Calvert County, Maryland – My Maryland-Louisiana Roots

Have We Met Before? Unknown Kinship Crossings!

I began genealogy research in 2000 starting with my husband’s ancestral roots in Matagorda and Wharton County, Texas. I quickly found that the Rivers branch of his family tree included a man born about 1840 by the name of Juan Rios. Juan and freed slave Eliza Moore had several children, who were born in either Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas or Matamoras, Mexico and were recorded on the 1860 U.S. Census living in Brownsville. Charlie Rivers and his siblings, Emily, Archie, Ben, Victor, John and Angela were listed on the 1870 Cameron County, U.S. Census with their mother Eliza Moore. Juan was not included in their household and or any 1870 U.S. Census record.

I wondered what had become of Juan. Charles Rivers was reported to have always told stories about his father being a Spanish soldier. So, I kept looking for Juan. I found him listed on the 1880 Cameron County, Texas census. He was listed as a ‘laborer’ on both the 1860 and 1880 U.S. Censuses. I have not yet found Juan on any census listing for 1900 but he was counted again on the 1910 Census in Brownsville. He was listed as a 76-year-old laborer and widower who worked odd jobs. I obtained Juan Rios’ death certificate. His son, Leonides Rios, was the informant for the death certificate information. He provided the names of Juan’s parents as Pedro Rios and Angela Lasas. He also reported Juan’s occupation as “retired soldier”. Juan’s military service appears to have been a highlight in his life. So much so that both sons, Leonides and Charlie, recounted his service when asked about him.

I obtained Juan’s Civil War pension application and discovered that there was a big controversy in substantiating Juan’s military service. Two men, both named Juan Rios, filed pension applications. Both men claimed to have enlisted while living in Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas. One of the men reported that he had been shipped to Franklin, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana where he fought in a couple of skirmishes. This was quite interesting because my ancestral roots are in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana. I joked with my then husband that maybe our ancestors had crossed paths way back then!! This Juan was later determined to have perhaps been an imposter whose actual name was Nabor Rios. Nabor’s family contested his story and said that he had never served in the military. The other man was deemed the true Juan Rios. His testimony was that he’d served as a scout for the Union troops in the Brownsville area and that he had never left Texas while in the Army. So, it seemed that my husband’s and my Louisiana family’s paths had not crossed.

I continued researching my husband’s family tree for the next fifteen years. In 2015 I began to focus on my own Louisiana familial roots. I joked that my husband’s Texas family and my Louisiana family might turn out to be related in some way or another through some distant shared kin. I still had the story about Nabor Rios on my mind.

I’ve recounted in my blog, how I stumbled on my Morgan-Gibson-Riggs roots on John Palfrey’s 1843 St Martin Parish, Louisiana probate and my Guy-Jenkins roots on David Weeks’ 1835 and 1846 St Mary Parish succession records. Research revealed that my Sam and Mima Riggs branches included grandchildren: Moses, William, Charles, Caroline and Sarah Woodlin. Sam, his son Sam and daughter Anna and her children were freed upon Palfrey’s death by his John Gorham Palfrey. Sam Riggs, Sr. elected to remain in Louisiana, but his newly freed grandchildren were shipped to Boston. I found them on the 1850 U.S. Census, living in Ontario County, New York. Additional research revealed that William P. and his brother Moses Woodlin both served in the Union Army during the Civil War. I received William P. Woodlin’s pension application and learned that although he enlisted in Pennsylvania’s 8^th Regiment, Co. G, his actual service was in Brownsville, Texas. He recounted in his pension application that he and fellow soldiers marched from Brazos-de-Santiago to Brownsville, Texas. So, I’d found a Louisiana ancestor, who by way of New York and Pennsylvania had found his way to Texas and may have crossed paths with Juan, Eliza or their children.

My niece Latrice and I visited Calvert County, Maryland in August 2023. While there we did the usual genealogy research stuff—looked up deed and marriage records and visited cemeteries and churches. We also received several research leads from Maryland natives: Beverly Foote and her sister Yvonne, David Buck and Michael Kent. One of those leads helped uncover William “Peter” Kent’s Civil War story. I am not directly related to Peter, but he was the grand-father-in-law of my 3rd great aunt Charity Gross. Charity was my 4^th great grandmother Charlotte Phillips’ daughter who she was forced to leave behind in Calvert County, MD. Seventeen-year-old Charlotte was shipped to New Orleans, Louisiana in 1851 aboard the Baroque Virginian.

