Autosomal DNA Results of an Abbeville Weems Descendant

 

Background:

When I first ordered a DNA test from Ancestry in 2017, one of my main goals was to learn more about my great-grandfather McDuffie Weams (1876 - 1943). He was the oldest of my great-grandparents by almost 20 years, and his background was always a bit of a family mystery. Supposedly, he was adopted as an orphaned child along with his brother by the Weams family, who lived near the town of Central in Pickens County, South Carolina. This simple explanation was basically all that was passed down about his family history, and it would turn out to be the beginning of a long, gradual process of filling in countless details through historical records and DNA evidence.

Early on in my research, I learned that this particular Weams family consisted of Andrew Weams (1800 - 1870) and his wife Martha Neal (1805 - 1885), who were married in 1834 in Pickens District, SC. They had four children born between 1835 and 1842: Thomas H. Weams, Margaret Jane Weams, John A. Weams, and Martha Adeline Weams. Their rural section of the old Pendleton District remained largely undeveloped until the mid-1870s, when the town of Central was established nearby around a railroad station.

Both Weams sons joined the Confederate Army and died in the Civil War, with Thomas H. Weams (1835 - 1863) being the only one to leave behind a child. The two Weams daughters apparently never married and continued to live with their parents. The father, Andrew, died in 1870. By the time my great-grandfather McDuffie was born in 1876, the family consisted of the elderly widow Martha Neal Weams (aka Patsy) and her two adult daughters Martha Adeline and Margaret Jane, with Nancy (the widow of Thomas) and her daughter Mary living nearby. There was also an older adopted boy named William Delaney who eventually took the Weams name.

It was clear that the Weams family didn’t have much money when McDuffie and his brother joined the household in the 1870s. The area was still recovering economically from the Civil War. Local newspapers show land sales due to delinquent property taxes, and they moved to live with another family in Knoxville, Tennessee for several years during McDuffie’s childhood. However, by the year 1900 McDuffie (age 24) and his brother Noah (age 23) were back in Central living with Adeline Weams, listed on the census as their aunt and head of the household, apparently the last living child of Andrew and Martha.

Based on the circumstances of his childhood, I long suspected that McDuffie and his brother were probably the biological children of one of the unwed Weams daughters, most likely Adeline’s sister Margaret Jane Weams (who went by “Jincy” according to the 1880 census). She must have died when McDuffie and Noah were children, leaving only their aunt to raise them. I hoped a DNA test from Ancestry would prove definitively whether there was an actual biological connection to the Weams family or not. I was well aware it could be a very long process and might not produce any useful results at all, but it could also be the only hope of learning more about how my great-grandfather came into the world.

Much like McDuffie himself, the origins of his presumed grandfather, the family patriarch Andrew Weams, were also a bit of a mystery. Andrew was born in Abbeville around 1800, according to the census and army enlistment records. Yet despite the best search efforts of myself and other researchers, there didn’t seem to be any record of his parents’ names. Unlike most of the Abbeville Weems family who moved to Georgia, Alabama, and further west throughout the early 1800s, Andrew was one of the few who remained in South Carolina, settling about 50 miles northwest of Abbeville.

I knew if there was any hope of breaking through these brick walls using DNA, I would also need to learn as much as possible about nearby Weems/Weams families using historical records. On the other hand, several siblings of Andrew’s wife Martha Neal were well-documented living nearby, which might prove to be another area of interest. Whatever the case, McDuffie's DNA only makes up roughly one eighth of my DNA, and if Andrew Weams was in fact his grandfather, he would only make up roughly 1/32 (~3%) of my DNA.

Interestingly, the only person ever referenced as a likely relative of Andrew was a Malinda Weams who married Andrew's brother-in-law John Neal in April 1834 in Pendleton District, just a few months before Andrew and Martha were married. Apparently, John and Malinda had a son named John B. Neal, but Malinda died in 1838 and John remarried shortly after. It is believed Malinda was likely a sister of Andrew, but this has never been proven. There were no other Weams/Weems families in Pickens County while Andrew was documented living there.

As I continuously researched the extended Abbeville Weems family and learned how much family history was lost or uncertain, I realized my situation wasn't entirely unique. Several Weems branches seemed to be missing a large portion of their family history, and DNA evidence might be a rare opportunity to prove or disprove certain connections. Even though historical records were severely lacking from the mid-1700s through the early 1800s, it occurred to me that it might eventually be possible to carefully reconstruct parts of the Weems family tree based on shared DNA amounts between certain descendants.

So without knowing exactly what to expect, I sent off my DNA to Ancestry, excited about the possibilities. I started with virtually no knowledge of the niche hobby known as "genetic genealogy", but that would quickly change. Over the last seven years, I've been continuously learning about my family history using DNA as one of the most valuable tools among many others, meticulously piecing together information which would otherwise be completely forgotten.

(Note: I always use the spelling Weams when referring to Andrew and his descendants. Other spellings used were Weems, Wimes, Wymes, and Wimbs, but it appears my family settled on the Weams spelling by the late 1800s. My great-grandfather McDuffie and his descendants always used the Weams spelling.)

1840 US Federal Census - Pickens District, SC (Andrew Wimbs Household)

1850 US Federal Census - Pickens County, SC (Andrew Weams Household)

1860 US Federal Census - Pickens County, SC (Andrew Wymes Household)

1870 US Federal Census - Pickens County, SC (Widow Martha Weems Household)

1880 US Federal Census - Pickens County, SC (Widow Patsy Weems Household)

1900 US Federal Census - Pickens County, SC (Adline Weams Household)

Results:

When my DNA results first came back, it was a painfully slow process sorting through my distant matches to determine how they were related. However, in the first few months I did find a small handful of distant matches who appeared to have a connection to the Weams family of Central, SC through the only daughter of Thomas H. Weams (who died in the Civil War). This was a strong clue that McDuffie's biological mother was in fact one of Thomas' sisters, but I didn't want to jump to any conclusions right away. At the same time, I also began to identify matches from a nearby family who might be related on McDuffie's paternal side.

There was a slight problem though - a large number of ancestors on my mom’s side also lived in the area at the time, so it wasn’t clear exactly how all of my matches were related to me. This was long before Ancestry users had the ability to distinguish between paternal and maternal matches, and having ancestors on both sides of my tree who lived within a few census pages of each other for several decades was a major issue I would need to overcome. I eventually got my dad to submit his DNA, which would hopefully provide some slightly better matches, since he is one generation closer. Not only this, but I knew my paternal grandfather was fully Italian, so it would be relatively easy to identify which matches were on my dad’s mom’s side (the daughter of McDuffie Weams).

Once my dad's results came back, I gradually began to analyze his matches, searching for any connection to the Weams family of Pickens County, or any other Weams/Weems families from upstate South Carolina. I also uploaded his DNA to several other websites (FamilyTreeDNA, MyHeritage, and GEDmatch) in order to maximize the number of matches. From this point on, any DNA matches and cM amounts discussed here are in reference to my dad’s DNA kit, unless otherwise noted.

To date, I have found 15 DNA matches (8 - 45 cM) who are descendants of Andrew Weams and Martha Neal’s son Thomas H. Weams, through his only surviving child Mary Clarissa Weams Hollingsworth (1860 - 1940). By themselves, these matches from a sibling of McDuffie's theorized mother (Margaret Jane "Jincy" Weems), show with a high degree of confidence that he was not simply adopted by the Weams family. The genetic relationships are clearly there, and as far as I can tell, can only be explained if McDuffie was the child of one of the unwed Weams daughters.

But what about McDuffie's grandfather Andrew Weams? For the first few years, most of the Abbeville Weems matches I found seemed to come from two groups: descendants of George Weems (1750-1826) and descendants of Rachel Weems Lawrence (1763 - 1848). This was interesting because both of these families were living in Pendleton District, SC by 1790, in an area which eventually became Pickens County, where Andrew Weams and his descendants lived from at least the mid-1830s through the early 1900s. There is no clear evidence that any other Abbeville Weems branches lived in Pendleton/Pickens, with most appearing to move directly from Abbeville to Georgia, Alabama, or farther west.

