Short Version: Y-DNA testing for Puckett surname men shows there was a NPE (non-paternal event). The MRCA (Most Recent Common Ancestor) of the "Y-DNA Profile: B" was William Puckett, born circa 1682, and given ID 'C7' in Gee's book. The Y-DNA testing through three of this William's sons - Thomas, William and Douglass - shows a different Y-DNA profile than other testers with documented Puckett lines back to Puckett ancestors in Virginia and South Carolina. Likely, William Puckett (C7) was adopted, and not the biological son of William Puckett (B2).
Puckett Y-DNA testing (click here) was done about 15 years ago by several Puckett men. View with caution the conclusions of author, Gary Curtis Puckett, now deceased. Gary's Puckett line.
All of the Puckett lines tested appear (by genealogical research) to come from the original John Puckett of Virginia (there by 1665), or from Timothy Puckett of South Carolina (there by 1736).
Interestingly, there are obviously two distinct Puckett Y-DNA lines, meaning two distinct paternal-line ancestors. Gary Curtis Puckett thought that meant there were two Puckett ancestors in colonial Virginia, but after correcting the lineages of the testers as Gary presented them, all the lines, by "paper descent" (traced by documentation, not DNA), come from either John Puckett (1665 Virginia land patent) or Timothy Puckett (1736 South Carolina land grant).
The lineages as presented by Gary Puckett are incorrect in some cases, and some contain imaginary ancestors with no documentation whatsoever.
Corrections on the Y-DNA Study page from left to right:
In the first lineage, James Puckett, father of Carter Puckett, was NOT the son of Thomas Hobby Puckett. He appears to be the son of Thomas Puckett Sr (D10 in Gee's book).
The second lineage, including Oliver Puckett born 1855 SC, appears correct.
The 3rd and 4th lineages appear correct back to Timothy Puckett born circa 1770 SC. Before then, these lineages are speculative, or imaginary. William 1628, William 1657 and Ephraim 1687 in particular are imaginary. The Timothy Puckett and Ephraim Puckett in the 1790 Federal Census of Orangeburg Co, SC may be the same Timothy and Ephraim as in earlier South Carolina records dating back to 1736, but they may also be descendants; we don't have the records to fill the gap .
The 5th lineage, which includes John Puckett born circa 1768 in NC, is likely descended from Isham Puckett (D21 in Gee's book).
The 6th & 7th lineages appear correct back to Robert Puckett, born circa 1742 in VA. However, Robert Puckett was NOT the son of Drury Puckett, but rather of Douglass Puckett (D12 in Gee's book).
The 8th lineage includes William Puckett, born circa 1720 in VA per Gary's chart. This however, was William Puckett, born circa 1747 in VA, and who applied for a Revolutionary War pension while a resident of Highland Co, OH (https://revwarapps.org/r8513.pdf). This William was NOT the son of John, but rather William Puckett Jr (E8 in Gee's book). Gee speculated this William Puckett went to South Carolina, but I think he went to Kentucky and then Ohio. I will present my evidence below.
In my opinion, what this DNA study shows is that that the descendants of William Puckett (C7 in Gee's book) and his wife Mary are from a different Y-DNA lineage than other Puckett lines in colonial Virginia and South Carolina. This would mean William Puckett (C7) was not the biological son of William Puckett (B2 in Gee's book). Perhaps he was adopted; there were certainly many orphans in the late 1600s in Virginia. Alternatively, Ann (who I am not convinced was a Womack) may have had a husband before William Puckett (B2), and had William (C7) by this first husband who subsequently died, and then Ann married William Puckett (B2) and her son William (C7) by her first husband took the Puckett name. There are other alternative scenarios, but adoption seems most likely.
In Womack genealogy, three Womacks men who called themselves brothers in multiple records of early Henrico Co, VA were in fact the biological sons of three different men from the Womack DNA Study; they were likely brothers in the sense they had the same mother and two of them were adopted by William Womack Sr when their mother married him, and these boys took the Womack name.
The linkage between Puckett lines in colonial South Carolina and Virginia is intriguing. Certainly, Puckett families from Virginia were migrating to SC in the 1770s, and possibly in the 1760s. However, Timothy Puckett was in SC by 1736, and apparently had a son named Ephraim Puckett. The Biblical name Ephraim was not common, and the fact it ran in both the SC and VA families is likely not a coincidence. I think it likely that Timothy Puckett (C2 in Gee's book), son of John Puckett and Elizabeth Allen, moved to SC sometime after his last known record in VA in 1724. The Y-DNA matches may simply indicate a common Puckett ancestor in England, but I think they show Timothy Puckett in SC in 1736 was the same as Timothy Puckett (C2), son of John Puckett and Elizabeth Allen.
The difference in Y-DNA between descendants of William Puckett (C7) and other Puckett lines is useful for sorting these Puckett families.
More Y-DNA testers are needed. Testers need to be males with the Puckett surname, since Y-DNA is passed father to son.
There is a Puckett DNA group at FamilyTree DNA: Puckett DNA Group
Testers need to be sure to get the Y-DNA test. Autosomal DNA tests do not help with paternal lineages beyond a few generations (7 generations is really pushing the upper limit of what autosomal DNA can prove), and most living Puckett individual are 12 or more generations beyond the original John Puckett of Henrico, Co, VA. Ancestry.com has not offered Y-DNA tests for many years; they only do autosomal DNA tests now.
I would be happy to help with interpretation of Puckett Y-DNA results: My Contact Info
Corrected Lineages
Note: Includes name, year of birth (c for approximate), place of birth, and additional info. The additional info can be their ID from Gee's book, or a census record they appear in.
