WELCOME to my CAROLINA FAMILY PIONEER HISTORY website. This is a summary of the research of my family surnames and their early family connections with allied families in the Carolinas. it started as a labor of love to collect and share with my eight grandkids, who they are, and what are their roots in history. May they each benefit from the labors and genius of their ancestors.
My research has shown me my ancestors came from many different places in Europe, crossed the ocean, coming to a "new world". PHILLIPS' came from VIRGINIA, migrating south into NORTH CAROLINA, and some further south into SOUTH CAROLINA. SILER and CHAMNESS families came into Philadelphia, and eventually made their way south to Chatham and Randolph Counties of NC, along the King's Highway (roughly I-95/US 301 today). NISBET, BREVARD, McCAIN, and many others started out in PENNSYLVANIA, migrating south into VIRGINIA (Cub Creek Settlement in Charlotte County), following the Great Wagon Road along the Blue Ridge Mountains. Once in the Carolina's, they settled in the Catawba Valley, and many moved onto the Waxhaws, along the NC and SC border. Those 'D' RODGERS as my grandmother said her father's ROGERS called his wife's family relations who lived in Union County, came from IRELAND through 'Charlestown' of SC. Over time, many went west to GEORGIA, ALABAMA, MISSISSIPPI, and even to TEXAS. Pioneers, patriots, people of faith and personal religion, all seeking a new life for their families. America answered that need for them, as it has for countless of their descendants. It is my goal to honor their voyage, their travels in the wildernesses as they strove for a better life for their families and their descendants.
My documented paternal line currently is centered in South Carolina, mostly around Lancaster, Kershaw and Chesterfield Counties. Many of the families were living in that area by the time the Revolution was over, if not before. Some of the surnames for these families are:
BIRD, DEASON, EUBANKS, GARDNER, HILTON, MILLER, MORGAN, PHILLIPS, and SELLERS.
My paternal grandmother's families connection were centered in Iredell [ROGERS, HUGHES, BEATY], and in Union County [BREVARD, GILLON, McCAIN, MORROW, NISBET, PICKENS, RICHARDSON, RODGERS, STEWART, WALKUP, WHITE, and WYCHE] in NC. Unon County was formed in 1842 from Anson and Meckenburg Counties. Most of these families lived in the Waxhaw Settlement and Old Mecklenburg County.
[For a more complete list of surnames, see tab SURNAMES / SOURCES / RESOURCES]
I welcome correspondence with descendants of these families. Learning more about our earliest family relations, establishes the foundations for their descendants in America. They experienced hardship and difficulty as they settled a new land to establish their families in their communities and their faith. But they succeeded as the proof is in their descendants, and the part each family contributed to make America's history and the road to a great nation.
To navigate the website, select a tab on the top left for a new page with associated topices. Names highlighted in "red" are direct descendants.
PHILLIPS 1786 to PRESENT tab explains the PHILLIPS DNA Project, as I am a participant in that effort to learn the very earliest families who came to America, and made their way into the Carolina's. I am in Group 10 of the PHILLIPS DNA Project, and have been fortunate to correspond with those who also match genetically in many parts of the country.
PATERNAL ANCESTORS tab offers stories and data about the PHILLIPS, MORGAN, and other related families who are connected to them.
MATERNAL CONNECTIONS tab offers stories and research about my maternal side of my famly. A newspaper article copied from The Greensboro Record about my
grt-grt-grt-uncle, Ludwick SUMMERS, a son of Captain Peter SUMMERS, my maternal fourth great-grandfather.
FAMILY PIONEERS tab has the personal stories that mark the lives and events as passed down or discovered in public records. See the tax rates paid by my Great-great-grandfather William Burrell PHILLIPS (1868-1871) on what he owned at the time.
MILITARY ROSTER has the latest revision date posted on top of the page. Listed in chronological order, the wars of America, and our family members who answered the call of the local militia, state militias, and the call of Uncle Sam for WWI and WWII, as American became more involved in world affairs. Space limitations prevent listing all family members since 1900, except those direct lines, as noted in "red".
MAKING HISTORY has a list of known ministers, pastors, and preachers of the family. Also the many stories of family members who made a contribution in their time that tells the story of the family as it has made a difference in their communities such as:
"The Execution of James Madison MILLER"
"Where Are The HILTON Boys Buried?"
Family connections to the US-MEXICIAN War (1846-1848)
Roster of men of the family who fought at Gettysburg on 1-3 July 1863.
Information discovered about my earliest NISBET ancestors and their role
in SCOTLAND and as Covenanter Martyrs, that prompted their search
for religious freedom, as others in Scotland and England did.
SURNAMES / SOURCES / RESOURCES the last tab provides a list of SURNAMES and a generous list of resources used, titles and authors. Also on this page, at the bottom is my statement of INTEGRITY for the website.
DNA PROJECTS
PHILLIPS [see PHILLIPS 1786 to Present tab])
DNA matches determined for Group 10 DNA [FTDNA Kit #69666] for the PHILLIPS surname. The DNA 67 y-markers provide the greater degree of determining genetic matches and ancestral ties of which there are four. One individual, for whatever reason, refuses to discuss or disclose his ancestor links. That is most unfortunate!!
