Finds from our DNA

Note these conclusions are generally supported by circumstantial and documentary evidence but are still subject to reinterpretation as more evidence becomes available.

1. Suzanne G_______ descends from Samuel Harper. Soon after I found this DNA match, Nadene S_________ posted an 1856 California letter from William Meredith to his uncle, thus identifying the parents of Frances (Harper) (Meredith) Pedigo as James and Mary Harper. I re-examined data on this couple and wondered why their sons were sent to Joshua Woosley instead of to a Harper uncle or cousin (see below).
2. Some of the biggest finds from DNA to date include the ancestry of George Morris. Anne O’H_____________ descends from George Jackson Morris. Further matches to his descendants confirmed a first marriage for George Morris, since time and place both put the new relative into George’s family. In addition, a lack of connections to his supposed parents caused me to re-evaluate the Morrises in early Kentucky. I shared DNA segments with descendants of Hammond Morris, plus the family of Hammond’s mother, Elizabeth Hammond. This family was in close proximity to George Morris’s birth, first marriage, and censuses and to his likely first father-in-law, Ignatius Ransom.
3. Suggested parents for Martha Strode were only a possibility, until an X-chromosome match to Gale G__________ was traced to a brother of Martha (Strode) Bryan. The parents whose x-chromosome was inherited by both of us died while crossing the Atlantic to America.
4. Kim B_______’s biological father was named either Blankenship or Burbank. She has a close DNA relationship to me, including the x-chromosome. Lenora (Phillips) Ramsey’s grandson was _____ _____ Burbank. Matching segments of Margaret Ellen (Parker) (Turner) McCord’s x-chromosome were inherited by both Kim and me.
5. Adoptee Michael W___________ was shown to be descendant of Hollin B Pedigo and wife Sarah F Forbis.
6. Previous data showed Catherine (Harmon) Light was likely either the daughter of Philip and Barbara (Lutz) Harmon or Westmoreland Co PA or of Christian and Christina (Lenhart) Harmon of the same county. Both Marsha S_________ and I match descendants of the latter couple with additional connections to Catherine’s Lenhart ancestors.
7. Links to New England Hurds, especially families from Fairfield Co CT who moved to NY State, connect Caleb Hurd to the CT Hurds, with matches to several families. Suzanne P_________ descends from Effie Hurd, through Samuel Hurd of Potter Co PA and Joseph Hurd of Onondaga Co NY. Caleb appears to have been closely related to the Washington and Monroe Co OH Hurds.
8. The surname Austin from North or South Carolina in many matches led to checking for a Parker-Austin marriage at Rootsweb.com. I was able to name William and Candace (Austin) Parker as Greenberry’s parents. Candace may have been a daughter of William Austin and was likely a granddaughter of John and Mary (McBee) Austin. She was also part Saponi Indian. And William Parker’s mother, Mary Ann (–) (Coons) Parker, was full-blood Cherokee.
9. Joshua Woosley of Hart Co KY was probably a brother of Mary (Woosley) Harper, since I have matches to descendants of at least six of his uncles. He was in Hart County at the right time for the marriage of Mary to James Harper. Mary was likely the Mary Woosley at the same church with Joshua and Hance Harper in 1804. Joshua was the son of Thomas and Dinah (Tribble) Woosley and grandson of Thomas “Moses” and Elizabeth (Walters) Woosley.
10. Some years ago, I considered Catherine (Wentz) Eyster a daughter of John Frederick Wentz Jr; DNA links to Bilger siblings and other kin make her more likely the daughter of his brother, John Philip Wentz, and Philip’s wife, Maria Magdalena Bilger.
11. Ancestry.com insists I have Ziegler and Frey ancestors. I believe this to be the family of Maria Magdalena, Mrs Michael Moser Jr.

DNA matches reinforce the placement of several people in the families that the research of myself and others suggests:

1. Mary (Ferguson) Nowlin, daughter of James and Agnes (Adams) Ferguson;
2. Elizabeth (Reiff) Eyster, daughter of Peter Reiff;
3. Elizabeth (Worst) Ramp, daughter of Jacob Worst;
4. David Dickinson, son of David and Persis (Wheeler) Dickinson;
5. Hannah (Elkins) Pedigo, daughter of Ralph and Frances (Browne) Elkins;
6. Joseph Phifer, son of Martin Pfeiffer;
7. Aylee (Linville) Bryan, the second wife of Joseph Bryan [x-chromosome match to descendant];
8. Emily (Martin) Gentry, daughter of Joseph and Diana S (Wilcox) Martin;
9. Elijah Willoughby, descendant of Stephen Warrington;
10. Candace (Austin) Parker as a close relative of Daltons, Mary McBee, and other Austins;
11. connections to the Charlton family in Northumberland;
12. Oursler connections;
13. Julianna (Perkey) Hanna, daughter of Christian Perkey, and her husband, Alexander Hanna, shown to be closely related to children of an earlier Alexander Hanna, who died in 1809. I used to think my Catherine (Hanna) Shultz was a daughter of James B. Hanna of that family; now it looks as though she was a niece;
14. Cavin Gossett descendants do not match yDNA of other Gossetts. I have several at\utosomal DNA matches to those Gossetts and to the children of Henry Mayze of Henry County; and
15. Anna Magdalena (Mayer) Schmidt [x-chromosome match to descendant].

