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Black - Cleveland/Rutherford/Old Tryon

The graphic (updated Sept 2022)is courtesy of research scientist Rob Spencer PhD, MIT alum, a volunteer project co-administrator with FTDNA, and developer of the Tracking Back - Scaled Innovation website. Per the website tools, my Y-DNA haplogroup of R-BY3103 was limited to the Black surname which was more or less confined to Scotland, the north of Ireland, and the north of England. The graphic depicts the historical prevalence of the surname Black by county in the British Isles and projects the likely origins of haplogroup R-BY3103 to probably lie in southwestern Scotland. Circle size indicates prevalence of Black surname in a county; error rate on SNP origin point is less than 160 km. Results are not “genealogical fact” but serve as a science-based probability/indicator. http://scaledinnovation.com/gg/biMapper.html

Overview

The Black surname has been present in the piedmont and foothills of North Carolina as well as in the upstate of South Carolina since the days of Colonial America. My own direct ancestors appear to have migrated from the British Isles (probably from southwestern Scotland) to the American colonies prior to 1730, initially arriving in the southeastern Pennsylvania region. They appear to have secured property in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in 1738, then migrated again in the 1740s down the "Great Wagon Road" (alternately known as the "Great Valley Road") filtering through the Shenandoah Valley, and settling in the Harrisonburg, Virginia (old Augusta County) area by about 1750. Uprooting once more, they resettled in the Carolinas in the emerging Charlotte, North Carolina region by 1765, a full decade prior to the Declaration of Independence.

As early as the mid-1760s, settlers named Black lived on homesteads in what is modern day eastern Rutherford County and upper Cleveland County, North Carolina, as well as in modern day York County in the upstate region of South Carolina. The land originally was considered part of Anson County 1750-1762, Mecklenburg County 1762-1769, and Tryon County 1769-1779. Mecklenburg and Tryon encompassed segments of both North Carolina and South Carolina prior to the settlement of a state border dispute.

In 1764, when the region was still part of Mecklenburg County, a Mecklenburg schoolmaster, Peter Duncan, was granted some 640 acres of land on both sides of First Broad River at the mouth of Duncans Creek, north of Polkville in present-day Cleveland County NC.

According to "Rutherford County 1979: A People's Bicentennial History" (Library Press Inc., Rutherfordton NC, 1980), Duncan sold his property in two tracts in 1765. The northern portion was sold to Richard Ward (Wards Creek). The southern portion of the land on Duncans Creek was sold to Thomas Black, a Mecklenburg farmer, who had the land re-surveyed and officially defined as a 563-acre tract which included the site where Wards Creek and Duncans Creek empty into the First Broad River.

Also by 1765, as noted in J. Houston Harrison's "Settlers by the Long Grey Trail," Robert Black and his wife Majey Cravens had left Harrisonburg, Virginia, selling a 230-acre tract along Blacks Run of Cooks Creek to Martin Archenbright. Robert and Majey headed southward and purchased a 200 acre tract of land via a Mecklenburg County, North Carolina deed entered in 1765. The land was on Clarks Fork of Bullocks Creek. Following the resolution of a state boundary dispute in 1772, the acreage subsequently was deemed part of the “New Acquisition” from North Carolina which was incorporated into the old Camden District of South Carolina. From that, present-day York County, South Carolina, was officially created in 1785. This tract of land originally purchased through Mecklenburg County by Robert and Majey was supposedly situated at what is today the South Carolina state park commemorating the 1780 Battle of Kings Mountain. The monument for the actual battle site is in the adjacent Kings Mountain National Military Park. The monument and battle site is located about two miles westward of the Clarks Fork acreage originally settled by the Blacks and other families with surnames such as Patterson, Harrison, Cravens, McElwee, Ponder, Love, and Wilson.

Similar Mecklenburg land deeds for property along Clarks Fork of Bullocks Creek were entered in 1765 for Mathew Black, 1766 for Joseph Black, and 1767 for Gowin Black. (These three men appear to be brothers of Robert Black. Two of Majey's brothers, Robert Cravens Jr. and William Cravens also purchased land in that same area in 1767 though William sold his property and returned to Harrisonburg by 1773.)

Other early settlers in the area with the Black surname included a John Black, who purchased land in 1765 on the west bank of the Catawba River adjoining some property owned by Frederick Hambright. Yet another was George Black who married Rachel Withrow in Rowan County and then purchased land in 1767 on Cane Creek in present-day Rutherford County. George would become a justice of the peace and an appointed member of the court of pleas and quarter sessions (an early form of a combined county commission and district court system in North Carolina) in old Tryon County. In 1775, this same George Black was a signer of the Tryon Resolves, citing American colonial citizens' grievances with the British crown.

With the 1779 creation of Rutherford and Lincoln counties (carved out of old Tryon County) families with the Black surname were residing in the Morgan District-Golden Valley-Moriah area near the First Broad River at its intersection with the present-day Rutherford-Cleveland county boundary in North Carolina. This area was considered to be in eastern Rutherford County until 1841 when Cleveland County was formed out of old Rutherford and old Lincoln counties. At that point, the Moriah community became part of Cleveland County's Township 11.

