When did Jacob Castle move to Southwest Virginia and did he take his Indian wife with him or meet her there?

 I was cruising the internet with no particular place to go when I found an Ancestry hint about Jacob Castle.  It iis a list of possible 

I have wondered more than once about the fact that Jacob married a native American woman before he moved to Southwest Virginia.  So I decided to look at the above fact a bit more closely.  A google search shows that there is no Pellissippi River in Pennsylvania.  It is the Indian name for the Clinch River.  This would seem a bit more likely for my understanding of the story.  

I also would like to add into this post the fact that an Ancestry researcher wrote a short post that I dded to my Ancestry tree about the fact that it has been said that Jacob was Albino.  This researcher interpreted that folklore to be attributed to the fact that Jacob had German blood and was probably blond and fair and had blue eyes.  He would have seemed very white to the Indians he befriended.  I like this thought quite well.

So the question is about when did Jacob leave Pennsylvania and about when did he show up in Southwest Virginia.  There is the added idea that he was in Orange County Virginia c. 1740 when there is a land transaction and/or a transaction in which her bought a Negro woman from Jacob Stover.  Others say he was born about 1717 in the Palatinate.  He would have  been about 23 at this time if these facts are true.  By 1746 documentation is found tying him to southwest Virginia.

It is clear that he is friendly with the Indians by 1749 when Adam Harman charges him with treason.

My own gut feeling is that Jacob travelled south from PA on his own with no wife and that he took a wife from the Clinch River area of N.C., Va, TN, Ky.  Jacob was probably familiar with the entire area.  Jacob came from a Mennonite background and had lived among Quakers in PA.  His nature was to have no quarrel with any man and to be a peace loving person.  Perhaps the quarrel between Jacob and Adam Harmon caused him to spend much time away from the civilization in which Harmon lived.  And Jacob would not have looked down on the native American tribes and the people who made up those tribes.  He would have accepted them as equals and friends.

Maps of Virginia Counties by John Wood

In Dec 2022 the library of Virginia sent out a post to subscribers about the maps drawn up by John Wood c.1820. 

https://uncommonwealth.virginiamemory.com/blog/2022/12/05/a-map-of-madison-county/ 

n February 1816, the Virginia state legislature passed “An Act to provide an accurate chart of each county and a general map of the territory of this Commonwealth.” The provisions of the act were detailed and specific; each county was directed to contract with a qualified person to prepare an accurate chart of the county that incorporated boundaries at 200 poles to the inch, waterways, mountains, islands, principal roads, ferries and bridges (roads are colored red and waterways are blue), and the exact position of all the cities, towns, villages, mills, manufactories, and public houses. Beginning in 1819 John Wood served as the chief surveyor for this project and oversaw the completion of 96 counties and the drafting for six counties before his untimely death in 1822.

Among these maps held by the Library of Virginia is one for Cabell County! Is this the same map reproduced in our Heritage book for KYOWVA?  Is a copy available at MU special collections?

 

Fairfax County, Virginia

 I don't think I had ancestors in this area in this time frame, but I can't stand not to put a link in my blog to take a look at this map in the future!

https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=cca6b4a3ef644dbfa89e16b6feb515fe&fbclid=IwAR3yxd3URdAbpTD_dDcSgwkdQ0jAuJ2LT4_dt2kK91rF05co-kQOlouYHWE

Push open to view map

Marshalll Family

 As I read the book on Lunenburg County, Virginia for background to help solve the Wooten/Cochran puzzle I am finding references to my Marshall family.  Again this post is a bit of a brainstorming session with misc information as I read it. I am reading this book on Ancestry

On page 100 I find references to a land transaction in 1722:

So where is the Meherrin River?  I turn to Wikipedia:  

The part of the river that flow through Virginia lies in what his now Southhampton, Greenville, Brunswick Counties and seems to be the border between Lunenburg and Mechlinburg.  In 1722 none of these  counties would have existed.  Hmmmm this is a bit confusing Brunswick was formed in 1721 and perhaps his land was in that county?

Wooten/Cochran puzzle

  I have worked on a brick wall on my Mother's Wooten line for many years!  It is a long story.  If you want to catch up here are links to past blog posts:

http://marshamoses.blogspot.com/2013/10/wooten-in-surry-county-nc.html

The above link takes me to a blog post written in 2013.  One of the pieces of information in this post is the possibility that the surname Jordan may be connected to both Silas Wooten and also to the family of Thomas Ooten/Wooten of Surry County whose widow, Ann Stotts is later found in eastern Kentucky with second husband, John Stotts, and children Silas, Nancy, Jordan, and Levi.  I see an error in this post at the very bottom:  Silas does not witness the estate of River Jordan.  He witnesses someone else's estate and River Jordan is named in the document but is still living.

I am not adding other links today ....if you want to read more, use the search engine on the site with search word Silas.

