The purpose of this page is to collect, maintain and share/swap information on ALL the DRESS
ER family lines worldwide with all those
interested. It is now one of the largest collections of
Dresser family genealogies available.
This is basically a One Name Study of the Dresser surname.
This page last updated on 11 July 2008
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
During the years I spent researching my own Dresser family line, I often came across information on other Dresser lines. I kept it all on file. In 1995, I decided to collect all possible Dresser lines available and maintain them in one location for all Dresser researchers. Hundreds of Dresser families have submitted their family histories to this collection. To date, I have varying degrees of information on over 53,000 Dressers and related family members. I have also found the work that traces the "Main American Dresser Line" of John and Mary Dresser, who settled in Rowley, MA in 1638, back seven more generations in the U.K. I also have information on many other Dresser family lines from Austria, Australia, England, Canada, Germany, Russia, South Africa, New Zealand and many partial lines that have not been connected to one of these lines yet. My database includes several variations of Dresser to include; Dreser, Drescher, Dressar, Dressor, Driser, Dresers, Dreeser, Dressler, Dressner, Draeser, Drasher & Van Dresser. This and any information I have on file is available to anyone who wishes to share information.
This site has connected 211 long
lost cousins or family lines to date
This site has helped
reunite 23 old family photographs with descendants
This site has helped
reunite 3 old family bibles with descendants
Awards presented to this site
To be notified of major updates and new additions to this wesbsite, please enroll in the Dresser Surname mailing list;
VISIT the Rootsweb Dresser Surname Mailing List Page
VISIT the Rootsweb Dresser Resource Page (for Queries, Bible records, Bios, Deeds, Obits, Pensions, Wills, etc)
Visit the Ancestry.com Dresser Message Board
Visit the Genealogy.com Dresser Message Board
This database includes all U.S., U.K. & German Dresser information contained in the LDS IGI files, LDS Ancestral files and the SSDI. It also contains the 3,019 Dressers found in the 1880 U.S. census, the 384 Dressers found in the 1881 UK census, the 63 Dressers found in the 1881 Canadian census, as well as, hundreds of family lines submitted by other Dresser family researchers.
SEARCHABLE
DATABASES
This database
only includes the 23,857 known descendants of Christopher and
Margaret Dresser, of which 20,061 are descendants of their son,
John Dresser, who settled in Rowley, MA in 1638 and the rest
being other descendant lines currently located in America,
Canada, England and New Zealand. I have also included my wife's
Screven, Pruitt and Ward ancestors as well as my grandmother's
Wallace ancestors in this database. Due to privacy concerns, Rootsweb, where this database
is located, automatically lists all living people as 'Living'
with no information on them.
(This database last updated 7 May 06. Next update
planned for May 07.)
This database
includes over 4,613 descendants of partial Dresser lines
currently living in or from Australia, Austria, Canada, England,
Germany, South Africia, Russia and New Zealand. It also
includes many American partial lines not yet connected to the
above main line. I have also included many Drasher, Dreiser,
Drescher, Dreser, Dresler, Dressler, Dressner, VanDreasor,
VanDresar, VanDreser, VanDresser and VonDresler lines in this
database. Due to privacy concerns,
Rootsweb, where this database is located, automatically lists all
living people as 'Living' with no information on them.
(This database last updated 7 May 06. Next update planned for May
07.)
- These databases not do include many spouse ancestry lines on file, nor does it include hundreds of other small partial lines and individuals not yet connected to the main Dresser family line.
- Submission of your family line to the Dresser Family Worldwide Genealogy Center implies your consent to publish that information in these searchable databases, unless you request it, living members or specific information not to be published.
- If you do not find your line in one of these databases, check the various query pages below for information on partial lines. If you still cannot find your line, contact me to check for you or to submit your line.
SEE THE LIST of individual Dressers not yet connected to any line. (Hundreds of individuals and families listed)
A LIST of more partial Dresser lines and individuals in my database from or currently in: ARGENTINA, AUSTRALIA, AUSTRIA, CANADA, ENGLAND, GERMANY , IRELAND, MEXICO, PANAMA, PHILIPPINES, RUSSIA, SCOTLAND, SOUTH AFRICA, & NEW ZEALAND.
A LIST of Dresar, Dreser, Dresher, Dressel, Dressler, Dresslaer, Dressor, Drescher, Dreischler, Driser, VanDresser, VonDresser, and other variations on file.
SEE a copy and description of the Dresser Coat of Arms
LINKS to
some Dresser Family Trivia. (Lots of
interesting facts listed) 
A LIST
of Dresser Family Reunions. ** 2 
reunions listed **
SEE my lineage and those of several others who submitted information.
A LIST of Dressers who fought in the Revolutionary War.
A LIST of Dressers who fought in War of 1812, Canadian Rebellion & the War with Mexico. .
