I am in the process of reviewing, sorting, and organizing new information. A HUGE thanks to everyone who has sent me information about different Vess family lines and history!

This is what I have gathered so far (off the top of my head).

• Peter, Nathan, and John certainly exist, but their relation to one another is still not known.
• Peter and Nathan are closely related per Ancestry DNA, but there is no documentation (probates, census records, family bibles, or anything) confirming their exact relation to each other.
• Peter was born in North Carolina.
• Nathan was born in South Carolina.
• Y-Chromosome DNA is connecting our family (Peter and Nathan) to a Willis Vess (Vest) of Alabama whose father is John Vess who is supposedly from North Carolina. The relation between Peter, Nathan, and Willis is not known.
• John Vess maybe an older ancestor (maybe a father or uncle to Peter and Nathan) for that his descendants from his generation do not show up on Ancestry.com. Ancerstry.com can only take us back 6-7 generations. [For me, that barely picks up Peter’s generation]
• There is a pocket of “Vess” family in Patrick County, Virginia that does not seem to have any kind of relation to the Virginia VEST family.
• There is a John Vess from Patrick County, VA who migrated to Texas in 1820 with Elizabeth Heron.
• There is a Peter and Samuel Vess of Patrick County, VA who seem to have connections with the Vaughn family. Willis Vess’s mother is supposedly Margaret Vaughn.
• Y-Chromosome DNA suggests a strong family relation with the HAYES, JONES, and TRAVERS families.
  

I feel like we have research on two ends of the timeline and we are trying to figure out how they meet in the middle.

I am putting the Vess family of Virginia aside and continuing my research on close neighbors and family members related to Peter and Nathan. Interestingly, the search has led me back to Surry County, NC.

A few months ago, the names of soldiers listed above meant nothing to me; but today, they are very significant.

SKIDMORE, POINDEXTER, EAPERSON, SPRINKLE, BAGLEY, COOK, PHILIPS, and MORELAND have connections with William Tunwell VEST through his son Issac VEST. Several men on this list married William Tunwell VEST’S grand-daughters.

Issac VEST is shown living in Wilkes County. Many of the soldiers listed above do not live in Surry County, but are a mix of residents from surrounding counties (including Wilkes). Although I cannot find Peter VEST on census anywhere around or in Surry County, I did find a BELLEW family in Wilkes County. Nathan’s wife is Clarinda BELLEW and they eventually settled in Glassy Mountain, Greenville, South Carolina.

I have a feeling that our family were “boarders” and likely lived with other families as they migrated down to the Carolinas (I mean, that is one possible explanation for the lack of records on them).

For right now, I will be investigating Wilkes county and its surrounding counties a little further. Probate records, so far, have been the most valuable source of connecting families together. Unfortunately, probate records are not perfectly indexed and require thorough reading to find other families. Super fun!

Have information to share? Please feel free to share it with us in the comment section below.
Thanks! 🙂