Searching for Heritage

In a previous post , I outlined most of the known historical records tracing several seemingly unrelated Weems family lines through Virginia, the Carolinas, and Tennessee during the middle to late 1700s. Although many internet sources have mistakenly combined or confused these separate lines, a close examination of the available records will hopefully clear up any further misunderstanding. These next posts will dive deeper specifically into the family of Thomas Weems and Eleanor Jacobs of Augusta County, VA and later Abbeville, SC. (Note: I have seen Eleanor's first name spelled Eleanor, Ellenor, Elinor, and Ellinore. Variations of her last name include Jacobs, Jacoby, Jacobse, and Jacob. I tend to use Eleanor Jacobs for consistency, but to my knowledge there is not necessarily one correct or incorrect spelling. Similarly, the Weems family used the spelling variations Weems, Weams, Weemes, Wims, and several others, all derived from the original Wemyss.) Notably, multiple Y-DNA test...

After my last post , I thought it might be useful to take an even closer look at some of Diana Muir's far-fetched claims about the Weems family history and journals. Although I intentionally tried to avoid getting sidetracked with irrelevant details, there is still plenty to expand upon regarding the exact circumstances of her alleged discovery of the journals, as well as the validity of her self-published research and long career as a professional genealogist. Not wanting to leave any stone unturned in my attempt to verify the journal story, I decided to reach out and get the opinions of a few experts in Greene County, Tennessee. If there was ever any chance these journals actually existed, there would hopefully be some kind of documentation, or even the vaguest memory of this "old trunk" being stored in a basement for over a century. After all, someone must have known enough about the journals to bring them to Diana's attention in 2005 when she mentio...

"I made up the list from my own imagination." - Diana Muir, then known as Diana Hanson, speaking to the FBI in 1983. Anyone who has spent a significant amount of time doing genealogical research will probably be aware of the persistent myths which tend to surround many American family histories - Cherokee princesses, undocumented Mayflower passengers, and other vague recollections supposedly passed down through the generations. If you could travel back in time, perhaps you might find small grains of truth here and there, but largely these stories turn out to be unprovable and are generally regarded as extremely unlikely by any serious genealogist or reputable historian. Occasionally, you will come across more fantastical tales of buried treasure and descent from royalty, or even Biblical patriarchs. It isn't uncommon to see hastily thrown together trees on genealogy websites showing relationships which are mathematically or geographically impossible. Because of this, ...