For a long time, I was fairly confident that Andrew must have been a grandson of George Weems and Jean Green, based on the numerous DNA matches, ages, and locations. Fortunately, this branch of the Weems family is one of the most well-documented, thanks to the surviving family Bible records of their youngest child, Isabell Weems Ward. Since Andrew was not listed as a child of George and Jean in these records, I assumed he was probably a grandchild. Andrew was born no later than 1800, which would rule out George and Jean's younger children as possible parents, leaving only their three oldest children (born in 1778, 1780, and 1783).

I have been unable to find much information on the oldest daughter Margaret (born in 1778), whether she was married or had any children. The oldest son Thomas (born in 1780) was married to Mary Ruth Liddell and their oldest known child Rutha was born in 1804, with at least 8 more children born by 1825. According to census records, Thomas did not have a son in his household old enough to be Andrew. The second son John (born in 1783) would only have been about 17 when Andrew was born, although according to the census, he did have 3 sons born before 1810. Also according to the 1810 census, George and Jean had a male in their household in the right age range to be Andrew, after the two oldest sons had moved out and were living separately. This might indicate a grandson from an unwed daughter (Margaret?), although it's difficult to say without further details.

Alternatively, I also considered that Andrew might be a half brother or nephew of Rachel Weems Lawrence (1763 - 1848) who settled with her husband Benjamin Lawrence in Pendleton District near the present day towns of Central and Clemson, within a few miles of Andrew. Living so close for several decades, Rachel and her children (who were slightly older than Andrew) would have certainly known Andrew and his family. In my previous post, I speculated that Rachel was most likely a daughter of James Weems, one of the older children of Thomas and Eleanor. This would make Andrew either a son of James from a later marriage (possibly Jane Wright), or a grandson through a sibling of Rachel. I always considered this scenario less likely than the above (George Weems), but it is interesting that out of all the Weems DNA matches, many of the closer ones are descendants of Rachel.

Gradually, more and more Weems matches trickled in over the next few years, many from the same two branches, but also from the descendants of Henry Weems, Bartholomew Weems, William Weems, Thomas Weems Jr, and a large number of unidentified Weems lines from the next few generations down.

I also started to notice another group of DNA matches who appeared to have a possible connection to the Weems family. All of them were descendants of an Asa W. Burt (1784 - 1867) and his wife Mary Mims (1780 - 1831) who lived in Abbeville in the early 1800s. After Mary died, Asa remarried and moved to Winston County, Mississippi. However, all of these DNA matches are descendants of children from his first marriage to Mary Mims. All of them have at least a few Weems matches in common with my dad.

Upon further research, I realized that Asa W. Burt lived next door to Henry Weems in Abbeville, according to the 1810 census. His father John Burt also lived nearby. Not only that, but Asa (or "Acie" as he was sometimes referred to) was listed as purchasing several items from the estate of Henry Weems after he died in 1814.

1810 US Federal Census - Abbeville County, SC (Asa Burt and Henry Weams)

Henry Weems Probate Record (FamilySearch)

At some point, it occurred to me that perhaps Mary's maiden name "Mims” was actually an erroneous transcription of Wims or Weems. I searched for more evidence to back up this theory, and eventually found Asa Burt’s War of 1812 pension application file. It mentioned Mary’s maiden name several times, using both the Weems and Wims spellings, and confirmed my theory. Even though internet family trees and other sources all list her maiden name as Mims, and some even misidentify a Mims family from another part of South Carolina as Mary’s parents, this turned out to be an obvious error.

Asa Burt - War of 1812 Pension Files (Fold3)

Based on these records and DNA evidence, it is clear that Asa W. Burt’s first wife Mary was a descendant of the Abbeville Weems family, most likely a daughter of Henry Weems, son of Thomas Weems and Eleanor Jacobs.

I also discovered a smaller cluster of matches who are descendants of a Davis Allen Bridges (1828 - 1904) and his first wife Mahala Gordy (1820 - 1880) who lived in Holmes and Yazoo Counties, Mississippi in very close proximity to a John Weems and a James Weems, who I believe were sons of Henry Weems Jr. of Abbeville. They share numerous Weems and Burt descendants in common with my dad, and don't appear connected to any other branches of his family tree.

