The
image above is from the will of William Edwards Sr. (1780-1855), dated November
14, 1855, Panola County, Mississippi. He had moved to Mississippi from Henry
County, Tennessee, around 1837. He left his wife, Margaret Edwards, five of his
33 slaves: LUCY, HARRIET, PETER, PRINCE, and JEFFERY (Source).
Prince Edwards (born c. 1830) is my mother’s paternal great grandfather. On the estate
inventory, Lucy was given a value of $0. A preponderance of evidence strongly
indicates that she was the mother of Harriet, Peter, Prince, and Jeffery, who
were named in the will, as well as additional children who were not named in the
will but were valued on the estate inventory. Based on oral history accounts
and genealogical evidence, the father of her children was Luke Edwards Sr., who was
born around 1790. According to my cousin, Dr. Jeffrey Ogbar, Luke was born in
West Africa and purchased by the Edwards from a slave ship that anchored in
Virginia. Additionally, family elders had written down that his true African
name was Ogba(r) Ogumba. Luke Sr. was valued at $150 on the estate inventory. With
these facts in mind, recent DNA and genealogical discoveries appear to shine a spotlight
on Grandma Lucy. And these observations and findings can’t be coincidental. Follow
the trail of DNA and genealogical clues.
OBSERVATION 1 (Genealogy): The Trail
Goes Back to Georgia
Comparing
the reported birthplaces in the censuses, I observed that several of Grandma
Lucy’s children (or someone) reported Georgia as their
mother’s birthplace. In particular, Luke Edwards Jr., who was probably the
oldest, or one of the oldest children, consistently reported Georgia as his
mother’s birthplace, per the 1880 and 1900 Panola County censuses. This is from
the 1880 census from ancestry.com:
Note: His father’s birthplace was reported in 1880 as “unknown.”
THEORY 1: Census data strongly
indicates that Grandma Lucy Edwards was born in Georgia, around 1797. Her
approximate birth year was based on a combination of the slave inventory of
William Edwards’ estate, taken on Dec. 15, 1855, where she was the only one who appraised
at $0, and the 1850 slave schedule, which indicates that the oldest enslaved
female who was owned by William Edwards in 1850 was 53 years old.
OBSERVATION 2 (Genealogy): More Leads to
Georgia
Although
the 1850 Panola County, Mississippi census reported that both William &
Margaret Edwards were born in North Carolina, the state of Georgia was reported
by their son, Dr. William Edwards Jr., (or someone) as his father’s birthplace, per the 1880
Attala County, Mississippi census. Shortly after the Civil War, he had moved to
Kosciusko, Mississippi. To add, in the 1850 census, William & Margaret’s
oldest son, Robert Edwards, was reported as being 40 years old and was born in
Tennessee. Both William & Margaret were born in 1780. This is from the 1880
census from ancestry.com:
THEORY 2: There had to be a
reason why Dr. William Edwards Jr. (or someone) reported Georgia as his father’s
birthplace. This indicates a likely presence in the state of Georgia at some
point. These findings suggest that William Edwards and/or his parents probably migrated
from North Carolina to Georgia after 1780, and then William and Margaret were
in Henry County, Tennessee by 1810, the approximate birth year of their oldest
child, Robert Edwards. Perhaps, William Edwards purchased or inherited Grandma Lucy
while he was in Georgia. (Unfortunately,
no information has been found so far about William and Margaret’s parents, as
well as their marriage record.)
OBSERVATION 3 (DNA): A Revealing DNA Match
Named Tracy
Using
the “People Who Match Both Kits” option in GEDmatch.com, I observed that Tracy’s
father shares a recognizable amount of DNA, ranging from 9 cM to 43 cM, with
descendants of Grandma Lucy Edwards, including my mother, her brother and
sister (great grandchildren of Prince
Edwards), and four of their Edwards cousins (1 great grandson and 3 great great grandchildren of Peter Edwards).
Utilizing GEDmatch’s chromosome browser, I observed that the DNA sharing is
across multiple chromosome segments with several of them. I also observed that everyone
matches on chromosome 19 on overlapping segments. See below. That means that
everyone descends from a common ancestor. Interestingly, Tracy shared that her
father and his family roots are from Floyd County (Rome), Georgia.
