Doss Surname DNA Project
by Nathan W. Murphy, MA, AG®, Administrator of Doss Surname DNA Project
This project is an example of our company's ability to use DNA advances to propel your family tree research! Researcher Nathan W. Murphy orchestrates this particular project in association with members of the former Doss Family Association (a one-name study) and other interested researchers.
We enjoy helping our customers jumpstart DNA projects!
- Objectives
- Patriarch's Page
- Results Page
- Participation
- Doss Mailing List (ongoing dialogue concerning this project)
- Official Doss Surname DNA Project web site
- Family Tree DNA (commercial company we use)
- World Families (creator of our DNA web site)
Figure 1. 1329 Lay Subsidy, Chedzoy, Somerset, England, National Archives, Kew, England, E179/169/5. This is perhaps the first occasion on which the surname, which later became Doss and Dors(e), was recorded in England. The name is "xpina Dosse," which translates into English as "Christine Dosse." She paid a tax of 12 pence. Photo courtesy of Nathan W. Murphy.
Figure 2. Chedzoy Parish Church, Chedzoy, Somerset, England. This building was the Doss family's place of worship during the Middle Ages, when they were Catholic (1300s-early 1500s) and during the Early Modern Period, when they were Protestant (Church of England, 1500s-1600s). Many Doss(e) men, women, and children are buried in the churchyard; however, no markers for them survive, as creating markers for ordinary people was not common at that time, or else they were made of wood and deteriorated over the centuries. Photo courtesy of Nathan W. Murphy.
Figure 3. Landscape surrounding Chedzoy. In the Middle Ages, this area was a giant swamp, known as the Somerset Levels. It was later drained. At this crossroads, a street sign indicates directions to nearby Chedzoy, Bridgwater, and Weston Zoyland, three of the Doss family's earliest residences in England. Photo courtesy of Nathan W. Murphy.
Figure 4. Christ Church, Middlesex County, Virginia. Immigrant John Doss worshiped in this church and took his children there to be christened. He is probably buried in the churchyard. Photo courtesy of Libbie Griffin.