About us
The Younger DNA Project
December 2007
The Younger DNA project is now producing results. They aren’t necessarily the results we expected, but isn’t that the fun of genealogy. Our families aren’t always what we expect. Anyone who has been doing genealogy very long will know that surprises are to be expected, and every family has them.
I want to share as much information as I can, but as the DNA project administrators, Brownie and I must also be cognizant of the privacy of participants who may not want their results made public. We’ve tried to hit a happy medium by using kit numbers unless the participants have individually given us permission to identify them. We are identifying genealogical lines and grouping them with DNA results, so this should be useful. We are identifying results by kit number, so if you would like to contact the participants, please just let us know and we’ll put you in touch.
I might also mention that this is an ongoing research project. If you have questions or information, even if it appears to be conflicting data, please do let us know. That’s how progress is made.
If you are a participant and you would like to give permission for us to include your name and contact information in this document, please send an e-mail to Roberta saying that you give permission and you realize this report, and subsequent reports, will be made public and will be posted on the internet.
In order to work with the DNA project, I have made extensive use of Wilma Hillman’s genealogy file as well. Her efforts in compiling this information are astounding. I’d be lost without this. Thank you again, Wilma.
The initial question among the Younger families is whether or not the Younger Gang and the Younger family from Virginia were descended from a common ancestor. We have had that answer for some time now and it is unquestionably “no”. They are not the same family.
However, we have had some unexpected surprises, including several undocumented adoptions. Undocumented adoptions occur when the DNA does not match the individuals or the groups you expect that it will based on the last name and genealogy. In order to determine if an undocumented adoption has occurred, you must have several individuals from differing lines descended from a common ancestor, with documented genealogy. Without matching results from different sons lines, you don’t know which of the groups is the undocumented adoption. This is the situation in the Halifax Co. Younger group, but more about that in a few minutes.
We now have 6 distinct DNA signatures.
1.The Younger Gang
2.The Kentucky Younger group – previously thought descended from the Younger Gang group, but the DNA does not match
3.The Alexander Younger from Essex County/Halifax Co., Va. Group
4.The Missouri Group – previously thought descended from the Halifax Group, but the DNA does not match
5.The Marcus Younger group from Essex/Halifax Co., Va.
6.The German Jeunger Group
As more individuals test, I will update this report.
Undocumented Adoptions
Undocumented adoptions, also called Non-Paternal Events (NPE), do not necessarily mean that granny was unfaithful. In fact, the most common cause of Undocumented Adoptions is that the husband of a woman with a child or two dies, she remarries, and her small children are raised using the step-father’s last name. Before 1900, legal adoptions were all but unheard of, and most “adoptions” simply took place when someone took and raised an otherwise unwanted or orphaned child. These “adoptions” were common knowledge at the time, and they were also very common.
Parents often died and other family members or sometimes neighbors took the children. This history is lost in time, so today, we discover these events using DNA and they become, to us, undocumented adoptions. At the time, it wasn’t anything special, and no one probably even discussed it. These events were commonplace and they certainly weren’t secret. We can often find hints of these events using the census and watching other documents like death records, wills and obituaries carefully, sometimes for glaring omissions.
The second most common reason for an undocumented adoption is the mother having an illegitimate child before she married. This was much more common than we think, and typically, the man she married simply raised the child as his own. Looking at birth records and marriage dates can give us hints. Is the child the eldest of the children? Looking at the census can also be helpful. Court records sometimes reflect these kinds of issues as well in some states. In some instances, the husband may have believed he was the father and married the woman when she was pregnant. Clearly, in this circumstance, we’ll never know what he (or she for that matter) did or did not know about the child’s paternity.
Other reasons for undocumented adoptions to appear include:
•Births during war time (especially during invaded areas during the Civil War)
•Wagon trains (mortality was high)
•Orphan trains (too many kids in the east, too few in the west)
•Name changes (sometimes associated with the family or sometimes just a male moving from one location to another state)
•Illegitimate births (the mother’s name was the child’s legal name, but the DNA reflects the father’s name)
•Intra-family adoptions (typically unmarried sister gives birth and married sister and family raise the child as their own)
•Unwelcome relationships
•Infidelity
•Contemporary adoptions (within the past couple generations)
Matching Ancestors
I have bolded the ancestors that are common ancestors with other documented lines.
Additional Genealogy
Information in addition to that provided by the participants is in italics and is from Wilma Hillman’s extensive file.
Contemporary Genealogy
I have removed the names of the participant and the living or recent generations for privacy.
DNA Results
DNA results, kit number and oldest known ancestor are all available at our Younger family DNA results website at www.familytreedna.com/public/Younger. Click on Y-Results.
The Younger Gang - Group 1
On the DNA website, www.familytreedna.com/public/younger this is the pumpkin colored Group 2.
To date, we have five kits whose DNA matches exactly (34990, 48680, 48963, 58569 and 72479) and due to the fairly solid genealogy of some of the participants, they can all be presumed to descend from a common ancestor, likely to be Humphrey Younger.
The deep ancestral haplogroup, or clan, for this group is J2. J2 is a haplogroup which originated in the Middle East, specifically in the Fertile Crescent. Approximately 6% of European men carry this haplogroup, in decreasing frequency as you move away from the Middle East. It is sometimes associated with the Jewish Faith, although there are many many men who carry this haplogroup and who are not Jewish. The Jewish religion is only a couple thousand years old while this haplogroup is approximately 5000-12,000 years old. It might be more appropriate to say that Jewish males descend from this haplogroup along with lots of other people. You can read more about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_J2_(Y-DNA).
There is something very very interesting about the DNA of Group 1. Four of the five participants have an extra marker. Marker 464 is a 4 value marker, meaning that the DNA has 4 peaks to read at this marker. They are labeled 464a, 464b, 464c and 464d. This line of Youngers typically has a 5th peak, 464e. This is an extremely unusual phenomenon. For the one kit that does not show this extra marker, it might be worth asking the lab to rerun the sample if it ever makes a difference genealogically.
As I understand the descent of the Younger Gang Younger’s, it is as follows:
1 Humphrey Younger
.... +Mary ?
.. 2 John Younger
........ +Sarah Kennard b: Bet. 1702 - 1729 d: Bet. 1762 - 1819
...... 3 Joshua Logan Younger
............ +Elizabeth Lee b: Abt. 1754 d: Abt. 1791
.......... 4 Charles Lee Younger
................ +Sarah Sullivan Purcell
............... 5 Henry Washington Younger b: February 22, 1810 in Lincoln Co., KY d: July 20, 1862 in Westport, MO. Burial: Cass Co., MO
..................... +Bursheba Leighton Fristoe b: June 06, 1816 in McMinnville, TN Father: Richard Marshall Fristoe Mother: Mary L. Sullivan d: June 06, 1870 in Cass Co., Mo. m: 1830 in Jackson Co., MO. Burial: Cass Co., MO
................... 6 Thomas Coleman "Cole" Younger b: 1844 in Jackson Co., Mo. d: 1916 Burial: Lee's Summit, MO.
................... 6 James Younger
................... 6 Robert Younger
To date, we have five participants who descend from this same family line at various locations. All five of these descendants have DNA that matches each other, so we have eliminated the possibility of nonparental events (undocumented adoptions of whatever flavor). I have removed the two most current generations of the information to protect privacy. If the participants want to share this personally, that’s fine, but I won’t post it on the internet.
Kit Number - 34990
The genealogy as submitted by this family is as follows:
•The participant
•His father born 1892 Lawrence Co In.
•Tommy Younger b July 15 1868 Lawrence Co., In. m Susan McKnight
•Mike Younger b abt 1832 in Ky. m Mary Polly Thorn Cummings
•Lewis Younger b Dec 3 1802 in Ky. m Nancy Crose
•Joshua Logan Younger b May 11, 1752 in Va. m Catherine Yoter.
•Believed to descend from Humphrey Younger in Maryland.
Kit Number - 48680
•Littleton Purcell Younger b 1813 Montgomery Co Ky d June 1893 Brownsville, Oregon m Eliza Sampson
•Charles Lee Younger b 1783 Hampshire Co., Va., d 1854 Osceola, St. Clair Co., Mo. m Eleanor Sullivan
•Joshua Logan Younger b 1752 Kent Co., Md or Hampshire Co Va d 1834 Bedford, Lawrence Co., Ind, m Elizabeth Lee
•John Younger b 1707 Kent Co Md m Sarah Kennard
•Humphrey Younger b 1677 d 1740 Kent Co Md, m Mary ?
•Thomas Younger b Scotland, no further info listed.
Note that Joshua’s DNA is confirmed through 2 sons, Lewis and Charles.
Kit Number 48963
•Participant
•His father
•Claudius Younger b & d in KY spouse Martha Hamilton Jackson
•George b and d in KY spouse (1)Theodocia Elmina Crawford, (2) Mrs. Blalock)
•John W. Younger -b 1773 in MD, d 1858 in Shelby Co., KY, spouse Mary Agathy Dearing (Deering)
•Tiller Younger lived in Maryland, spouse was Mary (unknown last name), died after 1781
My great aunts who loved family history said we were related to the Younger gang through our ancestors in Maryland, but I cannot show the relationship at all. Don't know what family Tiller Younger is related to in Maryland. My male cousin in Louisiana (direct line of Tiller, John, George, Davies) said his grandfather found a relationship through the National Archives, but he wasn't interested in pursuing information.
Kit Number 58569 (through Judy Foley)
•Participant
•His father
•Isaac Newton Younger d 1987 Kent Co Md m Mary Cole Kealey (Kealey is previous married name)
Kit Number 72479
•Participant
•Clarence William Younger b 1895 Monroe, LA d 1959 Tuscaloosa, AL m Mary Avice Jackson
•Doc Newman Younger b 1872 Delta Co., Tx d 1905 Lamar Co., Al m Jesie Edith Ray
•John W. Younger Jr aka James William Younger b 1843 Pontotoc Co., Ms d 1890 Delta Co., Tx m Martha Ann Shelton
•John W. Younger Sr b 1813 Ky d 1883 Delta Co., Tx, m Mary Townes (no children) then Nancy Bugg
•Capt. John Younger b 1773 Maryland d 1858 Shelby Co Ky m Mary Agatha Deering
•John Younger believed to be brother of Joshua Younger, great grandfather of the Outlaw Youngers, b 1753 poss Kent Co., Md, death date and wife unknown
Note that participants 48963 and 72479 both claim descent from Mary Agatha Deering, but give her husband, John Younger, with different fathers. (Wilma’s file indicates Tiller is John’s father.) However, the DNA does indicate that they come from the same Younger family. The specific genealogy will have to be worked out by the participants.
