My online family tree site can be found at https://www.taneyakoonce.com/genealogy. Meanwhile, here is a summary of the surnames I am researching. Each surname has a link to the descendancy tree as I have completed it to date; of course, there are many incomplete branches.
Maternal Surnames
- Baker – Daniel Baker (born approx. 1829) and wife Frances are 2nd great-grandparents. They had three kids that I know of. The family is from the Washington County, NC area. [View descendants]
- Boston – Lovey Boston (born approx. 1821) of Washington County is one of my 3rd great-grandmothers. I suspect she may have been related to the Boston family of Piney Woods, NC (Martin & Washington counties), based on one of my 23andMe matches. [View descendants]
- Bullock – Lawrence (b. approx. 1827) & Chanie Bullock (approx. 1835-1879) of Edgecombe County are 2nd great-grandparents. They had at least 9 kids that I am aware of. Their daughter Gracy, wife of Andrew D. McNair is my ancestor. [View descendants]
- Lennon – I have two Lennon lineages. The first is the family of Council (b. approx. 1839) & Elizabeth Abigail Lennon (b. approx. 1843) of Columbus County, NC. Council had about 8 children with Elizabeth. With his second wife, Jannie, he had at least 7 more children. [View descendants]
- Lennon – my second Lennon lineage is the family of Josh & Barbary Lennon (b. approx. 1820) of Columbus County, NC. Their son John Lennon, married the daughter of Council & Elizabeth, Etta. [View descendants]
- McNair – Rufus Tannahill McNair (1823-1910) and Mariah Wimberly (1843-1903) are my earliest known among this line. Rufus was likely a slave of Dr. Augustus Harvey McNair of Edgecombe County. Mariah was the daughter of Allen and Della (Battle) Wimberly. Della was a slave of Kemp Plummer Battle (former president of UNC) and Allen was likely the slave of Richard Wimberly. Mariah’s brother, Dred Wimberly, was the first black man to sit on the NC State Senate. The McNair family moved from Edgecombe to Washington County at the beginning of the 20th century. [View descendants]
- Robinson – William Robinson & Rebecca Toon of Columbus County, NC were 2nd great-grandparents. William was the son of Bob Robinson and wife Hagar. William’s son Lewis was my great-grandfather. [View descendants]
- Walker – Prince Walker (1812-1899) & Lovey Boston (b. approx. 1821) of Edgecombe & Washington counties are 2nd great-grandparents. They had at least 8 kids and their son Anthony is my direct ancestor. [View descendants]
Paternal Surnames
- Bryant – I have no information about the family of my ancestor Susan Bryant (born 1839) of Craven County. She was the wife of Stephen Donald. [View descendants]
- Cox – I descend from Robert Cox Sr. (1835-1908) & wife Amanda (b. abt. 1838) of Craven County, North Carolina. [View Robert & Amanda Cox descendants].
- Donald – Violetta Donald (1860-1933), wife of Edward Kilpatrick, was the daughter of Stephen Donald and Susan Bryant. Family information states that Violetta was part Native-American but I’ve not been able to independently confirm. Stephen & Susan had at least 7 children. [View descendants]
- Gooding – Mimi Gooding (1835-1915), of Craven County, wife of Silas Kilpatrick. She and Silas had at least 12 children; their son Edward is my ancestor. [View descendants]
- Harvey – Clayton Harvey (1830-1922) of Craven County, my 2nd great-grandfather, was the son of Louis Dougherty and Malsey Harvey. Clayton was the father of my ancestor Mary Maggie Harvey. [View descendants]
- Holloway – Thomas Holloway & wife Phillis of Wayne County, NC were 3rd great-grandparents. They had at least 12 kids that I know of. Their son Thomas Jr., my ancestor, married Polly Hood. They moved to Craven County. [View descendants]
- Hood – Polly Hood, my 2nd great-grandmother, was likely born in Wayne County and I do not know her parents. Family information states that her father was white. Polly’s mother’s name was Caroline. [View descendants]
- Kilpatrick – the furthest back I can go on my Kilpatrick lineage is to a former slave named Silas Kilpatrick of Craven County, NC. Silas was born around 1820’s ish & married “Mimi” Gooding. [View descendants]. We believe Silas to be a slave of Warre Kilpatrick.
- Koonce – my research takes me back to James Koonce & wife Isaraiah(sp?) of Jones & Craven counties in NC. [View descendants]. They may have been owned by the white Koonce family of Jones County (JCB or Calvin Koonce).
- Lawhorn – my earliest Lawhorn ancestor is Valentine Lawhorn (b. 1830) & wife Harriet (b. abt. 1843) of Craven County, North Carolina. [View descendants]
Last Updated: February 23, 2020
Hi Taneya,
I’m (unfortunately) descended from Magruder slaveholders in Maryland and Virginia. I’ve got lots of information about my genealogy, but of course none about my possible black relatives. I found several African American people online who have oral history that they are descended from a slave woman and a white Magruder. One wrote to me today and said that he is descended from a Susan Bryant and a Magruder, but he doesn’t know which one. He thinks the Magruder was born in 1810 and Susan was born in 1816. I saw a Susan Bryant on your family tree and wonder if it’s the same one.
Hoping to find my African American cousins!
Let me know. Thanks,
Jill
Hi Jill,
I’ll email you. Thanks!
Hi Taneya,
I stumbled upon your blog looking for information about my ancestors in Dover, Craven County, North Carolina. I didn’t see any surnames that matched so I moved on with my search and absetn mindedly left the tab open.
While on Ancestry.com I found a 1900 census that listed my ancestors, Laura & Caleb Johnson, who were 30 & 35 years old at the time. I also saw Bethema Koonce listed in their household. She was 15 years old and listed as a lodger. The name Koonce rang a bell and then I remembered I saw it on your blog.
I don’t know if/how Bethema Koonce is pertinent to your family tree but I wanted to pass along this small tidbit of information just in case she is a part of your family tree.
Hi Marcia – how funny that you would see the Koonce name after having just visited my site. Cool! I don’t know the name of Bethema, but I will certainly take a look. In addition to my own Koonce family, I also work on the family trees of other Koonces so I will see if I can find out more about Bethema and her family. Thanks for the tip. Have you been able to find good information on your own family from Dover? It’s such a small community that I’m sure our families knew each other 🙂
The 1900 census is about as far back as I have gone. I keep hitting a wall where I can’t go back any further. 🙁
Maybe I need to expand my search and go to the national archives to find more infromation.
Dover is so tiny that it’s impossible that our families didn’t know each other.lol. I’m from DC so going down to Dover for family reunions is always a culture shock because the town is so small and so quiet. Do you still have family in Dover? Or has everyone moved elsewhere?
I do still have some family there. 🙂 It is my hope to get back for a real research visit and spend more time with the relatives that I do have there.
marciaj87 Laura and Caleb Johnson of Dover, NC are my ancestors too. I have not gotten past 1900 as of yet either. It looks like we may be related.
Jeannie – that’s awesome!
Thanks Taneya! You have a great blog. Good luck with your research.
Jeannie, the possibility of you checking this is probably low since it has been so long since you last commented. But it is cool that we might be related! If you do see this, we should exchange email addresses so we can compare notes.