Probably 20 years ago, I discovered that Jacob Dobkins (1751-1835) was my ancestor, and began researching in Claiborne County, Tennessee where his daughter, Jenny Dobkins lived with her husband, John Campbell. In fact, two of Jacob’s daughters married Campbell men. … Continue reading
Jacob Dobkins is one of those border ancestors. What do I mean by that? Some ancestors spanned certain events or timeframes. One of these critical junctions was the Revolutionary War and the westward movement from the colonies into the frontier. … Continue reading
The temperature peaked someplace in the 90s on the Friday before Memorial Day in 2012, and the humidity was stifling. No one else, except one runner, was crazy enough to be hiking on Kings Mountain that day. If Jacob Dobkins … Continue reading
Jane, sometimes known as Jenny Dobkins was born around 1780 someplace in Virginia to Jacob Dobkins and his wife, Dorcas Johnson. Local Claiborne County, Tennessee, attorney and historian, P.G. Fulkerson (1840-1929), recorded his memories of the relationships of the early … Continue reading
Recently, I’ve noticed an uptick in confused people who’ve taken Ancestry’s DNA test. They are using shared matches, which is a great tool and exactly what they should be doing, but they become confused when no shared matches appear with … Continue reading
Dorcas (also spelled Darcus) Johnson was born about 1750 and died about 1835. We know she died in Claiborne County, Tennessee, but the location of her birth has always been assumed to be Virginia. You know there’s already trouble brewing … Continue reading
Working with my cousin, Greg Simkins, we’ve proven that we share common ancestors in the article DNA Shows Peter Johnson and Mary Polly Philips Are My Relatives, But Are They My Ancestors?. In the weeks since I wrote that article, … Continue reading
One of the requests by several people for 2022 article topics revolved in some way around solving challenges and showing my work. In this case, I’m going to show both my work and the work of a newly-discovered cousin, Greg … Continue reading
The People’s History of Claiborne County, Tennessee tells us that, “Darcus Johnson was the daughter of Peter Johnson and Mary “Polly” Phillips, was born in 1750 in the area of Augusta County, Virginia that became Dunmore County, then Shenandoah. Her … Continue reading
Have you ever been busy doing something to discover that one of your ancestors just gave you a really, REALLY unexpected, completely out-of-the-blue wink and a nod? Of course, immediately you think that’s entirely silly. I mean, that’s not possible. … Continue reading
