Sorry that this post has taken so long but I wanted to just get a couple of more things out there before somewhat of a new season starts for me. My employer has been unbelievable through our recent family health struggles. The first year that we had 2 members who were bedridden and needed 24/7 care, they allowed me to go to 30 hours per week. The second year, they allowed me to go 20 hours per week. The last two years, I may have worked 10 hours per month in 2019 and this year maybe 40 hours total. Even though I have been mostly away, they have held my job through 2 layoffs.
Recently, I have wanted to take advantage of the falling interest rates and I need a steady paycheck to do so. My employer needed someone to head up our Chattanooga office at least until the end of the year. I live so far away from Knoxville that my travel time to Chattanooga is not as bad as it sounds. That to say, since I am committed to care for my mother an average of more than 12 hours every 24 and will be commuting to Chattanooga everyday, this may be my last post for about 6 weeks unless things somehow change unexpectedly. After this, it may be about Thanksgiving before I can continue a post.
However, I wanted to leave you with my first 5 generations of data. I typically have their marriage records as well but I did not take the time to list them. Each person in these five generations, excluding a typing error are well documented ancestors. Below the image, I will start from the top, and provide with my best guess of additional generations. These guesses are based on research. I discount other member family trees from genealogy records companies like ancestry.com or heritage....though I belong to both. I have found that the member record trees appear to be wrong more often than right in just a few generations. I think that it is because that one member just copied another member tree without careful examination and/or documentation.
From previous posts, by now, you know that I have discovered a very long story about Eli Johnson's parentage. His mother is Phoebe Johnson. She married Reuben Johnson but left him. Even though she was a Johnson and legally we are all Johnsons I assume. ( Laws weren't very forgiving toward divorce or women at the time, Phoebe had not lived with Reuben in 5 to 10 years when Eli was born. ) Based on several documents and my own DNA, Eli's biological father was Benjamin Roper. I have not tracked down Benjamin's lineage nor Phoebe's. I have some evidence that Phoebe was a Dennis before she married Reuben and that Benjamin Roper's dad was David. Because the Dennis is so far back in our line, it is going to be hard to ascertain her parentage by DNA but it does provide some clues. As previously mentioned, the paternal side typically passes the Y gene from father to son unaltered. I/we have plenty of Roper cousins to help us find our lineage once there is time to do the research and contacts.
Eli's wife, Mary "Polly" Winchester seems to have a grandmother who was the daughter of a tribal chief of the Tuscarora Native Americans of the area from the ocean to the Piedmont in the Carolinas. There is some evidence of that but not near enough to publish yet.
The next 6 names on the chart appear to be traceable at least to one more generation but sometimes things turn out to be much different than you anticipate.
Then, we know that the Hill line has been traced by others. Based on some of the researchers of that line, best that I can recall we know that it goes through a revolutionary soldier with the last name Dick on to an Irish family named Wiley. That is all from memory but I think it is correct. The Hill line, I am told is hard to trace after Forster Hill but DNA evidence has confirmed Foster Hill to be part of this lineage.
For my research, I have taken about 5 or 6 DNA tests and uploaded my data to some other groups just to find relatives. My results were surprising to me but not considering my sister's genetic issue that led to a fatal disease. I will compile them and put them in ranges. Most services only do the first 4 or 5 generations and they agree fairly well. If I do not have my ducks in a row, some folks will not believe the results. One service I used, took their genetic testing back 20 generations. Obviously, your ancestors should double every generation, right. Most folks have 2 biological parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great-grandparents. If my math is right, at 7 generation one has 128 ancestors. Therefore, 1 out of that 128 could have pure-blooded ethnicity ( although the more I research and study, a pure-blooded ethnicity is hard to find due to migratory routes utilized in search of a food source as well as invasions. I have also learned that our Punit square is to ancestry and genetics as 2+2 = 4 is to calculus. Our traits and our "race" have very complex origins.) One still typically could have only 0 to less than 1 percent of that ethnicity because of the multitude of the manners in which the DNA from parents mix. If it was not a random mixture then all siblings would look like identical twins and have identical DNA.
