2020 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 3: "Long Line" - The Leftwich Family

Week 3's theme of "Long Line" immediately brought to mind the longest unbroken line in my family with the same last name - the Leftwich family. Ironically, this line was a brick wall beyond my fourth-great-grandfather for the longest time. But when I finally broke it down, I was not disappointed: the name goes back to the year 1250, and the recorded line itself goes back 200 years before that.

Laura Belle Leftwich Hancock, circa 1930.     

The person closest to me with his ancient name is my third-great-grandmother, Laura Belle Leftwich. (I featured her daughter and my great-great-grandmother, Vazzie Angelee Hancock, in a 52 Ancestors post last year.) Laura's family was one of modest means by the time she was born. At the time of her birth they had worked in the salt mines at Malden, WV, for two generations. A version of these mines is still in operation today, as the J. Q. Dickinson Salt Works.

But the Leftwich family was not always one of such modest means. Laura's great-grandfather, James Thomas Leftwich, was born into a wealthy family in Beford County, VA in 1789 and moved to Kanawha County, WV before 1840. James Thomas' grandfather and great-grandfather, both named Augustine Leftwich, were wealthy land owners who held high-ranking military positions. Augustine Sr. was a sergeant in the colonial militia during the French and Indian War, and Augustine Jr. was a Captain in the Virginia militia during the American Revolution. Records of land grants show that both held huge tracks of land in Bedford County, and that their estates were rather large. It was Augustine Sr.'s grandfather, Ralph Leftwich, that immigrated to the New World and patented lands in Virginia in 1658.

The title page of Walter Lee Hopkins'
history of the Leftwich family.

According to The Leftwich-Turner Families of Virginia and Their Connections by Walter Lee Hopkins, the Leftwich family has been considered nobility in England since the time of William the Conqueror, although at the time they were not named Leftwich. The progenitor of our Leftwich line was actually Lord Richard de Vernon, a Norman nobleman who fought in the Battle of Hastings alongside William the Conqueror in 1066. As a reward for his loyalty he was given the title of Baron of Shipbrook and Leftwyk (the old English spelling of Leftwich), and all of the lands that accompanied the title. Five generations later the de Vernon male line came to an end and the estate was passed to Matild de Vernon, who married Sir Richard de Wilburgham. Their daughter, Matilda de Wilburgham, married Sir Richard de Wynyngton, who adopted the name of Leftwyk from his wife's estate. From that time on the family carried the name of Leftwyk, which later came to be Leftwich.

All told, the Leftwich family goes back 23 generations from Laura Belle Leftwich to Richard de Wynyngton, who took the name of Leftwyk from his wife's estate. The family goes back another 6 generations to Lord Richard de Vernon, who was given the Barony of Shipbrook and Leftwich by William the Conqueror. This gives us a total of 29 generations from Laura Belle Leftwich to Sir Richard, and a total of 34 generations between myself and Sir Richard.

I would be remiss in my genealogical duties if I did not mention one last interesting bit of information regarding the Leftwich family. Like so many noble lines, the Leftwich line does tie into the ranks of royalty. Thomas Leftwich, great-grandfather of the Ralph who immigrated to Virginia in 1658, married Katherine Holford, who was a descendant of King Henry III of England. This would make me the 26th-great-granddaughter of King Henry III; but unfortunately, the only thing that being Henry's 26th-great-granddaughter entitles me to is some bragging rights.

