Tag: DNA

April 1, 2013 Dennis Ayers No comments exist

Isaac Newton Depew was born in 1818 in Hawkins County, TN, according to records. He was apparently named after the English Physicist and Mathematician, Sir Isaac Newton who lived 1642-1727.  He also had one brother named George Washington Depew and another named John Wilson Depew. As you will see going forward, the Depew line of men were often named after famous people before them. At the age of 22, Isaac married Mariah Elizabeth Setzer, born 1822 in North Carolina. Over the next 30 years, they had a huge family of 16 children with about half of them being male and half female. They lived in Hancock and Hawkins counties in Northeast TN and Harlan and Clay counties Southeast KY.  Perhaps so much moving around was because in addition to being a farmer, Isaac was a Circuit Riding Preacher.

 

In the earlier frontier times, Circuit Riders were clergy in the Methodist Episcopal Church who were assigned to travel around specific territories to minister to settlers and to organize congregations. Because of the distance between churches, these preachers rode on horseback. Popularly called Circuit Riders or Saddlebag Preachers, they were officially called Traveling Clergy. Always on the move, they traveled with few possessions, carrying only what could fit in their saddlebags. They traveled through wilderness and villages, preaching every day at any place available. Typically they traveled the same circuit for a year before being reassigned to a different territory. There is some evidence also that Isaac served as a contract mail carrier for at least part of the time, perhaps along with his circuit riding.

 

There is an amusing story provided by Bruce Johnson which has passed down through the generations about when Isaac was a preacher. Once when he was away on one of his trips, a man came to his log cabin during the night. Mariah and the children heard the man walking outside and were afraid to go out. It was customary for visiting neighbors to call out their name when approaching someone’s house in the dark, but this person did not do that and they knew he was up to something. The man stuck his bare feet between the logs to climb the side of the house to get at their corn stored above the ceiling. The house had eves under the roof left open for ventilation and it was easy for the man to reach in and get the corn. Also, the mud chinking had been removed between some of the logs to allow the flow of air in to relieve them from the summer heat. They heard the man filling his sack with corn and he left when it was full.

 

Isaac came home after a few days and was told about the incident.  Apparently the man did not know that Isaac had come home and he returned the next night for more corn. As he stuck his toes between the logs to climb up the wall, Isaac gave both feet a good whack with a hammer. The family heard a scream followed by a thud as the man hit the ground.Methodist Circuit Rider The thief left in a hurry. Isaac suspected the person who did it, and a few days later Isaac was at a local store when he saw this man hobbling around with both feet bandaged up. He asked him what happened to his feet and the man replied, “A cow stepped on them.” Isaac said, “Yes, and I know exactly which cow it was too.”

 

Isaac died in Clay County, KY in 1890 at the age of 72.  His wife, Mariah Elizabeth, called Betsy who had bore him sixteen children died the following year.

 

March 29, 2013 Dennis Ayers

Note: This is a new post inserted in January 2021

Isaac Newton Depew (IND) was born out of wedlock to Edward H Depew and Abigail Cupp. Without records, this parentage cannot be proven. However, it is highly probable based on DNA Forensic Analysis. Capt Isaac Depew was an uncle and William G. Depew was his cousin. Many researchers had previously thought William G. was his likely father, but the DNA, plus time and place strongly points to Edward.

Born around 1800 in Botetourt County, VA, Edward was the only son of John Depew Jr., and Mary “Polly” Seagraves. When John’s family migrated to Illinois, the first leg of their long journey followed the Wilderness Road through Southwest Virginia. There were encampments and resting stops along the way, as they traveled by wagon.

One regular resting stop was the settlement where the Wilderness Trail passed over Clinch Mountain through Moccasin Gap in Scott County. Today that settlement is called Gate City.

Abby Cupp was born about 1800 probably in Grayson County, Virginia. She was the daughter of Jacob S. Cupp and Sibitha “Sibby” Breeding. As a young woman, Abby lived as a single mother in Scott County, VA, through which the Wilderness Road passed. She apparently never married since she is found in every census from 1820 through 1850 as a single person. Although unmarried, Abby had a least six children by various partners.

