Nancy Mann (c1780-1841), German or Irish, 52 Ancestors #33

Posted on August 18, 2014 by Roberta Estes

Nancy Mann was the second wife of Henry Bolton. Henry was born about 1759 in England and married Catherine Chapman in August of 1786 in Philadelphia. On August 17, 1798, after bearing Henry six children, Catherine died where they had moved in Botetourt County, Virginia by 1795. We don’t know exactly where Henry lived, and therefore, we don’t know where they are buried.

When Catherine died, Henry had 5 children under the age of 10. He needed a wife, and the following year, on April 5, 1799, eight months after Catherine’s death, Henry, aged 39 or 40, married the much younger Nancy Mann. Nancy, probably not even age 20, immediately inherited 5 children, and on January 11, 1800, she had her first child. She and Henry would have 14 children in addition to the children from his first marriage, plus they raised Henry’s brother, Conrad’s orphan daughter, Sarah, after his death about 1810.

Nancy Mann died on October 16, 1841, according to the Bolton Family Bible which was in the possession of Hazel Venable Barnard in the 1980s when I first began researching the Bolton family in Claiborne Co., TN where Henry and Nancy’s son, Joseph Preston Bolton, had moved about 1845. Three of Joseph’s siblings, John and David Bolton and their sister, Elizabeth “Elyann” Ann Bolton who married Isaac Patterson also settled in Claiborne County. It’s obvious from the later entries in this Bible that this is the line of the family that kept the Bible.

Further digging revealed notes taken in Claiborne County now more than 30 years ago when talking with the “old widows,” as they called themselves, when the Bible was first revealed.

In addition to their own children, Elyann and Issac also raised the daughters of her brother David Bolton, Nancy and Martha Bolton. Elyann brought Henry Bolton’s Bible with her which contained the birthdates of some of Henry’s children. Elyann is buried in the Cave Springs Cemetery outside of Tazewell, Tennessee.

Hazel Venable was the great-granddaughter of Joseph Preston Bolton and his first wife, Mary Tankersley, so it’s likely that Joseph, at some point, wound up in possession of the family Bible. This Bible itself is dated 1811, so it’s clearly not the original Henry Bolton Bible. It could have been purchased as wedding gift for one of Henry’s children who copied the pertinent information from Henry’s original Bible. Hazel Venable Barnard wrote that it was the Bible of Henry Bolton, Sr. at the bottom of the Bible page with the handwritten information. The Bible record is available today through the DAR.

Several years ago, I visited Botetourt County, Virginia and extracted the original records for both Bolton and Mann.

The only clue we have as to Nancy’s family is that a James Mann signed as her surety. Normally, if her father were living, he would sign. If not, an uncle or older brother, typically.

Herein lies the problem.

We can’t identify James Mann.

German or Irish

Now, the good news is that the Mann Family of Botetourt County has had significant research performed by descendants and they have done a good job not only documenting the family, but researching and publishing their findings as well.

I was grateful to see this, as I had attempted a reconstruction as well from the records I retrieved.

In a nutshell, John Mann immigrated from Ireland in 1735 and declared that he immigrated to redeem land and then immediately assigned the land to a land speculator. These are the men who would found the Scotch-Irish settlement in Augusta and Orange Counties of Virginia. Botetourt would be taken from Orange County in 1770 and the Mann records followed with the county, so they obviously lived in the Botetourt portion.

“The Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia” tell us that John Mann, the immigrant, lived on the south side of Peaked Mountain, near the Stone Meeting House in Beverly Manor in Augusta County. The 1749 road petition of the inhabitants of North River and Picot (Peaked) Mountain requests a road beginning at John Man’s smithshop on the south side of the Peaked Mountain, then goes on to mention the Stone Meeting House and the Courthouse Road. Today, the Peaked Mountain Church is located in McGaheyville, VA, about 100 miles up the Shenandoah Valley from Fincastle.

Numerous members of the German Mann family are buried in the church cemetery there.

John Mann, the Irishman, had 4 known sons:

Moses who died before 1756, unmarried and with no children
Thomas who died in 1772 unmarried and with no children
John who died in 1778 with no will, but who had children. Moses and John are proven children, but many other candidates are present in Botetourt County.
William who died in 1778 with a will listing children: Moses born circa 1761 (married Jane Kinkead 1779), Alice, Jennie, Thomas born 1771, married, died in 1794, William Jr. born 1773, died 1794, Sarah, John born 1775 and Archibald born after his father’s death in 1778.

John’s sons moved a bit further south. Fortunately, the tax lists for Botetourt County still exist for the 1770s and they include a basic description of where the taxpayer lived.

Both of John’s sons, John (Jr.) and William, lived in the same tax districts, as follows:

1771 – Upper James
1773 – James River to Buffalo Creek
1774 – Cowpasture and Jackson River
1776 – from Craig’s Creek up James River

Based on these landmarks, they lived someplace between Clifton Forge and Eagle Rock. Buffalo Creek and Craig’s Creek meet at Clifton Forge. The Cowpasture and Jackson River meet to form the James 3 or 4 miles below Clifton Forge, just below where the number 727 is located between the rivers today.

Given that our Nancy was born about 1780, if not a couple of years later, we can eliminate all 4 of the elder John’s sons and all of Williams son’s with the possible exception of Moses who married in 1779. However, Moses didn’t die until 1816, so he could have signed his daughter’s marriage bond himself.

This, logically, shifts our focus to John Jr.’s children, who were not documented in his will. Only two children were positively documented as his utilizing other records.

And of course, there’s a twist – there is also a German Mann family, Jacob, in the vicinity. This family isn’t terribly close geographically, but they aren’t so far away that they can be eliminated either. It does appear that both John Mann and the German Mann family started out in the Peaked Mountain vicinity. Jacob Mann does have a son, James but he is too young to be Nancy’s father. However, Nancy could have been the daughter of any of Jacob’s oldest 3 sons, Jacob, Adam or Moses. I feel this is unlikely, especially since this family wound up after county splits being in Monroe and Greenbrier Counties of West Virginia.

However, there is an unaccounted for Nathaniel Mann on the Botetourt County tax lists of 1771-1775 who seems to be found in the Clifton Forge vicinity, but not on the same tax lists as William and John Mann.

In 1749, Jacob Mann, probably the German, signed a petition in Botetourt County. Based on a 1770 record where Jacob Mann is an assignee of Jacob Miller, the connection between those two families is strongly suggested.

According to the Mann Family of Botetourt County:

According to the Houchins family history, around 1770 the Manns, Maddys and Millers moved from Rockingham county, Virginia into present day West Virginia, near Greenville in Monroe county. John Mann came to Pennsylvania from Germany and his son Jacob married Barbary Miller, daughter of Jacob Miller, emigrant. Jacob and Barbary Miller Mann had Jacob Mann, Junior who married Mary Kessinger on August 24, 1779; Adam, who married first Mary Maddy on December 9, 1783 and second Polly Flinn on May 3, 1790; Elizabeth, who married William Maddy on February 25, 1783 and a daughter who married a Mr. Low. Jacob Mann owned a gunpowder mill. Saltpetre was supplied from Maddy’s Cave during the Revolution. This cave had formerly belonged to the Manns of Springfield. This is an intriguing mystery since there is a story that William Mann and his father and/or uncles and brothers lived in a saltpetre cave when they first emigrated from Ireland to Virginia. I do not know what, if any, substance this story has. It may have been influenced by the presence of the German Manns at Greenville or it may be an authentic tradition. Springfields abound, both in the United States and in Ireland. There were Scots-Irish Mann emigrants to Springfield township in Bucks county, Pennsylvania and Scots-Irish Manns living in Springfield township, Chester county, Pennsylvania. Moses Mann, son of William, one of the sons of the emigrant John Man, bought 26 acres of land on both sides of Jackson’s River, including a saltpetre cave, on December 10, 1792, in Botetourt county. Some of the children of William Mann stayed in Bath and Alleghany counties, and some went to Greenbrier county in the vicinity of present day Monroe county. A Moses Mann bought 22 acres in Monroe county on March 4, 1831, adjoining the land of Adam Mann and Adam Miller. This may or may not be a descendant of William Mann.

The Mann family which ended up in Bucks county is described as the family of James Mann and his wife Mary Carroll. The Manns and Carrolls were from Scotland and in childhood James and Mary emigrated with their families to county Antrim around the year 1690. He married her about 1709. The names of their children were James, born in 1710; John, born in 1712; William in 1714 and a daughter named Mary. John, the second son, became the progenitor of the family in Bucks county when he embarked from Donegal in 1732 in the company of the McNairs and others bound for America. They landed at Philadelphia and proceeded to Bristol in the autumn of the same year, locating at different points in Bucks county. Although our John Man was imported immediately into Virginia, perhaps he was related in some fashion to these Bucks County Manns.

DNA testing of a male Mann from both lines would tell us unquestionably.

If you’re groaning by now, I was too….but the pretzel twist gets worse, actually, much worse.

If Nancy Mann descends from Jacob Mann who married Barbara Miller, then autosomal DNA won’t help me, because it’s possible, in fact, it’s downright likely, that I’m related to Barbara Miller. I can’t confirm that right now, but the suspicion alone is enough to disallow any autosomal conclusions UNLESS we would have a 100% triangulated positive match with the Irish Mann family – and then we don’t really care about the German Mann family.

But you know if it was that easy, I would already have told you. With the 7 descendants of Henry Bolton who have autosomally DNA tested at Family Tree DNA, we have no triangulated matches with the Mann family. That doesn’t disprove anything – but it also doesn’t prove anything either. All it does is frustrate me. Even more frustrating is that there are matches at Ancestry in this same line, BUT since Ancestry doesn’t provide a chromosome browser, I can do nothing with them unless the participants are willing to download their files to GedMatch – and so far, with one exception, they haven’t responded at all – so that’s clearly not an option.

John Mann Jr.’s Possible Children

Since we know who the children of William Mann are, per his will, and the other two sons of immigrant John Mann had no children and died as young men, we can look at the names of many of the “stragglers” and they are candidates for the sons of John Mann (Jr.) who died in 1778 intestate.

In 1755, there is a Barnett Mann who deeds land to Jacob Mann and the land abuts George Mann, so those folks are affiliated with the German Manns.

There’s a Hugh Mann who has a mill in 1756. We don’t know who he is, but he disappears from the records and there are no stray males between then and when John’s son’s die, so we can remove him from consideration.

Nathaniel Mann appears from 1771-1775, but then is gone. He’s probably not a candidate for Nancy’s father in about 1780. Nancy did not name any children Nathaniel, unless one died. There is a 3 year gap between sons George and William. Henry Bolton and Nancy Mann’s sons, in birth order, were Henry, George, William, John, Joseph, Absalom, Daniel, James and David. Not terribly useful.

Beginning about 1780, a whole group of young Mann males come of age about the same time, like stair steps.

Esau Mann appears from 1781-1785

Asa Mann marries in 1780 and is found in the 1782 tax list.

Acre Mann is found in the records in 1784.

In 1785, on the tax list, there is a J. Mann beside Moses Mann. I’d love to think this is James, and it might be, but it could also be John. Why, oh why, could they not just write out those few letters? I mean really, 3 or 4 letters would have made SUCH a difference. Even just Jo or Ja or Jas. For the want of just a couple letters.

Esau, Acre and Asa are candidates to be sons of John Jr., as well as Nathaniel…and of course, J, whoever he is.

If Nancy was actually born in 1778, it’s remotely possible that John Jr. was her father, but it’s unlikely because Nancy had her last child in 1826. If she were born in 1780, that would make her 46 at that time, which is quite late, but not impossible, for a last child. However, if she were born in 1778, that would make her 48 in 1826, which is even more unlikely.

In 1789 in Botetourt County Will Book A, on page 270, we find the will of William Renfro who lists, among his heirs, James Mann. James Mann also signed and he may have been the executor as well, although it was hard for me to decipher the handwriting. This does put a James Mann in the right place at the right time.

Not that it will help us any, but there are also Mann females: Margaret who married William McClure in 1790, Jane who married Michael Woodly in 1779, Mary who married Adam McCaslen in 1802, another Nancy who married Charles Wright in 1794 and Sarah who married Alexander McClinock in 1788. These people weren’t children of William, per his will, so they had to be John’s, Nathaniel’s or the beginning of the next generation beginning about 1800.

So, having perused all of the records available, we’re, in essence, stuck.

Stuck – What Next?

Ok, let’s think about what else we can do.

People tend to marry other people like themselves. In fact, the Germans who immigrated in the 1700s were still speaking German at home and in the churches in the early 1900s after spending 200 years migrating across three states. My great-grandmother was one of them – although they stopped speaking German when World War I was declared. In the later 1700s and even the early 1800s, they didn’t speak any English so they had to have someone handle their affairs for them – often the local miller.

Germans attended German churches. The Irish attended Catholic churches and the Scotch-Irish, who were the majority of the immigrants from Ireland in the 1700s, attended Presbyterian churches. The English attended the Anglican churches. Methodists and Baptists were dissenting churches. Indeed, the Presbyterian Church in Fincastle, in Botetourt County, was established in 1754. You didn’t have a lot of opportunity to meet someone outside of your cultural circle and you certainly were not encouraged to “court” anyone from those other cultural circles.

So, if we had a way to figure out anything about Nancy Mann’s genetic lineage, we might be able to determine whether it is German or Irish.

Turns out – we do.

We have a male descendant from Nancy Mann through all females to the current generation. And are we EVER grateful to that tester. Yes, it’s a him, because in the current generation, men can test as well as women. Remember, women contribute their mitochondrial DNA to all of their children, but only the females pass it on.

Thanks to cousin Jay, we have Nancy’s full sequence mitochondrial DNA, which she inherited from her mother, and she from her mother, back into the old country, wherever the “old country” happens to be.

Let’s take a look.

Her haplogroup is K1c2, clearly very European.

The page of DNA results that is the most relevant to answer our question of where Nancy’s matrilineal line originated is Jay’s Matches Map. This map shows us the location of the most distant ancestor of Jay’s matches. In this case, I’m only showing the European portion of the map, because that’s the part that will answer our question.

Are you ready?

Drum roll……please!

What do you think?

Nancy’s closest matches, in red and orange, are clearly in Ireland, then England, yellow and green, then in continental Europe. Therefore, her ancestors were most recently in Ireland, including her three exact matches, two of which are found in Dublin.

Therefore, if I were a betting person, I’m betting on Irish, or Scotch-Irish far and above Germany for Nancy’s matrilineal ancestry. Given that, I’m also betting that Nancy is the granddaughter of John Mann Jr. through one his unnamed sons, and the great-granddaughter of John Mann the immigrant. And given that, I’m betting that the J. Mann next to Moses on the 1785 tax list was indeed, James.

I’d bet!

If you descend from Henry Bolton or John Mann, please consider DNA testing. If you are a male Mann who descends from John Mann Sr., the immigrant, we really need your participation and there is a DNA scholarship for the first male Mann to test from this line.

Acknowledgements:

I’d like to thank cousin Jay for DNA testing, cousin Hazel Venable Barnard, now deceased, for being such a wonderful steward of that Bible record, cousin Dillis for lots of research over the past 25 or 30 years, so much and for so long that I no longer remember what was mine and what was his.

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Samuel Estwell H. Bolton (1894-1918), WWI Casualty, 52 Ancestors #32

Posted on August 9, 2014 by Roberta Estes

This article is about only one chapter in the lives of my great-grandparents, Joseph “Dode” Bolton (1853-1920) and his wife, Margaret Claxton (Clarkson) Bolton (1851-1920.) That chapter is the life, and death, of their son, Samuel Estwell H. Bolton (1894-1918). Samuel gave his life for his country in World War I.

This week, we commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the beginning of that war, not something one would celebrate, but something to give us pause to reflect upon those who died for the cause of freedom.

In London this week, the Tower of London is decorated with hundreds of thousands of poppies, 888,246, to be exact, to remember, and honor each British soldier who perished. The red “Remembrance Poppy” has been used since 1920 to commemorate those killed in war. Poppies bloomed across the battlefields in France after the horrific battles of WWI, symbolizing the bloodshed there.

Additionally, 116,516 Americans died in WWI, among them, Samuel Bolton from Hancock County, Tennessee, my grandmother’s younger brother.

Joseph Bolton and Margaret Clarkson (Claxton) Bolton had 10 or 11 children, but only one died in the service of their country, and that one was Samuel. A second son served in WWII, after their deaths.

Joseph and Margaret has been married more than 20 years when Samuel arrived on June 12, 1894. He had a younger sibling as well, although the 1910 census shows Sammie as the youngest at that time. He wasn’t in 1900, as the 8^th Civil District, Hancock Co., TN, shows.

The 1900 census shows Sammie, listed as Estwell, his middle name, age 5, with younger brother Henry. Samuel’s middle initial, H., probably stood for Henry as well. I wonder if his parents changed his middle name from Estwell to Henry after Henry died.

The 1910 census shows Sammie as the youngest child at home. It looks like Henry has died, and the daughter, Cerenia that family oral history shows as the youngest child, was never shown on a census. Regardless, it looks like Sammie is their youngest child in 1910, the baby of the family.

The 1910 census also shows us that they lived on Back Valley Road, very near the intersection with the main Mulberry Road in Hancock County, Tennessee not terribly far from the Claiborne County border.

When Sammie enlisted in the service in September of 1917, two days after his father’s 64^th birthday, it’s difficult to surmise how his parents felt.

I’m sure that while they were swelled with pride, they were also more than a little apprehensive. In addition, they were older people and losing help on the farm meant more work for them that they might not have been physically able to do. Margaret, I’m sure, cried as she saw her baby leave, on his way to defend his country. Having lost her youngest child or children already, did she know that he would never come home? Was she worried? Did she have a mother’s second sense?

Samuel’s military record is so cold and lifeless. Just the facts.

1.306.789 W
Bolton, Samuel H.;
Service: Over Seas
Residence: Sneedville, Tennessee
Inducted: Sneedville, Tennessee on 9/20/1917
Born: Tazewell, Tennessee
Age: 23 years, 4 months
Organization: Hq Company 328th Infantry, 9/21/1917-10/14/1917; Company A 117th Infantry to 10/18/1918.
Grade: Private 9/20/1917; Private 1st Class Mch. January 1918.
Overseas service: 5/11/1918-10/8/1918
Killed in Action 10/8/1918.
Person notified of death: Joseph B. Bolton, Father, RFD #1, Hoop, Tennessee

Person notified of death – Joseph B. Bolton, Father – what a terrible visit to receive.

It was in Europe, in France, the furthest, I’m sure, that any Bolton had ever been from home, that Samuel would perish.

Cousin Dillis found a wonderful summary of Samuel’s unit written by Billie McNamara. It tells us what Samuel was doing, and when. I wonder if his parents ever had this level of information, or if they simply knew that he died. They both died just 16 months after Samuel’s death, and only 16 days apart.

Samuel served in the 117^th Infantry, known at the Third Tennessee Infantry, headquartered out of Knoxville. Called into service, they recruited heavily and left with the new recruits for Camp Sevier, SC in September of 1917.

The first part of the work at Camp Sevier was clearing a camp from a pine forest. All military drill was impossible until the large pine trees and undergrowth had been removed and the holes leveled. This hard physical work proved excellent for the men, as they hardened into fine condition and most of them gained in weight. After fair grounds had been prepared, a strenuous daily schedule of infantry drill was carried out, discipline stiffened, and during the winter and spring of 1918, instruction was given by English officers and noncommissioned officers in trench warfare. During the winter, which was a very severe one, one officer and twenty-nine enlisted men died from disease, principally pneumonia.

Orders were received May 2, 1918, to entrain for duty overseas, and on the night of May 10, 1918, the regiment went on board transports at New York.

I expect that Sammie, like many of the men, wrote a letter home to his parents during this time between receiving orders and shipping out. He probably also sent a picture of himself proudly wearing his uniform. Most servicemen did. I would love to know what he was thinking. Was he welcoming the adventure for which he had been training, or did he dread and fear the possible conflict that was waiting? Was he confident, like so many, that we would “kick their butts?” Did he put on a brave face for his parents, or perhaps try to persuade them that they didn’t need to worry about him and he would see them soon.

Some ten days later, after an attack by submarines off the Irish Coast, in which the convoy escaped without loss, landing was made at Liverpool, England, where special trains carried the regiment straight through London to Folkestone. Transports ferried it across the English Channel by night to Calais, France. American equipment was turned in there and British was issued in its stead. The Thirtieth Division was one of seven American divisions which were concentrated in the British area for training and for use in case the Germans made their threatened drive for the Channel ports. The enemy was said to have 20 divisions at this time just back of Ypres, ready to make this attack, but their withdrawal was made necessary later by the allied resistance on other parts of the front.

This is the sight that would have greeted Samuel in Ypres. This is all that remained of Ypres, the cathedral in the center of the picture, and below, after Germans had shelled it for four years. He had probably never seen the devastation of war. Now, he was seeing it first hand. It looked like the apocalypse. If the reality of the situation hadn’t set in before, it surely did now. I would suspect it was a very somber, quiet unit that surveyed this scene spread before them.

The 117th proceeded from Calais to Norbecourt, where, under British officers and non-commissioned officers, the officers and men of the regiment were trained strenuously for five weeks. Detachments went up from time to time to the Canal Sector, between Ypres and Mont Kemmel, for front line work. This was most important, for it gave the regiment some experience in actual warfare before it was ordered later to take over a part of the line.

About July 1, 1918, the Thirtieth Division was ordered to move into Belgium. The 59th Brigade, which crossed the border on July 4, was the first unit of American forces to enter the war-torn little country, which bore the first assault of the German attack in the world war.

The 117th was assigned to Tunneling Camp, where it was given its final training in trench warfare and in attacking strong points. After a few days of this work, the regiment was ordered into the battle line. One battalion held the front line trenches, another was kept in support, while the third was held in reserve on the East Popperinghe Line. The battalions alternated in these positions for twenty-four days, each receiving the same amount of real front line work. On August 17, when it became evident that the Americans were fully able to handle the situation, the sector was turned over to the Thirtieth Division by the Thirty-third British Division, which had been stationed in the line there. The extent of the sector was from the southern outskirts of Ypres to Voormezeele and was known as the Canal Sector.

With the exception of a limited offensive, conducted in cooperation with the British, in which Mont Kemmel was outflanked, Voormezeele captured, and an advance of about 1500 yards made, the Thirtieth Division was purely on the defensive in all the fighting in Belgium. Yet this type of warfare was, perhaps, the most harassing through which it went during the whole war. The Germans knew the location of every trench, and their artillery played upon them day and night. Night bombers also made this a very uncomfortable sector, for they dropped tons of explosives both upon the front and at the rear. There was little concealment on either side, because this part of Belgium was very flat. Artificial camouflage provided what little deception was practiced upon the enemy.

The casualties of the 117th in the two months in which it was stationed in the Canal Sector were not heavy. Only a few men were killed, and the number of wounded was less than 100. King George of England and Field Marshal Haig, commander of the English armies, honored the regiment with a visit and made an inspection of its companies, shown below.

So, it would appear that Samuel met, or at least saw, King George.

On the night of September 4, the 117th, together with the other units of the division, was withdrawn from the English Second Army and placed in British G. H. Q. reserve. The next two weeks were given to intensive training with tanks, with a view to coming offensive operations with them.

September 1^st, trucks and busses were provided and the regiment moved through Albert, Bray, and Peronne to near Tincourt, just back of the celebrated Hindenburg Line. The Thirtieth and Twenty-seventh Divisions, which were the only American division left with the British, were assigned now to the British Fourth Army, General Rawlinson commanding, for the great attack which was soon to be launched at this most vital and highly fortified part of the whole line. They were fresh, they had shown their mettle in the defensive operations in Belgium, and so they were chosen for the spearhead of the attack.

They had earned the honor.

The 59th Brigade went into the line first, relieving the Australians on the night of September 26. The 118th Infantry took over the front line, with the 117th Infantry in close support. The casualties of the latter were rather heavy from gas shells in making the relief, one company losing 62 men to the hospital.

The celebrated Hindenburg Line, which the German commander-in-chief, General von Hindenburg, built as a great defensive system to hold against capture of France and Belgium east of it, extended from the English Channel to the Swiss border. It was not a local defensive system at all. Yet at various parts of the line there were key positions, dominating a large area, the fortifications of which had been made much stronger. The area between St. Quentin and Cambrai held the key to the German defenses on the northern end of the line. It was fortified accordingly with all the ingenuity and deviltry of the Hun mind.

View of Bellicourt, above: In lower left hand corner is entrance to the formidable Hindenburg Tunnel.

Soldiers on the road beside the Hindenburg Tunnel, protected by barbed wire, on October 4, 1918.

In front of Bellicourt, near the center of the American sector of attack, the Hindenburg Line, which curved west of the St. Quentin Canal, consisted of three main trench systems, each protected by row after row of barbed wire entanglements. These trench systems were on high ground and gave the Germans the advantage of being able to sweep the whole area in front of them with machine guns. Along the canal were concrete machine gun emplacements. Back of this formidable system of defenses was the canal tunnel, built by Napoleon in 1802-10 and running underground for a distance of three miles. From this tunnel there were thirty-eight exits, each carefully camouflaged.

The tunnel was lighted by electricity, a narrow gauge railroad brought in supplies from the outside, while canal boats provided quarters for a large number of men. Thus there was complete shelter for a large garrison of the enemy against heavy shelling, and in case of a real attack, an almost impregnable defense.

The attack upon this part of the line was set for the morning of September 29, 1918. The 27th American Division was on the left, the 46th British on the right of the 30th American Division. The American sector passed across the tunnel, but the British on the right and left were prepared to swim the canal in case no bridges were found to afford them passage. The assault of the infantry upon these fortifications was to be preceded by a bombardment of 72 hours — with gas shells for 24 hours and with shell and shrapnel from light and heavy artillery for 48 hours.

In the Thirtieth Division sector, the 119th and 120th Infantry were assigned to make the opening attack, with the 117th Infantry following in close support, and prepared to exploit their advance after the canal had been crossed. The 118th Infantry was held in reserve. The 119th Infantry had the left half of the sector, while the 120th, strengthened by Company H, of the 117th, covered the right half. In addition to his regimental strength, Colonel Spence, of the 117th, had under his command for the attack 92 guns of Australian artillery, 24 British tanks, and two extra machine gun companies. The plan of battle was that the regiment, following the 120th, should cross the canal between Bellicourt on the left and the entrance to the canal on the right, then turn at right angles, and proceed southeasterly down the main Hindenburg Line trench, mopping up this territory of the enemy for about a mile. Connection was to be made with the British on the right, if they succeeded in crossing the canal.

The facts of the case are that this paper plan of battle worked out somewhat differently under battle conditions. Most of the assaulting companies became badly confused in the deep fog and smoke, strayed off somewhat from their objectives, and their attack swung to the left of the sector. The 117th, which followed, went off in the opposite direction fortunately and cleaned out a territory which otherwise would have been left undisturbed. While it caused endless confusion and the temporary intermingling of platoons, companies, and even regiments, this pall of mist and smoke on the morning of the attack undoubtedly contributed to the success of the battle. The Germans did not know how to shoot accurately, for no targets were visible. During the morning hours it was impossible for a man to see his hand more than a few inches in front of him. Men in the combat groups joined hands to avoid being lost from each other. Officers were compelled, in orienting their maps, to lay them on the ground, as it was impossible to read them while standing in the dense cloud of smoke and mist. The atmosphere did not clear up completely until after the canal had been crossed.

The barrage for the attack went down at 5:50 a.m. The First Battalion, under Major Dyer, jumped off promptly on time, with C and D Companies in the line, A and B Companies in support. The Second Battalion followed at about 500 yards, while the Third Battalion, with a company of engineers, was held in reserve on the crest of a hill. The tanks, for the most part, became separated from the infantry, but their work was invaluable in plowing through the barbed wire, which had been cut up very little by the barrage. Like nearly everyone else, the tanks lost sense of direction in the smoke and fog cloud, while the majority of them were disabled before noon of the 29th.

Past the Hindenburg Line, members of Co.”K,” 117th Infantry, digging themselves in for the night after an advance which started in the morning at Molain, France.

The taking of the Hindenburg Tunnel was a turning point in the war. The Australians who had units present as well document the events, with maps, here. Fallen American soldiers on the 29^th, shown below. I wonder if placing crosses on the bodies was a symbolic tradition or was simply a signal that “this one needs to be buried.”

Most of the morning was consumed by the 117th in clearing out the area south and west of the tunnel entrance. Some units, mistaking one of the trench systems for the canal, turned southward before actually reaching the genuine canal. They cleaned out thoroughly the Germans, who were in this pocket, but toward 10 o’clock turned northward and began to pass over the tunnel, the left flank skimming Bellicourt and the right crossing near the tunnel entrance.

The casualties of the 117th on September 29 were 26 officers and 366 men. Seven field pieces, 99 machine guns, 7 anti-tank rifles, many small arms and 592 German prisoners were the trophies of the day. Though the casualties were rather heavy, in view of the machine gun and artillery resistance which the Germans offered from powerfully held positions, they should be regarded as rather light. With a clear day, without fog or smoke, they would have been double or treble this number.

American and Australian soldiers at the entrance to the breached Hindenburg Tunnel, October 4, 1918.

The 117th was relieved from the line about noon of October 1, and before night the regiment was on its way back to the Herbicourt area on the Somme River for rest and reorganization. This period, however, was very brief, for on October 5 orders were issued to relieve an Australian brigade.

The offensive of the division, with the 59th Brigade making the attack, was scheduled for the morning of October 8.

This is the day Samuel Bolton would die.

The 59th Brigade offensive was launched the morning of October 8, the 117th on the left, the 118th on the right. The British were on the flanks. The jumping off line was northeast of Wiancourt, while the objective was slightly beyond Premont. The First Battalion of the 117th launched the attack for the regiment, the Second Battalion was in close support, while the Third Battalion, which had been cut up badly the day before, was in reserve. The attack got off on time in spite of the difficulties that were encountered the previous night in getting into position under fire and in the dark.

The attack started before six o’clock in the morning, after a heavy barrage had been laid down by the accompanying artillery. In spite of heavy shelling by German machine guns and artillery on both flanks, especially from the towns of Ponchaux and Geneve, the companies made fairly good gains during the day, fighting almost every foot of the way.

In the face of furious German resistance with all kinds of machine gun nests and an abundance of light artillery, the battalions advanced very rapidly, skillfully knocking out machine guns and maneuvering to the best advantage over the broken ground. The Second Battalion suffered heavy losses during the morning and two companies of the brigade reserve were ordered to its support. Before noon Major Hathaway, who commanded it, announced the capture of Premont and his arrival at the prescribed objective. Positions were consolidated during the afternoon and preparations made for a possible counter-attack.

Today, the scene n the road between Wiancourt and Premont, near Ponchaux, looks idyllic, but on October 8^th, 1914, it was pure and utter hell.

This operation was a very costly one, perhaps the most bloody of the whole division in proportion to the number of men engaged, for out of the battalion, 12 officers and about 400 men were either killed or wounded. The casualties of the 117th on October 8 were the heaviest of any day of fighting in which it was engaged on the front.

For Samuel Bolton, the war ended on October 8^th, but for the rest of the 117^th, it continued the next day beginning at daybreak.