Lineage

Here is a brief listing of one line of the Blacks who have inhabited the western piedmont and foothills of the Carolinas since the colonial days of America:

1. - Amos Thomas Black - b. April 29, 1921, Shelby, N.C.; d. May 19, 1984, Gastonia, N.C. Married Libby Brooks (1926-2015) on Dec. 23, 1950 in York, S.C. Amos was a WWII Army private who served as a motorcycle messenger with HQ Company, 12th Armored Division ("Hellcats"), in Europe. He grew up in the Swainsville-Sandy Run area of Cleveland County, but lived as an adult in Gaston County where he was a textile worker. Libby was a "Rosie the Riveter" type in WWII at the Hercules Motor Corp. in Canton, Ohio where they produced engines for jeeps, landing craft, etc. Libby was a descendant of the Calhoun and Brooks families of the western Carolinas and a first cousin 5x removed of Southern politico John C. Calhoun.

2. - Columbus Marion Black - b. April 8, 1888, "Head of the Rivers" (Somey Creek at First Broad River) in Golden Valley, Rutherford County, N.C.; d. March 24, 1955, following a three-month illness, at the Gardner-Webb Clinic in Boiling Springs, N.C. "Lum," as he was called by his friends, was a farmer. He married Bertha Irene Ledford (1893-1990) on Sept. 28, 1913. Both are buried at Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church, in Swainsville (west of Shelby NC). Children: Doras Columbus, Clingman Roosevelt, Alfie Eugenia, and Amos Thomas. (In addition to Amos' serving in Europe, eldest son, "Dee," served in the Pacific Theatre during WWII with the U.S. Army; middle son, Sgt. Clingman Roosevelt Black, U.S. Army 27th Infantry Division, was killed in the 1944 battle for Saipan in the Mariana Islands.)

3. - Thomas Marion Black - b. Oct. 15, 1859, Moriah Community of Upper Cleveland; d. Oct. 5, 1934. Married Rebecca (Beckie) Waters (1861-1937) of the Moriah community abt. 1882. Tom's obituary was a front-page item in The Cleveland Star newspaper. The article stated, "Mr. Black was born and reared in Upper Cleveland County but had lived in Shelby for 34 years where he had a host of friends." At the time of his death he lived on Hamrick Street in Shelby and was a member of Missionary Methodist Church. He and Beckie were buried at Mt. Moriah Methodist near Casar NC. Children: John Hambright, Addis Alector, Columbus Marion, Joseph Thomas, Jamie Georganna, Katie, Bassie (possibly a nickname for "Bascom"), and Vernie Estelle. Regarding Beckie, her great grandmother was Sarah Black who married fellow Pennsylvanian Aron Deviney and then relocated to Rutherford County NC. Deviney was a Patriot lieutenant and was eventually captured by Col. Patrick Ferguson. Sarah reportedly appeared before Ferguson successfully pleading for Aron's life in return for a promise that Aron would no longer take up arms against the crown.

4. - James Black - b. Nov. 18, 1812 in old Rutherford County NC; d. July 2, 1897 in Cleveland County NC. He, too, is buried at Mt. Moriah Methodist along with his wife, Jemima Ledford (1818-1901). They were married about 1840 and apparently farmed and lived in the Moriah area for much of their lives (though they were listed in the adjacent Knob Creek Township of Cleveland County NC for a time as well). Children: John F. (CSA veteran, Company I, 48th N.C. Infantry; wounded at Fredericksburg and on parole list at Appomattox), Solomon Hambright, Rebecca Melvina, Eliza J., Rachel A., Elizabeth Dulcina, William Chauncy, Samuel, Thomas Marion, and Martha Henrietta. In the 1880 Census, James indicated his parents were born in North Carolina whereas Jemima indicated her father, Thomas Ledford, was born in NC but her mother, Rebecca Crowder, was born in VA. Kyzer's 1886 map of Cleveland County property owners places "J. Black" at upper First Broad River in the Moriah Community on the Cleveland-Rutherford county line.

5. - Moses Black - b. abt. 1777 in old Tryon County NC; d. abt. 1850 in Rutherford County NC. Oral tradition and secondary sources identify James Black's father as Moses Black of Rutherford County NC. Those sources indicate the name of Moses' wife was Patience Condrey (1785-1836) whose family was from the Chesterfield VA area. After the death of Patience, Moses remarried to Nancy Grigg, widow of Joseph Willis, in 1838, purchasing land on Mountain Creek just north of James and Rachel Black; however, Moses and Nancy had no children of their own. After the death of Moses, and prior to the Civil War, Nancy moved to Bond County, Illinois, to be with family. She died there in 1867.

Moses and his first wife, Patience, seem to have lived in the Duncans Creek area of old Rutherford County a short distance away from the First Broad River. The children of Moses and Patience included: James (m. Jemima Ledford), Rachel Jane (m. Joseph Parker), Rhoda Elizabeth (m. John Randall Willis), Mary Polly (m. John Henry London), and possibly, though not proven, John C Black (m. Eliza Wallace). According to the Census data, there were two other daughters, both of whom were born between 1816-1820. Their identities remain unconfirmed.

The exact date and place of death/burial as well as date of marriage for Moses and Patience are unknown though I personally suspect both Moses and Patience lie in unmarked graves at Mt. Harmony Methodist. Moses died sometime between 1848 and 1851, most probably in 1850. Moses is listed as a witness for the creation of a will on September 4, 1848 for Daniel Sisk, who had been a neighbor to both Moses and James Black. In an accompanying note to the will for Rutherford probate court during the spring of 1851 it was reported that "Moses Black is dead." (Source: Rutherford County NC Will Abstracts, 1779-1910; Grace Turner and Miles Philbeck, 1982. G929.375TUR)

Moses is listed as head of household in the Rutherford County census for 1810, 1820, and 1830. (An analysis of the age categories for the three census reports suggest Moses was born no earlier than 1775 and no later than 1780.) He is also listed under the command of Capt. Abraham Irvine in a Rutherford militia unit for the War of 1812. While Moses remained in North Carolina, it appears that all his siblings moved to the Arkansas territory by the early 1800s.

6.- James Black - b. 1755, Harrisonburg, VA; d. Sept. 27, 1827, Moriah Community, old Rutherford County NC (present-day Cleveland County, NC). James is buried, along with his wife Rachel Booth (1758-1844), at Mt. Harmony Methodist Church off Hwy 226 just north of present-day Polkville NC, and very near Duncans Creek. A historical marker for the church is posted on Hwy 226 at the turn onto a winding gravel road leading up to the church and graveyard.

James Black, while living near Kings Mountain in 1775, signed an oath of neutrality indicating he would do nothing to oppose the Patriot efforts. Seven years later, in 1782, James appears on a tax list in Captain Whitesides Company in the Morgan District of Rutherford County. In 1791, Thomas and Prudence Stockton conveyed the land specifically for creation of a Methodist Episcopal church (Mt. Harmony) to a group of men including James Black. The 1800, 1810, and 1820 Census reports James Black as living in the Morgan district along First Broad River with the 1820 report indicating sons William and Moses living close by. Dates for Rachel do not appear on the badly deteriorated tombstone at Mt. Harmony but it does indicate she lived 86 years. I personally recorded the tombstone information for James and Rachel during one my early visits to Mt. Harmony, which is just minutes from my current home. Bill Floyd, who surveyed and transcribed tombstones in western North Carolina long before the existence of "Find a Grave," also recorded the same information I have noted for James and Rachel: "In Memory of James Black, aged 72, died Sept. 27, 1827, also his wife, Rachel, aged 86."

Some genealogists contend that Rachel's maiden name was Booth, others that her name was Julian prior to marriage to James Black. That is based in part upon some 1906 Cleveland County court depositions in which three of Rachel's granddaughters indicated her maiden name was Booth and that she had been born in Pennsylvania. One of the granddaughters, in those 1906 depositions, stated that Rachel had been married to a Julian prior to marrying James Black. However, the other two granddaughters did not corroborate that statement. (I personally believe the granddaughter, herself elderly at the time and some 130 years after the fact, confused Rachel Booth with another set of ancestors.)

Based upon the court depositions and the presumed birth of her first son, Moses, circa 1777, we can surmise that Rachel Booth was born about 1758 in Pennsylvania and died 86 years later in about 1844 in Cleveland County, NC. The 1840 Rutherford County Census index, compiled by Paul Sarrett for use in the US GenWeb Archives, notes that "R. Black," presumably Rachel Booth Black, was living adjacent to her sons William Black and J.R. (Jesse Richardson, named for one of the prominent Methodist circuit riders) Black in 1840. One year later, 1841, the portion of Rutherford County where Rachel's land was located was deemed part of the newly created Cleveland County, North Carolina.

James and Rachel appear to have had sons named Moses, Laban, William S. (possibly named after Rachel's father), and Jesse Richardson Black. They also had one daughter, Lydia. Lydia married Jacob Willis and named one son Jacob Cravens Willis, apparently in honor of Lydia's grandmother, Majey Cravens. The 1790 and 1800 Rutherford County NC Census data suggests James and Rachel also had two other daughters and one other son who apparently died during their childhood and did not survive into adulthood.

While official primary source documentation is somewhat lacking, there is considerable circumstantial evidence, i.e., the timeframe of James and Rachel's lives, their geographic proximity to where Moses and his son, also named James, lived as adults, and the naming of Moses and Patience's son and daughter, James and Rachel, that would strongly suggest this James and Rachel were the parents of Moses Black.

At this point, the traditional genealogical trail for the family lineage essentially ends; reasoned speculation follows regarding the next generations which I have labeled in my Ancestry.com tree as "hypothesis" and "actively researching." The inclusion of these additional generations is based in part upon shared-collaborative family trees, personal research, the research of other family historians, as well as personal autosomal and Y-DNA test results.

7. - Robert Black - b. abt. 1731, probably in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; d. 1788 in York County SC. Was married to Majey Cravens (1733-1810). The aforementioned "Settlers by the Long Grey Trail" makes several references to Robert and Majey and specifically notes they departed Harrisonburg VA for Mecklenburg NC in 1764. Robert's sons presumably included Matthew, Robert, John, and James; there apparently was also a daughter, Mary. Some researchers indicate Robert was Presbyterian and was buried at one of the Presbyterian churches in York County, SC, though a formal gravesite has not been identified.

Robert and Majey originally settled along Clarks Fork of Bullock Creek based upon a 1765 Mecklenburg County NC deed. Following resolution of a state boundary dispute between the Carolinas, the land was deemed to be in the old Camden District and still later in York County SC.

Robert and his son, Robert Jr., also appear to have engaged in some land purchases/land speculation in what was to become Cleveland County NC. At least some of those purchases were made from Col. Frederick Hambright who also served as assessor of the estate for Majey during the 1788 probate proceedings for Robert Black. (Hambright, one of the heroes of the Battle of Kings Mountain, had a son, John Hardin Hambright, who married Nancy Black, daughter of Gavin Black, who was Robert Black's brother; Gavin's son, also named Gavin Black, married Sarah Hambright, one of Col. Hambright's daughters.)

Robert's brother, yet another Matthew Black, married Margaret Ponder. Some of Margaret's family were apparently Loyalists during the American Revolution. Matthew and Margaret's descendants migrated to the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee with some ultimately residing in Cocke County TN.

Robert’s eldest son, also a Matthew Black, was born in Virginia abt. 1750 and apparently died in York County SC abt. 1797. James McElwee, Robert’s nephew, was administrator per the probate records. There are no records indicating this Matthew was ever married or had any children. That, coupled with his death in his late 40s, may suggest he had been in poor health or had been injured leading to an early death.

Robert's middle sons, Robert (b. 1751 in VA; d. 1895 in KY; married Sarah Lattimore) and John (b. 1753 in VA; d. 1830 KY; married first to Lydia Patterson then to Jain Newell), left Carolina and moved to Kentucky sometime before 1790.

Robert's youngest son, James (b. 1755 in VA; d. 1827 in NC; married Rachel Booth) chose to remain in Carolina and lived most of his adult life along the First Broad River in old Rutherford County NC. This James Black, and at least six consecutive generations that followed, remained within about 25 miles of the Kings Mountain battlefield and the family's original Clarks Fork-Bullock Creek acreage.

(In regards to the American Revolution, Robert, as well as his sons John and James, signed an oath of neutrality in October of 1775 as noted in a 1901 edition of the South Carolina Historical and Genealogical magazine which included an article on "Papers of the First Council of Safety." Patriot Capt. Ezekiel Polk reported that Robert Black, Joseph Black, William Wilson, Daniel Ponder, Nathaniel Harrison, John Black, Jacob Gardner, and James Black, all of whom lived in the vicinity of Kings Mountain, "Came before me and voluntarily made oath that they will not, [unless compelled in self defense] lift arms against the Americans in their present contest with Great Britain nor do any thing by word or action which they shall know to be against the American Cause." Being neutral was not the same as being a loyalist. In fact, Robert M. Calhoon, in a piece for "A Companion to the American Revolution," published by James Wiley & Sons, 2008, estimates that only 40 to 45 percent of the colonists were actually Patriots; only 15 to 20 percent were Loyalists; the remaining colonists - between 35 and 45 percent - were neutral, keeping a low profile, merely wanting to raise families and work their farms or ply their trades without being drawn into bloody political squabbles.)

Robert apparently died intestate suggesting an unexpected death. Probate proceeding through York County SC courts began in fall of 1788. Judge James Wilson assigned several appraisers to the estate including Col. Frederick Hambright, William Jenkins, George Wilson, and Nicholas Whisenhunt. The resulting inventory of assets and liabilities includes listings for James Black and George Black as holding small "notes" with the estate. The finalized inventory and probate agreement was co-signed by Majey/Margery Black, Robert Black's widow, and by James McElwee, Robert Black's nephew.

There is virtually universal agreement among extended family, DNA matches, and researchers that the next name in the family tree is that of Mathew Black but there has been considerable disagreement about the particulars of Mathew. This is my personal construct of my direct paternal ancestor, Mathew Black, based upon best currently available information:

Hypothetical/Actively Researching 8. - Mathew Black - b. 1701 in Dundonald, Ayrshire, Scotland; d. abt. 1765 presumably in Augusta County, Virginia colony. Matthew's wife was Mary, maiden name unknown (1705-1760). They had sons named Gavin, Robert, Matthew, Joseph, and Thomas, as well as a daughter, Janet.(One possible clue as to the name of Matthew’s wife may lie with the naming of some of his granddaughters. Three of Matthew’s children – Robert, Gavin, and Janet – had daughters named “Mary.” Various trees have listed Mathew's wife as Mary Hachlein though documentation to support that is lacking. In fact, some DAR documents indicate Mary Hachlein was married to a James Black who was unrelated to my own line.)

ScotlandsPeople old parish records document 9. - Ephraim Black 1650-1723 as father of Matthew of Ayshire. Ephriam's wife was said to be Lillian Lamb 1655-1720. Ephraim was born at Symington and Lillian at Dundonald, Ayrshire where they lived as a couple throughout their adult lives.

