Jewish ancestry

In chatting with Lynda Davis-Logan today, Lynda shared the information that her Blankenship DNA participant had a very interesting match with a man in Alabama who is 90 with last name Ward.  Her story is fascinating in that this man is not Jewish.  However, he had had many occasions in his life when others had mistaken him for being Jewish.  His testing indicates that indeed his heritage is Jewish as he falls into the haplogroup J-M172.  Linda's Blankenship DNA participant is a match for this man as well as two men who tested (one is my participant) for the Wooten Surname project.  They also share the J-M172 haplogroup type.

I wanted to put down the story that this 90 year old man told Lynda is the probable beginnings of these Ward families.  He said that these men were Syrian Jews.  They moved into the border area between Scotland and England with the Roman conquest.  They lived there for many generations and because they were Jews they were given the less glamorous jobs of being the guards.  These men were left to protect the Roman interests when the Romans pulled out.  When surnames were put into place (After 1066, the Norman barons introduced surnames into England, and the practice gradually spread.)  these men were given or took the name of Ward or Warden.  These families  lived in the borders area of Great Britain for many generations.  

I wanted to write this down so I don't loose the thought.

Marriage of Spencer and Betsy Marshall in Culpeper County, Virginia

In the book Culpeper County, Virginia Marriages, 1780-1853 by John Vogt and T. William Kethley, Jr.  on page 86:

Pinckard, Spencer and Betsy Marshall   30 Aug 1799;  min--William Mason (Baptist)

I believe it very likely that this is my 4-gr-grandparents.  Here are the reasons:

My Dollarhide book tells me that the census records for all counties in Virginia are lost for 1790.  The only counties in Virginia that have extant census records for 1800 are Accommack and Louisa.     In the census of 1810 on Ancestry Spencer Pinckard is found living in Culpeper with a household of 13 people.  Five of them are slaves.  The two adults are both between the ages of 26 and 44.  There are five males under the age of 10 and one female under the age of 10.  These are perfect ages for a marriage in 1799.

By 1820 Spencer has already died as I find Elizabeth listed as head of the household.  She still has the five slaves.  She is still between the ages of 26 and 44. She has 3 male children under 10 and 2 male children 16 thru 25.  She has 2 female children under 10 and 1 female 16-25.  That adds up to 8 children still in the home.

Also in the 1820 census are two more Pinckard males:  Marshall Pinckard with 15 persons in his household.  5 are slaves.  There is one white male 26-44 and 1 white female 26-44,  4 males under 10, 1 male 10-15, 1 male 16-18,  2 females under 10, 1 female 16-25.  The only way that this can be Marshall Pinckard who is the son of Spencer and Elizabeth is if some of his siblings are living with him  hmmmm....the only way that this can make any sense for this to be the son of Elizabeth and Spencer is Somehow Elizabeth did not count Marshall but Marshall reported himself to be the head of the household in which  his mother and siblings lived.

However, the fact that Spencer and Elizabeth named a son Marshall is the second reason that I give in the argument that the marriage above is that of my 4-gr-grandparents.

In 1830 Census on ancestry there is a very large household headed by Charles Pinckard (A Charles had been in Fauquier County in 1820)  this household is not children nor grandchildren of Spencer and Elizabeth judging by the wealth and ages of the people who live there.  Elizabeth is still the head of a household.  She is now 40-49 with 4 children still in the house and 6 slaves.  The other two males in Culpeper are Jas and Jno neither of which are children of Elizabeth and Spencer (perhaps they belong to Charles).  My best guess is that Robert, Thomas and Edward and perhaps one more son have moved to TN.  The three girls have married and moved away.  There are 3 males in the home

The 1840 census find Chs, Eliz, Jas and Jno Pinckard in Culpeper.  Elizabeth is still not 50.  She now has 2 females and two males younger than 20 in her home.

In 1850 Charles Pinckard is still in Culpeper with wife Sarah and children Sarah, Catherine and Alfred.
Elizabeth is now 72 and only has one daughter living with her:  Mary who is now 32.

In the 1860 census Elizabeth is 87 and she and Mary are still living together.  Mary's age is hard to read.  However one big surprise:  Elizabeth says she was born in Albemarle while Mary says she is born in Culpeper.  Elizabeth died before 1866 so we do not expect to find her in any further censuses.

Spencer was still alive in 1815.  Checking the 1815 Directory of Virginia Landowners Culpeper County by Roger G. Ward (extracted from Land Tax Records in the Library of Virginia), we find Spencer's land to be 5 miles south of the Courthouse.  This would put him in the area shown below:

Gotta learn how to use my scanner this week!

