Lee G. Barrow
Questions? Comments? Feel free to contact me: lbarrow(at)ngcsu.edu
of NC and Telfair/Thomas GA | |
They say...John G. BARROW's middle name is Gordon. |
I say...His middle name is unknown and is probably not Gordon. |
Reasons:1. This rumor started with me based on what my father told me. After I could not confirm it, my father told me that he had assumed that John G.'s middle name was Gordon because that is his and his father's middle name. 2. The name cannot be found in any primary sources. All of the places I have seen it (i.e. Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia) can be traced back to me. 3.The first Barrow with a proven name of Gordon is Joseph Gordon BARROW Sr. (1887-1944). While it is possible that he was named after John G. BARROW, it is unlikely. First, the names of Joseph G.'s five brothers seem to have no family connection, and it would be unusual for only the fifth son to be named after an ancestor when the other boys were not. Second, Joseph Gordon was born 12 years after John G.'s death. It seems improbable that the family would have named that son after his great-grandfather so long after his death, especially when four other boys were born in the interim. | |
How did the error happen?I started this rumor based on what my father told me. He later stated that it was an assumption on his part. |
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Wife of James LOVETT of Effingham and Thomas Co, GA | |
They say...The book Georgia Salzburgers and Allied Families and many other sources list Catherine, wife of James LOVETT, as the daughter of Salzburger immigrant Paulus ZITTERAUER. |
I say...Catherine could not possibly be the daugher of Paulus. I have theorized that she is the daugher of John Gottlieb ZITTERAUER. |
Reasons:1. Paulus's death date is 1758, proven by Salzburger church records. Catherine's birth date is 34 years later, 1792, confirmed by multiple census records. Obviously, Paulus could not have been her father. 2. In following all of the ZITTERAUER males, only John Gottlieb seems to fit as her father. All others do not fit based on age, marriage date, or will. 3. I can find two direct connections between John Gottlieb ZITTERAUER and Catherine's father-in-law, David LOVETT. | |
How did the error happen?I believe Paulus did have a daughter named Catherine, who probably died young. A researcher assumed that she must be the one who married James LOVETT, but that is clearly impossible. |
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of Washington and Stewart Co. GA | |
They say...The History of Stewart County, Georgia; The Dudney Trail; and other sources state that Charlotte HORTON DUDNEY of Stewart County, Georgia, was married to Abraham DUDNEY, born 1793, died in the 1850s. |
I say...Charlotte was married to Arthur DUDNEY, who was born about 1799 and died in either 1848 or 1849. |
Reasons:1. It is known that the DUDNEYs were in Washington County, Georgia, before moving to Stewart County. There are at least eight separate records in Washington from the 1820s which mention Arthur, but no records can be found that mention Abraham. 2. There are census records for Arthur--correct age, location, and family makeup--in 1820, 1830, and 1840. No census records for Abraham can be found in any of those years. 3. The 1850 Georgia mortality census lists Arthur DUDNEY of Stewart County, age 50, died in June of 1849. 4. Most importantly, in 1892, Charlotte petitioned for a pension for her husband's service in the Creek war. She lists her husband's name as Arthur DUDNEY and his death as May 1848. | |
How did the error happen?The author of The History of Stewart County misread the 1850 census. She includes a transcript of this census in her book, showing the following for the Dudney family: Abraham Dudney, age 57 But here is how the actual census record reads:
The author misread Abraham's age and failed to notice that he resided in a separate household. Instead of being Charlotte's husband, Abraham is Charlotte's son, living next door. |
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of Somerset/Wicomico MD and Warren/Columbia GA | |
They say...Several researchers have stated that the middle name of Joshua STANFORD who moved to Warren/Columbia Co. Georgia from the Eastern shore of Maryland, is Whipps, and that he is descended from John WHIPPS. |
I say...The middle name of Joshua STANFORD of Maryland Eastern shore and Georgia is not Whipps, and he is not descended from the Whipps family. |
