I was born in Louisiana and lived here until early adulthood, at which time I moved to the East Coast for a number of years to train for and pursue a classical singing career. I was introduced to genealogy in 1998 by my mother when I designed and published a genealogy website for her in my spare time and served as her web editor. I got hooked and have been doing genealogy research since 2001. Over the past several years, I have branched out into genetic genealogy research as well.

I am currently researching my paternal POWELL line (Y-DNA Haplogroup T1a2b/T-L446). This is the Y-DNA-proven line of Thomas POWELL (ca.1630-1701) and Mary PLACE. Most of my brother's Y-DNA matches in the Powell Y-DNA Surname Project descend from Thomas and Mary (Place) Powell's proven son Honorius Powell Sr. and his wife Joyce.

It is yet to be determined from which son of Thomas and Mary's we descend, but Y-DNA proves that we definitely do descend from them. More than likely, we descend from their son Honorias Powell Sr., because in his 1791 Will, my 6th great-grandfather William Powell named one of his sons Honorias -- a name that is unique to Thomas and Mary (Place) Powell's line.

Mary (PLACE) Powell was the daughter of Francis PLACE and his probable wife Honoria (Honor) (MNU) Place Weir Jones. Honoria is believed to have married:

(1) FRANCIS PLACE
(In the Will of Robert CHAMBERS dated 4 Feb 1653/54, Lancaster County, VA, Honoria is named as Honor PLACE (misspelled as Honner Place):
The Will states: ... I give to HONNER [sic. Honor] PLACE for looking to me in my sickness a yearling Heiffer...

Honoria's future husband Maj. John WEIR was named as beloved friend, legatee, and Executor in Robert CHAMBERS's Will. Evidently, Robert was living with John Weir at the time of his death, for he leaves John -- among other things -- the possessions he left at John's house.

(2) MAJ. JOHN WEIR
He owned land adjacent to FRANCIS PLACE, and he witnessed a Deed of Gift from FRANCIS PLACE to his daughters Mary and Margaret PLACE on 11 Aug 1655, Lancaster Co., VA. In his Will dated 7 May 1671, Old Rappahannock County (formerly Lancaster County), Virginia, he names his wife Honoria and his ''daughter-in-law [meaning STEP-daughter] MARGARET WATTS...''; This together with Honoria's 1685 Will proves that Margaret was the daughter of Honoria and a 1ST husband BEFORE 2nd husband John Weir and 3rd husband George Jones. ''To wife Honoria, dower rights. 'To daughter-in-law [meaning STEP-daughter] MARGARET, wife of John WATTS of Potomac R., and hrs., part of a tract of land, 1,108 A., bought of Henry RANDOLPH of Jamestown (½ of sd. tract ... sold to Robert Payne.)'''

(3) GEORGE JONES
He was the Power of Attorney in a land patent with Honorius POWELL Sr. -- proven son of Thomas and Mary (PLACE) Powell.

Mary (PLACE) Powell's sister Margaret PLACE married:
(1) John WATTS and
(2) Abraham BLAGG
Francis PLACE had a daughter named MARGARET PLACE whom he names in a Deed of Gift -- witnessed by his friend and adjacent neighbor Maj. JOHN WEIR/WARE -- to his daughter Mary PLACE: '''in case of ye sd Mary's decease before she arrive [at the age of majority] or marry then ye sd land and cattle aforesd, to devolve to MARGARET PLACE, my youngest Daughter....'; Witnesses: JOHN WARE/WEIR, Vin[cent] Stanford, John Phillips.''; Margaret is named in the Will of her stepfather Col. John WEIR as his stepdaughter Margaret Watts, wife of John WATTS Sr. (She was named as daughter-in-law -- a term commonly used back then to mean either daughter-in-law OR step-daughter; and her husband John WATTS Sr. was named as son-in-law.) In Honoria Place Weir Jones's Will, Margaret is named as daughter Margaret Blagg, wife of Abraham BLAGG. Margaret's son John WATTS Jr. by her first husband John WATTS Sr. is named in Honoria's will as her grandson.

I have proven my POWELL line through both traditional and genetic genealogy research back to my 6th great-grandparents William POWELL (ca. 1725 - 1791) and his wife Ruth (MNU).

William names 10 children in his 1789 Will in Warren County, NC. They are:
1. Honorius (m. Annie Brown)
2. John (m. Mary Whitehurst) -- My 5th g-grandparents
3. James (m. Sarah Myrick)
4. Benjamin (m. Nancy Blount)
5. Edmond (died unmarried)
6. Thomas (m. Sarah Gardner)
7. Amy (m. John Sensing)
8. Elizabeth (m. Giles Davis)
9. Tabitha (m. *Samuel Person -- son of Joseph Person and Ann Jones)
10. Ruth (m. John Shearin III)
(*NOTE: Samuel Person -- son of Joseph and Ann -- had an uncle named Samuel Person whose grand-daughter Priscilla SLEDGE (daughter of James SLEDGE and Rebecca PERSON) married Tabitha (POWELL) Person's nephew James P. POWELL -- my 4th g-gf.)