A LIST of Dressers who fought in the American Civil War (on both sides - 105/3).
A LIST of Dressers who fought in WW I, WW II & Korea. (add your information)
A LIST of Dressers who fought in Vietnam and all who have served since then. (add your information)
A LIST of Dressers who served in the British military or Australian military. (add your information)
A LIST of Dresser related DAR & SAR National ID numbers.
A LIST of Mayflower passengers and Dresser descendants.
A LIST of Dressers that came through Ellis Island, NY.
A LIST of known Dresser
immigrants, Drescher
immigrants, & Dressler
immigrants.
(There may be some Dresser
duplications from the Ellis Island list above.)
PHOTOS of some old and current Dresser family members. Some from England and New Zealand too.
PHOTOS of my immediate family members.
BLACK history of the Dresser family.
A LIST of books I have available for lookups.
A LIST of Dressers (& other related folks) with Ham Radios.
LINKS to Genealogy research sites I often use.
LINK to absolutely nothing.
READ some comments I have received about this website.
ATTENTION to participate in a Dresser Lineage Y-DNA project. The purpose of this project is to discover the connections, if any, between the various Dresser family lines throughout the world. It is hoped that some Dresser males of each line will have the Y chromosome DNA analysis done and send the results to the project coordinator to add to a database of tests. The database will then facilitate matches between descendants of the same individual when the usual search for written documents has been unsuccessful.
This project will help establish the origins / lineage of many of the family lines that have not yet been connected to an established line. Other than the main Dresser line in the U.S. today from England, there are many partial lines that have not been connected, as well as several from Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, and Russia . This project will determine which line you are descended from and will hopefully establish a relationship between many of these family lines. Find out which one you are descended from and/or which lines you are related to. We are trying to get at least 2 participants from each family line to establish a good base for comparison. Variant spellings are welcome too, i.e., Dressler, Dreser, Dressor, etc.
If you are interested in participating in this project, please contact Mary Dresser Taffet for additional information. The normal price per person for this test is $149.00. As part of this group testing, we are receiving the discount price of $99.00 per person/test.
To sign up now and order your test kit, go to this website.
You can view the test results here for those who have already participated in the
project.
For additional information on similar projects, check out these sites:
The
Perkins Family Y-DNA Study
Pomery's
DNA Portal
Ybase
For additional information on testing and these projects, check out these sites:
Genetics
Lab
DNA Test
Lab
* * NOTE: Per information received from
Grant South of Australia who has a very similar DNA markers as
our Dresser line from Yorkshire, England; Trinity College of UK
has been conducting DNA research on ancient English family lines
to deteremine their origin. He is a participant of this research.
So far, they have determined his (and our) DNA comes from a
Neolithic Clan believed to have been in the British Isles well
before 1 AD. The research further discovered that only 1% of
English and Scotish clans have this DNA, but 20% of native Irish
clans do. Therefore, it is suspected that we are descendants of
ancient Irish invaders / immigrants to England. Additional
research and findings are still pending.
Some Y-DNA test Results
James O. Dresser, TN (#00001)
- Test base for comparison. Verified descendant of the John
Dresser family line that immigrated settled in Rowley, MA in
1638.
Thomas Dresser, NC (#06841) -
Descended from Joseph D. Dresser and Susan Smith of Montreal,
Canada. Joseph was possibly born in ME around 1827. An
unconnected line. Tom was an exact match for Jim above, which
indicates he came from the same family line.
Peter Q. Dresser, Durham, England
(#38099) - Verified descendant of William Dresser, brother to the
immigrant, John Dresser. Peter's line remained in England. His
results matched 10 of the 12 genetic markers.
David K. Dresser, MA (#05590) -
Descended from John Dresser and Polly Boynton of Pomfret, VT. An
unconnected line. His results matched 10 of the 12 genetic
markers of the main Dresser line. However, he only had one
different marker from Peter Dresser whose line remained in
England. It is therefore suspected that David's line came over
sometime after the original settlers in 1638; sometime before
1790 anyway when John and Polly married in Vermont.
Non-genealogy links:
LINKS to misc & fun sites to visit.
HOW TO SUBMIT OR REQUEST INFORMATION:
contacts available
Visit the Pound Puppies website. It's a Dresser related family business!
My name is Jim Dresser. I retired from the U.S. Army in 1992 and worked for Vermont State Parks until March 2007. My wife was a Wildlife Rehabilitator for Groton State Forest. Visit my wife's Raptor Rehabilitation Homepage. My favorite hobbies are helping "Lost" Dresser families research and develop their family trees and working in my workshop.
Click here
for a poor photo of me (summer version).
Click here for a poor photo of me (winter
version).
See a list of the top 100 genealogy
sites
Member
of the Internet Genealogical Directory
