Cobb(s) and Bruton Parish Church

Robert Cobb(s), 1627-1682, son of Ambrose Cobbs and Ann White, arrived in the United States with his family when he was 8 years old. As a young man, he settled in Marston Parish, York County, Virginia where he served as church warden of Marston Parish from 1658 until 1674, when Marston Parish and Middletown parish were absorbed into Bruton Parish. Then he became one of the first vestrymen of the Bruton Parish Church.

A tile I found at an antique shop features the present day Bruton Parish Church.

In 1677 the vestry decided that instead of repairing the existing churches in the parish, they wanted to build a new one out of brick to serve the entire consolidated area. An agreement was signed in 1681 that would require the payment of  "L150 and sixty pounds of good, sound, merchantable, sweet-scented tobacco. to be leveyed of each tytheable in the parish for three years together" in order to build the church. The land for the church and churchyard was given as a gift forever by the wealthy colonist, John Page. It was in what was then known as Middle Plantation, but in 1699 it was renamed Williamsburg when it became the colonial capital.

A plaque commemorating those involved in the building of the first brick church
at Bruton Parish includes the name of Robert Cobb.

Robert Cobb(s) died in December of 1682, midway through the construction of the church. A new, larger church was built in the same location in 1715, when Robert's son Ambrose was a member of the vestry, and still stands in Williamsburg. 

A plaque commemorating the 1710-1715 vestry, when the present church was built,
includes the name Ambrose Cobb(s), son of Robert Cobb(s).

Robert Cobb(s) was my 9th Great-Grandfather, his son Ambrose, my 8th Great-Grandfather. These men were in the midst of the beginnings of this country and knew all the important players in colonial Virginia. They were strong Christian leaders in the community and I'm proud to have them as ancestors.

John C Moore, aka John Pulcheon, 1843-1920

Shortly after the death of his mother, John Pulcheon left his remaining family in Ohio and set out on his own. He landed in Iowa and created a new identity for himself by changing his surname to Moore. It took a lot of time and frustrating research to determine that the two seemingly separate men were actually one and the same.

John F. Pulcheon

John F. Pulcheon was born in July of 1843 to German immigrant parents, William Pulcheon and Catherine (Crates/Kröz) Pulcheon. William and Catherine lived in Canton Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, near where their families had settled after immigrating to the United States. Canton township inhabitants were mostly native Pennsylvanians, but there was a smattering of Germans living there, too so the Pulcheon family wouldn't have felt entirely out of place. Catherine's father, Christian Frederick Crates/Kröz, desired to live in a predominately German community, however, and had recently moved to Van Buren, Hancock County, Ohio. In Van Buren, the population in 1850 was almost all German. The churches were Lutheran. It felt more like home. He must have written to his daughter and son-in-law and urged them to come, too, because within a few years they also relocated to Hancock County, Ohio.

Catharine Crates Pulcheon, 1823-1859
Photograph shared on Ancestry.com by user Clingermangirls on 11 Jun 2011.
A note added by Clingermangirls says it was contributed by Martha Avery.

A. William Pulcheon, c. 1814-1900
Photograph shared on Ancestry.com by user Clingermangirls on 11 Jun 2011.
A note added by Clingermangirls says it was also contributed by Martha Avery.

In 1850 and 1860, John Pulcheon is listed in the household of his father William Pulcheon. In 1850, Catharine and 3 other sons, Eli, William, and Henry, were also listed. In 1860, after Catharine's death, John is listed with his father, brothers, and a sister born in 1853, Mary Jane. Then John disappeared.

John C. Moore

John C. Moore was my 3rd Great-Grandfather and for many, many years I was at a standstill trying to research his family. The earliest record of him was in 1865 when he married Miss Sarah Coffin in Mahaska County, Iowa. They weren't located on the 1870 census but were in Oskaloosa, Mahaska, Iowa in June of 1874 when their daughter Josie Lena Moore was born and when the 1880 census was taken. Sarah died in 1882 and a year later, John married Mary Roenspiess. It was the record of this marriage that led me back to Catherine Crates and William Pulcheon.