I requested and received Peter’s Civil War pension file. The 100-page document was a very interesting and ‘entertaining’ read. Peter served in the US Colored Troops, 7^th Regiment that was present in several battles: Chaffin Farm, New Market Heights, the fall of Petersburg, Va and the surrender of Lee at Appomattox Courthouse. The 7^th was later shipped to Indianola, Texas. Indianola is in Calhoun County, a neighboring county to Matagorda County which is where my former husband’s family lived. Peter eventually travelled to Matagorda County where he met and later married Rhoda Woodkins. Albert Gantt testified for Peter’s pension application that he’d known Peter since boyhood and that his cousin Basil Kell had served in the 7^th Regiment with Peter and had witnessed Peter’s marriage to Rhoda in October 1865. Gantt recounted Basil Kell’s story of how both he Basil, and Peter both dated Rhoda and how Basil fell in love with her only to learn that she preferred Peter. Basil reportedly held a gun on Peter to ensure that he carried through with his marriage to Rhoda. Yes, a truly entertaining story!

In any case, Peter and Rhoda were married in St John’s Methodist Church in Matagorda County. The church is located in the town of Matagorda on a little peninsula in Palacios Bay. When I read that I thought, ‘hey I visited that church back in 2003’! My husband’ s 2nd great uncle Anthony Moore’s mother Hester had attended that church and sat in the ‘Colored’ section while a slave. His 3^rd great grandmother Missouri Hayes had lived within blocks of that church until 1889 or so. I don’t know if she or any of her children attended the church back in the 1860s, but they were definitely in the vicinity. I also don’t know if Peter was ever on the mainland of Matagorda, but he was in the vicinity.

Peter Kent and Missouri or her children: Isham, Sherman, Emily or Minnie Hayes may have crossed paths with Peter. Did they know one another, did they speak to each other or simply nod as they passed one another on the streets of Matagorda? Who knows?

I don’t know why I continue to be surprised as I find instances where family members paths have crossed throughout time. I would love to know if conversations or friendships, however brief, accompanied those path crossing encounters! I most likely will never know, but hopefully I’ll makeup a story and write it all out one day! Who knows?

Best,

P.S.

I obtained 75 more pages of Peter Kent’s military pension file and learned more information on his life before and after slavery. And out of the blue, just because, I got a message from an almost DNA cousin, Shelby Evans. I say almost cousins because she and my mother don’t share any DNA, but they match people who match each other. Shelby had obtained the pension file for her Calvert County ancestor who served in the Civil War and found Peter Kent’s name mentioned. I reviewed Peter’s pension file and noticed that her ancestor was a reference for Peter. So, she and I swapped pension files and didn’t have to pay the fee and then wait for 4 months. And while I thought the original story about Peter and Rhoda was crazy, the details in what Shelby provided were ‘chock-full-of-wows’. Who knew reading pension files could be so interesting??

Genealogy research uncovers so much unknown history. I learned that many Maryland slaves escaped and/or were taken aboard British ships during the War of 1812. Some were shipped to Caribbean Islands, some to Canada and others to Liberia. Who knew?

I learned that approximately 60 other Maryland enslaved men were freed and shipped to Texas during the Civil War. Peter Kent, Thomas Torney, Samuel Key and John Ross were all freed by Basil S. Dixon to serve in the Civil War. Dixon received a bounty of $300 for each man that enlisted. Each man received a ‘premium’ of $2. See Michael Kent’s book, Mulatto: The Black History of Calvert County.

Creating Lazarus Kits in Gedmatch

I created an account in Gedmatch.com early in my DNA genealogy research. In 2015 a 4th cousin match to my mother’s Ancestry DNA messaged me and asked that I create an account in Gedmatch. He did not detail the advantages of using Gedmatch but he periodically continued to ask. I could see that he and my mother shared 25cM of DNA. I didn’t know what a cM was or if a 25cM match was worth investigating. I finally did create an account and discovered that their match was on chromosome 11. I compared his DNA with my mother’s and saw the people who matched 1 or both kits. I was able to see his family tree, which was also in Ancestry.com. A unique tool in Gedmatch allowed me to see that some of the people that he and/or my mom matched, were not always matches to he and my mom. I then looked at some of these non-matches for my mother and found that some did match some of my mother’s other DNA cousins. Interesting right! That is the randomness of DNA inheritance.

