Kent Surname & DNA Project

The Kent Surname & DNA Project is an overview page registered on 25 May 2019 with the International Society of Genetic Genealogy Wiki website to give details of both our DNA Project (called the Kent Family & DNA Project) as well as other resources available to researchers of the KENT surname. A little history is provided below to help eliminate confusion for any KENT researchers that have been involved over the years with the Kent Family & DNA Project.

HISTORY OF DNA PROJECT

The Kent Family & DNA Project was established in 2006 by a handful of dedicated researchers that developed a close rapport through researching the U.S. Southern origins of their respective Kent family patriarchs. In those early days, Family Tree DNA (our preferred genetic testing company) was a pioneer in the genetic genealogy field and they created a digital platform to assist individuals to analyze the Y chromosome DNA data of a male, and to determine whether their respective patriarchs shared a common distant male father.

We are proud that the Kent Family & DNA Project has now been expanded to include any researchers interested in the surname of KENT (and it's variants) whether or not they are willing (or able) to take a DNA test.

Although it is not necessary to take a DNA test to be involved with the Kent Family & DNA Project, both male and female researchers have voluntarily registered their DNA test results with our project to compare their DNA along with other Kent researchers. An autosomal DNA test is the most common test available in today's genetic commercial market (AncestryDNA™, 23andMe©, Family Tree DNA, MyHeritage™ DNA, etc.). Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) offers three types of DNA tests, the most common DNA test is the "Family Finder" test.

• An "at-DNA" (Autosomal DNA) test. At Family Tree DNA (FTDNA), this popular test is called the "Family Finder" test ($79). The results are presented in the form of a database that reveals your genetic cousins (that have also taken this same test) that relate to you any where from one generation, to possibly up to five to ten generations ago, and it includes all four of your grandparents' biological families. Males and females can take this test.

• A "y-DNA" (Y Chromosome DNA) test. This is the most important test for ANY surname project since a male inherits his "Y" chromosome directly from his father, that he inherited from his own father, and so forth. The results of a Y chromosome test will match another male if they have shared a common patrilineal ancestor anytime between one and to approximately 20 generations ago. Any biological son of a KENT father is encouraged to take a Y-DNA test with a minimum of 37 "markers". This test starts at $109, only males can take this test.

• A "mt-DNA" (Mitochondrial DNA) test. This test is for the "deep ancestry" of one's strictly matrilineal line (your mother's mother's mother, and so on). The results will reveal your mother's maternal "haplogroup" and any distant cousins (that have also taken this same test) that you are related to on your mother's matrilineal line. Males and females can take this test.

Originally, the Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) provided the digital platform so the Volunteer Administrator(s) of a DNA project could review it's participants' genetic results. The Administrator(s) would then post their conclusions on either a personal family website, or at a website hosted at the non-profit website called WorldFamilies.Net. This is where the Kent Family & DNA Project website was generously hosted for about ten years. In May 2018, in an effort to protect the data and privacy of individuals from ANY business that handles personal data, the European Union (EU) enacted the "General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679" (GDPR).

With this spirit in mind, Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) implemented strict safeguards to not only it's own customer database, but they worked eagerly with leaders within the Genetic Genealogy field to create new guidelines for DNA projects, and to enact standards of ethical conduct necessary for not only a successful DNA project, but with any participant's right to privacy considered.

For this reason, the Kent Family & DNA Project's website is now hosted directly by Family Tree DNA (FTDNA). Our project's "template" that was provided by FTDNA is a work in progress, but every effort has been made by the current project's Volunteer Administrator to make it's navigation as easy as possible, given it's current restrictions.

To make sure the new privacy and security standards are implemented correctly, only those that have DNA results registered with Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) will be able to review detailed DNA results and to post comments on the "Activity Feed". These accounts are referred to as "Project Members".

However, as an "Associate Researcher" there is no need to take a DNA test! Your lineage will be listed in the appropriate region along with other researchers associated with that area on our Lineage "Results" page. There is no stigma associated with declining to take a DNA test since there are plenty of reasons why someone can't, or chooses not take to take a test. We have many Associate Researchers that are very active in the Kent Family & DNA Project and have been invaluable with helping others!

You are welcome to email the Project Administrator, Michelle M. (Kent) Roy, at <[email protected]>.

Visit the Kent Family & DNA Project's new website!

CONNECT WITH OTHER KENT RESEARCHERS

• Kent Family & DNA Project - The Lineage "Results" page lists many KENT family lineages with contact information for both Project Members and Associate Researchers.
• Kent Family Genealogy Facebook Page - Created 09 May 2014 by Tina Dotario Hawthorn-Zimmer to assemble Kent researchers that would like to further their genealogical research and to assist members who are encountering research problems or just want to share a family story.
• Descendants of John L. Kent, grandson of Benoni Kent of Fairfax Co., Virginia (c 1725-1774) - Created 24 Aug 2000 by descendants of John L. Kent (1791-1881) and his various wives.
• Ancestry.com’s Message Board for KENT surname
• WikiTree’s Index of KENT Individuals
• Genealogy.com's Forums on the surname of KENT

DIGITAL ARCHIVES

• OurFamilyTree.Net - The personal website of Michelle M. (Kent) Roy that houses collateral research collected on various KENT families.

BOOKS

• Jack Berg’s Thomas Kent and Descendants (Self-Published, 1993)
• Edward Irvin Dale's History and genealogy of the Kent family : descendants of Richard Kent, sen. who came to America in 1633 (Spencer, Mass. : E.E. Dickerman, 1899)
• Horace A. Tenney’s Genealogy of the Tenney Family, More Particularly of the Family of Daniel Tenney, and Sylvia Kent, his Wife, late of Laporte, Lorain County, Ohio (M.J. Cantwell, Book and Job Printer, Madison WI, 1875.)
• Lloyd Vernon Briggs' Genealogies of the Different Families Bearing the Name of Kent in the United States: Together with Their Possible English Ancestry, A.D. 1295-1898 (Boston : Rockwell & Churchill Press (1898))