The Western District, Okla Falaya 1770-1830, part 1

 My latest Choctaw comments always go back to a few families. Relatives of the Mingo's Pushmataha, Mushulatubbee or the Juzans. I want to take a step back though and look at a little bit earlier than the last "three inherited" Chiefs. Notice the parenthesis. Because later on, yeah, there is voting, but there is some evidence it required consensus before 1830, and, the same elite families, have ties to the Choctaw leadership for the next 70 years after the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. (TDRC). 

Choctaw histories will give three districts, and they will give sometimes a fourth that became "extinct." The Western District, associated with Apuckshunnubbee who gives the 2nd district his name when the Choctaws emigrated to what is now Oklahoma. The district was known as the Okla Falaya. This was once the largest district in Mississippi, and the village locations given in Swanson, Bernard Roman's map by H.S. Halbert never got to this district. 

Two of the early traders among the Choctaw were Thomas James, and his (I assume not close) kinsman Benjamin James. Thomas James was ran out of the Choctaw Nation to Cumberland during the American Revolution by the Spanish, with John Turnbull, James Cole, Phillip Mulkey, Thomas Hines and others in 1783. Their lands were declared forfeit by the Spanish. Well, we know John Turnbull returned, and was a successful early trader in the nation, fathering a family of Choctaw and Chickasaw children. It is presumed he also is the father of Susanna Vaughn, the wife of Zadoc Brashears. James Cole, who likely is associated with the Cole's that lived in the Cole's creek Spanish settlement, is presumed to be the father of Robert Cole, and likely two sisters, the wife of Cornelius McCurtain and the wife of John Nelson. It is probable he is not the father of Greenwood Leflore's grandmother. 

Thomas James is a curious man. He remained in Tennessee, and his heirs filed a claim on his Spanish land grant. This was on the Bayou Pierre for 500 acres in 1777. Thomas also has an additional 400 acres on the Mississippi. Benjamin James, in his will gives his youngest ((Choctaw) son, Benjamin James Jr land in the Eastern and Western Districts.   

Item I give and bequeath to my son Benjamin two young negroes one by the name of Tom and the other by the name of Polly children of Mary which he is not to possess till the first day of October 1805. I give the said negroes to him and his heirs forever. Also I give my son Benjamin one negroe man by the name of Tom which is now in the Indian Country. Also one horse bridle and saddle which said horse he has now in possession but not to be at his disposal till he comes of age which will be the first day of October 1805. Also I give my son Benjamin all that tract of land I purchased of John and William Scott which sais tract is situate and lying on the Tombigba River a little below the falls of said river, I give the said tract of land to him and his heirs forever. Also i give my son Benjamin all that tract of land situate and lying on the Big Black Creed a branch of the Massesipa River containing 600 acres. I give it to him and his heirs forever.

What is curious about this is the area, Big Black Creek, may be the Big Black River. Another item giving credence to this is found on  Thomas James present in the account given in Israel Putnam, Pioneer, Ranger and -Major General 1718-1790,  p 219-220, William Farrand Livingston, 1905, New York, London : G. P. Putnam's son 

"Having left Natchez Wednesday afternoon, April 28th, they advanced by boat nearly fifty miles to the mouth of the Bayou Pierre. They went up this tributary seventeen miles to the Forks, and there they marked a tree '' for commencing our Loca- tion." Then they returned down the Bayou Pierre and proceeded up the Mississippi, the same day, nine miles, to the Great Gulf,where Thomas James, an Indian trader, had settled. Three miles above was the Big Black River; and on Thursday, after the explorers had rowed past that stream,two of their number, Israel Putnam and Thaddeus Lyman, set off by land, with a Choctaw Indian as guide, for the Walnut Hills, between fifty and sixty miles distant,which formed a portion of the great bluff bounding the valley of the Mississippi on the East. The rest of the party made their way to the same hills by water,and on their arrival there, Saturday evening, the 8th, met " the gentlemen who came by Land " from whom they learned that the route was through a flat country and cypress swamps, that the cane brakes were so thick it was not possible to examine the land from the path. After reaching the high grounds ofthe Yazoo, Israel Putnam and his companion, who had made their way thither across the country while the other men went around by boat, wished to make a further reconnoisance overland, but the threatening attitude of their Choctaw guide prevented them from carrying out all their plans. The Indian was unable to state his reasons in words, for he was as ignorant of the Eng- lish languageas the men whom he had been guiding were of the Choctaw speech. His gesticulations and other efforts to make his meaning known proved unintelligible.Later, through Trader James as interpreter, he explained that he had met twochiefs on the Yazoo River who forbade his conducting any of the party over the proposed route to the Big Black River."