Spencer and Elizabeth Pinkard of Culpeper County, Virginia

You may have already heard my Woo Hoo!  from WV where ever you are tonight!  I have a really good buddy who has a Hawkins line that is shown by DNA testing to connect with my Hawkins ancestors.  She is the registrar for a DAR chapter in Tennessee.  Last night she sent me a link for a chancery case that she had found while she was trying to help a gentleman who was working on his daughter's DAR supplementary.  I had never seen this chancery case.  Makes me think about the fact that I have LOTS to look at to solve all of these mysteries of my ancestors.  Here is the link:

http://www.lva.virginia.gov/chancery/case_detail.asp?CFN=047-1868-001

On page 6 of this chancery case, there is clear explanation that MY 3-gr-grandmother, Matilda Pinkard Hawkins, was the daughter of Spencer and Elizabeth Pinkard!  Woo Hoo!  All of Spencer and Elizabeth's children are named. And they are:

Thomas Pinkard (decd)
Mary A. Pinkard
Marshall P. Pinkard
Edward W. Pinkard
William Pinkard
Richard Pinkard
Martha Pinkard
H??? Pinkard (Penny Alby believes this is Hiram)
Matilda Pinkard
Robert Pinkard

The Chancery Case seems to have been in progress from 1866 to 1868.  It is titled Robert Pinkard vs Thomas Pinkard +c.  It was heard in the Circuit Court in Culpeper County, Virginia.  I believe that it may have been a friendly case to get everyone's permission to divide up the Dower Land of Elizabeth Pinckard.

I believe that the first four paragraphs basically say that Spencer Pinckard died intestate in Culpeper County.  His wife, Elizabeth, received 63 acres and the home that sat on the acres as her dower land.  Elizabeth has now died.  Robert wants the land and home to be sold and for the proceeds from that sale to be split into tenths.  He believes that he is entitled to receive two tenths because his brother, Thomas, devised the land to him in his will in Tennessee.


Ok....I skipped some pages and will try Edward P. Hawkins' answer:
This answer of Edward P. Hawkins to a Bill of Complaint exhibited against him and others by Robert Pinckard in the Circuit Court of Culpeper.

This respondent making the usual reservation  for answering to said Bill or so much thereof as he is advised it is ???? for him to answer , answering ???? that he believes the statements therein contained to be true.  The small tract of land of Sixty three acres is incapable of division among the heirs of the said Pinckard.  The enclosures and ????have all been destroyed and nothing remains but a small dwelling house.  It might be made a comfortable home for one family but a division would render all portions almost ???? This respondent concludes in the prayer of the Bill for a sale of the land and distribution of the proceeds.  Having fully answered pray to be dis????? with reasonable courtesy.  Edward P. Hawkins

It seems to me that all of the respondents  answer that the land is incapable of division.  They all seem to agree that the land should be sold and the proceeds divided....seven sign such an answer on  page 22 of the case.  and it looks as if these are actual signatures of the seven people.

On page 26 of the suit one can find the will of Thomas Pinkard.  It is a very nice will written 9 May 1846 in State of Tennessee and County of Davidson.  In it Thomas says that he bequeaths all of his interest in his mother's estate to his brother, Robert Pinkard for his kindness and expense in his last illness.

It looks as if the money is split up on page 51.

On page 93 Sheriff of Nelson County commanded to summon H? M Pinckard....he is not living in Culpeper in 1866.

On page 110 Thomas R. Hawkins writes that he is entitled to a life estate  but gives all of his proceeds to his four children.  His signature is very pretty.  Not a lot of information in the 124 pages after the WONDERFUL identification of the children  and grandchildren of Spencer and Elizabeth Pinckard.



In August 2019, Linda Hutcherson Simmons from Missouri sent me a message via Ancestry that she had read my blog post about the Pinkard family.  She shared information that she had about this family that we share.  Her ancestor is Marshall Pinkard who first married Agnes in Culpeper County, Virginia in 1823.  The couple was married by a Baptist Preacher with surname Mason.  Marshall Pinkard is next found in the 1830  Tennessee census with 3 young children and no wife.  In 1831 Marshall Pinkard married Elizabeth Johnson/Johnston.  Linda said she found more about this family line when reading  a TN Supreme Court Case finalized (she thinks) in 1842, after his death.

If you have information about any of the other of these children, I would love to add more to this post.  Contact me at mosesm@earthlink.net

Quaker research in Pennsylvania

The eternal question.  I am working on something and information that is unrelated to what I am working on comes to my attention.  Do I drop what I am doing?  If I don't put what I am working on aside, how do I file the new information in such a way that I won't loose it?

So this blog post is about information sent from NEGHS in an e-mail about Quaker research in Pennsylvania.....One of the highest priority subjects on my agenda.  Mainly this post is to remind me of what was sent by NEGHS to look at in the future.

