The wife of William (Berrien, MI) Willis 1780 - bef 1840

WORK IN PROGRESS .....

In the post "Solving the Mystery of Warren County, Ohio"  we used the Ancestry.com autosomal DNA matches of a Y-Kit member in our MARYLAND GROUP to determine that a Willis family in 1820,1830 Warren County,  Ohio had gotten there as a result of a migration from Caroline County, Maryland,  down to Guilford County,  NC,  then eventually on to Union County,  Indiana.   Warren County, Ohio was just a stop-over point in that migration,  and the Willis family in question,  headed by William Willis 1780-bef 1840, simply decided to remain in Warren County.  

In the 1850 and 1860 census records of a son,  William H (Billy),  within this  family,  we see a 70 and 80 year old female,  whom we assume is the mother of William H,  wife of William 1780.  Her name is Nancy.  Previous research picked up a 1798 marriage record for a John William Willis and Nancy Hite (or Hill) in Baltimore, Maryland as being the marriage for our William 1780 and Nancy.  There are a couple reasons to cast doubt on whether this marriage is our William and Nancy:

• The 1798 Baltimore marriage happened in the 1st Presbyterian Church.  Presbyterians were largely Scots and Irish.  Our Willis family are English,  Episcopalian,  of The Church of England.   
• The marriage was said to also be recorded in the Ware Parish in Gloucester County,  Va.  The Willis of Gloucester County are of a unrelated Y-DNA group than our Maryland Group.
• Our family's migration down to Guilford County appears to have happened in the 1780s,  sooner than the 1798 marriage in Baltimore.

However,  there is a marriage record that looks promising as being the marriage between our William 1780 and Nancy.   On 10 Sep 1799,  in Guilford County,  North Carolina,  a William Willis was married to Agnes Wheeler (Nancy is a common nickname for Agnes).

Once again,  we can turn to the autosomal DNA kit of our Y-DNA Maryland Group member to help us figure out if the Willis, Wheeler marriage makes sense.  We can search the match list on the surname Wheeler,  and examine the first 50 to 100 matches.  If we are seeing ample evidence of DNA matches to Wheelers located in 1790 - 1810 Guilford County,  this would be evidence strongly supporting that our William 1780 was married to Agnes Wheeler.  And,  it will likely give us decent clues as to which Wheeler household Agnes comes from.

Immediately,  I notice that our kit has a New Ancestor Discovery around Nancy Wheeler 1809-1852.  This means that our kit has matching DNA segments with others in the Ancestry database who form a DNA circle around Nancy Wheeler.  Somehow Nancy is related to our kit. 

As a result of working often with New Ancestor Discoveries,  they tend to be downstream descendants.  The father, mother,  grandfather,  or grandmother of the New Ancestry Discovery often winds up being a sibling of an ancestor in our tree.  The father of Nancy Wheeler was an Amos Wheeler.  It's possible that Amos was a brother to Agnes Wheeler.  We'll examine that later,  if needed.

The initial indication after searching the kit's match list on Wheeler looks excellent.  There are a total of 14 pages of Wheeler matches,  14 x 50 per page = over 700.   As a rule of thumb,  more than 10 pages is a very strong indication that the surname should be in your tree somewhere.  

Top Wheeler matches:

1 Judy Sperry - Martha Wheeler,  death 1745, New London,  CT.
2 TPHarpFl - Ignore, match on Agnes Wheeler.
3 W.D. - Martha Wheeler,  death 1745, New London,  CT.
4 bpdunfee12 - Mary Wheeler, death 1743, Stratfield, CT.
5 DawnWarren - very thin tree.  Wheeler in 2016 LA.
6 C.D. - Nancy Wheeler, b. Troup GA, 1809
7 David Anderson - Zilpha Wheeler, b. NY, 1818
8 jlandin155 - Keziab Wheeler, d 1736, Fairfield, CT.
9 tbaker1992 - Abigail Wheeler, d 1733, Bristol, MA.
10 HerbertDurfeelll - Rachel Wheeler,  no info.  Thin tree.
11 Florence703 - Ruth Wheeler, d 1740 Middlesex, MA.
12 larryv2685593124 - very thin tree.  Sarah Wheeler d 1883.  No other info. 
13 Joycesmith01 - Mary Wheeler, d 1792 Worcester, MA,
14 J.G. - John Wheeler, b 1745 Louisa, VA, d 1819 Charlotte, VA. to John Marion Wheeler, b 1760 Rockbridge, VA d 1845 Hall, GA.
15 russdirtstevens - Sarah Wheeler b. 1721 Westmoreland, VA, d 1792 Stafford, VA.
16 Thomas Quimby - thin tree
17 WisconsinBadger1960 - locked tree
18 Joni Kaufman - Benjamin Franklin Wheeler b 1770 Granville Co, NC, d 1842 Giles Co, TN.
19 moonzo46 - locked tree
20 DonnaSHardesty - Charity Wheeler b 1723 Baltimore, MD,  d 1762, Baltimore, MD.
21 NathanandNancyThomas - John Marion Wheeler, b 1760 Rockbridge, VA d 1845 Hall, GA. to Lucy Wheeler b 1815 Jackson, GA, d 1898 Cherokee, GA.
22 Sarah Shively - thin tree.  Phoepe Wheeler in late 1800s,  no other info.
23 Tommy Lashly - John Marion Wheeler, b 1760 Rockbridge, VA d 1845 Hall, GA. to Mary Wheeler b 1792 NC, d aft 1850 GA.
24 B.J. - William Wheeler b 1834 Dooly, GA.
25 AliciabirdBrewer - William Wheeler b 1834 Dooly, GA.
26 shannondh - Mary Wheeler b 1711, no other info.
27 Ryan Stevens - James Wheeler b 1759 Loudoun Co, VA d 1854 Jackson Co, GA.
28 Garnder_PJ - locked
29 D.G. - locked
30 M.S. - James Wheeler b 1758 Loudoun Co, Va d 1854 Jackson Co, GA.
31 J.H. - Ruth Wheeler d 1713 Middlesex, MA
32 rjdevenny - Nancy Wheeler b 1808 Jones Co, GA d 1851 Troup, GA.
33 rd_hd_stpchld - locked
34 sondentoms - Frances Jane Wheeler b 1855, Carter Co, MO.
35 Pam Hall - Mary Wheeler d 1760 likely in NJ
36 Susan Sutherland - locked
37 W.B. - locked
38 A723Cole - locked
39 edailthomas2 - Mary Wheeler b 1852 Baltimore, MD 
40 RickDNA - locked
41 A.W. - Jane Wheeler b 1680 Norfolk d 1724 Tyrrell NC
42 Kaden Humphrey - Josiah Wheeler b 1868 UT
43 J.C. - Ann Wheeler d 1759 Price George's MD
44 Andrew Ward - Delila Wheeler b 1769 KY, d 1845 Grayson, VA
45 peggeesue - ? No Wheeler that I can see
46 E.G. - Ann Wheeler d 1759 Price George's MD
47 mbassham35 - Timothy Wheeler b 1782 Upton, MA
48 RV - Sidney Wheeler b 1862 MO
49 krystal1356 - Richard Wheeler b 1755 Hartford CT d 1821 Greensboro, NC
50 L.C. - John Achilles Wheeler b 1750 Halifax, Va d 1828 Greenville, SC

