Kindred Souls

The moral for today is one that I have heard over and over: Don't just research your direct-line ancestors but also their siblings (and sometimes even their friends and neighbors.) I've even followed this advice a few times and made some great discoveries. However, if I had followed it in this case, I would have made this interesting discovery a long time ago. 

I have to give the credit to Ancestry's Thru-Lines. I was looking at the descendant lines of the siblings of my 3rd great-grandmother, Priscilla Souls/Soles. Under her sister Elizabeth Soles Faulk, I found the name of a descendant that I have seen for years as a DNA match to me on Ancestry and Gedmatch. 

Here's why I overlooked the discovery I finally made this week. I am always looking for DNA matches that will help me find the parents of my 2nd great-grandfather, John Smith, and this particular match had the surname Smith. I know it's a long shot, but I always take a second look at my Smith matches. Years ago when I determined that the Smiths in Mr. Smith's tree were not my Smiths, I looked just far enough to realize that our match was not through the Smiths, but through the Soles line. I put a Note to myself that Mr. Smith was a Soles descendant and moved right on.

As I said above, this week I was looking at Thru-Lines, and this time I clicked on Mr. Smith's profile pic and looked a little closer at our match comparison. Thru-Lines had highlighted our shared surnames, which included Smith, Soles, and Harris. The Harris made me look a little closer, and that is the lucky part because the Harris surname is not even on the Smith side of my tree. However, it is my grandfather's middle name, and I have always wondered where it came from.

My 3rd great-grandmother's sister, Elizabeth Soles, married Phillip Lemuel Faulk in Columbus County, NC, in 1814. (Again, it's always good to research siblings, especially if you are into DNA matching. This explains why I have so many DNA matches with the surname Faulk in their family trees.) Their daughter, Mary Ann, born 1826, married Edward Harris on 10 January 1843 in Pike County, AL. (My Soles and Simmons ancestors also moved from Columbus County NC to Pike County AL in this time period.) 

Edward and Mary Ann's son, Joseph Warren Harris, born 1847, married Nancy Jane Hinson on 5 December 1867 in Troy, Pike County, AL. Nancy's parents were William Hinson and Martha Ann Pugh. And now you have all the names you need to know in order to understand the significance they had for me. 

On the 1860 census of the Eastern Division, Pike County AL, my 2nd great-grandmother, Elizabeth Simmons Mansell, is enumerated as head of household; her husband, John Mansell, had died in 1845. Her name is spelled "Mansill" on the census, and mis-transcribed as "Mansild." Enumerated with her on this census are: her sons, William, Samuel, and Simeon; her daughter Frances (my great-grandmother), age 11; and twins, age 7, named Pugh and Nancy J. 

1860 census, Pike County AL, Mansill family

More than one mystery is attached to this census record. The most significant one for me is: Who is Frances's father? Since she was born in 1849, four years after John Mansell's death in 1845, he can't be her father--even though she used the Mansell surname on her marriage license. Even the identity of Simeon's father can be questioned; he was born the same year that John Mansell died. However, the big one is: Who were Pugh and Nancy and what happened to them? 

As far as I can tell, neither of the twins ever appear again on any census, including the 1870, in which they would have been 17 and young enough to still be living with Elizabeth. Some explanations come to mind, and I have tried to eliminate each of them through research over the years. Nancy could have married before the 1870 census. Either or both of them could have died. They could have been Elizabeth's grandchildren and enumerated on the 187o census with their parents. Or maybe their surname wasn't Mansell at all, and they appear later under other surnames. Of course, Nancy J. has such a common name that she could be anywhere, but Pugh Mansell, if that was his name, should show up somewhere. He doesn't.

Then--my discovery this week, which gives me even more options. Could Nancy J. and Pugh have some connection to the Harris/Hinson family of Pike County? 

Possible avenues for research:

• The most obvious explanation is that the Nancy J. on the 1860 census with the Mansell family IS the Nancy J. Hinson who married Joseph Warren Harris. Who else would be likely to have a twin brother whose given name Pugh is Nancy's mother's maiden name? Maybe she and her brother were visiting their cousins and got enumerated as Mansills by mistake. However, a couple of facts make this unlikely. The dates are a little off--Nancy J. on the census was born in 1853; Nancy J. Hinson was born in 1849. Her marriage in 1867 makes it unlikely, although not impossible, that the 1853 date is the right one. Another fact makes this explanation even more unlikely. "Jane" Hinson, age 11, appears on the 1860 census with her parents, William and Martha (Pugh) Hinson--no twin brother and no brother named Pugh. Too bad this couldn't be the answer, because I thought I had finally solved the mystery of Nancy J. and Pugh!

1860 census, Pike Co. AL, Hinson family

• Perhaps Nancy J. and Pugh were visiting cousins with a connection to the Hinsons--again, accidentally enumerated as members of the Mansell family. This will require researching other Pugh descendants who could have children of the right age to be the twins.

• They could be Elizabeth Mansell's own children. She would have been 40 at their birth. We still have the problem of who their father was. And why would she give them names more significant for her cousins than for herself? Looking closely at that relationship, exactly how was she related to the Hinson/Harris family? Elizabeth's mother Priscilla and Elizabeth Soles were sisters. It doesn't take much of a stretch of the imagination to conclude that Elizabeth Simmons Mansell was named for her aunt, Elizabeth Soles. Priscilla's daughter Elizabeth and Elizabeth's daughter Mary Ann would have been 1st cousins. Mary Ann's son, Joseph Warren Harris, would have been Elizabeth's 1st cousin, once removed. His wife, Nancy J. Hinson, whose mother was Martha Pugh, would not have been related to Elizabeth Mansell at all. Why would Elizabeth name her daughter for unrelated Nancy Jane Hinson or her son for Nancy's mother, Martha Pugh? How do I even begin to research this?

• Maybe there is an even closer connection between the families than I expected. Don't forget that the naming continues into the next generation with Elizabeth's daughter Frances naming her youngest child Weaver Harris Smith. In fact, in the Smith family's petition to the Dawes Commission for Cherokee citizenship my grandfather is listed as Harris W. Smith. Maybe the connection is with the unknown father of Frances, Nancy J., and Pugh, but who could he possibly be? 

No matter which of these explanations is the right one, or even if Elizabeth and Frances just liked the names Nancy Jane, Pugh, and Harris, there is possibly a much closer relationship between the descendants of Priscilla and Elizabeth Soles than I had previously realized. While Nancy J. and Pugh are still mysteries, at least I now have another direction in which to search. 

Elizabeth Simmons Mansell Cotton: 52 Ancestors #1 (Smith side)

In January 2014 a genealogist named Amy Johnson Crow issued a challenge to other genealogists that she called "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks." The challenge was to profile an ancestor every week for an entire year, beginning in January. 

For a couple of reasons I didn't jump on the 52 Ancestors bandwagon right away. I had started this blog in 2013 and many of the blog posts that I had already written profiled an ancestor or a family. For example, I had already done short posts about my parents and each of my grandparents, along with posts like The Smiths in Oklahoma, The Castles in Kentucky, The Wheats in Texas, and The Ming Dynasty about the ancestors of my four grandparents. 

Another reason I didn't take the 52 Ancestors challenge is that I found it hard to start in January. January was all about finishing the old year--taking down Christmas decorations and doing taxes--and going back to school after Christmas vacation ready to fill teenagers' heads with knowledge. I didn't have much time left in my schedule to write weekly posts.

Now it's 2019 and I'm finding it hard to find new things to write about. When I find a new relative or take a trip, I share what I've learned or experienced, but I need something that keeps me writing every week. 52 Ancestors is the inspiration I need, but I'm going to start and end the 52 Weeks with my birthday instead of the traditional January through December. My schedule is still pretty full--even though I'm retired--but I hope to meet the challenge of "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks."

I'm starting with my 3rd great-grandmother on my Smith side, Elizabeth Simmons. I have mentioned her in several blog posts, but I've never done an individual profile of her. I think she's a good example of how a hunt for primary documents can lead to surprising information about an ancestor.

When I started doing genealogy 30 years ago, I didn't know anything about Elizabeth Simmons, the mother of my great-grandmother, Fannie, who was the wife of Stephen Albert Smith and the mother of my grandpa, Weaver Harris Smith. I had always thought that Fannie's maiden name was Cotton. I had never heard the last name Mansell, the surname of Elizabeth's first husband. 

Then my brother and I were in Oklahoma City, looking for evidence that we had Cherokee ancestry. Yes, we had one of those families with a story about having a Native American ancestor. We had always been told that Fannie was Cherokee. What we found in Oklahoma City was Fannie's rejected application for Cherokee citizenship. That was the bad news. The good news was a lot of genealogical information that we didn't know. For this post I'd like to focus on what we found out about Elizabeth from this application.

Some of the information was in Elizabeth's own words. The application included a deposition that Elizabeth had given about her background and ancestry, and therefore her daughter's. Almost certainly, some of the statements in the deposition are not true, and consequently it throws the whole document into question; however, some of the statements have been verified by DNA results and other documents, and maybe someday proof will be found for other statements that Elizabeth made.

Here is a transcript of the deposition followed by further explanation of the numbered statements:

Exhibit "E"

Territory of Oklahoma
County of Cleveland  1

I, Elizabeth Cotton having first duly...and...[unclear, blot, and words marked out] and says. That I was born November 11 A.D. 1812 near Raleigh N.C. 2  That my maiden name was Elizabeth Simmons. That I was married to John Mansell in A.D. 1826 near Raleigh N.C. who died on or about the year A.D. 1850. 3  That I was again married to William Cotton on or about the day of _____ A.D. 1861 and that said William Cotton died in the year A.D. 1875. 4  The affiant further states that her mother's maiden name was Priscilla Soules and that she was born in North Carolina near Raleigh. 5

This affiant further states that her mother was a half breed Cherokee and so recognized by the authorities of the Cherokees, 6 and that the said John Mansell to whom I was first married was a Cherokee by Blood. 7 That I do not remember the names of any of the Principal [Minor?] Chiefs of the Cherokees.

The affiant further states that Frances [Sclania?] Smith is my daughter by my first husband John Mansell 8 and is the only child now alive 9 and further deponent saith not.

Witness to mark A. [Nicodemus?]                                          Elizabeth X Cotton
                           J. R. Shaver                                                         her mark

Subscribed and [unclear--same word as above] to before me this 12th day of January 1894. 10

                                                                                                J. R. Shaver Notary Public
                                                                                                Commission expires Oct 9th 1897

1. I have no idea why Elizabeth would have been in Cleveland County. The family story has Elizabeth coming to Indian Territory with the Smith family in 1894. Cleveland County is south of Oklahoma City, and as far as I know, the Smiths have always lived in northeastern Oklahoma. According to my grandfather's World War I and World War II draft registration cards, he was born in Catoosa, Indian Territory in 1895. His family later lived in Collinsville and Oologah. All of these locations are in northeastern Oklahoma. 
    
As Elizabeth would have been 81 at the time of the deposition, it is more than likely she was living with relatives. It has been suggested that Elizabeth came to Oklahoma with the Smith family and then traveled with her niece's family back to Alabama. Census records show that Elizabeth's niece, Joanna Mansell Webb, traveled back and forth between Alabama and Oklahoma before finally settling in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, which is closer to Oklahoma City than to Tulsa. 
    
Perhaps the Webbs were living in Cleveland County in 1894, maybe Elizabeth traveled there to make the deposition for some reason, or maybe there is another explanation yet to be uncovered. 

2. When I discovered this document many years ago, I didn't question Elizabeth's birth date or place. Who would know better when and where they were born than the person herself? In the years since I found this deposition, other information would surface to call both date and place into question. The date is all tied up with the identity of Elizabeth's parents. It took me a while to connect Elizabeth with the right family, because as you may have noticed, she does not give the name of her father in this document.

When I first began to search for Elizabeth Simmons' mother, Priscilla Soules/Soles, I found a few trees on Ancestry that showed her as the wife of Luke R. Simmons. Many more trees, however, listed his wife as Priscilla Hargette. (I have never found the source for that identification.) I also found a lot of trees that didn't even list Elizabeth as one of the children of Luke and Priscilla. My only paper source for the identification of Priscilla Soles as Elizabeth's mother came from Elizabeth's deposition.     

When DNA came into the picture, however, I found plenty of matches to Simmons and Soles descendants. One of them has done a great deal of work on Simmons lines--his website is sjcjr.com--and corresponds with me frequently. A few years ago he shared the transcript of births listed in Luke Simmons' Bible that he found in the Troy, AL Public Library. It is obvious that all of the births except the last one were recorded years after the fact, as the Bible was published in 1827. Here is the list of births (and one marriage) from the transcript:

Page 1 -- This Bible the Property of Luke R. Simmons

Page 2 -- Luke R. Simmons and his wife Priscilla was married January 24, 1811

Page 3 -- Luke R. Simmons was born May 20, 1791

                        Priscilla Simmons was born April 5, 1792

                        Elizabeth Simmons was born December 10, 1812

                        Jemima Simmons was born October 13, 1815

                        Susannah Simmons was born August 14, 1817

                        Patience & Nancy Simmons was born January 2, 1821

Page 4 -- Leonard M. Simmons was born February 20, 1823

                        Rebekah Simmons was born June 8, 1825

                        Elizar Simmons was born August 7, 1827

So here is another paper document verifying that Luke and Priscilla (why, oh why, didn't he list her maiden name?) had a daughter named Elizabeth, their firstborn, but her birth date is exactly 30 days late, according to the birth date she gives for herself. 
     
Elizabeth's place of birth is confusing, too. On the 1820 census the Simmons family is living in Columbus County, NC, over 100 miles south of Raleigh. Some family researchers have found it implausible that Elizabeth was born in Raleigh, a location not known to be associated with the Simmons or Soles families. 

I recently found a Findagrave entry for Elizabeth's sister, Eliza, born 1826, that said that she too was born in Raleigh. After doing a little research, that one is easier to explain. Their father, Luke R. Simmons, was first elected a delegate from Columbus County to the House of Commons of the North Carolina General Assembly in 1820 and subsequently served until 1834, first in the House and then in the Senate. The General Assembly met in Raleigh, the state capital, so for at least some parts of those years, Luke R. Simmons (and apparently, his family) lived in Raleigh. That still doesn't explain Elizabeth, born in 1812. 

3. According to the U.S. and International Marriage Records database on Ancestry, Elizabeth Simmons married John Mansell in 1826 in North Carolina. The first time that John Mansell appears on the census is 1830 in Columbus County when he was already married to Elizabeth. The assumption is that he is from Columbus County. Did he and Elizabeth marry in Raleigh as she stated? Her father would have been serving in the General Assembly there in 1826, so it's possible.

Have you done the math? John Mansell, born in 1800, was 26 when he and Elizabeth married. Elizabeth, born in 1812, was 14. 

Elizabeth stretched the truth a little with John's death date. He died in 1844, not 1850. I'm pretty sure I know why she did so. Fannie, her youngest child and only daughter, was born in 1849, so John Mansell's death date of 1844 means he is not her father. Elizabeth was claiming that Fannie's father, John Mansell, was also Cherokee by blood, in case it was not enough to claim that citizenship for herself. So the question is, who was Fannie's father? I may never know, unless I can someday determine it from DNA results.

4. Elizabeth married William W. Cotton on 26 August 1863. Her deposition states that he died in 1875. I have not found any document to verify this. Elizabeth's daughter used the maiden name Mancil when she married Stephen Albert Smith in 1868. The only name I knew for her until I found the deposition was Fannie Cotton.

5. While I have not been able to find verification that it was indeed Priscilla Soles who married Luke R. Simmons and was the mother of Elizabeth Simmons, my DNA matches with Soles descendants do seem to back it up. 

6. Elizabeth claimed to be half Cherokee, but given everything I have found out about her ancestry, that doesn't appear to be true. My Simmons cousin who has done so much research has yet to determine if our Simmons family was English or Swiss, but they certainly weren't Cherokee. It looks like Priscilla Soles descends from a Mayflower passenger. (See my post "DNA Circle: Timothy Soles.") The applications for Cherokee citizenship made by Fannie Smith, and later by Stephen Albert Smith on behalf of his children, were rejected as they could not make a connection to anyone on the Cherokee tribal roll. 

7. The Mansells who applied for Cherokee citizenship were also rejected.

8. Not true, as explained above. Fannie was not the daughter of John Mansell. There is an interesting tidbit in this statement though. Elizabeth refers to Fannie as Frances [Sclania?] I'm not sure I'm even reading the handwriting correctly, although that's what it looks like. On anything where Fannie used an initial for her middle name, it was "A." Again, if anybody knows, it would be Elizabeth. Maybe it's a misspelling of Selina, a popular name in those days, or maybe Elizabeth was trying to make up an Indian name. Who knows?

9. Sadly, I think this one is probably true. Elizabeth had 7 sons (more about them later). At least 4 of them died in the Civil War. One lived until 1876, and another until 1880. I can't find one of them after the census of 1860, so it's possible he died young or in the war.

10. Obviously, Elizabeth lived until at least 1894. In my great-grandfather's deposition attached to the application for Cherokee citizenship, dated 28 August, 1896, he stated that "my mother-in-law is now dead."

So those are the biographical details of Elizabeth's life--birth, marriage, death--in a document based on her own words. What else can we found out about her from census records?

1820 census -- Columbus County, NC. Three females under 10 are enumerated with head of household, Luke R. Simmons, two females 26-44, and one male under 10. Elizabeth is presumably one of the females under 10, along with her sisters, Jemima and Susannah. Some trees show Luke R. Simmons, Jr. as a son in this family, and he might be the male under 10 on this census; however, he is not listed in the Bible record. I don't know who the second female 26-44 is.

1830 census -- Elizabeth would have been enumerated with her husband, John Mansell. I cannot find him on the 1830 census.

1840 census -- Pike County, Alabama. John Mansel, head of household, is listed with family as follows: 1 male, 15-19; 2 males, 10-14; 1 male, 5-9; 2 males under 5; 1 female, 15-19; and 1 female under 5. With varying birth dates for Elizabeth's sons in other documents, these figures might fit with her known male children. However, Elizabeth should be listed as a female, 20-30. The female under age 5 must not have survived until adulthood.

1850 census -- Pike County, Alabama. Elizabeth "Mansfield," age 37, is listed as head of household (John Mansell having died in 1844) with sons William, age 25; Samuel, age 22; Daniel, age 18; Simeon, age 14; Benjamin F., age 10; John, age 9; Amos, age 6; and daughter Frances, age 1.

1860 census -- Pike County, Alabama. Elizabeth Mansill, age 47, is listed as head of household with sons Wm. A, age 34; Samuel J., age 27; Simeon C., age 15; daughter Francis, age 11; Pugh and Nancy J., age 7. As far as I know, no one has ever been able to verify the identity of twins, Pugh and Nancy. Were they Elizabeth's grandchildren, possibly children of William or Samuel who were living with her at the time? Were they Elizabeth's own children? In any case, they seem to disappear after this census.

1870 census -- Pike County, Alabama. William A. Mansell, age 44, is listed first at residence 110 along with William W. Cotton, age 57, and Elizabeth, age 58.

1880 census -- Lauderdale County, Alabama. Elizabeth "Lizzie" Cotton, age 69, is head of household. Her son William A. Mansell, age 55, is living with her.

We know that by the time Elizabeth made her deposition in 1894 she only had one child living, her daughter Frances/Fannie. What happened to her seven sons? Let's take them one by one.

William, the oldest, was born when Elizabeth was 14 years old, and he was still living with her in 1880 when he was 55 years old. A strong bond must have existed between mother and son. The William A. Mansell who enlisted in the 60th Alabama Regiment in 1864 in Montgomery, Alabama, may or may not be our William. (Brother Daniel also enlisted in the 60th Alabama.) A marriage license between a William A. Mansell and Elizabeth Hancock in Pike County, Alabama, is dated 25 March 1866. If this is our William, the marriage dissolved or Elizabeth died before the 1870 census when William is living with his mother and stepfather.

Samuel J. married Eliza Ann M. Tharp on 30 June 1854. He enlisted in the 15th Alabama Infantry in September of 1861 and died of disease in Richmond, Virginia, in November of 1862. In the document by which his mother claimed his final pay she stated that he left "neither child or children or father or wife." My cousins, who wrote a history of the Mansel family called "Pages from the Past," have a hypothesis about Samuel and his wife, involving the mystery twins, Pugh and Nancy, who appear on the 1860 census. They wonder if perhaps Eliza died giving birth to the twins. Samuel left them with his mother when he enlisted, and they subsequently died before Elizabeth made the statement that Samuel left "no child or children..."

Daniel Monrow/Monroe Mansell married Margaret Brooks on 21 December 1854. Daniel enlisted in the 60th Alabama Regiment, Company C, in 1863, and survived engagements at Chickamauga, Bean's Station, and Drewry's Bluff. He and his wife raised a large family, and he died in 1876 in Waterloo, Alabama.

Simeon C. is a little bit of a mystery. He appears on the 1850 at age 14 and the 1860 census at age 15, then he disappears. No records of Civil War service have been found for Simeon, but it's possible he died in the war or during that decade.

Benjamin Franklin Mansell enlisted in Company G, 1st Regiment, Alabama Infantry, and died as a prisoner of war at Camp Randle in Wisconsin on 14 May 1862. He is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Madison, Wisconsin.

John E. joined the 15th Alabama on 15 August 1861 at age 19 and died of measles on 6 December at Hay Market, Virginia, before he turned 20.

Amos P. enlisted in the 15th Alabama at age 18 on 15 August 1861. He was wounded at Cold Harbor, Virginia, in 1862 but rejoined the fighting and was killed by a minie ball through the head on 2 July 1863 at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Elizabeth died in 1896 with only one child still living, her youngest and only daughter, Frances "Fannie." Fannie died in 1905, leaving a 10-year-old, my grandfather, motherless. She is buried at Oakhill Cemetery in Oologah, Oklahoma, the only one of her family buried there.

So much loss. When I think of Elizabeth, it is with compassion at all she lost: two husbands and seven sons--four or maybe five, too young, in the violence and ruin of war.

There are two competing stories about Elizabeth's burial place. I had heard that she was buried in an unknown location in Oklahoma, until my cousins showed me the place where she is thought to be buried in Alabama. If she is in Alabama, she lies next to her eldest son, William, who was so close to her throughout his life. I hope that's where she is.

DNA Circle: Timothy Soles

One of my strongest memories of Pleasant Porter Elementary School is of sitting in the cafeteria in my construction paper Pilgrim collar and cuffs, getting ready to enjoy my Thanksgiving lunch. I grew up with annual retellings of the Thanksgiving story and all the Pilgrim names: Bradford, Brewster, Standish, and Alden. I remember when we read "The Courtship of Miles Standish" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I visited the recreated Plimoth Plantation in October of  2012; gazed at Plymouth Rock; walked on a reproduction of the Mayflower, amazed that such a small vessel carried 102 passengers across the Atlantic for 66 days. As recently as this November, I introduced 300 sixth graders to the Plimoth Plantation website.

Plimoth Plantation, from my trip to Massachusetts in October 2012

Reproduction of the Mayflower, October 2012

And for all that time I didn't know that my 9th great-grandfather, George Soule, was one of those 102 passengers that arrived in America on the Mayflower. 