The Kentucky Younger Group – Previously thought to be the Younger Gang – Group 2
On the DNA site, www.familytreedna.com/public/younger, this is the green Group 3.
This participant’s genealogy goes back to the Younger gang, but the DNA does not. Someplace along the line, there has been an undocumented adoption.
Ironically, this individual’s haplogroup is also J2, but the DNA markers do not match on 11 of 25 markers, so the mismatch is unquestionable. This individual’s DNA is rare and he has no matches.
Kit Number 79975 (Mark Younger, mykyhistory@hotmail.com)
•Participant
•His parents
• Participant’s grandfather d 1977, wife living
• Charles Younger b 1891 Ky d 1971 Indiana, m Sarah Flanagan
•Charles Younger b 1857d 1950 m Sarah Perry
•Charles Younger b 1821 d 1863 m Margaret Laughlin
•Charles Younger b abt 1800 d 1833 m Mariah Burnley
•Peter Younger b 1772 Virginia d bef 1841 Grant Co., Ky m Abigail Dennis
•Joshua and unknown wife. Wilma shows this Joshua to be:
•Joshua Logan Younger b 1752 Va d 1834 Lawrence Co., Indiana, second wife mother of Peter, unknown, first wife was Catherine Yoter
We know Joshua Logan Younger’s DNA through his other sons, Lewis and Charles Lee, above. The undocumented adoption must occur below Joshua, in either his son Peter or downstream between Peter and the participant.
Peter had 3 sons, Charles, Joshua and John. If a descendant can be found for one of these other sons, it can be determined if the undocumented adoption took place in Peter’s generation or downstream.
If another participant can be found from any of the 3 Charles Youngers we can also determine where the undocumented adoption occurred. I find it ironic that we have three men named Charles. It would be odd to find the undocumented adoption among a man who was named for his father. However, sometimes children are names for favorite family members, not their father. In one family, we discovered two men with the same first name in a family, and one did in fact prove to be adopted. This was discovered as a result of DNA testing.
Alexander Younger from Essex/Halifax County, Virginia Younger’s - Group 3
On the DNA website, www.familytreedna.com/public/younger, this is the salmon colored Group 1.
We now have 5 participants who match this line. Of those 5, three have genealogy tying them back to the founding line of Alexander Younger, the immigrant from Scotland. These men match exactly except for the two participants who have extended their markers to 37, kits 86386 and 92740 and these two have 1 mutation in the 25-37 marker panel that separate them. The rest of this group has only had 12 markers tested.
This group is the most common haplogroup, or clan, in Western Europe, haplogroup R1b1, probably R1b1c, who entered Europe about 35,000 years ago. They are thought to have overwintered the last ice age in Anatolia and created the beautiful artwork in the Caves of Spain and France. They are also believed to be contemporaries of the European Neanderthal. You can read more about the haplogroup at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_R1b_(Y-DNA).
Haplogroup R1b can be broken into much smaller subgroups using a more extensive type of DNA genealogical testing called SNP testing. Wilma Norton has upgraded kit 86386 for this test, but the results are not back yet.
Kit Number 56439 (not in the Younger DNA project at Family Tree DNA)
•Participant
•Father
•Joseph Holton Younger, Jr. b 1863 Wilkes Co., NC and died 1902 Wilkes Co., NC, m Amanda Amelia Campbell
•Joseph Holton Younger Sr. b 1823 Wilkes Co., NC d 1865 Knoxville, Tn. m Adeline Williams
•William Gray Younger b 1797 Wilkes Co. NC m Mary Polly Sharp
•Joseph Younger of Wilkes Co NC b 1753 Halifax Co., Va. d 1823 Wilkes Co., NC m Elizabeth Gray in Wilkes Co.
•Thomas Younger b 1706 Essex Co., Va. d 1791 Halifax Co., Va., wife unknown
•Alexander Younger b 1681 Glasgow, Scotland d before July 1727 Essex Co., Va. m Rebecca Mills
Kit Number N32738
•Participant
•Merwin Younger born California (1900-1970) m Naomi Blodgett
•Earle Younger (1876-1955) born Monona, Iowa m Anna Belle Cowden
•William Green Younger (1839-1922) born Sangamon, Illinois d California, m Clarenda Melissa Lane
•Joseph Younger b Oct 10, 1803 Chatham NC ( participant states birth Dec 10, 1804) d after 1880 m Susan McCurley Sept 28 1824 Maury Co Tn
•Thomas James Younger b 1761 Craven Co., NC d 1834 Williamson Co., Tn. m Mary Polly Nall
•James Younger b 1720 Essex Co., Va. d Feb 1805 Chatham, NC m Anna Nash
•Alexander Younger b 1681 Glasgow, Scotland d before July 1727 Essex Co., Va. m Rebecca Mills
Alexander’s DNA is confirmed through sons James and Thomas.
Kit Number 86386 (through Wilma Norton, wilma.norton@cox.net)
•Participant
•Claude Elmer Elzy Younger b: November 11, 1900 in Jasper Twp., Ozark County, Missouri d: September 19, 1946 in Thornton, San Joaquin County, California m November 10, 1924 in Yellville, Marion County, Arkansas Josephine Black b: December 11, 1907 in Flippin, Marion County, Arkansas d: April 15, 1936 in Flippin, Marion County Arkansas,
•John Willis Younger b: September 05, 1869 in St. Joe, Searcy County, Arkansas d: January 09, 1940 in Wetumka, Hughes County, Oklahoma m October 01, 1891 in Marion County, Arkansas Mollie Belle Burruss b: December 20, 1875 in Everton, Dade County, Missouri d: December 22, 1933 in Summit, Marion County, Arkansas
•William Alexander Younger b: January 1828 in Maury County, Tennessee d: January 01, 1906 in Bruno, Marion County, Arkansas m November 1847 in Giles County, Tennessee Lucinda Jane Henson b: January 1829 in Tennessee d: March 18, 1913 in Near Fox, Stone County, Arkansas
•Thomas Younger b: Bet. 1790 - 1791 in Chapel Hill, Chatham County, North Carolina d: Bet. 1862 - 1864 in Tomahawk Creek, Searcy County, Arkansas m abt 1827 Ellen London b: Bet. 1804 - 1805 in Wilkes County, North Carolina d: Aft. 1880 in Marion County, Arkansas
•Thomas Younger b: March 10, 1761 in Chatham County, North Carolina d: October 10, 1834 in Williamson County, Tennessee m 1785 Mary Nall b: December 25, 1768 in Fayetteville, Cumberland County, North Carolina d February 01, 1864 in Cedar County, Missouri
•James Younger b: Abt. 1720 in Essex County, Virginia d: February 1805 in Chatham, North Carolina m Abt. 1745 in Beaver Creek, North Carolina Anna Nash b: Abt. 1716 in Middlesex County, Virginia d Aft. 1801 in Chatham County, North Carolina,
•Alexander Younger b: May 02, 1681 in Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland d: Bef. July 18, 1727 in Essex County, Virginia m abt 1700 Rebecca Mills b: 1680 in Rappahannock County, Virginia d: 1753 in Essex County, Virginia
•Thomas Younger b: January 25, 1652 in High Church, Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland d: Abt. 1695 in Glasgow, Scotland m abt 1672 Anna Smith b: Abt. 1655 in Glasgow, Scotland d: Abt. 1695 in Glasgow, Scotland
•Alexander Younger b: Abt. 1608 in Glasgow, Scotland d: Aft. 1687 in Glasgow, Scotland m February 09, 1632 in Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland Margaret Steinsone b: Abt. 1610 in Glasgow, Scotland d Abt. 1658 in Glasgow
•William Younger b: Abt. 1583 in Glasgow, Scotland d: Unknown in Scotland m October 26, 1607 in Inveresk With Musselburgh, Midlothian, Scotland Margreit Fleming b: Abt. 1588 in Glasgow, Scotland
Kit Number 92740
•Participant
•William Stanley Younger b: December 20, 1895 in St. James, Stone County, Arkansas d: January 30, 1983 in Batesville, Independence County, Arkansas, m March 27 1915 Cora Dell Greenway b: March 14, 1897 in Stone County, Arkansas d: November 02, 1930 in Stone County, Arkansas
•James Henry Younger b: August 18, 1866 in St. James, Stone County, Arkansas d: February 03, 1939 in St. James, Stone County, Arkansas m February 02, 1895 John Etta King b: May 08, 1877 in Arkansas d: February 03, 1951 in St. James, Stone County, Arkansas
•James Samuel Younger b: August 25, 1831 in Tennessee d: September 05, 1905 in Stone County, Arkansas m Sept, 7 1854 Rutha Frances Younger b: February 14, 1839 in Halifax County,Virginia d October 04, 1912 Stone County, Arkansas (Father: Armistead Younger Mother: Rebecca Crews)
•William Younger b: Abt. 1803 in Halifax County, Virginia d: Aft. 1860 in Prob. Independence Co. AR m Oct 8, 1822 Priscilla Jones b: 1805 in Halifax County, Virginia d: Aft. 1860 in prob. Independence Co. AR
•Williamson Younger b: Abt. 1782 in Halifax County, Virginia d: December 02, 1817 in Halifax County, Virginia m march 24 1802 Mary Bomar b: 1785 in Halifax County, Virginia d 1820 - 1821 in Halifax County
•William Younger b: Abt. 1744 d: 1801 in Halifax County, Virginia m abt 1774 Mary Watkins b: Abt. 1760 d: Aft. 1811 in Halifax County, Va
•Thomas Younger b: Abt. 1707 in Essex County d: 1791 in Halifax County, Virginia m prob Mary Northern b: Unk m: Aft. 1740 d: Bef. May 1789
Kit Number 81432
•Participant
•Father
•Stanley E. Younger b 1896 NC d Halifax Co., Va. m Eula Blanks
•Josephus W. Younger b 1856 Person Co., NC d 1934 m Betty Wilkins
•Josephus b 1821 Halifax Co., Va d 1902 Person Co., NC m Jane Lockert (his parents died when he was young and he was raised by another family).
