Beware of Ancestry "Historical" Records

This morning I accidentally encountered a marriage record for my 4th great grandfather Thomas Wingo which gave his bride as his sister-in-law, Sarah W. Rucker.

According to Ancestry's information regarding this database, the source of the information is as follows:

Source Information
Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

Original data: This unique collection of records was extracted from a variety of sources including family group sheets and electronic databases. Originally, the information was derived from an array of materials including pedigree charts, family history articles, querie.

Description
This database contains marriage record information for approximately 1,400,000 individuals from across all 50 United States and 32 different countries around the world between 1560 and 1900. These records, which include information on over 500 years of marriages, were extracted from family group sheets, electronic databases, biographies, wills, and other sources.

In other words, this information has been primarily taken from family group sheets, biographies and such, none of which would constitute a primary or desirable source.

The truth of this family connection is that Sarah Rucker was the wife of Thomas Wingo's brother John. Although not all Amelia County, Virginia marriage records are extant, Sarah, daughter of William Rucker, is documented as the wife of John Wingo in records of both Spartanburg County, South Carolina and Amelia County, Virginia.

Deed Book C, p. 289, Spartanburg County, SC
William Rucker for the heirs of Sarah Wingo, Dec'd This indenture made this 15th day of Sept and in the year of our Lord one Thousand seven hundred and Ninety Four - Witnesseth that I William Rucker of the State of South Carolina and the county of Spartenburgh do hereby give and bequeth unto the heirs of the body of my said daughter, Sarah Wingo, Deceased, one Negro woman by the name of Milly amd all the increase of her body to wit: Sim, Ben, Nan, Charles, Becky, Lewis, Rueben, Ady, and Morris. These at present in the keeping of John Wingo Junior in the State of Virginia and County of Amelia which negros I, William Rucker, never intended to dispose of in any other Way but to my said daughter and the heirs of her body for ever. Wherefore, I the said William Rucker do hereby authorize and Impower Sherwood Fowler to demand the said Negros above mentioned and to act in the behalf of the heirs of my said daughter deceased. Signed William Rucker

Deed Book 21, p. 59, Amelia County, VA
We the subscribers this Seventeenth Day of October 1797, Received of John Wingo Sr. of Amelia County two hundred and Thirty five Pounds seventeen shillings in negroes for which Negoes we the Subscribers do hereby agree that neither us or our heirs and will or shall ever put up or lay any claim or demand against the estate of the above mentioned John Wingo Sr or any part thereof. John Wingo Jr, Sherwood Fowler (for Mary Wingo Fowler), Abner Wingo, Churchill Wingo, Jane Wingo, Fanny Wingo Scruggs (Mrs. William Scruggs), Cyrus Seay (for Nancy Wingo Seay).

The maiden name of Sarah, the wife of Thomas Wingo, is unknown but autosomal DNA supports the belief that she was probably a member of the Joel Meador family of Amelia County. It is no small wonder that there is so much incorrect information across the internet regarding Sarah, wife of Thomas Wingo, Jr., when Ancestry is disseminating the false information as a historical record.

PRYORS WANTED!

The Pryor DNA Project is working to find clues to the origins of our Pryor families. Most Pryors of western Kentucky are descendants of Jonathan and James Pryor of Graves County. After the revolution, their father Richard Pryor of Virginia moved his family to eastern Tennessee then to Logan County, Kentucky where he died in 1797. Countless Pryor researchers have searched Virginia records to locate Richard’s origins but to date there is no proof of a relationship to any of the Pryor individuals living in Louisa or Albemarle counties where he is known to have lived before migrating westward.

If you are a male descendant of James or Jonathan Pryor with the Pryor surname, your participation in the Pryor DNA Project could greatly benefit Pryor research. A Descendant of James Pryor would be especially important since James' father is listed as Richard Pryor on his death certificate and therefore documented.

Vanessa Wood creator of the Tennessee Pryors website and blog is also the coordinator of the Pryor DNA Project. With her permission, I am sharing her most recent blog post here:

Group 104 on the FTDNA Y-DNA results are Pryors who can trace their line to Matthew Pryor of Marion Co., TN and Granville Co., NC, some to Samuel Pryor and wife Prudence in Virginia, and others to more distant Pryors in CT.

This group is working with genealogist Laurie Scott to gather together solid documentation of this line and use DNA to prove relationships. This group is committed to the process and recently began the process of upgrading their Y-DNA tests to 111 markers to improve their ability to interpret the results. Their connection to one another is the most definitive of all the Pryor families who’ve tested through FTDNA.com.

Vanessa recently asked Laurie if they need more testers and offered to let folks know here on the blog. Yes, they have “wish list” of ideal testers. These testers aren’t just needed to prove what they already know about their line, but are needed to advance what they know.

Are you a male Pryor or have a male Pryor in your family who fits these wishes?

1. Bourbon County, Kentucky: Pryor male testers that claim lineage to a grandson of Joseph Pryor who died there in 1812. This will help one tester prove they are closer Y-DNA to another tester (this is needed to clarify relationships that are somewhat vague on paper). The tester needs to establish they are “grandson” of Joseph Pryor with original documents.

2. An ancestor in the wilderness of Kentucky or Tennessee before or just after the American Revolution. There were many. The wilderness was the western counties of VA and what is now WV, into OH and the parts of NC that became TN. Or those there by the first U.S. Census in 1790. More still were there. Not all were from Virginia originally. Testers will help this group and possibly other groups of Y-DNA testers in the Pryor Project.

3. Lineage to Samuel II, son of Samuel and Prudence; through a specific son. This will help the entire group. A male Pryor will need to identify which son he descends from.

4. Luke Pryor in their lineage. There were many. They are treated as one, but this group is discovering they were different men. Can you show which Luke you descend from by using only original sources? That rules out all those genealogy articles written in the 1880′s and early 1900′s — original sources are birth records, death records, military records, deeds, wills, etc.

Contact Vanessa through the TNPryors Websire or message through the Pryor Facebook page.