These matches lead me to believe there must be some relation between this Bridges family of Mississippi and the Abbeville Weems family, but so far I have not found any records to directly support this. I haven't found any reliable source for Mahala's maiden name being Gordy, and her parents are therefore a bit of a mystery. Many internet sources list Mahala's parents as William Gordy and Anna Griggs, who upon further investigation did appear to have a daughter named Mahala. However, multiple records make it clear that this Mahala Gordy married John B. Usry (or Usery), and there is no evidence that this Gordy family lived in close proximity to the Bridges family. This makes me strongly question how the name Gordy came to be associated with Mahala Bridges, and propose that her maiden name may have actually been Weems. This would make Mahala a likely daughter of Henry Weems Jr. and Hannah Conn, which lines up with Mahala living next to their sons.

(Note: Davis Allen Bridges appears twice on the 1850 Census, either due to county lines changing or moving.)

1850 US Federal Census - Yazoo County, MS (Davis Bridges and John Weems)

1850 US Federal Census - Holmes County, MS (Davis Bridges and James Weems)

Throughout this process, I noticed a few matches mixed in with Weems descendants who didn't appear to have a connection, but did have ancestors from many of the same locations and seemed to be closely related. This puzzled me for several years, until I finally noticed the common thread of the last name "Guthrie" somewhere in their tree. This led me to realize they were all descendants of a Francis Guthrie and Catherine Weems who were married in Jasper County, Georgia in 1815. Although Catherine's parent's are not known for certain, it is believed she was probably a granddaughter of Bartholomew Weems and Margaret Rosamond. Interestingly, one of my highest Weems matches (47 cM) is a descendant of this group.

Similarly, there are several descendants of families with the last name "Blackburn" who lived in Georgia during the early 1800s mixed in with Weems matches. These matches are all likely descended from the extended Blackburn family who lived in Abbeville during the late 1700s, but I haven't been able to establish a definitive connection for all of them yet. Blackburn families lived next door to several Weems households in Abbeville, as well as my ancestor Andrew Weams in Pickens County, which suggests a possible relation.

In particular, there was a Thomas Blackburn who died in Pickens District, SC in 1833, leaving behind a wife and several children. The lineages of most of his children are fairly well-documented, but one of his known sons, William Blackburn, seems to have evaded researchers. Interestingly, most of my Blackburn matches are descendants of a William Jackson Blackburn who was born in SC, but lived most of his life in Stewart, Colquitt, and Mitchell Counties in southwestern Georgia. I suspect this William Blackburn might have been the son of Thomas Blackburn of Abbeville and Pickens, SC. Based on these matches, I also suspect either Thomas Blackburn's wife or mother was a Weems, possibly a daughter or granddaughter of Henry Weems. (I'm basing this on the fact that many of these matches have numerous descendants of the Asa Burt branch as shared matches, and less from other Weems branches.)

1835 Pickens District, SC Deed (FamilySearch) (Mentions heirs of Thomas Blackburn, deceased)

Some online sources on the Lawrence family (Benjamin Lawrence, husband of Rachel Weems mentioned above) have claimed that Benjamin's brother John Lawrence (1746 - 1824) was also married to a woman with the maiden name Weems, perhaps a sister of Rachel. This would be yet another example of Weems siblings marrying siblings. Although I have been unable to find any documentation for this, there are at least 9 DNA matches (13 - 18 cM) who are descendants of this John Lawrence. Several of them share Weems and Burt descendants in common with my dad, leading me to believe there might be some truth to the Weems marriage. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any record of the name of John Lawrence's wife.

In total, I eventually identified over 250 DNA matches who are known descendants (or very likely descendants) of the larger Abbeville Weems family (Thomas Weems and Eleanor Jacobs).

