Whence I Came

Catherine Barrett of early James City County has been a perplexing individual to research. Some of the confusion has to do with very early assumed familial connections for her which have been accepted without documentation. So, if you've found yourself looking at the evidence pertaining to Catherine Barrett's life, you too have probably wondered when looking at various online lineages,  "How do they know for sure that was Catherine Barrett?"   Let's look at what we do know of her early life in James City County, Virginia.  What We Can Document 1713 Catherine Barrett's debut into the world of records was on November 13, 1713 when Simon Jeffreys received a 167 acre land patent. Jeffreys acreage was described in the patent as being on the west side of the Chickahominy River in the parish of Wilmington, James City County . Water courses that bounded Jeffreys' acreage included Webbs Run and Tobacco House Run. Adjacent landowners were Thomas Rogers and Catherin...

From as early as 1744, there has been reference to a group of Andersons in Hanover County, Virginia known as "Scotch" which has been interpreted to mean that they were of Scottish heritage. The "Scotch" reference was apparently used to differentiate themselves from the Andersons of Hanover County who were not of Scottish heritage. But because both Anderson families used some of the same forenames including Robert, Charles, and David, it has been difficult to differentiate between the two families. In addition, both families also had Louisa County connections! Overtime, these two Anderson families became a big bowl of Anderson rigatoni and rotini pasta - all mixed together! I know, not very Scottish. But you get the picture! But thanks to YDNA testing and good ole fashion document research, the Anderson rigatoni and rotini are slowly being separated into two genetically different Anderson families. An Anderson YDNA tester from Aberdeen, Scotland has even helped to na...

Burnett family members have long been pioneers in the truest sense, always pushing the "civilization envelope", in search of better lands and living. They migrated throughout Virginia, south to the Carolinas, and west to Kentucky and Tennessee. Then, in 1825 when the United States signed a treaty with the Choctaw Nation of Indians, lands in south Mississippi became available for purchase which contained level prairies and timbered areas filled with valuable woods. These lands were an inducement to one Burnett family to make their way south to the area we know today as Hinds County, Mississippi.   1842, July 29 South-Western Farmer, at Raymond, Mississippi The above 1842 advertisement in the South-Western Farmer  tells us the story of a Burnett family which was living in Raymond, Mississippi (located just west of Jackson in Hinds County) and one of their family members, Levi Ingraham Burnett, who had gone missing. Levi had left Henrico County, Virginia in 1832 and had not ...

Mr. John White of St. Paul's Parish, Hanover County, Virginia had seven children with two different wives. Unfortunately, the name of Mr. John White's first wife is unknown, but she was most likely born about 1675 or earlier based upon the birth year of about 1695 for her son, also named John White. Fortunately, John White b. about 1695 left behind records and YDNA evidence which help us piece together a general outline of his life. Baptism Record for John White b. abt 1695 The St. Peter's Parish, New Kent County Vestry Book includes a baptism record which has been transcribed as: John son of John White baptis. the 30th May 1697 The below image is the actual page from the Vestry Book which was downloaded from Family Search with the John White entry noted by a red star on the left: As you can see, the year is very difficult to read. Do you think it reads 1697? When processing this record, one of the first questions that comes to mind is who was the father, John White?  Alth...

What was the relationship between John and Joseph Holt who married sisters Helena Maria and Edith White? Three Louisa County deeds help to steer us to the answer.  The three deeds include: July 8, 1758 Louisa County VA DB B page 333-334 Joseph Holt of New Kent County and Joseph Holt Jr. of Louisa County VA ..."give a negro girl named Fanny and all her increase"...witnessed by John Holt and Elisha White  (The witnesses to this deed tell us that the Joseph Holt we've been following in Louisa County is also known as Joseph Holt Jr. The question is, who was Joseph Holt of New Kent County?)  September 25, 1759 Louisa County VA DB B page 333-334 Joseph Holt Sr. of New Kent County and Nicholas Holt of Charles City Co ., "for love and affection... 400 acres in Louisa County on both sides of Treasurer’s Run" (Joseph Holt Sr. appears to be the same Joseph Holt of New Kent County in the previous deed. But who was Nicholas Holt?)   March 26, 1762 Louisa County VA DB C ...

 How is it possible that John White of early King William County had TWO men that referred to him as "... my well beloved son in law John White..."? The answer lies in a change of meaning over time for the term "son in law". Michelle Norris a historian, researcher, and author wrote an article on this very subject entitled The Language of Colonial Relationships . In a nutshell, Norris informs us that we can't always apply 21st century terms when analyzing American colonial documents. Norris references Val D. Greenwood's book The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy in which Greenwood dedicated a section on "Evolution of the Language".  Specifically, Greenwood stated: In earlier times people often stated that an in-law connection existed when there was actually a step relationship. Any relationships created by legal means, including step relationships, were often identified simply as "in-law". This understanding helps us see that J...