Oh, Wait.  Here is another blog post that has some incorrect information, but furthers the story:

http://marshamoses.blogspot.com/2014/01/silas-wooten-john-hunt-isaac-williamson.html

Ok.  Today's information.  I have extra time this December as I am in Boston recuperating from a knee replacement.  While cruising on Ancestry I found Shirley Roberts.  Shirley's father and brother are yDNA matches to both Scott Wooten and David Wooten (my yDNA participants for my Wooten line).  This indicates that Shirley and I share an ancestor who had sons who connect to our Wooten/Cochran lines,

So this blog post is about the places where our mutual ancestor might have lived.  Shirley says that her own research has shown the earliest Cockeran ancestors of her father's yDNA matches to have been found in Lunenburg County. Lunenburg encompassed the area that is now Halifax, Pittsylvania, Henry, and area west.  Lunenburg was formed in 1746.  Before that the area would have fallen into Brunswick and before that into ....well it would have just been frontier in the very early days.

Halifax was formed out of Lunenburg in 1752

Remember that Silas P. Wooten enlisted for duty in Halifax during the Revolutionary War.  But it is unclear if he lived in the area or if "everyone" was going to Halifax to enlist in that time period,

The next area of interest is Surry and Wilkes County in NC.  I have long suspected that it could be possible that Silas had lived in that area before the Revolution and I have a good bit of information about that on my blog.  What is new is that in my cruising on Ancestry, I found LOTS of Cockerans/Cochrans in that area in the right time frame.  I was amazed at the number of dna matches I have on Ancestry who have this surname in their tree!

When  I used the names found in Shirley's tree of John Daniel Cockerham b. 1705 in Lunenburg County with a son Moses V. Cockerham b. 1737 in Lunenburg County I found a tree owned by Jennifer Engle that connected Shirley's Cochrans with Surry County, NC. BINGO!  This is exactly what I hoped to find!

Looking at maps I find that this area is just west of Mt. Airy on the NC, Virginia border.  So I believe we are beginning to narrow down places and times our mutual ancestor is most likely to be found.

What is next?  Certainly Moses V. Cockerham is a candidate for our mutual ancestor.  But so is his father.  Or any previous generation....or any of his brothers....no that is not true.  Shirley comes down from Moses.  So if Moses is not shared ancestor it has to be an earlier Cockerham.  So I suppose the next step is to sort out the Cockerham families found in Lunenburg County, Virginia and Surry County, NC.

So this morning I am reading Chapter III in the book:

The Cassell Family

While cruising on Ancestry, I found a reference to a book in which Hans Peter Cassel is mentioned.  Oh, my.  This is beyond interesting!  The book can be found on Ancestry.  I continue to look at my many ancestors who are found in Lancaster County, PA in the years in which the Scotch-Irish, German, and Quaker families were flocking into this very new frontier.

https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/48457/images/DutchQuakerPA-002145-i?pId=355407

Hans Peter Cassel is said to have resided at Germantown and have been the town crier for several years.  Where is Germantown?  It was located just northwest of Philadelphia.  When Hans Peter moved his family there the frontier area had not opened up yet.. Perhaps Germantown was indeed the Frontier.   I know from research on my Moore family that in the mid to late 1600 NO ONE wanted to live as far west as the Schuylkill River.  Commerce was centered around the Delaware River.  But that by the second generation the children of these original immigrants had begun to move to the "suburbs".  However, it is my understanding that these Dutch/German immigrants moved directly to Germantown.  The original 34 settlers drew lots for their land in 1683.  My Cassel family is not among them.  But it is possible that the wife of Hans Peter Cassel had relatives among them:  Abraham and Herman op Den Graeff.  If some of the Ancestry trees are correct, Hans Peter Cassel's mother had maiden name of op Den Graeff.

Ok.  At this point I am having trouble sorting out these family members from Kriesheim.  Does my Jacob really connect to this family and how do they all fit together?  I believe I have found a man with last name Castle who is willing to do yDNA testing for me and has a good paper trail to our mutual Jacob Castle who founded Castlewoods.  Plus he is an Ancestry DNA match to me.  Now I am looking for a male with Castle/Cassel surname who descends from a branch of the family that did not leave PA with Jacob.

My plan today is to cruise Ancestry for the above goal.  I will be adding "stuff" from this exercise to this post as I find it.  There is no organization to this post.  Hopefully the organization will happen after I get yDNA results.  This is more like a brainstorm event.

https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/11780/images/dvm_GenMono001194-00008-0?pId=11

This next (below) is from above book

The below is taken from this book that I am reading on Ancestry.  The pronoun He in the beginning of ths excerpt refers to Willam Penn on his visit to Kreisheim.