During these three days of fighting, October 7, 8, and 9, the regiment lost 34 officers and 1051 men as casualties. A count of the spoils taken included 113 machine guns, 28 field pieces, 907 small arms and about 800 prisoners. The great majority of the latter, 703, were captured on October 8, showing that on the final day the men, enraged by the losses of their comrades the day previous, killed most of the Germans they took. This became not an uncommon practice in the latter days of fighting, especially against the German machine gunners, who would kill or wound from their place of concealment a half platoon or more of men before their gun was located and put out of action. This custom of taking no prisoners was confined to no single regiment, but became common practice throughout the division.

Samuel’s trip home began on October 8^th. I don’t know how long it took in those days to notify family of a death, but it certainly wasn’t by telephone.

Cousin Dillis indicated that at that time, officers would have visited the family to deliver the news in person. This regiment was out of Knoxville, so the men who would have made that sad trip would have had to have gotten as far as Springdale in Claiborne County, where Little Sycamore Road turns to the east to enter the labyrinth of backroads into the mountains.

They probably had to stop at the store or the gas station at Springdale and ask directions. That means, of course, that everyone at the store knew where they were going, and could easily surmise why, if the men didn’t tell them outright. Many of the Bolton cousins lived down Little Sycamore, on the side roads, up the mountains and in the valleys, between Springdale and Hoop Creek where Joseph and Margaret lived, assuming they had moved from Back Valley Road since the 1910 census. In fact, the men would pass by the Plank Cemetery, on Little Sycamore Road, where Samuel’s remains would rest, under these trees, and just a few months later, those of his parents as well. Samuel’s grandfather, Joseph Bolton, Sr., who died in 1887 was already waiting there.

As they neared the intersection of Back Valley Road and Mulberry Gap Road, they would have had to ask again, at least once – as houses didn’t have numbers at that time and these men weren’t familiar with local roads that were often more like 2 tracks..

If Joseph and Margaret had moved to Hoop Creek between the 1910 census and 1918, then they would have had to ask directions at Hoop Creek Road. Back Valley, Hoop Creek and Rebel Holler roads all interconnect is a mountaintop and mountainside interwoven maze that is impossible for anyone but locals to navigate, even today.

When the car pulled up in front of the house, if Joseph and Margaret were home, they would have likely known immediately that someone had arrived. The chickens in the yard scattered and the dogs began to bark. They would have looked outside to see who, in a car, had arrived, and when they saw the uniforms, they would have known. Margaret would have begun to cry. Their son Estel, age 30, a machinist, lived at home in the 1920 census, so he likely lived at home in 1918 as well. Perhaps he was in the barn that day, and came to the house when he saw the car as well. The neighbors, of course, already knew because they had given directions to the gentlemen in uniform to find Joseph Bolton’s house. They were already preparing to come to the house to comfort the family as soon as the car left. The grapevine already had the news.

Sometime later, Samuel’s body would have arrived home, in a coffin, with a flag draped over it. The brothers and sisters who lived distant, like my grandmother who was living in Chicago by then, would have been summoned home, and the Bolton family would have gathered to say their goodbyes in the Plank Cemetery. My father, William Sterling Estes and his brother, Joseph “Dode” Estes were also serving in the war, so it’s unlikely that either of them were able to attend Samuel’s funeral. Ironically, Ollie Bolton Estes, my grandmother, had named one of her children Samuel, and that Samuel had died as well.

Just one month and 3 days after Samuel’s death, the armistice was signed, signaling the end of WWI. Was that bittersweet for his parents? While Samuel Bolton didn’t survive to return home, the heavy fighting and breach and taking of the Hindenburg Tunnel were certainly part and parcel in turning the tide of the war, defeating Germany, so his death was certainly not in vain. If anything, Joseph and Margaret Bolton could take pride that their son had played a critical role in changing the world, and the tide of world affairs, for the better. But that’s awfully hard to convey to grieving parents.

Samuel’s unit spent the winter in Europe, just in case they were needed, returning home to celebrate their return with parades in Knoxville, Nashville, Chattanooga and throughout Eastern Tennessee in April of 1919. Sadly, Samuel wasn’t among them. I wonder if Joseph and Margaret attended any of the celebratory events or if it was just too painful for them.

The 177^th lost a total of 2184 officers and men in September and October of 1918. The regiment’s total advance into hostile territory was 11-2/3 miles and the towns captured by it were Premont, Busigny and Molaine.

In a sense, Joseph and Margaret were one of the lucky ones – their son’s body was returned, or I presume that it was because he does have a grave marker. I guess one should never assume. If a local newspaper could be found, articles would likely answer that question. A surprising number of dead were never sent home – many were simply buried where they fell or nearby. The number of WWI dead was unprecedented, especially in what came to be known as the “100 Days Offensive” that preceded the end of the war. Remains continue to be found today.

This page discusses the WWI war dead, battlefields and burials.

Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak, yes, that’s her real name, is a professional genealogist who specialized in repatriating remains of soldiers. She is probably best known for finding the Irish roots of Barack Obama, but her love and calling into this profession was through using DNA to identify the families of soldiers’ remains from the various wars, so that the bodies of the soldiers can be returned to their families and given a burial at home.

http://www.honoringourancestors.com/library_military.html

I asked Megan if she works on many WWI cases. After all, it has been 96 years since that war, the “War to End All Wars,” ended.

Megan said, “Most of my cases (over 1,000) have been WWII & Korean War. In the early days, I had a fair number of Southeast Asia ones, and very rarely, I’ve had WWI cases. I’ve been to one funeral for a WWI case – a fellow originally from Ireland. So it happens, but not terribly often.”

As the child of an Army family, it’s somehow fitting that repatriation was her calling into genetic genealogy.

“It was the Army’s repatriation efforts that first got me into DNA – 15 years ago now! I knew I wanted to write “Trace Your Roots with DNA” in 2001, but disciplined myself to wait because I knew folks weren’t ready for it yet. Spent 2 years getting articles and talks on DNA rejected even though I was already established. Ah, memories! But as an Army brat myself, I’ve always loved the application that first drew me to DNA. Still love it when any of my fellows get identified after all these years.”

Trace Your Roots with DNA was the first of Megan’s books, and the first genetic genealogy DNA basics book published in 2004. You can read more about Megan’s work here.

I find it fitting though, that the DNA of the families, of the mothers, or the sisters, in particular is used to identify and return these soldiers. There is never much question about maternal parentage, so the mother’s mitochondrial DNA is utilized. Furthermore, mitochondrial DNA is much more easily extracted from decomposed remains – and the most likely DNA to survive intact. So, fittingly, it’s the mother who ultimately brings her son home.

Rest in peace Samuel, and thank you.

Acknowledgements to Pam Bolton for providing the Descendants of Henry Bolton Facebook page and Dillis Bolton for information provided in this article.

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Sylvester Estes (1596-c1647), Sometimes Churchwarden, 52 Ancestors #31

Posted on August 3, 2014 by Roberta Estes

Sylvester Estes was baptized on September 26, 1596, in Ringwould, Kent, England, in St. Nicholas Church. His parents were Robert Eastes and Anne Woodward.

Sylvester died sometime after 1646 when son, Abraham, born about 1647, was conceived, and before 1649 when his wife Ellin (also spelled Ellen) died, with a will that states she was a widow. In case there is any question, based on Y DNA testing, Abraham, the last child born to this couple, did belong to Sylvester and this was not a case of a widow having a child after her husband’s death and the child taking the deceased husband’s surname. That has happened in the Estes line in the US, but not in this case. The Y DNA of Abraham’s male Estes descendants clearly matches that of the English Estes line.

Sylvester likely spent the first 40 years of his life in the Ringwould area. We know he was active in St. Nicholas Church in Ringwould, because the parish records note him as “sometimes churchwarden.”

What does a churchwarden do? They are a volunteer or lay official with responsibilities of maintaining the church and churchyard, making or paying to have repairs made, keeping the peace, caring for the poor and setting a good example for the rest of the flock. Some churchwardens also collected taxes from anyone who owned or rented property and were responsible for coordinating the maintenance of roads within the parish. Two church wardens were selected each year, one by the minister and the second by the people. The vestry, typically made up of the wealthy landowners in each parish, determined the responsibilities of the churchwarden in their parish. The churchwarden and the overseer of the poor, if they were separate people, were typically amongst the prominent men of the parish. In towns, churchwardens were generally of the merchant class, and in rural areas, of the yeoman class.

In the late 14th to 18th centuries, yeomen were farmers who owned land (freehold, leasehold or copyhold). Their wealth and the size of their landholding varied. Often it was hard to distinguish minor landed gentry from the wealthier yeomen, and wealthier husbandmen from the poorer yeomen.

Yeomen were often constables of their parish, and sometimes chief constables of the district, shire or hundred. Many yeomen held the positions of bailiffs for the High Sheriff or for the shire or hundred. Other civic duties would include churchwarden, bridge warden, and other warden duties. It was also common for a yeoman to be an overseer for his parish. Yeomen, whether working for a lord, king, shire, knight, district or parish served in localised or municipal police forces raised by or led by the landed gentry.

If this was true for Sylvester, it might provide us with a clue as to the possible cause of his death.

Stewart Estes, on his web page, refers to Sylvester as a “husbandman and yeoman,” but doesn’t mention his source.

Churchwardens were responsible for dealing with charitable causes. Many churchwarden account books remain. Aside from maintenance, the charitable causes to which churchwardens allocated the parish funds were manifold, ranging from bounties paid for hedgehogs, ravens, foxes, help to their own poor, donations to less well-off parishes and ransoms for Christian captives of Algerian pirates. The fact that Sylvester was a churchwarden at some time(s) in his life indicates that he was a trusted and well-respected member of the community.

Sylvester Eastes married a local girl, Ellin Martin, on November 24, 1625, in the church in Ringwould.

They married in their home church, where they had been raised, in this lovely chancel, at the altar.

Sylvester and Ellin had several children, the first 7 or 8 of which were baptized in Ringwould, but beginning in 1638, they apparently moved up the road to Nonington. Of course, Google maps today routes you on main roads, but you can see that utilizing the local roads, Waldershare was only a couple miles from Ringwould and about the same distance from Nonington. Great Hardres is another matter and it’s probably another 3 or 4 miles west of Nonington.

Sylvester’s wife, Ellin Martin, was reported to have been born about 1600 in Great Hadres, also spelled Great Hardres. With her last child born in 1647, she certainly would have not been born any earlier than 1600 and quite possibly, later.

Great Hadres is an area not terribly far removed from Ringwould, but also not extremely close. Furthermore, I cannot find any actual source for that location of her birth. The church records in Ringwould show several Martin christenings, marriages and burials, but not Ellin’s. Unfortunately, the Great Hardres records don’t begin until 1764 although the Bishops transcripts reportedly begin in 1563. They are not transcribed.

If Ellin was born in Great Hardres, the local church and cemetery are probably full of Martin ancestors. The church below is St. Peter and St. Paul at Upper Hardres Court. Parts of this church date from the 1200s. A newer church was built 3 miles away in the twin village of Lower Hardres in the 1800s, but this earlier would have been the church in which Ellen Martin was baptized in about 1600. I would surely love to see these church records.

Sylvester and Ellin’s children born from 1638 on, who are reflected in records, were born in Nonington and baptized at St. Mary’s Church, shown below.

Regardless of whether Abraham was baptized here or not, Sylvester and Ellin and their family attended this church, walked these grounds and sat inside this building for a decade of their lives, the last decade of their marriage

Unfortunately, no baptismal record for their last child, Abraham, my direct ancestor, has been found. It’s very likely that he too was born in Nonington. These are the only Estes members of the Nonington church in this timeframe.

The children of Sylvester Eastes and Ellin Martin are:

1. Robert Eastes, baptized 10 September 1626, Ringwould, Kent, died 1692 and buried 23 June 1692, Waldershire, Kent, married Elizabeth, who died in 1676 at Waldershire, Kent, and was buried 8 August 1676. Married second Margaret Coachman, 26 June 1688, Hadres, Kent. Children: Robert (1652), Elizabeth (1653), Susan (1655), Silvester (1657-1692) of Waldershare, Kent;

2. Anne Eastes, baptized 25 November 1627 at Ringwould, Kent, died young;

3. Silvester Eastes, baptized 31 May 1629 at Ringwould, Kent, married — Nash.

4. Susan Eastes, baptized 30 March 1631 at Ringwould, Kent.

5. Thomas Eastes, baptized 20 January 1633, Ringwould, Kent, died 15 April 1682, Pelham, Kent, married Sarah and had children: John (1665) of Waldershare, Kent, and lattr of Acrise, Kent.

6. Richard Eastes, baptized 5 October 1634, at Ringwould, Kent.

7. Mary Eastes, baptized 2 October 1636 at Ringwould, Kent.

8. Anne Eastes, born 1637 at Ringwould, Kent.

9. Nicholas Eastes, yeoman, baptized 9 December 1638 at Nonington, Kent, married Jane Birch, died 1665, Sutton, Kent. Children: John (?-1715) of Sutton.

10. Elizabeth Eastes, born 1639/40 at Nonington, Kent.

11. Ellen Eastes, baptized 11 December 1642, Nonington, Kent, died 1729 and buried 26 December 1729 at St Leonard’s, Kent. Ellen married Moses Eastes, 23 December 1667, at Deal, Kent. Moses was baptized 12 November 1643 at St Leonard’s, Kent and died at Deal, 19 March 1707/8 & buried 23 March, at St Leonard’s, Kent. Children: Richard (1667/8-1668), Constant (1669-1708), Aaron (1671) & Samuel (1674/5), of St Leonard’s, Kent.

12. John Eastes, baptized 29 December 1644 at Nonington, Kent.

13. Abraham⁵ Eastes, born 1647 at Nonington, Kent, married Anne Burton (widow), 29 December 1672, at Worth, Kent. Abraham immigrated to Virginia and remarried there, having several children. Abraham died in 1720, leaving widow Barbara, who was the mother of at least his younger children, if not all of his children. Although Barbara’s last name is widely reported to be Brock, there is absolutely no documentation of such. If you find original source documentation for Barbara’s last name, meaning not unsourced or recopied Ancestry trees, please, PLEASE send it to me. You can be the hero of the Abraham Estes family!!!

All of this leaves me with questions. What happened to Sylvester? Why is there no baptism record for Abraham, nor a burial record for Sylvester in Nonington or in Ringwould? Did they move someplace else where Abraham was born and Sylvester died? Did Sylvester die before Abraham was born, perhaps forcing Ellin to move?

The records for Nonington are existant and transcribed, but there are no burials recorded for the years 1646-1648, so if Sylvester died in Nonington, those records are lost. Christening records for that time period are recorded, but Abraham is absent and there are no Estes records from 1644 (John’s birth) forward.

And finally, who were Ellin Martin’s parents? The Martin records from the Ringwould church records are as follows:

Martin

March 5, 1575 – Roger Howell and Beatrix Martyn, married

Nov. 19, 1576 – William Martin and Margaret Clarke, married

April 16, 1677 – Thomas Martyn, son of William christened

Nov. 1, 1579 – Nicholas Martyn, son of William christened

Nov. 8, 1579 – Nicholas Martin, son of William buried

Jan. 22, 1580 – Emlin, daughter of William christened

April 23, 1584 – John Martyn, son of William christened

May 24, 1584 – Margaret Martyn, daughter of William buried

June 24, 1584 – William Martyn and Elizabeth Harte married

July 25, 1584 – John, son of William buried

April 21, 1597 – Elizabeth Martyn, wife of William buried

January 10, 1607 – Margaret Martin, daughter of Thomas christened

April 13, 1614 – William Martin, an aged man, buried

April 28, 1614 – Margaret Martin, daughter of Thomas buried

May 29, 1621 – Nicolas Martin and Elizabeth Whitten married

July 23, 1622 – Margaret Martin, daughter of Nicolas christened

November 24, 1625 – Silvester Esties and Ellen Martin married

July 29, 1627 – Thomas Martin, son of Nicholas christened

Aug. 6, 1627 – Thomas Martin, son of Nicholas buried

July 27, 1628 – Jane Martin, daughter of Nicholas christened

Jan. 9, 1630 – Thomas Martin, son of Nicholas christened

Sept. 15, 1633 – Ellenor Martin, daughter of Nicholas christened

April 12, 1635 – Nicholas Martin, son of Thomas and Elizabeth

January 21, 1637 – John Martin, son of Nicholas and Elizabeth

September 13, 1640 – Elizabeth Martin, daughter of Nicholas and Elizabeth christened

April 4, 1643 – Mary Martin, daughter of Nicholas christened

Nov. 14, 1644 – Wilman Martin, wife of Thomas, buried

Dec. 29, 1647 – John Martin, son of Nicholas buried

March 24, 1664 –William Martin buried

April 16, 1688 – Daniel Martin and Margaret Bradly married

Feb. 28, 1699 – Nicholas Martin, buried

April 16, 1716 – Mary Martin buried

It’s possible that Ellin was the daughter of William Martin, the old man who died in 1614. It’s unclear whether the William that marries in 1584 to Elizabeth Harte is the same William who has been having children, or if this is a second William. Elizabeth, the wife of the William who marries in 1584 is buried in 1597. This could be Ellin’s mother, if Ellin was born a few years before 1600, but that would put Abraham’s birth when Ellin was age 50 or older, which is unlikely.

Ellin might be Thomas’s child. The first record of Thomas is in 1607 when one of his children is baptized. One thing is for certain, whoever her parents were, it’s likely they were church members in 1625 when Ellin married Sylvester Estes, assuming they were still living. Young women didn’t simply run off and join a church of their choosing in a location where their family was not located.

Ellin died in 1649, leaving Abraham, only 2 years old, on orphan. Ellin had a total of 13 children, 11 living at that time, with Robert, the oldest at age 23. At the time she made her will, she was living at Waldershare. Did she move there after Sylvester died to live with Robert, perhaps, if he was able to find work? Or had the family perhaps already moved there and both Abraham’s baptismal and Sylvester’s burial record would be found in the Waldershare church records? Find My Past claims to have indexed the records for Waldershare, and I found no burial record for Ellin Eastes in 1649. I also found no birth or baptism for Abraham no death or burial for his father, Sylvester.

Thankfully Ellin left a will.

Translation of Ellin’s Will:

In the name of God, Amen, the fifth day of April 1649, I, ELIN ESTES [sic] of the parish of Waldershire [sic] in the County of Kent widow, being sick in body but in perfect memory thanks be given to God, do make and ordain this my last Will and Testament in manner and form following,

First, I bequeath my soul to Almighty God hoping by the mercy and merits of Jesus Christ to enjoy Everlasting life and my body to the Earth to be buried at the discretion of my Executor hereafter named.

First, I give to my son, THOMAS ESTES, twenty pounds of current money of England to be paid to him as followeth, that is to say, ten pounds at his age of twenty and one years of age and ten pounds when my youngest child shall come to the age of twenty and one years.

Item, I give to my son, RICHARD ESTES, the sum of five pounds when he shall attain to the age of twenty and one years.

Item, I give to my son, NICHOLAS ESTES, fifteen pounds to be paid to him when he shall attain the age of twenty and one years.

Item, I give to my son, JOHN ESTES, twelve pounds to be paid to him when he shall attain the age of one and twenty years.

Item, I give to my son, ABRAHAM ESTES, the sum of twelve pounds to be paid to him when he shall attain to the age of one and twenty years.

Item, I give to my daughter, ANNE ESTES, twelve pounds to be paid to her at her age of four and twenty years or day of marriage which shall first happen.

Item, I give to my daughter, SILVESTER NASH, five pounds when my youngest child cometh to the age of twenty and one years.

Item, I give to my daughter, SUSAN ESTES, the sum of twelve pounds to be paid to her when she shall attain to the age of one and twenty years or day of marriage which shall first happen.

Item, I give to my daughter, MARY ESTES, ten pounds to be paid to her when she shall attain to the age of one and twenty years or day of marriage which shall first happen.

Item, I give to my daughter, ELIZABETH ESTES, ten pounds to be paid to her [next few words crossed through but said: “when she shall attain”] at her age of one and twenty years or day of marriage which shall first happen.

Item, I give to ELLIN ESTES, my daughter, ten pounds to be paid to her when she shall attain to the age of one and twenty years or day of marriage which shall first happen.

And I do nominate and appoint ROBERT ESTES, my son, whole and sole Executor of this my last Will and Testament and I give to my said son, ROBERT ESTES, all my goods, chattels and household stuff paying my debts and legacies and funeral expenses.

In witness that this is my last Will, I do hereby publish and declare this to be my last Will and Testament in the presence of those whose names are hereunder written:

Thomas Jenkin, John Peers

Ellin Estes, her mark

Ellin’s will was proved at London before Sir Nathaniel Brent, Knight, doctor of laws and Master or keeper of the Prerogative Court the sixth day of December in the year of our Lord God one thousand six hundred fifty one by the oath of Robert Estes, the son of the deceased and Executor therein named to whom administration of all and singular the goods, chattels and debts of the said deceased which any manner of ways sworn the same will was granted and committed, he being first legally sworn by virtue of a commission in that behalf issued forth well and truly to administer the same.

Why did Ellin’s will have to be proven in London? Was this standard for the time?

And why did Annie have to wait until she was 24 instead of 21, like her sisters? Was Annie the “wild-child” of the group, or was she somehow otherwise challenged?

Given that two of Ellin’s children, son Thomas and daughter Silvester Nash, who was obviously married by this time, were to receive 10# when Ellin’s youngest child turned 21, this might imply that there was an assumption or perhaps an arrangement that these two oldest, adult, siblings would raise the younger children after Ellin’s death – and withholding their inheritance share helped to assure that the children received attention and didn’t die of neglect. Now there’s a morbid thought.

I have often wondered who raised Abraham, given that he is my direct ancestor. There might be a clue in the fact that Ellin’s daughter, Ellen, born in 1642, married Moses Estes, born in 1643. They married December 23, 1667 at St. Leonard’s church in Deal, implying that this was Ellen’s home church at that time.

Moses Eastes was Ellen’s 2^nd cousin once removed. Robert Eastes (who married Anne Woodward) was the brother of Henry Eastes, a mariner, who had married Mary Rand. Robert was Henry’s executor in 1590. Henry had son Richard (who married Agnes Dove) and they had son Richard born in 1578 (who married Sarah Norman) and they had son Moses born in 1643 who married Ellen Estes. This Moses Estes was buried in March of 1707 in St. Leonard’s churchyard in Deal, stone shown below, so the Estes family had gone full circle, with Sylvester and Ellin’s daughter, Ellen returning to the same church that her great-great-grandfather, Nicholas, attended. Ellen’s grandfather, Robert Eastes, was Moses’s great-grandfather, Henry’s brother.

Ellen made 6 recorded generations of Estes at St. Leonard’s and her children’s baptisms and burials make 7.

Moses’s stone is the oldest known Estes tombstone. He was followed in death by Ellen in December of 1729, although we don’t know where in the churchyard she is buried.

Moses and Ellen had four children: Richard, January 1667 who died as an infant, Constant, born December 1669, died November 1708, Aaron, born February 1671 and Samuel, born February 1674.

Unfortunately, there are no females to continue the line since daughter Constant died unmarried and without issue at age 36 and is buried beside Moses, so we are unable to obtain the mitochondrial DNA of Ellin Woodward Estes through her daughter Ellin. Hopefully, Ellin’s daughters Silvester Nash, Susan, Mary, Annie or Elizabeth had daughters who have descendants through all daughters, back to Ellin. If this describes you, I have a DNA scholarship for you and we can discover what secrets Ellin Martin’s mitochondrial DNA might hold.

The fact that these two families, both descended from sons of Sylvester Eastes and Jone, obviously kept in touch and lived in relatively close proximity might suggest that Richard Estes and Sarah Norman Estes might have helped raise Sylvester and Ellin’s orphaned children. Abraham, their youngest child, who would have had no memory of his parents, named his youngest son Moses Estes. He would have been age 20 when his sister married Moses, so he was obviously close to Moses, probably before Moses married his sister. The fact that Ellen’s home church was St. Leonard’s in Deal and not the church in Waldershare where her oldest brother lived is also suggestive that Abraham’s children were living in Deal, perhaps with their Estes cousins.

Changes

There is something to be said for reading all of the records of an institution, like a church. You can note things like large gaps in records and other, more subtle, changes that could signify important historical events.

For some reason, in the early-mid 1640s, something changed either in the Ringwould church or the surrounding area. There are no more Martin or Estes christenings, and only burials until the old guard is gone. There are a few Estes entries over the next hundred years but not many. The old names disappear from the register and new ones take their places. The English Civil War took place about this time, 1642-1651 and there was significant military action in this region. I don’t know if that had something to do with this, or perhaps church politics were at play, or both. In 1643, the castle at Deal was under a 5 month long siege, so the Dover, Walmer and Deal area might not have been the best place to live. Ringwould, of course, was on the main road connecting those locations. Moving inland some might have been considered safer. And fishing with all of the military activity surrounding the local castles along the coastline was probably highly disrupted, although it seems very unlikely that Sylvester was a fisherman. This might explain the move to Nonington in the 1640s, but it doesn’t explain why they moved in 1638 or why Ellin was in Waldershare in 1649.

Let’s take a look at what was happening in Kent during this timeframe.

King Charles

Charles I, born in 1600, was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649.

Charles was the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after his father inherited the English throne in 1603, he moved to England, where he spent much of the rest of his life. He became heir apparent to the English, Irish and Scottish thrones on the death of his elder brother in 1612. An unsuccessful and unpopular attempt to marry him to a Spanish Habsburg princess culminated in an eight-month visit to Spain in 1623 that demonstrated the futility of the marriage negotiations. Two years later he married the Bourbon princess Henrietta Maria of France instead.

After his succession, Charles quarreled with the Parliament of England, which sought to curb his royal prerogative. Charles believed in the divine right of kings and thought he could govern according to his own conscience. Many of his subjects opposed his policies, in particular the levying of taxes without parliamentary consent, and perceived his actions as those of a tyrannical absolute monarch. His religious policies, coupled with his marriage to a Roman Catholic, generated the antipathy and mistrust of reformed groups such as the Puritans and Calvinists, who thought his views too Catholic. He supported high church ecclesiastics, such as Richard Montagu and William Laud, and failed to successfully aid Protestant forces during the Thirty Years’ War. His attempts to force the Church of Scotland to adopt high Anglican practices led to the Bishops’ Wars, strengthened the position of the English and Scottish parliaments and helped precipitate his own downfall.

From 1642, Charles fought the armies of the English and Scottish parliaments in the English Civil War. After his defeat in 1645, he surrendered to a Scottish force that eventually handed him over to the English Parliament. Charles refused to accept his captors’ demands for a constitutional monarchy, and temporarily escaped captivity in November 1647.

Re-imprisoned on the Isle of Wight, Charles forged an alliance with Scotland, but by the end of 1648 Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army had consolidated its control over England. Charles was tried, convicted, and executed for high treason in January 1649. The monarchy was abolished and a republic called the Commonwealth of England was declared. In 1660, the English Interregnum ended when the monarchy was restored to Charles’s son, Charles II, who was greatly loved for his easy-going ways, and partly because the populace was weary of the 10 years of Cromwellian and Puritan rule.

The downfall of Charles I took many Kentish men right along.

The Kentish Uprising of 1648

Civil disturbances broke out in London and Canterbury during December 1647 over Parliament’s attempt to suppress traditional Christmas celebrations. In London, the lord mayor personally intervened to calm the situation, but at Canterbury the mayor was driven out of the city, along with several magistrates and clergymen. The Kent county committee was obliged to mobilize the Trained Bands to restore order.

At the commencement of the Civil War Parliament held all 3 castles. When Parliament declared that Christmas Day should henceforth only be observed by a fast, it spurred an uprising in Kent, along with a mutiny.

A Royalist rebellion broke out in Kent after the county committee at Canterbury had attempted to suppress a petition calling for the return of the King and the disbandment of the New Model Army. Canterbury, Rochester, Sittingbourne, Faversham and Sandwich were seized by Royalist insurgents on May 21, 1648.

The following day, at a meeting in Rochester attended by many of the local gentry, an armed gathering of Kent Royalists was scheduled to be held at Blackheath on May 30th in support of the petition. On May 26th, Dartford and Deptford were seized by insurgents. A naval revolt broke out on May 27th when ships of the Parliamentarian fleet declared for the King.

General Fairfax had been preparing to march north against the threat of invasion from Scotland. With rebellion so close to London and the danger that the Kent insurgents would be joined by Royalists from Essex and Surrey, Parliament ordered Fairfax to deal with the immediate threat. On May 27th, Fairfax mustered his troops on Hounslow Heath. Colonel Barkstead secured Southwark to the south of London, while the Trained Bands under Major-General Skippon were mobilized to defend the city itself. By May 30th, Fairfax had advanced to Blackheath. On rumours of his approach, the Royalists at Deptford and Dartford dispersed. Leaving a detachment at Croydon to act as a rearguard against any threat from Surrey, Fairfax bypassed the insurgents’ stronghold of Rochester and marched for Maidstone where an army of Kent Royalists was assembling on Penenden Heath. The main body of Kentish rebels was decisively defeated by Fairfax in the bloody Battle of Maidstone on June 1st.

Sandown Castle declared for King Charles, who was at that time imprisoned on the Isle of Wight. Deal and Walmer Castles then changed their allegiance from Parliament to the deposed monarch as well. These were the last three fortified posts to hold out for King Charles.

In June, Colonel Rich focused on the castles, one by one. Dover was recovered on June 5th. Then Rich turned to Deal, Walmer and Sandowne. He first laid siege to Walmer about June 15th. Conditions were terribly cold, wet and appalling. The Governor of Walmer Castle taunted his oppressors by hoisting a flag painted with a coffin to remind them of their inevitable fate. Another time, soldiers faked an explosion and threw a dummy of the governor over the ramparts and pretended to surrender in order to tempt the Roundheads into the gatehouse where they could attack. It didn’t work. On July 12th Walmer fell.

The Parliamentary forces then focused on Deal, an altogether more protracted and bloody affair. Rich didn’t have enough forces to surround both Deal and Sandown castles, so the castles were able to come to each other’s aid. There were several attempts to raise the siege, the most deadly being on the night of August 13th when 800 soldiers and sailors landed under cover of darkness to aid Deal Castle. The marshaled inland, preparing to attack the Parliamentary camp from the rear. However, a deserter raised the alarm and in the ensuing fight, many were killed, 300 fled to Sandown castle and another 100 or so made it back to the fleet. Another attempt on August 18th failed as well.

On August 17th, Cromwell decisively defeated the Scottish forces at Preston in Lancashire, effectively ending all Royalist hopes of victory. Garrisons in the castles were discouraged by news of Cromwell’s victories in the north which was conveyed by notes attached to arrows fired into the castles on August 23rd. Two days later, on August 25th, Deal surrendered followed by Sandown on September 5th, ending the Kentish Rebellion or Kentish Uprising of 1648.

Colonel Rich surveyed the damage at Deal Castle, saying, “The castle is much torn and spoiled with grenadoes, as Walmer was, or rather more.” Parliament ordered the renovation of all 3 castles.