In 2015 Ancestry had something called DNA circles to which everyone’s DNA was assigned. I never really got how the circle thing worked and pretty soon the circles were replaced with Parent 1, Parent 2 and Both Parents subgroups. I found this tool helpful. I’d figured out how a key DNA profile was connected to my mother’s DNA. She was in the Parent 1 subgroup and her 2nd great grandmother and my mother’s 3rd great grandmother were sisters. That person’s DNA was also in Gedmatch and my mother matched her on 8 chromosomes, 10 segments including 2 segments on the 23rd. So, the whole group thing worked for me. That is until I looked recently and saw that this person’s profile in Ancestry is now in the Unassigned group. What happened!!

Throughout my research using DNA tools, I have found that what begins as a trek through shared matches with profiles along my Parent 1 branches often mysteriously goes off track and lead to matches on my Parent 2 branches. So, how did this profile that I thought was concretely attached on my mother maternal Phillips line become Unassigned. Why was this key profile not placed in the ‘Both Parents’ subgroup?

I decided to try out the Gedmatch Lazarus Kit tool to try and replicate my mother’s parents DNA profiles. I used my mother, siblings and close family on my mom’s maternal and paternal side that were in Gedmatch. To create a robust Lazarus kit for each of her parents, I had to do 2-person kit comparisons to find enough DNA profile matches to meet the 1500cM threshold required by Gedmatch. When I compared my key Phillips’ matches DNA to my mother’s DNA in an attempt to fill out her mother’s Lazarus kit and other cousins’ DNA to fill out her father’s Lazarus kit, I saw significant people show up as matches for her maternal and paternal Lazarus kits. It finally sunk in. My key Phillips match was indeed a match somewhere back in time to both my mother’s father and her mother.

I’ve traced my mother’s Parent 1, maternal line branch back to Calvert County, Maryland through Charlotte Phillips. Charlotte’s husband was Joseph ‘Young’ Smith who was born in Kentucky. This 1 part of her Parent 1 bucket. Her oldest known ancestors along her Parent 2 branches were supposedly all born in Virginia and North Carolina. One of her ancestors on the Parent 2 line has a number of matches whose ancestors lived in Caroline County, Virginia. When I looked at a map, I found the distance between Calvert County, Maryland and Caroline County, Virginia to be about 55 miles.

55 miles!!

Map, Port Royal, Virginia to Solomons Island, Maryland

What do you do, when what you thought you had nailed down in your research, turns out to be just another pivot down another rabbit hole?

Well, I am attempting to get more close cousins on both sides of my mother’s tree to upload their DNA to Gedmatch in hopes that I can nail something else down. Hopefully, these Lazarus kits will help sort things out!

Best,

Another Great Research Find!!

I continue to be amazed by the tools available for African American genealogy researchers to find information on their ancestors prior to 1870. I had visited the Maryland State Archive site many times to obtain death records. But it wasn’t until recently that I found this Legacy of Slavery in Maryland database. Included in the database are records of manumitted slaves, freedmen who served in the Civil War, slaves listed in inventories on probates, ads for sales of slaves as well as accommodations made for run-away slaves via the ‘Underground Railway’. Users can search by county, by the names of the slave or the enslaver.

So happy to have once again stumbled upon another great find!

Best,

Trying to Unlock the Mysteries of Chromosome 23 Matches

When I began looking at my mother’s DNA matches in TwentyThreeAndMe I initially focused on the last names and on the states or regions that people listed as the birthplace for the grandparents. I have been most interested in finding the connection between a large group of people whose known ancestry includes Monroe County, Alabama and another large group of people whose ancestry traces to Drew County, Arkansas. What those 2 groups have in common is that at the top of the maternal family trees are women who were born in Maryland. So, I’ve been trying to connect the 3 women at the top of our known family trees: Charlotte Phillips, born 1835 in Calvert County, Maryland; Rosetta Fleming Goodwin born about 1830 in Maryland and Flora Matilda, born about 1846 in Maryland.

A large number of people from both groups had taken the Ancestry.com DNA test and I could see how many centimorgans and how many DNA segments that we matched. What I could not see was on which chromosomes the match occurred. Several of those Drew County, Arkansas DNA matches had profiles in Gedmatch.com where I could finally see the location of the DNA matches. Half of the Drew County, Arkansas profiles matches were on the 23rd chromosome, which indicated that a woman was the connection. Three women matched on a segment that began at 113,295, 113,036,398 and 112,757,116. The corresponding matching segments ended at 120,270,432, 121,091,867 and 121,028,128. Two of these women were 2 sisters and the third a child of one.