As I reread my post in December with the goal of doing some editing and of also refreshing my brain with what I know, I remember having thought about the possibility that our Cassel family were French Huguenots who had relocated at Kreishiem.  I have recently listened to a webinar about the Huguenots and it was stated that during the time of the massacres and persecutions in France these people moved everywhere!  The fact that one of the sons of Johannes Cassel (Arnold) married a woman of Huguenot ancestry could be a clue if I ever want to follow up on this thought.  Again remember I am brainstorming.

The next is from a post made by Brenda Reed at genealogy.com  This article is worth rereading.

https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/cassell/734/

Circa 1632 Yelles married a woman we know only as Mary and by her had five known children born between c1632 and 1650:HEINRICH (a Mennonite minister, possibly a bishop, settled in Germantown, Pennsylvania); JOHANNES, a weaver who converted to Quaker and settled at Germantown in 1681;YELLES, a Mennonite minister who remained in Kreisheim his whole life;ARNOLD, a Mennonite minister who settled in Germantown; and ABRAHAM who remained in Kreisheim.Due to religious persecution for their Mennonite beliefs, Yelles and his family lived in hiding, moving from town to town, though YELLES's main residence was Kriesheim and Worm, in the Palatinate. Yelles was a man of abiding faith who withstood tremendous hardships and came through his struggle with tremendous grace. His descendantsvariously spell their surname as Cassell, Cassel, Kasel, Kassel, and Castle and can be found living all across America. Yelles died in Kreishem around 1681.

Below is a map from a Google search for the Palatinate

 

I found a site on Rootsweb that gives a name for the wife of Yelles.  This is definitely not the Yelles described above,  but it is possibly the son of Yelles above if he was one of the older children.  However, this does not fit with the idea that too Yelles remained in Kreisham.

Oh, wow....this is getting confusing.  But this whether near truth or not does establish that at least someone found connection between Cassell family and op den Graeff family.  I am also thinking about what I learned about the French Huguenots last night.  I noticed that Calvin was mentioned in something that I read this morning and he seems to be connect to Hueguenots.  

And, below is a map showing the location of Worms.  Brenda Reed's blog post on genealogy.com says: 

Kresheim came to be called Kriegsheim in 1794, and today is Monsheim Kriegsheim

located seven miles west of the City of Worms on the west bank of the Rhine River in the heart of the German Lower (Rhenish) Palitinate in between the cities of Ludwigshafen and Mainz

The red marker below shows where google shows Monsheim Kreigsheim to be today.

Hmm....thinking right now that while looking for a second yDNA participant I should give some thought of if there is a proven son of the Yelles Cassel of Kreisham?  Or perhaps someone who seems very solid in this family.  I will give this some thought.

Some of the information that  have typed into the Reunion data base for Castle comes from the following site:  

https://wc.rootsweb.com/trees/110177/I55787/-/individual

The above screen shot also comes from that site and is a list of sources used by author who posted on Rootsweb

Jacob Castle and Jemimey Hensley

 It is almost Thanksgiving.  FTDNA has dna tests on sale until Nov 30th.  I continue to try to find participants who have good paper trail to Jacob Castle who founded Castlewoods, Virginia as well as one who has good paper trail to the Kasell family found in Lancaster County, Pa in the 1700s.  I would like dna proof that Jacob was born and baptized in Lancaster.

While looking at Castle trees on Ancestry, I found one that belongs to Monell Servis.  She has a timeline for Jacob Jr.   Jacob seems to have been married at least twice.  According to this tree his first wife was Mary Shane.  His second wife was Jemimey Hensley.  He married her in 1786 in Washington County, VA. According to this tree,  Jacob's son Zedekiah was born shortly after the marriage.  Zedekiah is my ancestor and my information agrees with this tree that that is likely birth date for Zedekiah.  This would mean that I have a mother for my ancestor.  I want to explore this thought in this blog post.

Of course, the first place I will look for Hensley information is on Marty Grant's site.  I was not patient enough to find anything.  Next I'll look at Ancestry

Modoc County, California

Funny coincidence.....I heard from a lady that I had sent a message to a long time ago yesterday via Ancestry.  She lives in Modoc County, California.    I had never looked at Modoc County before.  It is in the very far northeast corner of California just above Lassen County.  Google maps says it has a population of only 8700 people in the entire county. 

The Lady is a dna match to me. Ancestry had suggested that our connection is that we share ancestors:  John A. Slater and his wife Louisa M. Redmon.

Then this morning Ancestry sent me a hint for the granddaughter of  this Slater Couple:  Helen Louise McKinsey who married James McGregor.

The hint from ancestry is a census record for James McGregor and his wife, Helen Louse McKinsey McGregor in 1900.  They are renting a home in Modoc County when the 1900 census was taken.  They did not have children yet.  James was 30 while Helen was only 18.  James is a teacher.  The home they are living in is in Cedarville which is on the far eastern side of the county.  Neither Helen nor Jim were native to the area.  Helen was from Susanville in Lassen County and Jim had been born in Cherokee CA in Butte County, CA.

