About eight years ago, we were contacted by an administrator of the FamilyTreeDNA Hickey Surname Project, who diplomatically advised my husband Bill that “in reviewing your STR matches, I noticed a distinct lack of Hickeys... I think it is more than possible that you descend from other than a Hickey line. Your close matches are the Gilliams..."

We've done additional testing (with no significant results), and Bill is now also part of the R1b CTS4466Plus Project at FamilyTree DNA. We've stopped short of doing the "Big Y." Bill just hasn't been THAT curious. Until now.

This week one of the administrators of the R1b CTS4466Plus Project notified us about special promotion codes related to Roots Tech. He suggested upgrading to Big Y might "help fill a void in a poorly sampled part of the tree." Of course, my hope is that it sheds light on the Hickey-Gilliam surname mystery.

I'm excited to report we're proceeding with the FTDNA Big Y-700 upgrade.