It is from the Nov newsletter from NEGHS.  And is an article written by:

Ask A Genealogist

by Lynn Betlock, Editor

Question: My ancestor, a Quaker from Wales, immigrated to Philadelphia in about 1690. Does NEHGS have any Friends meeting records or wills for Chester County, Pennsylvania? If not, where can I find them? 

Answer by Genealogist Jeanne Belmonte: The first official Quaker meetings for what would become the Chester Monthly Meeting took place in the home of a Mr. Wade in 1681. Other meeting houses were built as the community grew. Early meetings took place in Goshen, Uwchlan, Caln, Kennett, Birmingham, Nottingham, West Nottingham, New Garden, London Grove, Bradford, and Valley in what is now Chester County. 

An index to Pennsylvania Quaker meeting records has been published: The William Wade Hinshaw Index to Pennsylvania Quaker Meeting Records (Kokomo, Ind.: Selby Publishing & Printing, 1990). This ten-volume series is available here at NEHGS. It may also be available at a library near your home. You may wish to do a Worldcat search to locate the nearest library.

The Friends Historical Library, located at Swarthmore College, has an extensive collection of meeting records. More information about their holdings and how to access the collection can be found on their website.

Chester County probate records have been microfilmed and are part of Pennsylvania, Probate Records, 1683-1994, an online FamilySearch collection. These records are not searchable, but may be browsed by county. Records include indexes, wills and estate papers. For more information and to access the records, click here.

The Family History Library has microfilmed many books containing abstracts of wills, estate papers, and other court documents. Many of these books on microfilm are available for loan and can be viewed at your local Family History Center. A list of Chester County resources available on microfilm can be found here.

In addition to the resources above, "Quaker Genealogy" by Sally Benny, Assistant Archivist here at NEHGS, is a wonderful guide to available Quaker resources. In addition to a description of the NEHGS holdings, you will see a list of helpful websites at the bottom of the page.   

Trips sponsored by NEGHS in 2015 can be found at:

http://shop.americanancestors.org/collections/research-tours-programs?pass-through=true

The edition also mentioned a book that I could not find on the website:

Medieval Welsh Ancestors of Certain Americans: 50% off ($35, now $17.50)
The closest library that has the book is LVA.  I might want to look at it if I go to Boston this winter.

Vita Brevis, the NEHGS blog, offers essays by the Society's expert staff on their own research and news of the greater genealogical community. It includes short posts on research methods--applicable to a variety of genealogical subjects--as well as posts on results.

For more ideas on how to share your family history, watch the webinar "Sharing Your Family History: Ideas from NEHGS" (1:01:28, presented live November 18, 2014, by Penny Stratton).

Commentary: Writer Captures Colonial Piracy
"An early 1700s diary in the Maine Historical Society archives shows the brutality of New England attacks."

Our research tours are filling up--register today!Belfast Research Tour
June 21-28, 2015
Join NEHGS for our second trip to Belfast, Northern Ireland, and make the most of the resources at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) and other repositories. Track down your ancestors in Northern Ireland through individual consultations, educational opportunities, and expert assistance. Register today

Members, if you register online for tours, be sure to first login to receive a special member discount.

Luther Johnson

My mother-in-law, Sue Moses, has had wonderful FF DNA matches at FTDNA.  The newest match is a grandson of Luther Johnson.  Luther was Sue's uncle.  He was a brother to Mattie Lee Johnson Harris, Sue's mother.  Here is what Sue remembered about her uncle's family when I asked her to relate all that she could think of tonight.

Luther was a conductor on the N&W railroad.  He lived in Williamson, WV.  I was not clear on whether he was always the conductor for both the #4 that ran early in the morning and also the #16 that ran about dinner time.  Sue said that Luther was her mother's favorite brother.

Sue said that sometimes she would ride down with him on one and come back on the other.  She would visit his family.  One summer when she was about 12, she remembered having spent much of the summer in Williamson with Luther's family.  Sue said that Aunt Bessie had a garden that was maybe a half mile up the hollow from the house.  She would go to the garden with Aunt Bessie and help her.  Then at night they would cook the vegetables and Sue remembered them as having been delicious.

Her memory was that as you go into Williamson, there is a yard where they park the N&W cars.  It was quite close to where Luther's family lived.  If you walked across the yard and over the bridge, you were in Kentucky in a town called Stone.  A Mr. Brown and his family lived there.  Mr. Brown had been her father's boss in Twin Branch, but had been transferred to Stone.  Sue said that she visited several of the families who lived in Stone.  I looked at maps and could not make this make sense with modern information.

She remembered Luther's wife to have been from Henry County and having had maiden name of Lacey.