                   

 

Because our dna match is autosomal, the segment on which we match could be from either the Slater side or the Redmon side.  My match says that she descends from John and Louisa's son, John Chapman Slater who was a brother to my Louise B. Slater.  

John Cary, The Plymouth Pilgrim

Lynda McGinnis tells me that we are short the proof that Elihu is the son of Joseph Cary.  But there seems to be the assumption that our Cary line goes back to John Cary the Plymouth Pilgrim.  I am reading a book written about this family line tonight on Ancestry.

This book is found on Ancestry in the collection North America, Family Histories 1500-2000.

My notes from my visit to NEGHS library last week say that the Seth Cary book is also available on archive.org

Samuel F. Carey says in “Cary Memorials”:  “The writer has had access to a manuscript more than one hundred years old, and written by a grandson of John Cary which says that John Cary, when a youth, was sent by his father to France to perfect his education, and that while absent his father died.  On returning to Somersetshire he differed with his brothers about the settlement of his father’s estate.  He compromised by receiving one hundred pounds as his portion and immediately sailed for America”

Tradition says that he was the first Latin School teacher in the Plymouth Colony, and that he taught Elder Brewster the Hebrew;.

   

He removed to Duxbury where he had ten acres of land allotted to him.  At a Court of Assistants, held October 2, 1637, “A proporcon of land is granted to John Carew, about the lands graunted to Robte Mendall contyning X acrees.”  And at a Court of Assistants, January 7, 1639….”are appoynted to lay forth Robte Mendlouoes & John Carews Land:….

  

On page 83 of Seth Cary's book in Section 28-A, Seth says that Joseph Cary (son of Samuel) who was born in  Bridgewater in 1705 married Anne, Daughter of Elihu Brett, in 1732.

I find this to satisfy my mind that Elihu was the son of Joseph Cary and his wife Anne Brett.  It seems quite sensible that Joseph and Anne named a son after her father.  And as far as I know there was not an Elihu in the Cary family before the birth of our Elihu. And Linda McGinnis says that Elihu Cary and his wife, Catherine North named a son Elihu "Britt".  I will look for this information.

Where is Duxbury?  It is just north of Plymouth as shown by red marker on below map

Wikipedia says that the Pilgrims of Plymouth had been bound to stay together in one location for the first seven years.  But at the end of that time, the settlers began moving away from Plymouth.  At first the settlers farmed in Duxbury but went back to Plymouth during the winter months. But by 1637 settlers had built houses and moved to the area.  John Cary seems to have moved by 1639.

In 1656 the General Court ordered that Duxbury New Plantation was a separate township from Duxbury to be called Bridgewater.  So the family did not move.,,,the area in which they lived was renamed,

Plymouth Colony Records Vol 3, page 99 for 3 June 1656 name John Carew as constable of Bridgewater.  John Carew and John Cary seem to be interchangeable names for our Pilgrim ancestor.  He is listed both ways in the book below:

While in the NEGHS library I viewed.  This book is available on Ancestry.

On page 56 the following is found:

PCR is:

MD is Mayflower Descendant and TAG is The American Genealogist Vol 9 to present

At the end of the day, I feel confident that Elihu Cary is the son of Joseph Cary and his wife, Anne Brett.  It is quite clear to me that the couple named their son after Hannah's father, Elihu Brett.

 

Reps Osborn and wife, Martha Goode/Goad

 I know almost nothing about these ancestors.  I am fairly certain that Reps Osborn is my ancestor.  Many researchers do not have Martha Goode/Goad as his wife.  

I was lucky enough to received the research of Ruth Sammons Nassar.  Sometimes I honestly think Ruth wanted me to have it.  No sense to it.  I would have too tell the story of how I ended up with her research.  Ruth did research before the days of internet.  Back in the days when one would go to a court house and spend the day.  She was a serious researcher.  

Ruth Sammons Nassar actually just says that this is probably Repts first wife and the mother of Edward.  She says that probably the second wife is Nancy Jones

So when go to Ancestry I get very few hits when I put the couple into the search box for public trees. But I did find a will for a man named Philip Goode who died c.1821 and names a son-in-law.....Osborne.  You can find the will attached to my tree in the appropriate place.

The will is in Amelia County.

Amelia County is south west of the city of Richmond. I do own the book by Betty Harrell/Gerlock, but I am not pulling it out for this blog post because I am interested in the Goad connection tonight. So who is Philip Goode/Goad and is he connected to the Goad family that I have looked at for many years?

Burlington MM in New Jersey

I am relooking at some of what I looked at before the yDNA match of our Elliott participants to Jeff Houghton.  Jeff's match has me looking at an area in England rather than an area near Philadelphia.  I decided to look at the passengers who came over in the Kent in 1677 to settle in Burlington.  I knew that the Kent sailed from London and I have looked at the names of those who are said to have made that voyage.  But when I relook at the sites I have viewed before, I get some additional information that is indeed of interest. 

