Y-DNA can be a useful tool in genealogy, but it cannot tell you who your ancestors were. Y-DNA is passed from father to son relatively unchanged for generations. Living males who match can often identify a common ancestor by sharing genealogical research. Personal experience with a surname project through Family Tree DNA has revealed distant cousins world-wide, but has yet to reveal a common ancestor in Scotland. Surname projects have also provided valuable leads to genealogical information, and can be coupled with other DNA test results to find matches willing to share genealogical information. 

Robert Lumsden is a Washington, D.C. native who grew up in Falls Church, Virginia.  He had a 34 year career as a research scientist at the USDA, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Prince Georges County. He retired in 2001.  Robert lived in Bowie for 40 years, and then in Healthsville, in Virginia's Northern Neck, and now resides in Heritage Harbour, Annapolis.  Since retirement, he was a part time consultant with the World Cocoa Foundation in Washington, D.C., but has devoted much of his time to volunteering at Historic Christ Church & Museum and Mary Ball Washington Museum & Library in Lancaster County, Virginia, and with the Prince Georges County Genealogical Society.  Robert is a recent member of Anne Arundel Genealogical Society and pursues the genealogies of many family lines in Southern Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee.