----- Original Message ----- From: "Desta Elliott" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2001 9:48 PM Subject: Re: VA-ROOTS Digest - 20 Jan 2001 to 21 Jan 2001 (#2001-22) > I read with great interest the results of your research in Overwarton > Parish. My ancestor, Patrick Peyton Kendrick, was born there is 1725. All we > know about his background is that his father was Scottish and named Thomas. > thanks > > Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2001 19:37:37 -0500 > From: Herbert Farmer <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: Genealogy Detective > > Hi all, My last few postings have been in response to a few people > suggesting that the list must be dead since there is so little activity. > I hope that I have rejuvenated some of the thought processes. I will > climb upon the soap box one more time and then I promise I will go back > into hibernation before someone flames me. > I would like to suggest that you become a GENEALOGY DETECTIVE when > reviewing data that you receive from anyone else or the even the primary > and secondary evidence that you may record yourself. Misinterpretation > of fact can place a person in the wrong lineage and when this gets > proliferated it does a disservice to another researcher even when the > intention is well meant. I always try to document exactly as the record > states and then add my analysis to be accepted or tossed out as the > researcher so desires. I have found fabricated middle names, fabricated > bible records, etc. that have not stood the test of time when other data > is correlated with what has been bandied about. Let me provide you with > a couple of examples that I have run across in my research which may > convey my message: > > OVERWHARTON PARISH RECORDS (OPR) > Following are some Heflin abstracts from the Overwharton Parish Records > of Stafford Co., VA for 1724 through 1774: > > Date Event Names > > 7 Mar 1739/1740 Birth William s/o William & Margaret Heflon > 20 May 1740 Marriage James Heffernon & Alander Payton > 29 Sep 1741 Marriage William Heffernon & Sarah Martin > 1 Oct 1741 Birth Simon, s/o William Heaflon > 20 Nov 1741 Birth John s/o James Haffernon > 28 Sep 1749 Birth James, s/o James Haffernon > 3 Dec 1749 Baptism James, s/o James Haffernon > > Are these Heflon, Heffernon, Heaflon, & Haffernon surnames related or > are they of different lineage? A lot of data that is being handed down > by prior researchers are that they are all related and that Simon is the > son of William Heffernon & Sarah Martin. I believe that this is an > incorrect interpretation for the following reasons: > > 1. William Heffernon and Sarah Martin were married on 29 September 1741. > > 2. Simon, s/o William Heaflon was born on 1 October 1741. > 3. These two events were 3 days apart, and although this is entirely > possible, I believe that the Parish Recorder would have recorded the > Surname with the same spelling for the two events, if they were related. > This is an important conclusion in that there are two different lines > here and incorrect interpretation combines the two lines (that I call > German & Irish). > 4. Analysis of other documents including the Fauquier Co., VA Personal > Property Tax Lists for 1782 through 1850 support this conclusion in that > the German Line is found in NW Fauquier Co. while the Irish Line is > found in Southern Fauquier Co., VA on two different lists. > > I conclude that from the above listed names in the OPR that the German > Line is William Heflon and wife Margaret had two sons William (who > married Margaret Nancy Haddox) and Simon (who married Ailse Payne). > > I further conclude that James Heffernon and William Heffernon are > probably brothers, but could be cousins, and that James Heffernon and > Alander Payton had two sons James and John. Subsequent investigation > into other documents indicates that John is a Revolutionary War Soldier > who enlisted in North Carolina. > > > > > JR. & Sr. SURNAME EXTENSIONS > > Following is a transcription of an entry in the Index to Marriage Bonds > and Returns, Book 4, Located at the Fauquier County Court House, > Warrenton, VA: > > PAGE NO. INTENT TO MARRY PARENTS BONDSMAN > > 133 Lawson A. Heflin William Heflin Jr. William Heflin Jr. > Ann Eliza Heflin William Heflin Sr. William Heflin Sr. > > > Bondsmen were Lawson A. Heflin, William Heflin Jr., and William Heflin > Sr. The marriage document identifies Lawson A. Heflin as the son of > William Heflin Jr. and Miss Ann Eliza Heflin as the daughter of William > Heflin Sr. A lot of the early Heflin researchers have proliferated the > interpretation of this marriage bond as William Heflin Jr. also, being > the son of William Heflin Sr. This misinterpretation was further > compounded when an early researcher assigned the middle name of Lawson > to William Heflin Jr. The assignment of middle names by this researcher > was common place for this researcher and he did so to help him keep all > of the William's, James', and John's straight in his own mind. > Unfortunately, a lot of these middle names have also been proliferated > by subsequent researchers. In fact, the William Heflin Jr. here (Irish > Line) is the son of John Hefferlin (VA Revolutionary War Soldier) and > his middle name was James. The William Heflin Sr. here (German Line) is > really William Heflin Jr. (who married first Susannah Sukey Ellis and > second Elizabeth Payne) the son of William Hefling Sr. and Margaret > Nancy Haddox. > This misinterpretation was made because of the common day > interpretation of Jr. being the son of a Sr. with the same given names. > I the olden days it was common practice to identify two individuals with > the same given name by attaching the Jr. to the younger of the two, and > Sr. to the elder regardless of whether or not they are related. In the > above case, the William Heflin Jr. was born on 20 August 1777 and the > William Heflin Sr. was born on 7 Mar 1740 and were of different lineage. > > The identification of the parents of Lawson A. Heflin and Ann Eliza > Heflin is supported by analysis of the Fauquier Co. Personal Property > Tax Lists with the German Line being located in NW Fauquier Co. and the > Irish Line being located in Southern Fauquier Co., VA. > > Incidentally, if any of you find ancestors in NW Fauquier Co., VA go > look in Germanna Records to see if you have a German connection (some of > these had Lord Fairfax Leases) and perhaps descend from those who came > over in the early 1700's to work the mines around Germanna. There is an > excellent series on Germanna that is on this list. > > Remember, there is a lot of truth in hand me downs, etc., but there are > also, a lot of untruths. There are none so blind as those who do not > wish to see. It is up to you to be a Genealogy Detective. And now, to > bed. Best of everything, Phyllis. > > ------------------------------ > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at > http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html