Willis - Common Tree Errors

I have Y-DNA tested into THE MARYLAND GROUP in the Willis Y-DNA project.  I spend most of my ancestry research time examining DNA matches and trees in conjunction with researching my Y-DNA group of Willis.  My group is just one, of 25 unrelated groups of Willis, in the US.   Over time,  I have looked at a ton of trees with Willis ancestors,  of all the various Y-DNA groups.  So,  it's easy for me to spot errors along a Willis branch.

If I have referred you to this post it's because DNA matches led me to your tree.  In reviewing your tree,  I see an error that is preventing the Ancestry.com DNA matching process from working properly.  Take a look at the info I am pointing you to below.   Consider making the suggested change to your tree.  See if that change improves the matching results you're seeing along your Willis branch.

First though,  here are the types of problems I see often:

Jumping between the 25 unrelated groups of Willis.  Y-DNA test results group men around a common male lineage.  So,  one Y-DNA group is unrelated to another.   Therefore,  if you have a tree that starts out with a Willis ancestor who is a proven member of one Willis group,  the science of DNA indicates that you can't jump your Willis branch over to another,  unrelated group of Willis.  That's just not scientifically possible.   I often see this error.

Common first name error, adopting the wrong spouse.  I am often shocked at the number of John and William Willis' that existed in our country's history.  James, Henry and Jacob were very popular Willis first names too,  among others.   It's so very easy to spot a male Willis ancestor of your ancestor's first name,  and just assume he's the one you're looking for,  so you readily adopt all the information from another person's tree about that ancestor.  Often,  that's just not the correct thing to do.  It leads to picking up the wrong spouse,  and often jumping your branch between different Y-groups of Willis.

Wildly differing birth and/or or death dates.  Understand that the DNA matching process must match between two primary sources of info.  First,  it needs to see that you have DNA segments in common with another person.  Second,  it needs to determine that the segments come from an ancestor that is common among the two trees of the people with matching segments.  Computers are making these decisions.  If you have wildly different birth or death dates,  a computer might not be able to determine if there's an ancestor match between trees. 

So,  with this in mind,  here are the common Willis ancestor errors I have come across over time ....

1.  John Willis 1667-1712  

Error: Spouse indicated as Margaret Cox.  
Correction:  Leave spouse blank

This change may not aide in your DNA matches,  because the ancestor might be too many generations away in your tree,  beyond the reach of auDNA matching. But, its a valid change none the less.  The John Willis of our Maryland Group was the first ancestor of our group to arrive in the colonies.  He landed in Dorchester County,  Maryland.  Over time,  there were Willis of at least 4 other Y-DNA groups that lived in and around Dorchester County,  Maryland.  So,  it's easy to get them confused, adopt the wrong information.  While our John,  of THE MARYLAND GROUP,  lived in Dorchester,  there was another John Willis,  of the QUAKER MARYLAND GROUP,  who lived nearby.  The other John was married to a Margaret Cox.  I often see Margaret Cox indicated as the wife of our John.   We do not know who our John married.  When he died in 1712,  he did not name a wife is his WILL.   So we logically assume that she had passed before him. There are also very good pieces of research addressing this issue.  One is by Professor Charles Bast.  Read footnote #1 of his paper on John Willis (c 1682 - 1764) in THIS POST.  In addition, the research of Gary N Willis of Houston,  Texas also addresses this issue, READ HERE.


2.  John Willis 1667-1712

Error: Father indicated as Richard Willis.
Correction:  Point John 1667-1712 to the two previous generations of John in Wantage,  UK.  Info is in MY TREE.

This change may not aide in your DNA matches,  because the ancestor might be too many generations away in your tree,  beyond the reach of auDNA matching. But, its a valid change none the less.  Our John Willis was the first ancestor of our Y-DNA group to arrive in the colonies.  There was an older Willis male, Richard Willis,  who lived in the vicinity,  but he is of a different Y-DNA group.  The research of Gary N Willis,  READ HERE,  tells us that John named his first property,  "Wantage".   The custom at the time was to give your property a name that reminds you of your homeland.  There is a Wantage,  UK,  in Berkshire.  The Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul still stands in Wantage today.  And the Christening records of that Church exist.  There was a John Willis Christened in The Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in 1667.   We naturally assume that this was our John.  And before him,  there are records of two previous generations of John Willis,  along with the names of their wives.  The info is in my tree.


3.  Samuel Willis 1799-1860

Error: Pointed to wrong father,  jumping between Y-DNA Groups.
Correction:  Father was James Willis 1780- aft 1830

The Samuel above is of my MARYLAND Y-DNA GROUP.  We have solid auDNA and Y-DNA evidence of him being of our group.  There are descendants of six of his children who are DNA matching each other,  and a member of our Y-DNA group descends from a brother of Samuel.   I see a number of trees out on Ancestry that point this Samuel of McMinn County,  Tennessee,  over to another Samuel who lived in Virginia.   This other Samuel is of THE GLOUCESTER COUNTY, VA Y-DNA group.   It's not scientifically possible to jump your tree from our MARYLAND GROUP,  over to an ancestor of THE GLOUCESTER COUNTY, VA group.

Samuel's lineage began when 3rd generation William Willis 1717-1782 migrated away from Dorchester County,  Maryland.  He arrived in Western North Carolina in the 1760s,  and settled on land that later became Rutherford County,  NC.  One of his grandsons was a James Willis.   James was born in Rutherford County, NC.  But,  in the 1820s he,  and his two sons,  Samuel and William,  migrated to McMinn County,  Tennessee.   The county had just opened for settlement in 1819.  It was formerly Indian lands.   Samuel does appear briefly in 1819 Rutherford County records,  serving on Jury Duty.  In the 1830 census of McMinn you will note that there are only 3 Willis households.  James is the older,  by far.  Sons, William and Samuel are younger.   James dies at some point after the 1830 census.  William moves down to Alabama briefly,  then on to Texas.  Samuel remains in McMinn through the 1850 census.  Before the 1860 census,  he relocates to Arkansas,  where he joins several of his nephews,  John and James Black Willis, who relocate there from Rutherford County,  NC.