Each also had a shared match on chromosome 4, beginning at 182,854,996 and ending at 190,915,650. Their brother’s profile also matched on chromosome 4, beginning at 180,023,943 and ending at 190,915,650. Their chromosome 4 segment match reflected the match with a Calvert County, Maryland women that we knew to be a direct DNA cousin. The direct DNA cousin match on chromosome 4 spanned 182,195,518-190,915,950.

So, I began looking for 23 chromosome matches in TwentyThreeAndMe. What I found were 2 more women from Drew County, Arkansas with segments that began and ended surprisingly similar to the first 3 women. Their segments also began at about 113,xxx,xxx, but each ended at about 139,xxx,xxx. The only match these 2 had with each other was on the 23rd chromosome. One shared a small amount DNA on their sixteenth chromosome with my mother.

Because TwentyThreeAndMe provided haplogroup information, I checked to see if those matched for the 6 women. They didn’t. The ethnicity profile was significantly European for one of the profiles. So, I began to think differently about what the significance of the 23rd chromosome match meant. I am tempted to dismiss the match as just a distantly related woman from Africa whose descendant landed in Drew County, Arkansas. Perhaps that explains the fifteen or more descendants of Flora Matilda in Monroe County, Alabama as well. But the fact that there is a Maryland born woman at the top of all 3 of our trees keeps me looking to find Flora Matilda and Rosetta on a ship leaving Maryland or Virginia as I had found my 4th great grandmother Charlotte Phillips!

So, I’ll be scouring the Slave Voyages database to see if I can find them!! Perhaps I’ll find answers to my 23rd chromosome questions.

Best,

Finding What You Don’t Know When You Aren’t Even Looking For It

I recently returned from a visit to Calvert County, Maryland. I found that the courthouse had burned down in 1882 and that any possible hopes of finding probates listing the names of my Phillips, Watts and Torney enslaved ancestors were most likely lost in that fire. I spoke with an historian by the name of Michael Kent while there and after my return to Texas. He told me a story about a group of Maryland slaves who had been freed during the Civil War and enlisted with the Union troops. He mentioned that a group of those men served in Texas. I had stumbled on some mention of one of those men a few years ago but had not followed up on it. That is, until yesterday! I searched in Ancestry for the names of men who enlisted from Calvert County and to my great surprise I found 2 names of special importance. The first was Peter Kent.

My 4th great grandmother Charlotte Phillips was born about 1835 in Calvert County to Joseph Phillips Sr and Hester. She was separated from her family and shipped to New Orleans. She’d left behind a daughter, Charity Gross. I’d found Charity on the 1870 Calvert County census in the household of her grandmother Hester Phillips and uncle Joseph Phillips. In the household was a 1-year-old child named George. His last name was recorded as Phillips. By 1880 George was listed in the household with Peter and Rhoda Kent as George W. Kent, 9 years old. Charity was married and living nearby with husband Samuel Cook. George Wesely Kent’s 1904 death certificate listed his mother as Charity Gross and his father as Washington Kent. Washington Kent was the informant on George’s death certificate.

So, why was George in the household of Peter Kent instead of his father’s for 1880 and 1900? I still have not found out the answer to that question. As a matter of fact, I am not even searching for any answers now, because what I found about Peter Kent is got my complete attention. Civil War records on Peter Kent detail how he enlisted in 1863 and was manumitted by Basil Sewell Dixon in 1864. Dr. Dixon attested to coming into ownership of Peter Kent, Thomas Torney, Samuel Key and John Ross after his marriage in 1858. A little research uncovered Dixon’s wife’s name as Rebecca H Laveille. Her father James Laveille owned several slaves, some of whom were the correct ages to be my Torney and Kent family members in 1850. Basil Dixon and family as well as James Lavielle Sr and Jr and Rebecca were recorded on the same page of 1850 US Census living in Calvert County. A widowed Basil Dixon was also listed on the 1870 and 1880 US Census within pages of my family!

Through death certificates, I later figured out that Washington Kent was actually named Henry Washington Kent born about 1857 and that Peter Kent’s name was William Peter Kent, born abou5 1837. Both men and their families were recorded on the same page within houses one another on the 1900 US Census for Calvert County. Peter was old enough to have been Henry’s father. Unfortunately, the parent’s names were recorded as unknown on death certificates for both men.

Peter’s wife Rhoda applied for his veteran’s pension in 1922. I have requested the related papers from NARA and so have begun the long wait to learn more about William Peter and perhaps more about his enslaved life, wife, children and items that might help in my quest!