Although no passenger/boat charter list specifically including Mathew has ever been identified on either side of the Atlantic, he is the presumed original immigrant to America for this paternal line and likely first settled in Pennsylvania. Mathew’s parents died by 1723 and son Robert was born in 1731 in Pennsylvania suggesting Mathew emigrated from Scotland to America circa 1725-1730 corresponding with the second great wave of Scots/Ulster Scots migration to America. He may, or may not, have used the indentured contract route to pay for his passage, a common barter system method in which a young immigrant would contractually agree to work for five to seven years in return for someone paying passage costs to America. Some have suggested Mathew emigrated from Ulster. However, if he took part in the plantation settlements, he could have only been there for a few years, if at all. My own personal research into Ulster over several years found no evidence supporting the “Mathew in Ireland” theory.

Mathew Black is listed in some Pennsylvania Land Warrants and Applications (Ancestry.com, 2012) as securing a land warrant for 200 acres in Hopewell, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in October of 1738. Adhering to the typical migratory pattern of the lowland Scots/Ulster-Scots settlers in America, Mathew moved his family into Virginia by about 1745. There are numerous references to Matthew/Mathew and Robert regarding property and militia affiliation during their time around Harrisonburg. Those references appear in publications such as Lyman Chalkley’s “Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia,” J. Houston Harrison’s “Settlers by the Long Grey Trail,” and “Virginia’s Colonial Soldiers,” by Lloyd D. Bockstruck.

Several of these references regarding Mathew are about “processioning lists,” periodic reviews of settlers’ land boundaries which also identified neighbors. Many of the settlers in these lists had not formally purchased the land; they were on land they claimed by “tomahawk or cabin rights.” Since there are no formal land acquisition records for Mathew in old Augusta County, he may have been among the settlers using such property claims.

One reference to Mathew Black in Chalkley’s “Chronicles” lists him as late as the 1763 Augusta County, Virginia probate records for Robert Cravens. Cravens was the father of Margery/Majey Cravens who married Robert Black, presumed son of this Mathew Black. Robert and his brothers (Matthew, Joseph, and Gavin) as well as two of Majey’s brothers, all purchased Carolina land at Clarks Fork of Bullocks Creek between 1765-1767. It has been assumed the senior Mathew never moved to the Carolinas and probably died between 1763 and 1765 in Virginia.

There are nearly 2,000 trees on Ancestry.com alone regarding Mathew. Many have these commonalities: (1) Born in Scotland; (2) Wife’s name is Mary; (3) Parents are Ephraim Black and Lillian Lamb; (4) Migrated to America and was in Virginia in the 1750s; (5) List of children typically includes my direct ancestor Robert Black as one of Mathew’s sons; (6) A significant number of the trees indicate Mathew had a middle name of “Jouett.” I have conferred with any number of tree owners and have never found any documentation for the middle name other than another tree; the surname Jouett was contemporaneous with Mathew in Virginia as Jack Jouett, son of tavern keeper John Jouett Sr. of Norman Huguenot descent, made a Paul Revere-like ride to successfully warn Gov. Thomas Jefferson and key legislators about an approaching British cavalry unit intent upon capturing the politicians.

Although his birth year fits the time frame and his birthplace fits Spencer’s map for haplogroup point of origin, efforts to formally connect the dots from colonial America back to Matthew of Ayrshire have not been successful. At present, he remains an unproven hypothetical possibility as the father of Robert Black.

- Alternatively, another hypothesis had followed a long-standing family tree at FamilySearch.org which is under the auspices of the Family History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The tree, developed over a number of years by multiple contributors, indicated my personal Family Search profile LYVJ-4KQ and the profile of my father LR2R-DJP, led back to a Mathew Black born 1714 in Midlothian, Scotland. The tree, as it then existed, indicated this Mathew was the father of my Robert Black and was the original immigrant to America in my paternal line.

The collaborative tree further indicated, based on ScotlandsPeople parish records, that Mathew's parents were Robert Black (G4RG-BGT) 1679-1756 and Margaret Kerr (9QL2-X9W) 1680-1760. In turn, Mathew's grandparents were listed as John Black (LZLJ-TB3) 1635-1679 and Janet Swyntoun (LCYJ-J56). All of these individuals lived in the Lothian-Edinburgh-Inveresk region.

- Finally, another option for this spot in the family tree was proffered by J. Houston Harrison in his tome “Settlers by the Long Grey Trail.” On pg. 262 he notes Robert Black and his wife Majey Cravens were moving to Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Harrison then speculates on the origins of Majey’s/Maggie’s husband: “Several Blacks were early in Augusta. Rev. William Black, a Presbyterian minister, on 22nd May, 1747, appeared before the court and took the prescribed oaths. He lived in Pennsylvania, and in 1758 was a member of Donegal Presbytery (Waddell, p. 62.) Maggie’s husband likely came in from this direction also. His father was probably Robert Black, Sr.” (Harrison, who was quite familiar with both Mathew and Robert Black, apparently did not believe Mathew to be the father of Robert. Instead, he apparently theorized – and seems to be the solitary advocate of this line of thought – that Robert’s father was the Robert Black involved with the Beverly Manor settlement at Staunton VA.)

