DNA Link to Samana, Dominican Republic?

Yes, I know it has been a full year since I've posted a blog. I started this blog with the intentions of sharing my genealogical journey but things fell by the wayside really quickly. Nevertheless, I am back!


Earlier this year, I discovered a AncestryDNA match of my mother's whose parents are from Samana, Dominican Republic. The confidence of the match was considered to be "good" so I decided to proceed with sending him a message. I basically told him where I was from and my interest in figuring out our connection. He messaged me back saying that he believed our connection could be through freed African Americans who migrated to Samana, Dominican Republic in 1824. I found that to be interesting and something that I'd never heard before so I immediately took to Google to research. What I found was a wealth of information that many aren't aware exists. After a little more messages between the two of us, I encouraged him to upload his DNA data to gedmatch.com. It turns out that he is at 4.5 generations with both me and my mom and shares 26.2 cM's on chromosome 4. There is also a 6cM segment of DNA on chromosome 15 but I'm not sure if that is noise or not.

Haitian President Jean-Pierre Boyer sent an emissary to the United States to invite freed African Americans to settle in Hispaniola. While President Jean-Pierre spearheaded the idea, figures like AME Church founder Bishop Richard Allen arranged for the formerly enslaved to make the move to Samana. The former slaves were primarily from Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. The proposal of work, land, homes and the thought of being free from an oppressive system lured hundreds to Samana. This makes me wonder, had one or more of my ancestors been apart of the voyage from America to Dominican Republic?

As I looked through the surprisingly extensive family tree of the DNA match, one surname caught my eye. Dishmey! I'd seen this surname amongst the list of surnames that were originally from the US. According to the information in the family tree of said DNA match, Rebeca "Mama Bequi" Dishmey was born about 1851 in Samana and she died in 1945. While it doesnt give a place of birth I see that her surname is American. But where in America? It also doesnt list her parents which could possibly provide more information. Searching for the surname Dishmey has come up with minimal results. Honestly, it's a very uncommon name. What I have mostly found are many people with the surname that have moved from Dominican Republic to America in the last 50 years. There aren't many records available from Samana and the marriage, death and birth records on Ancestry.com don't have many listed with that surname. The US census search for the surname came up empty as well. How did this name come into existence? Was it a name that the Freedmen made up? 

To be continued...






Learn more about the Freed Slaves who Immigrated to Samana, Dominican Republic:


http://libguides.ccny.cuny.edu/ld.php?content_id=14167855

New DNA Discovery: Babb and Duffey Descendants of Henry County, Georgia

I've been making lots of progress in the last few months with Genetic Genealogy. My mother has a predicted 3rd cousin on AncestryDNA. This particular match shares 80 centimorgans across 7 DNA segments with my mom. Today, this DNA cousin responded to an inbox that I sent her last month. Of course, I'd given her as much info as I could to see if any surnames or locations were familiar to her. The only info that she shared with me was that her grandmother may have been from Clayton County, Georgia. Ah, I thought! Clayton County is where my mom spent most of her childhood and currently lives 5 minutes away. I then asked the DNA cousin for the name of her grandmother. Today, December 27, 2015, she responded with more than her grandmother's name but also with the name of her great-grandmother. Her grandmother was Annie Babb(born c. 1922) and Annie's mother was Nancy Craine(born c. 1900)!

I recognize both surnames. Babb is the surname of my mother's father, Napoleon Babb and Craine is a family that I knew some relatives married into. Since I didnt know who Annie Babb's father was I immediately searched for her mother, Nancy Craine. I found Nancy living in the 1910 U.S. Census with her father and step-mother. *An interesting tid-bid is that Nancy's step-mother Arvella Curtis Crane is my maternal grandmother's aunt. Arvella and her husband John had children but they died as babies. Nancy is the child of John and his first wife NOT Arvella.*

I decided to search marriage records to see who Nancy married. I found the marriage record for Nancy Craine and Samuel Babb who married in 1914 in Clayton County, Georgia. I found Samuel and Nancy living in Clayton Georgia in the 1920 Census. By this time, Samuel was listed as Robert. Was Robert the first name or middle name? Hmm... By 1930 they were living in Cleveland, Ohio with their children: James, Robert, Annie(the grandmother of DNA cousin) and Ralph. I felt right away that our connection was through the Samuel/Robert Babb but who were his parents? Since Samuel/Robert was born around 1895, I started with the 1900 U.S. Census to see what I could find. Low and behold, I find Samuel/Robert with his parents Henry Babb (born c. 1868) and Josephine Babb née Duffey (born c. 1871) who are my mother's great-grandparents! I'd actually had Samuel Babb in the family tree all along but hadn't gotten around to finding out more about him.

