New DNA evidence for Tallulah Johnson

I check my DNA results several times a week (hoping to find my mother's half brother still) and I have to admit, I rarely go beyond the first two pages of results. I do however look into the shared matches. I know AncestryDNA isn't triangulation, but with only 25% maybe having trees, and so few going to Gedmatch (and I fear far fewer will with the latest crime solved using Gedmatch), the in common matches can be illuminating. Not because I can prove the triangulation, but because we have several identified cousins closer than 4th for several of my lines now, so if I get enough of them in the in common matches, I am pretty sure that it is valid.

So, a 4th cousin match showed up. I noticed several of my Hardy cousins, all from my elusive ancestor Tallulah Johnson, and three had trees in common with that match, Green Brantley and Mary Solomon being their common ancestor. I checked my Aunt's DNA and she also is having matches with this pair, and none of the other Hardy's have a link to this couple (H.H. is related to descendants of a John Solomon who married into the Godbold family).

Green Brantley was a neighbor of my Johnson's, living in the same section (14) of township 6n range 11E in Conecuh County. There has always been the question how (we know we share DNA with the Johnson and Parker family) Tallulah was a Johnson, is it through her mother or her father. The one thing I know is my great grandmother said her mother in law was illegitimate. And given the facts I have found, I believe it, so how is the question.

I took a look and built a tree for Green Brantley's descendants. There is only one daughter, Lucinda, who disappears after 1860, but even then, I don't believe Tallulah is the daughter of William Johnson anymore. Because, after all these years, I am embarrassed to say, I never paid attention to his time in the Civil War and her birth. William W. Johnson enlisted in April of 1861 and was discharged in June of 1862 after being wounded. Tallulah is supposed to be born in June of 1862. It is not possible for her to be his daughter, he was not in Alabama in the late summer and early fall of 1861, he was with his unit, which was in Virginia, or headed that direction.

So then comes in the pesky curiosities we have with the census for Elizabeth Parker Johnson, In 1830, William B. Johnson has a daughter 10-15, and a daughter under 5, and in 1840, his eldest daughter is married, and he has a daughter 10-15 and a daughter 5-10. The daughter 5-10 should be Matilda Elizabeth, who married John Diamond after Mary died, though she is never in a census it seems. That leaves the daughter who was 10-15, which is the same age as Nancy P. Johnson Coker who is found in the 1850 census with three children. In 1860 Nancy is listed as a Coker, and she is either a Johnson or a Coker until her death. Though after 1870 her children are always listed as mulatto and black. Some researchers's think she is Nancy Pugh, but I don't. The information on the 1880 census doesn't match the other Pugh's birth states, but it does match the birth states of the rest of my Johnson's, and the P. can easily stand for Parker. So if Nancy is the "other" daughter, where is Matilda.

In 1860 the household has Elizabeth b 1834 with daughter Elizabeth age 2, and in 1870 it is Nancy b 1834 with daughter Elizabeth 12 and Tallulah age 7. I think that quite possibly, Nancy is Matilda, she doesn't marry John Diamond until 1871, and the fact she is a Johnson then a Diamond may explain my great grandmother's "Johnson Diamond bastard baby" statement.

Since the family never has another daughter, Tallulah's mother has to be the daughter born in 1825 time frame, or Matilda who was born in 1832 (now, the only source we have on Matilda being a Johnson comes from a grandson of John Diamond, but he would know).  That means to be a Brantley, Tallulah's father is one. But who? Literally all of the sons can be the culprit except for Hilliard Brantley.

I have no idea but I compiled some information on the the locations of the Brantley, Johnson (and sorry some of my other Conecuh families, since I went page by page) from 1820-1860 to see where they were located in relation to each other. Another project is from a known match to Pyburn/Chitty via triangulationB and thought to connect Mary Brown to Elias Brown family.

 Of note, the name Hilliard is one the Brantley's used, so I added Henry Hilliard's location, he may have been a minister or neighbor, but just in case I included him as well.

1820 Census Conecuh

Henry Hilliard p 5

James Chitty p 6

William Johnson p 6 one male one female and one daughter

Joel Brown p 3 3 males over 21 5 under 21

John Brantley p 3 4 males under 21

Daniel Brown p 2

John Etheridge p 2

Pressley and John Brown p 7

William Johnson p 7 parents, one son and 2 daughters

Samuel Parker p 7

Elias Brown p 11 (2 sons one daughter)

William Johnson p 21 one son

Washington Johnson p 21 2 sons three daughters

Wesley Young p 21 2 sons 2 daughters’=

1830 Census Conecuh

John R. Brantley p 3

Green Brantley p 13

Elihu Brown (female) and Joel Brown p 11

Pressley and Sterling Brown p 9

Allen Chitty p 9

John Etheridge p 9

Stephen, William and John Brown p 7

Mallick and Millard Brown p 19

John and Samuel Parker p 19

William B. Johnson p 21

Henry Hilliard p 23

Francis Brantley and John Brantley p 23

John Chitty p 25 (two adult males)

William Johnson p 25

Zachariah Brown p 27

Washington Johnson p 29

Wesley Young p 29

Stephen Brown p 39

Monroe

John Brown p 5

William Brown p 7

Thomas A Brown p 15

Randall Brown p 17

Jane Brown p 23 (is this mary jane brown)

Samuel Parker p 23

Parshall and Elias Brown p 37

1840 Census

Conecuh

Butler County (Conecuh folks listed, Finklea, Dean and Coker)

James Chitty p 56

Conecuh County

John and Peter Parker p 6

Joseph V. Brantley p 8

Samuel and George Parker p 10

Leonard Nelson p 10

John Brantley p 17 (no male children)

Mallikiah and Millard Brown p 21

Allen Chitty p 31

James Brown p 33

William and Washington Johnson p 35

Isaac Brown p 35

Green Brantley p 35

Stephen and John Brown p 41

John Brown p 45

Joel W., Sterling  and Ruckus Brown p 47

John Chitty p 47

John Etheridge p 47

Monroe

R. Brown and John Brown p 23

Thomas H and R. A. Brown p 27

Paschall, Elias and Jackson Brown p 35

Stephen Brown p 67

1850 Census

Conecuh (no post office listed, hard to read)

Mary Brown Chitty (47 SC) p 115 (Robert Brown age 24 b GA)

Stephen Brown (48 GA) wife Sarah Chitty p 115

Allen Chitty p 114

Joel Brown 77 SC p 112

Tabitha Brantley 75 SC p 109

Samuel Parker 43 GA p 106

Isaac Brown 35 Ga p 96

Willis Brown 48 GA p 88

John Brown 60 SC p 86

Wm Parker 47 SC p 80

Augustus? Brantley 21 Ala p 71

James C Brantley 18 ALA p 63

L.W. Brantley 43 SC p 63

Mary Parker 76 MD p 61

Multiple Parkers p 60 and 59

James Brown 49 SC p 55

Wash Johnson p 52

Hilliard Brantley p 47

Millard Brown 45 SC p 39

Mallick (Malachai?) Brown 47 SC p 39

Dick Brantley 50 mulatto GA p 35

Elizabeth and William Johnson p 32

Thomas Brown 42 sc p 31

Manly Brantley 15 AL p 30

John Chitty p 23

John Etheridge and Jane Chitty p 22

Green Brantley p 19 (Elizabeth age 18)

Harris Brantley p 12

Joseph V. Brantley 37 SC (has Elizabeth age 16) p 10 ** has Floyd’s as neighbors ***

Russell Brown 39 SC p 10

Monroe (no post office listed)

Oren Brantley p 19 (John Hawkins age 14 next door neighbor)

Paschall Brown 50 VA p 14

Elias Brown Sr 57 SC p 3

Rufus Brown 38 GA p 3

1860 Census

Conecuh

** Missing Lazarus Solomon Brantley** Hilliard in Texas

Belleview post office

Boykin Brantley is living with brother Lott page 82

Lott Brantley p 81

Ct Brantley page 94

Susan Brantley p 95

Nancy P. Johnson Coker p 74 (Family not listed as colored)

Nancy Bryant age 10 p 72

Parker’s p 68 Samuel and two John’s

More parkers p 67 and 66

Francis Brantley (sc) p. 64

Beady Brantley  Hines p 105

Samuel Brantley p 102

what will be Escambia county (nathansville po)

James Brantley p 60

Rural Hill post office

H. H. Brantley (Harris) p. 140

W.W. Johnson p. 140

Lucinda Bryant p 111

Sepulga

Samuel C. Johnson p 145

Mary Brown Chitty p 13

Margaret Chitty p 13

Lucinda Chitty Shell p 13

Elizabeth Chitty Hammond p 13

 Benjamin Jacob Pyburn p 13

Daniel Brown p 13

Jack Chitty p  8

Allen Chitty p 8

Evergreen

Smith Johnson p 3

Washington Johnson p 3

Richard Brantley (SC) p 43

Monroe

Burnt Corn post office

Oren Brantley p 74

Walton Brantley p. 72

Mary Salter age 14 p. 67

Betsy Brantley Deese p 154

Elias Brown p 171

Civil War enlistments

William W. Johnson enlisted April 1861 and was discharged June 1862.

Oren Brantley enlisted Aug 1864

J.S. Brantley enlisted Aug 1862

Walton Brantley enlisted Mar 1862

Charnic T. Brantley enlisted May 1862

Lazarus Solomon Brantley enlisted May 1863

Hilliard Brantley in Texas in 1860

Harris H. Brantley enlisted April 1862

Lott Whitten Brantley enlisted March 1862

Boykin Brantley enlisted March 1862

I have been busy

I have undertaken some new projects, one of which is keeping me pretty busy. I am renovating my house. So, I may not be as active in genealogy for a while, but if your wondering what I am up to, you can find it at my new blog. A Sow's ear.

Oops I did it again

I got a message on Ancestry DNA late last week from someone who was managing a DNA test for a match to my cousin whose kit I manage. It isn't that great of a match, only 69 cM, but he was wondering if I could help him find/confirm his rumored father.

Ugh, I wasn't so sure, but I took a look, and noticed a strong connection to one family branch, the Pyburn's and the Chitty's. Well, that leads me only to Benjamin Jacob Pyburn and Mary Jane Chitty, my cousin's great grandparents. So I knew that some of those branches weren't full as far down, so I worked on it yesterday and a little today.

And I found it. I found the connection, from looking at shared matches and the name in their tree, the same surname of the rumored father. But the tree was blank. Which meant I had to use what she had listed two great grandparents and go forward. So I did, and found not much, so I went to the newspaper sites. Zilch on Newspaper.com, same with Newspaperarchive.com, but genealogybank.com came up with a zinger, it confirmed the marriage of two surnames, Deer and Dever. I was looking for Dever.

So then I searched for the parents names, and I found Betty Dever, born Jordan, whose obit mentioned Buddy Jordan. I knew he was in my tree, he was one I worked on, but I didn't find anything on his sister Betty, until I found her obit, and viola, I now have a tree for this young man, somewhat incomplete on the unrelated lines, but pretty far back on the others.

On a side note, there are folks who doubt that Teresa Rubena Innerarity was a Pyburn, but her daughters are living with her half sister after her death. Also I noticed something on the mysterious Phoebe, it is a name carried pretty strongly in some of Jacob Pyburn and Diadema Stapleton's oldest daughters descendants. I think that she was influential in Jacob's life as was his Aunt Mary Pyburn Collins.

I also am pretty convinced, because the names are so similar to the other children's names, that James Miller the second husband of Nicy Pyburn Fleming was married to the unknown daughter of Jacob and Diadema, and that the widower and widow married afterwards, and had three children, only one of whom had children Julia Miller.

What a tangled Webb we weave- the Webb, Kelley and Hardy connection.

After finding some more information on DNA results I had decided to look into Robert Kelley a bit further. I don't believe my Hardy's are from Robert Kelley Sr, but rather, his son Robert Kelley Jr is the stepfather of Gardner Hardy. Below is a discussion of what I found, and why my tree on Ancestry will be so different than the rest of them. 

Wentworth Webb Sr’s will is in Colonial Wills of Georgia (Georgia historical society online collection). The heirs named are sons Henry and Wentworth Jr and daughter Susannah in the 1771 document. Prior to his death Wentworth had claimed a headright bounty as a head of household with 6 children from the Colonial government. Also named in the will is his wife Rachel. In the will Susannah and Wentworth Jr are still minor children.

We have the married name of Rachel (named in will of Wentwoth Sr) after his death in this information. as evidenced by the following.

Records of Effingham County, Georgia Containing Annals of Georgia Vol. II and Effingham County Legal Records from The Georgia Genealogical Magazine: Part 2-Effingham County Legal Records from The Georgia Genealogical Magazine, 1976, Southern Historical Press; GEORGIA 929.3758 WILS V.2

 Section entitled (Deed Book “C-D”) page 43

“(p.11)  JESSE MIXON, BENJAMIN COOK, WILLIAM COOK, ROBERT KELLY and MICHAEL PHILLIPS, all of Eff. Co., “joint-heirs of Rachel Shorter, dec’d”, to HENRY WEBB of same county, oldest son of said Rachel Phillips.  Deed of Gift dated March 15, 1793, conveying “all such goods and chattels as were laid off for his use by his grandmother, Rachel Shorter, dec’d., viz: Mare, saddle and bridle, horned cattle, feather bed and furniture. Wit: Robert McCall, James Gill.” 

So we know that Rachel, the widow of Wentworth Webb Sr is now Rachel Phillips in March of 1793. By September 1793, Henry Webb and Wentworth Webb Jr have also died as evidenced by this information from Georgia Annals.

Wentworth Webb, Sept 25, 1793, Executor: Robert Kelly. Jesse Mixon enters caveat against Robert Kelly, who is also made administrator of the estates of Henry Webb, Rachel Shorter and Co. Caveators reason that Robert Kelly was co-equal heir of Wentworth Webb. Signed by William and Benjamin Cook and Rachel Philips.

Wit.: Christian Treutlen, J. P., and Abraham Ravot, J. P. “Mr. Robert Kelly not being pleased with the Openian, prays for an appeal.” Appraised by Robert Scott McKeen and William

Cone.

Examining the claims of September 1793, we have the following information. Heirs to the estate of Wentworth Webb Jr and Henry Webb would only be his siblings and nieces and nephews or mother, so the fact that Jesse Mixon, Benjamin Cook, William Cook and Rachel Phillips are protesting Robert Kelley managing all three estates would mean they feel they are entitled to part of the estate. Additionally, as a cousin, Robert Kelley wouldn’t likely be an heir, so this implies that Robert Kelley (Sr.) is married to a sister of Wentworth Webb Jr.

Benjamin Cook was born in 1760, probably in the Carolinas. His father was James Cook. He married the daughter of Wentworth Webb Sr.  They had four known children, Wentworth, Nancy, Lisbon and Lewis.

Jesse Mixon was born in South Carolina in 1744, the son of John Mixon IV, of Darlington District, South Carolina. It is not known who his mother was. He died in Yazoo County, Mississippi about 1832. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War in South Carolina, serving in Captain Robert Lide's Company of Volunteers, which was organized on October 5, 1775.

