In my ongoing mission to seek the paternal lineage of Kalonji’s great-grandfather, Champ McClellan, I am another step closer tonight. My suspicion is that Champ is descended from a white slaveholder of his family – William Blount McClellan (1798-1881) – I like to call him “WB.”
Thanks to the generosity of one of WB’s direct-male descendants, I now know WB’s yDNA STR markers and haplogroup. WB’s descendant tested as part of the FamilyTree DNA McClellan Project.
I don’t have a yDNA sample from the right person in Kalonji’s family yet for comparison, but the DNA testing has yielded some insight into the lineage of WB. Until today, all I knew is that WB was a grandson of Capt. William McClellan of Loundon County, Virginia and I had no other information about the Captain’s parents, but that the family came from Ireland or Scotland. With the matches to others in the McClellan project, we now have more relatives for WB.
WB’s markers match in 36 out of 37 locations to 4 other individuals in the project so far:
- Kit #129602 – descends from John McClellan and his wife Jane Lynch who were both born about 1798 in Ireland and immigrated to New York about 1820.
- Kit #N72978 – descends from Samuel McClelland who was born about 1806 in Ireland and his wife Margaret. This family lived in Canada in 1871.
- Kit #183073 – descended from Archelaus D McLeland who was born about 1799 in SC and relocated to Adams Co, MS by 1818 and then to Simpson Co, MS. His wife was Nancy Pratt and they relocated to LA before 1843 and to TX in the 1850’s.
- Kit #193494 – descends from Samuel McClellan, most likely a brother of ArchelausD McLeland. This kit is a 37/37 marker match for Kit #183073.
Not having known anything else about the Captain’s family lineage, this is interesting as all these matches trace back to Ireland or Scotland at some point. I found an article that indicates WB’s ancestors came from Scotland, so I’ll have to verify if I can. I have no familiarity with working with Irish records, but if Kalonji’s cousin’s yDNA turns out to match these individuals, I may very quickly gain some experience! More to come in a few more months.
This is great news Taneya I look forward to hearing more as this develops.
Yes, I will definitely be sharing more as I learn it. Thanks Terrence. 🙂
Taneya, I don’t know if you are still pursuing this, but I am a descendant of this family also via the Cane Hill Arkansas branch. I am the great, great grandson of WB’s younger brother Evan White. This family is also heavily connected to the Wallace and Rutherford families which trace back to Scottish and Irish royals and nobility. My great grandfather Charles McClure also married a half Cherokee woman so we are very tied to the Oklahoma Cherokee Nation. I can give you some other sources if you want to exapand your research. Please e-mail me or find me on facebook.
I’m pretty sure that I am somehow related – I have heard stories from my father that our slave owner was a rich man in Talladega, and apparently he treated his slaves very well, not only did he have African slaves, he had Native Americans on his property as well. Apparently he left land to some – I don’t even know how to begin to start my search, but am interested in any tips, or if I can offer any information.