One of her first partners around 1818 was evidently Edward Depew. Both still in their teens at the time, Edward and Abby would have had the opportunity to meet and interact during the Depew’s journey though Scott County. Whether this was a short romance between two young people, or just a transaction is up for conjecture. Their circumstances at the time are totally unknown. Regardless, Edward eventually continued on his way to Illinois, probably not realizing he had fathered a child, which would take the Depew name. This coupling scenario aligns very will with a story passed down through various Depew families that IND’s mother was a cook in a Virginia logging camp, and had a child with a man named Depew who subsequently left her.

Edward ultimately settled in Fayette County, IL. He married Priscilla Williams there in 1828 and had eight children with her before dying in 1848. The 1820 census for Scott County shows Abby living as a single mother with no young male in her household. However, her parent’s nearby household shows a very young male living with them. So, it is quite possible that IND spent part of his life living with his Cupp grandparents.

By 1830, the Jacob Cupp family along with many of their offspring, including Abby, had relocated to Claiborne County, TN, in an area which came to be known as Cupp Ridge. However, Abby still lived unmarried in a separate household up until she died before 1860. It appears that IND may have spent most of his early life in Claiborne County.

March 25, 2013 Dennis No comments exist

Note:  This is a January 2021 revision to the original post from 2013.

As with earlier depictions of ancestor lineages, I have used a timeline chart below, to show the life spans of each Depew ancestor over the last three centuries. In the chart you can see Walter (Gaultier) Depew on the left who was our ancestor living first in France and then England. He is followed in line by his son, John Walter Depew, who was our immigrant ancestor to America arriving in New Jersey, before the Revolutionary War, and then by his son John W. Depew Jr.,  and then his son Edward and so forth.

Dozens of dedicated researchers tried for many years to identify the parents of Isaac Newton Depew (IND), but without success due to lack of records. Circumstantial evidence of the right time period and the right location in East Tennessee seemed to point to a connection with the John W. Depew line, but without hard proof. Recently, however, I was able to use DNA forensic analysis to develop a very strong case that the connection was  through John W. Depew, Jr., and his son, Edward H. Depew. Although this analysis is still not absolute positive proof, it is still the best currently available identification without records. My DNA forensic analysis was based on the same approach and technology now being used by some law enforcement agencies to solve cold case crimes.

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

Click for a Larger Image

January 26, 2013 Dennis No comments exist
DNA

Before discussing stories about another line of ancestors, I want to share some additional DNA test results which I received. Previously, I mentioned  that my first DNA test was to determine my Y-Chromosome genetic profile which tracks paternal lineage, and that I successfully used those results to close a gap in our Ayers line of male ancestors. To refresh your memory, see the post “DNA Solves The Mystery”

Subsequently, in late 2012, I also had a newly available type of DNA test run to determine my “genetic ethnicity”. Without getting too technical, the new test analyzes Autosomal DNA, which includes all 23 pairs of chromosomes, as opposed to only the Y-Chromosome. Thus a person’s Autosomal DNA includes genetic information from both the father and the mother and provides a complete heritage picture. Autosomal DNA markers can then be compared to various ethnic groups from around the world to see which groups match. These groups can be defined by time and place. So, a person’s genetic ethnicity may reveal where their ancestors lived hundreds or perhaps even thousands of years ago.

Since my 2012 test, thousands of other people have also taken the Autosomal DNA test.  More people means more data to analyze. As the number of testers continues to grow, the additional data is causing the genepools to continuously be refined, resulting in clearer identification of my ethnicity. So, as of 2020, my data indicates that my ethnicity is 81 % from the British Isles and Northwestern Europe, and 19% from Scandinavia. Analysis of my data by other testing laboratories using their defined genepools show slightly different percentages, but my general ethnicity stayed very similar. The British and Northwestern Europe part of this mix is very obvious from my family history research, but where did the Scandinavian part come from?  Recall from history that about 1000 years ago, the Vikings from Scandinavia swarmed down into Europe and graciously spread their genes around as they plundered, pillaged and intermingled with those already living there. So, during this time those Viking genes most certainly would have been added to my genes.

Now, my results may have also included traces of other genetic populations that were too low to pinpoint. For example, I know from my research that I have traces of American Indian ancestry in my genepool, but it obviously was not enough to show up in this test. (By the way Indian ethnicity would probably show up as East Asian since that is from where they originally came).