In January, 1649, Charles, King of England, was executed by beheading before a vast crowd who rushed forward to soak their handkerchiefs in his royal blood. England was yet in turmoil and would remain so until the death of Cromwell in 1658 when King Charles I’s son, Charles II was invited to return to England as King.

We don’t know how Sylvester felt about the Uprising. Did he support the deposed King Charles or Parliament? Did his position within the community dictate that he was in the militia which was fought and was brutally defeated at Maidstone? We do know, from later records, that this was a tough time for the people of Deal, literally caught in the crossfire. Had Sylvester already died by this time? Was Ellin trying to raise those children alone? We know that Abraham was born about 1647 and Sylvester died before his wife in 1649. Did Sylvester lose his life in the Kentish Uprising of 1648?

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Robert Eastes (1555-1616), Householder in Ringwould, 52 Ancestors #30

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Roberta Estes

Robert Eastes, reported by family researchers as a mariner, was born about 1555, probably at Deal, Kent, and died about 1616, at age 61 in Ringwould, Kent. He married Anne Woodward on December 2, 1591 at St. Nicholas Church in Sholden, Kent, just a quarter mile or so up the road from St. Leonard’s Church of Deal where the Estes family was a long-time member.

Robert Eastes and Anne Woodward were married in St. Nicholas church at Shoulden, in this chancel, minus the carpet of course. Anne would have walked up this aisle 423 years ago.

Anne Woodward was born about 1570/1574. Baptism records began to be kept in 1569, so hopefully a record for her still exists in some location and has simply yet to be found. It’s likely that her family attended the church at Sholden as well and she may well have been born there and baptized in this very font that still exists in the church today.

Anne made her will on April 21,1630. She was buried on May 18, 1630 at Ringwould, less than a month later. Her will was probated on June 9, 1630, and listed nine children. Unfortunately, the archives cannot locate Anne’s will and now claims that it doesn’t exist. Perhaps it is filed under a different surname spelling.

Robert and Anne spent the first few years of their married life at Sholden, moving to Ringwould by September, 1595, according to baptismal records of their children.

Robert’s parents were Sylvester, a fisherman, who died in 1579 when Robert would have been 24 years old, and Jone, his mother, who was buried at St. Leonard’s Church in Deal in 1661, when Robert would have been about 6. Eighteen years later, Sylvester died, but would be buried in Ringwould for some unknown reason. There is no record of Sylvester remarrying. So when Robert Eastes married Anne Woodward in 1591, neither of his parents could attend his wedding.

If Robert was born in 1555, he waited quite some time before marrying. In 1591, he would have been 36 years old. I have to wonder, especially if he was a mariner, if the English war with Spain might have had something to do with his delayed marriage. During this war, the coastline of Kent was on high alert. The Spanish Armada was expected to attack at any minute, and indeed, in 1588, they did move up the English Channel in an arc preparing to attack England.

However, between the weather and the English “Navy” such as it was with few warships and mostly conscripted merchant and fishing boats, the Spanish were defeated off of the coast of France.

Nonetheless, the watch for the Armada had been underway in Kent, between Dover and Deal, night and day in specially constructed watchhouses, along the Kent coastline that was preparing to take the brunt of the battle.

Deal and the rest of the coast prepared, as best they could. Deal is reported to have had six vessels ready, along with the men to man them. Robert, at his age, 33 at the time, had to be involved in some capacity.

The English fleet may have been victorious, but they weren’t out of harm’s way yet. The English fleet anchored in the Downs to allow their victorious crews to be paid off before they were demobilised and dispersed. However, a gale wind blew for several days, stranding the entire fleet. An infection caused by “sour beer” disabled the crews. The gale, still blowing, made the transportation of supplies, food and medicine to the stranded ships impossible. The crew, without pay, turned mutinous. Slowly, boats managed to land thousands of sick and wounded seamen who then lined the beaches, “dying where they lay,” at Deal, Sandwich, Margate and Dover. Sir John Hawkins, pirate, treasurer of the Navy, hardened seaman, slave trader and adventurer wrote that, “It would grieve any man’s heart to see them that have served so valiantly to die so miserably.” Anything that could touch his heart must have truly been horrible.

If Robert were a mariner, he was understandably busy, not to mention that warfare disrupts commerce. Maybe he couldn’t afford to marry until 1591. Or maybe, he just hadn’t met the right young woman. But he did marry and he and Anne had a family.

It’s interesting, because Anne, based on the marriage and birth date of her first child was three months pregnant then they married, which may have been why they married when they did. I noticed in Ringwould that church records were pretty unforgiving and very direct about illegitimacy if the parents remained unmarried at the time of the child’s birth. However, Robert and Ellen married and there is nothing in the child’s baptism record that indicates anything “odd.”

While today, we think of a wedding as a definite legal dividing line between married and unmarried, in the past, marriage was more of a process. In fact, the betrothal was the beginning of the marriage process and that is when sexual relations, referred to as spousals, began as well. Children conceived while betrothed but before marriage were considered legitimate as long as the couple married.[1]

The term “processual marriage” is sometimes used to describe these arrangements, that is, “where the formation of marriage was regarded as a process rather than a clearly defined rite of passage” (S. Parker Informal Marriage, Cohabitation and the Law, 1750-1989).

It is no longer generally recognized that the Anglican marriage service was an attempt to combine elements of two separate occasions into a single liturgical event. Alan Macfarlane develops the point in detail: “In Anglo-Saxon England the ‘wedding’ was the occasion when the betrothal or pledging of the couple to each other in words of the present tense took place. This was in effect the legally binding act: It was, combined with consummation, the marriage. Later, a public celebration and announcement of the wedding might take place — the ‘gift’, the ‘bridal’, or ‘nuptials’, as it became known. This was the occasion when friends and relatives assembled to feast and to hear the financial details. These two stages remained separate in essence until they were united into one occasion after the Reformation. Thus the modern Anglican wedding service includes both spousals and nuptials (Macfarlane).

This pre-modern distinction between spousals and nuptials has been largely forgotten; indeed, its very recollection is likely to be resisted because it shows a cherished assumption about the entry into marriage — that it necessarily begins with a wedding — to be historically dubious. Betrothal, says Gillis, “constituted the recognized rite of transition from friends to lovers, conferring on the couple the right to sexual as well as social intimacy.” Betrothal “granted them freedom to explore any personal faults or incompatibilities that had remained hidden during the earlier, more inhibited phases of courtship and could be disastrous if carried into the indissoluble status of marriage.”

It has also been forgotten that about half of all brides in Britain and North America were pregnant at their weddings in the 18th century (L. Stone, “Passionate Attachments in the West in Historical Perspective,” in K. Scott and Mr. Warren [eds.], Perspectives on Marriage: A Reader). According to Stone, “this tells us more about sexual customs than about passionate attachments: Sex began at the moment of engagement, and marriage in church came later, often triggered by the pregnancy.” This certainly could have been the case with Robert Eastes and Anne Woodward.

The children of Robert Eastes, and Anne Woodward are:

1. Matthew Eastes, baptized 11 June 1592 at Sholden, Kent, died as infant. He is likely buried in the church yard at Sholden.

It’s also likely that they lost a second child, between Matthew and Sylvester, given the 4 year birth span. Alternatively, another child could have been born but the birth record no longer in existence or baptized elsewhere.

2. Sylvester Eastes, baptized 26 September 1596 at Ringwould, Kent.

3. Alice Eastes, baptized 26 March 1597 at Ringwould, Kent. She married Thomas Beane, 28 October 1628 at Ringwould, Kent, and had children: Christopher (1628); Richard (1632) of St. Mary the Virgin, Dover, Kent; Mary (1636) of Great Mongeham, Kent; Sarah (1638) of Westminster, London; Judith (1642); and, Thomas (1643) of All Hallows Staining, London. Notably, her children were all baptized in different locations.

4. Matthew Eastes, mariner, born 1601, Ringwould, Kent, died 1621, buried 4 June 1621, St Leonard’s, Deal, Kent, he married Margaret Johnson, 23 November 1620, Deal, Kent. Margaret died and was buried 15 October 1622, St Leonard’s, Deal, Kent. Children: Martha (1621) of Deal, Kent, and William (1621-1687) of Ringwould, Kent.

5. Robert Eastes, Jr. was baptized 29 May 1603, Ringwould, Kent, he married Dorothy Wilson, 31 January 1634, Ringwould, Kent. Children: Robert (1635), Thomas (1636), Sylvester (1638), Sarah (1640), infant (1643) of Ringwould, Kent, Matthew (1645-1723) and Richard (1647-1737), both born at Dover, Kent and died in America. Matthew and Richard constitute the “Northern Estes” line in America. They settled in Strafford Co., NH and then moved on to Essex Co., MA. David Powell details this line on his website.

6. Thomas Eastes, baptized 2 June 1605 at Ringwould, Kent, died in 1671, at Ringwould, Kent. He married Joan Wilson, 21 November 1636, at Ringwould, Kent. Joan died 1672, at Walmer, Kent. Children: John (1642), John (1645), Joan (1645) and Robert (1647) of Ringwould, Kent.

7. Susan Eastes, baptized 30 October 1608 at Ringwould, Kent.

8. John Eastes, baptized 3 March 1610 at Ringwould, Kent, he spent the latter years of his life in poverty, living on parish assistance. John died in 1684, at Ripple, Kent. He married unknown, and had son John, born 1642 of Eastry, Kent.

9. Female Infant Eastes, born in 1616 at Ringwould, Kent, died at birth.

In 1601, when James I ascended the throne, he declared the war with Spain officially over and the people of Kent could relax a bit. However, the long years of tensions along the coast might have encouraged some folks to move a ways inland. Robert was reported to be a mariner, but the only record I have been able to find indicating his occupation was at his death and lists him only as a householder, meaning one who heads a house. However, given that Robert’s mother died when he was young, and his father was assuredly a fisherman, as well as his son Matthew, it’s likely that Robert was too.

From 1595 until their deaths in 1616 and 1630, respectively, Robert and Anne would count Ringwould as their home church. It’s very likely that they lived in very close proximity as well, as the various churches in the villages were only a couple of miles apart. Ringwould was less than a mile from the sea and a couple miles from Deal where the fishing fleet was centered. If Robert were fishing, it would not make much sense for him to move away from the area where fishing occurred. Ringwould was a farming area.

If you drew a circle half way between Ringwould and all of the other adjacent churches, that circle would certainly include Robert and Anne’s home and wouldn’t be more than a mile distant from Ringwould at any point.

In the satellite photo, above, St. Nicholas church is located by the C in Church Lane and the cemetery takes up the rest of the churchyard. The photo below is the church from the main road, take from about the location of the blue dot to the right of “A258” and looking over the field to the church and churchyard.

The small village of Ringwould lies on the A258, known as Dover Road, the main road between Dover and Deal, it has a population of about 350, this has remained roughly the same for the last 200 years, although the number of houses in the village has doubled in that period. Today Ringwould is a quiet village with a Pub, a Church and a village hall. The school moved to Kingsdown in about 1980 and the Post Office closed not long after. Today, there isn’t even a convenience store.

The village was first recorded more than 200 years before the Domesday survey, in an Anglo-Saxon Charter dated 861 AD under the name of Roedligwealda (the forest of Hredel’s people). The site of a Roman period farm has been identified close to the present Ripple windmill; which is in the parish, although metal detector finds and other relics which have been found, suggest that the area was populated well before the Roman invasion. The oldest coin ever found in England was discovered by a metal detectorist working close to Ringwould. It seems probable that the village was established sometime during the Anglo-Saxon period, probably in the 6^th century AD, a thousand years before the Norman Conquest of 1066. In 1326, King Edward II granted a charter giving permission for a weekly market and an annual fair in Ringwould on the feast of St. Nicholas celebrated on December 6th each year.

By the late Norman period the timber Anglo-Saxon Church had been replaced by the present parish church which is thought to have been built about 1130. It has grown with the settlement and still contains a record of the alterations made through the centuries in its fabric.

The church originally had a wooden spire, but in 1627, the villagers petitioned the archdeacon to demolish the spire and replace it with a flint and brick tower. The villagers requested that they be allowed to keep the lead worth 28 pounds which would help offset the expenses anticipated to be 100 pounds to build the new tower. The new tower was to have pinnaces or ornaments, but today only the cupola remains. For many years, the year 1628, in iron figures, probably created in the forge just down the path, was affixed to the tower. There were originally 5 bells in the new tower, one original bell from the 1300s, 4 added in 1628, and a 6th added in 1957. Hence, the name of the local pub, Five Bells.

Anne Woodward Eastes would have been involved with the petition, although, being a woman, she may not have been allowed to sign. She would have watched the new tower being built, as it was three years before her death. During the construction, services went on as normal. There is an Estes marriage and christening during this time.

As late as the 1940’s Ringwould was still very much a manor village, with the squire, the Monins family, living in Ringwould House and a fair proportion of the village residents working on the manor property and living in houses owned by the manor. The Monins family is the historical manorial patron family beginning with Richard Monins in 1727, but it’s unclear who the earlier manorial family would have been. This is very interesting as it suggests that the Estes family in the 1600s would have likely been doing the same thing and very likely worked for the manorial family.

The following church records provide us with a glimpse of the events in the church most assuredly attended faithfully by our Estes family. Note that the transcribed records that I photographed at the church do not agree entirely with the records extracted by Estes researchers from original documents earlier, as reflected in the list of children given above. Roy Eastes in his book The Eastes-Estes Families of America – Our English Roots, stated that Donald Bowler utilized the Bishop’s returns. The records in the Ringwould church are from their own books, not duplicate copies sent to the Bishop. either set of records could certainly have omissions for various reasons.

September 26, 1596 – Silvester Estey, son of Robert, christened

Silvester is the son of Robert Estes who married Ann Woodward at Shoulden on December 2, 1591. Their first child, Matthew, was baptized at Shoulden in 1592. Silvester is their second child and the first record of an Estes in Ringwould except for the burial of Robert’s father, Sylvester, in 1579.

March 28, 1598 – Allice Estey daughter of Robert christened.

It looks like they lost two children here or the births aren’t recorded.

June 2, 1605 – Thomas Estis, son of Robert christened.

They may have lost a child here.

Oct 30, 1608 – Susas Estis, daughter of Robert christened.

March 3, 1610 – John Eastis, son of Robert christened.

And perhaps lost another child here.

Nov. 4, 1616 – Robert Eustace, householder buried.

Dec. 22, 1616 – daughter of Robert Eustace, not baptized, buried.

These two records, of Robert’s death and then just 6 weeks later, of Anne losing the child she was pregnant with when Robert died, are simply profoundly sad. I can see the grieving woman, with her children, ranging in age from 6 to 20, and heavily pregnant, standing in the churchyard beside the casket as they lowered it into the ground, burying her husband. A few weeks later, she would return to the same cemetery to bury her youngest child, just like she buried her oldest child years before. Life then was not easy, nor was it fair. My heart still breaks for her, almost 400 years later.

Anne did, however, live to see two of her children married and she would have certainly attended those weddings.

November 24, 1625 – Silvester Esties and Ellen Martin married

Silvester and Ellen would name their first child after Silvester’s deceased father, Robert.

Sept. 10, 1626 – Robert Esties, son of Selvester christened.

Silvester and Ellen’s second child was a daughter that they named after Silvester’s mother. She was, assuredly at the baptism of those children and it was most certainly a joyful day.

Nov. 25, 1627 – Anne Esties, daughter of Selvester christened.

October 20, 1628 – Thomas Beane and Alice Esties married.

Anne’s second child married, another joyful day of celebration.

May 31, 1629 – Selvester Esties, daughter of Selvester christened.

Note that Selvester is now a female in this generation. This is not the only female Sylvester in the Estes family.

March 20, 1630 – Susan Esties, daughter of Selvester christened.

May 18, 1630 – Anne Esties, widdowe, buried.

watercolour St. Nicholas Church at Ringwould, more than 800 years old, dating from about 1130, is near and dear to my heart. It is a smaller church than beautiful and majestic St. Leonard’s in Deal. It’s a country or manorial church in the vernacular of that day and time, meaning is was supported by the manorial family who owned the land. It reminds me in many ways of the simpler country church where I grew up. Of course, it was a very different time and place, but the cohesive bond formed by church members in a small church probably wasn’t any different then than now. St Nicholas, even today reflects a feeling of warmth and intimacy. You know that everyone knew everyone else and probably everything about everyone too. In 1578, the year before Sylvester Estes was buried in the churchyard, the church was recorded as having 60 communicants, meaning those taking Communion. By 1640, 60 years later and 10 years after Anne died, they had 170 communicants – so it was a growing community.

The church then was the center and focal point of the community. Important events occurred there, transactions took place on the porch of the church, and it was the center of the lives of the people, both religiously and socially. The church was expanded at least three times, as shown below.

ChurchplanBig

Church in 1807 by F.Petrie The Victorian renovation in 1867-1869 was extensive and swept away much of the original interior of the church, including the box pews, pulpit, choir stalls and sadly, the original baptismal font. They also removed the “rendering” on the outside of the church and replaced it with flint facing. This drawing is before the renovations to the exterior.

The church in Ringwould was also physically at the center of the original village. Church Lane curves around the church and cemetery, the main road abutted the church lands and a path approached the church, just wide enough for a coffin carried by 2 men on either side.

This approach is from Church Lane.

In front of the church is one of two giant yew trees, remnants from Anglo-Saxon pagan days of worship, the hollow one being dated as 1300 years old, so a seedling in about the year 700, and a second one, below, 1000 years old. A Bronze age village is known to have existed here and Saxon graves were recorded nearby.

Two doors welcome visitors today. This looks to be the older door.

The green door is the second entryway and the one utilized today with a porch.

The old footpath, below, passes the forge before arriving at the church “gate.” This, of course, would have been the original way that the villagers arrived at the church.

This gate wasn’t present at that time, but it’s likely that some gate was to prevent the livestock from grazing in the churchyard.

They walked up this walkway, carrying gifts, children and sometimes, caskets. We are walking in the footsteps of generations.

The porch was added in the 1300s and was likely a very welcome addition. Some of the rites, such as baptism, started outside the church and had been open to the weather.

Walking around the end of the church to the side with the porch provides a beautiful view of the hand carved crosses on the roof.

The porch also includes a 12th century Mass Dial, used like a sun dial, before the advent of clocks so that the priest and others could tell the times of the several daily services.

Mass Dial

There are several “Crusaders Crosses” well cut into the stonework fo the original main door frame. Legend has it that the Crusaders returning from the Holy Land would blunt their swords on the doors of the first church they saw. The last of the Crusades ended in 1291.

Entering the church through the porch, we see the very unique atmosphere found only in the seafaring communities near the waterfront in Kent.

Flint was used routinely for churches in this part of England. In fact, there is a sign at the Five Bells Pub on the corner that says they have the “Oldest Flint in Kent.”

I’m not quite sure how they determined that this was older than the rest, but it’s just a block away from St. Nicholas Church. This would imply that this building is perhaps older than the church, or maybe simply reflects that the flint on the church was added in the 1800s. But, back to the church.

Entering the church, we see the stained glass windows in the chancel, where our ancestors would have watched the Catholic priests, then later the Protestant ministers, deliver the message, be it inspirational, damning or comforting.

Today, the pulpit is just outside of the chancel in the nave. These are not the original pews, but this is where our ancestors sat.

Looking to the left, we see the alcove where the organ is found today, but would have been originally a place where candles were lit in the Catholic church to saints.

Beautiful stained glass windows in Norman arches. This church was built in the 1300s, with renovations in 1638 when the tower was built.

And of course, the sedilia, the seats for the priests, carved into the walls. I looked for a piscina nearby but did not see one. It could have been behind something or removed during the Victorian renovations.

St. Nicholas has lots of small beautiful stained glass windows tucked into arches

Of course, a window and statue for St. Nicholas, the church’s patron Saint.

This beautiful tapestry hung in the church. The message of Madonna and child is universal in the Christian world. This is the church where Anne Woodward Estes raised her children after Robert’s passing in 1616, so the message of the Holy Mother would certainly have resonated with her.

The bapistry where our ancestor, Silvester, would have been baptized, as well as some of his children. Unfortunately, this bapistry is from the late 1800s.

Anne was buried in in the churchyard in 1630, preceded by her husband and unbaptized daughter in 1616. The fact that her daughter was unbaptized meant that the child was either stillborn or died very quickly after birth and was therefore not named. Later, there were at least three more Estes burials reflected in the records, none with stones that survive today.

Yes, we know that Anne, Robert and their unnamed daughter are here, in addition to Robert’s father, Sylvester, so let’s take a walk around the churchyard in the cemetery.

Many of the stones are quite aged, from the 1700s, and this church does not appear to have removed older stones.

The cemetery, or churchyard, is beautiful, it’s ancient trees speaking to the age of the bones and dust that lie here as well. There are likely burials here from at least the 1200s.

Tombstones weren’t utilized until the late 1600s, but I do wonder if people took mementos and left them when visiting the graves of their loved ones. Did Robert have an anchor on his grave or something from his line of work? Did Robert visit his father, Sylvester, the fisherman’s grave? Did Anne take flowers to put on her daughter’s grave that assuredly lay beside her husband? Were all of the Estes family buried together, or scattered about the churchyard?

This yew, as well as the second one, would both have been old trees by the time that Robert and Anne died. Did they stand in their shade. Did Sylvester play among these trees as he grew to adulthood? Did he court Ellen Martin here? Kiss her maybe?

These are the three windows in the chancel of the church with the yew in the side yard.

The beautiful stone cross visible above.

Graves not arranged, but scattered everyplace.

Most of these stones are illegible today.

I wonder if the vacant spots were known burial locations of ancestors and were intentionally avoided, or if they just haven’t been reused.

The oldest, hollow, yew.

I find this starkly beautiful and wonder if it was hollow when our ancestors lived here. If so, you can count on the fact that the kids played here. A hollow tree would have been unavoidably attractive to little boys!

A door bricked in and no longer in use on the back side.

I don’t know what the orange bubble on the photo is beside the yew tree, above. Some say dust on the camera lens, but others suggest that bubbles like this are spirits manifesting themselves. If that could possibly be true, we know whose spirit is here.

There are newer graves here, but they are off to the side.

View from the second yew. A woman we met at the church said that when she was a child, the men used the wood from the yew for arrows for archery practice. I’m guessing that was a very old tradition.

And of course, with all of these old English churches, there is always someone buried just outside the door.

We may not know where, but we know that the family rests here someplace, and we have visited them.

Anne was buried here in May 1630 after writing her will a month earlier. She would have been about 60 years old. Not old by today’s standards, but then the average life expectancy was about 37, although that was likely partly because of infant mortality. In other words, if you survived childhood, you might have lived beyond 37. For women, childbirth was extremely risky as well, but she survived all of those risks. She clearly had some warning that the grim reaper was about to visit because she had the opportunity to make a will. I wish the burial records told us why or how people died.

What record we do have of Anne’s will, reported by Donald Bowler who did the original research, says her will referred to 9 children. In the records above, we show 5 children living and “room” for four more. Were those children’s baptisms simply not recorded, or were they baptized in a different church? Perhaps the transcriptions are incomplete. We know one set of records is from the bishop’s copies and one is from the actual church records. Or, were the 9 children in her will actually 9 individuals, perhaps a combination of children and grandchildren? Without her will, we’ll never know.

Obtaining Robert’s DNA Without Digging Him Up

What we do know is that Robert and Ellen Woodward Eastes’ son, Silvester, from whom I descend, married Ellen Martin in this same church. Silvester had two sons, Abraham and Richard, and descendants of both lines have DNA tested.

Robert and Ellen also had son Matthew, who had two sons, William and John, who founded the Northern US Estes line. We have DNA results from both of these sons’ lines as well.

This means that Robert Estes is our oldest ancestor we can confirm genetically in the Estes line. If a male Estes, a direct descendant of one of the sons of Robert’s father, Sylvester, or grandfather, Nicholas, were to test, then we could confirm yet another generation or two up the tree – but today, we’re lucky to have Robert confirmed. That’s 12 generations for some of our DNA participants.

When a man has descendants who test through at least two different sons, we are able to “reconstruct” his Y DNA, for the most part, based on his descendants’ values.

In our case, we aren’t limited to two descendants, we have 25 proven descendants through 2 sons and 4 different grandsons.

What does this tell us about Robert’s DNA?

It gives us the ability to reconstruct Robert’s DNA values through a process called triangulation.

When the men from Robert’s 2 sons lines all match, we know, easily, the value of Robert’s DNA at those markers. It’s the same as both sons’ lines.

When it doesn’t match, then we have to look and see if we can figure out where the mutation took place in the various lines in question, and from that, if we can usually determine the oldest ancestral value of the marker in question.

The genealogy of Robert’s descendants looks roughly like the chart below.

*See footnote 2

This chart means that Robert and Anne Woodward Eastes had two sons who are represented in our testing, Sylvester and Matthew. Matthew had two sons, William and John, and today, several generations later, 10 to 12 to be exact, we have one proven descendant from each of those two sons whose DNA kit numbers are shown. Robert and Anne’s son Sylvester had two sons, Abraham and Richard, noted in green on the chart below. Richard’s descendant who DNA tested still lives in England, but Abraham was the immigrant to Virginia, and he has 22 kits with solidly proven descent to six of his eight sons. The other two sons have tentative (unproven) links, but I did not use their information in this study because they are unproven.

You can see on the chart above that of the first 18 markers, all except three match exactly, so we can easily fill in the values for all of those markers for Robert. Note that you can double click on the image to see a larger version.

Now, let’s look at the other three markers where mutations have occurred.

In Abraham’s case, I’m using a composite value created by using this same triangulation method. For the other’s we have only one kit from a descending line, so we are using that value.

The first marker with a discrepancy is 391.

Unfortunately, determining Robert’s original value of this marker, 10, or 12, or even possibly 11 if each line mutated in opposite directions, is impossible. Why? Because both of Sylvester’s descendants have a value of 12 and both of Matthew’s descendants have a value of 10. This means that we have confirmation back to those men, and the mutation likely took place in the generation between Robert and his sons, Sylvester and Matthew. To make things even more complex, some of Abraham’s descendants have a value of 11, but there are more values of 12 than of 11 in his son’s lines, so his composite has a value of 12. This marker may simply be very prone to mutation in the Estes family. If another of Robert’s sons’ descendants were to test, they could break the tie, but until then, we simply won’t know.

The second marker with a discrepancy is 439.

In this case, determining the value is possible, because even though there are three different values showing, 11, 12 and 13, one each of Sylvester’s and Matthew’s descendants have a value of 12, so Robert’s value is most likely 12 as well. Checking Abraham’s composite, it’s clearly a 12, so no issue there.

The third marker with a mutation is 447.

This call is easy, because three of the 4 descendants, including both sons Sylvester and Matthew have a value of 26, so the 25 is clearly the mutation. Therefore, Robert’s value has to be 26.

So Robert, who has been dead and buried in an unmarked grave since 1616, 398 years, can have his DNA values determined, and without digging him up! Not that we could do that anyway. His values are as shown below, except for marker 391 which could be either 10, 11 or 12.

Now, if I could just find someone who carries Anne Woodward’s mitochondrial DNA, I’d be ecstatic! Of course, that would have to be descended from her through all females to the current generation where it could be a man – and yes, in case you were wondering, there is a scholarship for anyone fitting that bill!

Footnotes:

[1] Before or After the Wedding by Adrian Thatcher at http://thewitness.org/archive/april2000/marriage.html

2. Since this article was written, a third son of Robert and Anne Woodward Eastes has been documented, through son Robert Eastye and Dorothy Wilson, their son Richard born 1647who married Elizabeth Beck and subsequently immigrated to the US. Richard died in 1737. The descendant’s results can be viewed as kit number 264340 in the Estes DNA project.

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Sylvester Estes (c1522-1579), Fisherman of Deal, 52 Ancestors #29

Posted on July 19, 2014 by Roberta Estes

Sylvester Estes was born probably in or near Deal, Kent, England about 1522, well before baptismal records were kept, beginning in 1559. He would have married before that time as well, so we don’t know his wife’s maiden name, only that her name was Jone. Their marriage date of 1545 is estimated based on the birth year of their first known child in 1547 and his birth date estimate is based on that as well, so he could have been born earlier. Jone Eustes, Sylvester’s wife, was buried on May 15, 1561 at St. Leonard’s Church in Deal, Kent. Her grave is not marked. Tombstones were not being used at that time in history.

Sylvester, described as “emeritus fisherman,” died and was buried on June 7, 1579 in the churchyard at Ringwould, his last name spelled Eastye. His grave is unmarked as well.

What little we do know about Sylvester, aside from his death and burial, comes from a court record.

On December 10, 1549, Sylvester, along with John Lamond, appeared before the Consistory Court of Canterbury (approximately 20 miles from Deal), charged by the Rector of Deal for not paying their tithes from their herring catch. Lamond asserted that “in the time of his rememberance … he paid no tithe.” Sylvester responded that in the past two years he and his colleagues had taken two or three “last” (a dozen 6-9 pound barrels) and that “the school of herring hath always comined there away but they had not netteth there to take them well before that time.” It has been suggested that the failure to pay the tithe was a political gesture, rather than just oversight, church tithes becoming increasingly unpopular at that time.

Stewart Estes provides the following information about tithes, especially upon fish:

From the above history of Sylvester Eastes, it appears that he may have been an early tax protester. A tithe (from Old English teogoþa “tenth”) is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a usually voluntary contribution or as a tax or levy, usually to support a church. Historically tithes could be paid in kind, such as agricultural products. Farmers had to offer a tenth of their harvest, while craftsmen had to offer a tenth of their production.

In the Middle Ages the tithe from the Old Testament was expanded, through a differentiation between a Great Tithe and a Little Tithe. The Great Tithe was analogous to the tithe in the Bible where one had to tithe on grain and large farm animals. The Little Tithe added fruits of the field: kitchen herbs, fruit, vegetables and small farm animals.

After the Reformation the tithe was increasingly taken over from the church by the state. In England, church tithes remained until the 19th century. The right to receive tithes was granted to the English churches by King Ethelwulf in 855. The Saladin tithe was a royal tax, but assessed using ecclesiastical boundaries, in 1188. Tithes were given legal force by the Statute of Westminster of 1285. The Dissolution of the Monasteries led to the transfer of many tithe rights from the Church to secular landowners, and then in the 1530s to the Crown.

Tithes of fish (and mills) were the last survivors of what were referred to as personal tithes. Traditionally, fish taken from the sea or common rivers were not titheable under the principal that they were ferae naturae or wild animals. The only exception was if a local custom existed.

A 1549 statute made a tithe of fish payable only in parishes where it had customarily been paid within the past 40 years, such as those on the sea coast. This would likely include Kent. The system ended with the Tithe Commutation Act 1836, which replaced tithes with a rent charge decided by a Tithe Commission.

Based on church records, we know that Sylvester and Jone had 3 children. It’s likely that they had several more who may have died or not been reflected in the records. If they were married about 1545 and Jone died in 1561, according to the burial record, they would have had 16 years as a married couple to produce offspring, so they could have been expected to have had approximately 8 children. The births of those children would only have been recorded in church records after 1559. This suggests that there are several children born, and probably buried, as children. However, given that daughter Jone was married in Ripple in 1563, it wouldn’t hurt to check the Ripple church records to see if Sylvester and Jone’s children were baptized there. Marriages traditionally took place in the bride’s church, although just two years earlier, Jone’s mother, Jone, was buried at St. Leonard’s in Deal.

