The Long, Dry Spell

Yes, it has been a long dry spell.   Since my last posting on February 6, 2013, I have often thought about you, my readers, and have felt guilty not writing.  In reality, I have had nothing new or significance to write.  Regrettably, I have not broken the brick wall regarding my 5^th great grandfather, Alexander West I and have probably resigned to the fact that I may never find him.

In the meantime, I will continue to write about my West family when I have new information and will expand my topics to include my collateral West ancestors, the Lands, McNeils, Barlows, Carltons, and others.  As you have likely noticed in previous postings, I have already done this to some extent.

 

Recently, three of us Carlton descendants have formed an e-mail group sharing information about our Carlton lineage.  Yvonne and I met on-line when I saw her query in the Wilkes Genealogical Bulletin and contacted her.  She and I are 5^th Carlton cousins as proved by the paper trail.  I was able to introduce her to Ann.

Ann, my genetic match, and I are probably 5^th or 6^th cousins through three Carlton lines.  In one of the three lines, we know that both of us descend from John Carlton.  I descend from his 2^nd wife Catharine Livingston and Ann from his 1^st wife, Mary Land.  In a second lineage, both of us descend from Thomas Carlton’s parents, John Carlton and Elizabeth Wallace.  Then I descend from their son, Thomas, and his wife, Mary Land, and she from their son, William Lewis Carlton, and his wife, Elizabeth Eve.  Of course, I am related to Mary Land through my 2^nd great grandmother, Nancy E. Land.  Therefore, in the Land lineage, both of us have the common ancestors of Thomas Land and Ann Sumter (Sumpter).  From them I descend through their son, Jonathan Land and his wife, Elizabeth Isbell, and she through their daughter, Mary Land, and husband Thomas Carlton.  Things do get complicated!

Ann and I began our communication quite some time ago after we discovered that we were genetic matches.  Thus far, because she is uncertain of the degree of the relationship she shares with one of her great grandfathers and the fact that we have not compared her Land lineage with mine, we have been unable to determine our exact cousinship in these three lines.

What else have I been doing the past five months?  I have been working on my maternal lines of Hughes, Hoilman, Honeycutt, and Canipe from the North Carolina counties of Yancey and Mitchell.  In addition, I completed some work on my paternal grandmother’s family, the McQueens and Morelands of Johnson and Washington counties in Tennessee.  And now, a burning desire is telling me to start another blog about my Yancey and Mitchell ancestors.

I am amazed at the interest that this blog has created since I started it on June 30, 2011.  As of today, the count of “hits” is over 10,368.  As in the past, I want to hear from you.  I will NOT publish any comments from readers that include an e-mail address.  If you wish to correspond with me through e-mail, please keep that in mind.  Your readership is inspiring.  Thank you.