 and by the Fox project administrators as R-L47, a subclade of R-U106 and R-L48.  Hopefully one member of this group will take the SNP test for L47.

174369 has evidence that he is the great grandson of Bert David Fox b. 18 Sept 1883 Kemper County, MS.  A proposed connection back to Capt. John Fox b 1626, the father of Henry Fox who married Anne West is denied by his 37 marker results.  His hapolotype is a typical Haplogroup R1b1b2 result but his closest matches in the Fox project are at a genetic distance of 14 and 15 in 37 markers.  His closest match in Ysearch is a McKensie from Scotland at a GD = 8 in 37 markers.

178620 is another Thomas Fox of Concord, MA, descendant, confirming a research document written by an uncle of our project member.  The descendancy is through Thomas’ son Isaac (b 1657) and Isaac’s son John (b 1685.)  This family branch moved to New Brunswick, Canada, in the mid 1700s.  A GD of 1 to 3, with other Thomas Fox descendants in 37 markers, the results for 178620 are distinguished by a value of 15 repeats (rather than 14) at DYS 19.  This line has been tested as Haplogroup I-P109, indicative of Scandinavian origin, and the paper trail tends to confirm this.

179015 and 182228 are our first claimed Thomas Fox of Cambridge, MA, descendants.  Though both typical Haplogroup R1b1b2 results, they differ on 5 of the first 12 markers.  This negative result is certainly a setback and will require further investigations of paper trails.  It does, however, clearly indicate that Thomas Fox of Cambridge and Thomas Fox of Concord were not of the same family line.  Hopefully we can get another descendant of this line to agree to be tested.
 
184502 is the project’s fifth descendant of William Fox of Loudoun Co., VA.  He descends from William’s son, James Fox and James’ first wife Mary Bartleson.  His 67 marker result is very useful since it sets the modal for this group at DYS 448 and DYS 577 – the only markers where a difference is shown.  We now have two descendants of William’s son James (by two different wives) and two descendants of William’s son, William, Jr., the latter two being third cousins, once removed. The paper trail shows that the common ancestor of the latter two cousins is another James Fox, born in 1785 in Loudoun County, VA, whose sons, Rueben S  and James W. Fox were born in Kentucky in 1818 and 1826, respectfully.  The James W. Fox descendant has a deviation from the modal at DYS 448 from 19 to 20 repeats, as does the fifth member of the group (112106).  The connection has yet to be established for this fifth member whose trail ends at Enos Fox, b 1814 in Kentucky.  Thus Enos was born before the mutation in the James W. Fox line could have occurred.  Could this be a parallel mutation at DYS 448 or is the paper trail to be questioned?

In the last 30 markers, 184502 matches the Enos Fox descendant at DYS 577 with 16 repeats, whereas the other James Fox descendant has 15 repeats.  Quite likely, 16 is the ancestral value and the mutation occurred in the other James Fox line. This same James Fox descendant (58674) has been deep clade R tested by FTDNA and is reported as Haplogroup R-L21*.  Neal Fox reports that the group’s modal haplotype falls into a Scots/Irish cluster of R-L21, characterized by DYS 459=9-9 YCA=19-19 and DYS 640=12.

3/29/2010 Update

86766, a member of the Haplogroup I-M253 family group descending from Jacob Fuchs (born in 1703 Wuerttemberg, Germany) has now been updated from 37 to 67 markers.  He matches, on 66 out of 67 markers, a Fox in the FTDNA database who is not a member of this project.  Attempts are being made to establish contact and invite him to join the Fox Project.

153424 is a descendant of 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, 2nd, and Mary Claiborne.  He is clearly not closely related to our five known Henry Fox/Anne West descendants, coming in at a GD=17 from them in 37 markers. These five are descended from Henry Fox, 3rd, son of Henry Fox 2nd and his first wife, whom Steadman calls Mary Kendrick (there is some a possibility her name may have been Hendrick). Steadman’s circumstantial evidence again seems to have been wrong.  Some researchers, however, question whether Henry Fox, 2nd, was actually the son of Henry Fox and Anne West.  Further testing of this line back to Henry Fox 1st is a significant goal of the project.