From: https://www.geni.com/projects/Quakers-of-New-Jersey-Kent-Passengers-1677/291

It should be noted that many passengers alleged to have been aboard were from Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, and other northern counties. They probably loaded at a northern port, perhaps Hull or Liverpool, before the Kent arrived at London, which is why they do not appear in the London loadings.

Reference: Passengers and Ships Prior to 1684, Penn's Colony: Volume I by Walter Lee Sheppard, Jr., 1970.

 I have found that the book can be found at the Boyd County Library and will go there to view it in August.

And on the site:

http://genealogytrails.com/njer/burlington/early_settlement.html

I have found the following:

Early settlement of the county (Burlington, NJ)
In 1675, Fenwick sailed from London in the ship "Griffin," Robert Griffiths, master, with his family and a company of Friends, and after a pleasant passage landed near the old fort " Elseborg," and named it Salem. This was the first English ship that entered the Delaware with emigrants, and no others followed for nearly two years.

Among the purchasers of West Jersey lands were two companies, one of Friends in Yorkshire, the other of Friends in London. In 1677 commissioners were sent by the proprietors, with power to buy lands of the Indians, to inspect the rights of such Europeans as claimed property, and to order the lands laid out, and in general to administer the government. Of the commissioners, those for Yorkshire were Joseph Helmsley, William Emley, Robert Stacy, and Thomas Foulke

And

The Yorkshire purchasers chose from the Assunpink to the Rancocas, which was called the first tenth; and the London chose the second tenth, from Rancocas to Timber Creek. For mutual protection and assistance they agreed to build a town in company, and the present site of Burlington City was chosen.

As best as I can tell those from London would have land starting at Burlington and going south on the Delaware river while those from Yorkshire area would have land starting at Burlington and going north on the Delaware River.

Elliott family in England

 I keep starting a new post about my Elliott family before the move to these shores.  In the years when they lived almost certainly in the area shown on the below map ads Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire.

Just a few months ago I was looking mostly at Elliott in the area far south of this area near Somerset and Bristol.  However, a DNA match to my Elliott yDNA participants with whom I have become buddies caused me to give that research totally up.  Jeffrey Houghton is the match.  He does not carry the Elliott surname, but he is a clear match to our line.  His line has been in the area that I am now looking at for MANY generations.  And so I have redirected my research.  The odd thing about our yDNA match is that our group carries the C Haplogroup.  This is not the typical haplogroup for men in Great Britain.  It is more prevalent in males who are found in asia.  

Wikipedia says:  It is the most frequently occurring branch of the wider Haplogroup C (M130). It is found mostly in Central Asia, Eastern Siberia and significant frequencies in parts of East Asia and Southeast Asia including some populations in the Caucasus, Middle East, South Asia, East Europe. 

This haplogroup clearly points out that our Elliott family line almost certainly is not connected to the Elliott line found in the border lands of Scotland and England as these families carry the haplogroup R which is more prevalent in Great Britain and area.  It was hard to give up this Romantic tradition and accept this is just not likely to be our history.  So now I am focusing on the area that is described above.  

At the same time I am reading a book that I LOVE! It is about the Vikings

https://serendipityreading.blogspot.com/2022/07/vikings-by-neil-oliver_19.html

Jeffrey wrote me an e-mail that I am reading today.  And it is one of those times when everything that I have been doing and thinking all come together.  Here is an excerpt from Jeffrey's e-mail:

Now the shock horror news of the Elliot's, they are bad, bad Vikings who came over with William and maybe a connection to the Britons of old.(Brittany for 500 years. ) Right history lessons and NOT Scottish by origin LOL

 And the truth is that this is not such a shock....it is what I had been reading about right now as well.  What a shock from my book that the Normans who invaded England in 1066 were actually Vikings who had lived in Normandy and intermarried there.  But that absolutely fits with what Jeffrey is telling me now.  And my gut feeling has been that indeed our C Haplogroup may have come to the area with the Romans and continued in the area in Briton population when the Romans pulled out.  But the actual Elliott name may have come in with the Norman invasion?  Lots to think about!

Next I want to add  a URL for a site that Jeffrey sent:

https://selectsurnames.com/elliott/

England.  Following the Norman Conquest, Elliots – sometimes as Alliots or Elyots – spread across eastern England, notably to Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire.  .....

Ok...not sure we'll ever get all of this figured out, but it sure if fun!  

McGregor family

 I have two dna matches on Ancestry that were a VERY pleasant surprise for me.  Both carry surname of McGregor.  I never expected to have the luck to find anyone anyplace who descend from Robert and Mary Ann McGregor.  They were the original immigrants from Scotland and Ireland who arrived in New York before 1853.  

Katie McGregor has sent me some pages that are taken from an interview with Nita McGregor who would have been Katie's great aunt if I am figuring this correctly.  Katie had very nice things to say about Nita including the fact that she lived to near 100 years old.