Jone’s untimely death in her 30s would have left Sylvester, a fisherman, with 3 young children and no wife. His children, at the time of Jone’s death would have been 14, 12 and 6. It’s likely that his mother, Anny, if she was still living, would have raised his children while he provided for the entire family by fishing.

The three known children of Sylvester Eastes and Jone are as follows:

1. Jone Eastye, born 1547, probably at Deal, Kent, married on 9 July 1563, at Ripple, Kent, located between Ringwould and Deal, to Henrye Baker, born in 1546, they had a daughter, Jone, who married her first cousin Henry Estes, the son of Jone’s brother.

2. Henry Eastye, a fisherman and master-owner of a pinasse (two masted vessel), the Mynion, born in 1549, at Deal, Kent. He married Mary Rand on July 3, 1574, in Deal. “Henry Eastice of the parish of Deale in the County of Kent fisherman,” made his will on April 30, 1590 at Deal. Mary was buried June 19, 1601 at St Leonard’s, Kent.

3. Robert Eastye, mariner, born about 1555 at Deal, Kent, died about 1616 at age 61 in Ringwould, Kent. He married Anne Woodward on December 2, 1591 at Sholden, Kent. Anne was born about 1574 (or in 1570), died between the making of her will on April 21, 1630 and when she was buried on May 18, 1630 at Ringwould. Robert and Anne spent the first few years of their married life at Sholden, moving to Ringwould about 1595.

Due to the change in the English religion from Catholic to Protestant, these children would have been baptized as Protestants, while Sylvester and Jone would have been baptized at Catholics.

In the Ringwould church records, Sylvester’s burial is the very first Estes record, recorded thus:

Jan. 7, 1579 – Silvester Eastye buried

This begs the question of why, with his wife buried at St.Leonard’s 18 years earlier, was Silvester buried at Ringwould?

The second Estes record at Ringwould doesn’t follow for another 17 years, and it’s the christening of Silvester, the son of Robert, who is the son of Silvester buried in January of 1579. Between 1579 and 1596, Robert has married Anne Woodward at Shoulden in 1591, with their first child, Matthew being baptized there in 1592.

Sept. 26, 1596 – Silvester Estey, son of Robert, christened

Robert Estes and Anne Woodward continued to be members of St. Nicholas of Ringwould until Robert’s death about 1616.

Between 1561 when Jone was buried in Ringwould, to 1591 when Robert was married at Sholden, we have church records of this family involved with four different churches, albeit in close geographic proximity of a mile and a half range. As you can see, below, the entire circle between all 4 locations, using today’s roads which are not the most direct routes, is only a total of 7 miles.

Changes

Sylvester saw a lot of changes in his lifetime. His father died when he was 11 or 12, leaving his mother a widow. Sylvester may well have been apprenticed to the mariners to learn a trade in order to be able to support himself, and possibly his widowed mother and younger siblings as well.

Changes were afoot in England itself as well. England was in the process of politically becoming a Protestant nation with the King at the head of the church, instead of a Catholic nation with the Pope at the head of the church. In the 1530s, Henry VIII wanted to remarry because his wife did not produce a male heir, and his Catholicism prevented that, especially when the Pope refused to annul his marriage. As a result Henry renounced Catholicism and became Protestant, ordered the destruction of all things Catholic, such as monasteries and abbeys. The churches “became” Protestant overnight, along with their parishioners. In some places, of course, there was strong resistance and the resisters were called ‘recussants.’ That did not seem to be a problem in Kent.

In addition to the national issues, there were local and regional problems to contend with as well.

In October 1536, when Sylvester would have been about 14, four Flemish ships entered the Downs, landed and plundered the local boats of their “herrings, hogbushes, arrows and beer.” A few days later, those same ships robbed a Deal fishing boat of its entire catch and then sent a pinnace ashore on St. Leonard’s Day (November 6 and feast day at Deal’s St. Leonard’s church) to cut the cable of Captain Rychardson’s boat and tow it away. Rychardson’s inventory of his losses reflects a typical fishing boat of the time – two long bows, sheaves of arrows, barrels of beer, bread, candles, boots and bonnets. Sylvester’s ship probably was provisioned with the same things.

Piracy, especially in the Downs was very troublesome during this time. In 1536 Henry VII made it an offense punishable by death in some cases.

Queen Elizabeth, after coming to reign in 1558 did not take kindly to pirates either. In one month alone, sometime after 1573, William Holstock, commander of the Queen’s Navy, captured pirates of several nationalities from 35 rogue ships and sent about 1000 captives ashore at Deal. But then, he too turned rogue and captured 15 merchant ships.

In the 1539, Henry VIII ordered the construction of three castles to defend the Downs which were heavily exposed, faced Europe and were the most likely places for a Catholic army to make landfall in England. Deal Castle was one of the castles, and still stands majestically today. It was built, along with Sandown and Walmer Castle, in about 18 months in 1539 and 1540 utilizing 1400 men along with local laborers.

This was a very important, high profile project. In fact, King Henry himself visited the Downs to “inspect his defences” on Easter Sunday in 1539. He fully expected an invasion from Catholic Europe.

Sylvester would have been 17 or 18 at the time, a very impressionable age, and if he weren’t fishing already, he was surely involved in the castle construction. If he was fishing, the influx of workers certainly created an unending market for their fish and probably just about anything else you could create to sell to the workers. It would certainly have been an economic boon for the region around Deal. It would have been an exciting time to be a young man as well – an era full of adventure.

After the castles’ construction, garrisons were assigned. King Henry’s policy was to make any defense the responsibility of the local district and that garrisons were drawn from the area and officers were drawn from the local gentry. Soldiers were expected to provide their own weapons – a dagger, sword, halberd and at their own expense.

The expected attack from Catholic Europe did not materialize in 1540, probably causing everyone along the Kent coastline to heave a collective sigh of relief. Piracy and smuggling continued in the Downs, but the next threat from another nation would be Spain in 1588, nine years after Sylvester’s death.

Queen Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII, ascended the throne in 1558 and inspected the castles in Kent in 1573. After leaving Dover, the Queen journeyed through Walmer and Deal before being carried on a litter along the Ancient Highway to Sandwich. You can rest assured that every person who was able lined the roads to catch a glimpse of the Queen.

Perhaps Sylvester Estes, then 51 years old, was among them with his son Robert, just 18. Did they see the Queen?

Mobility

I expected that we would find the Estes family in one church and that the family members would remain within that church for generations. This also implies that they lived in the same location. That’s not what we’ve found. In the 5 known generations beginning with Nicholas and ending with Abraham Estes who immigrated to the US in 1673, we know that the Estes family participated in services in at least 8 churches, not including Sandwich where one can rest assured that Abraham attended church when he was an apprentice there. That’s a lot of mobility for an early family whose main avenue for transportation would have been on foot.

It’s also somewhat unusual in that early vassalage arrangements would have precluded mobility between farms, let along between towns, and in essence kept the vassals tied to the lands of the monarchy or their lords in perpetuity. Given that history, finding this much movement, even within a region, just a few years later is quite surprising. Feudalism, meaning feudal land tenure, began to decline with the War of the Roses in the mid-1400s (1455-1485), effectively ended when the country became Protestant in 1536, but wasn’t abolished in England until 1660. Under the feudal system, tenants, or vassals, would not have been allowed to move around from place to place.

So, why did they move? Well, knowing the Estes family, perhaps because they couldn’t, then they could, and did, because they could.

This pattern of movement tells us that the Estes family was likely not tied to land, per se, at least not by the 1500s – so maybe tenant farmers working the lands of others, or craftsmen – or eventually, as we know, mariners. Mariners are tied to the sea, not the land, so they would have lived relatively close to the shore. Most of these churches and communities certainly fit that criteria.

The movement of people is more the norm, over time, than not, unless there is a constraining factor. We do sometimes find families in villages nestled in the mountains of some remote location that haven’t left since the beginning of written records, which is often reflected in the very unusual markers in their Y DNA, suggesting a population bottleneck of sorts. In other words, mutations happened but no one left to spread them around, so they are only found in a particular region. For genealogists, these are blessings in disguise, because they can help us pinpoint locations where our ancestor lived, if enough people test. They will, of course, carry different surnames today, but their DNA will match, especially on unusual markers that have mutated in that region.

We find that often people migrated in groups – probably family units – increasing their chances of survival if there are others available who have a vested interest in helping out if trouble loomed. Someone else who wouldn’t hesitate to paint themselves blue and hurl projectiles at Caesar’s ships, if the need arose.

So, if we look at the more ancient aspect of the Estes DNA, what does it tell us? Where did the Estes family come from, before the advent of surnames? And does it tell us anything about the d’Este family myth?

Who Settled Near Deal?

Let’s start by looking at who settled in the Deal area. We know that Ceasar said that in the year 55 this area was inhabited by “Belgic and Celtic” tribes, a mixture of Germanic and Celtic stock who had arrived on “these shores a generation before but had continued to trade with their counterparts on the continent.” He says specifically that:

“The coast (was populated) by Belgic immigrants who came to plunder and make war – nearly all of them retaining the names of tribes from which they originated – and later settled to till the soil. They think it is wrong to eat hares or chickens or geese but they breed them as pets. As the cold is less severe, the climate is more temperate than in Gaul.”

Caesar tells us that his fleet encountered Celts hurling missiles from the soaring cliffs at Dover. The fleet then sailed 8 miles, hugging the coast until they came to ‘low lying land’ (Saxon, ‘dylle’).

Warring Britons, their naked bodies daubed with woad and their wild hair stiffened with lime relentlessly rode their sleek chariots into battle and drove the Romans from the shore.

An Ancient Briton from Barnard’s New Complete & Authentic History of England, 1783, below.

I can’t tell you how I wish someone had made a painting of that! Naked men painted blue with spikey hair in a chariot. Is that legal?

Caesar tells us more, and it’s complimentary in spite of the naked blue spikey factor.

“The most civilised people are those in Kent which is entirely a coastal area; they have much the same customs as the Gauls. Most of those living further inland do not sow corn but live on milk and flesh and wear clothes of animal skins. All the Britons, though, dye their skins with woad which produces a blue colour and thereby look all the more terrifying in battle.

By far the most civilized inhabitants are those living in Kent. The population is large, the ground thickly studded with homesteads…and the cattle numerous.

They do not cut their hair but shave all the rest of the body except the head and upper lip. Wives are shared between groups of ten or twelve men, usually made up of brothers or fathers and sons. The children are reckoned as belonging to the man each girl marries first.”

Now, that would play havoc with the DNA is more ways than one. So, you could wind up being the father to your own brother, or nephew….so you really could be your own grandpa. Don’t ponder this too long – it will only make you crazy.

We know that the word Deal itself is derived from the Saxon word “dylle” meaning low lying land or “del” referring to a dale or valley.

A Druid shrine was found on the eastern slope of Mill Hill, just a few blocks from St. Leonard’s Church in Deal, rich in Celtic art from the second century BC.

In fact, the “Deal Warrior” was found here with his armour, wearing what looks to be a crown with a LaTene style of incised pattern.

The Celtic LaTene culture followed the Hallstatt in Iron Age Europe about 450BCE.

Above, an overview of the Hallstatt and La Tène cultural regions. The core Hallstatt territory (800 BCE) is shown in solid yellow, the area of influence by 500 BCE (HaD) in light yellow. The core territory of the La Tène culture (450 BCE) is shown in solid green, the eventual area of La Tène influence by 50 BCE in light green. The territories of some major Celtic tribes are labelled. Map drawn after Atlas of the Celtic World, by John Haywood (2001: 30–37).

This map shows the Celtic expansion in Europe, including the British Isles, and Italy.

Ok, so are the Estes men Celtic?

The DNA

The good news is that the Estes STR markers are quite unique. The bad news is that the Estes STR markers are quite unique. The STR markers, or short tandem repeats, are the marker results that you receive when you order the 12, 25, 37, 67 or 111 marker tests from Family Tree DNA.

The Estes men don’t match men with other surnames at 111, 67 or 37 markers. In fact, their marker values at that level are very unique. The good news is that this means that it’s very easy to tell when someone matches the group, or doesn’t. The bad news is that there are no breadcrumbs left by matching other people.

Breadcrumbs? What do I mean by breadcrumbs?

A DNA breadcrumb, in this instance, could be one of two things. First, it could be an extended haplogroup SNP test that would tell me by virtue of who I match closely on STR markers that my ancestor’s haplogroup is likely to be the same as the other person who took the extended testing. In other words, a poor man’s pseudo SNP test. No such luck, in my case.

The second DNA breadcrumb would be the matches maps – where are the oldest ancestors of my closest matches found? This can be important in locating on origin in continental Europe. In my case, the closest not-Estes matches with locations are 12 and 25 markers. It’s not that I can’t use these, it’s that they are far back in time, quite far sometimes, so far that the common ancestor may not be on the same twig of the Y tree, especially with haplogroup R, old R1b1a2.

And yes, of course, the Estes men are smack dab in the middle of haplogroup R – in fact, L21.

On the first map, below, the locations of the oldest known European ancestors of the Estes matches are shown. There aren’t many in continental Europe. Most are in the British Isles. Keep in mind that none of these hold up (or perhaps didn’t test) above 25 markers, so the common ancestors with these individuals would be far back in time, hundreds to thousands of years – which is exactly what we are looking for – sometime around Caesar’s arrival in the year 55 when the woad covered Celts were pummeling his ships from the white cliffs of Dover.

The red balloons below show the oldest ancestors of 12 marker matches.

Hey, what are those two in Italy?

Turns out one is in Rome and other shows it’s in France, but it’s still in the right general location to perhaps be an indication that some of the Estes DNA is living in the region. That doesn’t do anything to put to bed the oral history of the d’Este family. In fact, it fans those flames a bit. If those matches held above 12 markers, it would fan those flames a lot…..but they don’t.

However, the general distribution pattern indeed looks like the traditional “Celtic” L21 migration into the British Isles, shown below.

It is believed that subgroup L21 was born about 4000 years ago in the Celtic region of Europe, perhaps in Southwest Germany.

A few days ago, Britain’s DNA released information about L21 which equates to their SNP S145.

The map below, for S145 shows their Pretani distribution. The best definition I could find for Pretani was that the earliest known reference to the people of the British Isles, made by the Greeks between 330 and 300 BC describes them as the Isles of the Pretani, the ‘Pretani’ thus becoming the most ancient inhabitants of Britain and Ireland to whom a definite name can be given. In Ireland these ancient British Pretani (or Britanni) were later to become known as the Cruthin, while in Scotland they became known as the Picts.

While their map does not include any downstream variants, it still meshes with the Eupedia L21 map. It looks like the Celts stepped ashore in England and started moving north and west and didn’t stop until they had to. Of course, they were followed by Angles and Saxons and Romans and Normans so they did have some pressure to keep moving. Apparently not all moved on, because there are still between 13% and 15% in the east and southeast of England, as determined by DNA testing of people whose 4 grandparents lived in that location – implying that they are not recent immigrants to the region.

So, what next?

Ok, so the Estes men are descended from Celts. Now we at least know that much.

But I’d still like to know if my ancestors were d’Este Kings in Italy wearing crowns, Druid priests in England wearing crowns, or blue woad painted Celts with spiked hair driving chariots while defending the white cliffs of Dover. Can’t you just see them here?

I mean, it does make quite a bit of difference in the telling of the family story.

I want to know more. I’d like to test for more SNPs to see if I can refine what we know, but which SNPs to test?

The Estes men have joined the R-L21 project and the British Isles by County project, and I’ve asked the administrator for haplogroup L21 for suggestions about how to test further. Part of the decision about how to test will be financially based. If he can tell me, based on his experience that what I really need to do is test one or two SNPs based on what he sees in terms of matching within other L21 subgroups, I’ll happily do that. If he tells me that I need to do the Geno 2.0 or Big Y, I’ll probably do that as well, but I’ll be eating hotdogs and mac and cheese for a few weeks. But hey, it’s grilling season and genealogy is way more important that eating!

In the L21 project, the Estes men, along with a few thousands of our closest friends are in the group titled “1. L21+ (L11>P312>L21; If you can, test for DF13 status).” This means, in plain English – you need more testing, so that’s the answer I’m expecting.

What this means is that the testing results are too vanilla to narrow the location origin. Below are the locations of the oldest ancestors of the “you need more testing” group.

And for comparison, here’s a subclade of L21 – a group of people who share a terminal SNP further down the tree – and the locations of their most distant ancestors. If what I’m looking for is a source on continental Europe – this is much more useful than the map above which shows the distribution of L21 over the past 4000 years or so.

I did receive a recommendation from the haplogroup L21 project administrator. Just what I was afraid of – the L21 project administrator wants 2 Big Y full Y sequence tests from the Estes line – from hopefully our two most divergent men who are definitely from the same family. This will show which of the SNPs or Novel Variants (personal or family SNPs) they share are actually haplotree branch SNPs and which are family only, meaning much more recent in time. Makes sense. I expected this advice, I was just hoping for a less expensive option, but as the administrator says, we are, indeed, the explorers in this new field. Well, good thing we are Celts now isn’t it!

Now, all I have to find the appropriate Estes male candidates and the funds. If you have an Estes in your family tree, you can contribute directly to the Estes DNA project towards the tests, which will be about $1200 in total. Any amount is appreciated and it all helps.

To put this in perspective, raising these funds has to be easier than getting naked, shaving my body, painting myself blue and liming my hair while driving a chariot and throwing projectiles off of the white cliffs of Dover!!!

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Nycholas Ewstas (c1495-1533), English Progenitor, 52 Ancestors #28

Posted on July 15, 2014 by Roberta Estes

Nycholas, or Nicholas, was the first Estes we can document, even though the name then was spelled as Ewstas. At that time, the U and W in the English language were synonymous and spelling was not yet standardized. Most people were illiterate, so spelling didn’t matter one bit. Clerks spelled names as they heard them.

Nicholas was born about 1495, possibly in Deal, Kent, England. We just don’t know. We haven’t found his christening in any of the local churches because baptismal records weren’t kept until nearly 65 years later. Baptism, marriage and death records were not kept in England until Queen Elizabeth ordered that records be maintained by the churches beginning in 1559. Fortunately, St. Leonard’s Church in Deal has individual records from that date and historical records from earlier. But that doesn’t help us with Nicholas’ birth date.

All was not peaceful in Deal and surrounding area in 1495, about the time Nicholas would have been born. According to Gregory Holyoake in his book, Deal, All in the Downs, a war was taking place in 1495.

Perkins Warbeck, the personator of Richard, younger son of Edward IV, one of the two princes presumed murdered in the Tower of London, arrived with his army in the Small Downs on July 3, 1495. The Pretender, promoted as “The White Rose of England” intended rousing the support of the Kentishmen in his claim to the throne as Richard IV. Warbeck had sailed from Vlissingen on July 2, confident that the men of Kent – Yorkish in their inclination – would support him against the Lancastrian King, Henry VII. Instead, the Kentishmen hotly defended their country from these presumptuous invaders.

Trained bands from Sandwich ambushed Warbeck’s army in the Sandhills and captured most of the leaders who were then tried in London. Afterwards they were executed and hung in chains “for seamarks or lighthouses” along the coast. Henry VII commended his loyal subjects and commanded beacons to be built in celebration across Kent.

Perhaps Nicholas’ parents, especially a very pregnant wife, sought refuge in another location and Nicholas was baptized in a church elsewhere. Every village had a church.

If it weren’t for his will, in 1533, we wouldn’t even know Nicholas’ name, or the first name of his wife, Anny.

Nicholas’ will was dated January 1, 1533/34. This year is written in the old style/new style date.

From 1087 to 1155 the English year began on 1 January, and from 1155 to 1751 on 25 March. In 1752 it was moved back to 1 January. Even before 1752, 1 January was sometimes treated as the start of the new year – for example by Pepys – while the “year starting 25th March was called the Civil or Legal Year.” To reduce misunderstandings on the date, it was not uncommon in parish registers for a new year heading after 24 March, for example 1661, to have another heading at the end of the following December indicating “1661/62”. This was to explain to the reader that the year was 1661 Old Style and 1662 New Style.

But back to Nicholas. He left his estate to his wife, Anny, one child, Sylvester and to an unknown person, Felyx Beane.

The Beane name is interesting. I found it in the records of at least 4 early Estes families in Kent, some of whom can be tied together and some who cannot. I suspect that the Bean family is related to the Estes family and possibly before Nicholas’ generation.

We may not know where Nicholas was born, or when, but we know when and where he died, because his will called for him to be buried in the churchyard of “Saynt Leonard in the parisshe of Deale.”

We don’t know if Sylvester was actually Nicholas’ only child, or the only child he mentioned in the will. We know that Sylvester was born in 1522, so Nicholas’s marriage date is estimated in 1520 and his birth then estimated as 1495. Of course, Sylvester might not have been the first child born. And if Sylvester was their only living child, their lives must have been full of heartache, burying baby after baby, at least half a dozen.

All of the Estes descendants today who can track their genealogy back to Kent, descend from Nicholas in some way, excepting adoptions and such. This has been confirmed by DNA testing.

In 1495, surnames were established, but hadn’t been established for a long time. They began to be used by the wealthy after the Norman invasion in 1066, were in common use by the 1200s, and by the middle of the 1400s, pretty much everyone, rich and poor, had a surname. It’s likely that Nicholas wasn’t the first Estes man to carry that surname, but we don’t know. Thankfully, he did leave a will.

Roy Eastes has this will transcribed and translated. It is written in a medieval script called secretarial script. To me, it simply looks like scribbles. In fact, it could be my own handwriting!

Will of Nicholas Ewstas

In dei no’ie Amen, the xviith day of June the yere of our Lorde mlcccccxxxiiith, I Nycholas Ewstas beyng of hole mynd and remembraunce ordeyne and make this my last Wyll and Testament in manner and form folowyng

Fyrst I bequethe my soule to Almyghty God, our Lady Siynte Mary and all the holy company of Hevyn and my body to be buryed in the church yerde of Saynte Leonarde in the parisshe of Deale.

Also I bequethe to the hygh aulter for my tythes undelygently forgotten viiid.

Item I wyll that my wyffe cause to be dun at the day of my buryall v mases with placebs and dirige and as many at my monthes mynde.

Item I bequethe to Sylvester my sone one ewe and a yong horsse.

Item I bequethe to Felyx Beans one ewe.

The resydue of all my goodes, moveables and unmoveables I wyll and bequethe to Anny Ewstas my wyff whom I make sole Executrix of this my last Wyll and Testament the yere and day above rehersyd.

Wytnessys beyng present and requyred Robert Whyte, John Myselson

Translation:

In the name of God, Amen, the 17 day of June the year of our Lord 1533 I, NYCHOLAS EWSTAS, being of whole mind and remembrance ordain and make this my last Will and Testament in manner and form following,

First, I bequeath my soul to Almighty God, our Lady Saint Mary and all the holy company of heaven and my body to be buried in the church yard of Saint Leonard in the parish of Deal.

Also I bequeath to the high alter for my tithes undiligently forgotten 8 pence.

Item, I will that my wife cause to be done at the day of my burial five masses with placebos and dirige and as many at my month’s mind.

Item I bequeath to Sylvester, my son, one ewe and a young horse.

Item I bequeath to Felix Beans one ewe.

The residue of all my goods, moveables and unmoveables I will and bequeath to Anny Ewstas my wife whom I make sole Executrix of this my last Will and Testament the year and day above rehersed.

Witnesses being present and required

Robert Whyte, John Myselson

We need to remember that Nicholas and family were Catholic, because the Protestant reformation and associated political difficulties had not yet taken place in England. They were yet to occur in the Reign of Henry VIII in the 1530s.

The Catholic faith of that time placed a lot of importance on leaving money to the church, the more the better, for special prayers that were meant to pray one’s soul out of purgatory and into Heaven, more quickly.

Later generations of Estes men were mariners, including Nicholas’ son, Sylvester, but it doesn’t appear that Nicholas was a mariner. He left nothing nautical, just sheep and a horse.

I do have to laugh though at his commentary about his tythes (taxes) being “undiligently forgotten.” He must not have expected he would die, or he wouldn’t have been so forgetful. His conscience must have been plaguing him. The health and afterlife location of one’s soul depended in that time and place upon enough prayers being said on your behalf…and no one in the church was going to pray for a man who forgot to pay his tythes. This also tells us that he must have had some money – he wasn’t destitute because he had money to pay his back tithes and to leave additional funds to the church.

It’s ironic that one of the only records we have of his son is from the Court of Canterbury. Want to guess the subject? A case was brought against him for not paying his tithes for 2 or 3 years. Apparently “forgetting” tithes runs in the family.

It’s interesting that another very early record is of a Richard Eustace buried in the church in Dover in 1506, leaving a wife, Alice, and unborn child. His will was witnessed by a Thomas Eustace. Richard appeared to be a wealthy man, probably a merchant. Not only was he buried inside the church, but he left quite a bit of money for special prayers. We have no idea what happened to his wife, or child, if it survived, but we know that he wasn’t in our direct line because Nicholas was born about 1495, too late to be his father and too early to be his son. Richard could have been a brother, nephew, uncle or cousin to our Nicholas – or maybe entirely unrelated. However, Dover is just 6 miles or so from Deal.

However, it does tell us that there were other Estes in the region before Nicholas, or at least contemporaneous with him.

Estes Trails editor and family researcher Larry Duke explained some of the more unusual provisions in Nicholas’ will as follows:

His reference to his monthemynde (monthmade) is the same as our birthday. The saying of a mass for the deceased, in their memory, on their birthday, is still a common practice in the Catholic Church. The only other observation that could be made about Nicholas’ will, is that it was uncommon to name ones wife as executor. Normally, this duty was left to ones oldest brother or oldest son. His naming Anny could mean that he had no living brothers or none nearby. [His son] Sylvester was too young, being only about 11 years old.

We know that Nicholas was buried in the cemetery at St. Leonard’s Church in Deal, although his grave has probably been recycled. We can say with certainly that there is no stone today, if there ever was one. Gravestones in England were not welcomes in churchyards until about 1650. The stone for Moses Estes in 1708 is the oldest Estes stone, although we could speculate that Nicholas is probably buried fairly close to the church itself, based on Moses burial location in 1708, some 175 years later.

Come on, let’s take a walk around the churchyard. Nicholas has to be here someplace!

It’s difficult to photograph the church because you can’t really get far enough away without obstructions. Jim and I walked back from the church at Shoulden and this is St. Leonard’s Church from the round-about in front.

We enter the churchyard, which is the cemetery, through the wall.

Tombstones are scattered throughout the property.

It’s interesting that for the most part, strangers weren’t buried here. There are records of a “Stranger’s Burial Ground” where the bodies of drowned sailors thrown up on the foreshore were buried. It had been used since 1668, at the far end of St. Patrick’s road, but has since been used for building modern homes. I have to wonder if they are haunted and if the residents know their homes are literally on the graves.

Half of the walkway through and around the cemetery is paved, and the other half has stones, at least part way. The path is to the right of the church, on the south side, and the paved walkway is to the left, if facing the front door, or on the North side. Note that the walkway crosses several graves.

Every nook and cranny has burials.

Church records show that the church purchased the walled area called Church Path at the end of the 1700s, once called Stone Lane, which served as the parish cemetery until Deal Cemetery was opened. Church Path is today a road that leads directly from Lower Deal to the St. Leonard’s Church north doorway, right where Moses Estes’ stone lies.

You know that the vacant spots aren’t vacant – just unmarked. Our Nicholas lies in one of them, or his grave has been reused. Still, his remains are here someplace. The cemetery has been used for hundreds of years. The earliest marked burial is dated 1675. In 1690, the skull and crossbones appears for the first time.

There are even burials inside the church, in the aisle ways – which was an honor reserved for only the most wealthy and important church members.

In fact, this entire church aisle is graves – right down the middle. This is typical in English churches of this age.

We know our family isn’t inside, so let’s go back outside and walk around the church. We’re going out the side door that was added when the North wing was expanded in 1819. This was after Moses Estes was buried in 1708, and the walk to the “new door” lays right across his grave. I guess if you can’t afford to be buried inside, then being buried in the walkway on the way to the door is probably second best. Everyone walks by your grave and visits you every Sunday!

The tombstone of Moses Estes, complete with skull and crossbones, above, rests in the side yard of the church. You can see the north door close to his grave.

Some burials are fenced and in crypts. You can see behind this one that an old door has been bricked in.

Rounding the side of the church to the back, above.

At the back of the church, we can see the nave with the 3 windows. This is the original part of the church, covered with flint.

Here, as in most old churches in England, many stones have been “rearranged” along the outer wall for ease of maintenance, especially when they are no longer legible.

It’s a stunningly beautiful church. The wing to the right is where Moses is buried. You can see the “seam” of the addition. I wonder if Nicholas is actually buried under the church afterall, by virtue of the extension.

It’s certain that the ashes of Nicholas rest someplace in these photos.

The House of Este

There has been a great deal of speculation that the Estes family descended from the House of Este in Italy. Part of this is due to the fact that the Estes family in England firmly believed this, in part, because the monarchy believed it. King James I of England and Scotland was convinced that a gentleman in his service by the name of East was in fact a descendent of the d’Este family and suggested he change his name to Este. One didn’t argue with the King, and I have to wonder if the King thought that for a reason. In other words, he may have been right.

Painting of Este Castle in Ferrara, Italy.

David Powell reports that even earlier, one Thomas Estes (1540-1608), an Englishman who published Italian music, used the names of East, Est, Este and Easte and hinted at a connection with the famous Italian d-Este family. Of course, it might have been beneficial to his career.

The Estes family has spent decades trying to figure out if there is any truth to this story or if it is just a wishful myth. Frankly, it seems unlikely given that the Estes men were primarily mariners in Kent, after Nicholas, and there is no firm trail from Italy to Kent, from the d’Este line to the Estes line. But still, we can’t prove a negative, at least in this case, not without DNA testing.

Unfortunately, we have been unable to find any Estes male from the d’Este family. They apparently daughtered out, except for one possible line, that no longer carries the Estes or d’Este surname.

Roy Eastes, in his book, “Estes Families of America,” did a fine job of distilling the rumors and various stories into something cohesive.

One of the most popular theories is that Nicholas descended from of the House of Estes of northern Italy. The House of Este was very famous during the Renaissance and the evidence of their history can be seen yet today in the splendor of their famous Palaces and Gardens.

The Castello Estense in Ferrara, Italy

The surname Este came from a small town by that name in the Providence of Ventia in northern Italy. In ancient times, before the birth of Christ, it was known as Ateste.

History shows that the town was a Roman stronghold and military base. However, in 589 AD after a severe flooding of the Adigo River, the town was abandoned and re-inhabited at a later time. In this town, Albert Azzo II was born in the year 996. This great Roman adopted the name of the town and started the House of Este. This line has been passed down through the years to modern days.

The House of Este held the city Este until 1240 when they moved their capital to Ferrara.

Probably the most contributing factor that has led to the belief in the Este/Estes connection was a book published in 1894. This book, “Estes Genealogies” – was written by Charles Estes, of Warren, Rhode Island.