Immigration to Carolina

There were several waves of Scots and Ulster Scots immigration to the colonies including 1717-1718, 1725-1729, 1740-41, 1754-1755. These waves of Scots, along with other immigrants such as the English and Germans, populated the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and the piedmont of the Carolinas.

“The first European settlers in the Carolina Piedmont were Ulster-Scots Presbyterians and therefore ultimately of Scottish Lowland origin predominately. Rising rent and land prices in Pennsylvania had driven them southward during the 1740s, down the Great Wagon Road to the Upcountry west of the Catawba River,” stated Dr. Bruce Durie, a Scottish genealogist who was a Fulbright lecturer at St. Andrews University in Laurinburg (Scotland County) NC during the 2016 academic year.

Dr. James G. Leyburn, professor of sociology and longtime dean of Washington and Lee University, in his work “The Scotch-Irish: A Social History” (University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1962), notes the actual background of the settlers, especially those from Ulster, was not simple at all but quite complex: “Lowlanders who left Scotland for Ireland between 1610 and 1690 were biologically compounded of many ancestral strains,” he said. Those strains included the aborigines of the Stone Ages, the Gaels and the Britons, Roman soldiers, the Teutonic Angles and Saxons, the Normans, and finally the Englishmen whose ancestry was as diverse as that of the Scots.

Immigrants to America generally arrived in the Carolinas by one of four primary migration routes: (1) English initially ventured out of Virginia and settled in the Albemarle and Pamlico sections spreading into the Coastal Plain and Piedmont of the North Carolina colony. (2) Germans and Scots-Irish arrived at Philadelphia, traveling down the Great Wagon Road through the Appalachian Valley, often settling for a time in the Virginia colony before moving on into the Piedmont and Foothills of the Carolinas; (3) Highland Scots arrived at Wilmington and moved up the Cape Fear River to present-day Fayetteville NC; and (4) English, Scots and some Scots-Irish arrived at Charleston SC, migrating inland into central and upstate South Carolina and on into the Charlotte region of NC, following the fresh water supplies along the Ashley-Cooper, Santee, Congaree, Watertree, Broad, Saluda, and Catawba river systems.

Surname Origins

Surnames are a rather modern contrivance within human history. Much of the world did not adopt generalized use of surnames until the later half of the medieval period. Their evolution and development has varied widely on the continents depending upon many factors such as regional culture and customs.

The Black surname does not have a single country of origin. Many Blacks, however, do trace their origins to Britain where Black is relatively common as a surname. According to 2010 Census data, here in the States the Black surname ranked 177th on a list of the most common surnames in America.

- In Scotland, surnames became quite common by the 12th century. The Black surname – sometimes noted in early Scottish records as “Blak” – was sometimes a sept associated with clans Lamont, MacGregor, and MacLean as noted by Dr. George Fraser Black, former director of the New York Public Library, in his 1946 tome “Surnames of Scotland.”

However, most of those bearing the Black surname in Scotland were lowlanders and were never associated with any clan. In fact, the Council of Scottish Clans and Associations estimates “fewer than 30 percent of all Scottish surnames carry a history of clan association.” Census and other sources from the early 1800s indicate the Black surname was primarily concentrated in a swath across the “central belt” and lowlands of Scotland. Dr. Black noted the Black surname became common in particular around St. Andrews in the 1500s and was quite common in the Edinburgh region in the 1600s. In the latest available compilation, National Records of Scotland noted Black was still among the 50 most common surnames in Scotland,

- In England, while the Black surname was present across England, it was primarily centered in the northern England counties of Cumbria, Northumberland and Durham in the border country with Scotland. Some suggest the Black surname originally was used as a descriptive of a person's dark or swarthy hair and appearance; others contend it was occupational in nature and a derivative of blacksmith.

A few of the surname websites contend Black as a surname in England originated around the Lincolnshire region before moving northward into the Scottish lowlands. Some have suggested in its English origins, the surname may originally have been “Blake” but evolved into “Black.”

- In Ireland, Edward MacLysaght, former Keeper of Manuscripts at the National Library of Ireland, authored “The Surnames of Ireland.” He, too, indicated the Black surname in Ireland was primarily Scottish. These Scots descendants, MacLysaght stated, were “very numerous in Ulster.” He indicated that Black was less frequently a “translation or synonym” of Duff and Kilduff.

Pender’s census/Petty’s survey in 1659, Griffiths Valuations of 1847-1864, Matheson’s Birth Index of 1890, and two heads of households surveys in the early 1900s, typically found the Black surname primarily in counties Antrim, Derry, and Down with somewhat smaller concentrations in Tyrone, Armagh, and Donegal. In particular, Griffiths identified only about 840 households bearing the Black surname across the entire island. Of those 840 households, about 730 of them were in Ulster, primarily clustered in the old plantation settlement counties. (The Black surname in Ireland, in the vast majority of cases, appears to be of Scottish, or English, origins rather than “native” Irish.)