Broken down into groups based on the known children of Thomas and Eleanor, these include:

54 descendants of George Weems and Jean Green (8 - 36 cM)
    32 descendants of Thomas Weems and Mary Ruth Liddell
    8 descendants of Robert Weems and Hannah Sheffield
    7 descendants of Jane Weems and William McGuire
    7 descendants of Isabell Weems and John Ward

45 descendants of Henry Weems (8 - 31 cM)
    30 descendants of Thomas Weems and Martha Calhoun
    9 descendants of Isabella Cynthia Weems and David Hamilton
    6 descendants of Eleanor Weems and James Stevenson

18 descendants of William Weems and Emily (6 - 20 cM)
    18 descendants of William Weems Jr and Martha

17 descendants of Bartholomew Weems and Margaret Rosamond (7 - 32 cM)
    10 descendants of John Weems and Margaret Stephenson
    2 descendants of Bartholomew Weems and Catherine Jones
    2 descendants of Samuel Weems and Mary Stephenson
    1 descendant of Isabella Weems and Robert Keown
    1 descendant of James Weems and Agnes Gray

6 descendants of Thomas Weems Jr and Elizabeth (8 - 22 cM)
    4 descendants of Moses Weems
    2 descendants of Elinor Weems and John Tippens

3 descendants of Isabella Weems and James Lockridge (10 - 24‎ cM)
    2 descendants of James Lockridge and Ann
    1 descendant of Andrew Lockridge and Jean Graham

Additionally, a large number of matches come from several branches with unidentified parentage, but are almost certainly grandchildren or great-grandchildren of Thomas and Eleanor.

These include:

47 descendants of Mary Weems and Asa Burt (8 - 34 cM)
(Mary was most likely a daughter of Henry Weems. See above.)
    34 descendants of William Alexander Burt and Carrie Elizabeth Holt
    9 descendants of Thomas Jefferson Burt and Printhia Green
    4 descendants of Susana Hannah Burt and Wade Holt

43 descendants of Rachel Weems and Benjamin Lawrence (8 - 28 cM)
(Rachel was most likely a daughter of James Weems. See previous post.)
    24 descendants of Sarah Lawrence and William Speed
    15 descendants of Elisha Lawrence and Martha Craig
    4 descendants of James Lawrence and Isabella Reid

12 descendants of Catherine Weems and Francis Guthrie (8 - 47 cM)
(Catherine was most likely a granddaughter of Bartholomew Weems. See above.)
    6 descendants of John W Guthrie and Mary Hopkins
    6 descendants of Eliza Ann Guthrie and Erick Leggit Houston

10 descendants of John Lawrence, brother of Benjamin Lawrence (13 - 18 cM)
(John may have been married to a Weems descendant. See above.)
    9 descendants of Joab Lawrence and Elizabeth Steed
    1 descendant of Elisha Lawrence and Elizabeth Potters

10 possible descendants of Thomas Blackburn (10 - 23 cM)
    8 descendants of William Jackson Blackburn
    2 descendants of George Washington Blackburn

7 descendants of Mahala (Weems?) and Davis Allen Bridges (16 - 24 cM)
(Mahala may have been a daughter of Henry Weems Jr and Hannah Conn. See above.)

8 descendants of miscellaneous unidentified Georgia/Alabama Weems lines (8 - 21 cM)
    5 descendants of James William Weems and Rachel Ward
    2 descendants of James J Weems and Nancy Gregory
    1 descendant of John Lafayette Weems and Lavenia Owens

Beyond the Abbeville Weems family, I have also found several descendants of the Greene County, TN Weems family:

14 descendants of John Weems and Catherine of Greene County, TN (8 - 20 cM)
    5 descendants of John Weems Jr and Sarah Jones
    5 descendants of James Weems and Hannah Yeates
    3 descendants of Sarah Weems and Daniel Dugger
    1 descendant of Nancy Agnes Weems and John Young

This list is the result of over five years of analyzing and sorting my dad's DNA matches, with over half of these matches identified in the last year. The vast majority of them share at least one or (in most cases) numerous other Weems matches in common with my dad, meaning they form several “clusters” of matches. It’s possible some of the more distant matches might be considered outliers or false matches who are actually related in other ways, but I am fairly confident that virtually all of them are genuine Abbeville Weems matches, related through my great-grandfather McDuffie Weams and his grandfather Andrew Weams.

The majority of these matches come from branches which are relatively well documented, while others presented a challenge and would eventually reveal themselves as likely coming from branches which to some degree have been overlooked by genealogists in recent decades. Although identifying these Weems descendants wasn't as quick or straightforward as I initially hoped, through very careful analysis, a clearer picture has started to emerge.

