Update on Weeks Surname Study Group (WSSG)

March 2, 2005

Good morning, WSSG members/participants,

Most of you know by now that we have identified two distinct lines of Weeks/Weekes descendancy, with six members of our WSSG in one line and two in the other. That's real great progress in the first four months of operations of the Surname Study Group.

I am planning to travel to VA, NC, SC and GA this summer, to dig further into the records available in repositories in those states. I've just about exhausted the internet and published sources which I have available, and have gathered some additional info and leads from cousins and possible cousins, on my lines back into those states in colonial times.

One or two others of my 12/12 matches will plan to join me for at least some part of the trip, and I certainly invite and encourage other members to join our research forays for whatever time you have available. I had a good report from my orthopedist yesterday, on my post-operative progress, so I feel very good about being able to fully enjoy a gen research trip this summer. I also have a few other gen reunions to attend this summer in the southeastern USA, as well as my high school class 50th reunion in Oklahoma, so it's developing as an active and productive summertime.

We welcome enthusiastically four new members, Randy Weekes, who has submitted his cheekswab, Dennis Weeks, who has his kit in hand now, and Roy Weeks and Wayland Weeks, who will receive their cheekswab kits from FTDNA very soon. We especially welcome Randy, who is our first member from Canada, where several Weeks/Weekes lines have immigrated in the past, primarily from either the UK or the USA.

Certainly, with additional members, we have a better chance to identify more cousins, or additional Weeks/Weekes surname lines. So, we should all be excited with the addition of all new possible cousins into the WSSG.

And we are actively searching for additional Weeks/Weekes males to join our group. I have contacted several others who may be cousins, and am hoping for more new members soon. But we still don't have, as far as we know, any confirmed descendants from the lines of Leonard of Greenland, NH, George of Dorchester, MA, or William/Thomas/Theophilus of NC. One or more of our existing members may prove to belong to one of those lines, but a living descendant, confirmed by paper trails, would help us all greatly in our research.

If you know of any additional Weeks/Weekes males who may be interested in our study group, please encourage them to contact me, check the FTDNA site, and join our growing group. We still have a couple of places remaining with an attached discount offer, so it's an advantageous time for new members to join very economically and receive all the benefits.

You all should be receiving, now or very soon, the monthly FTDNA newsletter, and full member access to the FTDNA website. As you know, there is a whole library of material on the science and practices of Y-DNA testing and interpretation, available on the site, as well as many references for further reading.

We're currently under a deep blanket of snow in central NH, so it's a good time to do more internet research and communications. My six grandchildren here are especially excited about the good availability of skiing and snowboarding, and an occasional "snow day" at their schools is an additional assist.

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments or suggestions on WSSG or FTDNA. They have proved to be very responsive, so help and answers are easily available to you.

Best wishes, I hope to meet some more of you over the coming months.

Brinson Weeks.

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