FTDNA has determined and posted the results of my personal Ancestral Origins based on the 12 y-marker results. >2% is considered significant indicators of ancestoral family origin. These results match the results of the Deep Clade test results.
NORTHERN IRELAND: 2.1%
SCOTLAND : 2.3%
SLOVENIA : 2.6%
SWITZERLAND : 3.1%
WALES : 2.3%
My genetic DNA 'address' - Haplo-Group R1b1b2a1b5 R-L21 (authenicated by FTDNA):
The following is a comment by the R-L21 Plus Project Administrator, Richard Stevens. It offers a evaluation of where, long ago, our ancestors roamed in their migration west.
"Calculations by Dr. Ken Nordtvedt, Vince Vizachero, Dr. Anatole Klyosov and others estimate the age of L21 at 3,000-4,000 years. Thus the current view is that L21 probably arose among the Bronze Age Celts or Proto-Celts of SW Germany and SE France and spread into Britain and elsewhere from there."
MORGAN Family DNA participate [see Paternal Ancestor tab]);
Other DNA projects that relate to my families:
The ROGERS and RODGERS DNA projects have recently merged. The reason is the multiple spellings of the surname, which do not endure intact within any family line. I have observed that through censuses, death certificates, military records.
ROGERS / RODGERS DNA Projects
* Two definite matches has been determined for Matthew RODGERS in Union County, NORTH CAROLINA and I am in progress of expanding that data base;
* The last living male member of the ROGERS from Iredell County, NC DNA test kit #150374. Contacts have been made with several matches. In April, 2012, a 25 key match was determined and I am in contact with that individual to determined how the link fits. An interesting finding for this DNA testing was the Haplo-group was determined to be 'G'.An accompanying note about Haplogroup G on the website states "less than 1% of the British population is Haplogroup G".
"In Europe Haplogroup G is found at 4.88% on average throughout the continent. Frequencies range from 5% to 11% north of the Caucasus, in southern Russia and eastern Ukraine. Frequencies also increase to >5% in central and southern sections of the continent, such as Greece, Italy, and parts of Spain. It has relatively high concentrations in the Greek island of Crete (approx. 7% to 11%), Sardinia(approx. 21% in Tempio, 14% in Cagliari, 12% in Sorgono) and the Tyrol region of Austria (8%). Moving north and westwards from the Alps, concentrations drop to around 7–5% in parts of Germany, Bohemia, Moravia and Hungary. In the British Isles, Scandinavia, northern France, northern Germany, the Netherlands and the Baltic countries it is less common, e.g. Britain and Norway at 2%. Around 4% of Welsh men are in Haplogroup G.Around 10% of Ashkenazi Jewish males have Haplogroup G, and the Jewish diaspora to Europe from the Middle East and the Moorish (Arabsand Berbers) occupation of Spain are two other probable routes into Europe for certain types of G."
...from WIKIPEDIA
My participation in the Phillips DNA Project has broaden my research for PHILLIPS ancestors, migrating from VIRGINIA southwad into Chatham, Randolph, and possibly Guilford counties in NORTH CAROLINA. One branch journeyed further south, settling in Lancaster District, SOUTH CAROLINA.
PROJECTS IN PROGRESS: (subject to change as research data appears)
* Adding more details about the Mexican-US War in 1846-1848;
* Quaker family members who were early pioneers.
* Early pioneer women who are recognized as Colonial Pioneer Settlers of NC
* Settlers of Cub Creek Settlement, Charlotte County, VA. Ancestor Israel PICKENS was one of the original settlers and charter member of the Cub Creek Presbyterian Church, and is buried in the church cemetery nearby.
* Working to expand maternal lines from pre-Revolution to Civil War of SUMMERS, SILER, WYRICK, COBLE, and other allied families.
* Family Civil War Veterans, their regiments and their final burial sites, particularly those buried in battlefield grave sites;
* More fully documenting Civil War participants with regiment, rank, battles, wound, captures, etc.
THE FAMILY WAS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION:
There are times when genealogy has a high degree of satisfaction, not necessarily just in establishing a family connection, but to know that family members were active in the events of their time. I recently had one of those moments when I discovered the following document. I have tried to do more research for the Colonial period of NC, so my research has centered in two areas, Rowan County and the Waxhaws.
Committee of Safety, on the 8th of August 1774, seventeen days before the assembling of the first North Carolina Provincial Congress, adopted seventeen resolutions upon public affairs, showing they were in the very forefront of liberal and patriotic opinions. In its entirety:
“At a meeting of the committee, August 8, 1774, the following resolves were unanimously agreed to: Resolved, That we will at all times whenever we are called upon for that purpose, maintain and defend, at the expense of our lives and fortunes, His Majesty’s right and title to the crown of Great Britain and his dominions in America, to whose royal person and government we profess all due obedience and fidelity.