- The surname website "named.publicprofiler.org" indicates the Black surname in the United Kingdom has been concentrated along a line from Londonderry to Belfast in the north of Ireland through Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, and Aberbeen in Scotland's central belt.

- The Britain and Ireland SNP and Surname Mapper created by research scientist Dr. Rob Spencer suggests the Black surname was concentrated in the central belt of Scotland. Spencer’s map for the more likely origins of my R-BY3103 haplogroup focuses on the region of Argyll-Bute.

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Personal DNA and Ethnicity

In regards to my personal overall ethnicity, I am an “American mutt,” a native Carolinian. A considerable portion of my personal DNA does appear to be Scottish and English.

- My overall autosomal DNA (that's the 22 non-sex chromosomes inherited from both father and mother as well as grandparents, great-grandparents, etc.) is, however, decidedly "British" in nature. Ancestry.com's September 2023 autosomal DNA ethnicity estimates for me are: 46 percent Scotland; 27 percent England and northwestern Europe (primarily Belgium); 13 percent Ireland; 6 percent Wales; 4 percent Sweden/Denmark; 2 percent Norway; and 2 percent Germanic Europe. Ancestry previously indicated the Scots connection came to me principally through my father's line; the English was inherited primarily from my mother's line. However, it should be noted that most DNA experts advise such autosomal ethnicity estimates should be taken "with a grain of salt" in regards to their accuracy. I personally regard them as useful indicators that at least have some basis in science and fact as opposed to mere self-reported or “family tradition” based origins.

By comparison, my FTDNA Family Finder autosomal ethnicity estimates are also very “British” in nature: 77 percent Great Britain (the corresponding FTDNA map indicates this includes England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales); 18 percent Central Europe (map indicates France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Denmark, Austria, Czechia, and Switzerland); 4 percent Ireland; and 1 percent traces of East European (Magyars/Hungarians).

- Mitochondrial DNA is the genetic material handed down from a mother to her offspring. It mutates less often but may still be somewhat useful in identifying maternal origins and/or connections. LivingDNA (Somerset, England) assessed my DNA and indicated my mother’s maternal lineage mitochondrial haplogroup to be H1a1 which appears to have originated in North Africa prior to migrating into western Europe long, long ago.

- The Y-DNA, which is handed down only within the male line from father to son, involves markers known as short tandem repeats (STRs) as well as specific mutations that occur within a male line known as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs or “snips”). Testing for STRs and SNPs can, therefore, identify a male’s specific biological “haplogroup” and its branches/subclades.

According to the Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) BigY700 testing results, my ancient Y-DNA paternal ancestors were part of the large R1b haplogroup branch of the human family tree. Based upon current theory, after emerging from Africa, those ancient ancestors migrated out of the steppes of Eurasia, Anatolia and the Black Sea-Caspian Sea region into western Europe and ultimately into the British Isles. Some of my R1b “downstream” SNPs include:

R-M269 – Associated with R1b1a2 haplogroup, the most common in Europe. Emerged by the end of the last Ice Age.

R-P312 – Linked to Beaker Culture which arose approximately 5,000 BC in central Europe, eventually predominating in Britain.

R-L21 – According to graphics generated by Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) project administrator Tiger Walsh, L21 emerged about 2,300 BC in southwestern England. It is common among those claiming some form of Celtic ancestry. R-S552, R-DF13 and R-Z39589 are deemed to be smaller subsequent subclades of L21 that most likely developed in England. The FTDNA SNP Mapper indicates R-Z39589 was confined primarily to France, the Netherlands, and southern England.

R-DF41 – Postings by Richard Stevens and Christopher McCown, co-administrators with FTDNA projects, suggest current research indicates DF41 likely originated in the Bronze Age around Devon, England probably around 1800 BC. Meanwhile, R-CTS2501 has been determined to be as an equivalent/coincident SNP with R-DF41.

R-A98 (also sometimes labeled as R-Y3515), R-A100, and R-Z9204 are more recent subclades under R-DF41. They have been found in only a very small group of test subjects and appear primarily confined to the northern half of the British Isles. LivingDNA had projected my Y-DNA male haplogroup to be R-Y3515 (equivalent to FTDNA’s R-A98).

Family Tree DNA’s Big Y 700 testing refined my confirmed Y-DNA haplogroup to be R-BY3103. The Full Genomes Corporation and YFull analysis label my confirmed haplogroup with the designation of R-FGC40253. The YFull analysis age estimation for R-FGC40253 (i.e. R-BY3103) is about 350 years ago or roughly 1670 CE.

I have conferred with several subject matter experts regarding my Y-DNA and what might be surmised regarding my paternal ancestors:

– David Vance, author of “The Genealogist’s Guide to Y-DNA for Genetic Genealogy,” and a volunteer project co-administrator with Family Tree DNA, kindly reviewed my Y-DNA STR and SNP data. In a Facebook posting with the R1b-RL21 group, he confirmed that my line has a very old British Isles origin: “…looking at these branches even back to the R-A98 level does strongly suggest that this patrilineal line has lived in the British Isles for several thousand years.”

