Family stories are one of those things genealogists love, but are discouraged to use in their research, due to the fact family stories are not always accurate, most of the time exaggerated, or made up entirely. But, I am not like most genealogists…I’d like to believe that family stories still contain some ounce of truth, even if it’s hidden deep behind the fluff.

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A long time ago, a descendant of David Andrew Vess (Peter Vess and Catherine Crook line), shared with me a fascinating story about how the Vess family followed and adored a red-headed outlaw.

We were discussing O’Donnell-Vess, which you may have seen on some Vess family trees online. I was told that “O’Donnell -Vess came over from Ireland with an O’Neil, and that our Vess family followed and adored a red-headed outlaw (Mac Hugh or something, named for his red hair).”

Red Hugh O’Donnell

We now know Peter’s family was heavily influenced by his wife’s side of the family, who were of Irish and Scottish descent. Her Irish father, John Crook, would have certainly passed down the story of The Nine Years’ War (1693-1603), involving the O’Donnell’s and the O’Neill’s.

“Red Hugh O’Donnell,” was a real person from Donegal Ireland. He was rivals against the O’Neill family from Tyrone, Ireland. Red Hugh was in-prisoned by an English Lord in Dublin Castle, but later escaped with the help of the O’Neill family.

This story is significant, in the fact, that it teaches the next generation, to stand up for what is theirs, even if they lose everything; symbolizing pride and survival.

It appears, that at some point, the Vess and Crook family stories merged, and we got the “three Vess brothers from Ireland.”

While Jonathan, Peter, and Nathaniel Vess did exist, and genealogical records suggest they might have been brothers, we can safely say, through Y-DNA testing, that the Vess family is not of Irish descent, but of Norman/English descent.

John A. Murrell – The Great Western Land Pirate

Although O’Donnell and O’Neill were officially declared “outlaws” by the English Crown during the Nine Years’ War during the 16th century, there is no evidence to suggest they had a direct connection to a Vess family.

In 1835, a pamphlet titled, “A History of the Detection, Conviction, Life and Designs of John A. Murel, the Great Western Land Pirate,” began circulating through newspapers, documenting a man named Virgil A. Stewart and his experiences with a William “Vess,” who Virgil A. Stewart claimed was an associate of John A. Murrell a.k.a, The Great Western Land Pirate.

You can read more about that here: William Vess and The Great Western Land Pirate .

This widely circulated conspiracy, may have largely influenced the Vess family story that our “Vess family followed and adored a red-headed outlaw,” as there was a “Vess” connected to the conspiracy of John A. Murrell, an outlaw, who just so happened to be a red-headed, who historians say had “followers,” not gangs, who sympathized with him.

Whether the Vess family actually knew William Vess, or if he had been a relative, is still under investigation.

Oral Traditions

I love oral traditions and this is still one of my favorite Vess family stories, even if it might have been influenced by an Irish tradition and an American bandit.

But, who knows…maybe there is an O’Donnell-Vess I have yet to find, that was the true basis of this Vess family story.