THEORY 3: This DNA match to
Tracy is the first DNA evidence indicating a definitive connection to the state
of Georgia, and it also suggests that Grandma Lucy had truly come from Georgia.
Based on the amount of DNA sharing with Tracy’s father, perhaps one of his ancestors
was Grandma Lucy’s sibling? I needed more evidence.
OBSERVATION 4 (Genealogy): Tracy’s
Paternal Family Tree Provides Clues
The
key to finding ancestral commonalities is by comparing family trees. Fortunately,
Tracy provided me with names of her father’s parents and grandparents. I was
able to take his family tree back several more generations. Most of his enslaved ancestors were transported
to Georgia after 1840 from North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. His only
ancestors who were in Georgia around 1800 and earlier, during the time frame
when Grandma Lucy was born, were his Ware ancestors. His third great
grandparents were Jordan & Lucinda Ware, both born c. 1815 in GA, according
to the 1870 Floyd County census.
Since
there were white Wares in Floyd County too, I also researched and observed that
the slave-owner might have been Edward Ware (1787-1861), who owned over 70 enslaved
people in 1860. His burial and a brief biography were found in Find-A-Grave. Edward Ware was born
in Amherst County, Virginia and had
moved to now Madison County, Georgia, near Danielsville, with his parents and
siblings sometime around 1790. After marrying Sarah Penn, the daughter of Wilson Penn, in 1821, they settled in
Floyd County. The Penn Family had also migrated from Amherst County, Virginia.
THEORY 4: Based on these
findings, I wondered if Grandma Lucy may have been connected to the Wares of
Georgia. I needed more evidence.
OBSERVATION 5 (DNA and Genealogy):
Another Revealing DNA Match Named Latricia
With
the previous theory in mind, I searched among my mother’s DNA matches in
AncestryDNA, to see if anymore DNA matches had a Ware in their family tree. I
found one, named Latricia, and her Wares were from Tallapoosa County, Alabama. Her mother only shares 9.4 cM with my mother. Her public family tree shows that her mother's great
great grandfather was named Clark Ware, who was born around 1820. Georgia was
consistently reported as his birthplace in the 1870, 1880, and 1900 censuses. I
also observed that there were numerous other black and white Wares in
Tallapoosa County, as well as in adjacent Chambers County. Many of them were
born in Georgia. Interestingly, another Jordan Ware, who was born around 1830
in Georgia, was also in the area. This can’t be coincidental. Even more
revealing, I clicked on “Shared Matches” and observed that Latricia's mother also shares
DNA with three Edwards cousins. That can’t be coincidental, too! Fortunately, I
soon realized that Latricia had also uploaded to GEDmatch. She shares DNA with
my mother and three Edwards cousins (two great
great grandchildren of Peter and one great great grandson of Grandpa Prince)
in the same area on their chromosome 17. See below.
I
researched further and learned that the slave-owning Ware family in that area
was headed by Philip Ware (1786-1853). He and his family had moved to Alabama
from Georgia around 1840. Yes, Madison County, Georgia! Per the 1850 Tallapoosa
County slave schedule, he and his son, Jonathan Ware, owned over 60 slaves. Born
in Amherst County, Virginia, Philip was a first cousin to Edward Ware of Floyd
County, Georgia. He had died in 1853, while visiting his sister in Madison
County, Georgia, according to Find-A-Grave.
THEORY 5: Latricia is likely related
via Grandma Lucy, and the roads seem to be leading back to the Wares of Madison
County, Georgia. Perhaps, this is where Grandma Lucy was born? Still, I needed and
desired more evidence.
OBSERVATION 6 (DNA): A
Third Revealing DNA Match, Mr. Payne
In
AncestryDNA, I observed that my mother shares DNA with another Ware descendant,
Mr. Payne, whose great grandmother, Lavada Ware, and her father, Richard Ware,
were from Tallapoosa County, Alabama. He shares 16.7 cM over 2 segments with my
mother. I clicked on “Shared Matches” and observed that Mr. Payne also matches
5 Edwards cousins! A famous quote states, “Once is chance, twice is coincidence, and a third time is a pattern.”
There’s a pattern!
