I am a VOLUNTEER Assistant Admin for a Wiley yDNA surname project (Nancy Pichette is Admin). We are not paid; we do this out of a passion for family history and excitement in using this relatively new technic of genetic genealogy to help us break down those brick walls! So I am not trying to sell this idea for my own self-interest but for all Wiley’s interest.

The more participants in the Wiley yDNA database the better for all of us. It doesn’t do any good to get results and keep them to yourself although I can understand perhaps wanting to maintain a certain degree of privacy. The data can be public without ever letting any one know the name of the participant . . . . but rather the y-results would be associated with the name of your first known ancestor. That is a more valuable use of the data for other researchers AND it maintains your personal privacy until or if you wish to share it.

Family Tree DNA (in Houston) has a nine year proven track record and they have 90% of yDNA surname testing. Their database exceeds ½ a million participants. We have 35 participants in our project. There are five distinct genetically differentiated Wiley families and a small assortment of ‘unassigned’ Wiley participants. That means they have no matches yet. I would love to see this project grow for the benefit of all Wiley researchers!

If you have any questions about participation or any concerns, please ask me! I am interested in knowing why someone would NOT be interested since then I can begin to address those concerns.

Thank you.

Jody McKenney Thomson

Is there any Texas Wiley's in this data base? Such as Stephen Wiley, Samuel Wiley, or King George Wiley. All from Wilson County Texas...
Thanks
Mary Wiley Smithey

I do not know the genealogies of all of the Wiley participants in the project. The one that I am familiar with is William Martin Wiley (1854 - 1930) who lived in Arkansas and Texas. He undoubtedly had brothers but no one knows what their names might have been.

The Wiley yDNA project has a public webpage at www.familytreedna.com/public/wileyfamilydnastudy/default.asp... where you can get some information. On the left of that page click on 'Y-DNA Results' and wait a moment for the table to download. Scroll up and down to see the different Wiley family groups with the names of the first known Wiley ancestor.

It's possible, of course, that any one of those Wileys who know (for instance) that their FKA was born in Virginia could also be a distant cousin of your Wiley who was in Texas later.

Or perhaps someone will come forward on this message board to give you a definitivie answer to your question.

Could William Martin Wiley (1854 - 1930) have come from an orphanage around St. Louis Missouri? My great-grandfather was John Wesley Wiley and he is close to Williams’s age and he said he came out of an orphanage around St. Louis. He told that he had a brother and a sister but never knew what happen to them. He settled around Faulkner County, Arkansas. He is buried in Bethlehem Cemetery in Wooster, Arkansas. He does not have a marker but he died in 1939 and we cannot find his grave or his son's grave. It is probably one of the rocks in the graveyard. I have the Pence Funeral Home records and his death certificate.

Kathy:

It would definitely be of value for us to "put our heads together" on this for two reasons: one is that family tradition does report that William Martin Wiley had a brother named John and the other is that there is some sort of family connection between this man and the Cato family.

Did your John Wesley Wiley live his entire life in Arkansas? Have you found him in census records? I suppose his death certificate did not give the name of either of his parents?

I saw your posting on the Wiley - Cato connection in Arkansas. I was looking for some information on Cornelius Wiley and noticed that there are some things on the net that show he is connected to the Cato family. If you go to Google and type in Cornelius Wiley you will find some info. I think he was the brother of My gggrandfather, Stephen Wiley, who was the son of Stephen Wiley from N.Y.

They moved to Rapides Parrish, La. about 1802, and then moved to Old Miller County, Ark, where they were kicked out when it was discovered Old Miller County was really in the Republic of Texas. Cornelius is connected with the Stephen Wiley family all through La. and Ark, and they have to be the same family as that name is too uncommon. Stephen Wiley, the father, later went to Texas and died in Nacadoghes, Texas about 1828, I think. Samuel and Stephen Wiley went back to La., Cornelius married a Cato and stayed in Ark, Thomas went to La. and John went to Texas. Later SAmuel, Thomas, and Stephen all went to Texas. I think Stephen Sr. had a brother named Cornelius also, and that they were probably the sons of a William Wiley. I think Cornelius Wiley is in the 1820 census of La., or maybe the 1810, if there was a census then. He seems to have been the first one to have arrived in La., or at least the first one on the census.

Hope this helps to give you a start. I notice that Cornelius matches perfectly with the DNA. Looks like they are Celtic, which is what I would think as the name Wiley came from Scotland, and belongs to one of the Clans. Can't remember which one at the moment.

Joyce Moore

Joyce:

It would be very exciting if your ideas about the Cornelius Wiley family pan out with additional research! I had wondered if Cornelius' father, William, was related to the Cornelius Wiley families (several of them) found in earlier records in Louisiana. As you said, Cornelius is a somewhat unusual name.

What did you mean when you said "Cornelius matches perfectly with the DNA". The participant in the yDNA project does match with John Wiley of Kentucky/Illinois. Is that what you were refering to?

Hi Jody,

I have some Wiley connection and have an easy accessible Y-67 FTDNA (Ancestry.com too). My line of McGuire's (and Wileys) originate in Makanda, So Ill. My g-Grandmother was Mary E. Wiley, d- of Col Ben Wiley. If that helps.

cheers
Brad

Brad:

It would certainly be interesting to be able to compare your Wiley yDNA results with a specific group in the FTDNA Wiley surname project. It looks as though your line is to Abel Wiley b. 1780 in Maryland and d. 1867 in Jackson County, Illinois.

I am not able to access your yDNA results but you could either post them here, send them to me personally, or add your number to www.ysearch.com which is a huge database that includes the values of participants from all possible companies. Your privacy is assured since you are given an alphanumeric password.

There is also an intrinsic problem in comparing results from one company to another since I don't know how good Ancestry's testing lab is or how good their technique and controls. But we should give it a try.

I have some compelling reasons to think that you could be related to the same line that I am researching.

Jody,
I see that you are working on William Martin Wiley,born in 1854 My grandfather was Martin Moore Wiley b 12/3/1852 in Iowa, died 12/16/1924 Marlow Okla. His father was George Wiley, born in Maryland, mother Katherine Snyder b in Maryland. I have all of his children and most of his grandchildren listed. I have almost nothing regarding his first marriage other than his childrens names. Please contact me for any further information or questions. I am looking for anything you may have.