I have been working overtime the last few years on my Morrison line that is found in Pittsylvania County, Virginia during the Revolution. The main reason that I spend extra time on this line is that I have found a very enthusiastic and hardworking Morrison group that was already working together before I joined the group.
I believe that my 4-gr-grandparents were Solomon and Elizabeth Hensley who moved to what is now Cabell County WV in early 1800. Both of them died in this area where I still live today. All of the old time researchers say that Elizabeth's maiden name was Morrison. I can not find proof of that fact. However, I do believe it to be true. One of the main reasons I believe it to be true is that I have two dna matches to Ronald Bridges' mother and aunt and two dna matches to Valerie Morrison and her aunt and the grandmother of Melissa Smythe: Willodean Marshall Smythe. All of these matches almost certainly have to be connections to the h2 Morrison family. I can find no other sensible connection.
But a second dna puzzle of interest has shown up that I am going to talk about on this blog. I have tested probably 6 Hensley participants in the last 10 years. The first one was Denny Hensley. Both Denny and I were disappointed when his test came back with no match to any Hensley participants. So I continued to test other Hensley men in our area. And all of them matched Denny. And all of them descend from the oldest child found in Solomon and Elizabeth's home: Samuel Hensley. So I began to look for another participant. And with the help of Mary Gordon Smith, I found a male who was willing to test who descends from the second oldest child found in the home of Solomon and Elizabeth: Bird Hensley. Bird is my ancestor. And this kit results came back. The results do not match those of the descendants of Samuel Hensley, but they also do not match any other Hensley results.
Solomon and Elizabeth Hensley were living in Pittsylvania County, Virginia when my ancestor, Bird Hensley was born c. 1810. I know this because Bird enlisted in the army for 24 hours before they threw him out for being underage. However, the records remained. Bird knew where he was born. I am certain that he gave correct information. Solomon's parents are found living in Pittsylvania County on Potter Creek in the time period as well.....quite close to where the Morrison family are proven to be living in 1809.
So several years later and a lot more research, I believe that Samuel Hensley was not the son of Solomon. And I believe that Solomon was not a Hensley in spite of the fact that I have found parents for Solomon of John Hensley and his wife, Milly. who lived in Pittsylvania County during the Revolutionary War. Somewhere in Solomon's ancestry there is a birth incident with a Foster Male and a Hensley female. The Hensley and Foster families are found to be interconnected for many generations. I find them together in Louisa County, Virginia in 1757. I made this note on another blot (clear at the bottom of the page)
http://marshamoses.blogspot.com/2012/10/hensleyfoster-connections.html
However, I would say that the majority of Hensley's in Cabell/Wayne Counties in WV descend from Samuel. And now that I have looked for many years, I see that Samuel was about six years older than the rest of the children. And I have found information in the Marshall Special Collections that Samuel was the half brother of Bird. And in another place in the Marshall Special Collections that Samuel was the son of Solomon's first wife by another man. I can not make either of these ideas work. But I am working on this puzzle at this time.
So first, the men who have done yDNA testing for me who descend from Samuel, match a small number of miscellaneous surnames....none make sense. Second, The Marshall special collections suggest that Samuel was actually Samuel Cramer who was adopted by Solomon, raised in Solomon's home, and given the Hensley surname.
Samuel's was not Solomon's son.
One of the Hensley men who did yDNA and family finder testing for me is Jack Hensley. Jack is a descendant of Samuel. Jack's family finder shows clear connections to the Morrison family with matches to several Morrison participants. Jack also matches me and my mother. However, this is not clear indication that he might be Elizabeth Morrison Hensley's child as he has another Morrison connection in his tree. But Jack's family folklore says that his however many gr grandfather's was a Morrison adopted by a Hensley. So I have looked at the possibility that Samuel (Cramer?) Hensley might have been Elizabeth's child that she brought into the home when she married Solomon. Samuel does not seem to have a male Cramer's yDNA.
Nothing seems to work perfectly. This past week I began looking at possible Cramer connections. I pulled up Trees on Ancestry that had Cramer/Kramer in their branches. And one tree stood out. It is owned by Brandon Joyner. I have sent him a message. Much to my amazement, Brandon shows the following in his tree:
