Uncle Don’s DNA

I received Uncle Don’s Ancestry DNA results back some time ago and have been going through his match list trying to find a connection to another Morris family in hopes of uncovering the parents of John Jacky Morris (Don’s 2^nd and my 3^rd great grandpa). I have sorted his paternal and maternal matches and am focusing on his paternal Morris matches.

His closest paternal matches are coming through his paternal grandmother’s Dennis line and his paternal great grandmother’s Williams line. Lots of matches showing that these descendants are serious about DNA testing for genealogy purposes. This means that more descendants from these lines have DNA tested than descendants of his Morris line. Very disappointing and I concluded that this means my extended Morris family is just not that interested in DNA testing for genealogy purposes.

The shared Morris matches were almost all descendants of John Jacky and Amelia Morris, even down to 15 cM shared. I concluded this to mean that descendants of John Jacky and Amelia Morris are quite serious about DNA testing and are trying to uncover the parentage of this couple. Unfortunately, it also shows that those people who descend from previous generations are not too interested in DNA testing for genealogical purposes. But, all is not lost. See my analysis at the end of this post. 

I did go to Gedmatch and run Don's DNA data through the “Are your parents related” tool and that told me that there are no shared DNA segments found and that his parents are not related in recent generations. That was a plus for me and it made it easier to separate his matches through each of his grandparents’ lines.

My own DNA is quite an interesting mess since my parents share DNA on chromosomes 1, 4, 8, 16, and 22 (shown below in the chart). My parents are related through three of their four grandparent lines. Their mothers are 1C and they are related on the Morris line with grandfathers being first cousins once removed. It was interesting though to see the shared DNA in my own results.

Uncle Don and I share 1699.1 cM (47.357 %) of autosomal DNA on chromosomes 1-18, 20 and 22 and 110.3 cM of X DNA. He is 100% my full uncle.

Diving into the DNA matches for Uncle Don on Ancestry I immediately recognized all his top matches as these people are already in my family tree. Uncle Don matches a lot more lines from John Jacky Morris than I do. Since John Jacky Morris is Uncle Don’s second great grandpa, I expected to see matches at the third cousin level (around 73 cM of shared DNA) and there are quite a lot of them. I was able to connect most of them but there were a few who had so little documentation I was not able to identify them. I found at least two who looked like they were adopted.

I moved on to the fourth cousin level (around 35 cM of shared DNA) and everything fell apart from there. The family trees at this level (most had not even bothered with a family tree) connected their Morris lines to John Haton Morris of Anson and Montgomery counties, North Carolina, John Morris of Kanawha, West Virginia, or Edward Morris of Richmond County, Virginia with absolutely zero documentation and I concluded that these people were simply guessing at their ancestry and copying from other family trees who also guessed at their ancestry rather than doing the genealogy to connect a paper trail. I will have to research and build family trees for these people to see if I can figure out who their Morris ancestor really was.

John Haton Morris YDNA line has his male descendants in FTDNA Morris Group M02. Not a YDNA match to Uncle Don who is in Group M29. These are different Morris families.

John Morris of Kanawha, West Virginia has long been attributed as John Jacky Morris but doing the genealogy for Kanawha John Morris shows he lived and died in West Virginia and married a woman named Jane Jordan. 

Edward Morris of Richmond County, Virginia has his male descendants in FTDNA Morris Group M04. Not a YDNA match to my Morris line who is in Group M29.

I reached out to a trusted genealogist for a second opinion on my work and he concluded the same thing as I had. We never found an example of a "match descended from the same external Morris family as you would expect if you had found a source for the shared DNA in a Virginia Morris family.” The few who have DNA tested just “don't seem to share enough of the same segments." Or it could be that the "DNA there reflects John's mother's line or his wife Amelia's line or Amelia's mother's line." Nevertheless, if that is the case, we also "didn't see another lineage that kept popping up among cluster members that would possibly suggest where to look for those shared distant-line ancestors and the Morris's who married them."