All this time the data has been there--Mayflower descendants have been widely documented--but I guess I just never believed that my North Carolina Soles family had anything to do with George Soule and his descendants in Massachusetts.

I have my Simmons DNA cousins to thank. While researching the Simmons family, Sam Casey noticed that the Soles family often intermarried with the Simmons family. In doing research on his ancestor, Moses Simmons, he came across some interesting names. One day in early December I got this email from him:

"Alexander Standish was the son of Myles Standish, Capt of the Plymouth Colony. Alexander married Sarah Alden daughter of John & Priscilla Alden. Alexander Standish and Sarah Alden had a daughter named Sarah who married Benjamin Soule. Benjamin Soule was the son of John Soule and wife Rebecca Simmons. Rebecca was the daughter of Moses Simmons. So the Simmons and Soule lines were connected way back in the Plymouth Colony days."

I forwarded the email to my brother with this message: "Are you freakin' kidding me? Myles Standish and Priscilla Alden???"

So then I began doing some research myself to connect up our North Carolina Soles family with the descendants of George Soule in Massachusetts. It was easier than I thought it would be.

The Ancestors

George Soule came to Plymouth as an indentured servant to Edward Winslow. His origins have not been conclusively proven, but Mayflower researcher, Caleb Johnson, believes that he was the George Soule, son of William, who was baptized in Tingrith, Bedfordshire, in 1594/95. This date of birth would fit within the time frame established by historians for George's birth. They estimate that as a servant he was younger than 25--the age at which most indentures ended--but at least 21, in order to be allowed to sign the Mayflower Compact. Since so little is known about him, even his signature has been scrutinized for clues. Some think the way he spelled his own name indicates that he was not English but Dutch and joined the Pilgrims in Leiden, Holland.

Another clue to his age is his marriage to a woman named Mary, which happened before 1627. We know this because there was a distribution of cattle in 1627 to the original colonists and others that had come after them up until that time. George and his wife Mary are on the distribution list.

Not much is known about Mary either. We only know who she was because there was only one unmarried Mary living in Plymouth in the time period in which they would have wed. Her name was Mary Bucket, and she arrived in Plymouth in 1623 on the ship Anne. I wish more was known about her, because she was remarkable. She does not appear to have been attached to any family traveling on the Anne, and as a single woman, she received her own acre of land in 1623. It is estimated that she and George married about 1625, as they had a son Zachariah at the time of the cattle distribution. Her origins have been debated as well; was she from the English Becket family or from the French Huguenot Bucquets?

Much of what we know about George is because of the writings of William Bradford, as is, of course, much of what we know about Plymouth Colony itself. In later years Bradford wrote about the original colonists and their descendants. He wrote that the Winslow group included:

"Mr. Edward Winslow; Elizabeth, his wife; and 2 men servants, called Georg Sowle and Elias Story; also a little girle was put to him, called Ellen, sister of Richard More. Mr. Ed. Winslow his wife dyed the first winter; and he is maried with the widow of Mr. White, and hath 2 children living by her marigable besides sundry that are dead. One of his servants dyed, as also the little girle, soone after the ships arrival. But this man Georg Sowle, is still living and hath 8 children."

In fact, George and Mary had nine: Zachariah, John (who married Rebecca Simmons), Nathaniel (who was a bit of a mess, according to court records), George (my ancestor), Susanna, Mary, Elizabeth, Patience, and Benjamin.

George was mentioned in a few documents through the years: he was granted land in Duxbury and purchased land in Dartmouth, among other places; served on grand juries; was deputy of Duxbury for several years; was nominated to a committee, along with Miles Standish and John Alden, charged with assigning land in Duxbury; volunteered for the Pequot War; and was chosen for a committee to draw up regulations about the lawful smoking of tobacco.

George wrote his will on 11 August 1677, naming as heirs his sons John, Nathaniel, and George, and daughters Elizabeth, Patience, Susanna, and Mary. Zachariah and Benjamin, as well as his wife Mary, had pre-deceased him. John was the executor of the will and received the bulk of George's estate. The will reads "my eldest son John Soule and his family hath in my extreme old age and weakness been tender and careful of me and very helpful to me."

But it's the codicil that's really interesting. Apparently, there had been a tiff between John and sister Patience. Dated 20 September 1677, the codicil reads "...I the above named Gorge Soule Doe heerby further Declare that it is my will that if my son John Soule above named or his heires or Assignes or any of them shall att any time Disturbe my Daughter Patience or her heires or Assignes or any of them in peacable Posession or Injoyment of the lands I have Given her att Namassakett allies Middleberry and Recover the same from her or her heires or Assignes or any of them That then my Gift to my son John Soule shalbe voyd; and that then my will is my Daughter Patience shall have all my lands att Duxburrey And she shalbe my sole executrix of this my last Will and Testament and Enter into my housing lands and meddowes at Duxburrow..."

Apparently, John left Patience alone, as he inherited upon the death of George about 1679.

Although it is not known exactly where he is buried, the Soule Kindred (www.soulekindred.org) placed a stone in the Miles Standish Burying Ground in Duxbury. It reads:

Nearby Rests

GEORGE SOULE

Pilgrim

A signer of

The Mayflower Compact

on Nov. the 11th 1620

who died in

JANUARY 1679/80

[Erected by Soule Kindred 1931]

The first few generations of George Soule's descendants are well documented. The General Society of Mayflower Descendants publishes what are known as the Silver books, which show evidence for the first five generations of Mayflower descendants. George Soule's descendants through 5 generations are the subject of Volume 3 of the Silver books.

Following my line through the generations of Massachusetts descendants:

George, son of the original George, married Deborah, had eight children, and died in 1704 in Dartmouth. Apparently there is no proof of Deborah's maiden name. Some trees, however, give her name as Deborah Thomas. A Deborah Thomas was witness to the original George's will, so perhaps that is why she is thought to be his daughter-in-law.

William, son of George and Deborah, married Hannah (maiden name unknown), had 11 children, and died in April 1723 in Dartmouth.