So, a search into a seemingly unconnected story has possibly led me to something that I was not able to find in deed and probate records lost in the 1882 courthouse fire!! Who could have guessed!!!

Best,

Visiting Calvert County, Maryland

My niece, Latrice, messaged me on June 14 of this year. She said that a Southwest Airlines’ ticket sales special was ending soon and asked if I was interested in tagging along with her to visit Maryland. Was I interested? Yeah!!

We booked flights into DCA and then began figuring out what we’d do once there. A cousin, Kevin, provided the names of DNA kin that he’d been talking with over the past year that lived in Maryland. I telephone both cousins and we agreed to meet. Both suggested the Hilton Garden Inn as a place to stay, so we booked accommodations.

Latrice and I did what researchers to, we looked for sources of information accessible in Maryland. We identified the Calvert Court House as a possible source but learned that the courthouse had suffered at least 2 fires, the last in 1881 or 1882. This meant that deeds and probates containing the names of our enslaved ancestors were most likely lost forever. We had the names of cemeteries in which several Phillips, Torneys, Kents and Taylors were buried, so we added those cemeteries and churches to the list of places to see.

A week or so before our trip, I telephone the 2 DNA cousins who we had never met, of our upcoming trip. It turned out that both had scheduling conflicts and would not be able to meet with us on the dates we were actually in Maryland. One cousin provided the name of another cousin, Beverly, who lived in Solomons with whom we could instead meet. I cold called that cousin and though hesitant to meet with a random DNA cousin, she agreed to meet us at our hotel.

Latrice had arrived a day earlier and visited friends and co-workers in nearby Virginia. I arrived the next day and telephone Beverly when I arrived in DC. She graciously met us at the hotel and then drove us to St John’s United Methodist Church off Sollers-Wharf Road in Solomons. There we found the grave sites of Phillips, Kents, Torneys and Taylors. The oldest grave was that of Moses Torney, the son of Eliza Phillips and Major Torney. Moses was my first cousin, 4 times removed. His mother Eliza was the sister of my third great-grandmother Charlotte Phillips. His headstone reads, 1810-1942. Moses was actually born about 1861 and died January 5, 1942.

The church was built in 1880 and later rebuilt in 1953. The original church, the St. John’s Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1829 existed on a nearby plot of land. The site is breath-takingly beautiful surrounded by trees and vines on a hillside in a rural area.

Beverly and her sister talked with us about other distant relatives and other places that might be of interest. They connected us with other local historians who provided us with research resources. Over the next days, Latrice and I visited the Calvert County Courthouse, Library and Historical Society, all in Prince Frederick. We found helpful people at each location and were able to add some more information to our collection of family history. We found deeds for land sales and purchases that occurred after the courthouse fire that provided names for further research and cemented theories we previously had.

We drove to the marina and sat along the Paxtuent River and tried to picture our ancestors oystering and navigating those waters. I don’t know if I will make another trip to Calvert County, Maryland, but I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in August of 2023.

Best,

Stallworth’s on My Family Tree?

Stallworth’s on My Family Tree?
That is a question that I began asking when the results from my mother’s Ancestry DNA results became available. Two of her top matches had the same family tree attached–a tree that included Rev. Anderson Stallworth and his wife Flora Matilda.

That is a question that I began asking when the results from my mother’s Ancestry DNA results became available. Two of her top matches had the same family tree attached–a tree that included Rev. Anderson Stallworth and his wife Flora Matilda. A descendant of Flora had included the last name of ‘Tucker’ on their tree for Flora. Her birthplace was recorded as Maryland on some census schedules. She was listed on the 1870-1910 census schedules as a part of the Stallworth family of Monroe County, Alabama. Adding to the mystery was that my mother’s other top 4 matches belonged to: 1 person who lived in the same Louisiana parish as my mother’s family, two others who lived in Calvert County, MD and 1 whose family tree was in Drew County, Arkansas.

Only my tree and the Stallworth tree included anyone from Maryland.

Perplexing right?

Yet, I was certain that that Maryland was the connecting piece of all 6 profiles. As I wrote earlier, I figured out 2 of my mother’s top matches were along the lines of my 3rd great grandmother Charlotte Phillips‘ tree through her sister Eliza Phillips Torney. About the same time, I figured out our connection to the Iberia Parish, Louisiana, Provost family profile. The Provost connection was through my 3rd great grandmother’s daughter Maria Smith who I never found after the 1870 census. Mariah’s son Addison Williams was Provost connection. Figuring out those connections took me about 2 years to piece together.

