News & Research
I am continuously researching my family tree. However, there are times where it might be helpful, particularly for other researchers to see what has been added to my tree over time. I won't put every update, but I will put significant updates and highlights to the genealogy depicted on this website. Note that since this page was launched in November 2016, news items before then will be more generalized. Also check out how to get started on your own research.
Pick a specific timeframe:
- June 2018: Discovered a DNA cousin Anne (Waggy) Dyvig on 23andMe. I am her third cousin, twice removed via Waggy but am multiply related to her via our common Propst ancestry. She is descended from my great-great great grandfather Adam Waggy's brother Daniel. So, John Waggy and Allie Propst Waggy are our common ancestors! Discovered a 4th cousin Teresa Millikan on 23andMe. She is daughter of [private mother], daughter of Charles Jerome Ward (Teresa's grandfather), son of Nancy Louis Morris (who married Daniel Cicero Ward), daughter of "Major" John Wesley Morris (who married a likely distant cousin of mine Lena Powers Nance), son of William Nelson Morris and Sarah "Sallie" (Hicks) Morris, our common great-great-great grandparents. Updated my "article" How to get started with genealogical research with an update about Chromosomal Browsing and Triangulation. Added myself as a source to this site, mentioning some of the history of the site. Discovered a new ancestor: Thomas Sledge. Also, added an unverified surname Thorpe upon finding on Geni.com that John Reese may have been a Jr., married to a Mary Thorpe. Verified connection to DNA cousin Joseph "Joey" Nance via 23andMe. He and I are both descended from Hudson Nance, Sr., and Elizabeth "Betsy" (Hubbard) Nance. It is also worth noting that his ancestor Hudson Nance, Jr., (brother to my ancestor Anna "Annie" (Nance) Kearns) married a Rebecca Ivey b. 1806 in Randolph Co., NC. While she is not the same Rebecca Ivey from whom I am descended (who was 20 years older than his ancestor Rebecca Ivey Nance), my Ivey ancestors were also in Randolph Co., NC, implying that Joey Nance and I may also share Ivey ancestry, which is further supported by a 4th cousin prediction which is closer than my being his 5th cousin, once removed. Corresponded with author Lori Crane regarding theory she has about the father of Sarah, daughter of Sarah (Mayo) Culpeper. Reached out to the Curator and Profile Managers of Sarah Pritchard (Culpepper) regarding sources for her birth year of 1689, which would put the theory to rest. Also corresponded with Culpepper researcher Lew Griffin who has concluded in his mind that John "The Rebel" Culpeper is son of John "The Merchant" Culpeper. The 1689 birth date of Sarah (Culpeper) Pritchard is in question per some sources to be mentioned. John Culpeper was married to Margaret Bird before he married Sarah Mayo. He married Margaret, widow of Valentine Bird, ca. 1679-1680 as supported by Upheaval in Albemarle: The Story of Culpeper's Rebellion: Appendix and according to NCpedia article "Bird, Valentine". The latter of those sources refers to the following: "North Carolina State Archives (Raleigh), for Albemarle Book of Warrants and Surveys (1681-1706), Council Minutes, Wills, Inventories (1677-1701), and Bond of Margaret Culpeper as Guardian for Sarah Bird (2 Feb. 1686)." So, does this conclude that Sarah (Culpeper) Pritchard was born 2 Feb. 1686 and was in fact a daughter of Valentine Bird? For now, the names Bird/Byrd, Culpeper/Culpepper, Mayo and Maggs are all in question. More research is needed to draw a conclusion. In the meantime, I did make some corrections as it is unfounded that Sarah Mayo was ever married to Valentine Bird. By way Refer to the Culpeper page for more detail. Met DNA cousin Mr. David Michael Hall via FTDNA. He and I share great-great grandparents J. Milton and Nancy Louisa (Surratt) Hill and his great-great-great-great grandparents Richard and Mary "Polley" (Tolson) Loflin are my great-great-great-great-great grandparents. I am both his 3rd cousin and his 5th cousin, once removed. David provided some unverified maiden surnames - Mendenhall in the Hill ancestry and Bouton in the Loflin ancestry. Removed DNA results surnames from the home page as they caused confusion. Some persons were thinking they were ancestral surnames instead of surnames of DNA matches; i.e., cousins. I removed them since I have an extensive list of ancestral surnames compiled and that is where common ancestry is found. Corrected errors for Sarah (Culpeper) Pritchard in the Pritchard ancestry. Added to the list of possible gateway (to royalty) ancestors my ancestors William and Mary (Cuthbert) Hearne (and replaced their descendant Nancy "Charity" (Skeen) Johnson since it is really through them and they are verified ancestors). After further researching the Skene ancestry, found a missing ancestor: Robert Skene b. ca. 1567.
- May 2018: Added the Will (page 1, page 2) of Sally Eckard, wife of Abraham and mother of Absalom, to the Early Eckards and their Ancestry page. Updated the page Fun - Genealogies from Fiction and other fun stuff! Further researched John Culpeper "The Rebel of Albemarle" and added links for more reading and improved layout of that page.
- April 2018:
Made minor navigational changes between certain pages, on the Generations page and on this page. Revisited Campbell (paternal) research.
Discovered via 23andMe a DNA cousin Natasha Poole who shares Simmons and Eckard ancestry with me. Our common ancestors are John and Margaret (Wimer) Simmons as well as
Philip Eckard, Sr., and Barbara (Propst) Eckard. And like many with a Pendleton County (WV/VA) heritage, it appears we share even more ancestry than those two couples! Due to my multiple descending from John and Margaret (Wimer) Simmons along side of my Eckard ancestry, Natasha and I are 7th cousins and she is twice my 6th cousin once removed!
Discovered Allen Johnson, my second cousin once removed! His great-great grandfather Val Johnson is my grandfather's (H. "Ed" Edwin Johnson) brother. Allen is also the first Johnson I've discovered who descended from my patrilineal Johnson line with whom I have also found an autosomal DNA match (not many closely related Johnsons have taken autosomal DNA tests). I also found other Johnson relatives mentioned in the obituary for Mrs. Frances "Billy" Hedrick Johnson (daughters Judy Johnson, Kathryn Johnson and her husband John Strickland, and Joanne Johnson all of Salisbury, NC; two grandchildren: Starling Johnson Kaklamanos and husband Aaron; and Hedrick Strickland). The late Mrs. Billy Johnson is wife of the late Allen Starling Johnson, Jr., son of Allen Starling Johnson, brother to my grandfather (H. "Ed" Edwin Johnson), sons of Norman Harris Johnson and Julia Priscilla (Morris) Johnson. However, I have not been able to correspond with them yet. I found some more information at "Celebrating 70 Years as a Family-Owned Business: Johnson Concrete Company" by Margaret Patricia Eaton, seen in the January 1, 2018, edition of Construction in Focus magazine.
After reviewing M Tree by bandmfamilytrees on Ancestry.com, found some speculations about the birth/death places and years of Peter and Maria (Huber) Schmidt.
After looking at the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Genealogical Research System, noted my American Revolutionary War Veterans:
Worked on stronger inheritance lines for viewing the site so that instead of using this:
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The site can begin using this:
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For now, it is demonstrated on the Simmons Ancestry page as it is a simple hierarchy to model the new lines. Over time, this will replace what is out there, though the text overlay will be in place for the sake of printing the lines on pages. It will be slowly rolled out one page at a time.
How to get started with genealogical research:
by Jamie Johnson
- Start with you. What do you know? Are you named for anyone in the family? Who are your parents? Where were they born? Ask them who their parents were. If you don't know a parent, ask the other parent or ask your guardian and go from there.
- Talk with older living relatives - parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents.
- Look for books and documents and photos already within your family. Is there a historic family Bible? Is there an old shoebox of photographs? By the way, make sure that if you have a photograph, write the name of persons in the photograph and any other information on the back of the photograph.
- Look for books and documents and photos elsewhere. Do you go to family reunions where persons may have books, documents or photos? If you know where your ancestors came from or live in the same area, the local libraries often have books about particular families and their histories in the area. Also, know that Google Books has many free genealogical books as does Internet Archive.
- Look for wills, deeds and probate documents.
- Keep a list of surnames in your ancestry, starting with your own, your mother's maiden name, and go from there. If possible, note where they are in your tree.
- Look at Census data.
- Look at online resources, particularly for the above mentioned documents. Again, know that Google Books has many free genealogical books as does Internet Archive.
- Join Facebook groups dealing with genealogy. Converse and find sources from friends and yes, even distant cousins, there.
- Take DNA tests such as 23andMe and Family Tree DNA. At the very least, take an autosomal DNA (atDNA or auDNA - mixture of DNA from both parents passed to child) test. Males, trace the patrilineal line (DNA passed from father to son) by taking a Y-DNA test. Females, trace the matrilineal line (DNA passed from mother to daughters and sons) by taking a mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) test. In my case, I took the 23andMe (autosomal) test, did the Y-DNA test at Family Tree DNA and I uploaded my 23andMe (autosomal) results to both Family Tree DNA and GEDmatch (free). Where appropriate, contact persons on these and see if you can find your connections. If possible, have a parent take a DNA test on the same site you do. My mother took one at 23andMe, allowing me to now distinguish between maternal and paternal relatives.
- In ALL of this, DOCUMENT. Don't just write names of persons on the back of photographs, but keep notes, file emails meticulously, keep good track of sources and to which part of your ancestry they apply. And keep a back up of your information, whether that involves emails, hard copies, document imaging and digitizing photographs, back up drives, monthly or annual burn to CD or DVD, and/or multiple aforementioned methods.
- Finally, keep your data in a centralized place: a filing cabinet, a binder, a database, a website, etc., so you can easily maintain and keep track of it.
Hope this helps and happy searching!
Chromosomal Browsing and Triangulation
June 2018 Update by James "Jamie" Arthur Johnson
Use chromosomal browsing and triangulation. They allow me to see what genetic information (overlapping chromosomal segments) I share with my matches. And if I know the common ancestors of the match as well as myself, then other DNA cousins who have overlapping segments can be assumed to have the same common ancestors or share ancestry via those ancestors (such as when a DNA match and I share my great-great grandparents as ancestors and another DNA match and I share great-great-great grandparents). That is why it is called triangulation because two persons know the shared ancestry and a third does not, but is brought into the triangle, so to speak. Multiple DNA sites allow chromosomal browsing. Here's another more specific example: say my mother's DNA is on the same site as mine so I can tell who is related to me through my mother. Say I browse the chromosome of a maternal DNA cousin John Doe and we match on chromosome 1 with overlapping segments 18,417,427 to 27,592,940. Now say I find another match in maternal DNA cousin Jane Smith who matches me on chromosome 1 with overlapping segments 18,493,076 to 22,564,305. This means an overlap!
There are 5 conditions I test (for which I wrote a formula for in a spreadsheet) to determine if John Doe and Jane Smith have overlapping chromosomal segments (and I know they overlap with me because they are among my matches):
- Jane's segment range straddles the John's lower number.
- Jane's segment range straddles the John's higher number.
- Jane's segment range is within the range of John's.
- Jane's segment range envelops the range of John.
- Jane has a segment in the exact location as John, such as if they have the same starting number, same ending number or the same range, the last of which may mean being related as closely as siblings.
In John and Jane's case mentioned, the third condition is satisfied. Jane's range is within John's range. Do note that I am assuming they are related to me on the same side (i.e., maternal exclusively or paternal exclusively).
If I am estimated to be 4th cousins to both Jane and John, then we may share the same great-great-great grandparents; i.e., have common ancestors 5 generations back. However, what if I am John's 2nd cousin and Jane is estimated to be my 4th cousin? This would mean that Jane and I would be related via one of the lines in the ancestry of John's and my common ancestors. So, in this case, John and I would have shared great grandparents. Since, in this case, I am only looking at my maternal side, this narrows it down to four people (instead of 8). So, I would look at the ancestry of each of those four people and go back a couple generations on each one to see if I can find a connection with Jane. This is how chromosomal browsing and triangulation can help. It narrows down the possibilities of how a DNA cousin and I are related. Mastering these methods can be very helpful to you. They open the door to have additional tools beyond surnames, records and documentation.
Suggestions from others:
Philip Shaddock of Shattock Shattuck Shaddock Shaddick Shadduck DNA Group suggests the following:
Dorie Leland and Rene Dorsey, members of North Carolina Genealogy, offer these guidelines in being honest with the past and history:
Sherri Mora Bass, member of North Carolina Genealogy, suggests the following:
Professional genealogist Kimberly Powell offers suggestions in her article 50 Questions to Ask Relatives About Your Family History.
WikiTree pondered this question: What tips do you have for interviewing relatives? And searchers offered their tips.
Shannon Christmas of the blog Through the Trees, in his article "Realizing The Illusion: Communicating With Long Lost Relatives", suggests proven strategies for connecting with DNA relatives.
Charity Rouse, genealogist, addresses the question, "Why do I geek genealogy?" - a 2012 presentation, and offers various ideas for researching genealogy.
to the following pages: The Family of William H. and Carolyn Fisher Johnson, Descendants of Otto Woodrow Fisher and Hazel Jane (Eckard) Fisher, Ancestry of Hazel Jane Eckard Fisher, Fisher/Nash Ancestry, Charles Florence Fisher Ancestry, Stover/Supinger/Pifer/Funkhouser Ancestry, Waggy/Kiser/DeFrain Ancestry, William H. Johnson Ancestry - Bisher/Morris/Johnson/Kearns, Kearns (Keerans) and Ivey (Ivy) Ancestry, Hill/Cranford/Surratt/Kearns Ancestry and The Early Johnsons. Modified the interface on the home page to not show legendary and unverified names by default in the ancestral surnames listing. Through exploring my mother's DNA, I found that my 0.1% "Unassigned" DNA is from my mother's DNA having 0.6% Sub-Saharan/West African (as my father's DNA is 100% European and mother's is 99.4% European and mine 99.9% European). Continuing research Smith Ancestry with Karl Kiser. Added a page featuring the children of John Smith (d. 1838) at Karl's suggestion to help other Smith researchers. In the research, confirmed that my maternal Smith ancestors were Germanic originally with the surname Schmidt. Clarifying sources on various pages and adding those listed on the home page to respective pages where applicable. Researched Bowman ancestry, discovering Christian Bowman of Germanic descent as my ancestor who lived near Strasburg, VA. Reviewed Walter L. Eye's books on Eckards and Simmons to clean up those pages with help from their corresponding books. Revisited the alleged early De Skene ancestry as I read through Memorials of Family of Skene of Skene, from the family papers, with other illustrative documents by William Forbes Skene. Found and read the Probate Document for Rev. Micajah Hill, Jr., which reveals that Rev. Micajah Hill, Jr., and his wife Sarah are the parents of Jesse B. Hill! Set up Jamie's Toolbox under the home page's helpful links. By researching with Susan Ford, a distant cousin through the Funkhousers, I found more information about Abraham Funkhouser, Sr., as well as his sister-in-law Barabara (Layman/Lehman) Funkhouser, including her Baughman ancestry.
So, who's in the background image on this page, the Generations page, the Testimonials page and the home page? The background shows pictures featuring ancestors:
- Top Row: My father Bill Johnson at age 10, the baby book of my mother Carolyn F. Johnson, a picture from Stony Run (WV) School 1920-1921 featuring my grandmother Hazel Eckard Fisher as a schoolgirl in the center of the front row in a dark dress.
- Second Row: My mother Carolyn Fisher Johnson as a child, my great grandparents Norman and Julia (Morris) Johnson, another childhood picture of my mother.
- Third Row: My father with his sisters Hilda Mack Cranford and Jerrie Johnson Lomax and with his mother Gertrude Hill Johnson, a picture of the 1897 Johnson family reunion, a picture of my mother Carolyn Fisher Johnson when being caught in escape by her mother Hazel Eckard Fisher.
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