Blog Some Genealogy

Mr. Arthur Staples has made some good analysis of VIA and STAPLES DNA that VIA family members may find interesting, therefore I am republishing comments that he posted to the VIA Message Board. See his first comment of the VIA-STAPLES Connection here: VIA - STAPLES Family DNA. See the VIA DNA website for the details: www.familytreedna.com/public/ViaSurnameProject/.

VIA PROJECT MATCHES (21 Aug 09):
1) VIA HAPLOGROUPS (Hg): Hg age is taken from the book “Deep Ancestry” (2006) by Dr. Spencer Wells, head of the NGS - Genographic Project. ISBN: 9780792262152 There are four Hg’s listed for the FTDNA - Via Project.

• a) Hg I12, b. about 20,000 yrs ago;
• b) Hg J2, offshoot of Hg J, b. about 15,000 yrs ago;
• c) Hg R1a1, b. about 10-15,000 yrs ago,
• d) Hg R1b1b2, descending from R1b, b. about 30,000 years ago.

All of these Hg’s are thousands of years old and considered Pre- History.

Genetic scientists state that it is impossible for any ancestor to belong to more than one major Hg (i.e.; I, J, R1a, R1b), thus if a participant’s pedigree shows any surname ancestor belonging to more than one haplogroup there is a problem.
Examples:

• a) John Via, 1710/1723-1785, is listed three times in Hg R1b1b2 (42087, 156939 & 157289 and twice in Hg J2 (50048 & 45239).
• b) Gideon Via Sr., William Via Sr., is listed by 46438 in Hg R1b12 and 58163 in Hg J2.

2) VIA & STAPLES MATCHES WITHIN VIA HAPLOGROUP R1b1b2: Three members match John Via Sr. 1759-1834, #109129, 12-markers; 43438, 37-Markers; #56051, 67-markers.

There are three more Hg R1b1b2 participants that are descended from John Via 1710/1723-1785, however a genetic distance of 4 in 25- markers from the above participants plus the one participant 37 markers giving a genetic distance of 15 means that these two Hg R1b1b2 groups, of three participants each, have not been genetically related for over 500 years.

This leaves participants 109129, 46438 & 56051 as a unique group not genetically related to any of the other current (20 Aug 09) participants within the Via DNA Project.

3) COMMENT:
Y-DNA is passed from father to son and is personal and unique to each one of us, however it is only one important tool that is used in determining ones Ancestral Family History.

To answer the question “Who are my surname ancestors?” - The next step starts with ourselves and is to prove our pedigree at each generation by locating documentation that proves the birth and parents of each generation. Primary information which can be considered as legal documentation held at court house archives usually needs only one such document to prove what is written. However secondary information such as census reports, family bible, etc., will need at least two documents to prove what is written, such as a combination of census report and family bible.

Regards, Art Staples, Jr.

Elaine Via Bouscher received the following e-mail from Arthur Staples which was published at the VIA-L Message Board . It references VIA DNA Kit#56051 that had results of 67 Markers with a Genetic Distance of 2 with a person on the STAPLES Surname Project.

STAPLES & VIA - VIRGINIA PLANTERS - GENETIC CONNECTION 12 August 2009; Information Added 15 Aug 09: Arthur B. Staples, Jr., GA, Staples Surname & DNA Project (SSDP) http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~staplessurname

Y-DNA MATCHES: Tested participants Haplogroup and Haplotype or genetic signature are defined by the DNA testing company. Y-DNA matches can be easily analyzed by creating a Haplogroup Founder Modal, based on the Haplogroup of the tested participants, which will identify Genetic Family Tree and Family Branch Mutations that are changes from the Haplogroup Founder Modal in tested participants Haplotypes. This process is extremely valuable when analyzing small group’s of participants.

To discover if there is a Genetic Family Tree match it is important that the Genetic Family Tree Mutations match. However, based on past SSDP studies, it is possible that one out of several may have a one-step mutation but no two-step mutations.

Y-DNA results showing a match within a Genetic Family Tree are Biological and therefore cannot tell us who the common ancestor is that the tested participants match. Only pedigrees with family relationships proven at each generation by primary & secondary genealogical recorded information can tell us who, when and where the match took place.