After a great deal of sleuthing around: ordering death certificates, looking up Maryland probates, searching among New York state census schedules and reading Newspaper.com stories, I was able to tie the third tree of Destinysmom12 to that same Calvert County, MD family. That Wright family connection was also through Eliza Phillips Torney, via her son Moses Torney.

So having found out that 4 of the connections were through Maryland, I stayed focused on connecting the Monroe County, Alabama, Stallworths to my known Maryland ancestors.

At my niece, Latrice’s urging, I purchased a 23AndMe DNA test kit. Latrice was on the trail of another vexingly, but close match in Louisiana. But I didn’t immediately ask my mother to take the test. Why not? Who knows! Maybe because 2022 was such a test for me.

Well, in 2023, I had my mother give me her DNA and I mailed it off on the same day. I waited anxiously for the results. As a matter of fact, I was talking to Latrice on the phone when my computer dinged to alert me that I had an e-mail message. And just like in books or the movies, the e-mail alerted me that my 23AndMe DNA analysis had been completed.

Excited was not a strong enough word to describe what I felt. Among my mother’s 23AndMe DNA matches were some people whose DNA was in Ancestry and whom I’d encouraged over the years to place their Ancestry DNA file in various other databases, FamilyTreeDNA and Gedmatch.com, so that we could see what chromosomes, and on which segments we matched. Anyway, I poked around in the new system to figure out how to best use it.

On that very first day I found 2 very interesting DNA profiles that matched my mother’s and both belonged to men!!!!!! One of the men was a descendant of Anderson Stallworth and Flora Matilda ‘Tucker’. When I compared my mother and the male Stallworth descendant, they shared DNA on 2 chromosomes. But here is where I began to scream and dance all around!

That Josephine Stallworth descendant, matched my mother on chromosome 23, beginning at about 113,000 and ending at about 121,000,000 about 11 centimorgans. Eleven of almost anything seems very insignificant, right. But the fact that a male matched my mother on chromosome 23 meant that he had inherited that DNA from his maternal line. I didn’t need to look at or try and figure out his paternal line at all. His last name was Longmire the same as one of my favorite NetFlix series. I quickly figured out his family tree. And there was Josephine Stallworth, daughter of Flora Matilda! I was ‘Happy Dancing’ all over the place now!!

And because good things often come in bunches, this Stallworth descendant also match my mom on another chromosome. He matched her along a segment that began around 21,000,000 and ended at about 41,000,000. My mother had 4 very close family members who also matched on that same chromosome with starting and ending segments also identical to Flora’s male Stallworth descendant. Men inherit maternal DNA from their mother but can not pass it on to any child. This means that most likely Flora Matilda or a female ancestor of hers was closely related to my 3rd great grandmother Charlotte Phillips or one of Charlotte’s female ancestors.

I feel that I am writing with just a little hyperbole. But the fact that a male Stallworth descendant’s 23rd chromosome segment match is also almost identical to the segment of 2 of my mother’s female DNA profile matches who lived in Drew County, Arkansas is still amazing to me. At the top of those Drew County, Arkansas trees is a woman named Chaney Fleming and her daughter Rosetta Fleming Goodwin. Both were born in Maryland.

I don’t know if the connection is through 1 or more females who were enslaved in the United States or if the connection goes back to Africa. My mother’s Stallworth matches are here 4th-6th cousins as are her Drew County, Arkansas matches. Interestingly, the Iberia Parish Provost family that matches my mother through her 3rd great grandmother Charlotte’s daughter Mariah, is also a 4th-6th cousin. So, maybe the woman or women that connect our Calvert County, MD, Monroe County, AL and Drew County, Ark families is someone who we can actually find and name.

Since 2015, the number of profile matches with the Stallworth surname and from Drew County, Arkansas has increased tremendously. More family members contributing helps to increase the success of connecting families.

So, I encourage you Stallworth families out there to take a DNA test and be sure to add the name Stallworth or Monroe County, Ala or something to your DNA result so that anyone looking doesn’t have to spend time researching what the connection might be.

As usual, there is always another tree that I am about to start to climb. And that tree has also got a Maryland connection. Henry Dorsey is the connecting person for this new family tree. He was born about 1830 in Washington, DC and shipped to California in the 1840s. Both of his parents’ birthplace was Maryland. His family is the Dorsey, Longrus, Andrews and Eiger families of Yolo County, CA. Henry may have been shipped to California by a ‘Forty Niner’ hoping to strike it rich. Who knows, or better yet, we’ll see!