He received a small land grant in 1785 in Beaufort District, South Carolina, located on Matthews Bluff, near the Savannah River. He moved to Effingham County, Georgia before 1790, and later, to Bulloch County, Georgia. County records of Effingham County indicate he was Administrator of the estate of Henry Webb and Rachel Shorter which he applied for in October 1793. Researchers have him with two wives, the second started having children in 1790. It is reasonable to assume that his second wife, first name unknown was another daughter of Wentworth Webb Sr.

Michael Phillips is the husband of Rachel Shorter the widow of Wentworth Webb Sr.

This leaves the following information for the heirs of Rachel Shorter and Wentworth Webb Sr.

Rachel, his widow subsequently married to Michael Phillips.

Wentworth Webb Jr, died in 1793.

Henry Webb (eldest son) died in 1793.

Daughter married to Benjamin Cook.

Daughter married to Jesse Mixon.

Daughter married to Robert Kelley Sr.

6^th child, unknown sex.

Susannah who was under 18 in 1771 (women didn’t have to be 21 to be of legal age if I am correct), would be of child bearing age by 1793, she could easily be the wife of any of the three men, but we don’t know which one. The 6^th child is no longer living by the time that Rachel Shorter has passed away. Additionally, it appears that at the time of her death, Rachel Shorter had no other heirs.

Robert Kelley Jr in 1821 becomes the guardian of Gardner Hardy and George Hardy, two of the three sons of the deceased Robert Hardy. In 1820 in Bulloch county Robert Kelley has four sons under 10, I believe that two of them are Gardner Hardy and George Hardy. December 21, 1813 Robert Hardy in the Savannah Chronicle advertises that he will not be responsible for any credit or debts for his wife Rebecca Hardy who has abandoned his bed and board. By 1814, Thomas Hardy, the eldest son of Robert Hardy is given guardianship to Sheppard Williams, the Uncle of Robert Hardy. It is my opinion that Rebecca Hardy had George W Hardy (either December 1814 or December 1813) who also resides in Coffee County, Alabama.

In 1850 we find Robert Kelley Jr in Coffee County, Alabama with wife Rebecca who is born in 1791. The other Kelley’s in Coffee county are Jacob, who appears to be a brother or cousin to Robert Kelley Jr, Robert Kelley III (whose age is 1810-1825 depending on the census, looks to be truly born in 1820 time frame), William N. Kelley age 16, William M J Kelley age 36, Henry Kelley age 30, and CWC Kelley age 31, all of these are born in Georgia, indicating at least that Robert Kelley resided in Georgia until 1830, though I suspect that the family moved to Coffee County around in the latter part of the 1830’s and just isn’t in the 1840 census as the births of the children are in Alabama after 1837 for Robert and his sons children. We know Gardner Hardy arrived and married in Coffee county by 1837.

We have no idea yet what the surname of Rebecca Hardy is, but DNA results for almost all the testers are strongly showing a connection to the Bobo family (Spencer and Tilman primarily) for many of the descendants whose common link is Gardner Hardy and his wife Harriet.  DNA also shows a strong relationship for three of the great great granddaughters of Gardner Hardy to descendants of Robert Kelley, supporting my theory.

Two Faces in the Mirror

So, I had this great idea of a post, and well, I realized it was not entirely going to work out the way I wanted, but here it goes.

These are two of my eight great great grandmothers. I had planned on saying I chose them because they represented two of the families I have researched the most, my favorites as you will, and then I realized, oops, one of them was the wife of the one family. (My bad.)

The top picture is on my paternal side, she was born Plina Pauline McCurdy, and she married Archie Bald Pyburn (my most researched and favorite family on Dad's side). The bottom picture is from my maternal side, she was born Margaret Trahern, the wife of Jason Adams.

Plina was born in 1878 and died in 1940 and Margaret was born in 1880 and died in 1955. Of a similar age the women had far more differences than similarities. While Margaret married at age 19 and remained married to Jason until he died, Plina had four husbands, and  (I hope) three divorces. Margaret had 9 children with 7 living to adulthood. Plina had only three that I know of. (I know of no stillbirths). Margaret was an avid church goer and was revered and well loved by her children and grandchildren. Plina is rumored to have assisted her sister with running a whore house and was resented by her eldest daughter.