Matches with other surnames may indicate a Genetic Family Tree relationship prior to the surname era of recording births and marriages for common people in England (1538) and thus if one participant has a pedigree back far enough in time it will help identify the ancestral home.

**CHARTS OMITTED as the formatting did not come through in the email.

GENETIC CONCLUSION: The study shows a very close genetic relationship between FTDNA #’s 44268 & 56051 with only two one-step mutations in 67 Markers. In addition the other two VIA participants lend support, one at Y12 and the other at Y37.

Genetic Family Tree mutations strengthen the proof of a relationship between participants 44268 & 56051 with four mutations at about 10%; one at about 5%; and three at about 3% of the 3,000 plus R-M269 Haplotype population study by Clinton Platt, 06 May 2009.

We do not know when this relationship took place. It could have been in England before the 1538 surname era, or in Virginia. Only genealogical records can give us this information.

GENEALOGICAL RECORDS: Participant 44268 descends from William STAPLES (c1675-c1755) of Hanover County, Virginia. William had 4 son’s John, David, Samuel and Issac. This family’s history is given by Gretchen Elizabeth (Staples) Kroll in her book William Staples (circa 1675 -circa 1755 of Hanover County, Virginia, Volume 1 & 2 (2005).

On the VIA DNA Project website in their R1b1 Haplogroup it is noted that participant 56051 is a descendant of John VIA Sr., 1759-1834. The other two VIA participants descend from Sparrel Jackson VIA 1828-1883. The lineage is shown as John Via, Sr. John Jefferson Via George Washington Via Sparrel Jackson Via. Three other VIA’s listed in their R1b1 Haplogroup descend from a John VIA, 1710/1723-1785, however their Y-DNA results show two of them to be from another VIA genetic family and have no genetic relationship to the STAPLES participant.

Via Deed Abstract, Albemarle Co. VA, 15 Feb 1755 John VIA land survey Virginia Surveyor’s Plat Book 1, Part 1, Virginia Archives Microfilm #393, 1744-1755, p 333, 125 acre Survey by John Staples Surv. In Gretchen Kroll’s book, 1:16, John Staples, d 22 Oct 1766 in Buckingham Co., VA, son of William (c1675-c1755) is listed as an assistant surveyor in 1754 in Albemarle Co, VA., working under Peter Jefferson, head surveyor. On page 1:15, although John never married he had two children by his mistress, Elizabeth Whitaker. James Whitaker, b 1763; used his mothers surname; Jane Staples, born before 1766; died by 1834. In Buckingham Co., VA, 1787 Tax list has both William Staples and John Via listed.

In Patrick Co., VA, 15 May 1816, Bond of Richard Via to marry Franky Via, dau of William Via as witnessed and recorded by Samuel Staples.

This preliminary genealogical information is given to show that STAPLES & VIA families in Virginia lived in the same area during the 1700 & 1800’s. The participants involved will want to do more thorough research. Did the families know each other in England?

page 4/5 The following is from Gretchen Elizabeth (Staples) Kroll, 15 August 2009: The Via family is familiar to me in Buckingham County and other counties. They lived in the area of “Plain Dealing,” also, where Thomas Staples built the first (log) part of that home. And, coincidentally, I have worked with a Via widow from that area!

The connection of Via to Staples is very interesting. The Via family members were present, also, in Hanover County, where William and his four sons lived before the sons moved on. Next time I am in Richmond, I will enjoy taking a look at the survey [1] John Staples did for Via. I probably saw it long ago but had no other reason to connect Staples to Via, and John Staples, of course, did so many surveys since he was assistant surveyor in Albemarle from 1754 through 1758 — and then [a full] surveyor in Albemarle from 1759 until 1761 — and then was surveyor for Buckingham County from 1761 until his death. (When he was a surveyor in Albemarle, that county also included the areas that became Amherst and Buckingham in 1761.)