What we did find were multiple descendants of a Nichols family that harks back to early Montgomery County and of a Vowel family which came from Mecklenburg County, Virginia to Granville County, North Carolina. This could be an indicator of Amelia's origins or of John Morris's mother's origins. Clearly these are two families that need to be investigated for any Morris connections.

The Vowel matches are very "strong at such a generational remove," and they "predate the second-great-grandparents and yet there are matches in excess of 100 cM" making me think that John Jacky Morris and his wife Amelia are related! That is an exciting possibility! 

This is the same Vowel family that I wrote about in the post Eusebius. That Vowel family is related to the Wynn (Winn) family who became guardian of a 10 year old boy named John Morris in Mecklenburg County, Virginia in 1795. It just so happens that John Jacky Morris would have been about 10 years old in 1795.

I have 12 (10 really as 2 descend from #6, meaning it is the same DNA) DNA matches to this Vowel family through 4 children of William Vowel and his wife Martha (called Milly). Match #6 shown in the family tree below shares 105 cM with Uncle Don. An incredible amount of shared DNA since their relationship is so distant. This describes the phenomenon of pedigree collapse which occurs when you descend from the same ancestor through more than one family line, which results in having fewer distinct ancestors than would be expected in a perfectly branching family tree. 

Without a doubt, John Jacky Morris and/or his wife, Amelia, were related to William Vowel of Mecklenburg, County, Virginia.  

My second set of eyes fellow researcher noted that people who have “repeat ancestry along multiple lineages tend to produce genetic cousins that appear more closely related than they actually are.” Meaning there may have been some cousin marriages in the past.

Again, my fellow researcher and I concluded Uncle Don has one group of matches “dominated by Vowel's & Nichols which do not intersect with a separate group dominated by local Morris" and we asked the question “What if John Jacky's parents or Amelia's parents were first cousins—both Vowel descendants?” Or “what if John Jacky Morris and his wife Amelia were first cousins?" Would that generate enough DNA in descendants to show matches sharing more than 100 cM of DNA? You bet your DNA it would! 

My final analysis:

While I have not found any evidence within my Uncle Don's DNA to pinpoint to the Virginia origins of our Morris family, I did discover that either John Jacky Morris and his wife Amelia were closely related or one or both sets of their parents were!

Next steps:

Continue to research Vowel matches in Mecklenburg County, Virginia and Granville County, North Carolina and Nichols DNA matches in Montgomery County, North Carolina.

A very special thank you to Larry for the second set of eyes on my findings.

For mamajo…the soybeans could not stop us!

I recently had the privilege of taking a family member to see the grave of her third great grandfather, Thomas Cassel, who was a Revolutionary War soldier. He is buried in Stanly County, North Carolina at what was once known as Cassel Meeting House on a stretch of farmland now covered in soybean plants that we mustered the courage to cross to get to the cemetery.

A big thank you to the man who owns this land who allowed us to see the cemetery.

The Cassel Meeting House was an early Methodist church in Montgomery (now Stanly) County, North Carolina that was in existence before 1822. The cemetery associated with it is still known as the Cassel Meeting House Cemetery (also known as the Larkin Almond cemetery) and is in a field near the intersection of Half Mile Rd and McSwain Rd, southwest of Albemarle, and contains both marked and unmarked graves. The historical cemetery contains around 50-60 graves and is associated with the church.

The original Church was called Cassel Methodist Meeting House and was one of the first Methodist churches established in Montgomery (now Stanly) County, North Carolina.

In 1824, Lockey Simmons, a county surveyor, surveyed a 100-acre tract of land for Joseph Burleyson on the Southwest side of the Pee Dee River on the waters of Bear Creek of Long Creek one hundred yards from Cassels Meeting House.

Thomas Cassel, most likely the founder of Cassels Meeting House, and a Revolutionary War soldier who was wounded in his arm by the stroke of a sword, probably at the Battle of Monmouth (New Jersey) on 28 Jun 1778 while serving under General George Washington, is buried here.

Thomas Cassel filed for a Revolutionary War pension in 1825 in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. He claimed he was a resident of Montgomery County, North Carolina. He enlisted a short time after the start of the war while living in Orange County, North Carolina in the first Regiment under Captain Roger Moore and Colonel Archibald Little with a man named Powel Riggins (husband of Ruth Trice, died in 1806 Orange County).

Thomas states in his pension claim that he fought in the battels of White Plains (1776) and Monmouth (1778).

The Battle of Monmouth was fought in Monmouth County, New Jersey and pitted roughly 5,000 American troops against some 10,000 British. The Battle was fought on 28 Jun 1778 when General George Washington’s Continental Army fought with the British Army commanded by General Sir Henry Clinton. Thomas Cassel was already a seasoned military Private who had enlisted two years previous and would make Corporal in Dec 1778.

The Continental’s had undergone extensive training in the “art of war” while encamped the previous winter at Valley Forge with George Washington. The 1st North Carolina Regiment entered Valley Forge with 1,412 men, 905 who were fit for duty. I am unsure if Thomas Cassel, a Private, was among them, but it is very possible.

General Charles Lee, a subordinate of General George Washington, launched the initial attack of the battle but failed to press forward resulting in Lee giving the upper hand to the British General Charles Lord Cornwallis who commanded the rear elements of Clinton’s army. Disaster afoot, General George Washington removed Lee from command and attempted to regain control of his panic-stricken troops. This incident later resulted in Lee’s court martial, and he never returned to the Army.

Washington gave command of Lee’s men to the Marquis de Lafayette who held most of those troops in reserve. Was Thomas Cassel one of those in reserves? He had been wounded in his arm by the stroke of a sword, but his pension file doesn’t state in what battle.

Washington placed General Nathaniel Green’s men on his right with General William Alexander “Lord” Stirling on his left.  With General “Mad” Anthony Wayne commanding the remainder of Lee’s forces on Lafayette’s front and artillery on both flanks, Washington was able to rain down fire on the British.

The American counterattack forced the British to fall back and reorganize with Cornwallis leading his men to attack General Greene’s division but failed to overtake them. The fighting kept up for several hours and by 6 PM Washington halted as he believed his men were fatigued by the heat; 37 has already died of heatstroke. The fighting stopped for the night with Washington holding the field at daybreak, but the British had slipped away under cover of darkness and resumed their trek to New York making this an inconclusive battle.

Thomas Cassel marched with the Army north and was discharged on 16 Jun 1779 at Fort Constitution on Kings River (Hudson River).

After his discharge, Thomas made the 550 miles trek home to Orange County, North Carolina (probably on foot) where in July 1785 he served as a chain carrier on a survey for a man named Claudius Bailey who had been granted land on New Hope Creek near Hardy Morgan, Daniel Booth and John Welmes.

Claudius Bailey looks to have moved to Greene County, Tennessee very early on. Most trees show him born in Ireland but Claudius, or at least one of his children, seems to have an interesting connection to the Dugger (Duggar) family of Brunswick County, Virginia.

Hardy Morgan is the son of Mark Morgan who helped start the University of North Carolina.

Daniel Booth is the son of Daniel Booth Sr. who has an interesting connection to a Caroline County Chancery suit. On 10 Nov 1753, James Trice was ordered to pay each of Daniel Boothe's children their share of their father's estate. Recall, Powell Riggins, who Thomas enlisted with, married Ruth Trice in Orange County, North Carolina.

John Wemles (could this be misspelled Nelms?): no other information found

Andrew Wemles, the other chain carrier: no other information found

By 1796 Thomas had made his way to Montgomery County, North Carolina where he is found with a land grant for 200 acres on the Southwest side of the Pee Dee River on the Root Lick Branch, waters of Little Bear Creek. Living next door is Robert Rowland who is shown with early land grants (he may have moved on to Morgan County, Alabama) and Mary Rowland.