On the surface, it surely seems like two women of an age where women had little to no voice were vastly different. They both had challenges in their lives. Margaret was born in the Choctaw nation, her father ran around with other women and boot legged alcohol, and was supposed to have been murdered in 1899. Margaret's mother died when she was 12-13 years old, she and her elder sister had to raise the younger children, including the youngest only 1 year old. When her father died, Margaret quickly married Jason. He seemed like he was a pretty good guy, but he had a horrible head for business. He lost his son's allotments over a bribe to clear charges for bootlegging, and he mortgaged Margaret's Dawes allotment which then was foreclosed on. Of course Jason didn't have that great of a childhood either. Margaret ended up raising three of her grandchildren because her daughters were a little wild too.

Plina was one of 14 children by her father's first marriage. By the time her father had married his third wife and began having another 14 children, Plina had married and was not that far from leaving her first husband, Archie Bald Pyburn. Archie was I believe abusive, and sometime before 1908 when he was out of town, Plina left her children (somewhere between 1-2 yrs old, 8-9 years old and 10-11 years old) with her sister and ran off to New Orleans. In 1908 she married George Bilbo, the brother of the Governor of Mississippi Bilbo's. They didn't remain married all that long, and by 1919 she married Harry Bodin, and finally in 1929ish Andrew Svedson. Growing up I am sure times were hard financially, her father farmed and ran a ferry across the river to Alabama, and with all of the other siblings, it's quite likely money was tight.

Where Margaret was reserved and quietly went about her life as a mother, it seems like Plina was quite the opposite. She spent time in Pensacola, New Orleans and  New York, dressed well for her time, and well, allegedly participated in running a New Orleans bordello. Plina's eldest daughter Lula didn't care much for her mother, but Plina bought her a fancy dining room table set, and her grandchildren, they adored her. The few pictures I have show one a women dressed in home sewn gowns who rarely smiles  and the other dressed in finery with a great big smile.

If our ancestors are part of our faces in the mirror, these are two of mine. Despite the differences, both women had courage. They faced hardships in a time when women legally owned no property in most states, when they couldn't even have their own bank account. Margaret faced discrimination because she was 3/4 Choctaw, and ensured her children grew up being able to survive in a white world, but all of her children left home early, because with so many kids, the expectation was by age 13 or so you went to work. She raised her grandchildren with food subsidies during the depression, until she had to go live with relatives, and I guess their mom's took the kids, at least some of the time. Plina, faced an abusive husband. And while I really don't know that I like where she got the money to have her style, but she sure made the most of her independence when she got it. She had gumption, and I admire that.

These women are special for what they represent to me. Margaret Trahern was the reason I started genealogy in the first place. It was a sentence in a book that made me go, well that can't be right, and made me want to find out the answers. And what a journey it has been. I have so many people I have researched in the Choctaw nation who aren't my relatives, looking to confirm the maiden name of Margaret's mother, and that journey, that Choctaw research has lead me on some wonderful friendships with other researchers and the opportunity to assist grad students on Choctaw history.

Plina, well she isn't a Pyburn by birth, but I have spent a lot of time on the McCurdy's too, and well, yes, the Pyburn family is the one I am the most proud of. Like the Trahern family, I have developed a large group of fellow researchers for my panhandle families, but with the Pyburn's, a lot of the ground breaking work, well that's all my own discoveries. Finding them in Tensaw, finding the baptism records in Mobile, tracing the sister of Jacob Pyburn's family (very interesting in that line), and finally finding all of the girls, who they married and tracing their families. If the Choctaw research has me proud, so does the Pyburn. It's not to say I don't try as hard on every family, but in regards to time, well these two have taken a lot of my time over the last 18 years.

Two steps forward, one step back

Elijah McCurdy has been stumping researchers of the family since the 1970's. I have written about him before, so I am glad to report we have made progress, but not as much as we would like.