The Samuel Staples you mentioned, of Patrick County, who witnessed and recorded the Via marriage bond, was the Clerk of the Court. He was a son of Samuel and Molly (Chambers) Staples — this latter Samuel being a brother of John2 (The Surveyor).

The William Staples who was on the tax list you mentioned (1787) in Buckingham was a son of David (who was one of the four brothers, sons of Wm. of Hanover). This William (s/o David) had a first wife whose name is unknown to us (my book 1:56). He had one or two children before marrying Martha Tompkins in 1786 in Albemarle. But could that possibly have been a way for a Via connection? But, then, I am sure there are MANY ways it could have happened, because we don’t know everything about the mothers’ and grandmothers’ lines.

[1] John Staples Survey for John Via: Information copied 16 Aug 09 from Early Via Family - http://www.geocities.com/pre1800vias/ - Early Via Name Index John Via [This is the John Via that according to earlier researchers was born about 1710 and who married Mary Powhatan, although no such record has been found] 15 Feb 1755 Survey of 125 acres of land on Appomattox River, Buckingham or Albemarle Co. VA.

AT&T Natural Voices can be a good resource to determine pronunciation of names by various voices. I tested the family surname VIA - VIAR. I was suprised that every one of the native English speakers pronounced it the same way, just as my family had done long ago. Give it a try: AT&T Natural Voices.

Was Amor VIA of Virginia a French Huguenot? Who says so?

I have been trying to find the original source of the family tradition that the VIA surname of Virginia is French and that the progenitor of the VIA family, Amor VIA, was a Huguenot. The earliest source of a French connection that I can locate is from George W. VIA’s “Partial Genealogy of the VIA, DeHART AND OTHER FAMILIES” which was published in 1926. The author was born in 1850, and descended from Robert VIA of Hanover County, Virginia. His publication starts out with “VIA FAMILY - FRENCH DESCENT”, then continues with a family history of the VIA and DeHart families, beginning with his grandparents, William VIA and Sallie INGRAM. That seems to be all that is said about a French connection, unless there is more to the book then I can see on-line at:
http://members.aol.com/SSprad25/ViaPages/PartialGenealogy.html

Many researchers seem to have decided that because there are so many place names in France that are similar to the VIA surname, that Amor VIA was undoubtedly French. I have found that when one is researching a name with only three letters and so many spelling variations, there are likely to be towns all over the world with one of those variations. The other day I met a man from India named “Vyas”.

The name that is found in Albemarle County, Virginia, where my family is from, is fairly standardized as VIA, however, even my great grandmother wrote a letter from Mount Fair where she signed her name as “Molly VIAR”. It is difficult researching the VIA name outside of Albemarle County, as one has to look for Viers, Veirs, Vear, Vears, Veare, Veares, Veres, Vere, Vire, Virer, Vires, Via, Vias, Ver, Veers, Veeres, Veer, Vare, Vore, Verre, Varr, Vye, Vyer, and then one has to look for all the same names replacing the beginning “V” with a “W”, and at times, even with a “U”, an “F” or even an “R”. I stumbled upon an old family history on the Turk family where the name of my ancestor, Thomas C. VIA, was written as “Thomas BIRE”.

It would be wonderful if we could find a record of our VIA ancestor, Amor VIA, in France, Holland, England or any other place name throughout the world, but so far, all we have to go on is that sometime before 1677, he was one of 14 persons transported into Virginia by John Webb and John Rea who received acreage in the “Up. Part of New Kent Co., on S. Side of land formerly taken up by Andrew Davis on Machumps Cr”.

Spelling was not standardized in the United States until the mid 1800s, yet Amor VIA, who was quite literate, did manage to keep his surname intact for a few generations. However, perhaps he had changed it a bit from what his father had used. In this same time period that Amor VIA was transported, “William VIER” was recorded relating to nearby Rappahannock County in 1675, where Major John WEIRE (Weir) had written his will in 1671. Job VEAR was imported into Maryland about the same time, 1677. Then a few years later Daniel VEARES was mentioned at Matadequin Creek (Amor’s homeplace) in New Kent County, imported by William Winston and John Engelbrecht.

So far, I am still looking for the French connection of Amor VIA. It seems that everybody talks about it, but nobody seems to know why.