At some point along the way and most likely after his Revolutionary War service, Thomas married and started a family, at least by 1788, so Thomas may have married in Orange County, North Carolina. In a 1934 letter found in the General Accounting Office in Washington, DC, P. D. Fallon responds that the pensioner (Thomas Cassel) died 31 Mar 1838 in Montgomery County, North Carolina where he had resided for 40 years (since 1798). That record shows that Thomas was survived by his children:

Catharine Burleyson, wife of Isaac Burleyson Jr, remained in Stanly County, dying there in the 1860s.

Edy Lowder, wife of Manual Lowder, remained in Stanly County, Manual died about 1847 and Edy after 1860 probably in Cabarrus County as she was living with her son there are that time. Their son Daniel Lowder (1833-1893) married Mary Ann Almond (1837-1915) and their son Robert Lowder (1865-1929) married Venice Furr (1869-1945) and their son Robert Lowder (1903-1954) married Juanita Smith (1919-2006).

James Cassel remained in Stanly County and married a lady named Priscilla as shown on the marriage record of son Daniel or Elizabeth as she is shown in the 1850 household of son, Daniel.

The remainder of Thomas’s children moved west and their whereabouts were unknown at the time of their father’s decease:

Sally Walker, wife of David Walker

William Cassel

John Cassel

Betsey Cassel, wife of Simeon Walker

Martha Barringer, wife of Richmond Barringer

All three of Thomas’s sons, James, John, and William had land grants in Montgomery (now Stanly) County near one another in the early 1800s.

On 4 Nov 1838, 8 months after Thomas died, Emanuel Lowder, husband of Thomas’s daughter, Edy, purchased the rights and interest of Richmond Barringer and his wife Martha (daughter of Thomas and sister of Edy) of Tennessee and John Cassel (son of Thomas and brother of Edy), and David Walker and his wife, Sarah, (daughter of Thomas Cassel and sister of Edy, Martha, and John) in the lands belonging to Thomas Cassel deceased.

I am still looking for information on John Cassel. He may have still been in Stanly County in the 1850s and 60s and married a woman named Delilah.

David Walker married Sarah Cassel, daughter of Thomas. In 1850, David and Sarah lived in District 15, Henry, Tennessee. David’s occupation, a farmer.

Richmond Barringer, the son of Paul Barringer, married Martha Cassel, a daughter of Thomas before 1826. The couple moved west before Thomas died and were already in Tennessee by 1826. A deed in Cabarrus County found that in 1826, Richmond Barringer of Henry County, Tennessee sold his interest in his father’s land on Little Buffalo Creek to John Peck. Richmond can be found in the counties Carroll, Henry, Obion, and Weakley, Tennessee from the 1820s. In 1850, he and Martha were living in District 14, Weakley, Tennessee. His occupation, a Wheelwright.

Simeon Walker, most likely the brother of David Walker, married Elizabeth Cassel, daughter of Thomas. It is through their son, Captain John Walker who died in 1923 in Obion County, Tennessee that I found that Simeon and Elizabeth made the trek west with David, Sarah, Richmond and Martha. Captain John Walker has listed as his parents, Simeon Walker and Elizabeth Cassell (Castle) both born in North Carolina, on his death certificate.

William Cassel, the son of Thomas, also left North Carolina but for Mississippi. A Newspaper article written in 1870 by S. N. Berryhill (and reposted in 1950) tells the story of William Cassel (Castles) who died 21 Jul 1870 in Bellefontaine, Mississippi, aged 82 years.

William was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Cassel (Castles) and was born in 1788 in Montgomery County, North Carolina (he might have been born in Orange County, North Carolina as Thomas per his pension file and land grants did not arrive in Montgomery County until about 1796-1798) and married Jane Burleson, daughter of Isaac Sr and Martha Burleson.

Soon after their marriage, William and Jane moved to Lancaster District, South Carolina but returned to Montgomery County (where they lived in 1830).

In 1834 William and Jane migrated to Choctaw County, Mississippi, where they remained the rest of their lives, raising 14 children.

William Cassel died 21 Jul 1870. His wife, Jane died 16 Jan 1879.  

 

 

A very special thank you to R. K. who reached out to collaborate with me and provide information on the Walker and Castle/Cassel line that went to Tennessee.