In my ongoing quest to connect my Henderson line back to Scotland, even DNA testing has been able to offer little in the way of meaningful progress.
While we have had several solid matches with lines previously not known to be connected with
us, none can trace their lineage back to the old country. In fact, few can trace themselves back even so far as the two oldest identified groups (the family of James Henderson of the Delmarva Peninsula and the family of James "Isaac" Henderson of Onslow County NC, arrived mid-1660's and prior to 1720 respectively). Record-keeping in Scotland and Ireland during the 17th and early 18th century was incomplete, at best, and I have nearly despaired of finding a definitive paper trail since these two related-but-we-don't-know-how ancestors arrived in the colonies so long ago.
I have begun to toy with the idea that we might have come to Virginia and North Carolina via Ulster rather than directly from Scotland. A mid-19th century Baltimore City census record that is believed to be connected to one of our Henderson DNA matches hints that their line of the family came from Ireland. However, another record in the same census leads us to believe that the family came from Scotland. This is the newest DNA matching line of immigration we can identify, and I had hoped they would lead us back to the right spot in the UK, but so far, only more confusion.
I really can't put much credence in either claim, even if it turns out that both census records in question are indeed connected to our DNA tester. How many times have I spoken to various branches of various families and been told of their "Irish," "Cherokee" or "Dutch" blood, only to verify through records and research that they were actually English, had not a single drop of Cherokee (or other native) blood, or were actually German (Deutsch)? Too many times to be fooled again.
I was having a look tonight at the latest Henderson DNA results and I see that Jim has re-categorized our family line (previously the G1 group) into a new family group of C4 with a subclade of R-M269. I looked up the Wikipedia article on R-M269 and I see that the highest frequency of that DNA signature is found in Wales (92%), Ireland (82% with some pockets as high as 95%), and Scotland (70%). While this isn't particularly useful in helping me narrow things down, the high concentration of this subclade in Ireland cannot allow me to eliminate the possibility that our family may have originated there, or at least have lived there, possibly as settlers of Ulster.
Showing posts with label Baltimore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baltimore. Show all posts
Sunday, January 25, 2015
New Information on the Baltimore Hendersons lends credence to theory that they may have come to America by way of Ireland
Originally published December 12, 2009
We've made some significant progress on the Baltimore Hendersons since first learning of their relationship to the G1 Family Group. Credit goes to Carol B. for inviting cousin Joyce E. to share her excellent research with the group. Joyce has been working on the G1-K096 (Baltimore) family for many years and has traced the line back to John W. Henderson, born in Scotland (or possibly Ireland)...OR...Alexandria VA...OR...Baltimore MD. The trick now is to find out which place!
A cursory examination of the book Passenger Arrivals at the Port of Baltimore 1820-1834 (transcribed by Elizabeth P. Bentley, edited by Michael Tepper) shows sixty Henderson immigrants. All but seven of these Henderson immigrants are listed as having come from Ireland, but there is no way to be sure which of the John Hendersons (if any) on this list might be our John W. Henderson. (Three of the seven non-Irish Hendersons are Johns). I will blog more about this resource in my next entry.
According to Joyce's work, John W. Henderson married Kiturah/Keturah Bowen on 31 July 1827 in Baltimore, Maryland. Their large family appears regularly throughout mid-to-late 19th century Baltimore census records, but those records appear to indicate that John W. died prior to 1850.
I am currently working on inputting Joyce's notes into my database and will add a summary of information on this line as soon as I have had a chance to absorb and summarize the implications of what I learn there.
Note: Our family group has since been re-categorized on the Henderson DNA results page and no longer falls under the G1 designation. Our line is now part of Group C4, R-M269. Our family group runs from test number 82161 through 69522 as of 1/25/15.
We've made some significant progress on the Baltimore Hendersons since first learning of their relationship to the G1 Family Group. Credit goes to Carol B. for inviting cousin Joyce E. to share her excellent research with the group. Joyce has been working on the G1-K096 (Baltimore) family for many years and has traced the line back to John W. Henderson, born in Scotland (or possibly Ireland)...OR...Alexandria VA...OR...Baltimore MD. The trick now is to find out which place!
A cursory examination of the book Passenger Arrivals at the Port of Baltimore 1820-1834 (transcribed by Elizabeth P. Bentley, edited by Michael Tepper) shows sixty Henderson immigrants. All but seven of these Henderson immigrants are listed as having come from Ireland, but there is no way to be sure which of the John Hendersons (if any) on this list might be our John W. Henderson. (Three of the seven non-Irish Hendersons are Johns). I will blog more about this resource in my next entry.
According to Joyce's work, John W. Henderson married Kiturah/Keturah Bowen on 31 July 1827 in Baltimore, Maryland. Their large family appears regularly throughout mid-to-late 19th century Baltimore census records, but those records appear to indicate that John W. died prior to 1850.
I am currently working on inputting Joyce's notes into my database and will add a summary of information on this line as soon as I have had a chance to absorb and summarize the implications of what I learn there.
Note: Our family group has since been re-categorized on the Henderson DNA results page and no longer falls under the G1 designation. Our line is now part of Group C4, R-M269. Our family group runs from test number 82161 through 69522 as of 1/25/15.
Pursuing an Ulster Connection for the Hendersons
Originally published October 20, 2009
There is longstanding speculation as to whether or not the Chesapeake Hendersons came directly to Virginia from Scotland, or whether the family may have been in Ulster for one or two generations prior to emigrating to America. A recent DNA match with a line of Hendersons first identified in Baltimore in 1833 fuels the speculation further. 1880 census information from two Baltimore Hendersons believed to be brothers gives conflicting "place of birth" information for their father. One says "Scotland," the other "Ireland." Unfortunately, later census information says the father of the men was born in "Maryland," so no firm conclusions can be drawn.
In an effort to explore a possible connection to Ulster, I am seeking to correspond with Hendersons who can document their ancestry back to that area of Ireland. I was recently contacted by Bill Henderson, a resident of the Isle of Man, who can trace his family back to County Londonderry in the early 1700's. Bill is interested in DNA testing, and while it's definitely a long shot, I find myself hoping he is a match to us. If any readers of this blog are Hendersons who can document their ancestry back to the Ulster Plantations, please leave me a comment with your contact information.
There is longstanding speculation as to whether or not the Chesapeake Hendersons came directly to Virginia from Scotland, or whether the family may have been in Ulster for one or two generations prior to emigrating to America. A recent DNA match with a line of Hendersons first identified in Baltimore in 1833 fuels the speculation further. 1880 census information from two Baltimore Hendersons believed to be brothers gives conflicting "place of birth" information for their father. One says "Scotland," the other "Ireland." Unfortunately, later census information says the father of the men was born in "Maryland," so no firm conclusions can be drawn.
In an effort to explore a possible connection to Ulster, I am seeking to correspond with Hendersons who can document their ancestry back to that area of Ireland. I was recently contacted by Bill Henderson, a resident of the Isle of Man, who can trace his family back to County Londonderry in the early 1700's. Bill is interested in DNA testing, and while it's definitely a long shot, I find myself hoping he is a match to us. If any readers of this blog are Hendersons who can document their ancestry back to the Ulster Plantations, please leave me a comment with your contact information.
Laura HendersonDecember 12, 2009 at 4:47 PM
As a follow-up to this post, Bill's DNA test results are in, and he is not a match to our line. Nevertheless, I am confident that the more we test, the more we'll know! Please contact me if you are a UK male Henderson who can trace your roots prior to 1800 and would be willing to participate in the Clan Henderson Society's DNA project to help other Hendersons discover their origins!
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