77-Year-Old Adoptee Finds Roots with DNA

“Tim Dannels spent a lifetime surrounded by family but never knowing his relatives.

In the past seven months, thanks to the Joseph Vick Family of America Y DNA project, the 77-year-old adoptee has discovered both sides of his family tree, including one ripe with cousins and deeply rooted in Vicksburg.

“I’m really tickled because both families have accepted me,” said Dannels . “It took 77 years to find them.”

Dannels, who was adopted at less than a month old, shared his story during the Joseph Vick Family of America annual reunion held recently in Vicksburg, which was found by Vicks’ great-grandson the Rev. Newit Vick.

“Some people think kinship doesn’t matter,” said Gailen Vick, president of the JVFA board.

“It’s important when you didn’t have a family to start with,” Dannels quipped back.

Dannels said he knew his entire life that he was adopted and had been searching for his birth parents or any relatives for decades but turned up nothing.

His son-in-law, Sheldon Jones, recommended DNA testing and an attempt to unseal Dannel’s adoption records, which revealed nothing about his father and very little about his mother.

“The mother’s name was bogus, but the date was correct,” Jones said.

DNA testing provided much more fruitful results when Dannels’ sample showed he was a direct descendant of Joseph Vick, who immigrated to the United States around 1660. However, since Y DNA is passed only through male descendants, it revealed nothing about Dannels’ mother.

“Immediately we were bombarded by emails,” Jones said.

With the test results and some research, an intermediary was able to find Dannels’ half-siblings. His parents had never married and both died more than 20 years ago.

Dannels met his half-sister — his closest relative on his mother’s side — in December and first met members of the Vick line this past weekend at the reunion.

“None of this would have been possible without the Joseph Vick DNA project,” Dannels said.

The DNA registry was started about 10 years ago when DNA testing became available for the public, said Larry Vick. The first DNA tests cost about $1,300 and are now available for less than $100, he said.

The Vick family last met in Vicksburg in 2009, and they will meet next year in Waco, Texas. The Vicks are planning to return to Vicksburg in 2019.
Around 1660, Joseph Vick settled in present-day Virginia. His great-grandson, the Rev. Newit Vick, was born in Virginia, but became a pioneer Methodist preacher.

In 1814, Newit Vick built a small log cabin for worship on the banks of the Mississippi River.

Before his death from yellow fever in 1819, he purchased more than 600 acres of land in the area and laid them out into town lots. Following his death, his son-in-law, the Rev. John Lane, became the executor of his estate, expanded the development of the town and named it after Newit Vick, Vicksburg.”

77-year-old adoptee discovers both sides of family tree, including one rooted in Vicksburg

[The Republic 6/27/13 by Josh Edwards,Vicksburg Post]

REFORM Puzzle Piece