Thomas James was not a stranger to Franchimastubbee, the prominent chief in the Western District from at least 1785 to around 1802. This letter to him, written from Cumberland on behalf of the United States is found in Spain in the Mississippi, Vol 4, Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the year 1946, Laurence Kinnaird.  

OLD FRIEND : This is to inform you that I am still living , and that I desire greatly to see you , so that we might take each other by the hand , smoke , eat , and drink together . The Great Commander Washington has sent to tell you to come to see your brothers in these parts , and he has sent Foster , Robertson , and Smith with letters . They will inform you at what time I expect you ; love them and do not permit them to be ill - treated in your country by any person . I know that the Spaniards will try to make you believe that all these are falsehoods , but you can tell them that I have told it to you and that you have known me since the time when you and I were young ; and that now we are old , and you have never heard me tell a lie . I therefore hope that you will not listen to their words but that you will invite several of my old friends , as far as you can , telling them there will be plenty of beef and corn to eat , and goods to carry to their houses . THOMAS JAMES . June 9 , 1792 .

Franchimastubbe with Taboca were two of the most influential, at least by records, associated with the Western District. Turner Brashears, a distant cousin of Zadock Brashears was very close to Franchimastubbe, leading most historians, and researchers, believing his first wife was a daughter or niece of the Chief. Although letters appear to be grooming Taboca's son as the successor, the role actually fell to Apuckshunnubbee. We know from a letter also found in Kinnaird, brought by Turner Brashears (and thereby likely written by him) that Payahoma (a deriviation of Hopaii Homa) wanted his son to get the medal. Given Turner's relationship with the Choctaws, it is likely that in this case the interpretation is correct, Apuckshunnubbee is likely the  son of Payahoma. But why did he succeed Franchiamastubbee. The most likely answer is he is one of the nephews. 

This all ties into a few key families that are within the elite class during the time between 1800 and removal. If one looks at the Mississippi Territory papers, the Vaughn's are mentioned a few times, but after that they seem to become a bit more obscure. I suspect because though they likely had a maternal familial relationship to Franchimastubbee, they weren't so close to Apuckshunnubbee, who showed his preferential treatment in 1820 to two Choctaws. Molly McDonald and Wesley Trahern. Unlike the Vaughn's who had had trouble with the government, Molly and Wesley Trahern were unobjectionable. 

Molly was by 1820 the mother of a young adult who went by Alexander Hamilton, and James L. McDonald, a teenager sent away for schooling, who lived with Thompson McKinney and became the first Choctaw lawyer. Molly's sister, name unknown was married to the son of John Jones Sr., a white man who lived in the Eastern district. This sister would be the mother of Robert M. Jones. Another sister married Middleton Mackey, and was the mother of his eldest children. Either this sister, or Sophia Folsom had a relationship with John McKee and had a son, Alexander McKee.  We don't know the name of her McDonald husband, but we do know the name of her last spouse, a Rhodes whose estate includes the land Molly was granted in the 1820, 1 square mile located Southeast of Jackson. A few miles away is present day Trahan Creek, the square mile allotment given to Wesley Trahern. 

