Bricker DNA Results

Expanding to cover Bruegger, Brucker, Brugger, Bruecker, Brigger, Brickert, and Bruckert surnames in 2005

The results from the Bricker Families DNA Project now potentially support the existence of at least eight genetically distinct Bricker lines: that of Nicholas Bricker of York County, Pennsylvania; John Bricker of Frederick County, Maryland; Peter Bricker of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; Peter Bricker of Berks County, Pennsylvania; Frederick Bricker of Berks County, Pennsylvania; George Bricker of Coshocton County, Ohio; Louis Bricker of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; and William Bricker or Brickert, of Adams County, Pennsylvania. Click on thw white "Family Tree" icons within the colored boxes below, which show DNA results for various Bricker lines, to see how the participants of a given line who have submitted a pedigree to the Project are related to one another.

Y-chromosome DNA results from the group of men participating in this Project make clear that none of the eight Bricker lines have ever shared a common ancestor with the last names of Bricker, Brücker, Brügger, or any other variation within the past 500 to 600 years, since the practice of using last names was first adopted by most people in Europe.

To better help you understand what follows, you may want to review "What Your Y-Chromosome DNA Test Results May Tell You About Your Ancestry" before continuing on.

The Bricker DNA Project is now expanding its scope to take in families with similar surnames who may be genetically related, surnames such as BRUEGGER, BRUCKER, BRUGGER, BRUECKER, BRIGGER, BRUCKERT, and BRICKERT. Those people having any of these surnames are invited to join the Project as well.

MARKER	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	H
D													A
Y	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	3	4	3	3	3	P
S	9	9	9	9	8	8	2	8	3	8	9	8	L
#	3	0	4	1	5	5	6	8	9	9	2	9	G
					a	b				I		II	P


	Nicholas Bricker (1732-1803) York Co., PA
BR01	12	22	14	10	13	15	11	15	11	13	11	30	J2
BR02	12	22	14	10	13	15	11	15	11	13	11	30	J2
BR03	12	22	14	10	13	15	11	15	11	13	11	30	J2
BR10	12	22	14	10	13	15	11	15	11	13	11	30	J2
BR15	12	22	14	10	13	15	11	15	11	13	11	30	J2
BR09	12	22	14	10	13	16	11	15	11	13	11	30	J2



	Peter Bricker (1700-1760) Lancaster Co., PA
BR06	13	24	14	10	11	13.2	12	12	13	14	13	31	R1b
BR07	13	24	14	10	11	13.2	12	12	13	14	13	31	R1b
BR11	13	24	14	10	11	13.2	12	12	12	14	11	31	R1b
BR19	13	24	14	10	11	13.2	12	12	13	14	13	31	R1b



		Peter Bricker (1700-1774) Berks Co., PA
BR12	13	24	14	10	11	14	12	12	13	12	13	28	R1b
BR14	13	24	14	10	11	14	12	12	13	12	13	28	R1b
BR20	13	24	14	10	11	14	12	12	13	12	13	28	R1b



		Frederick Bricker (abt 1755 - 1804) Berks Co., PA
BR17	15	22	16	10	15	16	11	13	11	14	12	31	I1c
BR18	15	22	16	10	15	16	11	13	11	14	12	31	I1c
BR23	15	22	16	10	15	16	11	13	11	14	12	31	I1c



		John Bricker (1725-1777) Frederick Co., MD
BR04	13	22	13	9	12	15	11	12	12	14	11	30	E3b
BR21	*	*	U	P	C	O	M	I	N	G	*	*	?



		Jacob Bricker (?-1761) Northampton Co., PA
BR22	13	22	13	9	12	15	11	12	12	13	11	30	E3b
	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?



		Louis Bricker, Allegheny Co., PA
BR05	12	24	15	10	13	18	11	15	12	12	11	27	J2e
	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?



		William Brickert (1817 - ?) Adams Co., PA
BR16	15	25	16	10	11	14	12	12	11	14	11	31	R1a
	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?



		George Bricker (1817-?) Coshocton Co., OH
BR08	13	25	14	11	11	13	12	12	13	13	14	30	R1b
	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?



		John Philip Bricker (abt 1728-?) Berks Co., PA
	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?



		Jacob Bricker (abt 1764-1823) Berks Co., PA
	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?