So, I am still searching among the Stallworth branches for clues to solving our seemingly Maryland connected families and looking forward to starting up the tree. Yolo County, California, here I come!

Best,

Destinysmom

The search for my mother’s Ancestry DNA match to destinysmom12 was a journey that started in Calvert County, Maryland, moved to Brooklyn, New York, took a side-step back to Maryland before returning to Brooklyn, Kings County, New York.

I started with the single named person on destinysmom12’s tree. Also included were the birthdate and date of death for that lone named man. I began to build a tree for that person, looking for a Maryland connection. What I found instead were South Carolina, Georgia and New Jersey connections. So, I knew that the connection must be in the missing wife’s name. Through trial and error and a lot of rutting around looking at orphaned family trees in Ancestry, I was able to identify destinysmom12. And in doing so, I learned the name of the missing wife. The last name was Tynes.

With that piece of information, I searched Ancestry and FamilySearch.org for persons with the last name of Tynes that were born in Maryland. I found a woman named Rebecca Tynes, living in Brooklyn who fit. In her household was a young girl named Daisy. New York state held a census every five years. Being able to see where people were at 5 year intervals was very helpful in connecting my Maryland kin in New York. I found Daisy in the New York state census for 1905 as Daisy Snowden and on the 1910 US Kings County federal census as Daisy Tynes in Rebecca Tynes’ household. The family lived at 2014 Fulton Street in 1910. Included in that household was a young boy named James Torney.

Now things were clicking into place. I had already discovered that my third great aunt Eliza Phillips had married Major Torney in Calvert County, Maryland. I thought this might be the connection between destinysmom12 and the other 2 profiles that I’d already connected to Eliza Phillips Torney.

I searched the FamilySearch.org website for Maryland probates and found a probate 1924 for Rebecca Tynes. And listed on Rebecca’s probate were 3 names: James Torney, Moses Torney and Hester Watts. James was listed as her son, Moses, her brother; and Hester, her sister. I’d connected Daisy Snowden and her daughter to the destinysmom12 profile in Ancestry.com.

The only remaining thing to do was to figure out Daisy’s parentage and that was easily done. Her mother was Florence Snowden of Maryland and her father was Moses Torney. The profile destinysmom12 belonged to Daisy Snowden’s granddaughter, Beverly. My journey to connecting the dots in this case was brief. I’d messaged destinysmom12 on many occasions but had never received an answer. By the time I’d figured it all out, Beverly had passed away. I was later able to share with her brother the information that I’d discovered.

I found Moses Torney and Rebecca on the 1900 US Kings County, NY census living at 85 Rochester Ave. Rebecca was recorded as a single woman and Moses was listed as a 38-year-old widowed man with 5 children: Samuel, 12; James, 12; Alexander, 8; Peter, 7; and Solomon, 5. Rebecca was a laundress and Moses a farm laborer.

Moses lived on Atlantic Avenue in 1905 with a new wife Cora Chestnut and 5 sons. James was no longer in Moses home, but instead in Rebecca’s. Living with Moses and wife Cora were his other 4 sons and a 3-month-old son Jeremiah.

Moses was living in Brooklyn at 537 Clausen Ave at the time of 1910 US census. Living with him were sons Samuel, Alexander and Peter as well as a new wife named Georgie. Moses had moved back to Calvert County, Maryland by 1920.

Rebecca, husband Jeremiah Tynes as well as Daisy and her daughter were living at 1873 Fulton Street in 1920. Rebecca died in 1924 and her will was probated January 1926 in Calvert County, Maryland.

Moses Torney, headstone Saint Johns Methodist Cemetery

Moses Torney was born 1861 and died January 5, 1942. He was buried in Saint Johns Methodist Cemetery in Lusby, Calvert County, MD.

Moses and Rebecca Torney were sister and brother. There mother was Eliza Phillips, wife of Major Torney. Eliza Phillips and my 4th great grandmother Charlotte Phillips Smith were sisters. Eliza and family remained in Calvert County, Maryland. Charlotte was sold and shipped to Louisiana on October 18, 1851 from Richmond, Virginia aboard the Baroque Virginia. She was described as a 17 year-old female, 5′ 1″ tall. The ships destination was New Orleans.