Sorry I can not seem to find a size to use that is easy to read.  

Wirksworth, England and the Elliott family

I am beginning to look at the Quaker and also the early Elliott family lines found in the area in which Jeff Houghton's Houghton line are also visible in the 1600s.  I have asked Jeff to help me with this project and this blog post will be where I jot down ideas and thoughts.  Jeff has mentioned Wirksworth, so I will start with that.  His comment was:

Been going through the Elliot's of Wirksworth and the earliest mention is of one that had one of the first rifles in Liz the 1st time (1500s) NO mention of Houghton before 1620, also noticed at a quick glance of the records that several of our line married Elliot's although far to late for our quest.  .....

The red marker on the below map shows location of Wirksworth in England.  It is in the County of Derbyshire.  This seems to be a good place to start.

 Who moved from this area to Pennsylvania c.1682?  One family was George and Hannah Wood with son-in-law, Richard Bonsall.  They moved with six other families from Derbyshire (not named by the author of this blog post) and settled in Darby, PA.  Darby is shown win the below map outlined in Red practically next door to what is now the Philadelphia International airport.

https://hannah-howe.com/ancestry/quick-netherlands-derbyshire-pennsylvania/

This family had roots in the Netherlands and had moved to Wirksworth for iron mining.  After becoming Quaker in Wirksworth, they decided to move to Pennsylvania by 1682.

Viking DNA

Living DNA sent an e-mail this week with the following photos and information:  

Absolutely!  I am fascinated with this idea1

Living DNA suggests that my results show that out of the entire population who has tested at their site, I have more Viking connections than 68% of those who have tested.  And that the Vikings that I seem to most match are those who fit this description:

While Norwegian and Danish Norsemen went westward, the Swedish explored eastwards into the Baltic sea. Here they found the estuaries of the rivers that lead inland across Eastern Europe into modern day Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, travelling along the Volga and Dnieper rivers until they reached the Black and Caspian Seas. On this journey these Vikings became known as "Rus" or "Varangians" by the Slavic people they encountered. Expanding partly through raiding, but mostly by trade, their influence grew. When they reached the Byzantine city of Constantinople on the Black Sea, it was raided in 860. In the aftermath of the raid, the Norsemen were accepted as trading partners by the Byzantines, an agreement which greatly increased the wealth and influence of the Varangians. The Varangians were here to stay.

In 862 Prince Rurik of the Varangians was invited to rule over the Slavic peoples to the south of the Baltic Sea. He founded his capital city of Norvgorod on the Volkhov river, and his descendant Oleg expanded their territory further into the south along the Dnieper river. Oleg eventually took control of Kiev in 882. It was from here that he decided to now rule, and continue to gain more territory. By 885 Oleg had united the majority of eastern slavic peoples under his rule and thus the country of Kievan Rus was born.

I found a good map and information about this at:

https://www.asncvikingage.com/vikings-east

The below map gives one an idea of how my ancestors living in Courland might have been well placed to have had Viking ancestors.  And in 2023 I have found an autosomal dna match who still lives in Finland.  I want to add some surnames here so that the search engine will find this blog post when I use surnames:  Beuhring, Danneburg, Konig, Koenig,  These are the surnames that my 2-gr-grandfather, Frederick Konig Danneburg Beuhring descended from and his parents chose to add them to his name.

 

Elliott family line in England

 Yesterday, FTDNA sent me an e-mail that there were new matches to Roland and Gerald Elliott.  I bought both 37 marker tests this past year and the match was to both men.  Here are parts of  the answer that I received when I reached out to the new match with geography added:

Yesterday, my prayers were answered with the connect to Sir Thomas Elliott line, and obviously yours at some time, when a Hoghton of Hoghton tower it seems started a cadet house in Yorkshire, and married an Elliott, and within two generations or so are in Nottinghamshire, and now close the link to our years in Derbyshire starting around the time of our Civil war.

Yorkshire is a historic county in northern England. It’s known for its Roman and Viking heritage, as well as its Norman castles, medieval abbeys, Industrial Revolution-era cities and 2 national parks. The county town of York, founded by the Romans, is home to 13th-century cathedral York Minster, Tudor houses and medieval walls. The interactive Jorvik Viking Centre recalls the area’s 9th-century Norse occupation.