What we've found so far

Of the participants in the DNA Project, 5 of 6 that on paper are descended from the immigrant NICHOLAS BRICKER (1732-1803), who arrived in Philadelphia from Europe in 1749 aboard the ship "Isaac", have been shown through lab testing to share exact matches of their genetic signature or haplotype, the series of numbers or alleles for the 12 DNA markers tested. See box bordered in violet in the table to the left. Now with a 99.9% chance that the five participants sharing the same haplotype have a common ancestor, their respective pedigrees are decisively confirmed. If it were possible to go back and test Nicholas' DNA itself, the probability he would have the very same haplotype as they do is extremely high. BR09, the sixth participant, has a 1-step mutation at the 385b marker along his Y-chromosome, a "16" rather than a "15" as the others do. This will no doubt prove to also be the case for anyone else in his particular branch of the family tree that were tested. Click on the link "FAMILY TREE". Also, see "Breaking through a Bricker Brickwall" about how one family participating in the Bricker DNA Project was finally able to confirm they were indeed descendents of Nicholas.

A brief note: in order to protect the privacy of all participating in the Bricker DNA Project, as well as the confidentiality of their DNA results, all participants are identified on the Project website by assigned codes such as "BR01", "BR02", AND "BR03" rather than by their own proper names. Those participants sharing similar DNA results who wish to compare their genealogies on paper are free to contact one another to share such results and genealogies as long as each one agrees to the contact.

Recent unexpected information concerning who Peter Bricker's parents were appear to throw doubt on some of this line's old family traditions concerning their origins. Stay tuned! The PETER BRICKER (1698-1760) who settled in Cocalico, Lancaster County, PA arrived in Philadelphia from Europe in 1732 aboard the ship "Plaisance". The four Project participants from this Bricker line represent branches begun by three out of Peter's five sons. Participant BR11 is descended from Peter Jr, Peter Sr's eldest son by his first wife Christina Jülch. BR11's branch of the family left Pennsylvania for Waterloo, Canada in 1801. His sixth cousins BR06 and BR07 are both descended from Peter Sr's next eldest son Christian, by his second wife Elizabeth, whose maiden name may have been Becker. BR19, the most recent participant in this Bricker line, descends from Peter Sr's fourth son, John, whose descendents first left Lancaster County for nearby Cumberland County in the early 1800s, from which one branch travelled on a generation later to Clinton County, Indiana. The DNA test each of the participants took has thus confirmed with virtual certainly the direction that family tradition and genealogical research had already been indicating: that all four do indeed descend from Peter Bricker Sr. See the box bordered in light blue. The surname of this line was probably BRÜGGER or BRUEGGER in Europe.

A third participant, BR20, has now confirmed the haplotype of the PETER BRICKER (1700-1774) who settled in Womelsdorf, Berks County, PA, arriving in Philadelphia from Europe in 1737 aboard the ship "Charming Nancy." Unlike BR12 and BR14, both of whom descend from Peter's grandson Christian Bricker who settled in Lebanon Co, PA, BR20 descends from Christian's brother John, who migrated with the rest of the family out of Berks County to Franklin Co in the same state. John later moved on to Somerset County. The evidence of Peter's last will indicates that he had only one son, John Bricker, but John had ten sons and two daughters, among the sons being Christian and John. This line today has members throughout the U.S., including Athens, Mercer, and Crawford counties, Ohio, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania. See the box bordered in salmon.

Two participants, BR17 and BR18, have genealogies and now DNA results which indicate that each descends from a brother, George Bricker and Daniel Bricker respectively, whose father was identified in May, 2005 as very likely having been FREDERICK BRICKER of the Oley Valley in Berks County, Pennsylvania (born in the 1750s-60s?). See the box bordered in brown. These two participants have been recently joined by a third, BR23, who is known to also have descended from George Bricker, through his son Jeremiah. The Brickers of the Oley Valley, who seemed to have first settled there in the 1740s, have only now been identified through a combination of DNA testing and genealogical research as coming from a distinctive Bricker line in its own right. Those from this family have spread to Cass County, Missouri, Fulton County, Illinois, Madison County, Indiana, and elsewhere, though the majority are still unaware of their roots in this line.

