Join the Pulliam Surname Project
One of my genealogy goals is to use a combination of records and DNA to “prove” my connection to the person that many Pullums and Pulliams I’ve spoken to believe is our “come to America” male ancestor, Edward Augustus Pulliam (b. 1600, Ripley, Yorkshire, England, d. 1644, Hanover, Virginia). Unfortunately, my paper trail stops in antebellum Kentucky with Thomas Pullum/Pulliam and his son Drury (my 4th great-grandfather).
The first family tree builder website I used was Geni. When Geni added integration with Family Tree DNA (FTDNA), I decided to check it out, so that’s where I got started with genetic genealogy. I’ve gotten a few kits for family members over time, but the most interesting thing I did was get my partner’s grandfather, Papa Jack, tested. After getting the results, a project administrator contacted me and asked if Jack would join a surname project.
The goal of this project was to document the variations in the Y chromosome among the descendants of a “most recent common ancestor” (MRCA) using the Big-Y test. They were able to determine that specific tester men descended from a specific ancestor (sons of the MRCA), built a hypothetical tree, and triangulated with records and reasoned estimation.
FTDNA has numerous groups projects, including a Pulliam one. I joined it, but there wasn’t much going on. After my experience with Jack, and after noticing that the Pulliam project was missing an administrator, I decided to take the plunge and asked to take it over.
As the new admin. I’ve invited multiple Pullums, Pullams, and Pulliams I’ve met online to the project, including the folks who manage the Historical Pulliam Family Cemetery in Dewy Rose, Georgia (hopefully I can visit someday) and host the very useful family tree document.
If you are interested, please visit the project page and drop me a line.