Vess Family DNA Project

Untangling Virginia’s VEST Families

/ J. V. / 1 Comment

We so badly want to connect our VESS family to William Tunwell VEST of Stokes County, North Carolina; mostly, because it seems to be the only thing that makes the most sense!

While researching Willis Vess in Alabama, I took a slight detour back to the VEST family of Virginia, because I discovered a VEST family 2 counties east of Willis Vess taunting me with records as early as 1818. I had to figure out who they were.

Long story short, I searched for every early VEST record I could find in Virginia and started plotting them on a map. Then, with the help of Y-DNA information provided by a fellow researcher, I started the process of elimination. The final results surprisingly revealed another VEST / VESS family!

Why Does William Tunwell Vest Seem Like A Connection?

Despite having BEST, VOSS, and VASS families also in North Carolina to consider, I was hoping there was a connection with William Tunwell VEST; mostly, because he makes the most sense for the time, place, and names.

Peter Vess
Peter Vess of Rutherford County, NC was born between 1791-1794 in North Carolina and most of his records are found under the “VEST” surname; except for the 1830 census (Voss) and his 1831 land record (Vess).

After his death sometime before 1844, the “VEST” surname continued with his wife Catherine and their sons, as shown in Bill’s Creek Baptist Church: Two Hundred Year History, by Helen M. Lu. It wasn’t until 1849, when the “Vess” surname really stuck, in both census and church records. Therefore, it is easy to assume that Peter maybe connected to the VEST family.

We were even 100% confident that we had discovered his connection with the VEST family when we found a Surry County War of 1812-1814 record listing a “Peter VEST.” Not only is Surry County right next to Stokes County in North Carolina, but also the names of the other soldiers listed with Peter VEST seem to have connections with the grandchildren of William Tunwell VEST through his son Isham VEST. Because there doesn’t appear to be any VEST families in Surry County, the VEST family next door (in Stokes County) seems like a good fit.

A possible connection to William Tunwell VEST became even more enticing when records for Peter Vess suggested his father may have been named John Vess (1831 Rutherford Co. land grant record). According to the Last Will and Testament of William Tunwell VEST (1812), he just so happens to have a son named John VEST!

Willis Vess
William Tunwell Vest also seems like a potential ancestor to Willis Vess.

Willis Vess was born in North Carolina (abt) 1810, supposedly to “John Vess and Maragaret Vaughn” who are said to have also been born in North Carolina. Because William Tunwell VEST had a son named John VEST, it appeared there could be a connection; however, John VEST married Eliza RAY (not Margaret Vaughn). Of course, John could have been married twice, but records show us that John VEST (despite who he was married to) appears to have been living in North Carolina (or Indiana-whichever source you pick) during the time that the father of Willis Vess was living in Alabama; therefore they must not be the same person.

Nathan Vess
Interestingly, there haven’t been any plausible ideas between William Tunwell Vest and Nathan Vess. Because Nathan was born in South Carolina, one could possibly conclude he is Peter’s cousin rather than his brother. So, Nathan’s lack of connection to the VEST family in Stokes County, NC never really seemed like such a big deal.

The VEST & VESS Families Are Not Related

According to information from FamilytreeDNA.com, the VEST and VESS families are not related! In fact, they don’t even share the same Haplogroup!

The descendants of John Daniel VEST (VEST family of Virginia) belong to Haplogroup-I, whereas the descendants of Willis Vess and Andrew Logan Vess (our VESS family) belong to Haplogroup- R (R1a). That’s quite a distance from each other on the Y-Haplogroup tree.


So, we can pretty much eliminate any VEST family related to John Daniel Vest as being possible ancestors, including William Tunwell VEST of Stokes County, North Carolina.

I was holding onto William Tunwell VEST for a long time, just in case; however, I eventually discovered that he is the son of John Daniel VEST.

In the Last Will and Testament of John Daniel Vest (1765) of Chesterfield County, Virginia, John names his wife “Ann Vest” (likely Charolette Ann Bakes) as well as his 7 children: “John Vest, Valentine Vest, Elizabeth Vest, James Vest, George Vest, Phillip Vest, and William Tunwell Vest.”
[Transcribed by Sandra Lake Lassen March 1993 – Ancestry.com]

By the way, I discovered the VEST family near Willis Vess in Alabama are descendants of John Daniel Vest through George Washington Vest– so, no relation to Willis Vess.

Mapping VEST Families

Instead of trying to untangle the many different branches of the VEST family, I decided it would be better to us their records to plot them all on a map. During this process, I came to discover that a lot of VEST families do seem to be descendants of John Daniel Vest and Charolette Ann Bakes. The family appears to have originated from Chesterfield and Powhatan County, VA and then migrated westward into Bedford County, then down into Franklin and Floyd Counties, before conquering the rest of the United States.