Wesley Trahern's mother-in-law was a sister to the Vaughn's.  His father-in-law was Zadoc Brashears. Wesley was a Virginian who came to the territory before 1808. His elder brother, James Trahern, my ancestor, was involved in trade and lent him $5000 dollars. I suspect that Wesley traded with James' firm in Virginia. The Vaughn's are the namesakes for some of the landmark creeks and trails in the area, and I suspect this was the Eastern most boundary of the district.

So I suspect both of these individuals (note, the family continued to benefit in 1830) had a familial relationship to at least Apuckshunnubbee if not both Apuckshunnubbee and Franchiamastubbee. I also suspect, based on the limited amount of traders around when Molly and her sisters were born, she is the daughter of Thomas James, mainly because most of the others have families that can be accounted for, and neither family claims a relationship with anyone other than those mentioned, and the descendants of Peggy, my ancestor, who was their half sister, and those of Delilah her full sister. 

Eventually the family relations of Apuckshunnubbee would not have as much influence in the politics, but they would remain involved in prominent roles. 

So if the Vaughan's location, west of the Pearl River was the southeast boundary, I suspect the southwest boundary was somewhere between Bayou Pierre and the Big Black, at least by the mid 1780's. Northwest boundary likely followed the Yazoo river north to the Yalobusha river, where we find the largest group of known Chakihuma who were recognized among the Choctaw and Chickasaw in the treaties. I am not entirely clear where the boundary ended in the Northeast. Where the division between the Western and Eastern District occcurred. I know the Chickasaw occupied the northern part of the state but if I had to take a guess, I would guess the Pearl River was likely the separation between the Eastern and Western districts.  

 The prominent elite of this district included many more families. The Perrys, Fraziers, Coles, McCurtains, Turnbulls, Leflores to name a few. I will go into them a bit further later on. Next, however, I will probably take a look at the 1784 treaty with the Spanish which named prominent Mingos and headman in the villages throughout the nation. 

DNA, Research, and another Brickwall down: The Beck Family

 I avoided looking at the thrulines for Jesse Beck for years based on the assumptions I have seen. I looked at it again about 3 months ago (I thought I blogged about it, sorry), and I decided to hone in on something else. For 16 -17 years I have been looking for a marriage of Sarah to Jesse Beck. Now everyone who did the trees before the internet, has Sarah's last name as Woodstock, but I was like what is the source. No one could tell me.

I found a record for an Alabama law changing Sarah's four oldest children from Lewis to Beck, about 16 years ago. So I decided to google Woodstock and Lewis. Yep, turns out there is in Bulloch a Lewis and Woodstock clan. Research shows, that Sarah should be the daughter of James Lewis who married Nancy Woodstock. They have unaccounted female children that you can link to Sarah, but the male Woodstock siblings of Nancy don't, they are accounted for. This would mean, that Sarah's children were maybe illegitimate. And who knows, DNA is high enough with them, it could be they were Jesse's, but when I did this change, I did get thrulines confirmation to the siblings of Nancy Woodstock and James Lewis, and the siblings of their parents. So I am pretty sure, this is a winner. And don't forget the names of Sarah's children, she has a Nancy.

So I looked seriously, in this time at the thrulines hints for Jesse, and in this first case ever, I was like, I think this may be a clue. I believe Jesse is the son of Elijah Beck, and the grandson of Charles Beck. I am seeing fairly consistent matches on this line as well.

Amanda Palestine Beck, my ancestor had 14 children. So this is a HUGE deal, she has a lot of descendants. And the Beck's around Escambia and Baldwin still have descendants too. So if you have any questions, let me know.

DNA and Kissin' Cousins (Double)

 I attended the virtual Rootstech this year. In one of the chat sessions the instructor referred someone with double cousins to DNA painter. I don't think that was good advice. Here's why, double cousins prior to 4th cousin will show more DNA the majority of the time than the relationship. They will seem a 0.5 to 1 generation closer, and DNA painter, doesn't address this. 