Lastly, no one else will have identical test results as mine. This even includes my sister, who may have very similar results, but not quite the same. This is because half of your DNA is inherited from your father and half from your mother. However, the genes picked up from each half is variable and can result in many unique combinations. So, she and I don’t share all the exact same genes, which I’m fairly certain makes her most happy!

February 7, 2012 Dennis No comments exist

Greene County, TN, was the birthplace of the legendary Davy Crockett in 1786. It was also the home of our 17th president, Andrew Johnson, who took over after President Lincoln was assassinated. After the Civil War, the Derryberrys remaining in Greene County, TN, began feeling the need to shorten their surname. Perhaps the first to do so was Thomas Derryberry who by 1870 was using the name Dayberry. Then by 1880 his father William was also using this new spelling. Both William and Thomas and their families moved to Sevier County, TN, sometime before 1880 and lived there until the end of their lives. William died in 1890 and Thomas died in 1908.

Meanwhile, recall from the previous post that James Derryberry had married a second time to Elizabeth Hansel, in 1859. Well, later that year they had a son named Robert, and before James rode off to join the southern campaign in 1862 they had a daughter named Mary. When James didn’t return after the war, his widow and two small children must have had a very difficult time surviving. Finally, in 1870, Elizabeth who sometimes went by her first name Susan, at age 33 remarried an older gentleman named Samuel Easterly who was 64. Together they had a daughter named Cenia. Unfortunately, by 1880 Elizabeth was widowed once again.

By 1880, 21 year old Robert Derryberry, had moved away from home and was called “Ball Dery”. Perhaps Ball was a nickname, but it is obvious that he was also trying on a shorter surname. That same year he married Sarah Jane Clowers who was six years older. He possibly met Sarah when when she was visiting relatives next door to where Robert was living.  However, Robert and Sarah were married using his old Derryberry surname.

Over the next 15 years, Robert and Sarah proceeded to have three daughters and four sons. They lived and farmed near Warrensburg, TN for the rest of their lives. The Nolichucky River runs right through this area. In 1900, the family was still using the Derryberry name, but shortly after began spelling their name differently.  Most of the family members dropped the “berry” syllable and began using just “Derry”. Robert died of pneumonia in 1903 at only 44 years old. Sarah lived for another 20 years and died in 1923.  They are both buried in the Methodist Church cemetery in Warrensburg, TN. Interestingly, as can be clearly seen, the name is spelled Derrie on their headstone. Only one of their offspring adopted that particular spelling variation and that was their oldest son, our ancestor, Thomas Washington Derrie.

Jim Derry who lives in the northwest corner of Georgia, not far from Chattanooga, TN is a great-greatDNA grandson of Robert Derryberry/Derrie.  Jim had a DNA test run in 2010 that matches him with the Durrenbergers of Switzerland, proving that the Derrys/Derries of East Tennessee are in fact descendants of that line. Jim and I are second cousins, but once removed since he is one generation younger than I.

December 13, 2011 Dennis Ayers 3 comments

The British encouraged Protestant groups to settle in their American colonies, and in particular, Pennsylvania and North Carolina actively sought German and Swiss Palatines who were eager to become colonists.

 

Three Dürrenberger brothers, Hans Stephan, Hans Jacob and Hans Michael arrived in America on the ship Robert and Alice which sailed from Rotterdam, Holland making a call at Dover, England and arriving at Philadelphia on 11 September 1738. On board were 159 German and Swiss Palatines. Upon disembarkation, they were required to take the Oath of Allegiance to the Crown.

 

Passenger records of that time were not very complete or accurate. There is no record proof, but it is believed that the three brother’s father, Johann Peter Dürrenberger, along with his wife, Eva Catharina, and five of his other children probably also immigrated to the colonies at the same time, since they all disappear from Alsatian records after that. Therefore, this suggests that Johann Peter Dürrenberger was perhaps the first, or “The Immigrant”, of our Derrie ancestors to come to America.

 

In old records the German naming convention was for sons to precede the given name with either Hans or Johann (both of which translate to John), and for girls to precede the given name with the mother’s name. So, Johann Peter would most likely have been called Peter. The family was from a region were the pronunciation (i.e.: D = T, and ü = erh, with silent r’s) makes “Dürrenberger” sound strangely close to “Terryberry.” Subsequently, as was common of the period, a wide variation in spelling ensued. Both family surnames, Dürrenberger and Terryberry are thus reported in colonial documents in a variety of spellings. Soon Derryberry was added to the mix. Thanks to recent DNA test data, a bloodline connection has been proven, and Derryberry, Derreberry, etc. are considered to be derivatives of Dürrenberger. Furthermore, as you will see in later posts, Derry and Derrie are also known derivatives of the bloodline.