After finishing my map, two VESS/VEST families who do not seem to have any connection with the John Daniel Vest family stood out!

The Map
The counties [below] highlighted in red contain VEST records.
The counties marked with an X have records that strongly suggest a relationship with John Daniel Vest. And, the counties left, with no X, have records with both the VESS and VEST surname.

This map is not 100% accurate. It is very likely that there are areas and families I missed; especially, since documentation of these VESS-VEST families is scarce and require deep digging into Virginia archives. The purpose of this map is to see if we could identify any “separate” families, such as those using the VESS surname.

Exploring VESS/VEST Families

Rockbridge County and Patrick County, Virginia are the only two counties where I have found records with the VESS name and families whose records seem to use the VESS and VEST surname interchangeably, and interestingly, neither of them seem to have any records that suggest (at this time) they are connected to the John Daniel Vest family! So, who are they and do they have any connection to our VESS family?

VESS/VEST family of Rockbridge, Virginia

According to my ancestral DNA, I have distant DNA-relatives who are descendants of Addison Vess of Rockbridge County, Virginia through my VESS line. My project, of course, could be flawed as the connection could be distant, possibly connected between different families related to Addison Vess.

However, I used the same search method again for the VEST name and more DNA-relatives came up; all related to Vess families in Rockbridge, VA.   I did not get any DNA-relatives descending from the John Daniel Vest family.

The Vest/Vess family living in Rockbridge are found near Colliers Creek and Kerrs Creek.  Library of Congress  Looking at this map [below], there are family surnames that I recognize from bits and pieces of my research on the Vess family: Hostetter, Ailstock, Noel, Morris, and Tolly, and Armstrong.



William, Peter, & Samuel VESS/VEST of Patrick County

As mentioned in a previous post, “What We Know So Far,” we recently discovered a Vess/Vest family in Patrick County, Virginia who we have no idea (like the Rockbridge family) as to whether they are related to the VESS or VEST family (perhaps neither).

I was provided a list of land deeds for Patrick County, Virginia (1791-1801) to compare to the residents in Tryon County, North Carolina (1769-1779) to see if there was any kind of connection. Unfortunately, I did not find anything significant, for that Tryon County records are much older than the Patrick County records and it just wouldn’t make sense that families would travel so far south just to end back up North. I guess they could have, but probably unlikely during a time when families were migrating out west and down south.

The records we find in Patrick County, Virginia include a William, Peter, and a Samuel Vess (VEST/VOSS) who lived on the border of Patrick County and Henry County (as shown on the map below) in Bull Mountain, North Mayo River, and Koger Creek, just below Franklin County, Virginia. 

These records also show family surnames that I recognize from bits and pieces of my research on the Vess family: Duncan, Dodson, Willis, Watson, Reynolds, Sharp, Hooker, and Randal.



HAIRSTON & PENN Families: A Little Local History
While researching some of the families on this deed list, I discovered that the HAIRSTON and PENN families (both on the deed list) have a bit of history in the area.

George HAIRSTON built Beaver Creek Plantation which was a tobacco plantation and a very large slave-trading post in Martinsville, VA (east of Koger Creek in Henry Co.).  He served under Col. Abraham PENN who was the original owner of the land that George Hairston built his plantation on (using a royal grant).  The PENN family built “Poplar Grove” plantation in Patrick County, VA near Patrick Springs (west of North Mayo River).  And both HAIRSTON and PENN families married into the STOVALL family- all connected.  

There appears to be several plantations in the area, all of which utilized slaves and indentured servants. Indentured servants generally had a 7 year contract and in return for their service, their masters often granted them land. Looking at records on Patrick County, VA Genweb, we find deed records referred to an “Indenture,” where land was transferred to the “apprentice” after all debts and terms of their contract have been satisfied.

Jonathan William Vess of Texas: Koger Creek
According to the deed list, William Vess/Vest is shown near a Herron/ Heron family and as previously known, marriage records show Elizabeth Herron having married Johnathan William Vess in 1791 in Patrick County, Virginia. Johnathan William Vess and Elizabeth Heron traveled with Stephen F. Austin from Missouri to Texas (Republic of Texas) during the 1820’s. This William Vess/Vest on the Patrick County deed list may either be Jonathan himself or perhaps his father.

Peter Vess and William Vess/Voss: North Mayo River
According to the deed list, west of Koger Creek are residents of the North Mayo River which includes Peter Vess, William Vess/Voss, Samuel Vess, William Willis, and William Sharp.