•Thomas b 1784 m second wife unknown after 1813, died not long after 1821
•William Younger b: Abt. 1744 d: 1801 in Halifax County, Virginia m abt 1774 Mary Watkins b: Abt. 1760 d: Aft. 1811 in Halifax County, Va
•Thomas Younger b 1707 Essex Co Va, d 1791 Halifax Co., Va., wife unknown
•Alexander Younger b: May 02, 1681 in Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland d: Bef. July 18, 1727 in Essex County, Virginia m abt 1700 Essex Coi Va. Rebecca Mills b: 1680 in Rappahannock County, Virginia, d: 1753
Thomas’s DNA is confirmed through sons Joseph and William.
Kit Number 105126 (Mark Younger, Mark.Younger@hilton.com)
These results have now been returned and do not match the Halifax line as was expected. He belongs to haplogroup J2, but at this point, doesn’t appear to match the Younger Gang DNA either. Originally, the participant tested his DNA at a different lab that does not do our Younger family DNA project, and at this point, the participant is having his DNA is being processed by Family Tree DNA to confirm their findings.
The line below is what he believes his genealogy to be. This line in proven through William by kit 92740, so the genealogical/adoption snafu is likely between the participant’s grandfather and William, likely with a child connected to the wrong family.
•Participant
•His father
•Myron Hayes Younger b 1894 Huntington, Tn. d 1961, m Effie Clapp
•Charley Frank Younger b 1867 Carroll Co., Tn. d 1946 Gibson Co., Tn., m Elizabeth Clopton
•James W. Younger, b 1829 Carroll Co., Tn. d 1899 Gibson Co., Tn., m Rebecca Smith
•William Younger b 1803 Va. d 1856 Carroll Co., Tn. m Priscilla Jones
•Williamson Younger d 1817 Halifax Co., Va. m Mary Bomar
•William Younger d before 1801 Halifax Co., Va. m Mary Polly Watkins
•Thomas Younger b 1707 Essex Co Va, d 1791Halifax Co., Va., wife unknown
•Alexander Younger b: May 02, 1681 in Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland d: Bef. July 18, 1727 in Essex County, Virginia m abt 1700 Essex Coi Va. Rebecca Mills b: 1680 in Rappahannock County, Virginia, d: 1753
The Missouri Group – previously thought to be the Halifax County Group – Group 4
On the DNA website, www.familytreedna.com/public/younger, this is the teal colored Group 5.
Kit 16164
This haplogroup is also R1b, but there are several mismatches between these results and the Essex/Halifax Group.
This was the kit we used originally to represent the Halifax County line, but ironically, it turns out that this line is an undocumented adoption. Initially, this was the only participant we had from the Essex/Halifax County Virginia group, so we had no idea it would not represent that line both genealogically and with DNA. As more participants tested from this line, and this kit matched none of them, it became evident that this participant’s line has had an undocumented adoption at some time between Thomas Younger and the present generation. The genealogy of this line is noted below:
•Participant
•His father
•Beverly Reginald Younger b 1896 Montague Co., Tx. d 1978 Los Angeles, California, m Jessie Thornburg
•Beverly Robert Younger b 1850 Pittsylvania Co., Va. d abt 1930, m Flora Campbell in Montague Co., Tx.
•Fleming J Younger b 1812 Halifax Co., Va. d 1871 Halifax Co., Va. m Susan Hodge
•Jesse Younger b 1764 Halifax Co., Va d 1838 Halifax Co., Va. m Martha Weatherford
•Thomas Younger b 1707 Essex Co Va, d 1791 Halifax Co., Va., wife unknown
•Alexander Younger b: May 02, 1681 in Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland d: Bef. July 18, 1727 in Essex County, Virginia m abt 1700 Essex Coi Va. Rebecca Mills b: 1680 in Rappahannock County, Virginia, d: 1753
The participant’s sister writes the following:
Interestingly we have found that my brother is a 25/25 match with a Mark Thomson. I have recently contacted him to see if he knows of anyone in his family that may have been in the areas of our ancestors. At this time it does not seem possible that this family should be connected to ours, but it is. The twist to this story is that the family farm that Mark Thomson's family bought in 1904 in Greene Co., MO, originally belonged to a Alexander Younger in 1833. Do you know who this Alexander Younger is? If the two families had been in the same place at the same time I could make a connection, but as far as Mark knows that family didn't go to MO from IA until the early 1900s.
Roberta’s followup: At 37 markers, this man matches a Davis with 2 mutations, a Dearie male and Mark Thomson both with 4 mutations. These connections are possible either within a historically significant timeframe or back before the introduction of last names. We need more participants to determine more about this and the other Younger lines. This participant may want to extend his markers to 67 to see if he still matches these other participants, assuming they also test for 67 markers. Check Y-search and www.smgf.org regularly for matches as well.
Further research by Wilma Norton turns up some interesting information that caused me to look further as well. The essence of this information is that Beverly Robert Younger b 1850 was married to Mary Jesse in 1876 in Audrain Co., Mo. In 1880 they were in the Audrain Co. census with 1 son, John W., 1 month old. They had an unnamed son in 1884 according to the Missouri birth and death records. Wilma questioned the 1896 birth of Beverly Reginald to Beverly Robert. She could not find him in the 1900 census.
In the 1900 census, she found a Mary Kimbrough with daughter, Flora Younger, 22 and grandson Beverly age 4 living with them. She wondered if Flora could have married one of Beverly Robert Younger’s sons. However, with the first son born in 1880 and the second in 1884, that would indicate a very very early marriage, at age 11 or 15 for the Younger male involved.
Flora Campbell was born in 1877, so the age fits for the 1900 census, as does the child, Beverly. His younger brother born in 1898, George Dewey Younger, must have died or someone else was raising him.
Looking further, we find that Flora Campbell married Beverly Robert Younger Feb. 23, 1896, just a few days after the child Beverly Reginald Younger was born on Feb. 9th, 1896.
Given this set of circumstances, I strongly suspect that the child, Beverly Reginald Younger, was not the son of Beverly Robert Younger. Finding a male descendant of Beverly Robert Younger form either of his sons from his first marriage would determine whether or not this was the source of the undocumented adoption. Beverly Robert Younger had 3 sons, according to Wilma Hillman, by his first wife; John William Younger b 1880, Earl Washington Younger and Douglas Younger, one born in 1884 and one born sometime before 1896 which would have been after his wife died and before he married Flora Campbell.
The Marcus Younger Group – Previously thought to be the Halifax County Group – Group 5
On the DNA website at www.familytreedna.com/public/younger, this is the bright blue Group 4.
Kit number 55612
Initially, this was the only participant to descend from Marcus Younger of Halifax County, Va. Marcus’ genealogy is unclear and we had hoped to connect him using DNA to Thomas who I have long suspected is his brother in spite of the fact that Alexander’s will does not mention Marcus. The DNA of this participant does not match any Younger line, but it does match a Seay line. The Seay family lived near this Younger family in the mid-1800s in Pittsylvania County, Va., so an undocumented adoption may have occurred during that timeframe.
The haplogroup of this participant is I1a which descends from the Scandinavian countries through the British Isles, probably due to the Viking influence. This particular DNA sequence has its peak in Sweden. More about haplogroup I1a can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_I1a_(Y-DNA).
•Participant
•Father
•Robert Cocke Younger b 1879 Campbell Co., Va. d 1919 m Bessie Brown
•Robert Bailey Younger b 1842 Halifax Co., Va. m Judy Cocke
•William Spain Younger b 1816 Halifax Co., Va. m Lucy Bailey
•Robert Younger b 1784 Halifax Co., Va d bet 1866-1870 Halifax Co., Va. m Mary Polly Moore
•John Younger 1760 Essex Co. Va. d 1817 Halifax Co., Va. m Lucy Hart
•Marcus Younger b before 1740 d 1815 m Susanna last name unknown
In the 1870 census, we show in Pittsylvania County, a Rawley Younger with his parents, John M. (Marcus) and Martha Younger, age 21 in household 5827 North of the Dan River near Chatham. John Marcus Younger was a brother to William Spain Younger. There are a number of Seay families in Halifax County, none in Pittsylvania, and a few in Campbell in the Eastern District. Ironically, the Seay family does not match the mainstream Seay’s either, so this connection remains somewhat of a mystery today. However, the Seay family and the Younger family have been working together to at least attempt to solve this mystery.
Currently they believe that Rawley Younger had an illegitimate child with Frances Linthicum, daughter of Lafayette Linthicum. She later married Charles Edward Seay. On the child’s birth certificate, it gave his name as Rawley Seay. In 1870 Raleigh would have been about 20 or 21 and she would have been about 15, and they do live in the same neighborhood. That would explain how the Seay family came to have the DNA of a Younger family, but it does not explain how the Marcus Younger line came to have DNA that differs from the Thomas Younger line.
Since Marcus was clearly connected with this Younger family, meaning to both Thomas who was a near neighbor in Halifax County, as well as William who first appeared in Halifax in the early 1760s, but (Marcus) is not listed as one of Alexander’s sons, I have always wondered if he was an illegitimate child through one of Alexander’s daughters.
However, we do have another mystery and that is the father of William Younger (b before 1740, died 1803, wife Patience) of Halifax County. He did not have any male offspring, so we cannot use DNA to resolve this mystery and the historical records have not been forthcoming. However, just the fact that we have another unidentified Younger male who is contemporaneous with these other men indicates strongly another early male Younger immigrant, other than Alexander, who was probably related to him as these families interact regularly in Halifax County. Perhaps Alexander had a brother who also immigrated, died young, and Alexander raised his children. Hopefully, records will yet be forthcoming to solve this mystery.
Sorenson www.smgf.org shows 1159 matches for this 12 marker sequence. I suggest this participant upgrade to 25 or 37 markers.
Kit Number 81435
This participant descends from Marcus Younger as well.