155575 is a Van Fossen who does not match others in the Van Fossen/Van Vossens group though, like them, he is Haplogroup R-M269.  He has also been tested as mtDNA Haplogroup J*.  For more detail see http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/v/vanfossen /">VanFossen Project

156993 is an Australian descendant of John Fox, born in Staffordshire, England and married in 1831 in Lancaster, England.  While a typical R-M269 haplotype, he has a very distinctive value of 21 repeats at DYS390.  Tested at 37 markers his closest matches within the project are at a GD of 14.  He has been SNP tested M269+.  His great grandfather William Henry Fox, b 1854 in Staffordshire, was the immigrant to Australia.  Other descendants of this family are invited to join the project.

157124 is another null439 result in Haplogroup R! He is GD=10 from other null439 Foxes in 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. He is a descendant of Thomas Dudley Fox – who was born in Vermont between 1802 and 1806 and moved to Ontario, Canada. Further testing of this Fox line should be a priority as there may well be a common ancestor back in England some 500 – 600 years ago.

159919 is a fourth cousin of 59807 and they are a 37 marker exact match.  The most recent common ancestor was William Moses Fox, born 1804 in Wilkes City, NC, who married Morning Ayers. They go back two more generations to Francis Fox, Sr., born about 1749 in England.  Theirs is a typical Haplogroup R-M269 haplotype.

164277 is another Elijah Fox descendant (in Haplogroup I1) this time descending from Elijah’s son, Ransom Fox.  Tested at 12 markers, he matches exactly a descendant of Elijah’s son Absolom, also tested at only 12 markers.  In a puzzling result, both differ at DYS 385b from other members of this group descending from Eiljah’s sons Absolom and John, as well as other less well defined family members – all of who match at 37 markers with a single step exception at DYS 447 for an Allen Fox descendant.  Certainly this situation is worth further testing to resolve the situation at DYS385b and get a fix on the ancestral 37 marker haplotype.

164558 is a significant addition to our descendants of William Fox, b.1710 of Loudoun County, VA.  A sixth generation descendant, he traces back through William’s son, William Fox, Jr., who married Mary (Polly) Brown in 1774 – as does our Fox tested by Relative Genetics and SMGF.  They differ only at DYS448, where 164558 has 19 repeats as compared to 20 for his third cousin, once-removed.  58674 and 112106 are other members of this family group in Haplogroup R-M269, thought to descend from William’s other son John Fox.  They also are 19 and 20, respectively, at DYS 448.

184502 is the project’s fifth descendant of William Fox of Loudoun Co., VA.  He descends from William’s son, James Fox and James’ first wife Mary Bartleson.  His 67 marker result is very useful since it sets the modal for this group at DYS 448 and DYS 577 – the only markers where a difference is shown.  We now have two descendants of William’s son James (by two different wives) and two descendants of William’s son, William, Jr., the latter two being third cousins, once removed. The paper trail shows that the common ancestor of the latter two cousins is another James Fox, born in 1785 in Loudoun County, VA, whose sons, Rueben S  and James W. Fox were born in Kentucky in 1818 and 1826, respectfully.  The James W. Fox descendant has a deviation from the modal at DYS 448 from 19 to 20 repeats, as does the fifth member of the group (112106).  The connection has yet to be established for this fifth member whose trail ends at Enos Fox, b 1814 in Kentucky.  Thus Enos was born before the mutation in the James W. Fox line could have occurred.  Could this be a parallel mutation at DYS 448 or is the paper trail to be questioned?

In the last 30 markers, 184502 matches the Enos Fox descendant at DYS 577 with 16 repeats, whereas the other James Fox descendant has 15 repeats.  Quite likely, 16 is the ancestral value and the mutation occurred in the other James Fox line. This same James Fox descendant (58674) has been deep clade R tested by FTDNA and is reported as Haplogroup R-L21*.  Neal Fox reports that the group’s modal haplotype falls into a Scots/Irish cluster of R-L21, characterized by DYS 459=9-9 YCA=19-19 and DYS 640=12.