Yorkshire

From Albion's Seed by David Hackett Fischer: (page 438)

"The Quaker founders of Pennsylvania and West Jersey came from every part of England.  But one region stood out above the rest.  The Friends' migration drew heavily upon the North Midlands, and especially the counties of Cheshire, Lancaster, Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.  In a list of English immigrants who arrived at Philadelphia between the years 1682 and 1687, more than 80 percent came from these five contiguous counties."

and

"On both banks of the Delaware River, these Quaker immigrants distributed themselves in small settlements according to their places of origin in Britain.  Country Quakers from Cheshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire settled mainly in Chester and Bucks Counties.  "the farmers amoung them poverty stricken dalesmen from the moors of northern England." writes Frederick Tolles, "headed straight for the rich uplands of Bucks and Chester"  The lands around Trenton were occupied by emigrants from the Peak District of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.  London Quakers preferred the city and county of Philadelphia.  Emigrants from Bristol founded a town of the same name on the Delaware River.  Dublin Quakers occupied  Newton, West Jersey.  Emigrants from, Wales colonized the "Welsh Tract" west of the Schuylkill River"

Just to make this easier to think about here are the boundaries of the original three counties:

So we have Bucks, Philadelphia, and then Chester which stretched as far west as anyone would want to go.

Lancaster was carved out of Chester in 1729.  It is the area that is west of the other three counties.  It was growing exponentially by this time.  No one was settling yet on the other side of the Susquehanna River.  The Indians considered it their land at this time.

I am reading Albion's Seed and adding to this blog post as I have time.

In July, I am adding again to this blog post that was interrupted by Mary's wedding and my having finally caught Covid.  This next excerpt is from The Beginnings of Quakerism on page 42:

I am reading this on google books.

"We now turn to the small beginnings of this Quaker Movement.....In a document written in 1676, Fox says that the Truth sprang up first in Leicestershire in 1644, in Warwickshire in 1645,  in Nottinghamshire in 1646, in Derbyshire in 1647, and in the adjacent counties in 1648, 1649, and 1650.

This is from George Fox Epistles p 2.

In another paper he speaks of business meetings concerning the poor.....held earlier than 1650 in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, and Leicester, where there was a great convincement.

Handley family

 In preparation for my conference and genealogy jaunt the first week in May, I am looking at my Handley family.  I believe it quite likely that they are Scotch Irish.  I would like to look at Pennsylvania Records on this trip.  What do I know so far? 

The internet suggests that John Handley moved his family to the very Scotch-Irish area of Augusta County, Virginia around 1750.  At the time of his move, Augusta County was everything west of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia.  The area had been Orange County starting in 1734.  But in 1738 Augusta County was formed and Orange County became small while Augusta County was everything to the west.  However it was not until 1745 that Augusta County was organized.  

And the Chronicles of the Scotch Irish in Virginia by Chalkley do bear out the settlement of John Handley.

I have found a paper written about the family at:

https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~vlwest/genealogy/handley/mortimer.htm

and from that paper I add the following:

John Handley's name first appeared in the official records of Augusta County, Virginia, on November 26, 1751, this was the date of the deed in which he purchased 257 acres from Benjamin Borden for 15 pounds. The land was located on the Broad Spring Run (Back Creek) adjoining land of Joseph Kennedy (Northern area of present Rockbridge County, Virginia)

the Borden Grant was located south of Beverley Manor
Source: Library of Congress, Carte de la Virginie et du Maryland (1757)

In 1739, the colonial government authorized a 100,000 acre grant to Benjamin Borden. The land to be selected and surveyed was to be located south of William Beverly's grant, and would be clearly out of the area claimed by Lord Fairfax.

Borden was required to recruit 100 settlers within two years. He succeeded, and patented 92,100 acres. So many settlers were Scotch-Irish that the area became known as the "Irish Tract."¹

The land was within the planned boundaries of Augusta County. The General Assembly chartered Augusta and Frederick counties, the first two completely west of the Blue Ridge, in 1738. The county courts were not appointed until there was a critical mass of settlers in 1743 (Frederick) and 1745 (Augusta). During Borden's two-year settlement period, Orange County had the only county surveyor west of the Blue Ridge. 

From Chalkley:

Page 114:  Commission for examination of Grissell, wife of John Handley

Page 137:  Wm. Christian, John Handley, James McKain, John Archer, Zachh. Johnston and John Hunter--certificates of hemp

Page 320:  Thomas Thompson vs. John and William Handley--John Handley and William Handley of West Nantmill Township, and County of Chester, weavers.  Augusta 1758

Page 437:  Petition for road from Joseph Kennedy's Mill to John Huston's, and from John Huston's to the great road from Timber Grove to Woods Gap: James Hill. Joseph Kennedy, John Wilson, James Eakin, John Handley, William Wardlaw, William Lockridge, John Edenston, William McConnell, Walter Eakin, Robert Stewart, Robert Dunlap, Andrew  Duncan, John Huston, Samuel Huston, Robert Alexander, Patrick Hays, John Montgomery,. Andrew Steel, John Stewart 1751-1752

This piece of information from Chawkley gives us what we need to know to find the land of John Handley.  On a site on werelate:

https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Joseph_Kennedy_(17)

You can see the land of John Handley next door to the land of Joseph Kennedy. #257 , 1751.  Look between the two purple lines about two plots east of the top arrowhead on Broad Spring Run

I have spent the evening trying to ascertain where John Handley and Joseph Kennedy's land was on a modern map.  I think I have figured it out.  You will need to manipulate the below map in order to see where the men lived.