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My descent from Sir Richard de Wynyngton, the first person to use the early form of Leftwich as his name, is as follows:

Richard de Wynynton - 26th great-grandfather
Mary de Wynynton - Daughter of Robert de Wynynton
Richard de Leftewyk - Son of Mary de Wynynton
Richard de Leftwiche - Son of Richard de Leftewyk
Richard de Leftwich Baron of Shipbrook - Son of Richard de Leftwiche
Richard de Leftwich - Son of Richard de Leftwich Baron of Shipbrook
Robert de Leftwich - Son of Richard de Leftwich
Richard de Leftwiche - Son of Robert de Leftwich
Robert de Leftwiche - Son of Richard de Leftwiche
Richard Leftwich - Son of Robert de Leftwiche
Richard Leftwich - Son of Richard Leftwich
George Leftwich - Son of Richard Leftwich
Thomas Leftwich -1570 - Son of George Leftwich
Ralph Leftwich 1548-1624 - Son of Thomas Leftwich
Thomas Leftwich - Son of Ralph Leftwich
Ralph Leftwich 1628-1680 - Son of Thomas Leftwich
Thomas Leftwich Sr 1665-1730 - Son of Ralph Leftwich
Augustine Leftwich 1712-1795 - Son of Thomas Leftwich Sr
Augustine Leftwich Jr. 1744-1835 - Son of Augustine Leftwich
James (Red Head) Leftwich 1779-1854 - Son of Augustine Leftwich Jr.
James Thomas Leftwich 1795-1874 - Son of James (Red Head) Leftwich
Jesse Leftwich 1816-1894 - Son of James Thomas Leftwich
Joel Leftwich 1851-1920 - Son of Jesse Leftwich
Laura Belle "Fannie" Leftwich 1881-1957 - Daughter of Joel Leftwich
Vazzie Angelee Hancock 1900-1984 - Daughter of Laura Belle "Fannie" Leftwich
Earnest Zacharias Hunt 1921-2008 - Son of Vazzie Angelee Hancock
Phyllis Carolyn Hunt 1943- - Daughter of Earnest Zacharias Hunt
Lora Marlene Quinn 1961- - Daughter of Phyllis Carolyn Hunt
Allison Quinn Kessinger - You are the daughter of Lora Marlene Quinn

2020 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 2: "Favorite Photo" - Madaline Eva Moore Hunt and Her Best Friends

This week's theme is one of those that can be incredibly daunting, simply because I have so many family photos that I love! It was a tough decision, but in the end I decided on three beautiful photos that span four friends, four interwoven family lines, and 70 years.

Top, L-R: Madaline Moore Hunt (with back turned), Margaret Hunt Douglas (holding son, Roy Douglas), Juanita Hancock Hunt, and Anna Mae Hancock Kelly. Taken circa 1941.
Bottom Left, L-R: Margaret Hunt Douglas and Madaline Moore Hunt. Taken in 2013.
Bottom Right, L-R: Madaline Moore Hunt and Anna Mae Hancock Kelly. Taken in 2009.

I found the first photo in an album of old photos from the childhood and teenage years of my mom's maternal grandmother, Madaline Eva "Madge" Moore Hunt. It was taken in 1941: Mamaw* Madge was 18 years old, a newlywed, and pregnant with her first child. She is the one on the far left, with her back turned. Beside of her is her sister-in-law, Luticia Margot "Margaret" Hunt Douglas holding her first child, Roy Douglas. To Margaret's left is Juanita Hancock Hunt (who married a cousin of my great-grandfather's), and on the far right is Anna Mae Hancock Kelly, Juanita's sister.

I don't remember ever meeting Juanita, but I grew up knowing my great-grandmother Madge, my great-great-Aunt Margaret, my cousin Roy, and Anna Mae. When I found this photo in 2011 Roy had already passed away, but Mamaw Madge, Margaret, Juanita, and Anna Mae were all still living. I came up with the idea to recreate the original photo of them 70 years later, in the same location, and in the same poses. I loved how after 70 years, the same teenage girls who posed for an impromptu snapshot were now in their late 80s and still best friends. 

Unfortunately we never got to recreate the photo, but I found the next best thing. The photo of Mamaw and Margaret on the bottom left was taken at Mamaw's 90th birthday party in 2013, and the photo of Mamaw and Anna Mae on the bottom right was taken at a church function in 2009. I was sad that we never got to recreate the the original, but maybe it was for the best; Mamaw's first baby that she was expecting when it was taken passed away after living for only twelve hours, and Margaret's son that she was holding passed away years before I ever found the original, in 1999. If we had done the recreation, it would have only been a reminder that not everyone was there to make it complete.