These results match kit number 55612, meaning that we have confirmed the DNA of Robert Younger, wife Polly Moore, as he is he first common ancestor between these two lines.
•Participant
•Raleigh Jackson Younger b 1898, Halifax Co., Va. m Eva Lewis as second wife
•William Fletcher Younger b 1869 d 1953 Halifax Co., Va. m Rosa Belle Shepard
•Philip Andrew Jackson Younger b 1839 Halifax Co, Va. m his first cousin Louisa E. Younger (dau of Joel Younger and Fentel Hart)
•Robert Younger b 1784 Halifax Co., Va d bet 1866-1870 Halifax Co., Va. m Mary Polly Moore
•John Younger 1760 Essex Co. Va. d 1817 Halifax Co., Va. m Lucy Hart
•Marcus Younger b before 1740 d 1815 m Susanna last name unknown
What we still don’t know is whether Marcus’s DNA would match theirs or a different line. Marcus only had one son, John, so we will never be able to confirm the DNA to Marcus by using two separate lines. However, his son John had many sons. In the future, perhaps a participant will surface that is descended from another of John’s sons. If indeed a descendant of another son would test, we could confirm the DNA to John.
At this point, it is very likely that Marcus’s DNA does not match that of the Thomas line. Since we cannot find a Younger male candidate in Essex Co. to be the father of Marcus, and he clearly is not Alexander’s child, my speculation at this point would be that he is either:
1.Alexander’s wife’s from a prior marriage or
2.Descended from a female Younger as an illegitimate birth.
I had previously also wondered if Alexander had a brother who died leaving both Marcus and William, and Alexander raised them. If this is the case, given the DNA, then it would have been a sister who died leaving her children to be raised. Unless some court record is forthcoming, we will likely never know.
German Jeunger - Group 6
On the DNA website at www.familytreedna.com/public/younger, this is the mustard colored Group 6.
Kit number 30280 (Cliff Younger, cyoungersr@comcast.net)
This line is also of the R1b clan.
Clifford Younger provides the following interesting extracted genealogical information, but for complete info, contact Cliff.
The name Juenger is spelled different from Younger but pronounced exactly the same.
My original immigrant was my GGGF from Germany. He and my GGGGF both spelled it with the Jeunger spelling. Upon arrival in America in 1830 time frame, GGGF traveled immediately to Muskingum County, Ohio and moved in with Humphrey Younger and family. From the time I found him there in what is now Zanesville area, our last name has been spelled as Younger.
I have not found, as yet, the relationship between Humphrey Younger and Charles Henry Younger Sr. (born Karl Heinrich Juenger), but Humphrey connects to Cole’s branch (of the Younger Gang) and both at various times claimed German descent.
Interestingly, this line did not match the Younger Gang’s line. Roberta’s note - bolding below is for ease in locating participant’s direct line.
1. Charles Henry Younger Sr. (born Karl Heinrich Jeunger) b 1810 faumnitz, Zeitz, Saschen, Preussen near Lipzig. Immigrated about 1830 to Muskingum County, Ohio (present day Zanesville) and lived with Humphrey Younger (of the Younger brothers line) and his wife Mary Campbell. Charles married Elizabeth Lowry in 1837. Some of Humphrey's children were married by the same pastor as Charles and Elizabeth, in the same church and during the same time frame. Charles died 1880 in/near Charleston, W. Va.
Charles and Elizabeth moved to Point Pleasant, Mason County, Va. (now WV) arriving there in early 1840. They had a couple of kids on the way. Eventually they had ten children (6 girls and 4 boys).
Two of the 4 boys, James and Frederick were born in 1838 on road from northern Ohio to southern Va.
2. The third, Charles Jr. was born 1 Jan., 1843 in the Point Pleasant area. He had 3 brothers, but they disappeared or were killed and left no known descendants. Charles Jr. died in August 1932 in Gallopolis, Ohio.
As a side note I need to relate the following before I go on with Charles Jr's history. Oral family history says that Charles Sr. and Jr. did not join immediately on the outbreak of the Civil War as the older two sons James and Frederick went to do. The story is that Charles Sr. and Jr. went to Missouri first, taking Elizabeth (the Mother) and the six girls and Jackson (the youngest son) to what they thought would be a safer place to ride out the war, that it would not spread that far west. Supposedly they left them with Younger kin in Missouri. I located one daughter, Elizabeth Jr, in Missouri. She was there during and after the war. She returned home to WV for a short period after the war to marry. She and her husband, William Wallace Gates, lived out their lives in Missouri, and their descendants still reside there in Cabool, Missouri.
My question here is what Younger kin in Missouri could they have stayed with? Descendants of Elizabeth Younger Gates say it was with Cole's Mother and sisters. I have not found any thing to date in writing to support that.
Back to Charles Jr. A year or so into the war, he took leave and returned home to WV and married Clarrisa Johnson in early 1863. He then went AWOL for an extra month. He eventually rejoined his unit and finished out the war with that unit. In 1865 he was wounded once and three days later was wounded twice more and captured. He was taken to Andersonville Ga. and imprisoned there for seven months. None of his wounds were treated there. Near the end of the war as Sherman was going thru Georgia, Charles Jr. and many other prisoners were placed on a train to another prison camp in Millen, Georgia (on the coast).
During the ride to Millen, Jr. and three others over powered some guards and escaped, making their way to Savannah and Union lines. Jr was then transported to Wheeling, WV for hospitalization. While there he married his second wife Mary M. Glass. When the army found out that he was now married to two wives at once, they told him that if he did not rid himself on one of them he would be in trouble. Mary M. Glass disappears and I have found no further record of her life or death or divorce etc. any where. I suspect that Charles killed her and disposed of the body. He was discharged from the army shortly after being told to rid himself of one of his wives.
On 30 July, 1866, Jr is back home in WV. with his 1st wife and living with his parents and younger sisters. On July 31, 1866, there was an accident in which Jr's wife Clarrisa was boiling a large cauldron of water and it got spilled and scalded 7 year old Harriet A. Younger (Jr's youngest sibling) to death. Later that night Jr went beserk (again) and beat Clarrisa to death with a shovel. At his first trial, his older sisters and both parents testified against him and he was found guilty of murder in the first degree and was sentenced to die by hanging. He appealed to the supreme court of WV and on a technicality, the trial was overturned and he was "awarded" a second trial. That trial had the same result. In those days you got one and only one appeal to the courts and he had already used his, so he appealed to the Governor of WV. He pleaded that he was crazy from the bombardments of the war, his wounds and his time in Andersonville. The Governor agreed and commuted his hanging to life in the new Moundsville Prison. He entered that facility in 1868 as prisoner 197.
In 1882 he was set free for good behavior. During his time in prison he had worked as a carpenter in the wagon shop and eventually was a "trusty". The wagons that were made were sold in town. Did this mean he was outside the walls from time to time ?? No one knows, and the records from Moundsville do not tell us. During his time in prison, a lady named Elizabeth Burden occasionally worked in the prison. Again the records left do not indicate what it was that she did or whether she could have had any contact with the prisoners. One week after his release in 1882, Jr. and Elizabeth were married. Her three sons, Michael born 1873, John born
1875 and Judson born 1876 were all born while Jr. was in prison but from 1882 on he raised them as his and there is an affidavit from Elizabeth stating that Jr. was the father of all three of them. Maybe he wasn't eh?
Charles after release from prison, never worked. He applied for a pension from the Army claiming he couldn't work due to wounds received during the war and various diseases contracted while imprisoned in Andersonville and Moundsville. He drank his pension up every month while Elizabeth worked odd jobs to feed the boys. He slept with a loaded rifle under the mattress, a loaded cocked pistol under his pillow and a bowie knife by his side. He had nightmares often and would wake up screaming, slashing and shooting. He got tired of Elizabeth's nagging and left her in early 1904, moved back to Point Pleasant. The towns-people there threw him out and he moved directly across the river to Gallipolis, Ohio where one month after leaving his third wife, he married his fourth wife, Almeda Rupe.
Jr. was 66 at this time and Almeda was 20. They had ten children, 1 still born, 8 girls and one son. The son was also named Charles Younger Jr. He was born in 1916 and died in 1994. I located his only child, a daughter named Marilyn in 1997, 3 years too late to get any DNA from him.
So of Jr's 4 sons:
•Michael had no children
•John ran away at the age of 15 and "went West". Never heard from again.
•Judson (my grandfather) has 50+ male descendants currently living
•Charles Jr (III) had only one child, a girl.
We know where Charles Jr. is buried. He is in the Old Pine Street Cemetery in Gallipolis. The cemetery has been closed to burials for at least 40 years. As you enter the gate, Jr. is back in the far right rear corner. At more than one of our family reunions, we have seriously discussed a midnite run on Gallipolis to dig part of the old SOB up and have him tested. But then by the next morning we have sobered up and haven't started digging yet.
I guess if we really need to know for sure, and there are some of us who really really would like to know for sure, we need to check into the procedures for exhuming the old boy long enough to run a DNA test on him. Not even sure where to start on a project like that nor any idea of what the cost would be.
Anyway, this was the long way to explain possibly why my DNA isn't matching up with any one elses.
Lastly, even if eventually it turns out that our whole clan aren't really Younger's after all, it makes no difference. We were born Younger, will die Younger and always be proud to be Younger.
My personal feelings are that Charles probably was not the father of the three boys with Elizabeth. She and a neighbor (also a relative of mine) gave sworn affadavits in 1904 that he was the father, the neighbors affadavit swore that she had known Elizabeth since before she had children, had lived next door all that time and knew for a fact that Elizabeth had been with no other man than Charles. Sounds good on paper but.........at the time she was trying to get support money taken from his pension check and sent to her so what else could she really say? Balance that against the fact that he was a trusty and maybe had time outside the walls and that she did
occasional work there and had access inside the walls and........
Roberta’s note: To date, this line has only one 25 marker match with a Whims family. Their gedcom indicates they were in Wirt and Mason County, West Virginia and Hiram, Warren and Sawyerwood Ohio, plus Montgomery Co., Ohio. Joshua Whims b 1800 and died in 1884 in Wirt Co., W. Va. His son Joseph was born in 1859 in Mason Co., W. Va. and died in 1941 in Sawyerwood, Ohio.
December 2007
The Younger DNA project is now producing results. They aren’t necessarily the results we expected, but isn’t that the fun of genealogy. Our families aren’t always what we expect. Anyone who has been doing genealogy very long will know that surprises are to be expected, and every family has them.
I want to share as much information as I can, but as the DNA project administrators, Brownie and I must also be cognizant of the privacy of participants who may not want their results made public. We’ve tried to hit a happy medium by using kit numbers unless the participants have individually given us permission to identify them. We are identifying genealogical lines and grouping them with DNA results, so this should be useful. We are identifying results by kit number, so if you would like to contact the participants, please just let us know and we’ll put you in touch.
I might also mention that this is an ongoing research project. If you have questions or information, even if it appears to be conflicting data, please do let us know. That’s how progress is made.
If you are a participant and you would like to give permission for us to include your name and contact information in this document, please send an e-mail to Roberta saying that you give permission and you realize this report, and subsequent reports, will be made public and will be posted on the internet.
In order to work with the DNA project, I have made extensive use of Wilma Hillman’s genealogy file as well. Her efforts in compiling this information are astounding. I’d be lost without this. Thank you again, Wilma.
The initial question among the Younger families is whether or not the Younger Gang and the Younger family from Virginia were descended from a common ancestor. We have had that answer for some time now and it is unquestionably “no”. They are not the same family.
However, we have had some unexpected surprises, including several undocumented adoptions. Undocumented adoptions occur when the DNA does not match the individuals or the groups you expect that it will based on the last name and genealogy. In order to determine if an undocumented adoption has occurred, you must have several individuals from differing lines descended from a common ancestor, with documented genealogy. Without matching results from different sons lines, you don’t know which of the groups is the undocumented adoption. This is the situation in the Halifax Co. Younger group, but more about that in a few minutes.
We now have 6 distinct DNA signatures.
1.The Younger Gang
2.The Kentucky Younger group – previously thought descended from the Younger Gang group, but the DNA does not match
3.The Alexander Younger from Essex County/Halifax Co., Va. Group
4.The Missouri Group – previously thought descended from the Halifax Group, but the DNA does not match
5.The Marcus Younger group from Essex/Halifax Co., Va.
6.The German Jeunger Group
As more individuals test, I will update this report.
Undocumented Adoptions
Undocumented adoptions, also called Non-Paternal Events (NPE), do not necessarily mean that granny was unfaithful. In fact, the most common cause of Undocumented Adoptions is that the husband of a woman with a child or two dies, she remarries, and her small children are raised using the step-father’s last name. Before 1900, legal adoptions were all but unheard of, and most “adoptions” simply took place when someone took and raised an otherwise unwanted or orphaned child. These “adoptions” were common knowledge at the time, and they were also very common.
Parents often died and other family members or sometimes neighbors took the children. This history is lost in time, so today, we discover these events using DNA and they become, to us, undocumented adoptions. At the time, it wasn’t anything special, and no one probably even discussed it. These events were commonplace and they certainly weren’t secret. We can often find hints of these events using the census and watching other documents like death records, wills and obituaries carefully, sometimes for glaring omissions.
The second most common reason for an undocumented adoption is the mother having an illegitimate child before she married. This was much more common than we think, and typically, the man she married simply raised the child as his own. Looking at birth records and marriage dates can give us hints. Is the child the eldest of the children? Looking at the census can also be helpful. Court records sometimes reflect these kinds of issues as well in some states. In some instances, the husband may have believed he was the father and married the woman when she was pregnant. Clearly, in this circumstance, we’ll never know what he (or she for that matter) did or did not know about the child’s paternity.
Other reasons for undocumented adoptions to appear include:
•Births during war time (especially during invaded areas during the Civil War)
•Wagon trains (mortality was high)
•Orphan trains (too many kids in the east, too few in the west)
•Name changes (sometimes associated with the family or sometimes just a male moving from one location to another state)
•Illegitimate births (the mother’s name was the child’s legal name, but the DNA reflects the father’s name)
•Intra-family adoptions (typically unmarried sister gives birth and married sister and family raise the child as their own)
•Unwelcome relationships
•Infidelity
•Contemporary adoptions (within the past couple generations)
Matching Ancestors
I have bolded the ancestors that are common ancestors with other documented lines.
Additional Genealogy
Information in addition to that provided by the participants is in italics and is from Wilma Hillman’s extensive file.
Contemporary Genealogy
I have removed the names of the participant and the living or recent generations for privacy.
DNA Results
DNA results, kit number and oldest known ancestor are all available at our Younger family DNA results website at www.familytreedna.com/public/Younger. Click on Y-Results.
The Younger Gang - Group 1
On the DNA website, www.familytreedna.com/public/younger this is the pumpkin colored Group 2.
To date, we have five kits whose DNA matches exactly (34990, 48680, 48963, 58569 and 72479) and due to the fairly solid genealogy of some of the participants, they can all be presumed to descend from a common ancestor, likely to be Humphrey Younger.
The deep ancestral haplogroup, or clan, for this group is J2. J2 is a haplogroup which originated in the Middle East, specifically in the Fertile Crescent. Approximately 6% of European men carry this haplogroup, in decreasing frequency as you move away from the Middle East. It is sometimes associated with the Jewish Faith, although there are many many men who carry this haplogroup and who are not Jewish. The Jewish religion is only a couple thousand years old while this haplogroup is approximately 5000-12,000 years old. It might be more appropriate to say that Jewish males descend from this haplogroup along with lots of other people. You can read more about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_J2_(Y-DNA).
There is something very very interesting about the DNA of Group 1. Four of the five participants have an extra marker. Marker 464 is a 4 value marker, meaning that the DNA has 4 peaks to read at this marker. They are labeled 464a, 464b, 464c and 464d. This line of Youngers typically has a 5th peak, 464e. This is an extremely unusual phenomenon. For the one kit that does not show this extra marker, it might be worth asking the lab to rerun the sample if it ever makes a difference genealogically.
As I understand the descent of the Younger Gang Younger’s, it is as follows:
1 Humphrey Younger
.... +Mary ?
.. 2 John Younger
........ +Sarah Kennard b: Bet. 1702 - 1729 d: Bet. 1762 - 1819
...... 3 Joshua Logan Younger
............ +Elizabeth Lee b: Abt. 1754 d: Abt. 1791
.......... 4 Charles Lee Younger
................ +Sarah Sullivan Purcell
............... 5 Henry Washington Younger b: February 22, 1810 in Lincoln Co., KY d: July 20, 1862 in Westport, MO. Burial: Cass Co., MO
..................... +Bursheba Leighton Fristoe b: June 06, 1816 in McMinnville, TN Father: Richard Marshall Fristoe Mother: Mary L. Sullivan d: June 06, 1870 in Cass Co., Mo. m: 1830 in Jackson Co., MO. Burial: Cass Co., MO
................... 6 Thomas Coleman "Cole" Younger b: 1844 in Jackson Co., Mo. d: 1916 Burial: Lee's Summit, MO.
................... 6 James Younger
................... 6 Robert Younger
To date, we have five participants who descend from this same family line at various locations. All five of these descendants have DNA that matches each other, so we have eliminated the possibility of nonparental events (undocumented adoptions of whatever flavor). I have removed the two most current generations of the information to protect privacy. If the participants want to share this personally, that’s fine, but I won’t post it on the internet.
Kit Number - 34990
The genealogy as submitted by this family is as follows:
•The participant
•His father born 1892 Lawrence Co In.
•Tommy Younger b July 15 1868 Lawrence Co., In. m Susan McKnight
•Mike Younger b abt 1832 in Ky. m Mary Polly Thorn Cummings
•Lewis Younger b Dec 3 1802 in Ky. m Nancy Crose
•Joshua Logan Younger b May 11, 1752 in Va. m Catherine Yoter.
•Believed to descend from Humphrey Younger in Maryland.
Kit Number - 48680
•Littleton Purcell Younger b 1813 Montgomery Co Ky d June 1893 Brownsville, Oregon m Eliza Sampson
•Charles Lee Younger b 1783 Hampshire Co., Va., d 1854 Osceola, St. Clair Co., Mo. m Eleanor Sullivan
•Joshua Logan Younger b 1752 Kent Co., Md or Hampshire Co Va d 1834 Bedford, Lawrence Co., Ind, m Elizabeth Lee
•John Younger b 1707 Kent Co Md m Sarah Kennard
•Humphrey Younger b 1677 d 1740 Kent Co Md, m Mary ?
•Thomas Younger b Scotland, no further info listed.
Note that Joshua’s DNA is confirmed through 2 sons, Lewis and Charles.
Kit Number 48963
•Participant
•His father
•Claudius Younger b & d in KY spouse Martha Hamilton Jackson
•George b and d in KY spouse (1)Theodocia Elmina Crawford, (2) Mrs. Blalock)
•John W. Younger -b 1773 in MD, d 1858 in Shelby Co., KY, spouse Mary Agathy Dearing (Deering)
•Tiller Younger lived in Maryland, spouse was Mary (unknown last name), died after 1781
My great aunts who loved family history said we were related to the Younger gang through our ancestors in Maryland, but I cannot show the relationship at all. Don't know what family Tiller Younger is related to in Maryland. My male cousin in Louisiana (direct line of Tiller, John, George, Davies) said his grandfather found a relationship through the National Archives, but he wasn't interested in pursuing information.
Kit Number 58569 (through Judy Foley)
•Participant
•His father
•Isaac Newton Younger d 1987 Kent Co Md m Mary Cole Kealey (Kealey is previous married name)
Kit Number 72479
•Participant
•Clarence William Younger b 1895 Monroe, LA d 1959 Tuscaloosa, AL m Mary Avice Jackson
•Doc Newman Younger b 1872 Delta Co., Tx d 1905 Lamar Co., Al m Jesie Edith Ray
•John W. Younger Jr aka James William Younger b 1843 Pontotoc Co., Ms d 1890 Delta Co., Tx m Martha Ann Shelton
•John W. Younger Sr b 1813 Ky d 1883 Delta Co., Tx, m Mary Townes (no children) then Nancy Bugg
•Capt. John Younger b 1773 Maryland d 1858 Shelby Co Ky m Mary Agatha Deering
•John Younger believed to be brother of Joshua Younger, great grandfather of the Outlaw Youngers, b 1753 poss Kent Co., Md, death date and wife unknown
Note that participants 48963 and 72479 both claim descent from Mary Agatha Deering, but give her husband, John Younger, with different fathers. (Wilma’s file indicates Tiller is John’s father.) However, the DNA does indicate that they come from the same Younger family. The specific genealogy will have to be worked out by the participants.
