Update 8/9/2022: Brian Doucet of Nova Scotia, descendant of Germain Doucet b. 1641 through son Claude, adds his line to the "Doucet DNA" story.

Brian L. Doucet

Brian Doucet of Nova Scotia Canada has participated in the C-P39 Haplogroup and the Acadian Amerindian Ancestry DNA Projects since 2011.  Following Keith Doucet's earliest, confirmed Y DNA test results, in 2008, which first revealed a Native American haplogroup for descendants of  Germain Doucet b. 1641 through son Laurent, (see Confirmed C3b Y DNA Test Results Test the Heritage of Cajun Cousin Keith Doucet), Brian, who traces his lineage to Germain Doucet b. 1641 through son Claude, was among the first of the Doucet men from Nova Scotia to participate in the Germain Doucet b. 1641 Y DNA study.

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The early days of Y DNA testing to prove the Native American lineage of Germain Doucet b. 1641 were interesting times, to say the least.  In 2011, when Brian had his Y DNA test along with other Doucet men, genealogists were only just beginning to discover the benefits of Y DNA testing to research a surname line and few in the field knew much about it. In 2011, even fewer comprehended how it was possible that a hidden Native American lineage for Germain Doucet b. 1641 had been uncovered through Y DNA testing!  After all, it was (at the time) "settled genealogy" that he descended from Germain Doucet, Sieur de La Verdure of France, right? 

Certain genealogists did, however, understand the implications of the then-controversial Y DNA findings for male descendants of the Germain Doucet b. 1641 line. One genealogist in particular, Paul Tufts, of Nova Scotia, who has an extensive background in the biological sciences, was instrumental in getting the word out about the Germain Doucet b. 1641 Y chromosome DNA study. During those early days of Y chromosome DNA testing to prove the Native American origins of this line, Paul would meet face-to-face with male descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641 (who were, after all, friends and neighbors!) and he told them about the project, answered their questions, and convinced them to have the tests. 

Brian was among the first of the Doucet men in Nova Scotia to volunteer to have his Y DNA tested, and to share his results. Brian wondered if his Y DNA test results would show that he too belonged to what was then called the C3b haplogroup (now called C-P39), as did other Doucet men who traced their patrilines, from father-to-father, to Germain Doucet b. 1641.  Brian's Y DNA test results, and his close, Y chromosome DNA matches with other Doucet men, who traced their lines to the same common ancestor, Germain Doucet b. 1641, proved that he did.  Brian has since had additional testing that qualified his membership in the C-P39 Y DNA haplogroup, as have other men who trace their patrilines, from father-to-father, to Germain Doucet b. 1641.

Fast-forward to the summer of 2022 when Brian, after having read about the latest advances within the "Doucet DNA" project, emailed DNA project manger, Marie Rundquist, and gave her permission to share his story and his genealogy (through Germain Doucet b. 1641's son Claude). In the same email, Brian also reflected upon his pivotal role in a 2012 White Paper that detailed project findings:

Quoting from a White Paper Marie had written in 2012, "C3b Y Chromosome DNA Test Results Point to Native American Deep Ancestry, Relatedness, among United States and Canadian Study Participants," Brian shared in his correspondence,

"I have to admit it was an odd (in a good way) feeling when I had read through the report and came upon my results being utilized: "Results of representative test kit 219075 (Doucet) were analyzed against thirteen others in the study. As illustrated in the MRCA % Probability Chart for kit 219075, when one Doucet descendant’s results are compared against thirteen other study participants, the highest probability for sharing a common ancestor at twelve generations -- a genealogically relevant timeframe - is greatest among Doucet surname descendants ..."

Brian's remark highlights how one set of Y DNA test results (his), identified only by a kit number and the Doucet surname, were instrumental in (1.) establishing, by comparison with other Y DNA test results in the project, a First Nations / Native American lineage of male descendants of ancestor, Germain Doucet b. 1641, and (2.) helping to refute any possibility of a genetic, father-son relationship between Germain Doucet Sr., founder of Acadia, and Germain Doucet b. 1641 of Port Royal, Nova Scotia. 

By 2017, only after dozens of male, patriline descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641 had added their matching Y chromosome DNA test results to the project, were the following outcomes firmly established for the Germain Doucet b. 1641 Y chromosome DNA study:

The discovery of a Native signature for descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641 by our projects (the first descendant of this line having tested with the Acadian-Amerindian DNA project in the Summer of 2008) had great significance for the descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641 because the Native Y DNA signature attained for this line (1) disproved a European ancestry for Germain Doucet b. 1641, (2) disproved a father-son relationship between Germain Doucet b. 1641 and Germain Doucet Sr. of France and (3) disproved that Pierre Doucet (b. ca 1621) and Germain Doucet (b. 1641) were blood brothers having descended from the same father.

Brian Doucet graciously shares his own Nova Scotia lineage to Germain Doucet b. 1641 through son Claude, tracing his line from father-to-father, beginning with himself.  Brian provides the following names of each of his patriline ancestors (all Doucet men) and their spouses for each generation:

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Germain Doucet (b. 1641) + Marie Marguerite Landry
Claude “dit Maitre Jean” Doucet + Marie Comeau
Joseph Doucet  +  Anne Agnes Surette
Michel Doucet  +  Marie Suzanne Mius
David “le Grand” Doucet  +  Isabelle Mius
Jean Robert Doucet  +  Marie Henriette Saulnier
Alexandre “Killick” Doucet  +  Marie Jane Newman
Alexandre “Sandé” Doucet  +  Catherine “Katie” Comeau
Alfred “Fred” Doucet  +  Cecile Comeau
Brian Louis Doucet

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