164677 and 169178 are third cousins, descending from two sons of John Fox, born 1797 in Virginia and died in Ohio. Evidence in the form of a family bible indicates that John’s parents were William and Sarah Fox, born 1777 and 1792 in Pennsylvania.  Both died in 1857 in Ohio.  Also estimated to be in Haplogroup R-M269, they are a 36 for 37 match, with 164677 being 12 and 169178 being 13 at DYS 442.  They appear to be related to 130621, a descendant of Levi Fox, Sr., born 1802 in Washington County, Pennsylvania, who matches 169178 on 35 out of 37 markers.

169863, tested at 37 markers but only 25 posted so far, is a third generation descendant of John Wolfgang Fuchs b: 1845 in Bavaria, Germany, d: 1916 in St. Marys, Elk County, Pennsylvania.  His 25 marker results are GD=2 from 157124 but they differ in that 157124 is null at DYS 439 and 169863 is not. They are, therefore, in different subclades of Haplogroup R-M269.  FTDNA was not able to predict his Haplogroup and has agreed to do a backbone test.  His mtDNA Haplogroup is H.

His daughter, 165969, has been mtDNA tested Haplogroup J.

171369 is another descendant of Arnold Van Vossen of Germantown and his results are right on the 37 marker modal for that group.

171548 is a fourth generation descendant of John Fox and Bridget Bourke of Southwest Ireland. Their children James (B?) Fox and sister Margaret emigrated by 1860 to Jackson Co., MO.  FTDNA has estimated his Haplogroup as R1b1b, meaning he might not test positive for M-269.  His closest matches in the Fox Project (GD=11 on 37 markers) are 58674 and 164558, who are in Haplogroup R-L21, a subclade of R-M269 often indicative of Irish ancestry.  His mtDNA Haplogroup is U5.  His results are being reported in the “Other R-M269 and Subclades” category until otherwise defined.

10/18/2009 Update

153293 is a descendant of Johannes Friederick Fuchs, b 1727 in Germany, who lived in Cumberland County, NJ, in the 1760s and 1770s.   In his book, "The Fox Family From Germany to Southern New Jersey"(1982), Rulon D. Brooks, Sr states that Frederick Fox and his wife Mary Band emigrated to the US from Germany aboard the ship "Edinburgh" in 5 Sept 1748.  This may or may not be the same Friederick Fuchs.  Johannes Friederick Fox (Fuchs)'s descendents are well documented primarily because they were farmers and stayed in Deerfield Twp, Cumberland Co, NJ, until the present

This result has been found to fall under Haplogroup J2* and is a 23 for 25 match with 140364, a descendant of Christoffel Fuchs of Niederbieber, Germany, and a member of the “Mohawk Valley Foxes.”   Markers 26 through 37, however, include five mismatches.
153424 is a descendant of William Fox and Sarah Avent.  William was said by Steadman to be the son of Henry Fox, 2nd, and Mary Claiborne and the grandson of Henry Fox and Anne West.  The Y-DNA haplotype denies this relationship, although further confirmation of the ancestry of Henry Fox 2nd is certainly to be desired.  He is a genetic distance of 17 in 37markers from 48275and his relatives.

155575 is a Van Fossen who does not match the other Van Fossen or Van Vossen descendants in the project.  Like them, however, he appears to fall into Haplogroup R-M269.

157124 is another member of the null439 Fox group – Haplogroup R-L1/S26.  Though he is GD=10 on 67 markers from the modal null439 Fox haplotype, he differs on only 5 markers, which could have resulted from as few as 6 mutational events with multistep variations. A common ancestor sometime in the 1500s is certainly a possibility. BigY testing indicates that the connection may be considerabley older than this but there definitely is a connection.  He is a descendant of Thomas Dudley Fox, born bet 1802 and 1806, in Londonderry, Vermont, who moved to the vicinity of Ontario, Canada, where he married a second time and had a large family.  Written memoirs and atDNA testing indicate a connection with the Fox family of Italy Hollow, Yates County, New York and that Dudley’s father may have been John Fox, Sr., born abt. 1767, in Connecticut who married Mary Glenn of Westford, Massachusetts.  John and his son John, Jr., were buying property in Londonderry in the late 1700's but eventually he and his son John, Jr., moved to Italy Hollow, NY, where he died in 1841.  The name Dudley apparently came from his mother's sister's husband's mother, Abigail Dudley who married  Samuel Howe.  Thus there may have been a connection to Governor Thomas Dudley of Massachusetts. The Italy Hollow Foxes have a tradition of being on first name terms with Henry Fox, Lord Holland, son of Sir Stephen Fox and this lends additional credence to our conclusion that the null439 Foxes are of the same family as Sir Stephen who was born in 1627 to a yeoman farmer named William Fox of Farley, Wiltshire.

159919 is a match for 59807 and it turns out that the two are fourth cousins, the common ancestor being William Moses Fox born bet. 1801 and 1804 in Wilkes Co., NC, and died 4/25/1882 in Yancey Co., NC.  The most distant known ancestor is Francis Fox, Sr., born in England about 1749, died abt 1821 in Wilkes County, NC.  They are typical Haplogroup R-M269 members who do not match other Fox project members.

164277 is another Elijah Fox descendant (in Haplogroup I1) this time descending from Elijah’s son, Ransom Fox.  Tested at 12 markers, he matches exactly a descendant of Elijah’s son Absolom, also tested at only 12 markers.  In a puzzling result, both differ at DYS 385b from other members of this group descending from Eiljah’s sons Absolom and John, as well as other less well defined family members – all of who match at 37 markers with a single step exception at DYS 447 for an Allen Fox descendant.  Certainly this situation is worth further testing to resolve the situation at DYS385b and get a fix on the ancestral 37 marker haplotype.

164558 is another potential descendant of William Fox, b 1710 in Loudoun Co., VA.  He descends through William’s son William, Jr.  He will test 37 markers and his results could be instructive at DYS 488 where the other members of this clan differ.

6/25/2009 Update

140364, our first member of the Palatine NY Mohawk Valley Fuchs clan (Christoffel Fuchs descendants from Niederbieber area in Germany) in “Other Haplogroups” (Haplogroup J2)

142427, another descendant of Thomas Fox of Concord MA in “Haplogroup I-M253 and Subclades.”

143344, another descendant of Jacob Fuchs of Wuerttemberg, Germany, though the exact connection has yet to be made. In “Haplogroup I-253 and Subclades.”
 
144536, a descendant of Barnaby Fox of Cumberland, NJ, in “Other Haplogroups” (Haplogroup E1b1b1) No matches as yet.

147651, who matches other descendants of Elijah Fox (who had sons named Absolom, Ransom and John) and James Fox of (who had sons named Allen Fox and Enoch Fox.) It appears that this clan may have originated in Virginia and/or North Carolina and then went through Cocke County, Tennessee, on their way west.  They are working on possible connections. In “Haplogroup I-M253.”

N69127 now has 67 marker results available.  He is a descendant of Christian Fuchs who died in 1814 in Berks County, PA, near the town of Kutztown.  It turns out that he is step-nephew to N23128. While the line dies out here, there was an emigration of German descendants from Palatine, New York, to Berks County in 1723.  N23128 has been SNP tested as M170+, M223+ and P19+, putting them in Haplogroup I2b1.  An extension to 67 markers is awaited.

1/23/2009 Update:

139347 is a descendant of William Hayes Fox, born 1760, CT.  He had thought he was a Thomas Fox of Concord, MA, descendant but this was not born out by the testing.  While also projected to be in Haplogroup I1 (M253+) he is a genetic distance of 30 from Thomas Fox descendant 92618 at 67 markers. The Thomas Fox descendants are M253+ but also P109+.  FTDNA checks earlier results by Ancestry.com and he now has a total of 76 markers tested.  His closest match in the Fox project is 99981, with GD=18 at 67 markers.

134182 is a descendant of Vaniah Fox, who married Abigail Cadwell on March 23, 1748 in Glastonbury, CT.  He matches 133409 with a genetic distance of 2 in 37 markers.  He also matches N55006 exactly at 12 markers.  N55006 has been tested M198+ and negative for all downstream SNPs making this group Haplogroup R1a1* (R-M198*).  133409 is descended from Richard Fox born 1641 in Glastonbury, CT, whereas N55006 is descended from Harry Francis Fox born 1841 in Lydlinch, Dorset, England.  One researcher has traced the line back to a Samuel Fox born in Dorset in 1735.  Furthermore, he says that Samuel was the illegitimate son of one Sarah Fox, thus breaking the Fox line.  An extension to 37 markers for N55006 would greatly help to clarify this situation.

