BELL DNA PROJECT Sign-Up

Eligibility

Any male with surname BELL is welcome to join our project. Females may also participate in our studies by using a living, male, close relative (with the BELL surname) as surrogate for the Y-DNA testing. Females may also participate in a mtDNA test.

There are many other test combinations available through FamilyTree DNA. We suggest that all newcomers start by ordering a Y-DNA test on at least 25 markers. The cost for this starts at about $124.

How To Join

Click the FamilyTree DNA link to see the various tests that are available. We are notified each time a new test is ordered through our project. Craig Nelson will respond by sending you a welcome message.

Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) - FTDNA offers lower prices for participants who join through this project.

You will receive instructions with your test kit on how to collect a DNA sample (cheek swab) and a return envelope for mailing your DNA sample. When your DNA sample is received by FTDNA, you will be given log-in access to your personal FTDNA web pages.

To make the most of your participation, please prepare a report of your known paternal ancestry (to the best of your ability), and submit it to our webmaster. This should include dates and place of birth, dates and place of marriage (and spouse name), dates and place of death, for as many generations as possible, to assist in our analysis. If you have no knowledge of your ancestry, it does not exclude you from testing to possibly learn your ancestry!

We suggest that you visit some of the DNA-related websites we have listed. These will answer many common questions people have about DNA testing for genealogy.

Matches

All participants receive FTDNA match notifications, a certificate with your test results, and password access to the FTDNA website. We will add your results to our website tables. Close matching results have color-highlights for better visibility. Be sure to enter or upload your test results to Ysearch to increase your chances of finding matches. Provide your User ID to the webmaster, and he will post it on the haplosearch page.

If matches to another participant are found, that participant may be contacted to see if ancestry data can be exchanged. Project administrators will facilitate this exchange, only if there is mutual agreement. No pedigree or contact information will be made public without your consent. By default, only your privacy code and Y-DNA test results will be revealed on our website.

If you desire to be contacted directly by other participants or researchers, you should request that your email address be posted on our haplosearch page.

Craig Nelson <cengold@aol.com> Administrator, Member of Clan Bell International, Sons of the American Revolution (SAR). Garry F. Bell <gazza@woosh.co.nz> Co-Administrator, Computer Genealogist, Member of New Zealand Society of Genealogists. Stuart-James Beall <bell.ancestries@earthlink.net> Webmaster for Beal, Beall, Beals, Bell DNA studies.