I received maternal DNA results last week from Ancestry DNA. These results were for my great-great grandmother Susan “Susie” Jerman Johnson (abt. 1858-1939) and her mother Rebecca who was born around 1815 in SC. Grandma Susie is the paternal grandmother of my Grandma Emma. Grandma Emma is my maternal grandmother. Grandma Susie and her family moved to Warren County, NC during the 1850s possibly with their slave master. Although not confirmed, I suspect that they were once owned by Dr. Thomas Palmer Jerman (1826-1905) who was born in St. James Santee, SC and moved to Warren County, NC around 1851. The DNA test was taken by a great granddaughter of Grandma Susie and the results were Haplogroup L, which is African.
After receiving the results, I inputted them into the www.mitosearch.org website and found one exact match both on the HRV1 and HVR2 sections. I emailed this new genetic cousin and she and I have been communicating through email in order to compare our family trees.
Her oldest known ancestor on this matching line is her great-great grandmother, Anne Gannaway Welborn who was born around 1834 and lived in Randolph County, NC after the Civil War.
The mitochondrial DNA is passed through the female line and our common ancestry may have occurred either within a genealogical timeframe, or hundreds to thousands of years ago. For the sake of my new genetic cousin and me, we hope that this common ancestry occurred during a genealogical timeframe and that we are able to discover the specifics of the kinship.
Showing posts with label Jerman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jerman. Show all posts
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Monday, April 21, 2008
Papa is Buried Under a Tree
After obtaining copies of death certificates for Grandpa George Johnson (1893-1932) and members of his family, I visited the cemetery of Whites Grove Church in Warren County, NC where most of them were buried. It was Thanksgiving weekend 1996 just after a big storm and the cemetery was covered with leaves and tree branches. I was accompanied by my Uncle Willie Johnson, a son of George Johnson, and brother of my maternal grandmother, Emma. Uncle Willie had not visited his father’s grave in several years. He only remembered that he was buried under a tree. My grandmother also remembered the same thing about her father being buried under a tree.
As luck would have it, this cemetery had several trees and Uncle Willie couldn’t remember which one. Like any family historian visiting a graveyard, I didn’t let this deter me, so I began looking at all the tombstones. As I neared the end of my search, I found Grandpa George’s mother Susan Jerman Johnson (1858-1939.) A few steps away I found the grave of his sister, Mollie Johnson Rowlett (1886-1959) buried beside her husband, James Rowlett (1883-1947.)
I completed my search of all the tombstones in this church graveyard, but still could not find Grandpa George. Since his mother, sister, and brother in law, were buried near each other, then he might be buried somewhere near them, I thought. I returned to that area, but still saw nothing. Uncle Willie and I started towards the car, but I wanted to take another look. I returned to the area of his sister’s grave and looked around. As I stood looking in the graveyard above the graves of his sister and her husband, I began to sense that my feet weren’t standing on soil. The soil in the graveyard had been a bit mushy because of the recent storm. Feels like something is solid is under this bed of leaves, I thought, and it feels like cement. I began to clear away leaves and tree branches and bit by bit I saw cement, and lo and behold, there I was standing on Grandpa George Johnson’s grave.
As luck would have it, this cemetery had several trees and Uncle Willie couldn’t remember which one. Like any family historian visiting a graveyard, I didn’t let this deter me, so I began looking at all the tombstones. As I neared the end of my search, I found Grandpa George’s mother Susan Jerman Johnson (1858-1939.) A few steps away I found the grave of his sister, Mollie Johnson Rowlett (1886-1959) buried beside her husband, James Rowlett (1883-1947.)
I completed my search of all the tombstones in this church graveyard, but still could not find Grandpa George. Since his mother, sister, and brother in law, were buried near each other, then he might be buried somewhere near them, I thought. I returned to that area, but still saw nothing. Uncle Willie and I started towards the car, but I wanted to take another look. I returned to the area of his sister’s grave and looked around. As I stood looking in the graveyard above the graves of his sister and her husband, I began to sense that my feet weren’t standing on soil. The soil in the graveyard had been a bit mushy because of the recent storm. Feels like something is solid is under this bed of leaves, I thought, and it feels like cement. I began to clear away leaves and tree branches and bit by bit I saw cement, and lo and behold, there I was standing on Grandpa George Johnson’s grave.
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