Iowa Marriage Records, 1923-1937, from Ancestry.com
Cropped image of the page showing the names of John Moore's parents.

In this record, the parents of John C Moore are listed as William Moore and Catherine Crates and it gives his birthplace as Pennsylvania. Unable to narrow down to a fitting William Moore in Pennsylvania, I searched for John's mother. I found Catherine with William Pulcheon and my first thought was that he was her second husband. I looked for any connection for her to a William Moore but found nothing. I did, however, find a record stating that they married in 1840. Three years before John's birth.

The census records in 1850 and 1860 listing a son named John Pulcheon with the couple and the obituary for William Pulcheon lead me to conclude that John Pulcheon and John C Moore were one and the same. William's obituary states he was the father of four sons and a daughter. In the 1850 and 1860 census records there were 4 sons and a daughter. I believe they all were his children.

The obituary of William Pulcan(Pulcheon):

William Pulchan was born in Holland. Died May15,1900, his age 

being one hundred years or over. At the age of twenty years he 

came to New York City, and from there he went to Pennsylvania, 

and was united in marriage with Catherine Crates who preceded 

him to the grave 41 years ago. To this union were born five children, 

four sons and one daughter. He leaves five children, fourteen 

grandchildren, and 47 great granchildren to mourn their loss. Early 

in life he united with the German Lutheran Church and lived a 

consistent Christian life. He was a kind and devoted father and a 

good neighbor. Extreme old age was the cause of his death. 

The funeral was held from the M.E. Church in Williamstown 

conducted by W.W. Curl.

DNA matches confirm my connection to the Catharine Crates that married William Pulcheon, so it doesn't seem to be a case of finding the wrong Catharine. Coupled with the fact that John Pulcheon disappeared shortly before John C Moore appeared in records, I do believe the two are the same man.

John and his second wife Mary had a son named Leo or Lee in 1887. There were no other children. John lived until 1920 and is buried in Forest Cemetery, Oskaloosa, Mahaska, Iowa.

Ancestry DNA Discoveries

I tested with Ancestry DNA over 4 years ago and it has been an interesting journey. When I bought my test, I bought one for my husband, too. Since then I have picked up 18 additional tests that I manage or collaborate on. My dad, both of my mothers-in-law (current and ex), my three children, several cousins, a great Aunt, two great Uncles and some random people that just asked for my help. I have learned so, so much and made some life-changing discoveries:

Joe Wood
My ex mother-in-law's test was a challenging one to work on. When she was about 50 years old she discovered that her dad wasn't really her dad. On her birth certificate, the father was listed as unknown. Total shocker. Fortunately, her mother was still living then and was able to give her a name and a few clues. His name was Joe Wood, he was from New York or New Jersey, and she met him in California when he was in the service. There are dozens of men named Joe Wood from the two states that served, so until she took a DNA test, we weren't getting anywhere with the research. Even then, it was a long process to track the right man down. I built so many trees for her DNA matches until I started to see some common names and figured out where some of them intersected. It eventually led to a Wood family and a man named Joe, who had passed several years earlier. I tracked down and sent letters to his children, but they never responded. (Probably thought I was crazy!) Then a new match in this family came up on her list, a 1st/2nd cousin match - closer than any of the other matches up to that point. I contacted the match and she reached out to the same children that I had written to. One of them had done a 23andme DNA test and agreed to upload the results to GEDmatch so we could compare them. The results proved a half-sibling match. This half-sister shared a photo of her father and my mother-in-law was able to see the man she'd been wondering about since uncovering the secret of her paternity more than 20 years ago. Facebook is now helping to bridge the gap between the newly discovered siblings.

Joe Wood, cropped from a photo sent by his daughter.

A Raney Sailor
In my family, there has always been a question of paternity for my Dad's brother Mike. The story in the family is that their mom, during a time when she was separated from their dad, was seeing a Sailor and he was the father. My Uncle Mike has passed, but some of his kids and grandkids have tested and I've narrowed down his biological father to one of four sons in a family with the surname Raney. It's so frustrating that I haven't been able to get any closer! Yet, anyway. I keep hoping that a descendant of one of those men will test and a new DNA match will crack the case.