None of the following Bricker lines having only one participant to date in the DNA Project can confirm a genetic signature specific to that Bricker line and only that line. There must be a DNA match or near match with at least two participants, as is the case with the lines above, which have now been established genetically as distinct from other Bricker lines.

Although there are prospects that a second person from this Bricker line may soon be joining, there is as yet only a single Project participant, BR04, a descendent of JOHN (and Annemarie) BRICKER, a couple who lived in Frederick County, Maryland in the middle of the eighteenth century. The DNA results for BR04 have found to differ at only one chromosomal marker out of twelve from new Project member BR22, a descendent of the mid-1700s immigrant Jacob Bricker of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, below. Compare the box above to the left bordered in blue green with the box bordered in silver below it. Further, recent testing at an additional thirteen markers indicates only two differences. This appears to indicate that these two Bricker family lines in America were actually two branches of what at some point in the past was the same line in Europe, probably of Swiss origin, see here. The family's surname in Europe was likely BRÜGGER and then BRÜCKER.

New Project participant BR22 is believed to descend from the immigrant JACOB BRICKER of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, who lived in Petersbach, Alsace and probably arrived in Philadelphia by the ship "Sandwich" in 1750. Jacob was the father of JOHANN ADAM BRICKER, who settled in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Their descendents spread to Indiana and Armstrong counties in that state, as well as to Clermont County, Ohio. The surname of this line may have been BRÜGGER and then BRÜCKER in Europe. As indicated immediately above, DNA evidence indicates that this Bricker line in America was very likely directly connected while still in Europe to the line of John Bricker of Frederick County, Maryland. Compare the box bordered in silver in the table, above left, with the box below it in blue green. Also, see here

Another participant, BR05, has traced his direct line to a LOUIS BRICKER who arrived in America about 1893 as a boy with his parents from Alsace, settling in Allegheny County, PA. See the box above bordered in orange. Their surname very probably was originally BRUCKER in Alsace.

BR16's earliest known ancestor is his great great great grandfather, WILLIAM BRICKER, of Adams County, PA. See the box above bordered in olive green. Recently-discovered information on this family's history seems to tentatively point toward its possible establishment in America in 1750 by MATTHIAS BRÜCKHARDT of the town of Lachen in Germany, who settled in Montgomery County, PA. Further traditional genealogical research will be necessary to clarify these details and others, however.

Participant BR08 has traced his line back to GEORGE BRICKER, who was living in Coshocton County, Ohio during the mid-1800s. See the box bordered in charcoal grey. Recent indications may point to genetic connections with a McHenry line.

Where Project participants have neither a DNA match at this stage of the Project, or a pedigree which takes their lines back to the point when they were first established in America, as is the case now with BR05, BR08, and BR16, a match at some point would allow each participant to focus his future genealogical research on tracing his own actual Bricker line back instead of wasting time researching whether he might have come from other, unrelated lines. And as others having complete or nearly complete genealogies join the Project, all not only can compare notes with one another, but hopefully also give advice to those just starting to track their Bricker roots.

To date, no one has yet joined the Project from the following two Bricker lines:

JOHN PHILIP BRICKER of Berks County, Pennsylvania. His line only recently established through genealogical research, John Philip has Bricker descendents living today in North Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Virginia. The earliest record found for this line is of the marriage of John Philip to Maria Catherina Jaeger in Tulpehocken Township, Berks County in 1753. This line may be related to that of Jacob Bricker of Oley Township, Berks, below, but probably only DNA evidence could confirm whether that was indeed the case. Box bordered in blue in the table, above.

JACOB BRICKER of Berks County, Pennsylvania. This Jacob Bricker, of Oley Township, may have been the grandson of the Johannes Bricker who arrived in Philadelphia aboard the ship "Catharine" on May 28, 1742, and who is said to have possibly been the one to have warranteed 100 acres of land east of the Schuylkill River in Earl or Douglass townships, Berks County, in February of 1744. The surname of this line may have been BRÜCKER in Europe. See box bordered in yellow in the table, above.

Descendents from these Bricker lines, or any other lines with either the Bricker Bruegger, Brucker, Brugger, Bruecker, Brigger, Bruckert, or Brickert surnames, are here invited to join with us in our DNA Project. See the Project homepage for details on what testing can show about ancestry, who can be tested, how the confidentiality of results is ensured, and so on.