This Vess/Voss family is most interesting for that we see them with the Willis, Dodson, and Sharp families (family surnames that are also found in Franklin County, Alabama with Willis Vess).

To make things even more interesting, we found a 1785 marriage record for Peter Vess and Pugnance Vaughn in Henry County. (Henry County is next to Patrick County, and there was a time when both counties were one, called Patrick-Henry County)

Also discovered, is a 1793 Patrick County, Virginia deed record (via John DUNCAN) referencing, Peter Vess and his wife Margaret.

What is interesting about this, is that according to Anna Popejoy, the parents of Willis Vess were John Vess and Margaret Vaughn. To this day, we do not know where she got this information; however, we are now wondering, if this is them.

Perhaps their full names were John Peter Vess and Pugnance Margaret Vaughn??? Also note, that the brother of Willis Vess is supposedly “John Peter Vess,” perhaps he was a John Peter Vess Jr.?

In addition, records also show land transactions between Peter Vess and Samuel Vess via John Duncan. At the bottom of this particular deed list (with Peter and Samuel), you will also find a Whitlock family.

Are These VESS/VEST Families Related

It is plausible that the Rockbridge VESS/VEST family and the Patrick County VESS/VEST families are related to each other, for that records of the Patrick County family (earliest record 1785) come before the records of the Rockbridge family (earliest record 1818); suggesting one of the Vess members may have migrated to Rockbridge, Virginia from Patrick County, Virginia.

It has also been observed that Samuel Vess of Patrick County, Virginia disappeared before Peter and William Vess; which makes us wonder if he is (or is related to) Samuel Harvey Vess of Rockbridge, Virginia (1830 records).

We do not know if they are genetically related to the our Vess family; however, genealogical records seem to support some kind of connection.

Full Recap

  • The Vest family of Virginia and our Vess family are not related (two separate Haplogroups).
  • There is no genetic relationship between our Vess family and William Tunwell Vest in Stokes County, North Carolina.
  • Maps reveal a separate VESS/VEST family residing in Rockbridge and Patrick County, Virginia. It is not yet know if these two VESS/VEST families are related, but it is plausible considering the record dates.
  • We have likely discovered the families of Jonathan William Vess and Elizabeth Heron (of Republic of Texas) in Patrick County, Virginia on Koger Creek.
  • We have discovered that there is a Peter, Samuel, and William VESS/VOSS on the North Mayo River with a Willis, Sharp, and possibly a Whitlock family.
  • The area in which we find these families in Patrick County, has a history of plantations and records that suggest some of the land owners were once indentured servants.
  • Many family surnames found in both Rockbridge and Patrick County, Virginia are familiar names seen elsewhere in Vess family research; especially, regarding Peter and Willis Vess.

No definite conclusions can be made at this time; however, these new discoveries seem promising!
It appears that a new chapter in Vess Genealogy has just begun!

If you are or know someone who is a male descendant with the VESS or VEST surname, please consider participating in Y-DNA testing through FamilytreeDNA.com to help us unravel the mysteries of the VESS family!

Again, a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has shared their findings with me on the Vess name in effort to piece together VESS family history!
















Analyzing Ancestral DNA: Vess Genealogy

/ J. V. / 1 Comment

Vess Genealogy has been stuck at a massive roadblock for generations.
In my opinion, I believe there was a name change.

Records do exist. Either we are missing the places they might be (due to county changes) or we are overlooking records, because the surname is indexed wrong due to illegible handwriting.

Our ancestors lived in an area during a time where county lines were constantly changing, which means there are probably some counties that we may never in a zillion years ever think to look for records.

The biggest reason I believe records do exist is because so many other early families of western North Carolina have a paper-trail.

Okay, it is not exactly the neatest of paper-trails for that when you get into early records (early 1800’s and back), surnames are really butchered (horribly misspelled) to the point that even if you squint and look at it sideways, it might (if you shout it from a distance with a little echo) sound phonetically similar to the surname that it was meant to be. So, in most cases, it is the content that usually confirms the persons identity more so than the indexed surname linked to the record.

My point is, if a good portion of early families in the same area have records, there is a good chance the Vess family also has records. Unfortunately, there are too many different surname variants and counties to explore. If we want to move forward a little faster, perhaps genetic genealogy can help us.


Check out this cool video below – A North Carolina dialect that evolved independently due to isolation since the 1600’s. If that is anywhere close to what our ancestors used to talk like, no wonder names were horribly misspelled.

What Is Genetic Genealogy

It is my understanding, as I am 100% new to this, that genetic genealogy is a new approach to tackling difficult ancestors who do not want to be found.

