Tuesday, February 25, 2014

52 ANCESTORS in 52 WEEKS, #9 : Whitehead JOYNER

Following the challenge of writing 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, issued by Amy Johnson Crow, here is my 9th installment, for Whitehead JOYNER, my children's 4th great-grandfather, on their father's mother's line.

Although I haven't done much research on Whitehead, I'm including him in this challenge, to remind myself of the many details I need to search for.  Plus, I simply love his name.  When I found his first name listed as the father on a daughter's marriage, I had to smile and say "Yeah - another surname to search for!"  

Whitehead was born 17 Jun 1765, in Sumner county, Tennessee, the second child/second son of Matthew JOYNER and Mary WHITEHEAD. His parents married about 1762 in Edgecumbe NC.  However, it could be that he and all the children were born in North Carolina where both parents are said to be born - in Edgecumbe [Edgecomb?] or Wake county or Northampton county.  There are confusing stories about the places where the first Joyner families lived.  Mary Whitehead died about 1773, leaving 3 boys and a daughter; Matthew married before 1777 to Lydia Griffis/Griffiths and had 9 more children [2 boys, 7 girls]. 

On 27 Jun 1793, in Sumner county Tennessee, Whitehead married Lucy TAYLOR, daughter of Robert TAYLOR and Nancy HERRING, from North Carolina. The Taylor family had moved to Sumner county Tennessee from North Carollina.  

Whitehead & Lucy had 7 living children that I've been able to find, all born apparently in Sumner county, TN:
 - Elizabeth*[direct ancestor], b. 1 Jun 1795, m. abt 1815 to Anderson WALTERS, 7 children
 - Benjamin, b. 16 Oct 1798
 - Thomas, b. 12 Dec 1802, m. bef 1832 to Lucy , 8 children
 - Margaret, b. abt 1804
 - Lucy, b. abt 1806
 - Martha, b. 7 Apr 1807
 - Nancy, b. abt 1808

These first names are common in both the Taylor and Joyner families. I have not done research on the girls as yet.  And, I have not been able to go back further from Whitehead's father, Matthew, in North Carolina.

It is possible these families all knew each other, and I need to dig through more Censuses and documents to see if there's a prior connection in North Carolina: family, associates, neighbours, land records, bonds, military and other records. I've scarcely scratched the surface.

I have just realized that Sumner county was originally in North Carolina and was ceded to the new state of Tennessee when that state was created in 1796.  This makes much more sense to me, now.  Oh, what a little research will do, eh?!  

If you have other information or questions about Whitehead JOYNER/Joiner and his family, you can contact me via calewis at telus dot net, and/or by comments below.  I always love to read your comments!  

4 comments:

Dflora said...

While I have found many family trees which indicate lucy taylor married whitehead joyner, I have not been able to find a source for their reported marriage.

I am very confident in that they are my ancestors since I have a DNA common ancestor link to
Robert Taylor and Nancy Ann Herring. Do you have documentation for this marriage?



The family with the DNA link included the following Taylors in their ancestry.
Herring Taylor
5th Great-Grand uncle
Jesse Taylor
1st Cousin (6x removed)

Alvis Taylor
2nd Cousin (5x removed)

John Leslie Taylor
3rd Cousin (4x removed)

Raymond Alvis Taylor
4th Cousin (3x removed)

Roy Edwin Taylor

Lucy Taylor
5th Great-Grandmother

Celia Lewis said...

Dflora - I found details from copies of notes/wills/records that a Rose Parks had posted which she called "Bright, Herring Family History".
Unfortunately this was early in my genealogy and I wasn't as careful as I ought to have been, and didn't do a proper source and didn't follow up with searching further.
I'm sorry to say that I have no further details of marriages, although it is quite clear that the Taylor, Herring, and Joyner/Joiner families were all known to each other, showing up on each others documents, living in the same areas.
I won't be doing further research on this line for a while, as I'm working on another section, and being more thorough and detailed with my sources. The Genealogy Do-Over by Thomas MacEntee inspired me to clean up my tree, starting this past January! It will take at least another year to complete the clean up however! Perhaps by then, I could do another post on Lucy TAYLOR's grandparents, if I am able to find more!
Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

Unknown said...

I have very recently begun researching my mother's ancestry, and came across a previously compiled tree that links my line back to Whitehead and Elizabeth Joyner. Have you found anything new about either in the last couple of years?

Rachelle W.
Illinois

Celia Lewis said...

Rachelle, I have nothing more at this time. Thanks for commenting.

Getting back to ancestors from the 1700s in NC and TN was a bit of a hike, and digging further will be quite an exercise in following tiny crumbs of clues. This is in my ex-husband's lines, and I won't be working further on it for some time, as I am trying to do more in-depth research in my mother's lines in order to write up a history for our kids.

Hopefully, in another year or so... :)

Welcome!

Family, friends, and others - I hope you enjoy these pages about our ancestors and their lives. Genealogy has become somewhat of an obsession, more than a hobby, and definitely a wonderful mystery to dig into and discover. Enjoy my writing, and contact me at celia.winky at gmail dot com if you have anything to add to the stories. ... Celia Lewis