Their son Benjamin, born 14 May 1698 in Dartmouth, married Mary Holway, and had at least 5 children (Sylvanus, Benjamin, Mary, Anne, and Joseph.) The Mayflower Descendants book says, "North Carolina land records show that Benjamin and his three sons migrated there with substantial land grants. Most of these grants date from 1735 with several thousand acres involved, centered southeast of Elizabethtown and east of Whiteville, North Carolina" (now Bladen and Columbus counties.) The Mayflower book suggests that Benjamin died before 1769 in North Carolina, as he does not appear on the 1769 tax list.

Joseph Soule, son of William, was living in North Carolina by 1732. The Mayflower book hypothesizes that the Joseph that continued in the area after 1800 was his son. However, it is just as probable that the Joseph Soles that appears on the 1790 census is Joseph, son of Benjamin. On the 1790 census of Brunswick County the following heads of households with the name Soles (the name change apparently came with the move to NC) appear: Silvanus, Timothy, Nathaniel, Joseph, Mackinne, and Benjamin. 

1790 heads of households, Brunswick Co. NC

It is at this point that the Mayflower book states only that the North Carolina branch spelled their name Sole or Soles and could produce no proof of ancestry except that "their lands had always been in their family." Most researchers, on Ancestry at least, appear to support the view that Timothy Soles was the son of the Joseph Soule born in 1731, and therefore the grandson of Benjamin Soule.

On the 1790 census Timothy's family consists of himself and 2 females. By 1800 the census shows 3 females under 10. Here is where a lack of records also hampers me, because I cannot prove that my Priscilla is the daughter of Timothy. One of these could be my Priscilla who was born in 1792; however, only the names of Timothy's younger children are known from court records after his death in early 1820. His wife Milly (Amelia Edwards) appeared before the court asking for a year's provision for herself and her family, permission "to value and divide the real and personal estate of Timothy Sowls," and appointment of guardians for her minor children: Joseph, William, Nathaniel, Lemuel, and Helen. Luke R. Simmons was one of the appointed guardians. Many trees on Ancestry, however, show at least 3 older children of Timothy and Amelia: Priscilla, Elizabeth, and Timothy.

The Descendants in the Timothy Soles DNA Circle

There are 12 members of the Timothy Soles DNA Circle, including me, and I have matching segments with 3 other members.

Match #1 and I share 11.7 cM's across 1 segment. She is a descendant of Timothy Soles, son of Timothy and Amelia. To make things even more complicated, this match also has Beasley and Faulk ancestors. The Beasleys, who also came from North Carolina, are my ancestors on the Ming (maternal) side of my family. I am almost positive that I have some Faulk ancestors because of the large number of matches I have that come from a particular branch of the Faulk family. It's just that I can't figure out exactly where the Faulks come in. Could the unknown father of my great-grandmother Fannie be a Faulk? Or do they fit in somewhere else among my ancestors in the group of related families that moved from Columbus Co. NC to Pike Co. AL?

Match #2 and I share 23.5 cM's across 1 segment. I already knew her name from the Luke R. Simmons DNA Circle. Her tree shows Timothy and Amelia as her 3rd great-grandparents, claiming her 2nd great-grandparents as Luke R. and Priscilla (Soles) Simmons, and their son and her great-grandfather as John R. Simmons. As we saw in my last post, John R. was not a child of Luke R. and Priscilla (Soles) Simmons. Hopefully, communication among the Simmons cousins will help to clear this up.

Match #3 and I share 16.3 cM's across 1 segment. His ancestor is Elizabeth Souls, shown to be a daughter of Timothy and Amelia who was born in 1795 in Columbus Co. NC and who died in 1856 in Pike Co. AL. Elizabeth was married into the same branch of the Faulk family with whom I share so many matches.

I have four matches on Family Tree DNA that have Soule ancestors. My brother has seven, five of which are different from my matches. Five of the seven matches show descent from George Soule or one of his children. I have about a dozen Ancestry DNA matches that show the surname Soles in their family trees.

Lack of evidence and complicated family trees mean that I cannot conclusively prove that my Priscilla is the daughter of Timothy and Amelia Soles. For many years, however, I have seen Priscilla listed as a child of Timothy Soles in Ancestry family trees, genealogy websites, and message boards. Perhaps there is some paper evidence somewhere that I have not seen. If Priscilla doesn't belong to Timothy, she has to belong to another of the Columbus Co./Pike Co. Soles, hence she is a descendant of George Soule of the Mayflower. I just hope that someday a document or further DNA evidence will settle the question. In the meantime I'm confident in claiming George Soule as my 9th great-grandfather. 

DNA Circles: Luke Russell Simmons and Priscilla Soles

I've been trying to write this post for weeks. First, I had second thoughts that I could find paper evidence of my connection to Luke Russell Simmons and Priscilla Soles. Then I met some other Simmons descendants and together we were drawn deeper and deeper into Simmons and Soles research. I'm glad I waited, because this week the research has led to a discovery that I hardly expected.

It's been years now since I found my paternal great-grandmother Fannie Smith's application to the Dawes Commission for Cherokee citizenship. Although denied, the application was full of genealogical gems. Among these was a statement from Fannie's mother, Elizabeth Simmons Mansell Cotton, in which she named her mother as Priscilla Soules. If she had just named her father as well, she could have saved me a lot of frustration. To my mind I just never could find sufficient evidence to prove that Elizabeth's mother Priscilla was the wife of Luke Russell Simmons.

Elizabeth Cotton's Dawes Commission affidavit

In any case, it appears that Ancestry DNA believes that Luke Russell Simmons and Priscilla Soles are my ancestors, so I am trying to prove them right, even though Ancestry has recently removed the mother of Luke Russell Simmons, Leodosia Gore, from my DNA Circles. I think it may be because one of our Simmons researchers removed her from his tree due to new evidence he uncovered, causing me to have fewer than the required number of DNA matches to belong to the circle. However, she is an important part of the story, so I'll start with what I know about her and her husband, John (not Isaac!!) Simmons.