Instead of digging through dusty old archives for records to make family connections, we can now make family connections with the help of DNA relatives. Unfortunately, the name of our stubborn ancestors are not embedded into our DNA, but DNA-relatives can point us in the direction, like a compass, to locate genealogy records that might help us identify a common ancestor.

Essentially, the idea is to use both methods (DNA and records) together to quickly and more accurately make new connections on the family tree.

Y-Chromosome DNA Testing is GOLD

Y-Chromosome DNA testing is gold, but without a lot of participants, it can also be lead.

Every male descendant carries a gene called a Y-Chromosome. Geneticist’s extract the DNA from the Y-Chromosome, analyze it and assign it to a Y-Chromosome Haplogroup (A-R).

A haplogroup consists of a group of people who share very similar DNA with one another suggesting a single common ancestor. An extremely ancient common ancestor.


The more people who participate in Y-DNA testing, the more these Haplogroups can be broken down into smaller groups called a subclade. Subclades are subgroups of Haplogroups. Assignment is largely based on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP’s), which are specific mutations that correlate to specific paternal lines. Every time a mutation occurs over thousands of years, that genetic line branches off into a new subclade (or so that is my vague understanding of it).

As more DNA is collected and analyzed, the subclade may change; either resulting in grouping more people together into one subclade (moving from one existing subclade to another existing subclade) or having enough new information to create an entirely new subclade.

The VESS family is assigned to Haplogroup R. Haplogroup R has many different branches (subclades).

When members of the VESS family submitted their DNA, a new subclade was created where they were grouped together with the TRAVERS family (we are closely related), and then, when some members of the VESS family completed the BIG-Y Chromosome test (a more in-depth analysis), the VESS family was later assigned a new subclade although still grouped together with the TRAVERS family. This suggests a mutation.

It is interesting that our group has two different surnames and it kind of makes you wonder who came first: TRAVERS or VESS?

Did a male descendant of the TRAVERS family take the VESS surname, maybe from a step-parent, or was adopted by a VESS family or vice versa. There is also the possibility that our common ancestor could be from a time when surnames didn’t exist. OR we aren’t as closely related as we think and as more people begin to test, the VESS and TRAVERS family might drift apart into two different groups. The only thing I know for sure, is that it is a mystery we cannot solve today.

However, we did identify a new VESS line using Y-Chromosome testing: Willis Vess of Alabama.

The best thing about this DNA database, is that participants often note their oldest known ancestor which gives genealogists a specific location on a map to look for genealogy records. Although we know Andrew Logan Vess and Willis Vess are related, we have yet to determine how they are related to one another on the VESS family tree.

This is what I mean by Y-Chromosome DNA testing being gold but also lead. It has the potential to unravel many VESS mysteries, but without more participants, those mysteries will remain in the dark.

Male descendants carrying the VESS surname or one similar to it (VASS, VOSE, VOSS, VEST, VAUX, etc) are greatly encouraged to participate in Y-DNA testing through Familytreedna.com as there might be a genetic connection.

Autosomal DNA Testing

While Y-Chromosome DNA testing is a more direct route to identifying our paternal ancestors, autosomal DNA testing is more or less like taking the scenic route.

Y-Chromosome DNA tests provide you a much bigger genealogical timeline of just one paternal line that dates back to ancient times, whereas ancestral DNA tests are autosomal, which means they only go back 6-8 generations and is saturated by DNA-relatives on both sides of the family (paternal and maternal lines).

For me, my DNA-relatives related to the VESS line would mainly consist of descendants of Andrew Logan Vess (my third great-grandfather-6th gen). It would just barely (if at all) pick up DNA-relatives descending from Peter, Nathan, and Willis Vess or even their parents. It greatly depends on how many of their descendants have submitted an ancestral DNA test and just how far they descend down the Vess-family line.

With an 8-generation family tree, a DNA test by my mom, and access to DNA information provided by a close family member who is a generation older than me, I have been able to identify DNA-relatives specifically connected to the VESS family line via a lengthy tedious process of elimination.

Fortunately, my mom’s DNA test does half the work for me by identifying DNA-relatives on her side of the family. Then, I look at shared DNA relatives with the family member who is a generation older than me to further identify DNA-relatives that are most likely VESS-related. Because this family member is a generation older than me, their DNA test would detect more DNA-relatives, those who are too distant to be detected by my DNA test.

Any DNA-relative with less than a cM count of 8, do not make it onto the DNA-relatives list (it’s too distant), even though there is a relation on the family tree. In theory, it would probably be best to have our grandparents do an ancestral autosomal DNA test.
cM (centimorgan)= the amount of shared DNA.