Anna Mae was the first of the four best friends to pass away, in 2014. Mamaw followed three years later, in 2017. My great-great-Aunt Margaret is still alive and well and preparing to celebrate her 96th birthday next month, and as far as I know Juanita is also still alive and well. 

I mentioned in the first paragraph that the photos represented four interwoven family lines. It is obvious how Mamaw Madge and Aunt Margaret are related to me, but I was surprised to find that Juanita and Anna Mae are also doubly related to me, and by marriage they were all related to one another. I explained already that Mamaw and Margaret were sisters-in-law; Margaret's brother, Ernest Zacharias "Zack" Hunt, was my great-grandfather. While preparing for this blog post I found that Juanita and Anna Mae were Papaw's* cousins on his mother's side. Papaw's great-grandfather, Henry Chapman Hancock, and their grandfather, Thomas Horton Hancock, were brothers. I also found that Juanita and Anna Mae's grandmother, Mary Bradley, was the sister of my great-great-grandmother on my mother's father's side, Nancy Bradley. I suppose it truly is a small world.

* For anyone unfamiliar with Appalachian terminology, the names "Mamaw" and Papaw" are often used instead of "Grandma" and "Grandpa."

~ ~ ~

My descent from Madaline Eva "Madge" Moore Hunt is as follows:

Madaline Eva Moore 1923-2017

great-grandmother

Phyllis Carolyn Hunt 1943-

Daughter of Madaline Eva Moore

Lora Marlene Quinn 1961-

Daughter of Phyllis Carolyn Hunt

Allison Quinn Kessinger

You are the daughter of Lora Marlene Quinn

2020 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 1: "Fresh Start" - Patrick Quinn

We all have a story of an ancestor who came to America for a fresh start. That's what makes us such an amazing nation - people from every continent, country, and culture have come here for a second chance, and a better life.

One of my most recent immigrant ancestors, Patrick Quinn, came here in the 1840s for that very reason - a fresh start. Specific details about Patrick's life are few (despite him being only my third-great-grandfather), and the details we do have are often contradictory and confusing. And to make things worse, there is a DNA mystery associated with Patrick's line - but more on this later.

A traditional depiction of the Quinn family crest.

A cousin of mine put together a descendant report for Patrick Quinn several years ago. In the notes section, they had this to say about Patrick:

"Patrick came from Upper All Station in Ireland about age 11 or 12. The story is that Patrick got mad at the family and decided to leave home. He went and talked to the captain of a ship and worked his way to the United States. He later married and had a child. A split between him and his wife sent Patrick back to Ireland when he was about 20. A few years later he came back to the United States with his 2 brothers James & Michael or John & Michael. The 2 brothers went to New York while Patrick went to Virginia. Somewhere along the way Patrick married Agnes Icenhower."

 I have worked diligently to confirm as much of this information as possible over the years, but I often end up finding more questions than answers. Let's go through this paragraph one statement at a time:

"Patrick came from Upper All Station in Ireland about age 11 or 12." There is no place in Ireland called Upper All Station. Gregory Quinn, a first cousin of my mother's who has also researched the matter, believes that "Upper All Station" might have been the product of someone mishearing the name Altishane, which is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. I believe that this explanation is quite probable. As for the age, I find it hard to believe that such a young child would be able to arrange a trans-Atlantic voyage on his own.

"The story is that Patrick got mad at the family and decided to leave home. He went and talked to the captain of a ship and worked his way to the United States." This part of the story might well be true, but I believe that he had to have been older than 11 or 12 at the time.

"He later married and had a child. A split between him and his wife sent Patrick back to Ireland when he was about 20." I can find no concrete evidence that Patrick was ever married before he married Agnes Icenhower on 11 September 1845.