Reasons:1. Parallel records from the 18th century show that there were two different Stanford families in different areas of Maryland at the same time: one in Ann Arundel/Calvert Counties, and one in Somerset/Wicomico Counties. No record can be found connecting the Ann Arundel/Calvert Co. Stanfords (most often spelled STANDFORD or STANDFORTH) to the Somerset/Wicomico Stanfords. 2. There was a Joshua Whipps STANFORD, but he did not move to Georgia. His father was John STANFORD; his grandparents were John STANFORD and Susannah WHIPPS; his sister was Philothea STANFORD (all proven by will of John WHIPPS). The family lived in Ann Arundel/Calvert from as early as 1701 until at least 1765. They were in Baltimore in 1800. 3. My ancestor Joshua STANFORD's father is Jonathan STANFORD (proven by Store Accounts of John Nelms) who was married to Nelle ___. Jonathan's father is Joseph (proven by Somerset deed E-188). Joseph's parents are Joseph and Jane (proven by Somerset birth records). Joshua had no sister named Philothea. This family lived in Somerset/Wicomico from at least 1692 until 1803. 4. Deeds in both Georgia and Maryland prove that it was the Somerset/Wicomico family that moved to Georgia. No record has been found connecting the Ann Arundel/Calvert family to Georgia. | |
How did the error happen?Two men in the same state with the same first and last name were confused. |
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of Somerset/Wicomico MD and Warren/Columbia GA | |
They say...According to DAR records and numerous secondary sources, Joshua STANFORD (1740-1826), who moved to Warren/Columbia Co. Georgia from Maryland, married Mary ROOKS. |
I say...I believe her maiden name is FOOK[E]S, not ROOKS. |
Reasons:1. After 15 years of searching, I cannot find a single connection between the STANFORD family and any ROOKS family before 1800. 2. I have only found the name ROOKS in modern sources. I cannot even find a ROOKS family living anywhere in Maryland's Eastern shore in the 1700s. 3. I have found sixteen records connecting Joshua STANFORD and his family to the FOOKS family of Somerset/Wicomico--attending the same church and witnessing the same will, for example. | |
How did the error happen?An 18th century script capital R looks similar to a script capital F; I believe the name was misread. |
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of Bladen NC and Thomas GA | |
They say...DAR records indicate that William H. RAMSEY's mother, Elizabeth HARVEY, was the daugher of John HARVEY, a prominent colonial North Carolina politician. |
I say...His mother's name may have been Elizabeth HARVEY, and she might have been the daugher of a John HARVEY, but not the famous politician. |
Reasons:1. John HARVEY the politician lived in Perquimans County, in northeastern NC. William RAMSEY, husband of Elizabeth HARVEY, appears to have spent his entire life in and around New Hanover County, in the southeastern corner of NC. 2. There are twelve different John HARVEYs listed as heads of household in the 1790 North Carolina census. 3. The published genealogies of the politician do not mention the RAMSEY family. They show John's daugher Elizabeth as marrying Benjamin BAKER. 4. Elizabeth, daugher of the politician, was born in 1760. William H. RAMSEY, her alleged son, was born between 1771 and 1773; Elizabeth would have had to become pregnant as a preteen. 5. I can find no primary source connections between the Harvey family and the Ramsey family, only contemporary secondary sources. | |
How did the error happen?Early DAR researchers sometimes had a strong desire to show descent from prominent historical persons. I believe a researcher came across "John HARVEY of North Carolina" and assumed (or hoped) that it was the prominent one. |
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of Williamsburg and Clarendon SC | |
They say...A memorial tombstone at Moab HEWITT's burial site indicates that he died "about 1870." |
I say...He died in late 1863. |
Reasons:Clarendon deed book B, page 286, dated September 1864, states that Moab's children petitioned "on or about the first day of January"1864 for the division of the estate of Moab HEWITT deceased. | |
How did the error happen?The modern-looking memorial was apparently erected many years after his death, and the date was recalled incorrectly from someone's memory. |
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