The following is an extract from that book:

“Upon looking back at the early days of our ancestry, we find unlike other tribal histories in their incipiency, so little in the Este that is condemnatory and so much that is worthy of praise. We have no reason to be otherwise than proud. “

“We here present the letter of Richard Taylor, M.D., to Rev. Charles F. Deems, which will give some idea of the history of the Este family in what shall follow:”

“From The New York Watchman”

“Rev Deems: In reading your paper some times since, I noticed some verses written by Mr. Alston Bacon Estes. The name recalled some recollections of researches undertaken by my father many years ago, when becoming interested in the family, he sought to trace its history, which is both curious and interesting. Thinking you might be pleased to know it, I give it to you in as few of words as possible. Richard Taylor, M.D.”

“About the year 1097, Albert Azzo II, Marquis of Liquria was born (actually 996- 1097) and his history is commensurate with the lapse of the 11th century. He was the acknowledged founder of the houses of both Este and Brunswick the former were conspicuous in Italy as late as the middle of the 18th century when their direct line failed with the death of Hercules III, he being the twenty-second generation from Azzo II; the latter (House of Brunswick) after centuries of time, emerge from their quiet stations as Dukes of Brunswick and Hanover, and occupy the most prominent positions in Europe as British Kings.”

“One branch however, of the Italian family exists in America. The Marquis Aldobrandino, about the middle of the 14th century, in order to procure means for prosecuting a war against the Auconites, hypothecated (pledged) his younger brother to the usurers (money lenders) of Florence. The untimely death of the Marquis put an end to the war but left his brother unredeemed. These were the sons of Azzo VI. The younger brother did not return to his ancestral home on the accession of the seventh Azzo (another older brother) but proceeded to France, thence to England, where he became acquainted with the family of Lord Bacon, then moved from England to Wales, always maintaining a position of influence and respectability, inheriting the distinguishing traits of character and talents possessed by their ancestors. From Wales they immigrated to Virginia. “

“The name Este is derived from a colony planted in the seventh century of Rome, about fifteen miles to the south of the City of Pudau, and called Ateste, or Este a name known in history 136 years B.C. This is the surname the Marquises of Liquria assumed in the beginning of the fourteenth century, namely Marquises of Este, and their descendants, have ever since assumed the surname, Este. The name written Estes is plural, and was used to represent the whole family; thus Byron, in his Parisina speaks of the Estes:

“And if she sets in Este’s bower,
“Tis not for the sake of its full bloom flower:”

– or is meant to convey, belonging to the family. The name is more frequently written Estes than as it should be, Este.”

***************

“You will see by the above that the Estes name represents a family, one of the oldest and also one of the most illustrious, living in the world; though short, this will give you an inkling of the American Estes’ and show you that the antique brood of Este is still in existence.”

<<<<< End of Extract >>>>>

Ducal Palace in Modena built in 1634 by Francesco d’Este.

David Powell provides another glimpse at that favorite family rumor in his paper, “Origins of the Estes/Eastes Family Name.”

“…The Marquis Aldobrandino, about the beginning of the 14th century, in order to procure means for prosecuting a war against the Anconites, hypothecated his youngest brother to the usurers of Florence. The untimely death of the Marquis put an end to the war and left his brother unredeemed. These were the sons of Azo VI (of d’Este). The younger brother did not return to his ancestral home on the accession of the seventh Azo, but proceeded to France, thence to England where he became acquainted and connected with the family of Lord Bacon. The family then moved from England to Wales, always maintaining a position of influence and respectability … From Wales they emigrated to Virginia.”

We know for sure that part of this is incorrect – the sailing for Virginia from Wales portion. We have that information and will be discussing Abraham Estes and his embarkation for America in a future article.

However, there’s more:

“…Francesco of Este, who was the son of Marquis Leonello [1407-1450], left Ferrara [1471] to go and live in Burgundy, by the will of Duke Ercole [Francesco’s uncle, who succeeded Leonello] .. and, in order that he should go at once, he gave him horses and clothes and 500 ducats more; and this was done because His Excellency had some suspicions of him .. ‘Francesco .. went to Burgundy and afterward to England’. These were the words written on the back of the picture of Francesco found in a collection of paintings near Ferrara.”

Many of the details are similar to the earlier story. But why would Francesco flee Italy? In 1471 Francesco’s brother, Ericolo, led a revolt in an attempt to overthrow Duke Ercole. The attempt was unsuccessful and in typical royal tradition, Ericolo lost his head and Francesco exiled, if only because he was Ericolo’s brother. Did Francesco really travel to England? The only evidence for this is the writing in the back of the painting, the existence of which is unconfirmed. Essentially the same story is told by Charles Estes in his book:

“.. Francesco Esteuse (born c.1440), the illegitimate son of Leonnello d’Este. Francesco was living in Burgundy. In the time of Duke Borso he came to Ferrara, and at Borso’s death was declared rebellious by Ercole because of efforts made by his brother, Ericolo, to seize power. Francesco returned to Burgundy and was heard of no more from that time (1471). As the time coincided with that when Edward conquered [sic] England with the aid of Burgundy, it was possible that Francesco followed Edward and after Edward’s victory made England his home.”

David goes on to say:

If Francesco did travel to England, it would have been around 1480, leaving sufficient time for him to have fathered Nicholas and possibly also Richard and Thomas Eustace of Dover. Indeed, Francesco’s father was Niccola, or, in English, Nicholas.

In the end, David concludes that the myth is probably just that. However, that opinion is not shared by all Estes researchers.

Kitty Estes Savage, in her article, “Saints and Sinners’ in the December 1998 edition of Estes Trails tells us a little more about the alleged painting:

Duke Ercole’s next goal was to get rid of Francesco, Niccolo’s half-brother, so he bribed him because he was suspicious of him and “because he was much loved by the people because of his courtesy and liberality and also because he was a handsome well-disposed young man”. He gave him a monthly stipend, and “in order that he go at once, he gave him horses and clothes, and five hundred ducats more”.

Francesco left Ferrara on 15 September 1471. No more is known about him except that his portrait hangs in the Metropolitan Museum in New York City with this inscription on the back: “Francesco, natural son of Leonello went to Burgundy and afterwards England.”

I checked with the Metropolitan Museum of Art about the portrait of Francesco d’Este, which they do own, shown above, and here is the information provided about the portrait.

The sitter for this striking portrait is Francesco d’Este, illegitimate son of Leonello d’Este, ruler of Ferrara. In 1444, Francesco was sent to the Netherlands, where he received his education and military training at the court of Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy. He was educated with Philip’s son, Charles de Charlerois (later Charles the Bold), and became a permanent chamberlain to the duke, acting frequently as an envoy to Italy. This portrait was painted in the Netherlands about 1460, when Francesco was around thirty years old. The hammer and ring he holds may be prizes won for a jousting victory, or symbols of his office and power. On the verso of the panel are painted the splendid coat of arms and crest of the Este family, quartered with the honor bestowed on the house of Este in 1432 by Charles VII of France. Above and below the armorials is the inscription, which reads, in part: “entirely yours, marquis of Este, Francesco.” This apparent dedication suggests that the portrait was not kept by the sitter but was presented by him to a close acquaintance or member of the court as a gift of friendship. The portrait was painted by Rogier van der Weyden, who undertook a number of portrait commissions for members of the Burgundian court, while the verso was probably painted by a workshop assistant.

There is no mention of the inscription reported, but there is an inscription which is included in their documentation.

There is another hint, also provided by the museum, that suggests that Francesco may have died in Burgundy.

The Este family coat of arms and crest on the reverse of the panel emphasize the heraldic quality of the portrait. The inscription, “v[ot]re tout…francisque” (entirely yours, Francesco), forms a dedication to the portrait’s recipient, perhaps a friend or member of Philip the Good’s court. The “m” and “e,” stand for “marchio estensis,” the title extended to Francesco. The enigmatic scratched inscription in the upper left, “non plus / courcelles,” may refer to the village in Burgundy where Francesco died.

Wikipedia tells us even more:

The crest emblazen on the reverse of the panel shows a coat of arms consisting of two quarters of the family crest along representations of the honours bestowed to the family by Charles VII of France by letters patent in January 1431. The coat of arms is held up by two lynxes-a pun on the word Leonello, his father’s first name. Another lynx sits blindfolded on the coat of arms. On either side of the animal are the letters M E – assumed to be abbreviations for Marchio Estenis (Marquis of Este), although they could stand for “Marchio Estenses” a title know to have been used by Leonello. On both sides, these letters are bound by tasseled chord. Lettering resembling inscription in the later gothic style above these reads VOIR TOUT (to see all) and is reminiscent of Leonello’s motto Quade Vides ne Vide (Shut your eyes to what you see), the latter described by art historian Robert Fry as indicative of the “idea of astuteness, the most necessary virtue for a ruler of Leonello’s type.

The crest contains Francesco’s name in French, the Burgundian court language, and at the top left hand corner the words non plus courcelles (no longer courcelles). This phrase is established as a later addition but has not been satisfactorily interpreted. It may be a reference to the then French village of Courcelles, in today’s Belgium. The village is located near the site of the Battle of Grandson, a major defeat for Charles the Bold, where the sitter may been killed in 1476 (he is last mentioned in records in 1475). Giving the similarity of the crest to that of his father’s, awell as the significance of various letterings, many art historians see it as indicative of the illegitimate sitter’s aspiration to be recognised as Leonello’s son, with all the entitlements and historical recognition such acceptance would entail.

It looks as if we have pretty well debunked the myth of the inscription on the reverse of this portrait at the Metropolitan Museum indicating Francesco went to England, and we know that Francesco was in the Netherlands in 1475, possibly deceased, 20 years before Nicholas Ewstas was born in Deal. On the other hand, it is possible that he disappeared from the records in the Netherlands because he went to England, although I find this highly unlikely that he, a member of a royal house, would simply disappear and live a very different kind of life on the coast of Kent, his grandson becoming a mariner. We have also not addressed the story that a painting in Italy holds an inscription that indicated that Francesco went to England.

Where are the Descendants?

One of our original goals of the Estes DNA project was to see if we could find an Este descendant from Italy to determine whether or not we truly do descend from the d’Este family. So far, we have found only 1 family of presumed direct line descendants, and that family is relatively unapproachable.

The gentleman is Ernst August, Prince of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, etc., husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco, direct paternal descendant of Albert Azzo I d’Este, born about 970. He has 2 sons.

I wouldn’t even begin to know how to approach this man, although, according to Wiki he seems inclined to urinate in public, so maybe there’s an avenue – a urinal. (Just kidding – well – about the urinal part – not the urinating part.)

I mean, how exactly does one approach this? A little curtsey perhaps, then “Excuse me sir, I mean Prince, er, your Highness, but would you mind swabbing the inside of your cheek for this DNA test as I’d like to see if my Estes line is related to you??? Or, you could just pee in the bottle if you’d prefer.” Pretty please.

Followed by:

“No officer, I swear, I meant the man no harm. I’m not harassing him. No, I’m not taking any medications….”

I spoke with a physician in England who has tested in our project by the last name of East, hoping he might feel like he could approach the Prince, but we speculated that there is no “up side” for royalty to test. Plus, I’m thinking that the Prince’s phone number isn’t just listed in the phone book, and if it were, I’m doubting his calls are unscreened.

I suspect that royalty might be concerned about DNA testing showing a break in the line between them and whatever royal houses they descend from, or are supposed to descend from, or about us peasants wanting to gold-dig. Of course, this does not imply that there is a break, just that royalty might feel they have lots to lose and nothing to gain, except for several American cousins whose acquaintance they just might not be interested in making. After all, they know they’re descended from the d’Este line, it’s the rest of us who are having the problem. You can view the Prince’s genealogy at this link as well as in the footnotes.[i]

If in fact the Prince would match our Estes line, the common ancestor, Alberta Azzo I d’Este would be some 29 or 30 generation in the past.

You’ll notice that some of these lines extend into the 1900s, and probably several more would with appropriate research. The author of the Genealogics site, Leo van de Pas, is primarily interested in the famous people in this line, while we’re interested in folks who would probably welcome the opportunity to prove descendancy from these royal houses. Many of these lines have not been fully explored. Just because no males are listed doesn’t mean there aren’t any. Furthermore, we’d be most interested in any illegitimate lines, as they would probably be far more interested in proving descendancy from royal lineage via DNA testing.

So, if you just happen to run into Prince Ernst, or any other d’Este descendant, you know, at the market or the yacht club or some royal function that you happen to be attending in Monaco, would you do me the favor of broaching the subject of DNA testing for genealogy? And in case that goes bad, your American Express card is good for bail money:)

[i] Prince Ernst’s Este genealogy:.

His lineage is as follows beginning with his father:

Prince Ernst August Georg Wilhelm Christian Ludwig Franz Josef Nikolaus von Hannover, Duke von Braunschweig und Lüneburg, b. 18 Mar 1914, Braunschweig
Ernst August Christian Georg, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Prince of Hannover, b. 17 Nov 1887, Penzing nr Wien, Austria
Ernst August Wilhelm Adolf Georg Friedrich, Crown Prince of Hannover, Duke of Cumberland, b. 21 Sep 1845, Hannover
Georg Friedrich Alexander Karl Ernest August, King of Hannover 1851-1866, Duke of Cumberland, b. 27 May 1819, Berlin
Ernst August, King of Hannover 1837-1851, Duke of Cumberland, b. 5 Jun 1771, Buckingham House
George III, King of Great Britain and Ireland 1760-1820, b. 4 Jun 1738, Norfolk House
Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales, b. 20 Jan 1707, Hannover
George II, King of Great Britain and Ireland 1727-1760, b. 30 Oct 1683, Hannover
George Ludwig, King of Great Britain and Ireland 1714-1727, b. 28 May 1660/7 June 1660 Hannover (above)
Ernst August, Kurfürst von Hannover 1692-1698, b. 20 Nov 1629, Herzberg
Georg, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg zu Kalenberg 1636-1641, b. 17 Feb 1582, Celle
Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg 1559-1592, b. 4 Jul 1535, (Celle?)
Ernst ‘the Confessor’, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg 1521-1546, b. 26 Jun 1497, Velzen
Heinrich, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg 1471-1486-1520, b. 1468
Otto II ‘The Magnanimous’, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg 1464-1471, b. 1439
Friedrich ‘the Pious’, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg 1445-1457, 1471-1478, b. est 1390
Bernhard I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg 1388-1434
Magnus II Torquatus, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, b. Abt 1328
Magnus I ‘the Pious’, Duke of Brunswick, b. Abt 1304
Albrecht II ‘the Fat’, Duke of Brunswick-Göttingen 1286-1318, b. 1268
Albrecht I ‘the Great’, Duke of Brunswick, b. 1236
Otto I ‘das Kind’, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg 1235-1252, b. 1204
Wilhelm ‘Longsword’, Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg, b. 11 Apr 1184, Winchester
Heinrich ‘the Lion’, Duke of Saxony 1142-1195 and Bavaria 1154-1195, b. 1129
Heinrich ‘the Proud’, Duke of Bavaria 1126-1139 & Saxony 1136-1139, b. Abt 1100
Heinrich ‘the Black’, Duke of Bavaria 1120-1126, b. Abt 1074
Welf IV, Duke of Bavaria 1070-1101, b. Abt 1036
Alberto Azzo II, Marchese d’Este, b. 997
Alberto Azzo I d’Este, Marchese in Liguria, b. Abt 970

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Lazarus Dodson (1760-1826), Revolutionary War Veteran, 52 Ancestors #27

Posted on July 4, 2014 by Roberta Estes

When I first started researching Lazarus Dodson, Sr., he seemed impossibly vague. He moved from place to place throughout his life, across states and on the frontier of early America in areas not yet states, and never left a forwarding, or return, address. We don’t know who his wife was, and his life was only reassembled from pieces and tidbits. We still have more questions than answers, but some of the hints we’ve picked up along the way are incredibly tantalizing.

Was his wife Native? Why was he encamped with the Indians? Was his son really an Indian Trader? Was another son murdered? Follow along as we piece the clues of Lazarus life together into something resembling a partially completed puzzle.

Lazarus Dodson, son of Raleigh Dodson and his wife, Mary, surname unknown, was probably born about 1760, perhaps slightly earlier, probably in North Farnham Parish in Richmond County, Virginia. However, there is some evidence that his father, Raleigh was living in Prince William County between 1759-1761, based on a court case, Raleigh Dodson vs John Webb in trespass found in the Prince William order book 1759-61, p 241, so Raleigh could have been born in Prince William County, Virginia.

Notes from the Broad Run Baptist Church in Faquier County, Va., after October 1763 but before May 1764 state that Lazarus Dodson was dismissed to Halifax, but this can’t be our Lazarus, given his age, so it must be the Reverend Lazarus Dodson. Yes, of course, there had to be multiple men with the name Lazarus Dodson. That’s just how these southern families work!

Raleigh, Lazarus’s father, is not mentioned beyond his birth which is recorded in North Farnham Parish register on February 16, 1730.

The Farnham Parish church as it stands today is believed to have been built about 1737. It has been restored, although it was used as a stable during the Civil War. It is located in Farnham, Virginia, in Richmond County at the intersection of North Farnham Church Road (County Route 692) and Cedar Grove Road (County Route 602) on North Farnham Church Road. Given that the parish register included dates preceding 1737, this was obviously not the first church at this location, or the church met in private homes before the building was constructed.

We do find a Raleigh Dodson in Halifax County, VA, by 1766 when a Raughley Dodson and Lazarus Dodson witnessed a deed of Joseph Terry to Thomas Dodson, Halifax Deed book 6-363. If this is our Lazarus, the son of Raleigh, he would have to have been born significantly before 1750 to be of age to sign a legal document. Therefore, this is not our Lazarus and it’s probably not our Raleigh either. There are two Raleigh/Lazarus pairs in Halifax County about this time, so it’s difficult to tell them apart.

On Feb. 19, 1768, John Roberson and wife Margaret of Orange Co. NC sold to Rolley Dodson of said county for 16# Virginia money 50 acres on the east side of the Country Line Creek. Witnesses Hugh Kelly, Henry Hicks and Henry Willis. Caswell Co., NC, was created from Orange in 1777 and Raleigh’s land fell into Caswell. The Caswell tax list for that year shows him assessed for property in the Richmond District. He and his wife Mary sold 50 acres of land on the south side of Country Line Creek (shown on the 1833 map below, just below the Dan River) on July 5, 1778 to Clement Gann (being purchased of John Robinson) and evidently moved to Hawkins County, TN about this time. By this time, Lazarus would have been about 18 and would surely have welcomed the adventure of moving to the frontier of what would, in 1796, become Tennessee. Lazarus would have been too young to have been married in 1778.

We know Raleigh and Lazarus are still in the Virginia/NC area in May of 1777 when they signed the following oath of Allegiance in Pittsylvania County, which borders Halifax Co., Va. and Caswell Co., NC:

“I do swear or affirm that I renounce and refuse all allegiance to George the Third, King of Great Britain, his heirs and successors and that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the commonwealth of Virginia as a free and independent state and that I will not at any time do or cause to be done any matter or thing that will be prejudicial or injurious to the freedom and independence thereof as declared by congress and also that I will discover and make known to some one justice of the peace for the said state all treasons or traitorous conspiracies which I now or hereafter shall know to be formed against this or any of the United States of America.”

After Raleigh had left Caswell County, NC, the name of Rawley Dodson shows up there once again in the records in matters pertaining to the estate of John Moore, Jr (1786-1791). A list of accounts included the name of Rawley Dodson in Caswell Co., Will Book C in June court 1792.

The marriage records of both Halifax County, Virginia and Caswell County, North Carolina, respectively, are intact and neither holds a record for Lazarus Dodson’s marriage to Jane whose surname is unknown. Lazarus likely married her after his move to the frontier of then North Carolina, now Tennessee.

Arrival in East Tennessee

The next place we find Lazarus is in what would become Eastern Tennessee in the current County of Hawkins. This 1783 entry gives us a glimpse at what Lazarus was doing in the winter of 1781/1782, based on this land grant:

Page 105, grant 1262 – Dec. 4 1783 – James Lea enters 317 acres on the North side Holston below the mouth of Richland Creek at a “certain place where Francis Maberry, Major John Reid, and Lazarus Dodson camped with the Indians as they was going down to the Nation last winter and opposite the camp on the other side of the river.”

This record, along with his later involvement with Indian lands in Alabama, his son Jesse being found living on the Indian lands in 1797, near or on the lands later to be settled by Lazarus himself, and Jesse later becoming an Indian trader, has always caused me to wonder if Lazarus Dodson married a Native woman.

Interestingly enough, the Lea family is also found on Country Creek in Caswell Co. NC. The Dodson family is involved with the Lea family for generations.

The land entry that indicates that Lazarus was with Major John Reid may give us clues as to what Lazarus did during the Revolutionary War.

John Reid, a Major in the Revolutionary War, resided on the Holstein in Washington Co. VA and was appointed ensign in Illinois Regiment commanded by Lt. Col. John Montgomery. He immediately raised his quota of men, joined the regiment at Long Island on Holstein and served there, from January 9, 1779 to January 1781 during which time he acted as Adjutant from April 9 to June 1779 and as Quartermaster from June 1 to December 25, 1779. Reid also carried expresses from Cols. Evan Shelby, Arthur Campbell and David Smith. He was under Col. Campbell in the battle of Kings Mountain in October of 1780, and served as Quartermaster with Col William Campbell in the battle of Guilford Courthouse in March of 1781.

If Lazarus Dodson was with Major Reid in late 1781 or early 1782, this suggests he may have also been with him in the battles of Kings Mountain and Guilford Courthouse. Lazarus may well have been among the men raised at Long Island of the Holston.

The Revolutionary War

Both Lazarus and his father, Raleigh Dodson served in the Revolutionary War.

Their Revolutionary War service is documented in “North Carolina Revolutionary Army Accounts, Index to Soldiers residing in Washington and Sullivan County, 1781-1783

Both Raleigh and Lazarus Dodson are listed.

After finding this tantalizing nugget, I contacted the NC Archives and eventually, visited, in order to obtain the original records.

According to pay records found in the NC Archives, in Raleigh, NC, Lazarus Dodson served in the Revolutionary War in August of 1783. That is likely the date of his discharge, so he may have served earlier in the year.

In 1783, an Act authorizing the opening of a land office for the redemption of specie and other certificates was passed, and all soldiers holding specie or certificates were enabled to redeem them by taking land in exchange, at a rate fixed by the state of North Carolina.

When I first saw this list of Specie certificates, I also noticed George Eastis, two names above Lazarus Dodson. George lived in East Tennessee for a time, but ultimately went back to Halifax County, Virginia. However, his son, John R. Estes settled in Claiborne County, TN and his son, John Y. Estes married Rutha Dodson, daughter of Lazarus Dodson (Jr.) and his wife, Elizabeth Campbell. Nothing like a little synchronicity in genealogy.

Believe it or not, there were two holes punched in this document, reflecting how it has been stored.

Raleigh and Lazarus Dodson both served in the Revolution and are both found in the Morgan district which includes the land that would become East Tennessee.

A second Rolley Dotson is found in the Hillsboro district (auditors Mebane and Nichols), which is the area of NC below Halifax/Pittsylvania in VA. We know that our Raleigh was in East Tennessee prior to this time.

The auditors and their corresponding districts found in the archives helped define which Raleigh was which.

On April 16, 1784, Lazarus Dotson transferred land to David Rose – 5000 acres on a big creek that runs into Elk River on the south side of said river where a Buffaloe Road crosses the said creek running down said creek for compliment. Warrant issued Feb 19 1787, #1691. This may have been the land he claimed in payment for his Revolutionary War service.

Hawkins County, TN

In 1786, Lazarus signed the petition seeking the formation of Hawkins Co. from Sullivan along with his father, Raleigh, and brother, Toliver.

On Feb. 19, 1787, a warrant was issued to Lazarus Dodson for 5000 acres of land on the south side of Elk River which he had entered on April 16, 1784. This warrant he had previously transferred to David Ross (Elk River runs primarily through the counties of Warren, Franklin and the SE corner of Giles in Tennessee).

By 1787, if not before, the family had selected the location across the Holston River from Rogersville that would eternally carry the Dodson name in the form of Dodson Creek (above) and later, the Dodson Creek Cemetery and Church (below).

The following photo shows the landscape from across the Holston river. The TVA plant today is located on the east bank of Dodson Creek where it empties into the Holston River. Raleigh and Lazarus owned the land on both sides of the creek into the rolling hills.

In 1787, the entry book for John and Landon Carter, entry takers for Washington Co., NC, now Tennessee, shows a warrant, 1783, dated May 21, 1779, directing the surveyor of Sullivan Co. to lay off for William Payne 150 acres on the Holston River adjoining a tract of land known as the “burnt cabin”. This land was surveyed on April 28 1787 for Rawleigh Dodson by Rawl Dodson, deputy surveyor.

The State of NC issued grants to Raleigh Dodson for two tracts of 150 acres, both apparently entered before Hawkins Co. was created from Sullivan in 1786, #1481 for 150 acres on the left fork of Dodson’s creek and #31489 for 150 acres on the south side of Holston River. Dodson’s Creek, no doubt was named by or for Raleigh Dodson, is a branch of Holston River on the South side of the river and nearly opposite the town of Rogersville. On this site was Dodson’s Ford where the Great War Path and Trading Path crossed the Holston river at the mouth of Dodson’s Creek. The spot is marked by a Tennessee Historical marker.

The land around Dodson’s Ford is some of the most beautiful in E. Tennessee. The photo below shows the area where Dodson’s Ford was located, across this field and behind the trees. The Great Warrior Path also crossed here and a campsite was located near the river.

In October, 1780, the forces under Col. Arthur Campbell gathered here before going downriver to the attack on the Overhill Cherokee towns of Chota, Talequah, Tallassee, and others.

In 1788 Rolly Dotson enters 300 acres on the South side of Holston River and on both sides of Dotson’s Creek, beginning on Dodson’s line on a branch at a white oak marked D, runs along said Dodson’s line and up the branch, paying 7 pounds, 10 pence.[1] The warrant was issued and a duplicate warrant was issued as well on Sept 28, 1792. In 1788, this warrant was assigned on August 12th from Raleigh to Lazarus Dodson.[2]

In 1789, Lazarus Dotson applied for his own 300 acres in Sullivan County on the South side of the “Holstein River”, grant #1491.

The photo below is peeking at the river near where Dodson’s Ford was located on the land that Raleigh and Lazarus owned.

In 1793 a survey for 300 acres was made for Lazarus Dodson assignee of Raleigh Dodson, Raleigh Dodson, Raleigh Dodson Sr. and Alexander Deberty chain carriers.[3]

The Amis Store in Hawkins County kept a ledger book. Raleigh had a great number of transactions, but we just find this short entry for Lazarus in 1794.

Mr. Lazarus Dodson

1794, March 14 – to balance brought forward from LBF 91 (LB credit leaf missing)

1794, July 30 – by grindstones to balle (same amount as above)

Horse Breeder Too

Based on an article from the book, Making the American Thoroughbred: Especially in Tennessee, 1800-1845 by James Douglas Anderson published in 1916, it appears that Lazarus was involved in a horse-breeding operation with his brother-in-law, James Manasco. One or the other of them, or maybe both, lived in Greene County at this time.

Chapter IV

HARDY TENNESSEE PIONEERS

The pedigrees of practically all thoroughbreds produced in Tennessee and Kentucky, and the pedigrees of a majority of all the thoroughbreds produced in the United States, between 1 883 and 1 896, trace to some of the horses named in this chapter and the next, as standing in Tennessee prior to 1845.

As early as 1790, according to Killebrew’s “Resources of Tennessee,” the following named thoroughbred stallions were brought to Sullivan County, which joins Virginia: Stately, Milton, Genus (doubtless Genius), Flag of Truce, Don Quixote, Diomed and Peter Quicksilver. The leading men in this movement were Col. John Scott, Col. William Blevins and members of the Snapp, Tipton, Greene and Rutledge families. Killebrew gives no pedigrees, hence I am unable to identify any of the horses. The records show, however, that horses of these names were of this period. The only imported horse named Diomed was the sire of Sir Archy, and he was not imported until 1 799.

Though I can find no authority other than Killebrew for the statement above made, there is still indisputable evidence that the thoroughbred beat the Constitution to Tennessee; or, to state it another way — “the Constitution followed the flag” of the thoroughbred to Tennessee.

Between 1790 and 1795 the following named stallions (pedigrees given here as in advertisements) were advertised in The Knoxville Register and State Gazette to stand in East Tennessee. The words in parentheses are mine.

Young St. George, by imp St. George, dam ” by the old Arabian who was imported and come out of the famous Rosetta.” Season 1792 at James Manasco’s and Lazarus Dodson’s, Greene County; $2 and a bushel of corn. (The imp St. George referred to was most likely the one foaled 1771, by Dragon, out of a mare by Blank.)

White Horn Branch of Bent Creek

Charles Campbell and his sons John and George also lived on Dodson’s Creek. John and George Campbell would marry Jenny and Elizabeth Dobkins, daughters of Jacob Dobkins, also a Revolutionary War Veteran. This entire family group, minus Raleigh Dodson and Charles Campbell who remained on their land in Hawkins County, would move to Claiborne County about 1800.

Lazarus maintained his residence on Dodson’s and Honeycutt’s Creeks, Hawkins Co., until he moved about 1797 to the Whitehorn Fork of Bent Creek, then in Hawkins Co., but now in Hamblen Co.

Charles Campbell and Lazarus’s brother, Oliver, Dodson witnessed this deed.

Jacob Dobkins lived there, and it is only about 9 or 10 miles on the main road that crossed the Holston River at Dodson’s Ford to Bull’s Gap where Whitehorn is located. Lazarus Dodson’s son, Lazarus, who was born about 1795 would eventually marry Elizabeth Campbell, daughter of John Campbell, about 1819 after the entire group had moved to and settled in Claiborne County.

On March 29, 1800, Lazarus Dodson of Claiborne County sold to Johnathan Ling for $900 the 575 acre tract of land on White Horse Fork (also White Run Fork). This deed is repeated in 1804, for some reason, but includes the words “being the same place whereon said Dodson formerly lived.”

An 1805 deed from Johnathan Long to Mathias Mires references this 111.5 acres as being part of 2 surveys that said Long bought of Lazarus Dodson and the same place that Mires is now living adj Walker and Manasco. Lazarus’s brother-in-law was James Manasco, which probably explains why he moved to White Horn Branch of Lick Creek.

Claiborne County, Tennessee

By the spring of 1800 Lazarus (Sr.) was in Claiborne Co. where he settled on Gap Creek near Cumberland Gap. His land lay on the west side of the Kentucky Road that ran from Tazewell to Cumberland Gap and near the “Back Valley Road” (Highway 63) which goes from near Cumberland Gap to Jacksboro in Campbell Co., Tn.[5] Today this land is located on Tipprell Road between the town of Cumberland Gap and the town of Arthur.

A January 28, 1802 document filed in Hawkins County shows that Lazarus has obtained land or had some interest in the land where he lived. Richard Mitchell and Rodham Kinner of Hawkins County are bound to Lazarus Dodson for $2700 payment to be made to said Lazarus in 12 months. Condition is that tract in Powel’s Valley adjoining land of Elisha Wallice [Wallen] below Cumberland Gap being 640 acres. If money not paid, obligation to remain in effect. Witnesses A Nelson, John Gore.