Waiting to be resolved

1. In the past, I have ignored claims that Ashley Alvis married Miss Carroll and had a daughter Sarah who married James Boydstun. But I have several matches to descendants of the Boydstun couple. Where does Sarah (Alvis) Boydstun fit in the documented Alvis family?
2. One Huff researcher states that Philip Huff does not have the yDNA of other Huff families. Yet I match George M Huff and other Huffs. Most likely is the Huff family of Harlan Co KY, descended from the Huffs of NJ, back to Dietrich Pauleszon Hoff. I had to consider whether my Philip Huff of Wayne Co KY was the same man who divorced his first wife, Jemima Thurman or Turman in 1819, since I matched the DNA of several of their children. Finding records in both counties helped me decide for now that they were different men, probably first cousins.
3. I used to be convinced that John Gossett of Washington County, Ohio, was not the same man as John of Blackberry Creek in Patrick County, Virginia. But now I have DNA matches to descendants of at least three of the Washington County Gossetts. Have I been wrong all along? Looking more closely at the pension application of the Washington Co OH John, I see that he lived with a 12-year-old named Abi, not that he claimed this child was his son or daughter.
4. Very Old DAR records name William Pedigo’s wife as Elizabeth Cliff, relying only on an applicant’s statement. I have found autosomal DNA matches to Joseph and Sarah (Pearson) Cliff’s descendants. Was this really her name?
5. Are numerous matches to Morris family of Pasquotank Co NC a new connection? Descendants of this family are also descendants of Elizabeth (Harper) Morris of Pendleton Co SC. And there is also a possible Sample connection. Now known to match my maternal aunt Ramona Duff.
6. Blakey and Edens/Eddins families.
7. Potential Delaware connections for Mary Sample.
8. Many of my autosomal DNA matches have West Virginia ancestry; prior to this, I had no knowledge of any ancestors in that state. Two prominent names are Kittle and Ashcraft. Could these be related to Caleb Hurd?
9. My aunt, Ramona Duff, has 2% French ancestry, as do two of her first cousins on her father’s side. Unfortunately, none of her third cousins show this French ancestry. I assume the French is from families like Ligon and Agee who may be in the Webster or Bagby line. It could be from Parker or Willoughby, but the locations don’t line up like they do with the Hanover and Bedford County people.

New Family names not yet connected

• Gedmatch.com triangulation shows possible descent from Joseph and Susannah (Lewis) Collins in northern counties of Virginia. However, Susannah is a granddaughter of John Lewis and Isabella Miller, so that might be the connection.
• Kittle family of Ulster Co NY. Some members went to New Jersey and others to West Virginia. My highest unknown match is 45 cMs in two segments for a member of the Kittle family. It now appears I may have both maternal and paternal links to this family.
• Ligon and connected families of New Kent, Hanover and Goochland counties in early Virginia. Moseley. Agee, Dabney, and Harris. Now known to match my maternal aunt Ramona Duff.
• Ferris/Farris/Phares.
• At least four AncestryDNA matches to Elizabeth (Swords) Dennis and family members. Possibly through Edens/Eddins.
• Shugar Fortner. Some members of this family were in Wilkes Co NC at the same time as Bryan McClendon (1793), and others were in same county as Dentons or Wilcox/Wilcoxsons.
• Two women named Catharine Van Wagenen. One of them is the daughter of a Kittle and married Freeman Austin. But these might be simple coincidences. Two sisters of Abraham Kittle married Van Wagenens.
• Joseph Whiteley and wife Sarah Stapleton.
• Shanabrook, might be a connection to Wentz.
• Mock, possibly connected to Samples.
• Lehman and/or Schrock.
• Strasser in Berks Co PA, likely Worst connection.
• New England Appleton.
• Ashcraft in western Virginia, now West Virginia.
• Heberling of Cumru Township, Berks Co PA.
• Loftin.

Now known to match my maternal aunt Ramona Duff.

The Pasquotank Co NC Morris family.

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