My father's father had a set of double cousins. His Uncle from his mom, married his Aunt from his Dad. Now, that isn't the only double cousins (and I mean sibling marriages, there are another type of double, where two lines intermarry, but DNA is less reliably inherited at a higher rate, it depends on the distance.) in his tree, but it's the only CLOSE one.

Let's look at a few of Dad's and my double cousin relationships. 

This cousin, is my father's double second cousin once removed. He shares 379 cM. Here is what DNA painter shows. Notice 0.61% chance.

And here is another double second cousin once removed, Dad shares 341 cM. Here is what DNA painter shows. Notice, 4% chance.

Dad has two 2nd cousins once removed from this same line that aren't of the double cousin marriage. He matches 151 cM and 146 cM with them. Here is the DNA painter for 151 cM. Notice, 2nd level of probability.

In fact, he matches 266 cM with the father of one of those matches, here is the DNA painter on that. notice, 1st level of probability.

 

 

You will notice in the last two examples, the probability matches the match at a higher degree. Now, I will admit, due to my father's family location, I often fall into the 2nd probable percentage. Simply because he often has a case where he is related to someone twice. Without triangulation though, I can't identify which DNA comes from which family.

 

Here is a final example. This matches grandparents were first cousins. The match she is matching to is the great granddaughter of  the first matches great grandfather, and the  gggrandniece of the first matches grandfather. (yes, my great great grandfather married his great niece and had children). They match 308 cM. Now there is clearly pedigree collapse. They are half 2nd cousins, and 2nd cousins once removed. Notice though, they do not come near the smallest tier of the probabilities, as the 2 double cousins do. 

Now, I have more examples, that can reliably show my 3rd cousin matches look closer but when I get to 4th cousin, it falls off. Some match higher, some match lower. Kissing cousins can be a challenge in southern trees. If you know they are a double cousin, expect a match to be higher than DNA painter, if you don't know, do the research, and look out for it as a possibility.

Choctaw Genealogy

 I finally looked at my blog comments this week, and I had several related to my Choctaw posts. A topic I really haven't broached in a while. I took the time to re-read some of my posts. Some of it material I wrote about 2001-2003. Man, I have learned a lot since that time. Some of that stuff, not accurate with what I know now, most of it is though.

It is probably the most accurate to state, that I have taken a deviation on the Choctaw to a more historical research perspective than a genealogical one. I try to read as much as I can, but I probably focus a lot of time on as many original records as I can find. And there are a lot, if you know where to look.  Finding the Quaker records (and an email) I confirmed that James L. McDonald was left with the Quakers with another boy, (whose obituary shows is James Madison, a son of Apuckshunnubbee), by Jeremiah Ward. It is not long after the death of James Madison, that Thompson McKinney writes in his memoirs, he was approached about taking in a Choctaw boy, the same James L. McDonald. I recall being fascinated by James' story, long before I found out he was a relative. In fact, the half-nephew of my ancestor. 

Reading newspapers, I found an article with a recount by Eliza Ann Flack, my ancestor's daughter, and her discussion of her mother's Uncle, Uncle Pushmataha. She also talks about a cousin who died and gives an account (hard to read) of the bone picking and cry that occurred afterward. She makes it sound like she recalls the Creek War, which I doubt, I suspect she was born in the midst of it, but it is interesting. I also have read accounts of Mushulatubbee's brother's trial and letter when he killed a white man. The death of General Hummingbird and Little Leader, among many other things.

I have read the American State papers, and the Mississippi territorial papers, deeds, and court records, and thousands upon thousands of Dawes files. Almost very history book ever written prior to 2000, and a few since, some thesis material when I could find it. I have gone page through page through the records on ancestry to read the court records that are hidden and not indexed. I researched annuity rolls, and census, and documented as much as I could. Oh, and I talked a lot to other researchers who have been doing this a lot longer than I have, most specifically my dear friend Sandra, who has spent hundreds of hours on the phone with me and shared hundreds of emails with me over the last 20 years. 