When interpreting these results, one of the biggest questions to keep in mind is how much shared DNA indicates a closer relationship, and how much is simply due to random chance. It is important not to put too much weight into one match's individual shared cM amount, but rather pay close attention to general trends and average amounts of multiple individuals within certain branches.

Settling on the Henry Weems Branch:

As you can see from the list above, when you combine the number of matches from known descendants of Henry Weems (45), with the number of matches from his likely daughter Mary Weems Burt (47), the total comes to 92 matches, far exceeding the total from the next largest group (54 descendants of George Weems and Jean Green). This doesn't include the 7 descendants of Mahala Bridges who I strongly suspect was a granddaughter of Henry, or the 10 possible descendants of Thomas Blackburn who I strongly suspect was married to a daughter of Henry.

Henry Weems (~1735 - 1814) was one of the younger sons of Thomas Weems and Eleanor Jacobs. He is believed to have had at least six daughters and at least three sons, although not all of them have been fully identified. It is possible Henry was married more than once, since there is a large range in the age of his children. His descendants spread out far and wide during the early 1800s, with one branch moving to Logan County, KY, others to Pike County, GA, Holmes County, MS, and White County, AR. Since Henry did not leave behind a will, most of the information about his children comes from his probate file and other more indirect sources.

If Andrew was in fact a descendant of Henry, he would either be one of Henry's youngest children, or alternatively a grandchild of Henry through one of his older children.

Although it is known that Henry had a son named Thomas, it is unclear whether this was the Thomas Weems who was born around 1788 and married to Martha Calhoun, or an older Thomas Weems who was born around 1772. The 1790 census shows Henry living next door to a Thomas Weems, separated from two other heads of household also named Thomas Weems. In the following decades, the 1800 and 1810 censuses both show a Thomas Weems, born in the late 1760s or early 1770s, still living in Abbeville, which would seemingly line up with the age of Henry's presumed son.

1790 US Federal Census - Abbeville District, SC (Henry Weems)

1800 US Federal Census - Abbeville District, SC (Henry Weems)

1810 US Federal Census - Abbeville District, SC (Henry Weams)

Also, Army Enlistment records show a Thomas Weems, age 40, enlisting in Abbeville on May 12, 1814. Later that year, Henry Weems Jr. enlisted on November 4, and my Andrew Weams enlisted on November 7. Both Andrew and Henry Jr. joined Captain William C. Taylor's Company. Both Thomas and Andrew served at Fort Hawkins in present-day Macon, GA before being discharged. Although the relationship between these three individuals is unclear, I am fairly confident that Andrew and Henry Jr. must have been either sons or half brothers of Thomas.

1814 US Army Enlistment - Thomas Weems (FamilySearch)

1814 US Army Enlistment - Henry Weems (FamilySearch)

1814 US Army Enlistment - Andrew Weams (FamilySearch)

Since my Andrew Weams named his oldest son Thomas H. Weams, I am leaning toward the theory that Andrew was the son of Thomas and therefore a grandson of Henry Weems Sr.

If this theory is correct, then the Thomas Weems born around 1788 who married Martha Calhoun and moved to White County, AR would have been either a grandson of Henry Weems Sr, or possibly from a different branch altogether (a nephew of Henry). However, even if I exclude this branch from the Henry Weems Sr descendants, I still have at least 62 DNA matches who are descendants of Henry through his other children.

Possible Deeper Connections:

As I explained above, these Weems DNA matches are divided into several clusters, most relatively small. One of the largest clusters, consisting of about ~20 Weems matches, also includes about 40 matches who I have not been able to identify as having any connection to the Weems family. From what I've seen, most of these matches don't have any connection to Abbeville, the Carolinas, or any location where the Weems family lived. However, I did recently start to notice a pattern and some common ancestors among these matches.

I realized two of these matches share a common ancestor from the early 1800s in New Jersey (surname Speer). This eventually grew to three matches who are 3rd - 4th cousins of each other. I then traced the family trees of their common ancestors back a few generations and started comparing this to the public family trees of other unidentified matches in the larger cluster. Soon, the list had grown to five total matches, all descendants of Dutch immigrants Gillis (or Giles) Jansen Mandeville (1626 - 1701) and his wife Elsje (or Eliza) Hendricks (1627 - 1701).