Several others have donated their DNA to unravel some of the mysteries and it is very much appreciated. I have samples from some of my mother's siblings as well as my father's. Someday, I may ask some of you if you could help. For example, a Lambert male could determine the exact Y-line from which we came assuming others of that family have taken a DNA test and we use the same matching service that the other Lamberts do. But, even though my mother could be a generation or two closer kin to the Lamberts, the mitochondrial DNA does not provide an exact copy of her mother's DNA. The mitochondrial DNA provides very useful information on the maternal line and helps to find cousins who can help pinpoint our ancestry. However, the Lambert male DNA could be a more direct route. I also know that some people fear giving their DNA to be tested and I understand that. I would not want anyone or a close relative of the test subject to be opposed to it. There is typically another path to get to the same information. In my opinion for what that is worth ( not too much ), there is so much DNA in private and public databases now that I am sure that anyone wanting to do so could get really close to a good estimate of US citizen's DNA. If you are worried about "them finding" you. They already can. If I happen to ask, please feel free to say no. I certainly respect your right to keep your DNA your own if that is what you choose to do. When needed, I am willing to administer the test and cover the cost. Some of the 6 or so companies to which I have sent my DNA have one database with a particular set of relatives and another may have a totally different set. Additionally, the diverse testing providers each have varying degrees of ethnicity match samples and specialize in different things. Most of them today, seem to focus on the best diet and nutrition for your genetic make up as it relates to your body chemistry. Others have the largest database so that one can find the most relatives. Still others, focus on the Y and mitochondrial DNA. Almost all of them can get your last 4-5 generation ethnicity estimate but as with Eli's parentage, that is often not nearly enough to find your roots. If I was a dog, at the 20 generation level I am quite the mixed mutt such as some would call a Hienz 57 mutt. I think that almost everyone is probably that way. I for sure have lots of British, Scottish and Irish DNA along with a large share of German or the product of German invasions in what some testing sites call Northwest Europe. But, I bet the diversity of that other 30 percent would really surprise you!!
Sorry about chasing that rabbit but unfortunately, I write like I talk. After the 5th generation of the Hills ( as I explained has been better covered by other researchers ), on the Thomas Martin Johnson line, one can see where half of my tree turns into a vine. Note the top of the chart again and you will see Thomas listed just before Eli. It doesn't bother me at all. It just is what it is. It is one of those things like race that we do not get to choose and to this point, other than having no ear lobes, everything seems OK.
The Lambert and Howard lines have always intrigued me because at least 4 people in mom's generation told me that granny ( Corda ) Johnson always stated that she was Black Dutch. Furthermore, if anyone asked what ethnicity she or her children were, then tell them that they were of Black Dutch ancestry. I can write 100 pages on those implications but maybe another time. Additionally, aunt Mae, Mamaw and Uncle Louie all told me the same. Furthermore, she told at least two of these same folks that not only was she Black Dutch but that she had some "Indian" in her. That will be a fun line to unravel. There are several possibilities. I am told by most of the older generation that the Lambert's all had black hair and blue eyes and if you have seen one Lambert then you have seen them all. Straight black hair and blue eyes together are very unique and point to some specific ancestry that I will not speculate on now. Once I have some additional research and I am ready to release my 20 generation DNA ethnicity estimate, I will speculate more.
Furthermore, I need a little more documentation on one link of the Lambert line and then I should have it traced back to Germany. However, Levi's father is buried in a cemetery in Loudoun County. His name is hard to ascertain exactly because of some really funky sibling names but I am pretty sure that his official name was John George Lambert jr. (not to be confused with his brother John Howard Lambert). He is buried beside his wife Mary "Polly" Bryant. I am completely stuck on that Bryant side at the moment. It has its challenges because Bryant is spelled numerous ways and the most common is Briant. As a side note, I have some good friends up in Coker Creek who are great people. Somehow a family disagreement occurred many years back and I am told that the Debuty family even though all are related and from the same linage, has three different legal spellings depending on which branch of the family that you are in. Again, just stating that the Bryant side is hard for me. Hopefully, some of my Hill cousins can help me with that someday because their mother was a Bryant.