I love that there is a lot of love for genealogy now. That there is an interest in it, and younger people involved. Back when I started, I was 33, that was so much younger than everyone I ran across except one or two folks. So, glad to see younger people interested. And also grateful, that the search engines don't readily bring up some of the old forums which are full of inaccurate claims. Not so grateful that the claims have made it into a lot of trees. 

Accuracy in genealogy should always be the goal. Sometimes, we can't prove it on paper, but we can by circumstantial evidence, logic and reasoning. Such evidence generally includes, proximity, timeframe, and some kind of substantial evidence other than, an oral history, or a MCR file. There is a plethora of claims on the MCR that are true, and there are just as many that aren't. You can tell when you read them, they have no substance in their testimonies. What most people don't take the time to learn is that there were congressional testimonies over the enrollments in Mississippi, primarily, the scam ran by a group of lawyers, that went town to town, and literally signed up as many folks to enroll as they could. They also sold shares to the American public elsewhere for an expected profit when these folks enrolled and got their "money". The majority of the Mississippi Choctaw Society were their clients.

There are a lot of valid reasons why the Mississippi Choctaw were enrolled and became a tribe, and why it was limited to it's membership. It unfairly did exclude Choctaws in Mississippi who were descendants of mixed bloods in 1830, but by doing so they ensured that the fraudulent claims weren't allowed. The Choctaws in Oklahoma, they fought enrollment of the Mississippi Choctaws. That is why you can find court of claims testimonies in the Cornish Collection (I forgot to mention I read those too).

 Not that most of my comments have been about rumored Choctaws, but it seemed the best place for me to start. I can literally talk for hours about the period before 1830, so I am going to try and put some of that into a blog (maybe I will have to find a way to focus). I can talk for hours about the period after 1830 through enrollment, so I will try and talk about that. I want to someday write a book on the Choctaw that looks at the history from a genealogical perspective. Because I already know, there is a lot of history books that has overlooked that and missed a huge part of the story. Maybe I can work on some of that here.

 Researching your Native American tree, starts just like your non Native American tree. You start at you and you work backward. You gather records, you confirm, and you move back. If you are lucky, you will find (rare) a census, or an enrollment or a tribal roll. Sometimes you won't be lucky. It's not that there isn't records out there, but it can be hard. There are five derivations of the name Nahotima on the 1856 census for the Choctaw. There are I don't know how many Homomastubbee's on the 1785 Spanish Treaty. There are 3 (I think) Pushimataha on that treaty as well, and not one is Pushmataha. There are 3 Mingo Poos Coos also. See where I say about lucky. 

Yeah, it is extremely difficult when you get to a full blood to verify information. Largely because by the time you get back that far, you are literally to a point where few if any records exist. Choctaw records are sporadic, you have the 1896, 1893 (I can't find that one), 1885, and 1856 for full families. There are a few more just head of household in the NARA, and there is the Armstrong rolls. That's a whole lot of skipping. Some of the Choctaw nation county records, the court records are all in Choctaw.  Choctaws in Mississippi, have far fewer records, even with the Cooper roll. You literally have almost 70 years with no documentation for some families. 

I am not saying don't try, I am saying be realistic. You can search for years (well for any genealogy this is true) with nothing. No clue, no records, and then one day, you may stumble on the records. Never look to prove yourself right, just look for something that proves something, even if you were wrong in your assumption. Accuracy is your goal. A family tree full of errors and inaccuracies isn't rewarding, and if you do your DNA, it is a headache because you won't figure out a match because of it. Use good judgement, use logic, and if you have a theory, state a theory. Don't trust any tree on ancestry, even mine, you should verify everything you can, and you should strive for sourced documentation. 

Autosomal DNA: What do I do now?

I belong to a few groups on Facebook around DNA and genealogy. I have also dropped a few. Well call me opinionated, but I don't believe that every moderator is the only expert. 