Resolved, That the right to impose taxes or duties, to be paid by the inhabitants within this Province, for any purpose whatsoever, is peculiar and essential to the General Assembly, in whom the legislative authority of the colony is vested.
Resolved, That every attempt to impose such taxes or duties by any other authority is an arbitrary exertion of power, and an infringement of the constitutional rights and liberties of the colony. Resolved, That to impose a tax or duty on tea by the British Parliament, in which the North American Colonies can have no representation, to be paid upon importation by the inhabitants of the said colonies, is an act of power without right. It is subversive to the liberties of the said colonies, deprives them of their property without their own consent, and thereby reduces them to a state of slavery.
Resolved, That the late cruel and sanguinary acts of Parliament, to be executed by military force and ships of war upon our sister colony of Massachusetts Bay and the town of Boston, is a strong evidence of the corrupt influence obtained by the British Ministry in Parliament , and a convincing proof of their fixed intention to deprive the colonies of their constitutional rights and liberties.
Resolved, That the cause of the town of Boston is the common cause of the American Colonies. Resolved, That it is the duty and interest of all the American Colonies firmly to unite in an indissoluble union and association, to oppose by every just and proper means the infringement of their common rights and privileges.
Resolved, That a general association between all the American Colonies not to import from Great Britain any commodity whatsoever (except such things as shall be excepted by the General Congress of this Province), ought to be entered into, and not dissolved till the just rights of the colonies are restored to them, and the cruel acts of the British Parliament against the Massachusetts Bay and town of Boston are repealed.
Resolved, That no friend to the rights and liberties of America ought to purchase any commodity whatsoever, except such as shall be excepted, which shall be imported from Great Britain after the general Association shall be agreed upon.
Resolved, That every kind of luxury, dissipation, and extravagance ought to be banished from among us. Resolved, That manufacturers ought to be encouraged by opening subscriptions for that purpose, or by any other proper means.
Resolved, That the African slave trade is injurious to this colony, obstructs the population of it by free men, prevents manufacturers and other useful immigrants from Europe from settling among us, and occasions an annual increase of the balance of trade against the colonies.
Resolved, That the raising of sheep, hemp, and flax ought to be encouraged.
Resolved, That to be clothed in manufactures fabricated in the colonies ought to be considered as a badge of distinction, of respect, and true patriotism.
Resolved, That Messrs. Samuel young and Moses Winslow, for the county of Rowan, and for the town of Salisbury, William Kennon, Esq., be, and they are hereby nominated and appointed Deputies upon the part of the inhabitants and freeholders of this county, and town of Salisbury, to meet such Deputies as shall be appointed by the other counties and corporation within this colony, at Johnston Courthouse, the twentieth of this instant.
Resolved, That, at this important and alarming crisis, it be earnestly recommended to the said Deputies at their General Convention, that they nominate and appoint one proper person out of each district of this Province, to meet such Deputies in a General Congress, as shall be appointed upon the part of the other Continental Colonies in America, to consult and agree upon a firm and indissoluble union and association, for preserving by the best and most proper means, their common rights and liberties.
Resolved, That this colony ought not trade with any other colony which shall refuse to join in any union and association that shall be agreed upon by the greater part of the colonies on this continent, for preserving their common rights and liberties.”
Twenty-five men of Rowan County, chosen from all parts of the county, approved the above document. Two of the men are my paternal 8th great-grandfather, John BREVARD, and another is a paternal 8th great-granduncle, John NISBET.
MY ANCESTORS DURING THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD
Most of my ancestral family can be found in NC/SC, prior to 1860. Southerners take great pride in our ancestors and our Southern heritage. It is no exception with our family into present day. But lets take a moment and look at what those folks endured during one of the major events of America's history.
1860 US Census population for NC was 661,563, and for SC was 301,302. Historians and many databases do not agree on exact numbers of men who served their states in the US Civil War, so I will use data as found on Historical Data System website for a point of reference.
* 135,677 men served NC, and endured major casualities. 20,000 were KIA, and 21,000 died of disease out of a 1860 male population of 519, 121.
* 99,403 men served from the state of SC, from Fort Sumter to Appomattox Court House. SC lost 12,922 of her sons, or viewed another way, 23% of SC's white male population of fighting age.
Both states not only lost their men, but families suffered from hunger, and after Sherman made his trip north from Savannah, through Columbia and into the Sand Hills of NC, the loss of personal items, farms and crops burned, cities and towns destroyed, railroads lines torn up and Sherman neckties made around large trees, the South was never the same. Then these same states suffered under Reconstruction from 1865-1877, and some areas much longer. It was a tragic time for many families who remained in their old homes, while others could not bear the disaster laid upon their lives and fortunes, and move away, many to Texas or Arkansas. For many Southern families, mine included, the Civil War was a significant point in history for the family, used as a marker for progress of the family, before and after April 1865.
"Who we are, is who we were."
"He who feels no pride in his ancestors, is unworthy to be remembered by his descendants."
This website was last updated 14 May 2012 / RWP