A great grandson of Elijah through William M. McCurdy tested YDNA several years ago. He was disgusted because he didn't match any of the other McCurdy's. So another great grandson, through George Washington McCurdy recently tested. The good news, they have a genetic distance of  0. Meaning that both of Elijah's sons down the YDNA is intact.

The results of the second tester were shared with me. The highest match is a genetic distance of  2. This family line goes back to a William L. McConnell born in 1842 and died in 1877. On ancestry the trees go back further to a Samuel McConnell born in South Carolina around 1780.

The second highest match is a genetic distance of 3. This family line goes back to (wait for it), James W. McConnell, a descendant of Joseph McConnell and Mary McCurdy. James McConnell was born in 1795 in likely Elbert County, Georgia. The last match, a genetic distance of 4 is to a Connelly.

Awesome news, right, we have a direct match to a couple that multiple (at least 10 that I know of) also have autosomal DNA matching, Joseph McConnell and Mary McCurdy. Let's not get too excited though because what we have left is a monumental task. The matches we have with autosomal DNA do appear to indicate we share DNA with the Pennsylvania McCurdy's, thus giving us the theory that Elijah McCurdy is an illegitimate son of a McConnell and a McCurdy.

There are multiple trees for both the McCurdy's and the McConnell's. Some say they couple came from Ireland, some say Mary is the daughter of  John McCurdy and Mary Fox (and thus an Aunt to the Elijah McCurdy born in 1796 in SC and  who died Dekalb county, AL). But here is where it get's tricky, first of all, the more you look, the more it is clear that there is a lot of conjecture on the 18th century McCurdy's in Pennsylvania.

I can find no estate information confirming the names of the 12 children of John and Mary, despite what has been published. The only concrete proof is the biography of Elisha McCurdy that tells where his parents lived, how many children they had, and that an elder brother (Elijah) moved south and never returned. Estates of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania appear to give some of his brothers, but as for females there is not one bit of data. The female grandchildren through a McCurdy of John and Mary McCurdy are too young to be a mother of Elijah at this point. So if his mother was a daughter we have nothing to go on yet.

Of the South Carolina McCurdy's, John and Robert were immigrants, and there is not enough data on how they are related, though it is conceivable that they, as with most of the immigrant McCurdy's in Pennsylvania and Maine, are cousins to some degree. But if you do read the biographical data on most of the lines, every one says they are from immigrants, not a help let me tell you.

There does appear to be two to three clusters of McCurdy's in Pennsylvania arriving at different times. There were McCurdy's around Chester county for at least a short period of time. I found unconfirmed information that one of the Georgia McConnell's may have came from Chester county, PA to Elbert County, GA, the same place where the Joseph McConnell line we match lived. Then there are McCurdy's around Cumberland county, and finally in Westmoreland (to include nearby Alleghany and Indiana counties).

What we need to do now is a two fold process. We need to see what we can dig up on the Joseph McConnell family (who some say immigrated to the U.S. and some say didn't) and his relatives. Then we need to come up with a database of McCurdy's, one that includes source material (deeds, biographical accounts (some may have errors), and probate) for Pennsylvania, Georgia and South Carolina. Once we do that, maybe we can puzzle out how both of Elijah's parents are related to Joseph McConnell and Mary McCurdy.

There is a John McConnell Sr in Elbert county, Georgia who none of the trees claim is a relative to Joseph but easily could be a possible relative if the Joseph McConnell who lived in Franklin County, Georgia (nearby Elbert prior to the establishment of Henry County, Georgia in 1822 which came from Creek lands.) is the same as the one we match is.  Henry County, Georgia is the last place Joseph McConnell and his wife Mary are found in the 1830  census.

For my fellow researchers, let's all work together and see what we can come up with.

P.S. those of you who have our Elijah as the son of Elijah McCurdy and Ann Handy Harris may want to change that.