133998 gives his immigrant ancestor as Christian Fuchs/Fox, b. 1840 Oberbexbach, Bavaria-d. 1921 Youngstown, Mahoning, Ohio; most distant ancestor Johann Conrad Fuchs, Buergermeister in Dudweiler-Nord around 1766, Kontrolleur of the mine in Burbach, 1776.
His closest matches (GD=13 at 37 markers) are a group of English Foxes who suspect Viking descent (31754, 36120 and 85639).  They are projected to be Haplogroup I2b1* (or I-M223*) but FTDNA projects 133998 to be Haplogroup I2b (or I-P214).  His mtDNA results (HVR1 and HRV2) indicate the very common Haplogroup H.

133409, mentioned above with 134182, is a descendant of Richard Fox born in Glastonbury, CT, in 1641. A connection between Richard Fox of Glastonbury, CT, and Thomas Fox of Concord, MA was proposed in by several researchers.  This connection is now appears disproven. Richard’s father is now thought to have immigrated in 1635 on the ship “Abigail.”
See discussion under Background.

131649 is a descendant of Jesse Fox of Georgia and Arkansas.  He is a first cousin of 114418, who father underwent heavy radiation exposure at Nagasaki in 1943.  They are a GD=1 in 37 markers, the deviation being at DYS 391.  131649 has been tested M170+, meaning Haplogroup I*.  These two are GD=20 at 37 markers from 68367 and 71539.  68367 has been SNP tested M170+ and M258+ and negative for many downstream markers but we suspect he would also test P215+ and P214+ and M223- making this group Haplogroup I-P214* (or I2b*.)

125558 is a descendant of Jedidiah Lyman Fox, born 1831 in New York who married Nancy Ann Armfield in Wisconsin. He died about 1916, presumably in Wisconsin.  This appears to be another descendant of Thomas Fox, of Concord, MA.  Markers that differ (in 37 markers tested) from other Thomas Fox descendants are:

      69617 is 21 at DYS 570 and 39 at CDYb
      70474 is 21 at DYS 570 and 40 at CDYb
      92618 is 21 at DYS 570 and 41 at CDYb
    125558 is 22 at DYS 570 and 39 at CDYb

This is a close match.  Thomas Fox had a great grandson by the name of Jedidiah (1706-1785.)  He was from New London, CT, but members of that family are known to have moved to New York State.  125558 has been SNP tested as Haplogroup I-P109 ( Haplogroup I1c according to FTDNA; Haplogroup I1d1 according to ISOGG.)
 
We also have information on four Foxes tested recently by Ancestry.com (formerly Relative Genetics.)  They have been given RG numbers for identification purposes:

RG6 is probably in Haplogroup I-M223, along with 10 other Foxes, none closely related.  He descends from John Fox (1770-1809) of Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania.  Before this, he suspects Fuchs ancestry from Alsace-Lorraine, Germany. His Ysearch ID is BWUW8.

RG7 is another apparent descendant of Thomas Fox of Concord, MA.  His known most distant ancestor is Martin Fox born in 1785 in New York State. He matches 92618 exactly at the 35 markers they have in common.   Together with the three Thomas Fox descendants found in the SMGF database, he extends the Thomas Fox modal haplotype out to 75 markers and the number of descendants out to eleven.  His Ysearch ID is GQMSG.

RG8 may be a descendant of John Fox of Ontario County, New York, born in 1820 – his great, great grandfather but it is possible his grandfather may have been adopted while living in Williamsport, PA.  He is obviously another member of Haplogroup R-M269 or one of its subclades but has no close matches in the Fox project.  His Ysearch ID is EJ5G5 and he has some interesting close matches with men named Clendenin and Stephenson in the Ysearch database.  Clendenin has Scots descent and may well be Haplogroup R-L21.

RG9 is also Fox Project member 139347.