The Ancestors

In June of 1832 Congress passed a provision giving pensions to soldiers who had served in the Revolution. In November 1832 John Simmons appeared before the County Clerk of Columbus County, NC and made the statement that he was then 69 years old and had served as a Private in the Revolutionary War, beginning in the year 1780. John Simmons was awarded $87.50 per annum, which he apparently received until his death in 1844. Widows or children of the former soldiers were also due any monies accrued from the time of the previous payment until the death of the recipient, so after his death his wife Leodosia applied for the remainder due on his pension. She named five surviving children: John A. Simmons, Luke R. Simmons, Priscilla Powell, Susannah Johnson, and Dorcas Neeley.

Part of Revolutionary War widow's pension application,
listing names of 5 surviving Simmons children

(By the way, a great number of trees on Ancestry show this Revolutionary War veteran as John Isaac Simmons. I don't know why. I have yet to see a document in which he is named as such. John Simmons was a common name in North Carolina in that era; so was Isaac Simmons. It makes me wonder if someone just combined a John and an Isaac on Ancestry, and everyone else copied the name without questioning it. As a matter of fact, an Isaac Simmons, age 76, appeared before the county court at the time of Leodosia's application and testified that he was present at the wedding of John and Leodosia in September 1789. He could have been a brother or cousin of John's. Thank you to my Simmons cousin, Sam Casey, who has spent many hours trying to disentangle the Johns and the Isaacs. (See his very helpful website at www.sjcjr.com.)

John A., Priscilla, Susannah, and Dorcas have been hard for me to trace and identify, even though I have the names of the girls' spouses from documents generated after the death of Leodosia. Luke, their brother, is another story.

According to a transcription of the births recorded in the Bible of Luke R. Simmons, found in the Simmons folder at the Troy AL Public Library, he was born 20 May 1791. And here, for the first time in a written document is the name of Luke's wife--Priscilla--born 5 April 1792. (Thanks again, Sam!) Their marriage date is given as 24 January 1811. The transcription goes on to list the names and birth dates of Luke's children: Elizabeth, born 10 December 1812 (although the date my Elizabeth gives for her own birth is 11 November 1812); Jemima, born 13 October 1815; Susannah, born 14 August 1817; Patience and Nancy, born 2 January 1821; Leonard M., born 20 February 1823; Rebekah, born 8 June 1825; Elizur (Eliza), born 7 August 1827. The Bible was published in 1827, so most of the names and dates were recorded many years after the fact and may be in error. The youngest two children, Daniel Monroe and Dorcas, were not listed, which is understandable if the owner of the Bible failed to keep up with the new births. (There is evidence in Luke's estate file that Daniel and Dorcas were his children.) More surprising is the fact that his eldest children, according to most descendants' trees, are John R. (born 1806) and Luke Jr. (born 1809), who are not listed as children of Luke in the Bible and couldn't be according to his listed birth date or date of marriage.

Luke R. Simmons is listed as head of household on the 1820 census of Columbus Co. NC, with 1 male, age 26 to 44; 2 females 26-44; 1 male under 10; and 3 females under 10. Luke is obviously the adult male; Priscilla would be one of the adult females, but who is the other? Elizabeth, Jemima, and Susannah would be the 3 females under 10, and the 1 male under 10 could be John R. or Luke Jr., although they should both be over 10.

On the 1830 census of Columbus Co. there is 1 male 30-39 (Luke); 1 female 30-39 (Priscilla); and 1 female 50-59 (same female from 1820 census?) In addition, there was 1 female 10-14 (probably Susannah, just going by birthdate); 3 females 5-9 (Patience, Nancy, and who was the 3rd?); 2 females under 5 (Rebekah and Eliza); and 1 male 5-9 (Leonard.)

In 1837 Luke R. Simmons bought land in Pike Co. AL, and by 1840 he appears on the census there. Boy, this one is really confusing. There is 1 male 40-49, which would be Luke, but there is no corresponding female (Priscilla) in that age range. Instead, the oldest female is 30-39. There is 1 male 30-39 (which could be John R. or Luke Jr.) and 2 males 20-29 (don't have a clue.) There is 1 male 15-19 (Leonard) and one that is 5-9 (Daniel.) The 2 females 15-19 could be Patience and Nancy; the 1 female 10-14 would be Eliza; and one of the 2 females 5-9 would be Dorcas, but I don't know who the other one is.

Luke's political career began in Columbus Co. NC, where by 1832 he was the magistrate that attested to witness statements in the application of his father for Revolutionary War pension benefits. In 1872 William Garrett, former Alabama Secretary of State, wrote a book called Reminiscences of Public Men in Alabama. He wrote that the Hon. Luke R. Simmons had been a state legislator in North Carolina from 1821-1833; then, after he moved to Alabama, he was elected to the state legislature from Pike Co. and served from 1837-1841. Garrett remarked that Simmons "...was always a Whig in politics." Simmons is also credited with suggesting the name for Troy, the county seat of Pike Co., named not for the legendary city but for one of his political opponents, Alexander Troy.

An oft-quoted short bio of Luke R. Simmons also floats around Ancestry; I don't know its origin. It claims that he was married to Priscilla Hargette, and that he and his wife were charter members of the Beulah Primitive Baptist Church in Troy and are probably buried there. I have found no evidence of the name Hargette for Priscilla, but neither have I found proof that she was Priscilla Soles, except for the statement her daughter Elizabeth made in the Dawes Commission application previously mentioned. It seems unlikely that Priscilla had married before she married Luke R. Simmons, although I guess it's possible.

Luke died in late 1844. His 99-page estate file is available for viewing in the Alabama Estate Files, 1830-1976 on www.familysearch.org, the LDS site. In addition to providing a glimpse into the debts and possessions of a Southern man of the mid-19th century, I hope it also provides some clues about family relationships. One of the attached documents, dated 11 December 1844, shows a debt from Luke R. Simmons to Peter J. Coleman for "1 coffin for his wife." While not perfectly clear, the dates on this and other documents lead me to believe Luke and Priscilla died within days of each other.