– Scottish genealogist Bruce Durie has authored more than 30 books, and hosted a long running BBC radio program on genealogy. The heraldry expert, whose background is in medicine and neuropharmacology, also holds a doctoral degree in history and is a volunteer project co-administrator with Family Tree DNA. After reviewing my personal Y-DNA data/matches and related genealogy information, Dr. Durie concluded, “there is no doubt your Black ancestors were Scots, albeit possibly cycled through Ulster at some point (or not – you may just be genetically related to some who were)."

Dr. Durie, founder of the Professional Postgraduate Programme in Genealogical Studies at the University of Strathclyde, also noted that based upon the time frame, migratory track from Pennsylvania to Virginia to the Carolinas, and other evident historical factors, my more recent patrilineal lineage were most likely lowland Scots who had followed the historical path of the Ulster-Scots migration in colonial America.

– American researcher Rob Spencer, PhD, is an alum of MIT, former scientist with pharmacology and biotechnology giant Pfizer, and is currently a volunteer project co-administrator with Family Tree DNA. He created the Britain and Ireland SNP and Surname Mapper and other genealogical tools. The SNP mapper suggests the likely origins of my R-BY3103 haplogroup to be in lower Argyll-Bute (which is immediately adjacent to Ayrshire). The results of the estimating-averaging tool are not “genealogical fact” but serve as a science-based probability/indicator. The tool uses Y-DNA data, census type data, known surname prevalence and other information thus reducing reliance upon mere self-reported origins.

– Dr. Tyrone Bowes, a native of Dublin, is a biotechnologist consulting in the area of genetic genealogy. Bowes is creator of the Irish Origenes and Scottish Origenes websites. He utilizes a theory of identifying an individual’s “genetic homeland” relying upon historical geographic clustering of the surnames of one’s DNA matches. Although I did not complete the full comprehensive autosomal/Y-DNA analysis process with Dr. Bowes, this Irish genetic genealogist did graciously advise me that he also thought my line of the Black surname most likely originated in Lanarkshire, Scotland.

My ostensible paper trail genealogy goes back to Dundonald, Ayrshire. Spencer's Y-DNA mapping program suggests the Rothesay, Bute area as the origins for my paternal line. Bowe's autosomal analysis suggests Lanarkshire. The three sites are within about 50-miles of one another in the general vicinity of greater Glasgow. So various methods and interpretations place my paternal line's location by late medieval times, and prior to immigrating to America, to be in that region of southwestern Scotland.

Primary Surnames

My paternal family surnames are Black (Scotland) and Ledford (England). My primary maternal surnames are Brooks (England) and Calhoun (Ulster and Scotland). Other surnames found among my great or great-great grandparents include Stewart, McFarland, Philbeck, Herren, Moore, Sawyer, Waters, Walker, Mooney and Welch. That's a mixture of English, Scots, Irish, Welsh, and German surnames.

DISCLAIMER: Autosomal DNA matches are currently deemed valid and reliable only up to about the fifth or sixth generation. I’m generally less trusting of autosomal DNA matches of less than 20 shared centimograms; however, many genealogists accept as low as 7 shared centimorgans as a valid match. Some genealogy experts totally dismiss autosomal ethnicity estimates as unreliable. I personally think they have their place as indicators/predictors but should be weighed and considered along with other data and information regarding a family’s genealogical and genetic history.

The more expensive Y-DNA testing does help with “deep” ancestry/human origins research but the very limited number of Y-DNA test subjects and limited number of resulting matches – frequently involving only a very, very distant common ancestor – is disappointingly less helpful to a typical family historian who is attempting to identify a specific individual in order to further advance a family tree back into time.

Genetic genealogy is still a fledgling science. Also, primary source documentation is often lacking after a certain point in time, especially for commoners. I feel confident about the validity of the first six generations listed above as my own direct paternal line of ancestors, but am less confident about generations seven, eight and nine, hence my attempt to clearly label the latter portion of my personal family tree as speculation.

This is the current version of “Black – Cleveland, Rutherford, Old Tryon” as indicated by the date below. Please disregard/discard any previous versions which may have information subsequently deemed to be in error or misguided. The current version will always contain the most recently acquired facts and data as well as the latest identified sources and interpretations by multiple qualified subject matter experts.

I am a hobbyist, an amateur genealogist and family historian, who uses this endeavor primarily to honor those who have gone before us lest they be totally forgotten. I attempt to attribute information/sources wherever possible. I label my personal speculations, opinions or conclusions as such rather than present them as “fact.” I remain open to new information, new data, new theories, and the need for revising the narrative of my personal family history as new information presents itself.

Thomas Black - blackathom@gmail.com - updated October 2023

https://blackclevelandrutherfordoldtryon.wordpress.com

Links of Interest

NC GenWeb
Carolana
NC Online Genealogy
International Society of Genetic Genealogy
Tracking Back - Britain-Ireland Surnames-SNP Mapper
MyHeritage limited Black-Carolina tree
Scots-Irish in the Southern States
Select Surnames - Black
Named - UK Surname Distribution