Welcome to the Lassiter family DNA project! The objective of this project is to use documentary and genetic genealogy to determine the maiden name and parents of Elizabeth, the wife of Archibald Lassiter. A deed named Elizabeth with her husband Archibald Lassiter in St. Clair County, Alabama, in 1829. The 1860 census enumerated Elizabeth as born about 1782 in Virginia.

We are looking for descendants of Archibald Lassiter and Elizabeth who are willing to share their DNA results to help us in our search for Elizabeth’s maiden name. We are also open to any information you may have on the Lassiter family through sources or family stories. Below is a preliminary tree of all the children and some of the grandchildren on Archibald and Elizabeth. If you see one of your ancestors in the following tree, you may be able to help us with our project!

If you descend from Archibald Lassiter and Elizabeth and would like to help us with our project, there are a few things you can do:

1. If you have already had DNA testing through Ancestry, then you can follow these steps to add us as a viewer to your DNA. As a viewer, we won’t be able to make any changes to your DNA account, but will only be able to view your matches to make our needed analyses.

• • From any page on Ancestry, click the DNA tab and select Your DNA Results Summary.
  • On your DNA homepage, click Settings in the top-right corner.
  • On the DNA Settings page, scroll down to the Sharing Preferences section and click Change beside DNA Ethnicity and Matches.
  • If you’ve never shared your results with the person you’re inviting to view your test, click Add a person and go to the next step. If you’ve shared your results with them before, click their role and change it to Viewer. After changing their role, enter your password and click Assign Role. Skip the rest of the steps below. You’ll receive an email when the person accepts their role as a viewer.
  • Enter their email address (pattirfowler@gmail.com), select Viewer, and click Send Invitation. Whether you enter their email address or username, the invitation will be sent by email.
  • When your invitation is accepted, you’ll receive an email letting you know.

2. If you have your DNA results on GEDmatch, you can e-mail your kit number to pattirfowler@gmail.com.

3. If you have not done your DNA, but would like to, you can purchase an Ancestry DNA kit here.

4. If you’d like to see if you’re eligible for us to purchase an Ancestry DNA kit for you, you can e-mail us how you descend from Archibald and Elizabeth (pattirfowler@gmail.com).

5. If you’re not interested in sharing DNA with us, but have genealogical information you’d like to share, e-mail us anytime at pattirfowler@gmail.com.

How does it Work?

Autosomal DNA can only help identify ancestors up to 6-8 generations back. When reviewing a DNA match, the testing website will report the amount of DNA shared with a match, but the specific relationship can only be discovered through analyzing pedigrees. Placing matches in genetic networks and tracking the surnames and locations that appear in different pedigrees can help pinpoint a common ancestor between a test taker and a DNA match. This process can help prove family relationships and lead to hypotheses for missing ancestors.

To find a genetic cluster that would point to Elizabeth’s parents, more DNA needs to be collected for descendants of Archibald and Elizabeth. Collecting more DNA of the descendants of Elizabeth will increase the likelihood that her DNA will be represented in the analysis. The term for this in genetic genealogy is DNA coverage. For example, if the objective of a project was to prove a test-taker’s mother, and only the test-taker’s DNA had been collected, then 50% of the DNA of the research subject (the test-taker’s mother) would be covered in the analysis. In this case, Elizabeth is the third great-grandmother of Test-Taker 1. That means an estimate of only 3.125% of Elizbeth’s DNA could appear in this analysis. Adding in the DNA of Test-Takers 2, 3, and 4, covers about 7.28% of Elizabeth’s DNA.

To increase the coverage of Elizabeth’s genome, best practices would be to collect DNA from multiple descendants of each of her children. This would ensure that the analysis was not limited to DNA only passed through one child. Keep in mind that if DNA matches increase the DNA coverage of a research subject by more than 5%, it is highly suggested to collect that DNA. To learn more about DNA coverage you can read Paul Woodbury’s article “Covering Your Bases: Introduction to Autosomal DNA Coverage“.

Progress of the Project

So far, two reports of the project have been written. We currently have access to DNA for 4 descendants of Archibald Lassiter and Elizabeth, covering 7.28% of Elizabeth’s DNA. To review what we know, both with documentary and genetic genealogy, you can read the completed reports here:

Lassiter Research Phase 1 – Privatized Report Nov 19 2021

Lassiter Phase 2 – Privatized Report January 26 2022

Lassiter Phase 3 & 4 – Privatized Report July 19 2022

Lassiter Phase 5 – Privatized Report Nov 7 2022

Lassiter Phase 6 – Privatized Report June 4 2023

For any questions on the project, you can e-mail Patti Fowler at pattirfowler@gmail.com, Allison Kotter at allisonroad1996@gmail.com or Nicole Dyer at nicole@familylocket.com.