The Kentucky Younger Group – Previously thought to be the Younger Gang – Group 2
On the DNA site, www.familytreedna.com/public/younger, this is the green Group 3.
This participant’s genealogy goes back to the Younger gang, but the DNA does not. Someplace along the line, there has been an undocumented adoption.
Ironically, this individual’s haplogroup is also J2, but the DNA markers do not match on 11 of 25 markers, so the mismatch is unquestionable. This individual’s DNA is rare and he has no matches.
Kit Number 79975 (Mark Younger, mykyhistory@hotmail.com)
•Participant
•His parents
• Participant’s grandfather d 1977, wife living
• Charles Younger b 1891 Ky d 1971 Indiana, m Sarah Flanagan
•Charles Younger b 1857d 1950 m Sarah Perry
•Charles Younger b 1821 d 1863 m Margaret Laughlin
•Charles Younger b abt 1800 d 1833 m Mariah Burnley
•Peter Younger b 1772 Virginia d bef 1841 Grant Co., Ky m Abigail Dennis
•Joshua and unknown wife. Wilma shows this Joshua to be:
•Joshua Logan Younger b 1752 Va d 1834 Lawrence Co., Indiana, second wife mother of Peter, unknown, first wife was Catherine Yoter
We know Joshua Logan Younger’s DNA through his other sons, Lewis and Charles Lee, above. The undocumented adoption must occur below Joshua, in either his son Peter or downstream between Peter and the participant.
Peter had 3 sons, Charles, Joshua and John. If a descendant can be found for one of these other sons, it can be determined if the undocumented adoption took place in Peter’s generation or downstream.
If another participant can be found from any of the 3 Charles Youngers we can also determine where the undocumented adoption occurred. I find it ironic that we have three men named Charles. It would be odd to find the undocumented adoption among a man who was named for his father. However, sometimes children are names for favorite family members, not their father. In one family, we discovered two men with the same first name in a family, and one did in fact prove to be adopted. This was discovered as a result of DNA testing.
Alexander Younger from Essex/Halifax County, Virginia Younger’s - Group 3
On the DNA website, www.familytreedna.com/public/younger, this is the salmon colored Group 1.
We now have 5 participants who match this line. Of those 5, three have genealogy tying them back to the founding line of Alexander Younger, the immigrant from Scotland. These men match exactly except for the two participants who have extended their markers to 37, kits 86386 and 92740 and these two have 1 mutation in the 25-37 marker panel that separate them. The rest of this group has only had 12 markers tested.
This group is the most common haplogroup, or clan, in Western Europe, haplogroup R1b1, probably R1b1c, who entered Europe about 35,000 years ago. They are thought to have overwintered the last ice age in Anatolia and created the beautiful artwork in the Caves of Spain and France. They are also believed to be contemporaries of the European Neanderthal. You can read more about the haplogroup at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_R1b_(Y-DNA).
Haplogroup R1b can be broken into much smaller subgroups using a more extensive type of DNA genealogical testing called SNP testing. Wilma Norton has upgraded kit 86386 for this test, but the results are not back yet.
Kit Number 56439 (not in the Younger DNA project at Family Tree DNA)
•Participant
•Father
•Joseph Holton Younger, Jr. b 1863 Wilkes Co., NC and died 1902 Wilkes Co., NC, m Amanda Amelia Campbell
•Joseph Holton Younger Sr. b 1823 Wilkes Co., NC d 1865 Knoxville, Tn. m Adeline Williams
•William Gray Younger b 1797 Wilkes Co. NC m Mary Polly Sharp
•Joseph Younger of Wilkes Co NC b 1753 Halifax Co., Va. d 1823 Wilkes Co., NC m Elizabeth Gray in Wilkes Co.
•Thomas Younger b 1706 Essex Co., Va. d 1791 Halifax Co., Va., wife unknown
•Alexander Younger b 1681 Glasgow, Scotland d before July 1727 Essex Co., Va. m Rebecca Mills
Kit Number N32738
•Participant
•Merwin Younger born California (1900-1970) m Naomi Blodgett
•Earle Younger (1876-1955) born Monona, Iowa m Anna Belle Cowden
•William Green Younger (1839-1922) born Sangamon, Illinois d California, m Clarenda Melissa Lane
•Joseph Younger b Oct 10, 1803 Chatham NC ( participant states birth Dec 10, 1804) d after 1880 m Susan McCurley Sept 28 1824 Maury Co Tn
•Thomas James Younger b 1761 Craven Co., NC d 1834 Williamson Co., Tn. m Mary Polly Nall
•James Younger b 1720 Essex Co., Va. d Feb 1805 Chatham, NC m Anna Nash
•Alexander Younger b 1681 Glasgow, Scotland d before July 1727 Essex Co., Va. m Rebecca Mills
Alexander’s DNA is confirmed through sons James and Thomas.
Kit Number 86386 (through Wilma Norton, wilma.norton@cox.net)
•Participant
•Claude Elmer Elzy Younger b: November 11, 1900 in Jasper Twp., Ozark County, Missouri d: September 19, 1946 in Thornton, San Joaquin County, California m November 10, 1924 in Yellville, Marion County, Arkansas Josephine Black b: December 11, 1907 in Flippin, Marion County, Arkansas d: April 15, 1936 in Flippin, Marion County Arkansas,
•John Willis Younger b: September 05, 1869 in St. Joe, Searcy County, Arkansas d: January 09, 1940 in Wetumka, Hughes County, Oklahoma m October 01, 1891 in Marion County, Arkansas Mollie Belle Burruss b: December 20, 1875 in Everton, Dade County, Missouri d: December 22, 1933 in Summit, Marion County, Arkansas
•William Alexander Younger b: January 1828 in Maury County, Tennessee d: January 01, 1906 in Bruno, Marion County, Arkansas m November 1847 in Giles County, Tennessee Lucinda Jane Henson b: January 1829 in Tennessee d: March 18, 1913 in Near Fox, Stone County, Arkansas
•Thomas Younger b: Bet. 1790 - 1791 in Chapel Hill, Chatham County, North Carolina d: Bet. 1862 - 1864 in Tomahawk Creek, Searcy County, Arkansas m abt 1827 Ellen London b: Bet. 1804 - 1805 in Wilkes County, North Carolina d: Aft. 1880 in Marion County, Arkansas
•Thomas Younger b: March 10, 1761 in Chatham County, North Carolina d: October 10, 1834 in Williamson County, Tennessee m 1785 Mary Nall b: December 25, 1768 in Fayetteville, Cumberland County, North Carolina d February 01, 1864 in Cedar County, Missouri
•James Younger b: Abt. 1720 in Essex County, Virginia d: February 1805 in Chatham, North Carolina m Abt. 1745 in Beaver Creek, North Carolina Anna Nash b: Abt. 1716 in Middlesex County, Virginia d Aft. 1801 in Chatham County, North Carolina,
•Alexander Younger b: May 02, 1681 in Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland d: Bef. July 18, 1727 in Essex County, Virginia m abt 1700 Rebecca Mills b: 1680 in Rappahannock County, Virginia d: 1753 in Essex County, Virginia
•Thomas Younger b: January 25, 1652 in High Church, Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland d: Abt. 1695 in Glasgow, Scotland m abt 1672 Anna Smith b: Abt. 1655 in Glasgow, Scotland d: Abt. 1695 in Glasgow, Scotland
•Alexander Younger b: Abt. 1608 in Glasgow, Scotland d: Aft. 1687 in Glasgow, Scotland m February 09, 1632 in Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland Margaret Steinsone b: Abt. 1610 in Glasgow, Scotland d Abt. 1658 in Glasgow
•William Younger b: Abt. 1583 in Glasgow, Scotland d: Unknown in Scotland m October 26, 1607 in Inveresk With Musselburgh, Midlothian, Scotland Margreit Fleming b: Abt. 1588 in Glasgow, Scotland
Kit Number 92740
•Participant
•William Stanley Younger b: December 20, 1895 in St. James, Stone County, Arkansas d: January 30, 1983 in Batesville, Independence County, Arkansas, m March 27 1915 Cora Dell Greenway b: March 14, 1897 in Stone County, Arkansas d: November 02, 1930 in Stone County, Arkansas
•James Henry Younger b: August 18, 1866 in St. James, Stone County, Arkansas d: February 03, 1939 in St. James, Stone County, Arkansas m February 02, 1895 John Etta King b: May 08, 1877 in Arkansas d: February 03, 1951 in St. James, Stone County, Arkansas
•James Samuel Younger b: August 25, 1831 in Tennessee d: September 05, 1905 in Stone County, Arkansas m Sept, 7 1854 Rutha Frances Younger b: February 14, 1839 in Halifax County,Virginia d October 04, 1912 Stone County, Arkansas (Father: Armistead Younger Mother: Rebecca Crews)
•William Younger b: Abt. 1803 in Halifax County, Virginia d: Aft. 1860 in Prob. Independence Co. AR m Oct 8, 1822 Priscilla Jones b: 1805 in Halifax County, Virginia d: Aft. 1860 in prob. Independence Co. AR
•Williamson Younger b: Abt. 1782 in Halifax County, Virginia d: December 02, 1817 in Halifax County, Virginia m march 24 1802 Mary Bomar b: 1785 in Halifax County, Virginia d 1820 - 1821 in Halifax County
•William Younger b: Abt. 1744 d: 1801 in Halifax County, Virginia m abt 1774 Mary Watkins b: Abt. 1760 d: Aft. 1811 in Halifax County, Va
•Thomas Younger b: Abt. 1707 in Essex County d: 1791 in Halifax County, Virginia m prob Mary Northern b: Unk m: Aft. 1740 d: Bef. May 1789
Kit Number 81432
•Participant
•Father
•Stanley E. Younger b 1896 NC d Halifax Co., Va. m Eula Blanks
•Josephus W. Younger b 1856 Person Co., NC d 1934 m Betty Wilkins
•Josephus b 1821 Halifax Co., Va d 1902 Person Co., NC m Jane Lockert (his parents died when he was young and he was raised by another family).