Lazarus was a member of Gap Creek Baptist Church in Claiborne Co. and is referenced in the minutes on June 5th, Saturday, 1805. Another church in the association had asked for their help with determining what to do about “a breach of fellowship with James Kenney and it given into the hands of members from other churches, to wit Absolom Hurst, Lazarus Dodson and Matthew Sims and they report on Sunday morning a matter too hard for them to define on for they had pulled every end of the string and it led them into the mire and so leave us just where they found us.”

This 1809 and 1810 Hawkins County entries confirm that indeed, the Claiborne County Lazarus Dodson is one and the same as the Lazarus Dodson in both Hawkins County and on the White Horse Fork of Bent Creek.

1809, Dec 26 – Mathias Miers of Jefferson Co. Tn to Edward Walker for $350 tract in Hawkins on Bent Creek, part 2 surveys bought of Lazarus Dodson and the same place where on said Walker now lives and adj line of other survey of Dodson’s and Manazius? (probably James Menasco, his brother-in-law). Wit William Berry, Samuel King, Registered March 16, 1814

1810, Jan 17 – Lazarus Dodson of Claiborne to William Right of Hawkins for $400, 100 acres on the s side Holston River on Honeycutt’s creek, Mooney’s line. Wit George Mooney, Edmond (Edward) Mooney, Proved Feb 1810 by both Mooney’s

Honeycutt’s Creek is beside Dodson Creek. This does cause me to wonder why Lazarus owned an interest in land in Hawkins County. This begs the question of whether Lazarus Sr.’s wife is a Honeycutt.

By 1810, Lazarus had sold all of his land in Hawkins County and subsequently purchased land in Claiborne County from Abner Lea. The deed thus describes Lazarus’ place of residence, “560 acres in Claiborne where said Dotson now lives, on the Indian Country line, Joseph William’s corner, Gap Creek, a stake near Cumberland Mountain, the top of Poor Valley Ridge adjoining where John Jones formerly lived, Aaron Davis’ line.” The “Indian Country line” ran from the Cumberland River in Kentucky to the Clinch River in Claiborne Co., Tn. on the west side of the Kentucky Road. It was created by treaty and it encompasses the territory referred to in the list of inhabitants for which the sheriff of Grainger Co was exempted from collecting taxes in 1797. Jesse Dodson, possibly Lazarus’s son, was noted as living in the Indian area in 1797. That fact that he was living on the Indian side may be very significant.

You can see, on map titled “A Map of Tennessee, Formerly Part of NC” from Mathew Carey’s American Atlas in 1795 that the Indian Boundary is shown colored pink just to the left of the Kentucky Road where it passes through the Cumberland Gap.

The court minutes of Claiborne reveal that Lazarus was appointed at the September term 1803 to serve as a juror for the December session. He failed to appear.

At the March session 1804, Lazarus was appointed overseer of the Kentucky Road (now 25E) from Powell River in place of John Wallen with the following hands to work: “all of Capt. McKinney’s Company from the Kentucky road down to a line dividing between William Jones and Timothy Jennings and so across the valley leaving the house of Archibald McKinney in the said list of hands.” At the same session, Lazarus was one of those appointed to the jury to view and mark a road the nearest and best way from the intersection of Jurden’s path with the Kentucky road on a direction to Cumberland Gap as far as the state line.

At the September term 1805 Moses Davis replaced Lazarus Dodson as overseer. Lazarus continued serving as juror off and on through 1816. At about this time, Lazarus Jr. becomes of age and it is not possible to distinguish between him and his father. At no time in the records is either referred to as Sr. or Jr., so Lazarus Jr. may already have made his way to the Indian lands in Alabama as soon as he was old enough.

There is a gap in the surviving Claiborne records between Nov. 1808 and May 1812, and another between Aug. 1817 and Nov. 1819. No reference is made in the surviving minutes to an estate settlement for Lazarus Dodson Sr. The early Claiborne estate records are also missing. Therefore we are unable to determine if Lazarus died in Claiborne Co. It is a possibility that he went early into the Cherokee lands of Northern Alabama where some of his children went, and died there or in one of the Tennessee border counties or in McMinn County where his estate was divided among his heirs.

It’s unclear, but likely that these 1819 transactions involved Lazarus Sr., not Lazarus Jr., given when Lazarus Jr’s children were born in Alabama. The first item in 1819 is the sale of Lazarus land to William Hogan, the second the sale of the same land from Hogan to Lazarus Dodson and Abner Lee just a couple months later.

April 1819 – Indenture in 1819 between Joseph Williams of Surry Co., NC and Thomas Williams by his attorney in fact and William Hogan of Claiborne for $600, tract of land in Claiborne in Powells Valley commonly known by the name of Butcher Springs tract below Cumberland Gap. Beginning on the Indian boundary line on three post oaks thence north 20 degrees, east 320 poles to 5 post oaks then south 68 degrees east 320 poles to a stake thence south 22 degrees west 320 poles to a stake thence north 68 degrees west 320 poles crossing Gap creek to the beginning containing by estimation 640 acres the same land granted by the state of NC to said Joseph Williams by pat no 485 referenced thereto being had will more fully appear with all and singular rights….Joseph Williams by his atty Thomas L. Williams wit Charles F. Keith, Anderson Barton, April term 1819 ack by Thomas L. Williams in open court, Registered October 16 (or 18) 1819.

On May 4, 1819, Lazarus sells his land to William Hogan – William Hogan of Lee Co., Va. bound into Lazarous Dotson and Abner Lea both of Claiborne in the penal sum of $5000, the condition being that “I this day purchased of Lazarous Dotson and Abner Lea a certain tract of land containing 640 acres.” Wit Martin Beaty, William Jones, David Dodson.[7] This may well have been in preparation for going to Alabama. Some of the children of Lazarus Jr. were born in Alabama. Lazarus Dobkins Dodson’s Civil War records indicate his birth location is in Alabama about this timeframe.

Oliver Dodson, brother to Lazarus Dodson (son of Raleigh), settled in Anderson County, Tn. He was alive in 1803 and 1806, but deceased by Oct 16, 1819 when his brother Lazarus conveys land to his 5 children.

Oct. 16, 1819 – Lazarous Dodson of Claiborne Co. to William Dodson, Moses Stout, Willie Mullins, Henry Guttry, and Prudence Dodson, all of Anderson Co., for $1, 100 acres in Anderson Co on Cane creek by entry made by Lazarous Dodson, certificate #31 on Jan. 22, 1812, including the improvements where Oliver Dodson formerly lived. Wit Elijah Jones, Jesse Dodson, John Cooper, John Lewalen. Proved Jan. session 1820.

In 1822, William Dotson, Lazarus’s nephew, son of his brother Toliver , of Dicature (sic) County, Alabama conveyed his one-fifth share of Oliver’s land to Michael Spesard. William was in Jackson County by August 1820 when he commissioned Justice of the Peace in Jackson County.

William died in Jackson County, Alabama in 1872 and is buried in the Dodson Cemetery at Lim Rock, Alabama.

In 1826, Lazarus Jr., because Lazarus Sr. is now dead, buys back the same land, but for less money it appears. Abner Lea, William Hogan, Lazarus Dodson and John Pace may all be related.

1826, Sept 20 – William Hogan to Lazrous Dodson and John Pace, all of Claiborne for $3500, 640 acres in Claiborne adjoining Peter Huffaker’s field, a compromise line between Hogan, Aaron David and William Jones, excepting 4 acres heretofore conveyed to said Huffaker and 2 acres donated by Hogan to the Baptist Church, including the meeting house and also a donation to the trustees of the Washington School, including the schoolhouse. Wit William McCubbin, Thomas Taylor, Proved April term 1829, Claiborne “the within deed between William Hogan of McMinn Co., Tn to John Pace and Lazerous Dodson for 640 acres by William McCubbin and Thomas Taylor.” Book I-285.

Given these records, we know that Lazarus was living in Claiborne County in 1819 but that in 1812 he had patented land in Anderson County.

Lazarus died sometime between 1819 and 1826.

In 1826 in McMinn County, we fine the following entry: “Abner Lea and Others Obligation to William Dodson: State of Tennessee McMinn County. Know all men by these presents that the Abner Lea and Oliver Dodson and Eligha (sic) Dodson and William Dodson and Jessee Dodson and Lazrus Dodson and held and firmly bound in the penal sum of two thousand dollars which payment will and freely to be maid now(?) and each of us do bind our selves our heirs executor and administrators to the abounded signed sealed and delivered this day and date above written. This is our obligation is as such that has the above abound to appoint Abner Lea and Oliver Dodson to be the gardeans [guardians] of the estate of Lazarous Dodson dc’d also we authorize the said Abner Lea and Oliver Dodson to make to William Dodson a deed of Conveyeance to the part of land granted to the said William Dodson North East Quarter of Section 11 Township 5 Range first east of the meridian. Also that we confirm the sale made on the 13 day of May 1826 we also agree to give unto the heirs of David Dodson a certain piece or parcel of land designated to David Dodson by Lazarus Dodson dec’d be it further understood that this is to be there part and all that they are entitiled to by us, where unto we have set our hand and quill this 11 day of September 1826. Abner Lea, Oliver Dodson, Eligha Dodson, Lazarous Dodson, Jesse Dodson

Witnesses: Landford and Rhodes William Dodson

The land above is roughly the Cochran Cemetery area near Englewood in McMinn Co. David Dodson who died on August 15, 1826 is buried in this Cemetery. It appears that David and Lazarus Dodson may have died in very close proximity to each other relative to their death dates. Poor Jane apparently lost a husband and a son within a very short time.

Abner Lea is certainly an interesting player in this scenario. He is reported (although unverified) to have been married to a Mary Dodson. Based on the heirs listed above, it strongly suggests that Mary was the daughter of Lazarus Sr. His birth date is reported to be about 1770, so too young to be a brother-in-law to Lazarus and about the right age to have married his eldest daughter. In 1810, Lazarus purchases land from Abner in Claiborne County. If this is the Abner born in 1770, he was about 40 at this time.

In 1830, Jane Dodson, probably Lazarus widow, born 1760-1770 is living in McMinn County adjacent her son William Dodson and Fannie Dodson, David Dodson’s widow.

It was unclear what had become of the land Lazarus owned on Tipprell Road, but this deed signed in 1861 solves that mystery by referencing a sale in 1833 by Lazarus Dodson [Jr.].

1861, May 6 – Lazrous (sic) Dodson formerly of Claiborne Co, Tn. but now of Pulasky Co., Ky., to David C. Cotterell for $100 “to me the said Lazarous Dodson paid in the year 1833 having then sold to David Cotterell a tract of land on Gap Creek known as the Robert Chumbley land who had entered said land and sold and assigned said entry over to me and when the grant issued it came out in said Chumley’s name and afterwards was assigned by my request to said Cotterell”…beginning at a white oak two poles below Walker’s line, crossing Gap Creek, etc…his mark Lazarus Dodson. Witnesses: Lewis Chumbley, Andrew Chumbley.[8]

This rather odd suit brought in Hawkins County Tn. shows that by 1835 Lazarus Jr. was no longer in Tennessee.

May 7, 1835 – John A. McKinney vs David C. Cotterall, John Pace and Lazarus Dodson – the def John Pace and Lazarus Dodson are not residents of this state…ordered that they make appearance at Rogersville on the first Monday of Nov. next term or complainants bill will be taken pro confesso and a copy of order to be published in the Abington newspaper and on motion of said complainant leave is given him to take depositions of the def, Dodson subject however to all just exceptions.

Nov. 3, 1835 – they failed to appear.

Sept. 18, 1837 – ordered by court that the clerk and master ascertain the amount of interest due on $87.50 being half the amount of the obligation executed by the def John Pace and Lazarus Dodson to the complainant.

Sept. 1837 – cause came for final hearing by responses made that Cottrell by an agreement made with the complainant pending this suit has assumed to pay the sum of $100 which at that time was half of the obligation and he was bound to do with as the agreement with Pace and further that Dodson is liable to pay the complainant the remaining half of said obligation with interest in the amount of $118.56 with interest from this date until paid.

Above, Lazarus Dodson’s land in Claiborne County, TN, looking towards Poor Valley Ridge.

Heading North on Tipprell road. Lazarus’s land is on either side of the road here with Butcher Springs to the right, out of sight.

Gap Creek runs just over the railroad track and alongside it. This would be the perfect place for a homestead. It’s actually flat and farmable here between the ridge and the valley center.

The Cottrell Cemetery was established by David Cottrell, the man who bought the land from Lazarus in 1826. The earliest marked burial is Moses Cottrell who died in 1857, but there appear to be many older unmarked graves and graves marked with fieldstones. If Lazarus Sr. died in Claiborne County, he would be buried here, under the oldest trees. This photo is taken from inside the cemetery, looking back over Lazarus’s land towards Tipprell Road.

Lincoln Memorial University owns most of the adjacent land today. The photo below overlooks Lazarus’s land towards the Southeast and you can see the “old Kentucky Road” in the photo in the upper left hand corner, which is 25E today. At one time, Lazarus headed the crew that maintained the old Kentucky Road.

A Civil War map shows us exactly where the homestead of David Cottrell was located, which of course had previously been the homestead of Lazarus Dodson. The lane above his house is the road that at one time went to the Cemetery and on to the Kentucky Road. Today, that lane no longer goes through to the cemetery, which is accessed through LMU. Tipprell Road was then called Gap Creek Road and the Kentucky Road was labeled Tazewell Road on this map. Patterson’s Smith shop looks to be the intersection of 25E and Back Valley Road today.

The soldiers camped at Butcher Springs which is labeled “Camp Cottrell” on the map.

Children of Lazarus Dodson Sr.

Based on this following 1842 McMinn County court record entry referencing an earlier 1826 entry, we know the names of some of Lazarus’s children, at least those who were living and those who had died and left heirs.

Oct. 5, 1846 – Abner Lea and Oliver Dodson to the heirs of David Dodson decd in compliance with agreement made Sept 1826 – this is from the wills and estate book.

Sept. 11, 1826 – Abner Lea, Oliver, Elijah, William, Jesse and Lazarus Dodson to William Dotson, obligation they appointed Abner Lea and Oliver Dodson the 2 guardians of the estate of Lazarus Dodson decd to make deed to William Dodson, also agree to give land to heirs of David Dodson decd that was assigned to him by Lazarus Dodson decd; Oct. 3, 1842 – the ? of the witnesses Garrett E. Lankford and David Rhodes? is identified as they reside outside the state of Tn.

The children of Lazarus Dodson and Elizabeth, his wife, surname unknown, are:

Lazarus Dodson Jr., born about 1795 in Hawkins Co., Tn. and died in Pulaksi Co., Ky. on October 5, 1861 where he was residing at the time of the 1860 census. He married first Elizabeth Campbell who died probably during the late 1830s, daughter of John and Jane Dobkins Campbell and married second to Rebecca Freeman in 1839.[9]

There is every indication that Lazarus Jr. went to Jackson Co., Alabama soon after his marriage to Elizabeth Campbell, but still held land in Claiborne Co. In May 1819 Lazarus Dotson and Abner Lea both of Claiborne Co. sold to William Hogan of Lee Co., Va. by $5000 bond a tract of 640 acres. This appears to be Lazarus Sr. preparing to leave the area, along with most of his children. This deed was witnessed by Martin Beatty, William Jones and David Dodson. The witness David Dodson may be the one who moved to McMinn Co. and is likely son David of Lazarus Dodson Sr.

Lazarus Jr. is out of Claiborne Co., during the years 1819 until September 1826.

In Sept. 1829, William Hogan living in McMinn Co., Tn. sold to Lazarus Dodson and John Pace of Claiborne Co., for $3500 a tract of 640 acres adjoining Peter Huffakers field, a compromise line between Hogan, Aaron Davis and William Jones, excepting four acres heretofore conveyed to the said Huffaker and two acres donated by Hogan to the Baptist Church, including the meeting house and also a donation to the Trustees of the Washington School, including the schoolhouse. This has to be Lazarus Jr. since Lazarus Sr. is dead and appears, based on earlier and later deeds, to be the original land that Lazarus Sr. owned.

In 1827 Lazarus appears in the court minutes for the June session as the security for Andrew Chumbly in the case the State vs Andrew Chumbly. Thereafter Lazarus appears in the court minutes, serving as juror in Sept 1827, sued for debt by Moses Ball in March 1828 (Ball awarded damages in Sept. 1828), ordered to a road jury in Dec 1829, serving as juror in March 1830, as constable in March 1831, after which his name disappears from court records until March 16, 1835 when John Hunt, sheriff and collector of public taxes lists Lazarus Dodson on his list of “persons being removed out of my county or insolvent so their poll tax cannot be collected for the year 1833 or 1834”.

It was unclear what had become of the land Lazarus owned on Tipprell Road, but this deed signed in 1861 referencing a sale in 1833 by Lazarus Dodson (Jr.) solved the mystery.

1861, May 6 – Lazrous Dodson formerly of Claiborne Co, Tn. but now of Pulasky Co., Ky. to David C. Cotterell for $100 “to me the said Lazarous Dodson paid in the year 1833 having then sold to David Cotterell a tract of land on Gap Creek known as the Robert Chumbley land who had entered said land and sold and assigned said entry over to me and when the grant issued it came out in said Chumley’s name and afterwards was assigned by my request to said Cotterell”…beginning at a white oak two poles below Walker’s line, crossing Gap Creek, etc…his mark Lazarus Dodson Wit Lewis Chumbley, Andrew Chumbley.[10]

In 1835, we find the Hawkins County record that states he is not a resident of the State of Tennessee.

May 7, 1835 – John A. McKinney vs David C. Cotterall, John Pace and Lazarus Dodson – the def John Pace and Lazarus Dodson are not residents of this state…ord that they make appearance at Rogersville on the first Monday of Nov next term or complaintants bill will be taken pro confesso and a copy of order to be published in the Abington newspaper and on motion of said complainant leave is given him to take depositions of the def, Dodson subject however to all just exceptions.

Nov. 3, 1835 – they failed to appear.

Sept. 18, 1837 – ord by court that the clerk and master ascertain the amount if interest due on $87.50 being half the amount of the obligation executed by the def John Pace and Lazarus Dodson to the complainant.

Sept. 1837 – cause came for final hearing by responses made that Cottrell by an agreement made with the compl pending this suit has assumed to pay the sum of $100 which at that time was half of the obligation and he was bound to do with as the foot of the agreement with Pace and further that Dodson is liable to pay the complainant the remaining half of said obligation with interest in the amount of $118.56 with interest from this date until paid.

However the name of Lazarus Dodson is on a list of free male inhabitants, 21 and upwards, of Claiborne in 1833. The foregoing records suggest that Lazarus was living in Claiborne Co., in 1830, though he is not found there on census records for that year. It is possible he lived in the household of another family, perhaps his in-laws. These records also suggest that he left the county again for a few years, returning to marry his second wife, Rebecca Freeman, in 1839.

In 1841 Wiley Huffaker was appointed by the court of Claiborne Co. as guardian of the minor heirs of Lazarus Dodson and of Elizabeth Dodson, decd. This was relative to the settlement of the estate of Elizabeth’s father, John Campbell, who died in 1838. The children received land, slaves and cash from their grandfather’s estate which was first rented and then sold for their benefit. The guardianship records continue until Dec. 1845 when the final settlement was made with Lasrus Dotson, the youngest heir, who would be Lazarus the third.

Lazarus and Rebecca Freeman Dodson have not been located on the 1850 census. They are not on the census of Pulaski Co., KY that year. The children of Lazarus and Elizabeth Campbell Dodson appear to have been raised after Elizabeth’s death by their Campbell grandparents. Lazarus, their father, left the area but these children were raised in Claiborne County, married there and established homes. The children’s names were taken from the records relative to the estate of John Campbell, their grandfather, as a guardian was appointed for them relative to their inheritance. The children of Lazarus Dodson Jr. and Elizabeth Campbell were Ruthy, born 1820 in Alabama, married John Y. Estes in 1841 in Claiborne County, died in 1903 and buried in the Venable Cemetery in Little Sycamore. John Campbell Dodson, born 1820-1821 in Alabama, married Barthenia Dobkins in 1839 in Claiborne County, died after 1860. Nancy Ann Dodson born about 1821, married James S. Bray in 1840 in Claiborne Conty, died between 1852 and 1860. Lazarus Dobkins Dodson born between 1822-1828 in Alabama, married Elizabeth H. Carpenter in 1845 in Claiborne County, died in 1885 in New Madrid County, Missouri. Mary Dodson born in 1831 in Tennessee, died after 1860.

Oliver Dodson – born August 31, 1794 in Hawkins Co., Tn. and died Dec. 8, 1875 in McMinn Co., Tn. married Elizabeth, surname unknown, born March 16, 1795 in Va. and died Aug. 7, 1883 in McMinn Co., Tn. Both are buried in the Mt. Cumberland Cemetery, McMinn Co.

The first record of this Oliver is in the Claiborne court minutes in August 1815 when he proved he killed a wolf in Claiborne Co. On Jan. 16, 1820 he was relieved as road overseer of the Kentucky road from where Powell’s Valley Road intersects the same at Wallen’s field to the state line at Cumberland Gap.

At the August term 1820 he exhibited the scalp of a wolf he had killed in Claiborne in 1819.

In June 1824 he sued William Hogan for a debt and was awarded damages and costs.

Sometime before or after these events, he spent some time in Jackson Co., Al. where one of his sons Marcellus M. Dodson claimed to be born in 1819. By 1830 Oliver was settled in McMinn Co, Tn. where he lived the remainder of his life.

A chancery suit filed in McMinn in 1893 involving the estate of Oliver Dodson gives us a list of his children and some of his grandchildren. The suit, chancery case #1282, Lazarus Dodson vs Mary Jane Reynolds stated that all were nonresidents of McMInn Co. except for Lazarus who files for himself and as administrator of Oliver Dodson and Mary Jane Reynolds. Some grandchildren lived in Knox Co., Tn. and the others lived in California, Texas, Missouri, Oregon, Montana, Georgia and other states.

Jesse Dodson a son of Lazarus Sr. was born by 1781 or earlier and he was of age in March 1802 when he served as a juror in Claiborne Co., Tn. at the March term and also the June term of 1802, when he was designated as Jesse Dodson Jr. This was no doubt for the purpose of distinguishing him from Rev. Jesse Dodson, a much older man who was also a resident of Claiborne Co. at this time. Jesse, the son of Rev. Jesse, was born in 1791, thus being too young to serve as a juror in 1802. At the June 1805 term of court Jesse Dodson again served as a juror and was designated “Little Jesse Dodson”.

Prior to this, Jesse Dodson Jr. was “assessed for 1 white poll and was included among those living within the Indian Boundary for the year of 1797 which the county court of Grainger released the sheriff from the collection of taxes.” Apparently these people it had been determined were living beyond the treaty line on Indian land and were not within the jurisdiction of Grainger Co.[11]

Given this information, if this Jesse is the son of Lazarus, then he preceeded his father to Claiborne County by a couple of years and may well have settled on the land where Lazarus eventually lived, which was indeed, just inside the Indian Boundary and was Cherokee land.

Jesse Dodson and Mary Stubblefield Dodson joined the Big Spring Baptist church “by experience” in March 1802. They received letters of dismissal from the church in Nov. 1805, but Jesse returned his letter in May 1806. Apparently in early 1807 Jesse got into a dispute with the church over a theological question which continued on through Sept. 1807 when the question was dismissed. In Aug. 1808, Jesse was “excluded” from the church for “withholding from the Church”. He is not again found in the records of Claiborne County.

On June 20, 1811, Jesse Dodson was licensed to trade with Indian tribes in Madison Co., Alabama. Descendants of this man have the oral tradition that he was an Indian Trader. He was said to be the oldest son of a large family of boys. Once when the Indian trader returned from one trip and was preparing to leave on another, the father implored his older son to take along his younger brother. The trader refused, saying the boy was so inexperienced that he would be killed by Indians. The father was adamant and insisted, so the trader relented and took the boy along. He has killed by Indians before the trader’s eyes. From then on there were hard feelings between the Indian Trader and his father. This is a tradition which may have grown with the telling over the generations, but there could be some grains of truth in the tale. If would certainly be interesting to know for sure if Jesse the Indian Trader is the son of Lazarus Sr.

The land that became Jackson Co., Alabama was originally part of the Mississippi Territory and was occupied by the Cherokee until they gave it up by treaty on Feb. 27, 1819. It is certainly possible that Jesse Dodson, Indian Trader of the Mississippi territory, was a son of Lazarus Dodson, Sr., who, himself was camping with the Indians in the winter of 1781/1782. Indeed, he did appear to have a family of mostly boys and the name Raleigh is conspicuously absent from a list of descendants, perhaps indicating a death.

1819 is also the years that Lazarus sold his Claiborne County land and when several of his children apparently went to Alabama.

A Jesse Dodson was on the 1830 census of Jackson Co., Al. though the family statistics are puzzling. The household consisted of 2 males 5-10, 1 male 10-15, 1 male 20-30, 1 female under 5, 1 female 10-15, 1 female 30-40 and 1 female 50-60. This would not be Jesse Dodson the Indian Trader unless he were away from home on the date of the census enumeration or unless the census taker made an error in recording the statistics. We have no record of the children of this Jesse Dodson except for one son, who wound up in Texas. That son may also be the Jesse in Jackson County in 1830.

David Dodson is not in the records of Claiborne Co except for the one time when he witnessed the deed, William Hogan to Lazarus Dotson and Abner Lea, in May 1819. Apparently David was of age at this time when his father purchased the land for possibly the second time.

If it is the same David Dodson who later appeared in McMinn Co., Tn., then he was probably born between 1790 and 1800. David Dodson (Dotson) died in McMinn Co. about 1826. His widow was Fanny Dotson b 1790-1800. The 1830 census of McMinn Co. with a household consisting of herself, 1 male 5-10, 1 male 10-15, 1 female under , 2 females 5-10. Living next door was William Dotson whose household was 1 male under 5, 1 male 20-30, 1 female under 5, 1 female 5-10 and 1 female 20-30. He was the administrator of the estate of David Dotson and seems a little old to be a son of David and Fanny, so was likely his brother instead. It should also be pointed out that here a Jane Dotson, aged 50-70, born 1760-1770, living alone, also resided next to Fanny Dotson. She was probably David’s mother, the widow of Lazarus Dodson Sr.

The estate of David Dodson was not settled until April 1846, presumably after all the children had come of age or married. Apparently all this family left Tennessee before the 1850 census was taken.

As mentioned, William lived adjacent David and Mary Dodson in McMinn County in 1830. Also, a William L. Dotson was appointed one of the arbitrators between the administrators of the estates of Thomas and William Burch, decd, in June of 1834. Thomas Burch died circa 1830 and had been the administrator of the estate of his father, William Burch, who died about 1828. One of the daughters of William Burch was Mrs. Aaron David, apparently a former neighbor of Lazarus Dodson in Claiborne Co. Mentioned in Thomas Burch’s estate is a note against the estate of William Burch, decd and an unidentified piece of land in Claiborne Co. Aaron Davis was a member of Gap Creek Church, Claiborne Co. Tn. in 1818.

There were several William Dodsons in McMinn Co and it is not entirely possible to separate them without further records, but one of them was the son of Lazarus Sr. William L. Dodson, believed to be the son of Lazarus, was born December 11, 1804 and died August 29, 1873. He is buried in the Cochran Cemetery in McMinn County, shown below, along with Lazarus’s son David. It’s likely that Mary, Lazarus Sr.’s widow, is buried here as well, given that she was living adjacent to David and William in 1830, and William owned the land on which the cemetery stood. It’s possible that Lazarus is buried here as well.

Elijah Dodson was a son of Lazarus Sr. as well. He is connected in the records of Claiborne with Martin and Jehu who are not listed as Lazarus’s sons. Elijah was born in 1790 in Hawkins Co. according to information in the Oregon Donation land claims. He died in Yamhill Co., Oregon in 1859. His first wife was Mary, surname unknown, whom he married March 12, 1807 in “Clayborn Co, Tn.”. His second wife was Elizabeth, surname unknown, who died in the Autumn of 1854. They were married Sept. 1848 in Pilk Co., Oregon.

In the June 1805 term of court, Claiborne Co., Tn. Elijah along with Jehu was appointed as a road hand to work on a road of which Martin Dodson was overseer. It was a segment of the Kentucky road from the top of Wallen’s Ridge to Blair’s Creek. In Aug. 1814, Elijah proved a wolf scalp he had killed in 1814 and at the Aug term 1815 he served as a juror. There are no records of Elijah in Claiborne beyond this date.

It is possible that Elijah eventually went to Henry Co., Ohio and Clay Co., Missouri before moving to Oregon where he made a claim to land in Yamhill Co. on which he lived from Feb. 1848 until his death. It is believed that two of his sons were with him in Oregon. The record stated that his first wife left 6 children.

DNA and the Dodson Family

According to the Dodson DNA Project at Family Tree DNA, several people are members who descend from Charles Dodson of Rappahannock Co., VA. Charles, born in 1649, was the great-great-grandfather of Lazarus Dodson. Several years ago when I checked, this group was simply labeled as R1b1a2, now R-M269. Since then, it appears that several people have confirmed SNP tests, among them, R-P25 and R-L2. How can that be? Easy. These are all sub-branches of haplogroup R and the men have tested at different levels. R-P25 used to be R1b1 before the renaming event and R-L2 used to be R1b1a2a1a1b3c1, which illustrated perfectly one of the reasons why they are only using haplogroup SNP names today.

This confirms that the Dodson male line was European.

However, it can’t address whether or not the wife of Lazarus Sr. was Native or not. To discover that, we need to test someone descended from Lazarus and his wife, Jane, through all females. The current generation can be a male, because women pass their mitochondrial DNA to all of their children, but only females pass it on.

If you descend from Lazarus and his wife Jane through all females to the current generation I have a DNA testing scholarship for you!!!

I sent an e-mail to the Dodson DNA Project administrator asking if someone from Lazarus’s line has DNA tested, but I haven’t heard back. I descend through Lazarus Sr. through Lazarus Jr. and his wife, Elizabeth Campbell, through daughter Ruthy. Therefore, on the Dodson paternal side, “my paternal line” would have to be represented by one of the descendants of the sons of Lazarus Jr. or Lazarus Sr. I’m hoping someone from these lines has already tested. Otherwise, I have a scholarship for a male Dodson from Lazarus Dodson Jr. or Sr., or his father, Raleigh Dodson.

Honoring Lazarus Dodson, Patriot Ancestor

Lazarus Dodson (Sr.) was a patriot. He served in the Revolutionary War. He was paid on August 1783 for his service, along with his father, Raleigh Dodson. Extensive research over the years has helped us to piece the lives of Raleigh and Lazarus together. Lazarus died between 1819 and 1826, and his heirs sold his land on Tipprell Road, in Claiborne County, Tn. in 1833. Most of his children were living in McMinn County at that time, and shortly thereafter, along with his widow. When they moved there is uncertain. Assuming Lazarus Sr. did not die in Jackson County, Alabama, Lazarus is either buried on his land in Claiborne County or in McMinn County. Jackson County wills and probate records burned during the Civil War.