My Search Method

I started by making a list of DNA-relatives who carry the VESS name. Next, I made a list of DNA-relatives with the VESS name who also have a public VESS family tree. Lastly, I made a list of DNA-relatives who do not carry the VESS name, but have a public family tree showing they descend (at one point) from a VESS family member.

For each DNA-relative listed, I noted their oldest known ancestor (some I had to research a bit) and I also had to check their shared-relatives list to make sure they didn’t share DNA with my mom (which was the most time consuming part).

My Discoveries

At a glance, autosomal ancestral DNA tests tell us nothing; except, we have a lot of cousins. But after an extensive process of elimination, then entering the information into a spreadsheet, and finally organizing the information from closest DNA-relatives to most distant DNA-relatives does it actually start to get interesting.

1) As expected, majority of our shared DNA-relatives are descendants of Andrew Logan Vess.

2) As you scroll down towards more distant DNA-relatives, we start to see connections with Willis Vess. Based on this, we can probably confidently say that Willis and Peter Vess are very closely related.

3) Willis Vess seems closer to us than Nathan Vess; which may suggest Nathan’s line has either ended or not many of his descendants have done an ancestral DNA test.

4) Also as expected, the autosomal DNA tests just barely detect DNA-relatives who are descendants of Josiah, Alfred, and Alexander Vess (brothers of Andrew Logan Vess).

5) Interestingly, there are a few DNA-relatives whose oldest VESS ancestor is one I do not recognize:

–Susan Ann Elizabeth VESS (b. 1856 Rutherford Co. NC) and Columbus MCGINNIS
*connected to Ledbetter tree and father is noted as Thomas William VEST of Tennessee

–Elizabeth Louise VESS (b. abt 1845 North Carolina) and William LANNING (marriage Henderson, NC)

–Everline VESS and James STEWART (marriage Colbert, Alabama)

–James Marvin VESS (b. 1853 South Carolina) and Sallie Octavia SPRUELL

**One of the Elizabeth’s might be the daughter of Peter Vess

6) But even more interesting are DNA-relatives whose oldest VESS ancestor is Addison Vess/Vest.

You would think this is a solid connection to the VEST family of Virginia, but if you look at the family trees for Addison VESS/VEST, they are not well documented and there is no consistency with Addison’s children or parents, which is a RED FLAG in genealogy.

Final Conclusions

I am not an expert, so please keep in mind my search method could be flawed and thus the information within this post could be highly inaccurate.

We still do not have enough information to find new ancestors, but we do have enough genetic evidence to start digging deeper into the life of Willis Vess without wondering whether or not we are wasting our time. Yes, Y-Chromosome testing confirmed he is related to Peter Vess, but autosomal DNA testing suggests the relation is much closer than we think.

Also, we might want to start to investigate Addison VESS/VEST for that his name appeared quite consistently in the chart below. The reason he showed up, is because his descendants some how took on the VESS name rather than keeping the VEST name like other VEST families; in which I think is intriguing. Why did this particular VEST line evolve into a VESS line?

Well, I guess we better start digging!! 🙂

What We Know So Far – Vess Genealogy

/ J. V. / 3 Comments

Happy New Year!

Let’s start the New Year by reviewing what we know so far about the so-called three brothers from Ireland.

But first, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has provided me information about their family history, lineage, and research!

The Three Brothers

According to our VESS family story, we descend from three brothers from Ireland: Jonathan, Peter, and Nathan (Nathaniel) Vess. However, records seem to tell a different story…

Records tell us that Jonathan, Peter, and Nathan Vess did in fact exist and that they all existed during the same time period (1790-1880); however, we have not yet found any records confirming their exact relationship to one another. Possibly, because they may have not been brothers at all, but perhaps a mix of relatives: 2 brothers and a father, cousins and 1 uncle, or 2 brothers and a grandfather.

The term brothers was often used to refer to any close male relationship: siblings, father, uncle, cousin, close family friend, or church member.


Interestingly, records tell us that Peter and Nathan were born in America (North and South Carolina). According to Nathan’s records, his parents were born in South Carolina. His family possibly lived in Glassy Mountain, Greenville, South Carolina with the Gosnell and Bellew families (who are related to Nathan’s wife, Clarinda Bellew). We have also discovered a new VESS line closely related to Peter, through a Willis Vess, whose records also state his parents were born in North Carolina.

Links to each of their BIO’s: Peter Vess, Jonathan Vess, and Nathan Vess.

If our VESS family does come from Ireland, research greatly suggests that our family arrived in America sometime prior to the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). And perhaps our family story is true, but we are looking at the wrong generation of men whose names were Jonathan, Peter, and Nathan; as it was once common practice that each generation be named after their forefathers.