OBSERVATION 7 (DNA): A Fourth Revealing
DNA Match Named Steven
GEDmatch’s
Tier 1 tool, called “Triangulation,” identifies and confirms triangulation
groups from your DNA matches. Tier 1 utility tools are only available to people
who donate at least $10. People in these triangulation groups all share a
common ancestor, since they share DNA in the same area on one or more of their
chromosomes. With this cool tool, GEDmatch placed a DNA match named Steven and
his mother in a group that contained them, my mother, and three Edwards cousins (1 great great grandson of Prince and 2
great great grandsons of Peter). Utilizing GEDmatch’s chromosome browser, I
observed that Steven matches everyone, as well as my mother’s first cousin
twice removed, on chromosome 17. Not only that, as shown below, he matches Latricia
in the same area (see observation 5).
Since
Steven’s GEDmatch number begins with an “A”, which means that he took the
AncestryDNA test, I looked for him among my mother’s DNA matches. I found him,
and fortunately, he had a public family tree. Since the connection is on his
mother’s side, I investigated his mother’s ancestors. His maternal grandfather
was from St. Mary’s County, Maryland. However, my eyes bucked when I observed
that his maternal grandmother and her family were from Nelson and Amherst County, Virginia! My eyes also
got even larger when I observed that one of his great great grandmothers was
named Gabriella PENN.
In
Observation 4 above, I explained
that the wife of Edward Ware, who owned a plantation in Floyd County, Georgia,
had married Wilson Penn’s daughter, Sarah Penn, before they moved from Madison
County to Floyd County in 1822. Like the Ware Family, Wilson Penn was also originally
from Amherst County, Virginia. He died in 1811, in a portion of Elbert County,
Georgia that became Madison County later that year. Fortunately, I found Wilson
Penn’s will and estate record on ancestry.com. In his will, he instructed his
wife and his executors to sell his land and estate for the benefit of his wife
and their children. An inventory of his estate, taken on Jan. 9, 1812, contained
the names and “value” of 13 enslaved people. One of them was named LUCY! She was “valued” at $400. Also,
one of the executors of his estate was Edward Ware.
Source: Ancestry.com.
Georgia, Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992 [database on-line]. Provo, UT,
USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
THEORY 6: I don’t know if this
was Grandma Lucy Edwards, but these findings open the gateway to further
research of Georgia records for confirmations. She may be my Lucy, or she may
be her mother, or she may be another family member, but the fact that there was
a “Lucy” among Wilson Penn’s slaves, considering the aforementioned DNA and
genealogical findings, renders this to be more than coincidental, in my opinion.
Conclusion:
These DNA and genealogical findings added more to the developing narrative of my
Edwards family history. This was made possible because multiple members of the
Edwards family have taken a DNA test and adhered to my recommendation of uploading
their raw data files to GEDmatch. Additionally, all of the aforementioned DNA
matches had a public family tree. As a result, we now know a little bit more
about Grandma Lucy’s likely origins in northern Georgia. We now know with much
certainty that our ancestral origins likely go back to the Amherst County,
Virginia area, and by a forced migration, one or both of Grandma Lucy’s parents
were likely taken to Madison County, Georgia, shortly before 1800. Somehow,
William Edwards gained possession of her, either by a purchase or maybe as an
inheritance, and she was transported to Henry County, Tennessee before 1817.
Then by 1837, when she was around 40 years old, William Edwards moved her, Grandpa
Luke Sr., and their children to Panola County, Mississippi, near Como. To add,
quite possibly one of Grandma Lucy’s ancestors was an African from the Malagasy
people of Madagascar. See Trekking
the Edwards DNA Trail Back to Madagascar. Yes, I love this DNA stuff!
Thanks for the ride-along on this journey. This is truly fascinating. I've learned so much from the blog and this blog post! Great research work. Congratulations!
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