Given that Lazarus owned land in Claiborne, it’s most likely that he died on his land and is buried there, perhaps the first grave in the Cottrell Cemetery. There are many older, unmarked graves in this cemetery. Lazarus’s heirs sold this land to David C. Cottrell in 1826 and the land, until recently, has remained in the Cottrell family.

On June 11th, 2011, at 2 PM, the Dodson family descendants, the Cottrell family, and members of the local Joseph Martin Chapter of the SAR (Sons of the American Revolution), DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) and staff from LMU gathered to honor Lazarus Dodson and set a long overdue headstone for him.

Debbie Frantz, one of Lazarus descendants through the Estes family, and her husband George (below) were instrumental in arranging this ceremony. George is an active SAR member as is Debbie in the DAR. Debbie joined the DAR based on Lazarus’s service, so this was a particularly significant event for her. Also representing the Dodson family was Roberta Estes, also descended from Lazarus through the Estes family, and Daryl Peters, descended from Lazarus’s father, Raleigh.

It was a beautiful but very hot day, near 100. Daryl felt faint, and recalled the words of her grandmother, “women don’t sweat in the heat, they swoon”. She and a few other people were swooning alright.

The Cottrell cemetery is now on Lincoln Memorial University property and LMU has agreed to take over maintenance of the cemetery. This time in 2010, Daryl and I were there finding out the name of the man to contact about the cemetery. This year, that gentleman, Keith Cottrell, who cared for the cemetery for years, has passed away, but many of the Cottrell relatives were present to help us celebrate.

It’s such a beautiful location. You can see for 20 miles to the east if it’s not foggy. The LMU campus is right there as well. Lazarus’s heirs sold this land to David C. Cottrell in 1826 after Lazarus Dodson died. It was an honor and a privilege to be able to provide a marker for his grave, overlooking his land.

Debbie Frantz read about his life, his history, and what we have been able to piece together about him. There were other speakers as well, and two ladies sang. All in all, a lovely service, even if Lazarus’ death date is 10 years too early on his stone.

Below, Debbie and I have placed the “Descendants” wreath. His three descendants present were me, Debbie and her grandson. I wonder if Lazarus knows that nearly 200 years after his death, that his descendants are returning to set a stone and honor him.

Wreaths were lain of honor of Lazarus Dodson by the TNSSAR, General Joseph Martin Chapter, Kentucky Path DAR Chapter, Martin Station SAR chapter VASSAR and the Dodson Family Descendants. Flags were flying high.

Frank Smith, Dean of Students at LMU was the main speaker of the event and did a spectacular job. His topic was about the significance of “the dash“. That dash – the dash between the birth and death dates – the importance of the lives we live. It’s the dash that we celebrate, not the beginning or the end. And it’s the dash of Lazarus life that we have reconstructed to the best of our ability. May all of our ancestors inspire the days of our dash.

The legacy of Lazarus Dodson will live on through his descendants and through the accomplishments of the students that will be given a chance to fulfill their dreams as educators of tomorrow through the Cottrell Endowment fund, which will give LMU a great legacy to be proud of. Anyone who wishes to contribute may do so by writing a check to LMU and noting that it is a contribution for the Cottrell Endowment Fund. They have committed to raise $25,000 as an endowed fund so a scholarship can be offered every year. This was in exchange for LMU agreeing to maintain the cemetery in perpetuity.

After the service ended, we got to meet the Cottrell family with whom we’ve been communicating for months to document the cemetery. The photo below is of Lazarus’ descendants and the Cottrell family together.

Below, the Cottrell family gathers at David Cottrell’s stone. It seems so long ago, but David Cottrell probably knew Lazarus Dodson (Sr., the Patriot), certainly knew his son, Lazarus (Jr.), and lived in the home that Lazarus (Sr.) built, farmed his land and eventually, was buried alongside Lazarus.

Jim Rowland, one of the Cottrell family members mentioned that he knew where the old David Cottrell house had been located. He’s about 60 or so and said it was torn down when he was a teenager, but it had been abandoned years before. So off we went caravan style to see the location of the old house. Of course, we went via the roads, but in the old days, they would just have walked over the hill. Too hot and too many snakes today.

Here we are, all gathered in the road in front of the land that once held the cabin of Lazarus Dodson, Sr. We’re by the bend in the road, by the word Cottrell, on the map inset below from the Civil War map of the 1860s.

After arriving, Jim pointed out the location of the old house and barns. At the bend in Tipprell Road, the house used to stand where the dead tree is today (photo below), and the barn was in the clearing to the right. This was rather unusual land, because it’s almost flat here.

The barn had been located to the right of the clump of trees, in the little clearing just as it starts up the little hill. This location is also shown on the Civil War map and it is the only homestead on Tipprell road at that time. As the crow flies, the cemetery is just behind the house and over the hill. There was originally a road that connected the two sites, and the road still exists, but has been abandoned and is blocked at both ends today.

Lazarus was also a member of the Gap Creek Church and helped to found it as well. It was on his 640 acres that he received for his Revolutionary War service, located on Gap Creek. The Church backs up to Gap Creek has been rebuilt several times, but surely some of the original lurks beneath the surface.

Before we left, we had seen where Lazarus was buried, where he lived, where he worshipped and the creek on his land that quenched the thirst of his family and his animals. We have seen the Indian lands and Butcher Springs where the local story says that long hunters were ambushed by Indians. Lazarus’ land is steeped in history.

We were glad to get back to the hotel and air conditioning. We drove back via Tipprell Road, a little one lane road (sometimes stretched to two lanes, but you have to stop to pass). This would have been the road Lazarus took to the village of Cumberland Gap, “above” his place on the mountain. Even today, after being paved, it is extremely quiet and peaceful. We stopped and shut the car off and just listened to the sound of Gap Creek tumbling down the mountain, the birds….and nothing else except for the occasional rustle of the leaves. How beautiful and peaceful this land is today.

As fate would have it, a Tennessee artist, Tamara Hogshead painted Gap Creek and donated the painting to a nonprofit group for their fundraising auction. I bid on, and won, that painting which I love dearly and graces my home today. What are the chances of finding this painting and then discovering that it is of Gap Creek, the creek that ran through Lazarus property?

However, it wasn’t always serene. We know that this is the place where battles of the Civil War were fought as well as bloody battles between Indians and migrating European settlers. Today, it is peaceful and stunningly, almost hauntingly, serenely, beautiful. This is the Appalachia our ancestors loved, where Lazarus lived, the roads he trod, and the land where we return to honor him and to visit the landscapes of our ancestors.

If no one ever thanked you Lazarus, for your service to your country, or told you they were proud of you, proud to be your descendant, let me do it now. All of your descendants thank you, those who were able to be present in 2011, and those not. Those who searched for and documented the meaningful events of your life, those moments between the dash, and those who will, in the future read about them. We are all here because of you, and we live in a free country. That freedom is thanks to you, your father, and the other Patriots. You will never be forgotten, nor will your service to your country. We have set a memorial stone for you to insure that others can visit you, on your land, in the future. Hopefully future generations will come, sit a spell in this magical location, ponder the dash, yours and theirs, learn a little about your life, and find a piece of their heritage on the tract known as Butcher Springs, just below Cumberland Gap.

Thank you, from your descendants!

Footnotes:

[1] Page 124 – 798 (681)

[2] [Lazarus Dodson 300 ac and Joseph Beard 400 ac (warrant number mentioned twice) – on warrant list; for grant to L Dodson see file 523 in Sullivan Co; warrant issued Jan 19 1782 by John Adair, warrant assigned Aug 12 1788 by Rawleigh Dodson to Lazarus Dodson (William Smith witness); 300 ac in grant (survey not in shuck, see Sullivan Co file 531); Carter’s entry 1014 in same shuck; grant 539 issued Nov 26 1789.

[3] Page 64 – 427 (311) March 16 (or 15) [RJE – looks to be several surveys under this same number] Grant 534 issued Feb 13 1791

[4] Hawkins deeds 1-94, 2-3184-65, 4-66, 6-196, 6-264. 1800, March 29 – Lazarus Dodson of Claiborne Co and Johnathan Ling of Hawkins $900 for tract in Hawkins on White Horse Fork (also White Run Fork in next deed which is exactly the same except dated March 29 1804. Actually this is White Thorne Fork) of Bent Creek being same place where said Dodson formerly lived, adj fence of Walker, being 575 acres of land as set out. Wit William Paine, JP, M_Myres. Reg Nov 21 1804

[5] See Claiborne deed B-316, D-4, E-366 one of which might refered to Lazarus Jr. Deeds were also recorded in H-291 and L-23 but these books are missing from the courthouse.

[6] Decatur County was a short lived county crated from territory of Madison and Jackson Counties.

[7] Ack Aug term 1819 by William Hogan Reg Oct 14, 1819 book E-366.

[8] Ack May 6, 1861 by Lazarus Dodson by appearance before James Allcorn, Clerk of Court in Pulaksi Co., Ky. Registered Oct. 13, 1870 Claiborne Co.

[9] Claiborne marriages 2-10.

[10] Ack May 6, 1861 by Lazarus Dodson by appearance before James Allcorn, Clerk of Court in Pulaksi Co., Ky. Registered Oct. 13, 1870 Claiborne Co.

[11] Claiborne was not formed until 1801.

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Jacques “dit Beaumont” de Bonnevie, Acadian from Paris, 52 Ancestors #26

Posted on June 29, 2014 by Roberta Estes

Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques,
Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?
Sonnez les matines, sonnez les matines
Ding ding dong, ding ding dong.

I always loved that lullaby from childhood. Brother John, Brother John, are you sleeping, are you sleeping? Morning Bells are ringing, morning bells are ringing….

I had no idea I had my own French Jacques and that the morning bells were those of Notre Dame in Paris.

Little did I know on the day I found my first Acadian ancestor what a floodgate was opening. Now, that’s both a good thing and a bad thing. Wonderful because so much research has been done on Acadian families, and terribly frustrating because in so many cases, in spite of all of that research, we still can’t get them back to France.

The families are also, in some cases, hopelessly intertwined….and I don’t even want to talk about what the autosomal DNA of these families looks like. Let’s just say that it’s not a family tree, but more line a family vine.

Jacques “dit Beaumont” de Bonnevie is an exception in that we know where he was born in France.

Before I tell you about Jacques, what little we know about him, let me thank a few people who’ve helped me immensely.

First, Paul LeBlanc, who tells me we are related in 37 different ways, is the host of the Acadian list at Rootsweb. To subscribe to this list, please send an email to ACADIAN-request@rootsweb.com with the word ‘subscribe’ without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message.

I think it was also Paul who told me that if you’re related to one Acadian, you’re related to all Acadians. I thought it was cute at the time. Little did I realize he was serious! I didn’t know, then, just how true that was!

Secondly, the research on Jacque and much of what has been done on my other Acadian ancestors was contributed by Karen Theriot Reader, a librarian and genealogist extraordinaire, focused on Acadian immigrants to Louisiana. Fortunately for me, those families all originated in Acadia, in far northeastern Canada, shown on the map below.

I am also very grateful to the administrators of DNA projects that include or focus on Acadian families.

There is the Mothers of Acadia project as well as the Amerindian Ancestor Out of Acadia project.

There are also various related projects, such as the Louisiana Creole and the French Heritage projects.

Sorting out the families and separating myth from fact has become much easier with the advent of genetic genealogy. In fact, it’s how I proved my first Acadian connection through the Lore family – but that’s a story for another time.

Dit Names

Oh yes, and there’s one more thing I’d better explain and that’s about “dit” names. Dit names, often found in French Canadian, specifically Acadian, families are nicknames, for lack of a better term, either attached to a surname or to a particular person.

Dit translates literally as “to say” so a “dit” name means “that is to say.” Sometimes dit names are location based, military based or something else that doesn’t make much sense today. For example, if the dit name is LaMontagne, or “the mountain,” does it mean the man was built like a mountain, he was of great social stature, was it that he lived near the mountain, or was it, perhaps, a joke?

As if Acadian genealogy wasn’t complex enough, ancestors can be listed under either name, or both, variously, or at the same time.

When I knew I was going to Paris in the fall of 2013, I searched through my files to see if any of my ancestors had a historical connection to Paris, and sure enough, Jacques was born there.

Jacques “dit Beaumont” de Bonnevie

Jacques was born about 1660, although some references state as late as 1678, in Paris. However, Karen Theriot Reader’s source provides proof that the 1660 date is much more accurate than later dates.

Karen provided me with the following information about Jacques and how we know he was in fact, born in Paris.

The citation from Stephen A. White is from his highly respected genealogical dictionary of Acadians. He does go into detail on the historical document which says Jacques was a “native of Paris.” It is in French in the original citation, but I have the English translation he published somewhat later. Footnote/Endnote Citation: Stephen A. White, English Supplement to the Dictionnaire généalogique des familles acadiennes (Moncton: Centre d’Études Acadiennes, 2000). Published as [vol. 3] of the Dictionnaire Généalogique des Familles Acadiennes.

He is listed as Jacques Bonnavie dit Beaumont.

Another note from Karen provides us with additional information.

Jacques BONNEVIE dit BEAUMONT, Biographical Note: 20 Dec 1732: List of the disabled retired from the French forces at Ile Royale proposed to my Lord the Compte de Maurepas to receive half-pay.

Jacques Bonnevie called Beaumont, aged seventy-two years, native of Paris, former corporal in the troops of Acadia, where he served for seventeen years. He is not in condition to serve, nor to earn his living, because of a wound to his thigh he received in the King’s service.

Document found in Stephen A. White’s Dictionnaire (French ed.): (ANF, Col, D2C, vol 47, fol 475) That would be in the Archives of New France (ANF). Also, Isle Royale is now Cape Breton Island in Canada.

Jacques died on April 23, 1733 at the Hospital de Louisbourg, Ile-Royal, Acadia.

Karen also provided from Bona Arsenault, HISTOIRE ET GENEALOGIE DES ACADIENS; 1625-1810; Ottawa, Editions Lemeac, 1978, 6 vols.; p. 438 (Port Royal); own copy:

Entry says name also BEAUMONT. Jacques was born around 1678, married around 1699 to Francoise MIUS, “doubtless” the daughter of Philippe MIUS Jr. of Pobomcoup & a “sauvagesse” Marie, whom he had married.

Karen’s tree shows the six children listed, born from 1701 through 1715. There were no births listed from 1707-1714, suggesting that at least 4 children perished.

“Sauvagesse” means Native American. Because she has a Christian name, Marie, we can rest assured that she had been baptized into the Catholic faith.

One of the daughters of Jacques dit Beaumont de Bonnevie was Marie Charlote Bonnevie, born May 12, 1706 in Port Royal, Acadia. On August 18, 1721, Marie would marry Jacques “dit LaMontagne” Lore/Lord. They are my 7G-grandparents.

DNA

Unfortunately, I have been unable to find any record that anyone by the name of Bonnevie or deBonnevie has been DNA tested, but at Family Tree DNA there are 15 individuals with the surname Beaumont who have tested. There is no Beaumont surname project, unfortunately, so I checked the French Heritage project. Unfortunately, there is only one and they are from England. At Ancestry.com, there is only one Beaumont who has tested and there is no information attached to their account. I have sent them a message, but I’m not at all convinced that my message-sending capability at Ancestry isn’t broken, considering that I haven’t received a reply from anyone in over a year.

I have a scholarship for Y DNA testing for any male who descends from this line and carries the surname, whatever it is today, Bonnevie, de Bonnevie, Beaumont, or whatever.

Renaissance Paris

I know what Paris was like in 1970 when I lived there, and what it is like today, but what was Paris like when Jacque de Bonnevie lived there as a child in the 1660s and 1670s?

Like everyplace else in Europe at that time, religion played a very big part of the lives of the populace. Paris wasn’t immune to the religious turmoil plaguing the rest of Europe after the beginning of Protestantism in 1530. This problem didn’t begin in the 1600s though, but much earlier, in the 1500s,althoug the ramifications reached forward centuries.

An ominous gulf was growing within Paris between the followers of the established Catholic church and Protestant Calvinism and Renaissance humanism. The Sorbonne and University of Paris, the major fortresses of Catholic orthodoxy, forcefully attacked the Protestant and humanist doctrines, and the scholar Etienne Dolet was burned at the stake, along with his books, on Place Maubert in 1532, on the orders of the theology faculty of the Sorbonne; but despite that, the new doctrines continued to grow in popularity, particularly among the French upper classes.

Beginning in 1562, repression and massacres of Protestants in Paris alternated with periods of tolerance and calm, during what became known as the French Wars of Religion. Paris was a stronghold of the Catholic party. On the night of 23–24 August 1572, while many prominent Protestants were in Paris on the occasion of the marriage of Henri of Navarre—the future Henry IV—to Margaret of Valois, sister of Charles IX, the royal council decided to assassinate the leaders of the protestants. The targeted killings quickly turned into a general slaughter of Protestants by Catholic mobs, known as St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre, and continued through August and September, spreading from Paris to the rest of the country. About three thousand Protestants were killed in Paris, and five to ten thousand elsewhere in France.

This painting by Francois Debois shows the massacre with Admiral Cologny’s body handing out of a window in the rear to the right. The left rear shows Catherine de’Medici emerging from the Chateau de Louvre to inspect a heap of bodies. Another drawing, below, by Frans Hogenberg, shows the massacre as well.

People left Paris in droves, about one third of the population, fearing for their safety. Many houses were destroyed during the Religious Wars and the grand projects of the Louvre, the Hôtel de Ville, and the Tuileries Palace were left unfinished.

This was a very dark time in French history.

By the middle of the 1600s, the city had recovered and new churches were being built, inspired by those of Rome. By 1650, the population had doubled and reached about 400,000. Bridges were being built to replace ferries and new construction was everyplace. The Church of Les Invalides was built between 1671 and 1678 and the College of 4 Nations from 1662-1672. New theaters were created to entertain people and the first café opened in 1686. Paris was growing and prospering. Jacque, born about 1660, would have been witness to this prosperity.

For the poor however, life was very different. They were crowded into tall, narrow, five or six story high buildings lining the winding streets on the Île de la Cité and other medieval quarters of the city. Crime in the dark streets was a serious problem. Metal lanterns were hung in the streets and the number of archers who acted as night watchmen was increased to four hundred.

Of course, we don’t know Jacque’s social or financial status – but I doubt a wealthy man would serve in the military as an enlisted man, and be shipped to Nova Scotia.

Paris in 1660

We know that Jacques was born in Paris in 1660. We know that he was in Acadia by 1699 when he married. He likely did not arrive in Acadia until he was at least age 20, so he was in Paris from at least 1660 to 1680 and possibly another 18 or 19 years.

We know that he was in the military for 17 years, and he know that he had a “dit” name that translates as “beautiful mountain.” (Thank you for the translation to Marie Rundquist.) You’ll have to pardon my wondering about how that name was bestowed up on him, and whether it was before or after he arrived in Acadia.

What was happening in Paris when Jacques lived there?

In 1660, all of Paris gathered to see the entry of King Louis the XIV. Were Jacque’s parents among the crowd? Was his mother pregnant for Jacques, or perhaps she had a newborn infant and couldn’t attend the festivities.

Here’s the Louvre, as Jacque might have seen it as a young boy, in the 1660s. In fact, he could have been one of those children playing in the street.

If, in fact, Jacques was born anyplace near the city center, he could have been baptized in Notre Dame.

Here is a painting of “Choeur de Notre Dame de Paris” from 1669.

This first map is of Paris in 1550. You can see this map in detail at this link. The detail is incredible, neighborhoods and even individual houses. Were Jacques’, and my, ancestors living here then? Is their house on the map?

The first bridge, The Pont Notre-Dame, shown on the map above, was built in 1512 and held a street and 68 houses.

Here’s a perspective view of Paris from 1607. Notice that there were many churches.

The island at the city center is quite visible and so are the walls, although it’s evident that there is already some constructions and people living outside the walls. If Jacques was born in 1660, this would have been the Paris of his grandparents.

This 1660 map shows not only the city, but the dress of Parisians at that time as well. This would have been what his parents wore or saw people around them wearing.

In 1670, King Louis ordered the destruction of the city walls, feeling they were no longer necessary. This 1705 map shows the location of the old walls and the new construction outside the walls. Did Jacque watch the old walls being torn down? Might he have helped? He would have been a strapping man of about 20, in his physical prime.

Jacques would have watched the construction of Les Invalides, above, from 1662-1672.

We don’t know when Jacques left Paris, but we do know he was in “His Majesty’s Service” for 17 years, and it’s very likely that he arrived in the New World as a soldier. Life would have been dramatically different for Jacques, moving from Paris to, comparatively, a wilderness.

We also know he was wounded in the thigh, but we don’t know how or when that injury occurred although it would have not been before his arrival in Acadia. It could well have been in 1710 in the Siege of Port Royal when the British took Port Royal, renaming it Annapolis Royal.

His 17 years in service could have ended shortly after his arrival in Nova Scotia. If he enlisted when he was age 20 in 1680, his 17 years of service would have ended in 1697, for example. However, the wording in his pension application says specifically that he served as a “former corporal in the troops of Acadia, where he served for seventeen years.” If he served in Acadia for 17 years, then his retirement was probably about 1715 or so. It certainly was not after 1716 if he married in Port Royal about 1799. His retirement could have been earlier than 1716.

It’s likely that Jacques was involved with the building of the fort at Port Royal. With the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1702, colonists on both sides again prepared for conflict. Acadia’s governor, Jacques-François de Monbeton de Brouillan, had, in anticipation of war, already begun construction of a stone and earth fort in 1701, shown below, which was largely completed by 1704.

Fort Royal was defended by about 300 troops, many of whom were poorly trained recruits from France. We don’t know when Jacques was injured, but to entirely disable him, it must have been severe. In 1710, the French lost both Fort Royal and Port Royal. The painting below shows the evacuation of the fort. Whether Jacques was still in the military at this time, or not, he surely was involved in many ways during this decade of instability.

Did he and his wife worry constantly about an impending attack? Did they finally decide that it was never coming, and relax, only to be surprised? How did they cope with living under constant threat? Life apparently went on, because several of their children were born during this decade.

Jacques would have been 50 years old in 1710 when Fort Royal was taken by the British. He requested a half-pay pension on December 20, 1732, at age 72, and subsequently died on April 23, 1733.

Maybe it’s a good thing he died when he did and didn’t live another 22 years to see his children and their families uprooted and forcibly deported from Acadia in the 1755 event known as “Le Grand Derangement.”

Jacques saw a lot in his lifetime. The rebuilding and expansion of the City of Paris, the removal of the medieval city walls, a transatlantic crossing, the fort at Port Royal and the loss of Port Royal to the British in 1710 when he had young children to protect. He was likely involved in battles, or at least one battle, and was severely wounded. He would have watched his children become adults and marry as the fort area expanded. Still, his children were close by. In 1732, probably as he was becoming feeble and unable to care for himself, he asked for a half-pay pension for his 17 years of service, passing away only four months later..

I wonder if he agreed to go to Acadia (Canada) with the expectation that he would never return home to France, or if the company of French/Indian Francoise Mius changed his mind and was the reason he remained. We have no records from Paris, but his age at the time he married Francoise, nearly 40 years old, suggests that he might have had a family in France at one time as well. Perhaps they perished and he went to Acadia to begin anew.

We are very fortunate to know as much as we do about Jacques “dit Beaumont” de Bonnevie. Like all genealogists, I’d love to know more. I’d also love to test the DNA of a Bonnevie male descendant, if there are any. If you are a male Bonnevie and descend from this line, I have a DNA scholarship waiting just for you!

______________________________________________________________

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1348 – It Was a Very Bad Year – 52 Ancestors #25

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Roberta Estes

It was the worst of times, it was the worst of times…it was the season of darkness…it was the winter of despair. (Apologies to Charles Dickens.)

In my family history, 1348 was probably the worst year, ever, and I do mean EVER – and if you have European ancestry – it was, undoubtedly, for your family too. Why?

The Plague.

The Black Plague.

The Black Death.

The Great Plague.

The Great Pestilence.

The Great Mortality.

Bubonic Plague.

And it was probably, worse, far worse, than you know, or can even imagine.

It was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history – or at least the part of human history that we know about. Between 1348 and 1350, estimates are between 30% and 60% of all Europeans died. DNA from victims tells us that the source of the plague was indeed the Yersinia Pestis bacterium, originating in Asia and spread by rat fleas on ships. The epidemic began on the island of Sicily, spread from south to north, eventually encompassing all of Europe.

And it didn’t just happen once, it happened over and over again, beginning in the mid-1300s. It appeared again and again throughout the 1300-1700s, especially in major cities, but not as widespread and all-encompassing as the initial 1348 outbreak. By the year 1400, it’s estimated that the plague had reduced the world population from about 450 million to about 300-350 million.

According to historians, the plague was reported someplace in Europe every year between 1346 and 1671. Repeated outbreaks in some areas took high percentages of the population several times. London, for example, lost half of its population initially, then again in 1471, 10-15% of the population died, and in 1479-80 another 20%. In 1563, 1593, 1603, 1625, 1636 and 1664, London lost 20% of its population with each subsequent outbreak.

This drawing depicts the Great Plague of London in 1665, which killed up to 100,000 people.

Anyone who could afford to left London for six months or so during the worst of the plague. All cats and dogs were destroyed as a preventive measure. This allowed rats to flourish and spread the disease which was carried by their fleas. The painting shows a scene of horror. After sunset carts were driven through the streets to collect the dead. They were taken to the nearest graveyard to be buried in plague pits, as shown above. Fires burned to make smoke. Pipes of tobacco were smoked, posies of herbs worn and faces covered with masks. This was thought to be protection against contagion. London was overwhelmed with fear, terror and grief.

This scene was repeated throughout Europe. Norway lost 60% of its population between 1348-1350. Paris was stricken about every 3 years, repeatedly. There were 22 outbreaks in Venice between 1361 and 1528, and again in 1576 when one third of the population, about 50,000, people died. What do you do with 1000 dead bodies every day?

So, how bad was it, personally? Wiki gives us this information about symptoms.

Contemporary accounts of the plague are often varied or imprecise. The most commonly noted symptom was the appearance of buboes (or gavocciolos) in the groin, the neck and armpits, which oozed pus and bled when opened.

Boccaccio’s description is graphic, and I’m sparing you the photos:

“In men and women alike it first betrayed itself by the emergence of certain tumours in the groin or armpits, some of which grew as large as a common apple, others as an egg…From the two said parts of the body this deadly gavocciolo soon began to propagate and spread itself in all directions indifferently; after which the form of the malady began to change, black spots or livid making their appearance in many cases on the arm or the thigh or elsewhere, now few and large, now minute and numerous. As the gavocciolo had been and still was an infallible token of approaching death, such also were these spots on whomsoever they showed themselves. ”

Ziegler comments that the only medical detail that is questionable is the infallibility of approaching death, as if the bubo discharges, recovery is possible.

This was followed by acute fever and vomiting of blood. Most victims died two to seven days after initial infection. David Herlihy identifies another potential sign of the plague: freckle-like spots and rashes which could be caused by flea-bites.

Some accounts, like that of Louis Heyligen, a musician in Avignon who died of the plague in 1348, noted a distinct form of the disease which infected the lungs and led to respiratory problems and which is identified with pneumonic plague.

“It is said that the plague takes three forms. In the first people suffer an infection of the lungs, which leads to breathing difficulties. Whoever has this corruption or contamination to any extent cannot escape but will die within two days. Another form…in which boils erupt under the armpits,…a third form in which people of both sexes are attacked in the groin.”

What did this mean to our ancestors who survived? To begin with, people were dying so fast that they could not be afforded a proper burial. Below, the citizens of Tournai burying plague victims.

Most telling, perhaps are the testimonials of the people who survived, and wrote about what they endured – the unwilling chroniclers, as it were.

“They died by the hundreds, both day and night, and all were thrown in … ditches and covered with earth. And as soon as those ditches were filled, more were dug. And I, Agnolo di Tura … buried my five children with my own hands … And so many died that all believed it was the end of the world.”

—The Plague in Siena: An Italian Chronicle

He didn’t say that he buried 5 of his children, but that he buried “my five children.” As a parent, I can’t imagine a worse day in my worst imaginings of Hell.

“How many valiant men, how many fair ladies, breakfast with their kinfolk and the same night supped with their ancestors in the next world! The condition of the people was pitiable to behold. They sickened by the thousands daily, and died unattended and without help. Many died in the open street, others dying in their houses, made it known by the stench of their rotting bodies. Consecrated churchyards did not suffice for the burial of the vast multitude of bodies, which were heaped by the hundreds in vast trenches, like goods in a ships hold and covered with a little earth.”

—Giovanni Boccaccio

In fact, it may have been even worse than we know, and killed even higher percentages of people, especially in some locations. Geoffrey reveals that 90% of the English population may have died.

“The seventh year after it began, it came to England and first began in the towns and ports joining on the seacoasts, in Dorsetshire, where, as in other counties, it made the country quite void of inhabitants so that there were almost none left alive.

… But at length it came to Gloucester, yea even to Oxford and to London, and finally it spread over all England and so wasted the people that scarce the tenth person of any sort was left alive.”

—Geoffrey the Baker, Chronicon Angliae

Because of the massive number of deaths, mass graves were utilized, like this one in Martigues, France.

Now the good news is that archaeology digs at the sites of the mass graves, allow scientists to unquestionably identify the DNA of the culprit bacteria in different locations, across Europe, including France, Holland and England, and compare them. It appears from the genetic evidence that the plague may have come in waves, at least two different times, but the plague of the 1300s and 1400s is almost identical to that which hit Madagascar in 2013. So, the plague is not dead, just lurking, in the fleas of rats.

I wondered, how many of my ancestors died? We know that every one of my ancestors lived at least long enough to procreate, and at least one of their children lived long enough to procreate too. When you think about it, given all of the death – repeatedly – it’s nothing short of a miracle that we’re here at all. We are the offspring of the lucky ones.

How does that translate into what happened to my family members? I may not know who they were, their names, but assuredly, they lived then, were alive, functioning members of medieval society. How many were there? Assuming a 25 year generation, here’s how many ancestors we had living in the year 1350.

Generational Years	Ancestors
1950	2
1925	4
1900	8
1875	16
1850	32
1825	64
1800	128
1775	256
1750	512
1725	1,024
1700	2,048
1675	4,096
1650	8,192
1625	16,384
1600	32,768
1575	65,536
1550	131,072
1525	262,144
1500	524,288
1475	1,048,576
1450	2,097,152
1425	4,194,304
1400	8,388,608
1375	16,777,216
1350	33,554,432

If you allow for pedigree collapse, let’s say that half of these people were actually the same person, meaning that I’m descended from that person twice. That reduces the number of ancestors alive at that time to only about 16.5 million. Ok, now let’s say one third of them died, which is about 5 million. If half died, that’s about 8 million. Even if we collapse the pedigree by another 50%, which would be equivalent to a 30 year generation, 2.5 to 4 million ancestors, all dying at about the same time is a cataclysmic event in any family tree. And if you’re European and alive today, your tree suffered this same agonizing event, or series of events. The great irony is, that as horrific as this had to have been – I’ve never heard of a story, any oral history, in any family, that details or even suggests that this happened – and it was only about 650 years, or 23-25 generations, ago.