 

After arrival in Philadelphia, the Dürrenbergers made their way up the Delaware and Musconetcong Rivers of West Jersey to the German Valley, now Morris County, New Jersey, where they settled rather than in Pennsylvania. As mentioned before for the Ayers line, records in northern New Jersey from that time period are scarce. From information available it appears that Peter probably died in Morris County sometime after 1749. Research has accounted for his son Stephen’s death in Morris County and all his descendants. Peter’s son Jacob died in New Jersey in 1794 with no children mentioned in his will. The whereabouts of the third son, Michael, after 1749 are unknown due to lack of records.

 

Other Gemans who immigrated with the Dürrenbergers in 1738 on the ship Robert and Alice, landing in Philadelphia, are known to have made their way south to western North Carolina. It is now thought by some family historians, that Michael also later made his way to western North Carolina perhaps by way of the Carolina Road (see post dated 31 March 2011), or the Great Wagon Road through the Shenandoah Valley to become the originator of the Derryberry families of Burke County.

 

Burke County, North Carolina 

March 29, 2011 Dennis 1 comment

John Ayers of New Jersey died in 1732.  He left no will but did record the births of his nine children, including a son named Nathaniel born in 1700.  Unfortunately, no other records are available to help define Nathaniel’s life in NJ.

 

Instead, in 1723, a young man by the name of Nathaniel Ayers appears in Maryland where he is named in Baltimore County court records.  He is about the right age to have been the Nathaniel born in NJ, but is he in fact the same person?  The DNA test results previously mentioned indicate this is highly probable.  Although Nathaniel is listed as an immigrant in one reference book, I believe it was because he came to Maryland by sailing ship from NJ. He probably sailed up the Chesapeake Bay into the Patapsco River and disembarked at Elk Ridge Landing.  At that time, the Maryland colony had about 70 thousand residents, but Baltimore City would not be founded at the mouth of the Patapsco until 1729.

 

By about 1729, Nathaniel Ayers is married to Rhoda, last name unknown, and by 1733 they have three children, Ruth, John and Thomas who are registered in St. Paul’s Parish, one of 30 such territorial units established in colonial Maryland associated with the Anglican (later Episcopal) Church.

 

In the new colony of Maryland, all land was originally owned by Lord Baltimore and only at his discretion or his representatives could it be assigned to any tenant. Between 1663 and 1683, every adventurer who could claim to have brought five persons to settle in Maryland became entitled to a grant of 2000 acres.  After 1683, however, land patents (titles) were issued only against payment of money or tobacco.  At first the rate charged was 200 lbs. of tobacco for every 100 acres granted, but that rate increased with time.

 

Three separate documentary processes were required to authenticate new grants of land: (1) warrants, which were instructions to lay out a specified number of acres for a named person, (2) certificates of survey, which stated the exact location and boundaries of the new tract, and (3) patents, or essentially titles of ownership.

 

It appears that Nathaniel was actually in Baltimore County several years before he initiated the process for obtaining land.  Perhaps he didn’t have enough money when he first arrived.  Then between 1727 and 1745, Nathaniel obtained 4 separate grants of land on the north side of the Patapsco River in Baltimore County, and he is listed as a farmer and a carpenter in the records.  Since tobacco was the primary medium of exchange, it appears Nathaniel was farming successfully on his early land acquisitions and using his extra tobacco to add to his land holdings.  It is not known if he employed the use of slaves or not.

 

In those days, it was customary to name tracts of land after the owner or with whimsical names.  Nathaniel’s purchases, two of which are shown in the map below, were called:

Ayers Lott – 100 acres – 1727                    Ayers Desire – 28 acres – 1734
Bucks Range – 45 acres – 1745                 Nathaniel’s Hope – 15 acres – 1745

Nathaniel Ayers’ Land in Baltimore County

As can be seen, the land purchases of Nathaniel in Baltimore County were all near the Patapsco River not far from where the Ellicott brothers would later establish the new town of Ellicott Mills in 1772.

