The Strange Feeling in No Man's Land

[Paul_Sheats]

I didn't know about that one, just the one at rootsweb. Thanks. Yeah, as far as recruiting goes, I could use all the help I can get. Good luck to you as well.

[Stevo]

Paul -

There is a Sheetz family forum at Genealogy.com: http://genforum.genealogy.com/sheetz/ .

You could make a post there and try to recruit some men for your Y-DNA surname project. My last name is Stevens. I did a recruiting post on the Stevens forum there at Geneaology.com.

We'll see if it bears any fruit.

[Paul_Sheats]

In Pennsylvania and Virginia and Ohio when they say "Dutch" they really mean Deutsch, that is, German. As big as the Sheetz family is in my area, I would be surprised if they don't have a published genealogy somewhere. There are even some quite wealthy Sheetzes: they own the Sheetz chain of gas station/convenience stores that dot several of the Mid-Atlantic states.

If I were you, I would pursue a connection with the Sheetzes of PA and VA. It may turn up something for you.

There is a big historical marker just south of Woodstock, Virginia, on Route 11 (on the east side of the road). It mentions the last Indian-Settler conflict in the Shenandoah Valley, which occurred at the end of the French and Indian War. The two settler families involved were the Taylors and the Sheetzes.

Woodstock's original name was Muellerstadt (for Jacob Mueller, its founder). That ought to tell you something about who settled that area!

Thanks for the info, Stevo. Actually, there was a book written in 1940 (I found it on ancestry.com) on the one's orginally in Maryland and PA, and from there it says some went to Ohio, Indiana, and I think it said some of the orginal brothers went to Virginia, but the book mainly focused on the ones in PA/Ohio/Indiana. So I wouldn't be surprised if we're all related from way back. There's only one other Sheets in the project here, and one on Relative Genetics. I should do some scouting around further down south and see if anyone's interested in joining a project.

[Stevo]

I could be. I'm not sure. My Sheets were in Ontario, Canada in the 1850's, but I hit a brick wall up there. My ggf William disappeared early in his marriage to Sarah MacDonald. Conflicting family stories say he died, or up and left her. I'm hoping to find some descendants of William's brothers to have tested, to see if I'm barking up the wrong tree. Many of the early Sheets in Maryland and PA were supposedly from Holland, as part of the second colonization of Wm Penn. My dad always said his Sheets were Dutch, so I have a hunch I tie in with that line.

In Pennsylvania and Virginia and Ohio when they say "Dutch" they really mean Deutsch, that is, German. As big as the Sheetz family is in my area, I would be surprised if they don't have a published genealogy somewhere. There are even some quite wealthy Sheetzes: they own the Sheetz chain of gas station/convenience stores that dot several of the Mid-Atlantic states.

If I were you, I would pursue a connection with the Sheetzes of PA and VA. It may turn up something for you.

There is a big historical marker just south of Woodstock, Virginia, on Route 11 (on the east side of the road). It mentions the last Indian-Settler conflict in the Shenandoah Valley, which occurred at the end of the French and Indian War. The two settler families involved were the Taylors and the Sheetzes.

Woodstock's original name was Muellerstadt (for Jacob Mueller, its founder). That ought to tell you something about who settled that area!

[Paul_Sheats]

Paul -

Are you related to the Pennsylvania and Shenandoah Valley (Virginia) German Sheetz family?

There are a whole lot of those folks in my neck of the woods.

I could be. I'm not sure. My Sheets were in Ontario, Canada in the 1850's, but I hit a brick wall up there. My ggf William disappeared early in his marriage to Sarah MacDonald. Conflicting family stories say he died, or up and left her. I'm hoping to find some descendants of William's brothers to have tested, to see if I'm barking up the wrong tree. Many of the early Sheets in Maryland and PA were supposedly from Holland, as part of the second colonization of Wm Penn. My dad always said his Sheets were Dutch, so I have a hunch I tie in with that line.

[Paul_Sheats]

That's for sure!



If he wins the lottery, I'm related to him!

Um... okay, I'd re-imburse you for the test if you matched my results at... let's say 34/37 or higher.

[la_roccia]

I have results and still feel The Strange Feeling in No Man's Land. The more you learn, the more you want to know.

I know my family history back up to 500 years on some paternal lines and only back to the 1700's on my direct paternal line. The ydna thing only made me more curious.

[Stevo]

I just ordered the 59 marker test last night.

If I won the the multi-state lottery, I would give DNA tests as gifts to family, friends, and various other unknown people with my surname.

Paul -

Are you related to the Pennsylvania and Shenandoah Valley (Virginia) German Sheetz family?

There are a whole lot of those folks in my neck of the woods.

[Stevo]

I'll bet that if you win the lottery you'll find out that you have many more relatives than you thought you had...

That's for sure!



If he wins the lottery, I'm related to him!

[Victor]

I just ordered the 59 marker test last night.

If I won the the multi-state lottery, I would give DNA tests as gifts to family, friends, and various other unknown people with my surname.

I'll bet that if you win the lottery you'll find out that you have many more relatives than you thought you had...

[Paul_Sheats]

I just ordered the 59 marker test last night.

If I won the the multi-state lottery, I would give DNA tests as gifts to family, friends, and various other unknown people with my surname.

[Stevo]

Time flies, Stevo.

And no matter what the result is, never lose sight that YDNA testing only gives you a single lineage.

Regards,
Victor

Thanks, Victor.

You are absolutely right. That's why I have the signature I have - Lots more than 1 ancestor - to remind myself of that fact.

At 14 generations back we have over 16,000 ancestors (give or take a few). The man who passed down his y-chromosome is just one of them.

Still, one's paternal lineage seems to have extra importance somehow; at least for me it does.

We'll see!

[Victor]

Time flies, Stevo.

And no matter what the result is, never lose sight that YDNA testing only gives you a single lineage.

Regards,
Victor

[Stevo]

It feels kind of strange to be here reading these threads, all the while not knowing what your own Y-DNA (not to mention mtDNA) haplogroup is.

I only just recently submitted my Y-DNA 37 test kit to FTDNA for analysis and don't expect the results until toward the end of May.

I've always thought of myself as a typical northern European type, but from what I have read here that's not much of a predictor.

Guess I will just have to be patient and wait to find out.

Waiting is not easy for me.