Adoptees Looking for Answers
I have had three people who match me make contact to ask for my help. All were adopted. I have been able to help two of the three find their birth parent and figure out our connection. One of them was bittersweet, as his biological father, my second cousin, had passed away just a few months before we figured it out. My cousin's parents and siblings, though, have enthusiastically welcomed the young man into their family. A happy ending, for sure.

Shocking Family Secrets
DNA doesn't lie and it's helping people find answers when one or both biological parents are unknown. It's also opening some cans of worms in families where a child's parentage was a closely guarded secret. I've been involved in solving two such cases and know just how shocking it can be. I believe that knowing the truth, though, can be healing in many ways and can sometimes answer questions that had always lingered in that person's mind.

Connecting with Unknown Cousins
One of my favorite things about DNA research and the huge Ancestry database is discovering new cousins. With families spread all across the country, those 2nd and 3rd cousins we all have are not always known. I have found and connected with so many over the last 4 years. We have shared family documents, photographs (my favorite), and stories. As a family historian, it doesn't get any better than that. DNA has enriched my family story in more ways than I can count.

Who was "Grandpa Celie"?

This photograph was shared with me many years ago by a fellow Davis family researcher, Kate Lund. She had the original photo in her personal collection that had passed down from her ancestor, Rebecca Anne Davis. On the back of the photo was written "Grandpa Celie". 

"Grandpa Celie"
Copy of the original as shared with me by a distant cousin about 15 years ago.

Rebecca Davis was a younger sister of my second great-grandfather, Joseph Crockett Davis, so Kate and I share their parents as common ancestors. Their father was John T. Davis (1825 - abt 1871) and their mother was Thursa Kelley (abt 1833 - abt 1865). They were married in 1848 in Ripley County, Missouri. The man labeled "Grandpa Celie" is believed to be Thursa's father with the name spelled incorrectly. I haven't been able to solve the mystery of who exactly he was, though.

Thursa, a nickname, was given the full name of Elizabeth Theresa Jane Kelley when she was born about 1832 or 1833 in either Kentucky or Arkansas. The only records I find with any kind of "birth" info are two census records, in 1850 and 1860, and they list the two states as her place of birth. She was already married by 1850, so wasn't still in the home of her parents. She and John were living in Wayne County, Missouri and had one child. But, a clue, there was also a girl listed as Rebecca Massy, 13-years-old, born in Arkansas, living in the same household.

1850 Federal Census, Wayne County, Missouri
Image from Ancestry.com

A Rebecca M. Kelley married Uriah Duncan in 1853. In 1860, the Duncans lived next door to the John and Thursa Davis family, now in Texas County, Missouri. I believe Rebecca Massy Kelley was the sister of Thursa Kelley. This hasn't led me to their parents but does provide some clues that I hope might help to solve the mystery.

Rebecca's middle name might be a clue. Children were sometimes given the mother's maiden name as a middle name. Usually, it was given to a son, so perhaps the Kelleys had only daughters. I've looked for a Kelley man that married a Massey woman and so far haven't found anything.

Another possible clue may be in the naming of Thursa and Rebecca's children. Thursa's first son was named James E. Davis. Rebecca's first son was named Erasmus. Was Erasmus a family name? It wasn't a name found on either of their husband's sides of the family. Perhaps their father's name? So far I haven't found an Erasmus Kelley that fits to be their father. I really don't even know if the E. middle initial found for James stands for Erasmus, so it's just a guess at this point.

One more clue is that Rebecca's birthplace is consistently given as Arkansas and she was five years younger than Thursa. While it's still possible that Thursa was born in Kentucky, it seems clear that the family lived in Arkansas soon after. But how did Thursa and Rebecca get to Missouri? How long was the family even in Arkansas?

Also, in 1850, 13-year-old Rebecca lived with her older sister. Had their parents passed away? Maybe just their mother had passed and their father had either remarried or was off looking for work?

Clearly, there is still much work to be done to figure out who exactly "Grandpa Celie" was. Puzzling out these mysteries and breaking through "brick walls" is the greatest reward for a genealogist. I'll keep at it.