Lineage #1 - Y-DNA Profile: B
John Puckett c1628 (A1)
William Puckett c1657 VA (B2)
William Puckett c1682 VA (C7)
Thomas Puckett c1705 VA (D10)
James Puckett c1755 VA (1810 Federal Census, Iredell Co, NC)
Carter Puckett c1780 VA (1840 Federal Census, Mecklenburg Co, NC)
Robert Templeton Puckett c1824 TN (1850 Federal Census, Hardin Co, TN)
John Henry Puckett 1862 TN (1870 Federal Census, Hardin Co, TN)
Bentley Carroll Hooks 1887 (1900 Federal Census, McLennan Co, TX. Note from Gary Puckett: Mattie Hooks had his surname changed to Hooks)
Bentley Carroll Hooks 1929 (1930 Federal Census, McLennan Co, TX)
Lineage #2 - Y-DNA Profile: A
John Puckett c1628 (A1)
William Puckett c1657 VA (B2)
Richard Puckett c1690 VA (C8)
Richard Puckett 1719 VA (D15)
James Puckett c1747 VA (1764 tax list, Amelia Co, VA; 1790 Federal Census, Laurens Co, SC)
James Puckett c1781 SC (1820 Federal Census, Abbeville Co, SC)
William C Puckett c1821 SC (1850 Federal Census, Abbeville Co, SC)
Oliver Allen Puckett c1858 SC (1860 Federal Census, Abbeville Co, SC; gravestone says born 23Oct 1864)
Charles Oliver Puckett 1901 GA (1910 Federal Census, Saluda Co, SC)
Joseph Earl Puckett 1923 GA (1930 Federal Census, Richmond Co, GA)
Lineage #3 - Y-DNA Profile: A
Timothy Puckett c1770 SC (1790 Federal Census, Orangeburg District, SC)
Joseph Puckett c1792 SC (1860 Federal Census, Harrison Co, MO)
James Puckett 1837 IN (1870 Federal Census, Clinton Co, MO)
Andrew J Puckett 1858 MO (1900 Federal Census, Clay Co, MO)
Floyd Lee Puckett 1895 MO (1930 Federal Census, Coconino Co, AZ)
Elmer (Delmer) Puckett 1926 OK (1950 Federal Census, San Joaquin Co, CA), father of Gary Curtis Puckett
Lineage #4 - Y-DNA Profile: A
Timothy Puckett c1770 SC (1790 Federal Census, Orangeburg District, SC)
David Puckett c1805 KY (1850 Federal Census, Hart Co, KY)
John C Puckett 1830 KY (1870 Federal Census, Hart Co, KY)
Samuel Harrison Puckett 1870 KY (1910 Federal Census, Warren Co, KY)
William Hewitt Puckett 1897 KY (1940 Federal Census, Warren Co, KY)
Dillon Huett 'Hugh' Puckett 1929 KY (1950 Federal Census, Warren Co, KY)
Lineage #5 - Y-DNA Profile: A
John Puckett c1770 NC (1850 Federal Census, Carroll Co, VA)
Jacob Puckett c1798 VA (1850 Federal Census, Patrick Co, VA)
Elijah Puckett c1835 VA (1880 Federal Census, Carroll Co, VA)
Robert Lee Puckett 1864 VA (1910 Federal Census, Watauga Co, NC)
William Lester Puckett 1894 NC (1940 Federal Census, Avery Co, NC)
William Lester Puckett 1929 NC (1950 Federal Census, Avery Co, NC)
Lineage #6 - Y-DNA Profile: B
John Puckett c1628 (A1)
William Puckett c1657 VA (B2)
William Puckett c1682 VA (C7)
Douglass Puckett c1712 VA (D12)
Robert Puckett c1740 VA
Charles Puckett 1771 VA (1820 Federal Census, Rutherford Co, TN)
Caswell Puckett 1813 TN (1850 Federal Census, Rutherford Co, TN)
James N Puckett 1845 TN (1880 Federal Census, Rutherford Co, TN)
Charles C Puckett 1876 TN (1920 Federal Census, Bedford Co, TN)
James Nat Puckett 1914 TN (1950 Federal Census, Bedford Co, TN)
Lineage #7 - Y-DNA Profile: B
John Puckett c1628 (A1)
William Puckett c1657 VA (B2)
William Puckett c1682 VA (C7)
Douglass Puckett c1712 VA (D12)
Robert Puckett c1740 VA
Isham Puckett c1765 VA (1830 Federal Census, Rutherford Co, TN)
Isham Puckett c1806 TN (1850 Federal Census, Tishomingo Co, MS)
Samuel Puckett 1833 MS (1870 Federal Census, Prentiss Co, MS)
James C Puckett 1866 MS (1900 Federal Census, Crockett Co, TN)
Edgar D Puckett 1891 MS (1930 Federal Census, Cassia Co, ID)
Lineage #8 - Y-DNA Profile: B
John Puckett c1628 (A1)
William Puckett c1657 VA (B2)
William Puckett c1682 VA (C7)
William Puckett c1710 VA (D11)
William Puckett c1747 VA (E8 - Revolutionary War Veteran - https://revwarapps.org/r8513.pdf)
Andrew Puckett c1786 KY (1808 tax list, Adams Co, OH)
John Puckett 1804 OH (1850 Federal Census, Madison Co OH)
Arthur A Puckett 1831 OH (1860 Federal Census, Madison Co OH)
John W Puckett 1855 OH (1900 Federal Census, Douglas Co, KS)
John A Puckett 1886 KS (1920 Federal Census, Mesa Co, CO)