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.
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