 

My father, Ira Ayers, knew nothing about his ancestors beyond his grandfather.  It is an ironic twist that in 1950 he purchased land only 4 miles upriver from where Nathaniel, his 6th great grandfather, purchased and farmed land 200 years earlier!!

 

March 26, 2011 Dennis 1 comment

As I mentioned back in my first post about our ancient ancestors from Europe, in 2009 I had a Y-Chromosome DNA test done to determine my genetic profile. The main purpose for this test was to solve a seemingly insurmountable problem about our Ayers lineage in North America. This mystery had become a brick wall in genealogy terms.

 

Our ancestors in New England and New Jersey whom I have already discussed, I call “The Northern Ayers Line”. The ancestors that I will be discussing in future posts are who I call “The Southern Ayers Line”.  The Migration Map below clearly shows the geographic separation of the two lines.  Although I, and other researchers as I later found out, strongly believed that the two lines were related due to circumstantial evidence, no official connection could be made due to the lack of actual records.

 

Incomplete Migration Map

 

Getting serious about solving the mystery, in the Fall of 2009, I joined a group of other Ayers folks around the country who also had DNA test results to compare.  As it turns out, most of the others had results that showed they belonged to haplogroups other than R1b.  This means those “Ayers” came from entirely different bloodlines, perhaps originating in Scotland, Germany or elsewhere.  However, there were a few other R1b’s like myself, and as time went on still more testers joined the group raising hope of a successful outcome.

 

Recall that Y-Chromosome genetic markers are passed from father to son down the line.  Without getting into the boring details, the basic approach is to compare Y-Chromosome markers with someone else to see how many matches you have. This allows you then to determine about how many generations back you had what’s called a Most Recent Common Ancestor or MRCA.  Then by comparing lineage charts you can typically pinpoint and name the MRCA.

 

After about a year, enough other R1b folks had joined our group so that we could definitively trace many relationships.  Finally by the Fall of 2010, several other testers and I were actually able to trace our MRCA all the way back to John AYRE, who came over from England.  This means that paper trail or not, my bloodline and thus our Southern Ayers line does in fact flow from the Northern Ayers line. By using DNA to solve the mystery, I had jumped over my brick wall!  See the now complete Migration Map below.

 

Complete Migration Map
Complete Migration Map

 

Note that the early migrations had to have been by ship since before about 1725, there were essentially no overland trails to be safely followed.

 

March 13, 2011 Dennis Ayers No comments exist

Genetic DNA testing has become a useful tool for solving certain problems in family history research when a historical paper trail is elusive.  There are two kinds of DNA that follow a straight line through our ancestors.  Y-Chromosome DNA is passed from father to son on down the line and is very useful for determining paternal lineage.  Mitochrondrial DNA (mtDNA) tracks the maternal side by being passed mother to daughter.

In March 2009, I was tested for a Y-Chromosome genetic profile, called a Haplotype, which tracks my AYERS surname lineage.  In addition to my specific profile, the results showed that our AYERS line belonged to an ancient group of ancestors designated Haplogroup R1b.

Regardless of how one personally reconciles creation vs evolution theories, scientists have determined that human life on earth originated in Africa hundreds of thousands of years ago.  When some of those ancient peoples eventually migrated out of Africa, they first went to the Middle East, and from there split into groups which migrated to other places.  Each migrating group’s genes gradually became slightly different from the original African group allowing them to be traced with DNA.  Our R1b group of ancient ancestors migrated to Asia and then on to Europe about 35,000 to 40,000 years ago as shown in the migration map below.  Anthropologists call the R1b Haplogroup “The Artisans” who may have been responsible for the first cave paintings, and probably lived in present day England, France, Spain or Portugal.

R1b Ancient Ancestors Migration Pathways

About 70% of individuals currently residing in southern England are members of the R1b group.  The significance to us is that all this DNA information very strongly supports that our AYERS ancestors came from England before crossing the Atlantic to North America.  Although without DNA evidence, I also suspect that many of our other family surnames which originated in Europe may be R1b as well.

If anyone is interested in learning more about ancient populations and their evolutions, I highly recommend reading The Seven Daughters of Eve by Bryan Sykes which describes how MtDNA was used to discover that we are all descended from seven prehistoric women. I have a copy to lend to those interested.