If you have no luck, contact me at mosesm@earthlink.net and I'll send you a copy via e-mail.  But basically what the above map shows us is that the land on which these men lived would have been quite close to the New Providence Presbyterian Church.  The church that is in existence today is said to have been where today's church is located,.  The land was given by Joseph Kennedy and his wife.  On this close-up map you can see Moffat Creek.  And interestingly enough there is a Hays Creek.  John Handley's wife, Grissell had grandmother with maiden name Hay.

Here is the location on a map that shows more of the area:

I feel as if we now have a feeling where John Handley and his family lived in the mid 1799s.

How do I know that this is the right location?  From Chawkley:

• Page 331.--21st August, 1754. Joseph Kennedy (his mark), Gent., and Elizabeth, to Samuel Buchanan, James Walker, Robert Reagh, John Logan, Alexander Miller and William Kennedy, trustees appointed and chosen by the Presbyterian Congregation of New Providence in Augusta County for and on behalf of themselves and the rest of the said Congregation and their successors adherents to the Squad of New York of the other part. Consideration: The sincere regard, good will and affectionate love which he beareth unto the said Congregation, and with an eye to encourage the worshipers of the most Blessed and Glorious Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who is God over all, and Blessed forever, Amen; and for and in consideration of the sum of six pence sterling; for public use and benefit of the said Congregation for a Presbyterian Meeting House to worship Almighty God in and for a burying place and graveyard to them and such as shall hereafter joyn with them the said Congregation of New Providence a certain moiety piece or parcel of land whereon the said Congregation hath already began to prepare and build a meeting house containing 3 A., 1 R., 27 P., on west side Moffet's Creek in Borden's tract; said Kennedy's and Francis McCown's line being a line of land now in possession of Andrew Duncan. Delivered to Samuel Buchanan, 21st June, 1758.

And I also find evidence of Joseph and his wife having given land on the website of the church in their history.

Further proof that these people were friends and neighbors is found in Chawkley:

• Page 339.--20th May, 1760. Joseph ( ) Kennedy to John Handley, Jr., £80, 300 acres in Beverley Manor, above. Delivered: Jno. Handly, 1766.

Margaret Handley was the wife of William Clendenin. Margaret was born in 1762 and died in 1835.  Margaret would have been around 11 years old when the family made the move south.  

William Clendenin was born in 1753.  They were married in 1783.  All of these dates are only guides...perhaps even iffy.  But the fact that this couple were married is proven by a deed of gift in Greenbrier County.

Greenbrier County, VA Deed book 3, page 248.

Know all men by these presents that I John Handley Senr. of the County of Greenbrier and State of Virginia for an in consideration of the love and natural affection which I bear to my daughter, Margaret Clendinen, consort William Clendinen of Mason County and state aforesaid as well as for the further consideration of one dollar .... have given and granted and by these presents do give and grant unto the said Margaret Clendinen ... one negro girl known by the name of Abbey of the age of eight years ...

Signed by John Handley Senr. Witnessed by Jn Mathews, Thomas Creigh, C. Welch, Charles B. Robins

 I found confirmation of this deed in a book on my shelf entitled Greenbrier County Deed and Will Records.  My William Clendenin is well proven so this is how the Handley family fits into my tree.  At the same time I found confirmation that John Handley was giving gifts to other daughters:  Grisey Cailes, Sally Scott of Rockbridge County, Elizabeth Morrow wife of William Morrow.  This is found on pages 95-96 of my book.

So where were they living?

I get a clue of where he lived by a story in the History of Greenbrier County by Otis K Rice.  On pages 186-188 of his book he talks about the Rev John McElhenney.  It is a good story and worth reading.  But what is relevant to today's story is that in 1807 as Reev McElhenney finished what is now Washington and Lee University, The Presbytery of Lexington sent him on a one-month missionary visit to Greenbrier County.  Stopping along the way to preach his first sermon west of the Alleghenies at the residence of William Haynes at Gap Mills, Monrow County, and other sermons at the homes of William Hamilton on Muddy Creek, Andrew McClung on Sinking Creek, and John Handley on Spring Creek.

If you look on the below map and start at Lewisburg and go up the valley on route 219 towards Renick,

I believe Spring Creek to be between 219 and the Greenbrier river which is the dark on this map flowing down from Renick.  Renick lies on the Greenbrier river.  But I can say that I feel very sure that if you draw a circle around Renick that intercepts with 219, the Handley land would lie in the circle below Renick.

Ok.  The Handley family is no longer living on the property that John Handley had bought from Benjamin Borden.  I am almost positive that I remember reading that John Handley had sold his land on the Borden grant to a man with surname Kennedy and that when I was looking at that sale, I was thinking that one of the Campbell girls had married a Kennedy.  I will try to fill this in in the next few days.