The very first incarnation of the VIA surname in Virginia seems to have come from England with the first supply ship to Jamestown in 1608 (Jamestown Ancestors), with two laborers, Nicolas VEN and a VERE, on board. The following researcher gives a few of the other countries “seemingly” connected to the “VIERs” name: VIERS Roots.

What’s in a name you ask? The death of a daughter of Amar VIAH was recorded in the Parish Register of Saint Peter’s in Virginia. Her name seems to be written as “Nahome”. Was she “Nahome”, “Nohoma”, “Nohome”, “Nohomo”, “Nahoma” or “new born’d” or none of the above? Is there a capital letter missing at the front of her name?

I think she was probably “Nohome”. In Virginia the “h” could have sounded like an “r”, as her surname “VIA” was also “VIAR” and VIAH”. Perhaps it sounded like “Nommie”. In 17th century Virginia, Eleanor and Honora were popular names related to each other. “Nora” was a traditional nickname for both names. And “Nonnie” was often the nickname for “Nora”.

Why did Amer name his daughter “Nahome”?

More on Nicknames and Diminutives

This is a scanned image of an original page from the Saint Peter’s Parish Register. It shows the baptisms of three daughters of Amer VIA of New Kent County, Virginia. If anyone has higher quality images of this page or any other page relating to Amer VIA, I would be most happy to receive it and post it to the Internet. Click on image for full size.

The VIA family of New Kent, Hanover and Albemarle Counties, Virginia is very difficult to research beyond Amor VIA who first appears in Virginia in 1677.. The main reason is that there are so many different ways of spelling that surname. Amor VIA was likely the first to use the “VIA” spelling, and it became somewhat standardized amongst his descendants, occasionally varying as “Viar or Viah”.

However, in early Tidewater Virginia and just across the Potomac River in Maryland, are various other spellings used during the 1600s, such as Viers, Vear, Veares, Vares, Veirs, Veer, Veers, Vyer and that does not even include the names that use the letter “W” in place of “V”, such as Wier, Weir, Wear, Weare, Ware and so on. If and how all of these early Virginia settlers are related to one another is possibly a forever unsolved mystery. This site: Viers Random Notes attempts to unravel the mystery.

It was here that I first came across the reference to “Danll VEARES”. This is 14 years after Amor VIA’s record of transportation, 1677, and just three years prior to the first mention of Amer VIA in the records of Saint Peter’s Parish. Danll VEARES, along with 16 other persons was transported by William Winston, who is recorded in New Kent County. The land that he and Englebrecht were granted was “on lower side of Mattadecus Cr;”. In 1704, when Saint Paul’s Parish was cut off from Saint Peter’s, we find that Amer VIA was living above the mouth of Matadequin Creek.

VEARES, DANLL-“Wm. Winston & Jno. Englebrecht, 800 acs. New Kent Co; on lower side of Mattadecus Cr; adj. Jno. Geraway; 28 Apr. 1691, pg. 129. Granted Jno. Pouncy, 9 June 1666 deserted & now granted by order &c. Imp. Of 16 pers: (list of names including:) DANLL. VEARES….” Source: Cavalier and Pioneers 1666-1695, Patent Book 8, pg. 358, Vol II-Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, by Nell Marion Nugent, Pub. By Virginia State Library, Richmond, Va-1977.

This studious analysis of early VIA people was posted this morning by Judy Maupin Pons of the VIA-L Message Board:

Robert first appears in the processioning records of New Kent County, St. Paul’s Parish in 1716. In order to hold title to land the owner must have been at least 21 years of age. Robert’s birth date is estimated to be 1695 or before. Robert was in the processioning records through November 1759. Robert’s death date is estimated to be between 1759 and 1763. No Via’s are listed in the processioning records again until 1731. The processioning records are incomplete with some original pages missing so that may account for the missing years.

In 1731 both William and Robert Via appear in the processioning records.

Margaret (or Mary) has disappeared from the processioning records. In studying the neighbors it appears as though William was living on the land once occupied by Amor Via. This indicates William was not of age in 1716 but was of age by 1731 making his birth year 1698-1710. William Via was in the processioning records from 1731 through 1743.