Finally, the Howard side has become a stumbling block recently. I thought that it was going to be easy because of Howard's bridge, Howard's school road etc. But, I was very wrong. I am struggling to get our John Howard to fit into one of the many Howards that were around our area. Most of them have lineage back to 900 AD or so because they descend from Sir Thomas Howard who was the father of Henry VIII's wife Katherine Howard who the King beheaded.
I know from census records that Oma Mae's ( Naomi, Amy etc. in the records ) father was John Howard and her mother Caty or Katy. Mamaw told me for sure that our John Howard married Katherine Grindstaff. That marriage is documented in the Carter County ( think Elizabethton ). They got married in Jan. of 1819. Searching through the Howard families of the Carolina's of that time, there are many John Howards. The Howard who moved over from NC to claim his Revolutionary War land grant was George Sater Howard ( I think ). What I know is that his life is well documented in several histories and genealogy books in Blount County. The Howard family that descended from a male Howard and Prudence Sater ( I am just typing from memory now because I do not have my notes but I am also pretty sure that they migrated from Maryland to Virginia to NC then into Tennessee. ) is the one that can be traced back to 900 AD in England. It looks like the Sater Howard family who migrated to the NC had a huge family. But every time that I find a Sater/Howard who appears to be a candidate, either the name, timetable or spouse is incorrect. There is a John Howard and maybe two on the Daws Indian Roles. However, one has to pay a subscription fee or go to DC to see those applications and sort through them. I will pay the subscription once I have time to research that line.
A very long time ago when I was young, I worked with two Howard brothers and their father who ran Continental Aerial Surveys. I asked them about their heritage and they do descend from the Sater/Howards along nine-mile creek. They also mentioned that they believed one brother of the Sater/Howard line married a full blooded Native American Cherokee ( back then his exact words were a Cherokee Indian ) and I was able to find that family. That family also had a John Howard as a son in the correct generation but it listed his spouse and it was not Catherine Grindstaff. Additionally his wife either came from or retired to the land of a prominent Georgia family related to some great writer. Their lineage is well researched and I do not believe that brother is in our line either.
Our John Howard and Katy were in the Blount County census before the Sater/Howards migrated over the best that I can ascertain. In her History of Blount County book, Mrs. Burns has a lot to state about the Sater/Howards as well as a book by a another well respected historian who wrote a book on Prominent Southern Famillies which was more regional in scope but had several chapters on the Sater/Howards. According to the Carter County census and tax roles, there were many Grindstaff's in Carter County, it will probably take DNA to determine her parentage. Her dad was not listed on the marriage license. Somewhere around that time, there had to be a marriage bond posted. I do not know the purpose of the marriage bond but often the brides father posted it. But if it happened, I could not find the record in the Carter County archives. The only thing that seems to consistent throughout the literature is that Grindstaff is an attempt by American immigration officials of the time to understand the Germans stating Cransdorf. I am fairly certain that if that lineage goes much further, it goes to Germany as well.
In my older age, I like to laugh at myself. First, I started noticing that although I try really hard to be social and I really like visiting with almost anyone, I find myself in the personality of the character Sheldon on the Big Bang theory. Especially, when he tries to comfort someone who has had a disappointment in their life. Most of my ethnicity estimates came back with a fairly high rate of German or Germanic origins. I notice the quickest way to ruin my day is for someone to be an hour late. I am very task oriented and in my own awkward way my day is planned to accomplish A, B, C, and D. If that doesn't happen, my day is ruined. I am exaggerating a little but about anyone who knows me well or has worked on a job with me would guess that I had a lot of stiff German personality traits.
If I run across something big between now and Thanksgiving, I will post. But other than that, there may be silence for a while. I hope to post much more information including some of the remaining depositions in Reuben Johnson's probate records including Eli's deposition. To me, it is neat to have a record of something one of our direct ancestors stated, sworn and notarized ( by a Thompson no less as maybe in Thompson Bridge ). Eli also provides a lot of details about his half-siblings including who they married and how many children that they had.
Stay Safe!!
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