 When I started out with my DNA tests in 2014, I read a lot of blogs. The same experts are out there, and back then the big push was triangulation. I have been told that is the "old" way and the new "way" is the Leeds method. I had to google it. Basically it takes clustering your matches into buckets and then building trees (they use the term quick and dirty tree) and identifying matches to your grandparents.

 I don't do this method strictly in the way they describe, probably because well, I was identifying matches for years without it, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have value. It does though I think bring some challenges in some situations. This blog talks about southern trees. Well, half my tree is a southern tree. And what I can tell you is that just because I have shared matches doesn't mean squat. I have to verify they aren't related through a way completely unconnected to me. Even when they would fit in the same "bucket". Because I don't have a collapsed tree, and I have minimal endogamy, but I have a family that has lived in the same area for over 200 years. And guess what, this group of families has had a lot of intermarriages over the last 200 years. I normally am related to someone more than one way, I often "share" relatives. I am not related to A whose related to B and I am related to B. 

I guess my point is, advice and videos and blogs are great, but if it isn't working for you, there may be a reason. Maybe you just don't have enough testers for that line. Maybe you aren't related to that line. Maybe you have a "southern" type tree. (I do recommend you read the blog I mentioned, she has some great tips).

 So how do I do personally determine matches and group them on Ancestry? Well, you need to understand, First, when I started this, I had a robust tree. Meaning, I had most of my family to 6th generation and beyond, and had their children done too. This makes me not your typical user. I was not trying to find a grandfather or great grandfather. I am not adopted. And so far, DNA has shown not one non-parental event (whew). Second, I didn't just test myself. I tested my parents, my grandmother's sister, my grandfather's cousin, my mother's half cousin that shares only a grandfather, my cousin, my aunt, and then I tested three distant Hardy cousins, two because they were also Pyburn's. I have 5 tests on 23andme, seven on ancestry, and have put some of them on myheritage, all of them on gedmatch and familytreedna. 

 So I started with identifying folks before I did the ancestry tests, using gedmatch and 23andme and ftdna, and genomemate pro. Which is a program that lets you database your matches. It's free, and easier than building my own spreadsheets. So I identified a lot of segments (I haven't done that in forever), and I ended up with a good size group of folks when I see them I know, I am related to them by x surname. 

 Then when I did ancestry dna, I looked at trees on the largest matches first, and identified as many of them as I could. Even when that took a bit of internet sleuthing. So the bulk of the second and third cousin matches, I identified. And if I couldn't I noted what family or side (maternal or paternal) they matched. (yeah, it's clustering, just not in a spreadsheet, and not on paper). I still do that. Then I look at all the shared matches, and flip between them seeing who they are related to (again clustering). I focus in on trees, and look for matches who share the same surname. When I find more than one with a surname (Not my own) and have a group of known matches, I build a tree, and start really looking for where it can connect. (Again, probably same as clustering). For me, inevitably it's the last line I look at that is the clue. 

Sometimes, that's as far as I get, I build the tree, and that's it, I can't figure it out. But, I have figured out a few of those that have sat for the last few years. I just needed more matches in common. Then lastly, I don't bother looking at matches down to 30 cM. Not as a starting point anyhow. I rarely go beyond 50 cM when I look at new matches, or work on old ones. Why? Because I already have a great tree, what I am looking for is "surprise" large matches, and clues to just a handful of individuals where I have had a genealogy roadblock. 

I probably spend 75% of my time just on genealogy and only 25% on DNA. That works for me. That said, I recommend anyone who is new to DNA read the Autosomal DNA Wiki from ISOGG, and when you do you will find links to blogs, and these guys, are the true experts in the field. Then I would learn about DNA painter (which helps with probabilities for matches). I can tell you, the guy who came up with the probabilities, Blaine, is a blogger, and I participated so it is a great help. And last, take advice with a grain of salt. If one method doesn't work for you, you can vary it. What I cannot express enough, is building a tree out as far as you can, and not forgetting, especially within the first four generations, building the siblings of your ancestor down too. This helps. And if you are having trouble finding someone who won't answer your email. I have some tips on that here. Don't understand what a second cousin twice removed is? I have an explanation for that (my easy way of figuring it anyhow) here.