The fact that these five matches and a small handful of others all have a connection to the New York / New Jersey Dutch immigrant community leads me to theorize that they might be related through Eleanor Jacobs, the wife of Thomas Weems Senior. Eleanor was the daughter of Bartholomew Jacobs (1710 - 1754) and Eleanor Douglas (1676 - 1724). Bartholomew was a descendant of Dutch immigrants, and Eleanor may have also had some Dutch ancestry. This would mean that a significant portion (or possibly all) of the 30 - 40 cM of DNA shared between my dad and the matches in this cluster is actually Dutch DNA passed down from Eleanor through the generations of the Weems family.

Interestingly, I haven't been able to find any actual connection between these NY/NJ Dutch DNA matches and Eleanor's supposed parents Bartholomew Jacobs and Eleanor Douglas. Although I have spent a significant amount of time tracing the trees of these matches, I still can't explain how exactly they are related to the Weems family.

There was a Greene County, TN Weems descendant named John Mandville Weems (1856 - 1941), who was a 2x great grandson of John and Kitty Weems. Some internet sources claim his middle name Mandville or Mandeville was passed down from his grandfather John Weems (1794 - 1843) or even his great grandfather John Weems (1768 - 1811), although I have been unable to find any direct evidence for either of them having any middle name. However, if the name Mandeville can in fact be traced back to the 1700s in the Weems family, it could be a potentially noteworthy connection to these numerous Mandeville DNA matches.

Because I've spent countless hours searching for any other possible Weems connection among the matches in this cluster and found nothing, I suspect the Eleanor Jacobs / Dutch connection might be the only plausible explanation. This might suggest that the documented lineages of Eleanor's parents Bartholomew Jacobs and Eleanor Douglas could be incorrect. Admittedly, my knowledge of NY/NJ Dutch genealogy is lacking, but this has recently become a major area of interest due to these DNA matches. I can't help but think there must be something intriguing to uncover here.

Interesting Discoveries:

Also mixed in with the Weems DNA clusters are 9 matches (15 - 28 cM) who are descendants of Charles B. McFerren (1828 - 1865) and Archeissadella "Della" Thaw (1828 - 1906) who lived in Philadelphia, PA. All 9 of these matches share numerous Abbeville Weems matches with my dad and each other, so this is a very intriguing cluster. This would seem to suggest another possible connection going all the way back to the parents of Thomas Weems or Eleanor Jacobs in Pennsylvania, but that's difficult to confirm. It could also be a previously unknown connection in Abbeville or Pendleton District, considering there were several McFerrins living near the Weems households in Abbeville according to the 1790 - 1810 census.

I noticed that one Abbeville Weems descendant, Margaret Weems (1786 - 1860, granddaughter of Bartholomew Weems) was married to a William McFerrin (1787 - 1860). They had several children in Abbeville before moving to Mississippi, but this would NOT sufficiently explain the DNA connections between the McFerren/Thaw family in Philadelphia and the various branches of the Weems family in Abbeville. These Weems branches should have no blood relation to William McFerrin of Abbeville, so there must be another explanation for this.

Eventually I discovered one additional DNA match who is a descendant of Archeissadella "Della" Thaw's first cousin, William Thaw (1818 - 1889). This could potentially push the connection back to Della and William's grandparents Benjamin Thaw (1753 - 1826) and Hannah Engle (1756 - 1811). Unfortunately, the trail seems to go cold with Benjamin's parents John Thaw (1710 - 1795) and Mary Rees (1723 - 1794), but I am still exploring the ancestors of Hannah Engle. Perhaps I will have more to share on this in the future.

I'm also trying to sort out several matches with the last name Morrow in their tree, from Georgia and Tennessee, but likely tracing back to SC. Henry Weems of Abbeville had a daughter Sarah Weems (1785 - 1850) who was married to a William Morrow. This might explain these DNA matches, but unfortunately I'm having a difficult time tracing their descendants.

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Besides examining the DNA matches of my dad and I, I've also recently had the opportunity to view the DNA results of some other Weems descendants. I will make a followup post in the future to discuss what their DNA matches have revealed.

To be continued...