In 1739 a second William Via appears in the processioning records of Hanover County, St. Paul’s Parish. His birth year is estimated to be 1718 or before. William II appears in the processioning records in 1739 and 1743.

Gideon first appears in the processioning records of Hanover County, St. Paul’s Parish in 1751 making his birth year 1730 or before. This Gideon is in precinct 20. There are no other Via’s listed in this precinct.

In 1755 a Gideon Via appears in precinct 18 with Josias Via and Robt Via.

Gideon is in the processioning records through 1767.

Josias Via first appears in the processioning records of Hanover County, St. Paul’s Parish in 1755 making his birth year 1734 or before. Josias is in the processioning records from 1755 through 1779.

The second Robert Via first appears in the processioning records of Hanover County, St. Paul’s Parish in 1759 making his birth year 1738 or before.

Robert II is in the processioning records from 1759 through 1779.

A third William Via appears in the processioning records of Hanover County, St. Paul’s Parish in 1767 making his birth date 1746 or before. William III is in the processioning records from 1767 through 1779.

The following was published to the VIA-L Message Board by VIA researcher, Judy Maupin Pons:

After studying some of the early records pertaining to the Via’s, here are some of my comments:

• Amer was transported in 1677. No notation is given to indicate that he was a minor. The belief is that Amor was born in 1656 or before.
• April 11, 1699 in St. Peter’s Parish the baptism of Judith Via, daughter of Amer Via was recorded.
• August 3, 1701 in St. Peter’s Parish the baptism of Margaret Via, daughter of Amer Via was recorded.
• February 27, 1703 in St. Peter’s Parish the baptism of Mary Via, daughter of Amer Via was recorded.
• In 1704, Amer Vice paid a Quit Rent Roll tax on 50 acres of land in New Kent County, Virginia. (This information came from a transcribed book. I’ve seen the name on original records before that was written as Via but transcribed as Vice when the “a” was not completely closed.)
• Amor Via’s land was processioned in New Kent County, St. Paul’s Parish in 1708/09. In 1711 Amor’s land was processioned and in his place is the name Marg: Via. It appears as though Amor died after March 1709/09 and before March 1711/12.
• In 1711/12 the processioning records gives the name as Marg: Via. This record may refer to Amor’s wife. It still bothers me that she is not listed as “widow” as many of the other women are, but at this point I cannot think of any other reasonable explanation as to who she may have been.
• In 1716 the processioning records gives the name as Mary Via. The return still lists the land as belonging to Amor Via. This seems to indicate that the estate of Amor was still not settled.

My first question has always been, “from whence came the ‘transported’ Amor VIA?” In Saint Peter’s parish records there is also this: “nohome daugh: to Amar Viah deceased ye 26 :d of 1688” I myself believe that Amor VIA was alive through the 1716 processioning records, and that the names that look like “Margaret” or “Mary” VIA, were transcription misreadings of the original records, as nowhere is this person described as a woman, such as “widow”. At this period of time in Virginia, only single women of age or widows had property rights.

On 3 April 1716, “Amor VIA” was processioned in Saint Paul’s parish at the lower church, according to “Vestry Book of Hanover County, Virginia 1706-1786,” pages 245, 251: “We have peaceably processioned the lands of Jonas Lawson, Wm Talley, Mark Anthony, Amor VIA, Widd: Thompson, Widd: Burnet, Widd: Peece & Widd: Crawfort Peter Plantine not present John Tally having no land adjoining - overseers Robt Horsley and John Matlock.” If “Amor VIA” was deceased at the time, 1716, the record should have shown him as “Estate of” or “Widow”, in my opinion.

Civil War era map showing Pigeon Top Mountain in Albemarle County, Virginia, from the Library of Congress collection. Revolutionary War soldier William VIA and his wife, Mary (Craig) VIA are buried here at their homestead in graves marked only with fieldstones. They are my ancestors.

The image, Pigeon Top Mountain, was originally uploaded by barneykin. It is posted here from Neddy's favorites.