Ron Shankland of the Shankland/Shanklin family that immigrated to New York around 1750 asked me to take a DNA test to see if there was any connection in the past to our Shankland families. In addition, the name MacGregor was banned in Scotland for a period of time and as a result the MacGregors took other names. The MacGregor clan therefore recognizes many other Scottish names and Shankland is one of them.
While the DNA testing hasn't shown any connections to the above for me, it is useful in establishing a baseline to William Shankland and any of his descendants. We are hopeful that many Shankland males will take this simple test and eventually establish lines to William Shankland and the other non related Shankland families.
Due to a generous anonymous grant the first 10 qualified testees will be funded by the project. We are particularly interested in testing Shanklands residing in the UK and from the other William Shankland branches. Please email me if you are interested in participating.
There are many articles on the internet regarding DNA testing and I recommend searching Google and reading some. A good place to start is Family Tree DNA. The test itself is a simple procedure of rubbing a toothbrush like swab inside your check and mailing it back. We will send you a kit. The DNA that is harvested is the "Junk" DNA from your Y chromosome and is not suitable for finding other important genetic information about you.
We are participating in the Shankland Surname project at Family Tree DNA