I then searched Newspaper.com and found 2 ads placed by Moses Torney in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and 1 article that mentioned Daisy.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Sunday, Dec. 17, 1899, Page 32
Wanted – Situation-A A DRIVER FOR doctor, useful man for inside work or furnaces by a respectable colored man from the South; only reasonable wages expected; good city references. Call or address Moses Tourney, 87 Irving place.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Sunday, Dec. 24, 1899, Page 1
Wanted – Situation – BY A SOBER, HONEST, industrious colored man; work either by day, week, or month; to do anything; useful man; understands horses; references; only reasonable wages expected. Address present employer, MOSES TORNEY, 38 Putnam ave.

Daisy Fitchette and Mrs. Margaret Broadus rendered solos at the funeral services of Mrs. Cornelia Watkins of Decatur Street at Berean Baptist Church with Rev. S. T Eldridge officiating.

Best,

What’s in a Name, Part 2

In the year 2000 while researching my Jenkins branches, I found Amelia Smith and Oliver ‘Alava’ Jenkins on the 1900 census, living in two separate households. Amelia was living with her parents Joseph and Charlotte Smith, her brother Oliver aka ‘Alava’ Smith, her sister Cora, her nephew Matthew Schaffer (Smith) and her son Clarence Smith. Another ‘Alava’, Oliver Jenkins, was living with his brothers Simon ‘Felix’ and Henry Jenkins and his partner Henry Wagner in a separate household. Were both ‘Alavas’ the same man who was being counted twice, in 2 different households, or 2 different men?

I looked for Amelia and Oliver and their children on the 1910 and 1920 census pages but could not find them in any electronically indexed website or on any microfilm. The 1930 census would become available to the public in 2002 and so I waited impatiently for the release. As soon as 1930 census was available online, I logged in and typed Oliver Jenkins in as search terms. And wonders of wonders, I found him. His name was spelled correctly–he wasn’t Alava as he had been listed on the 1900 census. But Amelia was listed as Media! That didn’t matter because listed with them and near them were their children: Livingston, Oliver Jr., Charlotte, Cora, Gladys, Elsie. Also listed were Elzenia, my great grandmother and my grandmother Sarah.

Where had Oliver and Amelia been for the 1910 and 1920 census pages? Who knows, probably living in The House Surrounded by Sugar Cane!

And what had become of Joseph aka Young and Charlotte Smith? I searched for death records for them in Iberia and neighboring St. Mary Parish but could not find any. Then I searched Ancestry.com for public trees that had Joseph and Charlotte Smith. I didn’t find any. So, I searched for Young and Charlotte Smith. And to my surprise, I found a tree with Younger Smith and Charlotte who lived in Iberia Parish. I had found additional offshoots to my Smith branch–Provosts, Williams, Turners, Benjamins, Harris, etc.!!

Since I’d had luck finding Young and Charlotte, I looked to see if anyone else had a Young or Joseph Smith or a Charlotte Smith on their public tree. And I found another tree that listed a Charlotte Smith and included her death record in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Joy of joys, Charlotte’s death certificate included the names of her parents: Joseph and Charity Phillips. Charlotte was born in Maryland in 1828. So, now I had names of people possibly born before 1800.

Several family members had taken the Ancestry DNA test. There were a number of people who closely matched all of us and they lived in Calvert County, Maryland. I typed Joseph Phillips in the Ancestry.com search boxes and chose Calvert County, Maryland as their place of residence. There in my search results for 1870 were Joseph and Carrity (Charity) Phillips. In the same household was a 74-year-old Hester Phillips and a young boy, Joseph Tawney. And on that very same page was the Tawney family that matched our DNA in Ancestry: Mager, Eliza, Peter, Lloyd, Rebecca, Moses, Joseph and Hester Tawney (Torney).

So, Joseph and Charity ‘Carrity’ were Charlotte’s sister and brother and Hester was her mother. Charlotte must have spoken often about Joseph and Charity Phillips, because someone remembered those names and included them on Charlotte’s death certificate. They may not have remembered the relationship of Joseph and Charity Phillips to Charlotte totally correctly, but they remembered their names. I later found Joseph Phillips’ Maryland death certificate and found out that his father’s name was also Joseph Phillips.

My tree had suddenly grown vertically! Wow!!

What’s in a name? A whole lot!

Proverbs 22
A good name is more desirable than riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

Learn about destinysmom12 and our Calvert County, Maryland connection.

Finding Phillips/Smiths Who Flown the Coop by 1900

Henry Jenkins, How Many Wives Did He Have