Genetic Distance

The matrix, below, shows the number of mutations or genetic distance between everyone participating in the Project to date, whatever their Bricker line. As an example of how to use it, how genetically related would BR04, the descendent of John Bricker of Maryland, be to BR08, who's descended from Andrew J. Bricker of Ohio? The answer is, extremely unrelated. Family Tree DNA says that for those tested at the 12-marker level, if you are more than two mutations away from someone else, "you are unrelated to this person". Here, there's a "genetic distance" of sixteen mutations between BR04 and BR08. Even BR08 and a descendent of Peter Bricker of Cocalico, BR06, at a genetic distance of "merely" four mutations from one another, are not related.

However, every rule has its exceptions.

See here for an explanation of genetic distance.

	BR01	BR02	BR03	BR10	BR15	BR09	BR05	BR04	BR21	BR22	BR17	BR18	BR23	BR16	BR08	BR12	BR14	BR20	BR06	BR07	BR19	BR11
BR01	.	0	0	0	0	1	10	10	10	8	12	12	12	16	18	16	16	16	16	16	16	13
BR02	0	.	0	0	0	1	10	10	10	8	12	12	12	16	18	16	16	16	16	16	16	13
BR03	0	0	.	0	0	1	10	10	10	8	12	12	12	16	18	16	16	16	16	16	16	13
BR10	0	0	0	.	0	1	10	10	10	8	12	12	12	16	18	16	16	16	16	16	16	13
BR15	0	0	0	0	.	1	10	10	10	8	12	12	12	16	18	16	16	16	16	16	16	13
BR09	1	1	1	1	1	.	9	11	11	11	9	11	11	17	19	17	17	17	17	17	17	14
BR05	10	10	10	10	10	9	.	16	16	16	18	18	18	20	16	20	20	20	16	16	16	17
BR04	10	10	10	10	10	11	16	.	?	2	14	14	14	14	16	12	12	12	12	12	12	9
BR21	10	10	10	10	10	11	16	?	.	2	14	14	14	14	16	12	12	12	12	12	12	9
BR22	8	8	8	8	8	9	16	2	2	.	14	14	14	14	14	12	12	12	12	12	12	9
BR17	12	12	12	12	12	11	18	14	14	14	.	0	0	12	22	20	20	20	18	18	18	17
BR18	12	12	12	12	12	11	18	14	14	14	0	.	0	12	22	20	20	20	18	18	18	17
BR23	12	12	12	12	12	11	18	14	14	14	0	0	.	12	22	20	20	20	18	18	18	17
BR16	18	18	18	18	18	19	22	16	16	14	22	22	22	.	12	6	6	6	4	4	4	7
BR08	16	16	16	16	16	17	20	14	14	14	12	12	12	12	.	12	12	12	10	10	10	7
BR12	16	16	16	16	16	17	16	12	12	12	20	20	20	12	6	.	0	0	4	4	4	7
BR14	16	16	16	16	16	17	16	12	12	12	20	20	20	12	6	0	.	0	4	4	4	7
BR20	16	16	16	16	16	17	16	12	12	12	20	20	20	12	6	0	0	.	4	4	4	7
BR06	16	16	16	16	16	17	20	12	12	12	18	18	18	10	4	4	4	4	.	0	0	2
BR07	16	16	16	16	16	17	20	12	12	12	18	18	18	10	4	4	4	4	0	.	0	2
BR19	16	16	16	16	16	17	20	12	12	12	18	18	18	10	4	4	4	4	0	0	.	2
BR11	13	13	13	13	13	14	17	9	9	9	17	17	17	7	7	7	7	7	2	2	2	.

Bricker Lines

Nicholas Bricker

Charles Bricker

Peter Bricker of Berks Co., PA

Louis Bricker

George Bricker

Peter Bricker of Lancaster Co., PA

John Bricker of Frederick Co., MD

Jacob Bricker of Northampton Co., PA

Frederick Bricker

Genetically unrelated (usually more than 2 mutations)

Possible genetic relationship

Get in touch with the Project coordinator, Dale Bricker

JOIN THE BRICKER SURNAME DNA PROJECT

Return to the Bricker Surname DNA Project Homepage

Suggestions for improving the content or
appearance of this webpage are welcomed

- ADVERTISEMENT -