•Thomas b 1784 m second wife unknown after 1813, died not long after 1821
•William Younger b: Abt. 1744 d: 1801 in Halifax County, Virginia m abt 1774 Mary Watkins b: Abt. 1760 d: Aft. 1811 in Halifax County, Va
•Thomas Younger b 1707 Essex Co Va, d 1791 Halifax Co., Va., wife unknown
•Alexander Younger b: May 02, 1681 in Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland d: Bef. July 18, 1727 in Essex County, Virginia m abt 1700 Essex Coi Va. Rebecca Mills b: 1680 in Rappahannock County, Virginia, d: 1753
Thomas’s DNA is confirmed through sons Joseph and William.
Kit Number 105126 (Mark Younger, Mark.Younger@hilton.com)
These results have now been returned and do not match the Halifax line as was expected. He belongs to haplogroup J2, but at this point, doesn’t appear to match the Younger Gang DNA either. Originally, the participant tested his DNA at a different lab that does not do our Younger family DNA project, and at this point, the participant is having his DNA is being processed by Family Tree DNA to confirm their findings.
The line below is what he believes his genealogy to be. This line in proven through William by kit 92740, so the genealogical/adoption snafu is likely between the participant’s grandfather and William, likely with a child connected to the wrong family.
•Participant
•His father
•Myron Hayes Younger b 1894 Huntington, Tn. d 1961, m Effie Clapp
•Charley Frank Younger b 1867 Carroll Co., Tn. d 1946 Gibson Co., Tn., m Elizabeth Clopton
•James W. Younger, b 1829 Carroll Co., Tn. d 1899 Gibson Co., Tn., m Rebecca Smith
•William Younger b 1803 Va. d 1856 Carroll Co., Tn. m Priscilla Jones
•Williamson Younger d 1817 Halifax Co., Va. m Mary Bomar
•William Younger d before 1801 Halifax Co., Va. m Mary Polly Watkins
•Thomas Younger b 1707 Essex Co Va, d 1791Halifax Co., Va., wife unknown
•Alexander Younger b: May 02, 1681 in Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland d: Bef. July 18, 1727 in Essex County, Virginia m abt 1700 Essex Coi Va. Rebecca Mills b: 1680 in Rappahannock County, Virginia, d: 1753
The Missouri Group – previously thought to be the Halifax County Group – Group 4
On the DNA website, www.familytreedna.com/public/younger, this is the teal colored Group 5.
Kit 16164
This haplogroup is also R1b, but there are several mismatches between these results and the Essex/Halifax Group.
This was the kit we used originally to represent the Halifax County line, but ironically, it turns out that this line is an undocumented adoption. Initially, this was the only participant we had from the Essex/Halifax County Virginia group, so we had no idea it would not represent that line both genealogically and with DNA. As more participants tested from this line, and this kit matched none of them, it became evident that this participant’s line has had an undocumented adoption at some time between Thomas Younger and the present generation. The genealogy of this line is noted below:
•Participant
•His father
•Beverly Reginald Younger b 1896 Montague Co., Tx. d 1978 Los Angeles, California, m Jessie Thornburg
•Beverly Robert Younger b 1850 Pittsylvania Co., Va. d abt 1930, m Flora Campbell in Montague Co., Tx.
•Fleming J Younger b 1812 Halifax Co., Va. d 1871 Halifax Co., Va. m Susan Hodge
•Jesse Younger b 1764 Halifax Co., Va d 1838 Halifax Co., Va. m Martha Weatherford
•Thomas Younger b 1707 Essex Co Va, d 1791 Halifax Co., Va., wife unknown
•Alexander Younger b: May 02, 1681 in Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland d: Bef. July 18, 1727 in Essex County, Virginia m abt 1700 Essex Coi Va. Rebecca Mills b: 1680 in Rappahannock County, Virginia, d: 1753
The participant’s sister writes the following:
Interestingly we have found that my brother is a 25/25 match with a Mark Thomson. I have recently contacted him to see if he knows of anyone in his family that may have been in the areas of our ancestors. At this time it does not seem possible that this family should be connected to ours, but it is. The twist to this story is that the family farm that Mark Thomson's family bought in 1904 in Greene Co., MO, originally belonged to a Alexander Younger in 1833. Do you know who this Alexander Younger is? If the two families had been in the same place at the same time I could make a connection, but as far as Mark knows that family didn't go to MO from IA until the early 1900s.
Roberta’s followup: At 37 markers, this man matches a Davis with 2 mutations, a Dearie male and Mark Thomson both with 4 mutations. These connections are possible either within a historically significant timeframe or back before the introduction of last names. We need more participants to determine more about this and the other Younger lines. This participant may want to extend his markers to 67 to see if he still matches these other participants, assuming they also test for 67 markers. Check Y-search and www.smgf.org regularly for matches as well.
Further research by Wilma Norton turns up some interesting information that caused me to look further as well. The essence of this information is that Beverly Robert Younger b 1850 was married to Mary Jesse in 1876 in Audrain Co., Mo. In 1880 they were in the Audrain Co. census with 1 son, John W., 1 month old. They had an unnamed son in 1884 according to the Missouri birth and death records. Wilma questioned the 1896 birth of Beverly Reginald to Beverly Robert. She could not find him in the 1900 census.
In the 1900 census, she found a Mary Kimbrough with daughter, Flora Younger, 22 and grandson Beverly age 4 living with them. She wondered if Flora could have married one of Beverly Robert Younger’s sons. However, with the first son born in 1880 and the second in 1884, that would indicate a very very early marriage, at age 11 or 15 for the Younger male involved.
Flora Campbell was born in 1877, so the age fits for the 1900 census, as does the child, Beverly. His younger brother born in 1898, George Dewey Younger, must have died or someone else was raising him.
Looking further, we find that Flora Campbell married Beverly Robert Younger Feb. 23, 1896, just a few days after the child Beverly Reginald Younger was born on Feb. 9th, 1896.
Given this set of circumstances, I strongly suspect that the child, Beverly Reginald Younger, was not the son of Beverly Robert Younger. Finding a male descendant of Beverly Robert Younger form either of his sons from his first marriage would determine whether or not this was the source of the undocumented adoption. Beverly Robert Younger had 3 sons, according to Wilma Hillman, by his first wife; John William Younger b 1880, Earl Washington Younger and Douglas Younger, one born in 1884 and one born sometime before 1896 which would have been after his wife died and before he married Flora Campbell.
The Marcus Younger Group – Previously thought to be the Halifax County Group – Group 5
On the DNA website at www.familytreedna.com/public/younger, this is the bright blue Group 4.
Kit number 55612
Initially, this was the only participant to descend from Marcus Younger of Halifax County, Va. Marcus’ genealogy is unclear and we had hoped to connect him using DNA to Thomas who I have long suspected is his brother in spite of the fact that Alexander’s will does not mention Marcus. The DNA of this participant does not match any Younger line, but it does match a Seay line. The Seay family lived near this Younger family in the mid-1800s in Pittsylvania County, Va., so an undocumented adoption may have occurred during that timeframe.
The haplogroup of this participant is I1a which descends from the Scandinavian countries through the British Isles, probably due to the Viking influence. This particular DNA sequence has its peak in Sweden. More about haplogroup I1a can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_I1a_(Y-DNA).
•Participant
•Father
•Robert Cocke Younger b 1879 Campbell Co., Va. d 1919 m Bessie Brown
•Robert Bailey Younger b 1842 Halifax Co., Va. m Judy Cocke
•William Spain Younger b 1816 Halifax Co., Va. m Lucy Bailey
•Robert Younger b 1784 Halifax Co., Va d bet 1866-1870 Halifax Co., Va. m Mary Polly Moore
•John Younger 1760 Essex Co. Va. d 1817 Halifax Co., Va. m Lucy Hart
•Marcus Younger b before 1740 d 1815 m Susanna last name unknown
In the 1870 census, we show in Pittsylvania County, a Rawley Younger with his parents, John M. (Marcus) and Martha Younger, age 21 in household 5827 North of the Dan River near Chatham. John Marcus Younger was a brother to William Spain Younger. There are a number of Seay families in Halifax County, none in Pittsylvania, and a few in Campbell in the Eastern District. Ironically, the Seay family does not match the mainstream Seay’s either, so this connection remains somewhat of a mystery today. However, the Seay family and the Younger family have been working together to at least attempt to solve this mystery.
Currently they believe that Rawley Younger had an illegitimate child with Frances Linthicum, daughter of Lafayette Linthicum. She later married Charles Edward Seay. On the child’s birth certificate, it gave his name as Rawley Seay. In 1870 Raleigh would have been about 20 or 21 and she would have been about 15, and they do live in the same neighborhood. That would explain how the Seay family came to have the DNA of a Younger family, but it does not explain how the Marcus Younger line came to have DNA that differs from the Thomas Younger line.
Since Marcus was clearly connected with this Younger family, meaning to both Thomas who was a near neighbor in Halifax County, as well as William who first appeared in Halifax in the early 1760s, but (Marcus) is not listed as one of Alexander’s sons, I have always wondered if he was an illegitimate child through one of Alexander’s daughters.
However, we do have another mystery and that is the father of William Younger (b before 1740, died 1803, wife Patience) of Halifax County. He did not have any male offspring, so we cannot use DNA to resolve this mystery and the historical records have not been forthcoming. However, just the fact that we have another unidentified Younger male who is contemporaneous with these other men indicates strongly another early male Younger immigrant, other than Alexander, who was probably related to him as these families interact regularly in Halifax County. Perhaps Alexander had a brother who also immigrated, died young, and Alexander raised his children. Hopefully, records will yet be forthcoming to solve this mystery.
Sorenson www.smgf.org shows 1159 matches for this 12 marker sequence. I suggest this participant upgrade to 25 or 37 markers.
Kit Number 81435
This participant descends from Marcus Younger as well.
