June 2018
Welcome!
My name is Julia Wannamaker, and I, in addition to other family members and distant Wannamaker cousins, have been researching our Wannamaker families for decades. My line descends from Jacob Wannamaker (b. ~1714 Germany – d. 1768 SC) who is the progenitor of the South Carolina branch of the extended Wannamaker family.
In brief, I have been looking for Jacob’s original baptismal record for a very long time. This record could identify his birthplace in Germany, both his parents, and his direct Wannamaker line of descent. With this information, the goal would then be to connect my Wannamaker line to one of the other well-documented lines which has a paper trail to Hengin Wanmecher (b. 1450) in Darmstadt, Germany.
In 2012, I decided to try a different approach, using DNA testing to supplement my traditional genealogical research. I tested with AncestryDNA. At the time, there were very few other Wannamakers, or those with Wannamaker ancestry, who were participating in DNA testing. Therefore, I did not find any DNA cousins who had information that could identify Jacob’s hometown in Germany.
So, in 2015, I thought Y-DNA testing would be the next reasonable step. Both my father and my cousin agreed to test, and I began to reach out to Wannamakers in the US and in other countries, mainly Germany, to do the same. Soon thereafter, in 2016, I started the Wannamaker DNA Surname Project (Family Tree DNA) with three goals in in mind:
- to uncover the exact lineage of my last known Wannamaker ancestor
- to connect Wannamaker family groups with one another
- to prove or disprove that ALL Wannamakers are related
In 2017, we started to find answers. And, now, in collaboration with Y-DNA cousins, other Wannamaker family genealogists, and Wannemacher cousins in Germany, I feel very confident that we can now answer more questions about our shared Wannemacher ancestry and our immigrant ancestors who came to America hundreds of years ago.
I am currently in the process of summarizing the Y-DNA findings to date and adding content to the site. Please know that this effort has turned into bit of a lengthy personal history, recounting how fellow researchers have played an integral role in this journey. Not only would it be remiss of me not to acknowledge them, but it would be my pleasure and honor to do so. Besides, we’ve certainly had fun along the way!
Check back often. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the pictures, and feel free to contact me with comments, suggestions, questions, corrections, and thoughts. As I say often, “The conversation never ends…”
All the best,
Julia
Julia Wannamaker
juliawannamaker@gmail.com
Project Administrator
Family Tree DNA (FTDNA)
Wannamaker DNA Surname Project
Wannamaker Genealogy 