VESS family in Patrick County, Virginia

We have recently discovered a “VESS” family in Patrick County, Virginia. As to-date, we have not been able to connect them to the prominent “VEST” family of Virginia; giving us hope that this pocket of Vess family is related to our VESS line.

The earliest records with the name “Vess” can be found in Virginia for a Samuel, Peter, Jonathan, and William Vess:

  • Jonathan Vess married Elizabeth Heron in 1792, Patrick County, VA.
    In 1820, Jonathan Vess and his wife Elizabeth migrated to the Republic of Texas [before Texas was a state]. He is written in the Texas history books, not only because he was one of the first families to travel with Stephen F. Austin (state capital is named after), but also the town of Morales, TX was established on his land and his daughter, Mary Lorena Vess, married Sam McCulloch, Jr., who was a Texas war hero and a man of color.
  • We have found Revolutionary War records under the “Vess” name, for a Samuel, Peter, and William Vess. Peter being distinguished as a Corporal.
  • In addition, Patrick County, VA tax records 1790-1799 lists Samuel and Peter “Vess.”
  • Lastly, there is a War of 1812 record for a “Peter Vest” in Surry County, North Carolina. Thus far, we have not been able to connect him to any of the VESS or VEST families in the area; including the nearby VEST family of Stokes County, NC. However, it should be noted that Patrick County, VA is located directly above Surry County, North Carolina. We also cannot confirm that this Peter “Vest” is the same person as our Peter Vess of Rutherford County, North Carolina.


The Discovery of Willis VESS – DNA Connection

I believe the most significant find of last year, for me at least, was discovering another Vess line closely related to Peter and Nathan: Willis Vess of Franklin County, Alabama.

Familytreedna.com


DNA has confirmed Peter, Nathan, and Willis Vess to be closely related; however, we do not know exactly how they are related to one another.

Y-Chromosome DNA on FamilytreeDNA.com has connected Willis and Peter’s line together and it is AncestryDNA.com, that confirms a “close” relationship between the two lines through shared DNA-relatives.

However, I suspect the relationship to be distant, for that I share more DNA-relatives with Nathan’s line than I do with those on Willis’s line. This may suggest that Nathan is likely more closely related to Peter than Willis; with Nathan and Peter as siblings/half-siblings and Willis a possible cousin. However, this could be inaccurate, largely depending on how many descendants on each line have tested through AncestryDNA.com.

Nonetheless, Willis lived during the same time period as Jonathan, Peter, and Nathan, so we can confidently suggest the connection is either through a parent or grandparent. Which brings me to Willis’s father, John Vess, who was supposedly born in North Carolina (1770) and married Margaret Vaughn.

The Vest Family of Virginia and North Carolina

Virginia
South Carolina

Many researchers suggest John Vess (father of Willis VESS) to be the son of William Tunwell Vest of Stokes County, North Carolina; however, I do not believe this to be true. I have researched the Vest family of Virginia and North Carolina extensively and have not found any records connecting the Vess and Vest families together.

William Tunwell Vess had 5 sons, Samuel, William, Charles, Isham, and John. According to my research (which could be wrong, of course), Samuel and William married “Cannifax” sisters, Charles married a “Doty,” Isham married a “Briggs” and a “Page,” and John married a “Ray.” I have not found any DNA relationships with any of their descendants.

If the Vest and Vess lines are related, they must be related distantly.

However, it may be worth looking into a James Harvey Vest, who is said to be born in Patrick County, VA in 1838. He married Rachel Jane Harper and Mary Calhoun. The reason I mention him, is because FamilytreeDNA has a VESS-VEST DNA Project Group, which states they have found a DNA connection with 2 members related to “VESS.”

We do know for a fact that some VESS lines do descend from the VEST family; however, none of those Vess lines seem to connect with our VESS line.

The VOSS Name

I am often told that our name used to be pronounced, “VOSS.”

Interestingly, there is a VOSS family in North Carolina with Greenbury Voss in Casewell County, North Carolina. He was supposedly born in Maryland and died in Pittsylvania, Virginia, having raised his family in Casewell, North Carolina. I truly have not done much research on the Voss family; however, records for this family include the surnames: VOSS, VASS, VESS, and VAUSE.


Greenbruy Vess may be worth looking further into for several reasons:
1) Records can be found with the Vess name.
2) His sons married into the Cook family that is related to the Cook family who attended Bills Creek Baptist Church (late 1800’s).
3) They are supposedly related to the Vause family in Georgia, who were in Georgia when Peter’s son, Alfred Vess, migrated there.
4) There is a Voss related to Greenbury Voss in Alabama (or Tennessee, if I remember correctly) near Willis’s Vess family!
5) Pittsylvania, Virginia is next to Patrick and Henry County, Virginia.
6) The Gonsell family (connected to Nathan) is from Maryland.