"A few years later he came back to the United States with his 2 brothers James & Michael or John & Michael. The 2 brothers went to New York while Patrick went to Virginia." I did find two passenger records for Patrick Quinn prior to 11 September 1845 (when he was definitely in Rockbridge Co., VA); however, I don't think that these records pertain to the same person. The first record has a Patrick Quinn, age 25, arriving in New York in April of 1834, and the second has a Patrick Quinn, age 26, arriving in Philadelphia in May of 1845. I believe that our Patrick is the one who arrived at age 26 in Philadelphia. The 1850 census lists Patrick and Agnes as residents of Rockbridge Co., VA and lists Patrick's age as 32. This would be consistent with him being 26 in 1845 (depending on what month he was born in). There was an Edward Quinn, age 22, that arrived on the same ship as Patrick in 1845, but no Johns, James, or Michaels.

"Somewhere along the way Patrick married Agnes Icenhower." As mentioned above, they married on 11 September 1845.

By 1870 Patrick and his family were living in Simmon's Creek, Belle, WV, where many of his descendants still live to this day. Both the 1870 and 1880 census list him as farmer. Patrick and Agnes only had two children: James Henry Quinn (my 2nd-great-grandfather) in 1849, and George Quinn in 1860. Patrick passed away on 10 August 1883, and in all likelihood is buried in the Simmons Creek Community Cemetery, near his home.

Although I have not been able to find a birth record that I can confirm as belonging to our Patrick (do you have any idea how many Patrick Quinns were born in Ireland in 1818!?), I do have one theory regarding the names of his parents. Irish people of this time period tended to follow very specific naming patterns when naming their children. The first born son was named after the father's father, and the second born son was named after the mother's father. Patrick and Agnes only had two children: James and George. We know for a certainty that Agnes' father's name was George, and their second son was named after him; therefore, I believe it is safe to assume that Patrick's father's name was James Quinn. Unfortunately, the number of Patrick Quinns born to James Quinns in Ireland in 1818 is still quite daunting.

Earlier in the post I mentioned that there was a DNA mystery surrounding Patrick - one that will be extremely difficult to ever get to the bottom of. When my mother and I first had our DNA tested about two years ago, we had a huge number of matches show up that all descend from a family named Lafferty. The closest of these matches show up as third cousin matches to my mother on Ancestry, meaning that they would have the same great-great-grandparents. When I took the amount of centimorgans shared between Mom and these matches and fed it into the Shared cM Project Tool, the result came up that the highest Lafferty match (at 121 cMs) was probably a half-2nd-cousin (meaning they likely shared one great-grandparent). Several other Lafferty matches also fell into this category. This is problematic because the trees of the Lafferty matches and our own family tree do not intersect anywhere. We have no known ancestors named Lafferty, and they have none named Quinn.

It is obvious that there has been some kind of non-paternal event here. The question is: are they Laffertys who are actually Quinns, or are we Quinns who are actually Laffertys? If George Quinn (second son of Patrick and Agnes) had any descendants that could take a DNA test we might have been able to figure it out; but as far as my research has been able to tell me, he did not have any children. It did occur to me that the "first wife" mentioned in the handed-down account of Patrick's life might be the tie-in to the Lafferty line, but there is no way to confirm this.

The name Quinn is such an important part of who we are - it is even my middle name. We have always been proud of our Irish ancestry. The thought that we might not actually be Quinns at all is somewhat of a sad one. But hopefully one day we will be able to figure out for sure where the non-paternal event took place, and how we fit in with the Laffertys. Until then, it remains a mystery.

~ ~ ~

My descent from Patrick is as follows:

Patrick Quinn 1818-1883
3rd great-grandfather

James Henry Quinn 1849-
Son of Patrick Quinn

James Abram "Garfield" Quinn 1882-1953
Son of James Henry Quinn

Arthur Ray "Jack" Quinn 1939-1986
Son of James Abram "Garfield" Quinn

Lora Marlene Quinn 1961-
Daughter of Arthur Ray "Jack" Quinn

Allison Quinn Kessinger
You are the daughter of Lora Marlene Quinn