The email message stated that Professor Sykes was interested in identifying documented descendants of early (pre-1700) immigrants to New England – and the more lines of descent from early New Englanders the participant has, the better. When I read that, I was thought I might qualify.
First, he wanted our name, town and email address. And, a brief summary of my New England ancestry including the patrilineal and matrilineal elements. Hum, elements, I wondered about that. He wanted an estimate of the percentage of my pre-1700 ancestors who lived in New England. If I met his criteria, I was to email the information to Dr. Sykes in England, and let him know that I would be available to meet him in Boston during the week of September 14–18.
Since I have a lot of old New England Ancestry, and wanted to participate in his study, I dashed off a quick email. I told him that I had 2064 direct ancestors, and that my parents both had New England pre-1700 roots, surnames BISHOP and POOLE. I wasn't able to give him the percentage though, but gave him an attachment of 52 pages with all the names. I guess I thought he would be able to figure it out.
He quickly wrote back saying, "Dear Barbara, Thank you very much indeed for volunteering to participate in my New England DNA study through NEHGS. I would love to talk with you at the Society on Tuesday and perhaps take a DNA sample. Please let me know if that is still convenient. Kind regards, Bryan Sykes"
So on Tuesday, September 15th at 11:30 I met him and his assistant (his charming collage age son), in the Board room. After I gave him additional information, group sheets and such, he said he was going to tape the conversation. Hum, well ok. But I wondered what was I going to talk about? I knew nothing about DNA. He wanted to know about my genealogy research. Oh heaven, now I was happy. Turns out I managed to ramble for a good 45 minutes all about genealogy and how I got started in it. After my talking, I realized that the saddest thing was, I hadn't even googled his name prior to the meeting. I had no idea how well-known he was. But if I had, I might have been a little bit intimidated. So ignorance was bliss in this situation, and I told him. I felt very foolish because I hadn't done any research on him first, and surely didn't ask a single intelligent question. I learned an important lesson that day.
Once my chattering was done, I answered more questions, and filled out a release form, he brought out two DNA test kits. I was glad I passed the oral part. One test was the simple swab swipe. As for the other, he told me it cost close to $300 and that he was giving me the name of Katharine Hepburn for my identity on the DNA kit. He asked what my favorite movie of hers was, and I couldn’t think of one! And I am a true movie lover. After the testing, he gave me a copy of his book, "The Seven Daughters of Eve" and autographed it. When all was said and done, I had my picture taken.
After the appointment, I spent the day in the library, and while there, I googled his name. Maybe he didn't care that I was so ignorant, he was looking for somebody with my kind of roots for DNA analysis. I sure hope my samples helped in some way. It wasn't until later, that I heard about 200 people replied to him. I am indeed very fortunate to have met him, to have the experience, and to have the autographed book. And now, I know a lot more.
