John Vess (b. 1820) is the son of Peter Vess and Catherine Crook in Rutherford County, NC. He married Elizabeth Taylor and had 5 children together: Sarah, Silas, Mary, Sophrona, and William.

In 1854, Elizabeth announced her divorce to John Vess in the newspaper, stating he was an out-of-state resident. She married Joshua Souther in Henderson County, NC, the same day she announced her divorce in the newspaper.

A newly discovered record, reveals that Silas and Mary Vess, “orphans of John Vess,” were bound to Joshua Souther in 1855.

This suggests John Vess either died or is long gone from the state of North Carolina!

We do not know where John Vess went after 1850.

There is some speculation that he is one of the three John Vess families in Abbeville County, South Carolina, while there is some speculation that he is John P. Vess in Franklin County, Alabama who is not only the same age at John Vess in North Carolina, but also doesn’t appear in Alabama until 1860.

John Vess as John P. Vess would make those mysterious close shared DNA matches between me (a descendant of Peter Vess) and the Alabama Vess family (connecting to Tennessee Simmons/ Dodson family) make better sense, since John P. Vess married Louisa F. Simmons, who I believe is Louisa F. Dodson, former wife of Zachariah T. Simmons in Tennessee.

Remarkably, by arranging my shared DNA matches to the Alabama Vess family to match their suggested relationship to me on Ancestry’s family tree, strongly suggests that Willis Vess or John P. Vess is the son of Peter Vess.

Unfortunately, just because it would make sense, doesn’t mean it’s accurate.

We need more DNA testing and genealogical records to further explore the relationship between both Vess families.

Resource:

“Buncombe, North Carolina, United States records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-898W-Q995-2?view=fullText : Feb 24, 2025), image 639 of 965; North Carolina. Division of Archives and History.