These results match kit number 55612, meaning that we have confirmed the DNA of Robert Younger, wife Polly Moore, as he is he first common ancestor between these two lines.
•Participant
•Raleigh Jackson Younger b 1898, Halifax Co., Va. m Eva Lewis as second wife
•William Fletcher Younger b 1869 d 1953 Halifax Co., Va. m Rosa Belle Shepard
•Philip Andrew Jackson Younger b 1839 Halifax Co, Va. m his first cousin Louisa E. Younger (dau of Joel Younger and Fentel Hart)
•Robert Younger b 1784 Halifax Co., Va d bet 1866-1870 Halifax Co., Va. m Mary Polly Moore
•John Younger 1760 Essex Co. Va. d 1817 Halifax Co., Va. m Lucy Hart
•Marcus Younger b before 1740 d 1815 m Susanna last name unknown
What we still don’t know is whether Marcus’s DNA would match theirs or a different line. Marcus only had one son, John, so we will never be able to confirm the DNA to Marcus by using two separate lines. However, his son John had many sons. In the future, perhaps a participant will surface that is descended from another of John’s sons. If indeed a descendant of another son would test, we could confirm the DNA to John.
At this point, it is very likely that Marcus’s DNA does not match that of the Thomas line. Since we cannot find a Younger male candidate in Essex Co. to be the father of Marcus, and he clearly is not Alexander’s child, my speculation at this point would be that he is either:
1.Alexander’s wife’s from a prior marriage or
2.Descended from a female Younger as an illegitimate birth.
I had previously also wondered if Alexander had a brother who died leaving both Marcus and William, and Alexander raised them. If this is the case, given the DNA, then it would have been a sister who died leaving her children to be raised. Unless some court record is forthcoming, we will likely never know.
German Jeunger - Group 6
On the DNA website at www.familytreedna.com/public/younger, this is the mustard colored Group 6.
Kit number 30280 (Cliff Younger, cyoungersr@comcast.net)
This line is also of the R1b clan.
Clifford Younger provides the following interesting extracted genealogical information, but for complete info, contact Cliff.
The name Juenger is spelled different from Younger but pronounced exactly the same.
My original immigrant was my GGGF from Germany. He and my GGGGF both spelled it with the Jeunger spelling. Upon arrival in America in 1830 time frame, GGGF traveled immediately to Muskingum County, Ohio and moved in with Humphrey Younger and family. From the time I found him there in what is now Zanesville area, our last name has been spelled as Younger.
I have not found, as yet, the relationship between Humphrey Younger and Charles Henry Younger Sr. (born Karl Heinrich Juenger), but Humphrey connects to Cole’s branch (of the Younger Gang) and both at various times claimed German descent.
Interestingly, this line did not match the Younger Gang’s line. Roberta’s note - bolding below is for ease in locating participant’s direct line.
1. Charles Henry Younger Sr. (born Karl Heinrich Jeunger) b 1810 faumnitz, Zeitz, Saschen, Preussen near Lipzig. Immigrated about 1830 to Muskingum County, Ohio (present day Zanesville) and lived with Humphrey Younger (of the Younger brothers line) and his wife Mary Campbell. Charles married Elizabeth Lowry in 1837. Some of Humphrey's children were married by the same pastor as Charles and Elizabeth, in the same church and during the same time frame. Charles died 1880 in/near Charleston, W. Va.
Charles and Elizabeth moved to Point Pleasant, Mason County, Va. (now WV) arriving there in early 1840. They had a couple of kids on the way. Eventually they had ten children (6 girls and 4 boys).
Two of the 4 boys, James and Frederick were born in 1838 on road from northern Ohio to southern Va.
2. The third, Charles Jr. was born 1 Jan., 1843 in the Point Pleasant area. He had 3 brothers, but they disappeared or were killed and left no known descendants. Charles Jr. died in August 1932 in Gallopolis, Ohio.
As a side note I need to relate the following before I go on with Charles Jr's history. Oral family history says that Charles Sr. and Jr. did not join immediately on the outbreak of the Civil War as the older two sons James and Frederick went to do. The story is that Charles Sr. and Jr. went to Missouri first, taking Elizabeth (the Mother) and the six girls and Jackson (the youngest son) to what they thought would be a safer place to ride out the war, that it would not spread that far west. Supposedly they left them with Younger kin in Missouri. I located one daughter, Elizabeth Jr, in Missouri. She was there during and after the war. She returned home to WV for a short period after the war to marry. She and her husband, William Wallace Gates, lived out their lives in Missouri, and their descendants still reside there in Cabool, Missouri.
My question here is what Younger kin in Missouri could they have stayed with? Descendants of Elizabeth Younger Gates say it was with Cole's Mother and sisters. I have not found any thing to date in writing to support that.
Back to Charles Jr. A year or so into the war, he took leave and returned home to WV and married Clarrisa Johnson in early 1863. He then went AWOL for an extra month. He eventually rejoined his unit and finished out the war with that unit. In 1865 he was wounded once and three days later was wounded twice more and captured. He was taken to Andersonville Ga. and imprisoned there for seven months. None of his wounds were treated there. Near the end of the war as Sherman was going thru Georgia, Charles Jr. and many other prisoners were placed on a train to another prison camp in Millen, Georgia (on the coast).
During the ride to Millen, Jr. and three others over powered some guards and escaped, making their way to Savannah and Union lines. Jr was then transported to Wheeling, WV for hospitalization. While there he married his second wife Mary M. Glass. When the army found out that he was now married to two wives at once, they told him that if he did not rid himself on one of them he would be in trouble. Mary M. Glass disappears and I have found no further record of her life or death or divorce etc. any where. I suspect that Charles killed her and disposed of the body. He was discharged from the army shortly after being told to rid himself of one of his wives.
On 30 July, 1866, Jr is back home in WV. with his 1st wife and living with his parents and younger sisters. On July 31, 1866, there was an accident in which Jr's wife Clarrisa was boiling a large cauldron of water and it got spilled and scalded 7 year old Harriet A. Younger (Jr's youngest sibling) to death. Later that night Jr went beserk (again) and beat Clarrisa to death with a shovel. At his first trial, his older sisters and both parents testified against him and he was found guilty of murder in the first degree and was sentenced to die by hanging. He appealed to the supreme court of WV and on a technicality, the trial was overturned and he was "awarded" a second trial. That trial had the same result. In those days you got one and only one appeal to the courts and he had already used his, so he appealed to the Governor of WV. He pleaded that he was crazy from the bombardments of the war, his wounds and his time in Andersonville. The Governor agreed and commuted his hanging to life in the new Moundsville Prison. He entered that facility in 1868 as prisoner 197.
In 1882 he was set free for good behavior. During his time in prison he had worked as a carpenter in the wagon shop and eventually was a "trusty". The wagons that were made were sold in town. Did this mean he was outside the walls from time to time ?? No one knows, and the records from Moundsville do not tell us. During his time in prison, a lady named Elizabeth Burden occasionally worked in the prison. Again the records left do not indicate what it was that she did or whether she could have had any contact with the prisoners. One week after his release in 1882, Jr. and Elizabeth were married. Her three sons, Michael born 1873, John born
1875 and Judson born 1876 were all born while Jr. was in prison but from 1882 on he raised them as his and there is an affidavit from Elizabeth stating that Jr. was the father of all three of them. Maybe he wasn't eh?
Charles after release from prison, never worked. He applied for a pension from the Army claiming he couldn't work due to wounds received during the war and various diseases contracted while imprisoned in Andersonville and Moundsville. He drank his pension up every month while Elizabeth worked odd jobs to feed the boys. He slept with a loaded rifle under the mattress, a loaded cocked pistol under his pillow and a bowie knife by his side. He had nightmares often and would wake up screaming, slashing and shooting. He got tired of Elizabeth's nagging and left her in early 1904, moved back to Point Pleasant. The towns-people there threw him out and he moved directly across the river to Gallipolis, Ohio where one month after leaving his third wife, he married his fourth wife, Almeda Rupe.
Jr. was 66 at this time and Almeda was 20. They had ten children, 1 still born, 8 girls and one son. The son was also named Charles Younger Jr. He was born in 1916 and died in 1994. I located his only child, a daughter named Marilyn in 1997, 3 years too late to get any DNA from him.
So of Jr's 4 sons:
•Michael had no children
•John ran away at the age of 15 and "went West". Never heard from again.
•Judson (my grandfather) has 50+ male descendants currently living
•Charles Jr (III) had only one child, a girl.
We know where Charles Jr. is buried. He is in the Old Pine Street Cemetery in Gallipolis. The cemetery has been closed to burials for at least 40 years. As you enter the gate, Jr. is back in the far right rear corner. At more than one of our family reunions, we have seriously discussed a midnite run on Gallipolis to dig part of the old SOB up and have him tested. But then by the next morning we have sobered up and haven't started digging yet.
I guess if we really need to know for sure, and there are some of us who really really would like to know for sure, we need to check into the procedures for exhuming the old boy long enough to run a DNA test on him. Not even sure where to start on a project like that nor any idea of what the cost would be.
Anyway, this was the long way to explain possibly why my DNA isn't matching up with any one elses.
Lastly, even if eventually it turns out that our whole clan aren't really Younger's after all, it makes no difference. We were born Younger, will die Younger and always be proud to be Younger.
My personal feelings are that Charles probably was not the father of the three boys with Elizabeth. She and a neighbor (also a relative of mine) gave sworn affadavits in 1904 that he was the father, the neighbors affadavit swore that she had known Elizabeth since before she had children, had lived next door all that time and knew for a fact that Elizabeth had been with no other man than Charles. Sounds good on paper but.........at the time she was trying to get support money taken from his pension check and sent to her so what else could she really say? Balance that against the fact that he was a trusty and maybe had time outside the walls and that she did
occasional work there and had access inside the walls and........
Roberta’s note: To date, this line has only one 25 marker match with a Whims family. Their gedcom indicates they were in Wirt and Mason County, West Virginia and Hiram, Warren and Sawyerwood Ohio, plus Montgomery Co., Ohio. Joshua Whims b 1800 and died in 1884 in Wirt Co., W. Va. His son Joseph was born in 1859 in Mason Co., W. Va. and died in 1941 in Sawyerwood, Ohio.