Conclusion

In short, there is no final conclusion as there is still more to explore and discover! The information we discovered and collected last year will certainly help us with our genealogy journey.

Any information you would like to share with us to help us with our research, please feel free to post in the comment sections or join our Facebook Group! I absolutely look forward to sharing new genealogy adventures with you!

















Willis Vess: Looking For A Connection

/ J. V. / Leave a comment

With the holidays over, I am ready to tackle this pile of information everyone has provided me about Vess Genealogy!

Surprisingly, what I ended up doing was tossing my entire research book in the trash and starting over!

My research on Peter Vess is complete! Stick a fork in it and call it done (for now, at least).
It is now time to shift my focus towards Nathan and Willis, to see if I can dig deeply into their past as deeply as I have dug into Peter’s past.

I do hope my extensive research on Peter’s neighbors and Nathan’s South Carolina origins, will be helpful in making a possible connection with Willis Vess.

Willis Vess: Scratching The Surface

This weekend, I began to take a deeper look at Willis Vess and stumbled upon research left by genealogist, Anna Popejoy.

I do not know who Anna is (or was) or her connection to Willis VESS, but bits and pieces of her extensive research pops up here and there; especially, in regards to the Whitlock family (perhaps that was her connection). She clearly had a passion for genealogy and (it seems like) history too! Her research intrigues me and I am absolutely eager to discover more!

DNA Confirms A Relation

According to Familytreedna.com (Y-Chromosome Testing), Willis VESS and Peter VESS are indeed related, but where on the family tree do they connect?

Looking at the information above, there is no telling how closely related they may be with one another.

Does Willis share a father with Peter, a grandparent, a great-grandparent, or are they connect through a great-great-great grandparent from across the Atlantic? Hopefully, further research can give us a better idea…

Autosomal DNA testing (like Ancestry DNA and 23andMe) allows us to connect lineages that are “closely” related (5-6 generations back). The older the generation testing, the further back you can go in time.

In theory, if descendants of Willis Vess/Vest appear as shared DNA relatives (Ancestry.com), there is a really good chance that he is pretty close to Peter Vess on the family tree.

Surprisingly, I do have a few descendants of Willis Vess/Vest coming up on my Ancestry DNA matches as 4th-6th cousins. That means we likely share a 3rd, 4th, or 5th grandparent. Which is extremely exciting, for that my fourth great-grandparent on the VESS side is Peter Vess!

But how can I tell for sure he is related to the VESS line?

Well, my half-aunt and my mom did their DNA test too, which allows me to further separate my parents paternal lines and the results I came across are really exciting!!

My Aunt and I share several DNA relatives who are descendants of Willis Vess/Vest, in which my mom does not have any DNA relation with at all- confirming a VESS connection with the Willis VESS/VEST line!

Interestingly, we share 1 DNA relative who is a descendant of John P. Vess, brother of Willis Vess!

I have another DNA relative who is the descendant of Willis Vess through his son Henry Russell Vess, but he/she doesn’t show up as a shared relative on my Aunt’s DNA results; however, this DNA relative has shared matches with other Vess DNA relatives and does-not show up on my mom’s DNA results either.

Because my Aunt is a generation older than me, her DNA is able to pick up an extra generation of descendants and it shows the following:

2 DNA relatives who are descendants of Willis Vess through his sons, John Henry Vess and John Jackson Vess!

The best part, these DNA relatives are also her 4th-6th cousins. That puts Willis Vess very close to Peter Vess on the family tree! Willis and Peter might share a parent or grandparent!

Of course, DNA matches can’t provide us with all the answers we seek; instead, it just kind of points us in a very vague direction.

Too Many Gaps

With another cup of coffee and 50 tabs open on my desktop, I am still digging…

I am trying to build a time-line (just as I did for Peter).
According to records, Willis claims to be born in North Carolina (abt. 1812). He also claims both his parents were born in North Carolina. Interesting.

I have been researching North Carolina families for years and the only VESS/VEST family in North Carolina, on record, during the early 1800’s is William Tunwell VEST and his son John VEST who was born in Virginia (1768), settled in Fortysth, North Carolina, and married Elizabeth Ray. It is unlikely that Willis Vess is the son of William Tunwell Vess/Vest or John VEST. So, I’ve scratched him off the list and put him on the back burner.

There is still the VESS family in Patrick County, Virginia (which is located just above Stokes and Surry County, North Carolina). We might be related through them, but records are super scarce!

BUT, how do you explain Nathan Vess? According to his records, his parents supposedly were born in South Carolina. But, he seems more closely related to Peter than Willis (Perhaps Willis is a 1st cousin?).