Clues on Mary Douglas

Mary Douglas, my grandmother's great grandmother has been a mystery forever. She has birthplace given as Canada and Clinton County, NY. We have a lot of cousin's from the Paxton's who have tested now on ancestry, so I thought I would give it a look again. There has been three different "clusters" of matches within the Paxton cousins that match each other. I spent the weekend working on them. The Douglas matches all link back to either a Reuben Douglas, John Douglas or Elizabeth Douglas. All of these have lower Canada in common, Missisquoi specifically. There is a Robert Douglass there in 1825. Now most people have this Robert the same as a later Robert who is there in 1842. The second Robert is 12 years younger than the first. So I took the older children, which included a John and a Reuben (from notorial records and the 1825 census) and built a tree with that seperate, merging the John who goes to Jefferson County, and adding Elizabeth (based on the 1825 census this is probable). I also did a spreadsheet on the 1825 Douglass's. There are three different groupings. De Lery is the widow of Nathaniel Douglas Sr who died in 1821 and his two sons. Sherington is the other children of Nathaniel Douglas Sr from his first wife. Lacole is the family group of Robert Douglas.

 

The other two surnames are from the children of George Cameron and his wife, Hannah Blanchard. Because his wife is born of immigrants later than the birth of Mary Douglass, I focused on George. All we know is George is a son of an Alexander Cameron who was likely born in lower Canada. This match includes others from this line, but it is important to note, my great aunt, my mother, myself, my cousin and my daughter all share a segment intact with the mother, cousin, daughter, son of this family. Alexander Cameron, born in 1804, would be the son of a mother roughly same age as Robert Douglass' wife. The remaining matches come from the children of an Alexander Charter whose wife was Mary. Alexander Charter was in St. Martine about 30 miles away. Alexander Charter' wife would be roughly the same age as the wife of Robert Douglass. So for now, Father Theory in my tree has two unknown daughter's with the last name theory, and Mary Unknown. We will see if this leads us anywhere or not. Will keep you posted. Oh by the way, I picked George Douglass as the father of Mary. Not because I have any proof, but because she named a son George Benjamin.

The Paxton Family a Breakthrough

For what seems like forever, we did not know much on Benjamin Paxton. We knew who he said his parents were and he was born in either Birminghamshire or Oxfordshire. My great aunt's DNA has helped solve all of that. Well that and a plethora of Paxton cousins who have also tested. First I was able to figure out that Benjamin's father William had a second family and resided in King County, Ontario. His second wife's maiden name was Bryan's and that must be how Benjamin got the last name of Brown. A burial for Mary Paxton, daughter of William Paxton and Mary Adams in Quebec, and then the death of Mary Paxton wife of William in Quebec led me to that discovery. Recently I started looking into a match of 107 cM. Turns out he is my great Aunt's 3rd cousin once removed from the Paxton family. I was able to trace Benjamin Paxton to Finmere, in Oxfordshire. He was a grandson of Richard Paxton and Rachel Butler. I found a marriage for William Paxton in Hertsfordshire to a Mary Adams. The distance bothered me a lot, but there is 1. No William's in the area prior to the marriage 2. William is listed as a widowerer. I then found a marriage of William Paxton to Sarah Adams and her death in 1820 in Tingewick, Buckinghamshire. A post on a genealogy group let me know that at this time (1820) it was voidable to marry a spouses's sister. Thus the marriage at great distance (50 miles) makes more sense. So, I built a tree for Mary Adams, daughter of Thomas Adams and Elizabeth Winmell. We have thrulines now, so I believe this is the final answer on the family. The Paxton's were yeomen in Finmere for several centuries.