Shared DNA Matches

The 3rd cousin mentioned above who I will call Dee, also shares DNA with another confirmed 3rd cousin named Wanda. Wanda and I confirmed our relationship a couple of months ago but I had not written about it until now. Wanda is related to my mom through Gilbert (born c. 1841) and Arena Duffey (born c. 1846) of Henry County, Georgia. They are the parents of the Josephine Duffey Babb listed above who is the wife of Henry Babb. So, this new found information is confirmation of how Dee, Wanda and my mom are related.

:)

Family Surnames and Locations

All the known surnames in my family tree. If any names and/or family locations look familiar to you, please let me know.

:Maternal Line: 


- Babb (Henry County, GA)
- Brown (Fayette County, GA)
- Carmichael (Butts County, GA)
- Clemons (Henry County, GA)
- Cleveland (Henry County, GA)  
- Curtis (Pike County, GA)
- Dorsey (Fayette County, GA)
- Duffey/Duffy (Henry County, GA)
- Hardy (Henry County, GA)
- McDaniel (Butts County, GA)


:Other Connections:

- Askew (Fayette County, GA)
- Crawford (Henry County, GA)

-------------------------

:Paternal:

- Barrett (Moore County, NC)
- Clegg (Moore County, NC)
- Copeland/Copland (Franklin County, VA)
- Garrison (Stafford, and Tazewell County, VA)
- Gilbert (Moore County, NC)
- Higginbotham (Amherst, Washington and Tazewell Counties, VA)
- McGhee (Franklin County, VA)
- McVay (Fairfield County, SC, Mecklenburg County, NC)
- McVea (after 1850 Gonzales County, TX)
- Peery (Tazewell County, VA)
- Pritchard/Pritchett (Orange County, NC)
- Roseboro/Rosebrough (NC)
- Salley (Orangeburg County, SC) 
- Stroud (Chatham County, NC)
- Waid/Wade (Franklin County, VA)
- Walker (Mecklenburg County, NC)
- Woods (Tazewell County, VA / Bluefield, WVA)
- Woody (Franklin County, VA)


:Other Connections:

- Bell (Tazewell County, VA)
- Brice (Fairfield County, SC)
- Bowen (Tazewell County, VA)
- Cannaday (Franklin County, VA)
- Cavil (Tazewell County, VA; Des Moines, Iowa)
- Chaney (Des Moines, Iowa)
- Crockett (Tazewell County, VA)
- Hedrick (Tazewell County, VA; Des Moines, Iowa)
- Matney (Tazewell County, VA)
- Shannon (Tazewell County, VA)

Welcome to my new blog!

Yes, I finally bit the bullet and started this blog after saying that I would start blogging my experience as a budding family historian years ago! Well, today is the day that I embark on this journey as a blogger. I invite you all to share in this experience with me.

About Me

Human. Black. Geek. Introvert :)

How did I become interested in genealogy? 

I have been interested in family history since I was a small child. I remember sitting at the feet of older relatives and listening to stories and family folklore. I began my journey into the world of genealogical research in February of 2006 after watching Henry Louis "Skip" Gates' PBS documentary series, African American Lives. I have been obsessed with genealogy ever since! Now, I want to go further into the unknown. It is my hope that DNA will help me fill in the gaps that the paper trail has not filled. I am also interested in connecting with relatives from all around the world!


DNA companies that I have tested with and tools used to analyze DNA

- 23andMe
- AncestryDNA
- Gedmatch
   My Kit # A941135
   My mom's Kit # A632530



Thanks for stopping by!

Terry