Debt to Peter J. Coleman for "1 coffin for his wife," dated 11 Dec. 1844 

Elizabeth Simmons was born 11 November 1812, according to her own statement, or 10 December 1812, according to her father's Bible. She married John Mansell (Mansel, Mancil, Mancill, sometimes even Mansfield) in 1826 when she was 14 years old. She had seven sons and one daughter. William A., born about 1826 in NC, survived his enlistment in the Confederate Army, lived close to his mother for most of his life, and died after 1880 in Waterloo, Lauderdale Co., AL. Samuel, whose birthdates vary from 1828 to 1833, was born in NC, joined Company C, 15th Alabama Infantry, in 1861 and died in 1862 in Richmond, VA. Daniel Monroe Mansell was born about 1832/33 in NC, married Margaret Brooks in 1854, fought for the Confederacy, had a large family and died in Waterloo in 1876 at age 43. Benjamin Franklin Mansell was born in the late 1830's in Pike Co. AL and died a prisoner of war at Camp Randall, Madison, Wisconsin, in 1862. John E. was born about 1841/42 in Alabama, joined Company C, 15th Alabama Infantry, in July 1861 and was dead in Virginia by December of the same year. Amos P., born in 1843 in AL, enlisted in Company C., 15th Alabama Infantry, and died at Gettysburg in 1863. Elizabeth's husband, John Mansell, died in 1844. Simeon C. is transcribed as 14 on the 1850 census, but the age is smudged and hard to read. It could be 14 or 16 or even 4, as Simeon appears again on the 1860 census as a very clear age 15. I have not been able to find him in any other records.

Daughter Francis, my great-grandmother, was born in 1849, five years after the death of John Mansell. Her father is unknown. When she married my great-grandfather, Stephen A. Smith, in 1868, she used the maiden name Mancil. Elizabeth remarried to William W. Cotton in 1863. William appears to have died sometime between the 1870 and 1880 censuses. Elizabeth was apparently alive in Cleveland Co., Oklahoma Territory, when she appeared before a notary public to give the statement attached to her daughter's Dawes application. Family in Alabama believe her grave to be in the Mount Olive Cemetery, Waterloo, AL. It is thought she may have traveled with her daughter's family to Oklahoma and then returned to Alabama with other family members.

Marriage license of Stephen A. Smith and Francis Mancil

So are Luke and Priscilla my 3rd great-grandparents, and is Elizabeth Simmons Mansell Cotton their daughter? I can finally say that I think so, due to a fair amount of circumstantial evidence.

1. Luke R. Simmons had a wife named Priscilla and a daughter named Elizabeth who lived in Columbus Co. NC and Pike Co. AL. My Elizabeth Simmons had a mother named Priscilla and written sources show that she lived in both North Carolina and Pike Co., Alabama. The birth date for daughter Elizabeth given in Luke's Bible is within a month of the date of birth Elizabeth gave for herself. The dates written in the bible were years in the past and could be in error, or Elizabeth could have been in error about her own birth date.
2. My 2nd great-grandmother named herself as Elizabeth Simmons Mansell Cotton in an affidavit attached to the Dawes Commission application of her daughter Francis. She gave her mother's maiden name as Priscilla Soules.
3. Elizabeth Mansell purchased items at the estate sale of Luke R. Simmons, along with Luke's daughter Eliza Simmons, his son Leonard M., and Sarah Simmons, the wife of Luke Jr. Elizabeth bought a loom, Eliza and Sarah both bought beds, and Leonard bought a Bible, possibly the one in which were written the birth dates of the Luke R. Simmons family.
4. When Timothy Soles passed away in 1820, Amelia "Milley" Soles named Luke R. Simmons (her son-in-law?) as guardian of her minor children: Joseph, William, Nathaniel, Lemuel, and Helen.
5. DNA evidence places me in Ancestry's DNA Circles for both Luke R. Simmons and Priscilla Soles.

Purchases at estate sale

Descendants of Luke R. Simmons and Priscilla Soles in DNA Circles

There are 12 members of the Luke R. Simmons DNA Circle. There are three individuals and a family group of three individuals (so a total of 6) Ancestry members in the circle with whom I share DNA. The three members of the family group are descended from Nancy Simmons, one of the twins born in 1821. At least Ancestry now has some additional information you can derive from your matches. The three family group members and I share single segments of 5.6, 5.9, and 7.4 cM's. One of them also has a shared match with my 2nd cousin Charles, a proven descendant of Elizabeth Simmons.

The largest match I have with an individual in the circle is one of 23.5 cM's across 1 segment. This member is a descendant of John R. Simmons, according to the accompanying tree, and also shares a match with my cousin Charles. Another individual member of the circle shares 23.2 cM's with me across 3 segments. This individual is a descendant of Dorcas Simmons, the youngest daughter of Luke and Priscilla. The 6th member of the circle with whom I share DNA is also a descendant of Dorcas; we share 11.3 cM's across 1 segment.

In addition to myself there are only 2 other members of the Priscilla Soles DNA Circle. One of them is the same individual with whom I share 23.2 cM's in the Luke R. Simmons circle. The other shares 5.6 cM's with me in the Priscilla Soles DNA Circle, although he shows her in his tree as Pricilla Hargette. Don't know how Ancestry figured that one out.

Discoveries and Conclusions

I think I might have finally convinced myself that Luke R. Simmons and Priscilla Soles are my ancestors. I have met several new Simmons cousins, none of whom join me in the Luke or Priscilla DNA Circles, because our connection is further back. We are still gathering information; trying to disentangle the Johns, Isaacs, fathers, sons, nephews, and cousins; looking for our most recent common ancestor; and veering off to study collateral families, like the Soule/Souls/Soles families of Massachusetts and North Carolina. Believe me, that little extra research into the Soles family was one gratifying job! More on that in the next post.