Ysearch is a service by Family Tree. It allows a search for common Ydna on the basis of family name, in my case "van Weert". Ysearch reports eleven van Weert's, all listing Maartens as their oldest forefather and Dinther, NB as their place of origin. All have exactly the same Ydna: R1b1a2a1a1.
My grandson participated last year in the Genome-2 Project of the National Geographic Society and was classified as R1b1a2a1a*, a unique classification out of approx. 700,000 participants. The Genome-2 Project does not exchange information for genealogical purposes, so I also had my Y-dna checked, but by FamilyTree.com (111 markers). It matches exactly the Y-dna markers given for each of the eleven van Weert's on Y-search.
Two years ago I compiled a family tree for the benefit of my greatgrandsons, the oldest one being pictured. For this I used the "sheep" approach, i.e. I copied what I could find on the internet. With my Canadian location it is impossible to personally check sources. I hereby thank all (Dutch) geneticists for their work allowing me to do this, especially Corina Stevens for her meticulous activity on the van Weert/Martens Stamboom. A quick visit there will show that I am descended from Dirk Martens van Weert (alias Dirk den Snijder), born in Weert in 1651, but who (was) moved to the Meerveldhoven/Dinther area, where the family resided for several generations. It is still "ground zero" for the van Weert's in the Netherlands.
It appears that the van Weert could be the lucky ones in genetic (Y-dna) genealogy. All have the same Y-dna, even though separated by up to 15 generations. The number 15 assumes that at least one of the eleven persons listed in Ysearch descended from another son of Dirk Martens van Weert (he had several). To verify that number, I hope that this message will result in identification of one or more of these family members of mine. It has been impossible to obtain identification of the 11 van Weert's via Ysearch.
I believe this to be a unique opportunity to promote the capabilities of Y-dna genealogy. It would allow insight whether the Maarten/Martens are indeed related to the van Weert's, by having the same Y-dna. It would clarify whether the Utrecht/Leiden/Antwerp/Alblasserdam/Bolsward van (der) Weerdt/t's are related to the Dinther tribe. Or, whether the "de Weert's" of Steenbergen/Bergen op Zoom came from Belgium or Dinther. Pls help, if possible.
For those who are deeply interested in Y-dna lore, R1b1a2a1a* (L11) is a very old non-muted haplogroup, dating back unchanged to the mid-Bronze age some 3500 years ago. This of course helps in defining it with accuracy.
I trust communicating in English is acceptable. Pls answer in Dutch; that's no problem for me.
Gus Van Weert