After reviewing the first 50 matches,  I'm not seeing a definitive pattern to help us draw conclusions.   There is a strong presence of Wheeler in early mid 1700s back in CT and MA.   Then,  another presence of Wheeler down in early to mid 1800s GA.   Are all these Wheelers of the same group?  Are these matches a signal of a Wheeler migration from CT/MA down to GA.,  with a stopover in NC?  Its too hard to tell.   And, CT/MA to the deep south is not a normal migration pattern,  although I personally have a few instances in my tree of this pattern.  Including the Gage family from MA to NC,  and Mendenhall family from NY to NC.   So,  its possible.

Next,  I take a look at the 1790 and 1800 census records of Guilford County, NC to identify the Wheeler Households:

1790:  James, Charles, John, Manlove
1800:  James (16-25), Elizabeth (>45), John (>45), Manlove (>45), Ezekia Sr (>45), Ezekia Jr (26-44), Richard (>45), Samuel (26-44)

My initial reaction was that the James in the 1790 and 1800 census was the James in the match list above,  born 1759 in Loudoun Co, Va.   But,  that's not possible.  The James in the census records is young,  listed as 16 to 25 in both cases.  

In poking around the trees on Ancestry,  the John and Manlove Wheeler families appear to be of THIS tree.   It shows a John Wheeler 1725-1779, married to Keziah Manlove,  left Sussex, Delaware and migrated to Guilford, NC before 1779.  His descendants appear to be of the John and Manlove households above.  If you click back to John Wheeler III 1692-1760,  he has a son, Cyrus Wheeler 1717-1782,  who winds up in Middlesex, MA.  That might account for all the MA matches above.

Another Wheeler tree with great information is HERE.  This tree has the Wheeler lineage of John Marion Wheeler,  who appears several places on the match list above.   He is born in Rockbridge, VA and dies in Hall County,  GA.   He is said to have 11 children.  The first couple were born in Greenville, SC.  Later children were born in Jackson, GA.  Note that the James Wheeler above winds up in Jackson, GA.  James could be a brother to John Marion Wheeler.  A number of John's sons eventually migrated to Cherokee, GA.

My next step is to flip over to the Wheeler Y-DNA project to see if we recognized any of the names above as belonging to a single Wheeler group.  In crossing the various Wheeler groups to the info in the match list above,  its most likely that CA Group 2 aligns with what I see above.   In that group there is a John Wheeler 1745-1828.  I recognize the Marion middle name.   And, there's a John Wheeler of Greenville, S.C.   I have emailed the Wheeler group administrator asking about group CA 2,  and giving him info on the Guilford Wheelers to see if he has any info on them.   Before I proceed in looking at matches 50 to 100,  I want to hear back from this inquiry.

The response back from the Wheeler Y-DNA group administrator was not of any help.  Its not a very active group,  not well organized.  So,  I don't expect we'll get anything useful from them.  

Expanding the autosomal DNA matching analyses:

51 FredGerow57 - Oliver Wheeler b 1722 Middlesex, MA.
52 timotherwswett - Alanson Wheeler b 1799 Hubbardton, VT
53 J.R. - Elizabeth Wheeler d 1758 Charles, MD
54 RHONA MURPHY QUINN - Elizabeth Wheeler d 1706 Fairfield, CT
55 D.C. - Arthur Wheeler b 1846 Illinois
56 K. Melissa Waterman - Sylvester Wheeler b 1795 Hartford, CT
57 Lisa Lashley - Mary Wheeler b 1792 SC d 1829 Savannah, GA
58 CarolynMullins1946 - Rebecca Wheeler d 1703 Hartford, CT
59 kevin Rushing - Bettie Wheeler b 1875 TX.
60 carolineoca - Elizabeth Wheeler d 1706 Fairfield, CT


TO BE CONTINUED ....