It’s a huge, huge loss, however you count it. The agony for those who remained to grieve their losses must have been immense, and intense. The very social fabric of families, communities and governments was torn from asunder the population. Blame was laid in many places, with many people, for many reasons, but never attributed to rats. And the people just kept dying.

This painting, from 1562, titled “The Triumph of Death,” by Pieter Bruegel reflects the social upheaval and terror that follow the plague that devastated Europe. The aftermath of the plague created a series of religious, social, and economic upheavals, which had profound effects on the course of European history. It took 150 years for Europe’s population to recover. No family was left untouched, and I’m sure many were simply wiped from the face of the earth.

Which brings up a question – how did my ancestors manage to survive? Was there some sort of advantage conferred upon some that others didn’t have? And if so, why?

Indeed, there may have been a protector. It’s called CCR5-delta32, where delta means deletion, and its found on chromosome 3. The receptor looks like this:

This particular deletion of a gene sequence has a specific impact on T cells and blocks the entry of disease agents. This deletion is found in between 4 and 20% of Europeans, but not in Africans or Asians. We know that it historically has protected people from smallpox, and it protects people from AIDS today. Initially it was thought that it also played a role in protecting people from the plague, but a second paper suggests otherwise. The jury is still out.

It would be interesting to determine the percentage of people who died from the plague that carried the deletion. If the percentage of plague victims with the double deletion is equal to the European percentage that carry CCR5-delta32 today, then it’s unlikely that the deletion conferred any protection, assuming the European percentage of CCR5-delta32 would have been approximately the same at that time as it is today.

If you want to know if you have the CCR5-delta32 deletion, there are two ways to find out.

If you tested at 23andMe before the FDA shut down their health reporting in late November, 2013, you can view your own results under the “Resistance to HIV/AIDS” trait by clicking on this link.

You can also browse your raw data, as shown below. In this case, if you have two copies of the deletion, you’re “fully protected,” whatever “fully protected” turns out to mean. One copy means you’re partially protected, which may mean that you can become infected but the infection does not progress to full blown AIDs, or it progresses more slowly. No deletion means that you have no protection. The individual in the example below has one copy of the deletion, the other is normal.

If you ordered your 23andMe test after November 2013 and don’t have health results, you’re not entirely out of luck. You can order the test individually at Family Tree DNA, if you are already a customer, by clicking on “Order an Upgrade,” then “Order an Advanced Test,” then follow the instructions below. The test costs $39.

The CCR5 mutation is autosomal, which means, of course, that you receive a copy from each parent.

In my case, I don’t carry the deletion, so neither of my parents carried two copies of the deletion or I would have inherited the deletion.

Of my children, one does have one copy of the deletion, and the other has no copies.

So, obviously, the plague did not kill everyone who didn’t carry two copies of the mutation, or today’s European descendants would only carry the mutated (deleted) version of the gene in question.

Still, for our ancestors, and our individual European families, regardless of how, why or protection conferred, 1348 was a really, really bad year from every possible perspective. It was indeed, the season of darkness, the winter of despair.

While I can’t tell you their names, I know they died, horrible deaths, buried in mass graves – and all I can do today is to remember them namelessly – my thousands of ancestors who died in 1348.

______________________________________________________________

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Elisabetha Mehlheimer (c1800-c1851) and Her Scandinavian Mito-Cousins, 52 Ancestors #24

Posted on June 14, 2014 by Roberta Estes

We know very little about Elisabetha Mehlheimer. Were it not for her daughter’s children’s christening records, we wouldn’t know anything at all.

What do we know? Elisabetha was born probably about 1800, judging from the fact that she had her daughter, Barbara (possibly Maria Barbara), on December 12, 1823. Elisabetha could have been born as early as 1780 or as late as 1810.

We know that Elisabetha lived in Goppsmannbuhl in 1823, because that is where Barbara was born.

We know Elisabetha was dead by 1851.

In the christening record of her daughters second child, born in 1851, Elisabetha is listed as “the former day laborer in Goppsmannsbuhl,” which indicates she is deceased.

We know she was a day laborer. What was a day laborer?

From FamilySearch, we learn the following:

The social hierarchy of a village was determined by the size of farmland and personal property. People with little or no property found themselves at the bottom on the social ranking. These were the sons and daughters of farmers who were not entitled to inherit the farm. The number of people in such predicament grew steadily after the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). They had to work as day laborers or seasonal workers and had to be very creative to make ends meet.

Priests during that timeframe wrote of the deplorable conditions in which day laborers lived. Often, they slept on hay in the corner or loft of a peasant’s home. They have few or no belongings, and lived at only a subsistence level. If they did live in a separate “house,” it was often a poorly made shack on the periphery of the village. Their children left home as quickly as possible to work for themselves or to marry.

There was an entire underclass of day laborers, a significant social notch below peasants who tended to live on and work the same homestead generation after generation. Sometimes day laborers were younger children who stood to inherit nothing. Day laborers often moved from place to place, so can be especially difficult to track genealogically.

Wonderful, just wonderful – Germanic cultural gypsies.

Perhaps Barbara Mehlheimer’s status as a servant was a step up from her mother’s status as a day-laborer. No wonder opportunities in America looked so wonderful.

We know Elisabetha was never married.

In that 1851 christening record, Elisabetha’s surname is listed as Mehlheimerin which indicates she never married and she gave her daughter her maiden name. In German naming practices, the “in” is appended to show a maiden name. Since her daughter’s surname was also Mehlheimer, we know that Elisabetha was not married, at least not when she gave birth to Barbara.

Elisabetha’s daughter, Barbara, was an unmarried servant, so it’s not an unlikely stretch that Elisabetha was in the same social structural class.

The only other clue we have to any possible family connection is that the witnesses to the christenings of Barbara’s two children born in Germany were Barbara Krauss of Windeschenlaiback (today probably Windischeschenbach) and Margaretha Kunnath of Berneck.

Barbara Mehlheimer also was not married at the time she gave birth, so it’s likely that these women were related to her and not to the child’s father. They may have been her sisters, aunts or first cousins. Barbara ultimately immigrated to the US, with both children and did marry the father, George Drechsel (Americanized to Drexler.)

The State Archives in Amberg, Germany, found in a record for the administration of the upper Palatinate that Barbara Mehlheimer of Goppmansbuhl am Berg received permission to emigrate with her two illegitimate children, as well as Georg Drechsler from Speichersdorf, on April 18, 1852.

If Barbara’s mother, Elisabetha, had died, Barbara would have had no reason to remain in Germany when opportunity in the US beckoned.

George Drechsel and Barbara Melhheimer were married shortly after their arrival in the US, on the same say George Drechsel applied for US citizenship. They must have been very happy.

According to the Reverend who found these christening records for me in the church in Wirbenz, Germany, Barbara and George probably had to immigrate to be allowed to marry. He commented on how brave this young couple must have been. In Germany, a young man had to prove he could support his family before he was allowed to marry. Immigrating to America at that time was the social equivalent of eloping. George would have had to work long and hard enough to save enough for both his and her passage, and those of their two children. This was likely their only opportunity, and they seized it, marrying at their first opportunity. Marriage is a right we take for granted today, but one they risked their lives and fortunes to obtain.

This could also explain why Elisabetha never married. Her child’s father couldn’t prove he could support a family.

There were no further records pertaining to Elisabetha in the church in Wirbenz where Barbara’s children’s records were found. The church in Wirbenz is the church closest to Goppsmannbuhl.

I was unable to find any record of either Barbara Krauss or Margaretha Kunnath, but I was able to find both locations mentioned. They seem to be about equidistant in either opposite directions from Goppmansbuhl.

You can also see Speichersdorf, located just beneath the Goppmansbuhl label.

Here is the little village of Goppmansbuhl, today, via satellite and thanks to Google Maps.

In the image below, Goppmansbuhl is at the top, and the little village of Wirbenz, about a mile away, is at the lower right. To put things in perspective, the village of Wirbenz is only about 1000 feet from side to side.

Here is the church in Wirbenz where Barbara’s children were baptized.

Photo by grafuse. http://www.panoramio.com/photo/1769873

Did Elisabetha’s view of the church look something like this?

Photo by G. Zapf http://www.panoramio.com/photo/99865838

These are slim pickings for an ancestor – very slim pickings. Perhaps as more records are digitized and transcribed, more information will emerge. We’re dead ended right now, as the church records in Wirbenz don’t provide us with any direction further back in time.

Mitochondrial DNA

The only other thing we know about Elizabetha Mehlheimer is her mitochondrial DNA. Fittingly, it’s just as elusive.

I carry Elisabetha’s mitochondrial DNA, through my mother, and through all females between Elisabetha and me. My children also carry her mitochondrial DNA, but my son’s children carry his wife’s mtDNA and my daughter’s children would continue the line of Elisabetha.

We know that our full haplogroup is J1c2f. We know that haplogroup J, Jasmine, was born in the Middle East some 30,000 to 50,000 years ago. Jasmine’s descendants traveled from the Middle East about the age of the spread of agriculture – and over time, that 4 distinct subgroups, J1, J1c, J1c2 and finally, J1c2f emerged. Dr. Doroh Behar in his paper “A ‘Copernican’ Reassessment of the Human Mitochondrial DNA Tree from its Root,” places the age of J1c2f at about 1900 years plus or minus 3000 years. In reality, that means that anything between relatively recently and about 5000 years ago.

This map shows the grouping in the haplogroup J project of J1c (and subgroup) participants. You can see that there are a few in the Middle East, but very few, so most of J1c and her descendants look to be in Europe today.

My own full sequence matches tell a bit of a different story.

My two exact matches aren’t in Germany, they are in Norway. My matches that are one mutation different are found in Sweden, the Czech Republic and Russia. My two mutation match is found in Sweden.

This is confusing. What happened? What is going on?

In total, I have 9 full sequence matches, although not all of them provided the geographical location of their most distant matrilineal ancestor. One individual does not have e-mail, so I can’t exactly ask them.

Of these matches, 3 are exact, 4 have one mutation difference and 2 have two mutations difference. I’m very curious to know which mutations we don’t share. I have to wonder if there is a mappable pattern to the mutations that would infer sublines. I wrote to my mito-cousins and asked if they would share their mutation information. Two responded, the rest did not. Frustrating. This means that I can’t work from the mutation mapping angle.

Time to find a different approach.

Let’s Go Fishing!

There has to be some type of historic connection between Germany and Norway, or the Scandinavian region. Normally, when dealing with Y DNA, we think of warfare. We look at the history of wars and invasions, because soldiers did leave their DNA sprinkled around the countryside where they visited – if they didn’t outright settle there. But mtDNA is different. Women aren’t soldiers and one can’t just leave mtDNA scattered in quite the same way that Y DNA gets left behind. Mitochondrial DNA is passed from the women to all of her children, and is only passed on by the female children. So, generally, where you find the children, you also find the mother – they don’t deposit their DNA and then go back home.

So, let’s poke around and utilize Google and Wiki, our friends. In other words, let’s go fishing and see what we catch.

Bayern aka Bavaria

Bayern, also known as Bavaria, comprises the entire southeast portion of Germany. It borders The Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland along with 4 other German states. Bavaria is divided into 7 regions. Bavaria is one of the oldest continuously existing states in Europe; it was established as a stem duchy in the year 907.

The Bavarians as a people emerged in a region north of the Alps, originally inhabited by the Celts, which had been part of the Roman provinces of Raetia and Noricum.

The Bavarians spoke Old High German but, unlike other Germanic groups, probably did not migrate from elsewhere. Rather, they seem to have coalesced out of other groups left behind by Roman withdrawal late in the 5th century. These peoples may have included the Celtic Boii, some remaining Romans, Marcomanni, Allemanni, Quadi, Thuringians, Goths, Scirians, Rugians, Heruli. The name “Bavarian” (“Baiuvarii”) means “Men of Baia” which may indicate Bohemia, the homeland of the Celtic Boii and later of the Marcomanni. They first appear in written sources circa 520. Saint Boniface completed the people’s conversion to Christianity in the early-8th century. Bavaria was, for the most part, unaffected by the Protestant Reformation that happened centuries later.

Wirbenz, Goppmansbuhl and surrounding areas are located in Upper Franconia whose capital is Bayreuth. Upper Franconia was annexed to Bavaria in 1815 and borders the Czech Republic and the German states of Saxony and Thuringia. With more than 200 independent breweries which brew approximately 1000 different types of beer, Upper Franconia has the world’s highest brewery-density per capita. A special Franconian beer route (Fränkische Brauereistraße) leads along popular breweries.

Bavarians tend to place a great value on food and drink. In addition to their renowned dishes, Bavarians also consume many items of food and drink which are unusual elsewhere in Germany; for example Weißwurst (“white sausage”) or in some instances a variety of entrails. Oh yum…

At folk festivals and in many beer gardens, beer is traditionally served by the litre in a Maß, a glass beer mug that holds exactly one litre.

Bavarians are particularly proud of the traditional Reinheitsgebot, or purity law, initially established by the Duke of Bavaria for the City of Munich in 1487 and the duchy in 1516. According to this law, only three ingredients were allowed in beer: water, barley, and hops. Bavarians are also known as some of the world’s most beer-loving people with an average annual consumption of 170 litres per person, although figures have been declining in recent years.

Ok, so now we know that Bavarians aren’t migrants, but the original people of the region and they not only love beer, they are very good brewmeisters.

Bayern is part of Upper Franconia, so…

Who were the Franconians?

Franconia is named after the Franks, a Germanic tribe who conquered most of Western Europe by the middle of the 8th century. Though one might assume that Franconia was the homeland of the Franks (indeed in German, Franken is used for both modern day Franconians and the historic Franks), this is not the case. Until the 6th century AD, the region of today’s Franconia was probably dominated by Alamanni and Thuringians. After the Frankish triumphs over both tribes around 507 and 529–534, most parts were occupied by the Franks.

Ok, so Franconians could be Alamanni, Thuringians or Franks.

The Frankish Empire (at its greatest extent around the year 800) included most of modern Franconia, which was situated at its easternmost borders. The vast majority of ethnic Franks, divided between Salians and Ripuarians, were confined respectively to the Low Countries, the northeastern tip of modern France and the Rhine river banks all the way down to near the Main and Hesse areas. However, there was a Frankish elite which was dispersed all across the empire, and it is from this elite that Franconia derives its name.

Hmmm, I wonder where else they might have been dispersed to…

Around the 9th century Frankish identity gradually changed from an ethnic identity to a national identity. The original ethnic Franks ceased to be called by others and themselves Franks, whereas certain groups of people who were not Franks but were mostly ruled by Frankish nobility now began to use it as a term to describe their respective land and people. At the beginning of the 10th century a Duchy of Franconia (German Herzogtum Franken) was established within East Francia, which comprised modern Hesse, Palatinate, parts of Baden-Württemberg and most of today’s Franconia. These areas had been dominated and settled by the Burgundians and the Alemanni before being removed and resettled much further south around Switzerland. The vacuum left may have been resettled then by some Frankish nobles with some more or less numerous retainers from their original core area.

A vacuum? I wonder who actually did settle there. This is an opportunity and possibility for how Elisabetha’s mtDNA got to Germany.

While Old Bavaria is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, Franconia is a mixed area. Lower Franconia and the western half of Upper Franconia (Bamberg, Lichtenfels, Kronach) is predominantly Catholic, while most of Middle and the eastern half of Upper Franconia (Bayreuth, Hof, Kulmbach) are predominantly Protestant (Evangelical Church in Germany).

Elisabetha’s records were found in a Protestant church.

Now we know more about this region of Germany, and there does seem to be some opportunity for resettlement here around the year 1000, and we also see that some Franks were settled elsewhere, in particular, the elite. But still, that doesn’t connect us to Scandinavia.

Let’s look at this from the perspective of historical Scandinavia, in particular, the locations where my mtDNA matches are found.

Loten, Norway

There has been traffic from east to west through Løten, throughout all recorded periods of history and archeological evidence supports earlier trade along this route.

When King Christian IV of Denmark prohibited the importation of German beer in the early 17th Century, distillation began in Norway. In 1624, distilled alcohol was prohibited at weddings, and by 1638 King Christian forbade the clergy the right to distill in their own homes. The corn-growing districts of Løten, Vang (the former municipality in Hedmark), and Romedal all became famous for their distilleries.

Within Løten lies the “border” between cultivated farmland and the winderness. It begins with the wheat fields of the lower eastern Norway, continues around and south of lake Mjøsa, and borders the taiga, the boreal coniferous forests that stretches from eastern Norway until Siberia. The moorland Hedmarksvidda lies in the north.

So, Loten was a trade route, and Norway imported beer until in the 1600s. This timeframe would have been during the 30 Years War in Germany. Now that beer connection is quite interesting, because it tells us that trade between the two locations was indeed healthy and prosperous, at least until 1624. And we already know that Bayern was the heart of beer production in Germany.

Let’s look at Christian IV, King of Denmark.

Christian IV – King of Denmark

Christian IV was King of Denmark-Norway from 1588 until his death in 1648.

He was quite interested in the Thirty Years’ War in Germany where his objectives were twofold: first, to obtain control of the great German rivers— the Elbe and the Weser— as a means of securing his dominion of the northern seas; and secondly, to acquire the secularized German Archdiocese of Bremen and Prince-Bishopric of Verden as appanages for his younger sons. He skillfully took advantage of the alarm of the German Protestants after the Battle of White Mountain in 1620, to secure coadjutorship of the See of Bremen for his son Frederick (September 1621). A similar arrangement was reached in November at Verden. Hamburg was also induced to acknowledge the Danish overlordship of Holstein by the compact of Steinburg in July 1621.

Interesting, but this all took place in the northern part of Germany, so probably not relevant to Bavaria which is located in the southwest quadrant of Germany.

Sweden

Sweden, however, was another matter. In 1631, Sweden invaded Bavaria. Over the following months, they decimated Germany, destroying up to 2000 castles, 18,000 villages and 1,500 towns. That’s equivalent to one third of all German settlements. While this was a horrific development, it doesn’t explain how Scandinavian mtDNA might have arrived in Germany. There is no record that the soldiers brought any women with them. It did however, prove extremely disruptive to the region and may have opened the door for new settlers in some locations.

Let’s take a look at the next location where a full sequence match is located.

Inderoy, Norway

The municipality is primarily an agricultural community, but also has some industry.

The municipality is named Inderøy which comes from the Old Norse form of the name: Eynni iðri, meaning is “the inner island”, probably referring to the peninsula which sticks out into the fjord.

During the Middle Ages Inderøy was called Eynni iðri, meaning the inner island, which is still the meaning of the word Inderøy. Saurshaug (now Sakshaug) was an important political centre until the 20th century. In the Middle Ages it was the centre of the county

During the late Middle Ages and until the breakup of the union between Sweden and Norway Inderøy was the seat of the Governor, Judge, and Tax Collector of Nordre Trondhjems amt, thus it was the county capital of what now is known as Nord-Trøndelag. The Trondhjems, shown below in red, is an area that abuts Sweden and divides Norway in half, north to south. It was important prior to and in the Viking age, but was almost entirely depopulated during the 1300s. The Sami people and others repopulated this region over the next two centuries. All of my Scandinavian matches, except one, are in proximity to this region.

Just as this article was ready to go to press, I received another full sequence match and it is also found in this region, in Nesna, just above the red area, in the fjords, on an island. This is just beneath the Arctic Circle.

We know that haplogroup J1c2f is not Sami, so this is not the source of our ancestors.

Let’s take a look at the areas in Sweden where my matches are found.

Strand, Strom, Sweden (Stronsund)

Strand is a very small village in Sweden whose claim to fame is that it has the largest population of black bears.

Laxsjo, where my second Swedish match’s ancestors are located is too small to even be called a village. Both are located in Jämtland, which was originally an autonomous peasant republic, its own nation with its own law, currency and parliament. However, Jämtland lacked a public administration and is thus best regarded as an anarchy, in its true meaning.

Jämtland was conquered by Norway in 1178 and stayed Norwegian for over 450 years until it was ceded to Sweden in 1645. The province has since been Swedish for roughly 350 years, though the population did not gain Swedish citizenship until 1699.

Historically, socially and politically Jämtland has been a special territory between Norway and Sweden. This in itself is symbolized in the province’s coat of arms where Jämtland, the silver moose, is threatened from the east and from the west. During the unrest period in Jämtland’s history (1563–1677) it shifted alignment between the two states no less than 13 times. These historical and cultural bonds to Trøndelag and Härjedalen have expressed themselves in the name Øst-Trøndelag, in addition to the fact that the Jamts historically never considered themselves to be Swedish Norrlanders.

Jämtland’s name derives from its inhabitants, the Jamts. The name can be traced back to Europe’s northernmost runestone, the Frösö Runestone from the 11th century. The root of Jamt (Old West Norse: jamti), and thus Jämtland, derives from the Proto-Germanic word stem emat- meaning persistent, efficient, enduring and hardworking.

Aha, so the work Jamtland has a Germanic origin.

A Jamtish Neolithic culture emerged during late Roman Iron Age (about the year 400) in Storsjöbygden, although the hunter-gatherers had come in contact with this lifestyle long before they settled down themselves. Since the hunts were rich and successful in Jämtland, it took a long time before a change occurred.

During the Viking age, the settlement in the province grew. This confirms the sagas written by Snorri Sturluson, where he narrates about the Vikings who fled from Harald Fairhair and Norway in about the year 900 and took residence in Jämtland, just like many Norwegians at the same time fled and colonized Iceland.

This makes me wonder if some of them fled into Germany as well.

Religiously the Jamts had abandoned the indigenous Germanic tribal religion in favour of the Norse faith. Aha, so apparently the Jamts themselves were descendants of Germanic tribes.

As the population continued to grow, the Jamts established an Thing (assembly), just like other Germanic tribes. Jamtamót, the assembly of Jamtland, came into existence shortly after the world’s oldest parliament, the Icelandic Althing, which was instituted in 930 CE.

Norse religion is a subset of Germanic paganism, which was practiced in the lands inhabited by the Germanic tribes across most of Northern and Central Europe.

Knowledge of Norse religion is mostly drawn from the results of archaeological field work, etymology and early written materials.

The literary sources that reference Norse paganism were written after the religion had declined and Christianity had taken hold, so it wasn’t painted in a positive way. The vast majority of this came from 13th century Iceland, where Christianity had taken longest to gain hold because of its remote location.

Many other ideographic and iconographic motifs which may portray the religious beliefs of the Pre-Viking and Viking Norse are depicted on runestones, which were usually erected as markers or memorial stones. These memorial stones usually were not placed in proximity to a body, and many times there is an epitaph written in runes to memorialize a deceased relative. This practice continued well into the process of Christianization. Most, but not all of the runestones are found in Sweden. Many runestones tell of the demise of an individual in England, probably on raids.

Like most pre-modern peoples, Norse society was divided into several classes and the early Norse practiced slavery in earnest.

Slavery – I wonder if a female slave could have been brought from Germany at some point.

One of the first things Tacitus mentions in his work Germania is that the Germanic people treasure their animals above all else. Tacitus also concludes that the Germanic people found cultivation repulsive. Instead, he states, the Germanic people devote themselves to food and sleep and besides that they prefer to remain idle. All of this, to certain extents, applied to Jämtland. When the people of Jämtland settled down they relied mostly on pastoralism. Their animals were the source of wealth and they were therefore loved by their owners.

It looks like the original people of this region were Germanic. However, my closest matches aren’t in Germany, where Elisabetha was found, but in Scandinavia.

Did the Vikings later raid and perhaps settle in the Bayern region of Germany?

The Vikings

The Vikings seem to be everyplace in Europe – and they were – so long as there were rivers. This part of Germany seems to have escaped most of the Viking’s wrath – so it’s unlikely that the mtDNA in Germany is a result of a Viking excursion.

Conversely, it’s certainly possible that a Viking took a shine to one of his prisoners and took a nice German girl as a slave or wife – and back to Scandinavia with him.

It appears the Vikings are an un likely migration source relative to Bavaria/Bayern/Franconia.

So, if the Scandinavians were Germanic people, who were the Germanic peoples?

Germanic Peoples

The Germanic peoples (also called Teutonic, Suebian or Gothic in older literature) are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic starting during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.

The term “Germanic” originated in classical times, when groups of tribes were referred to using this term by Roman authors. For them, the term was not necessarily based upon language, but rather referred to tribal groups and alliances who were considered less civilized, and more physically hardened, than the Celtic Gauls living in the region of modern France. Tribes referred to as Germanic in that period lived generally to the north and east of the Gauls.

In modern times the term occasionally has been used to refer to ethnic groups who speak a Germanic language and claim ancestral and cultural connections to ancient Germanic people. Within this context, modern Germanic peoples include the Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Icelanders, Germans, Austrians, English, Dutch, Afrikaners, Flemish, Frisians and others.

This confirms that Scandinavians are considered Germanic.

Prior to the Middle Ages, Germanic peoples followed what is now referred to as Germanic paganism: “a system of interlocking and closely interrelated religious worldviews and practices rather than as one indivisible religion” and as such consisted of “individual worshippers, family traditions and regional cults within a broadly consistent framework. It was polytheistic in nature, with some underlying similarities to other Indo-Germanic traditions.

Many of the deities found in Germanic paganism appeared under similar names across the Germanic peoples, most notably the god known to the Germans as Wodan or Wotan, to the Anglo-Saxons as Woden, and to the Norse as Óðinn, as well as the god Thor – known to the Germans as Donar, to the Anglo-Saxons as Þunor and to the Norse as Þórr.

While the Germanic peoples were slowly converted to Christianity by varying means, many elements of the pre-Christian culture and indigenous beliefs remained firmly in place after the conversion process, particularly in the more rural and distant regions.

In Scandinavia, Germanic paganism continued to dominate until the 11th century in the form of Norse paganism, when it was gradually replaced by Christianity.

Gamla Uppsala, the center of Norse worship in Sweden, with three “royal” mounds representing the three Gods, Thor, Odin and Feyr, is shown below.

Below, the same mounds are shown about 1700.

Towards the end of the 3rd millennium BC, Proto-Indo-European speaking Battle-Axe peoples migrated to Norway bringing domesticated horses, agriculture, cattle and wheel technology to the region.

During the Viking age, Harald Fairhair unified the Norse petty kingdoms after being victorious at the The Battle of Hafrsfjord in the 880s. Two centuries of Viking expansion tapered off following the decline of Norse paganism with the adoption of Christianity in the 11th century. During The Black Death, approximately 60% of the population died and in 1397 Norway entered a union with Denmark.

This may be our answer, but was there back immigration into Germany? Exact matches should indicate a common ancestor in a time frame closer than 5000 years ago, according to the haplogroup age estimates of Dr. Behar.

Norway and The Netherlands

During the 17th and 18th centuries, many Norwegians emigrated to the Netherlands, particularly Amsterdam. The Netherlands was the second most popular destination for Norwegian emigrants after Denmark.

Loosely estimated, some 10% of the population may have emigrated, in a period when the entire Norwegian population consisted of some 800,000 people.

The Norwegians left with the Dutch trade ships that when in Norway traded for timber, hides, herring and stockfish (dried codfish). Young women took employment as maids in Amsterdam.

Barbara Melhleimer was a servant in the mid-1800s where her children were baptized.

Young men took employment as sailors. Large parts of the Dutch merchant fleet and navy came to consist of Norwegians and Danes. They took Dutch names, so no trace of Norwegian names can be found in the Dutch population of today.

The emigration to the Netherlands was so devastating to the homelands that the Danish-Norwegian king issued penalties of death for emigration, but repeatedly had to issue amnesties for those willing to return, announced by posters in the streets of Amsterdam. Increasingly, Dutchmen who search their genealogical roots turn to Norway. Many Norwegians who emigrated to the Netherlands, and often were employed in the Dutch merchant fleet, emigrated further to the many Dutch colonies such as New Amsterdam (New York).

Genetics

According to the paper, “Different Genetic Components in the Norwegian population revealed by the analysis of mtDNA and Y Chromosome Polymorphisms” by Passarino (2002), both mtDNA and Y chromosome polymorphisms showed a noticeable genetic affinity between the Norwegian population and other ethnic groups in Northern and Central Europe, particularly with the Germans. This is due to a history of at least a thousand years of large-scale migration both in and out of Norway. Norwegian and Swedish Y and mtDNA is closer to Germans than any other European region. The authors expressed the following opinion relative to haplogroup J.

Haplogroup J, possibly brought to Europe by Neolithic farmers coming from the Near East is found at a frequency of 10% in our sample. It has also been reported elsewhere at 7% in Norway. Given its frequency in Northern and Central Europe, it is likely it has been brought by the Germanic migrations to Norway. As previously noted, the distribution of this haplogroup throughout Northern Europe indicates that during the spread of agriculture women moved throughout Europe, crossing group and cultural barriers more so than men. In addition, any asymmetric cultural factors that reduce the effective population size of men relative to women would influence the geographic patterns of mtDNA lineages relative to Y haplotypes.

Positive selection is also a possible influence. The presence of mtDNA haplogroup J in our sample, and elsewhere in Northern Europe shows that its frequency in Norway is even higher than in those areas from where it probably arrived. It would be intriguing, although very speculative, to hypothesise that the climate of Northern Europe may have played a selective pressure where the uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation and the consequent higher production of heat in J individuals may have led to an advantage, as previously suggested for the European groups during the glaciations.

Glory be, hot flashes might have been good for something after all!

In Summary

I compared the raw results in the Passarino paper with my own results. Of the mutations included in that paper, which did not include any coding region mutations, I carry only two, 16069 and 16126. These were reported in every haplogroup J result, where the other 9 mutations were only found in a maximum of two participants each.

It looks very likely, barring new evidence, such as church records that say that Elisabetha Mehlheimer, or her mother, were from Scandinavia and immigrated in the 1600s or 1700s, that we’re going to have to assume the common ancestor of Elisabetha Mehlheimer and my matches lived in Germanic Europe. Given the match below, she may have even lived in Russia, between the Black and Caspian Seas, and her descendants may have migrated to the region now known as Germany, with a subgroup moving further north into Scandinavia.

If this is the case, that means that there have been no mutations in this ancestral line since that migration occurred, at least in the case of the two exact matches in Norway, as long as 5000 years ago.

While this does indeed sound unlikely, I have seen this phenomenon in client’s DNA before.

A second possibility is that someone from Norway returned during the migration of the 1600s and 1700s, adopted a Germany surname, and we are none the wiser today. Given that my only exact matches are in Scandinavia, this seems the most likely scenario.

We may never know for sure. In fact, we’re not likely to know. However, on the KISS scale, where the simplest, easiest, least complex answer is likely to be the right one, the population migration to Norway scenario comes out on top with the remigration in the 1600-1700s second. Both of those events had many opportunities for people to move, and we know for certain that many did. Other scenarios, such as the beer trade, are certainly still a possibility, but on a much smaller scale. Of course, that doesn’t mean they didn’t happen. We can only deal here with history as we know it, possibilities and probabilities.

Elisabetha Mehlheimer’s ancestry and her Scandinavian mitochondrial matches may forever remain shrouded in mystery. However, I at least understand the possibilities. It’s no wonder that those fjords in Norway brought me such joy.