Since I began my journey to discover my early West
ancestors, I have come to believe that my West line belongs in FTDNA’s West
Family Group 1. At last, my strong
suspicion has been proved through Y-DNA testing.
Why have I felt so strongly about this? It’s because so many of the Y-DNA matches in
Group 1 descend from West males who, I believed, were brothers--Solomon West,
Alexander West, John West, Jr., and Isaac West.
Solomon, Alexander, John, and Isaac lived in the right time frame and in
the right location, and many of their descendants were named after them. I believe that their parents were John West
and Mary Madden.
In addition, my sister has an FTDNA autosomal match with a
man who descends from John West and his second wife, Eleanor Massey. Unfortunately,
my sister’s match does not have the West surname and would not be able to prove
the West line with his Y-DNA results.
Before I proceed with “the rest of the story,” I must
provide a little background information.
Solomon West (1726-1830), the presumed brother of my Alexander West
(about 1730-?), married Isabella Boyd and named one of their sons Alexander
(1776-1860) who married Sarah Hawkins.
My Alexander West (1730-?), whose wife is unknown, named his
first child Alexander West (1751-1834) who married Hannah Langley.
Several years ago, a West male who descends from Solomon
West (1726-1830) and Isabella Boyd and their son, Alexander West (1776-1860),
discovered through FTDNA Y-DNA testing that he belongs in West Family Group
1. Within the the last month, a Y-DNA
match, who is my 5th cousin, was informed that his results also
place him in West Family Group 1. He descends
from the son of my Alexander West who was Alexander West (1751-1834) and Hannah
Langley. What a great discovery!
So…we now have two West men who descend from different sons
of the same male West who belong to FTDNA’s West Family Group 1. We can presume
that Solomon and Alexander West were brothers and were likely sons of John West
and Mary Madden.
It would be wonderful if other males with the West surname,
who believe that they are biological descendants from John West and Mary Madden
or John West and his second wife Eleanor Massey, would participate in Y-DNA
testing through Family Tree DNA.
What’s next? I strongly
suspect that the parents of John West, who was first married to Mary Madden and
second to Eleanor Massey and the father of these four brothers (Solomon,
Alexander, John, and Isaac), may have been the John West who was married to
Sarah Haskell. My suspicion is based on
the fact that another John West, who may have been the father of John West
(spouse of Mary Madden), appears in land records in the same area and at the
same time as that of a John West and his apparent four sons—Solomon, Alexander,
John, and Isaac. Also, for some reason,
Sarah Hawkins just keeps popping up as a spouse of a John West!
©The Wests of Wilkes, Charlotte West Dade, Mar. 16, 2019
