It has been suggested by a number of researchers that the Derryberry family living in North Carolina by 1778 were descendants of Michael Dürrenberger who may have come by way of Virginia. There is also a possibility that they might have descended from Dürrenbergers who came directly from Alsace or Switzerland to the Carolinas by way of Charleston. There is no direct evidence to support which of these theories is correct.  What is definitely known, however, is that DNA evidence now exists that proves the Derryberry line originated from the Alsatian/Swiss Dürrenbergers regardless of how they arrived in North Carolina.

After they first appear in North Carolina, it is difficult at best to determine which of the earliest Derryberrys are descended from whom. Records are scarce and the repetition of so many given names makes it necessary to use as much circumstantial evidence as possible to reconstruct relationships up through about 1850. However, thanks to the diligent work of other researchers like Don Cross and Bob Derryberry, a most likely set of family relationships has evolved and this is what I show on the Ayers-Derrie Family Tree website, and what forms the basis for the early years on the Derrie lineage shown below.

As with our Ayers lineage, I have used a timeline chart to show the life spans of each Derrie ancestor over the last three centuries.  In the chart, you can see the New Jersey ancestors in green on the left side, and then the North Carolina and beyond ancestors on the right side in blue.  I show a dotted line between Michael Dürrenberger of New Jersey and John Derryberry of North Carolina to indicate there are no actual records to tie them together, only DNA test results.

Again to give a better perspective of when they lived across the three centuries, I’ve added major historical events.  As I continue to describe family stories of this lineage, you might find it useful to refer back to this chart to get a feel for the time period in which they lived.