This project was started in 2001 by Suzanne Johnston and Linda Sparks Starr as a way to verify and/or correct the previously published linages of the early Clark(e) immigrants to the Colonies.  As a result of it's early beginning, the Clark(e) Surname DNA Project is historically listed as a Pioneer DNA Surname Project. While this project was started at FamilyTreeDNA, we welcome submissions from others who have been tested through other projects.  For those that seek a more detailed scientific explanation you are urged to visit FamilyTreeDNA. 

Before requesting to join our research group, please read:

• Our Family Tree YDNA project tracks ONLY male Clark(e) members. The participant's swab must be collected from a male with the surname of Clark(e).
  • Participants in the Clark(e) Surname YDNA project must be males who had a father named Clark(e), a grandfather named Clark(e), a great-grandfather named Clark(e), and so forth. It must be an unbroken male descent from the surname Clark(e). Paper records should be combined with Y-DNA testing in trying to prove (or disprove) a connection between two males with the same or similar surname. The paper trail helps to establish that the participating male must be from an unbroken male direct line
• We also require that each of our participants submit his pedigree to be posted on our web page for others to observe and compare DNA test results. No names will be posted after a birth date of 1900. 
• If you tested through another laboratory, you can follow the instructions listed on this page.

YDNA will show you the large family group of Clark(e)s back to before surnames. It might even show that your forebear wasn't a Clark, but another surname -- called non-paternity events. YDNA won't tell you the name of your gr,gr,gr-grandfather or whether you descend from his son "George, John or William." It will only get you into a ball park family group IF other relatives have participated in this study. This is what our study is attempting to do...

The identity of the "family group" is only as good as the paperwork of all participants. DNA is not a substitute for doing "genealogy" the old fashioned way -- corroborating each and every generation with good sources, connecting all the dots, making sure "the John Clark here" is your "John Clark there." For privacy reason we don't publicly post any data after 1900, thus it is in everyone's best interest that people exhaust the paperwork sources before taking the test.

There can be unusual circumstances that create exceptions. Although it is usually the case that the male being tested must "bear the surname," there can be exceptions. This is where old fashion genealogical research comes into play.  If the paper trail from genealogical research showed that at some point in the line the name was changed and the change was retained through future generations, then this non-Clark(e) male and his male descendants would still be eligible to participate in a Clark(e) Surname Y-DNA project.
 

Please be sure and visit Linda Sparks Starr's website Colonial Virginia Connections for a wealth of information on many of these families.