My name is Tom Hutchison and I am the volunteer administrator of the Grau Surname Project. I am a descendant of Rev. Jacob B. Graw. His parents, Georg Jakob Grau and Louisa Carolina Wolf, immigrated to the United States in 1828 from Baden, Germany. I have been researching this and other Grau families since 2001. I started this project in Decemeber of 2008 after much success combining traditional genealogy with genetic genealogy in my other family lines. There is no cost to join this project and it is open to anyone from anywhere in the world who has DNA tested with any company or is planning to do so in the future.
Surnames included The Grau DNA Project
Grau, Grauel, Grauer, Graul, Grauman, Graupera, Graupmann, Graus, Grausbard, Graustark and Graw
If you do not see your surname variant spelling, just ask and we will add it to the list.
Grau DNA Project Background
This DNA Project is seeking GRAUs from everywhere in the world. Through yDNA Analysis of the participants and along with conventional genealogical research, the project will help determine those members that share a common male ancestor. To participate all you need is a living male GRAU relative willing to provide a simple, painless cheek-rubbing sample.
Learning About Ancestry & DNA Testing
To help make it easily understandable for those who don't hold a medical degree or Ph.D. in some science that uses DNA testing. This test is used SPECIFICALLY and ONLY for ancestry and genealogical research, with your privacy protected at all times. A The DNA test used will only test the male "Y" chromosome and therefore only males can be tested. Although this project would like to be able to include females, females have "X" chromosomes. For any female Genealogists interested in using Genetic Genealogy to research their GRAU family, they will need to ask a male relative of their GRAU line to be a donor.
The "Y" chromosome is passed down from father to son and so on. Throughout the lines of male descendants, yDNA marker information is passed virtually unaltered. Since the yDNA is more or less(simplified) like the rungs of a ladder, when there are common male ancestors of those who join the project, this test will show not only the common yDNA markers, but will also provide information on how many generations back 2 individuals share a common ancestor. This will aid the researcher in determining if different families are related and provide a means for those members to connect with one another.