And – nothing on Jonathan Vess (the 3rd so-called brother from Ireland). My research is beginning to largely suggest that he was probably an older ancestor (an uncle, father, or even grandfather to Peter and Nathan).

So, many questions!

Moving Backwards to Move Forward

Finding a new VESS line is super exciting!

Of course, I am going to have to do some more research for that I am not familiar with the history of Alabama (home of Willis Vess). In fact, when did people start settling in Alabama?

According to land records, Willis Vess/Vest obtained land as early as 1837 in Franklin County, Alabama (Huntsville area). His father, John Vess, supposedly had a cabin in Mountain Star, Alabama, which is not too far from Huntsville.

Pictured above (circled in red) is likely the area in which John and his son, Willis Vess lived in Franklin County, Alabama. Although this map is from 1908, you can still see many recognizable neighbors from earlier census records, including the Whitlock, Askew, and Willis families.

Help From Anna Popejoy and An Unknown Researcher

While browsing records on Ancestry.com, I stumbled upon an attached document linked to William Whitlock on someone’s family tree, titled, “Genealogy of Lou Pero.” I do not know who Lou Pero is nor does it state the name of the original author of these notes; however, the author noted that “a great deal of my information came from Anna Popejoy…” and this particular note pertained to William Whitlock providing information on when the Whitlocks migrated from Georgia to Alabama.

William Whitlock, is supposedly the father of Talitha Whitlock who is the wife of Willis VESS.

According to these notes, Anna wrote about “a wagon trail out of Georgia, October 10, 1821, to Franklin County, Alabama. Those of the Whitlock’s in the wagon train to were William, Elizabeth, Nathaniel, Hezekiah, and Talitha…” This information came from “Whitlock Gleanings, a genealogy workbook compiled by Thomas Edward Roach, 1984.

This gives us a better idea as to when the Whitlocks came to Alabama! So, my next task, is to determine when and where Willis Vess came from!

I certainly have a lot of research to do!
With a game plan, a starting point, I am super READY!!!








































Vess and West Families are NOT Related

/ J. V. / 3 Comments

Hi Everyone!

Quick post…

My plans to update Vess Genealogy last weekend did not go as planned; however, EXCITING information did pop up in my email from two researchers who have been working on tracing family lines through Y-Chromosome testing!!

Y-Chromosome testing is a very valuable tool for genealogy, for that it can accurately trace parental lineages, but…only if there are enough male participants (only males have Y-Chromosomes) from different descending lines willing to test and share their results.

I have been told that there are no large scale Vess DNA projects out there (like the impressive West Family DNA Project); however, both researchers have introduced me to FamilyTreeDNA.com.

To me, all these haplogroup numbers look like gibberish, but I look forward to learning more about them! Genetics was one of my favorite subjects in college (Biology major), so this should be fun!

If you are a male descendant of the VESS or VEST family, I strongly encourage you to look into doing testing through FamilyTreeDNA.com. If you or someone you know has done Y-Chromosome testing through a different site (or in general), please share with us in the comments below!

I am super excited about this and I absolutely look forward to working with anyone who is willing to share their DNA (Y-Chromosome) results to help make family connections in our family tree!

Together, through DNA and records, I truly believe we can solve many family mysteries!


According to both researchers who emailed me about their Y-Chromosome findings, “the VESS and WEST families are not related!”

For me, this is awesome news that couldn’t have come at a more perfect time!

I had just finished up my research on the WEST family prior to moving and did not have time to update my conclusions on Vess Genealogy, which is that I do not think the two families are related. So, I cannot begin to tell you how exciting it was to get confirmation from two different sources who were able to validate through DNA testing!

The search field for VESS ancestors has shrunk significantly after eliminating the WEST family as possible relatives. As you can see below, the WEST family pretty much dominates the Carolina’s in the early 1800’s. Removing them, leaves us with a smaller search area with the VEST, BEST, and VOSS families.

However, I have not completely shelved the WEST file yet! This is because there are a few (2-3) curious “WEST” names lingering around our family who do not seem to be connected to the well-documented WEST family; suggesting that these few WEST names might be a misspelled surname (perhaps for a VEST, BEST, or VESS ancestor). So, I plan to keep them in mind as I continue my research.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Believe it or not, but I do have a new lead!

Okay, actually, it’s an old lead that has become a new lead since gaining more information from other leads. Still with me?

It’s complicated, but I will explain further in my next post! 🙂

Now that I have a desk again (finished with moving), I hope to be posting way more often!

Are you a descendant of Peter, Nathan, or John Vess – check us out on Facebook:

Vess Genealogy Facebook Group