WILLIAM POWELL SR. also names in his Will his grandson William Willee (or Willis) Powell who is likely the son of a deceased son named William Powell Jr. (d. 1780 Warren Co., NC). A William Wesley Powell is listed as the son of William Powell Jr. in the 1780 estate records of William Powell Jr. in Warren County, NC along with Wm Jr.'s wife Susannah who is listed as William Wesley Powell's mother. William Powell Sr. is listed as providing security for Susannah in Probate Court in the settlement of William Jr.'s estate. Land patents in Bute County (which became Warren and Franklin Counties) show a William Powell and a William Powell Jr. witnessing a land patent together. ''Orasha CAPPS to Jesse PERSONS, both of Bute, for 100 acres in Bute. Wit. WILLIAM POWELL, WILLIAM POWELL, JR. Pro. by WILLIAM POWELL May Ct. 1778. Reg. Jan. 5, 1780.'' [Source: Warren County, NC Records, Vol. I. Abstracted from Deed Book 6, p. 418.]

My father, siblings, and I descend from William Powell Sr.'s son Cpl. John Powell (b. ca.1750/51 - d. 1801) and his wife Mary WHITEHURST (b. ca.1759 - d. 1841). My full sister has an atDNA match on Ancestry.com named Mr. A. WHITEHURST. I have an atDNA match named Mr. M. WHITEHURST on 23andme.com who matches two other DNA matches of mine on 23andme who have a WHITEHURST ancestor in their trees. The DNA of all four of us triangulates in the same location on Chromosome 12. These DNA matches also match other DNA matches of mine who have their DNA on both 23andme and FamilyTreeDNA.com. The DNA of these matches also triangulates on Chromosome 12 with our DNA and the DNA of multiple other matches of mine, my brother's and our Dad's paternal 1st cousin on FamilyTreeDNA.com. My Dad's paternal 1st cousin is the daughter of my paternal grandfather Thomas L. Powell Jr.'s sister.

My brother has a Y-DNA match Mr. S. T. Powell in the Powell Y-DNA Surname Project who, like us, descends from Cpl. John POWELL and Mary WHITEHURST. He descends from them via their son William (Billy) POWELL and his wife Virginia Jane (Jennie) DAVIS. I also have an atDNA match who descends from William and Ruth's daughter Amy Powell Sensing -- wife of John Sensing — as well as several atDNA matches who descend from their daughter Elizabeth "Betsy" Powell who was the wife of Giles Davis. Additionally, I have an atDNA match on Ancestry.com who descends from William and Ruth's daughter Ruth Powell who was the first wife of John Shearin III.

My direct Powell line proven thus far is:

Thomas III (father) / Thomas Jr. (gf) / Thomas Sr. (g-gf) / John Thomas (Thomas J.) (2nd g-gf) / John J. (3rd g-gf) / James P. (4th g-gf) / Cpl. John (5th g-gf) / William Sr. (6th g-gf)

I was born in Louisiana and lived here until early adulthood, at which time I moved to the East Coast for a number of years to train for and pursue a classical singing career. I was introduced to genealogy in 1998 by my mother when I designed and published a genealogy website for her in my spare time and served as her web editor. I got hooked and have been doing genealogy research since 2001. Over the past several years, I have branched out into genetic genealogy research as well.

I am currently researching my paternal POWELL line (Y-DNA Haplogroup T1a2b/T-L446). This is the Y-DNA-proven line of Thomas POWELL (ca.1630-1701) and Mary PLACE. Most of my brother's Y-DNA matches in the Powell Y-DNA Surname Project descend from Thomas and Mary (Place) Powell's proven son Honorius Powell Sr. and his wife Joyce.

It is yet to be determined from which son of Thomas and Mary's we descend, but Y-DNA proves that we definitely do descend from them. More than likely, we descend from their son Honorias Powell Sr., because in his 1791 Will, my 6th great-grandfather William Powell named one of his sons Honorias -- a name that is unique to Thomas and Mary (Place) Powell's line.

Mary (PLACE) Powell was the daughter of Francis PLACE and his probable wife Honoria (Honor) (MNU) Place Weir Jones. Honoria is believed to have married:

(1) FRANCIS PLACE
(In the Will of Robert CHAMBERS dated 4 Feb 1653/54, Lancaster County, VA, Honoria is named as Honor PLACE (misspelled as Honner Place):
The Will states: ... I give to HONNER [sic. Honor] PLACE for looking to me in my sickness a yearling Heiffer...

Honoria's future husband Maj. John WEIR was named as beloved friend, legatee, and Executor in Robert CHAMBERS's Will. Evidently, Robert was living with John Weir at the time of his death, for he leaves John -- among other things -- the possessions he left at John's house.

(2) MAJ. JOHN WEIR
He owned land adjacent to FRANCIS PLACE, and he witnessed a Deed of Gift from FRANCIS PLACE to his daughters Mary and Margaret PLACE on 11 Aug 1655, Lancaster Co., VA. In his Will dated 7 May 1671, Old Rappahannock County (formerly Lancaster County), Virginia, he names his wife Honoria and his ''daughter-in-law [meaning STEP-daughter] MARGARET WATTS...''; This together with Honoria's 1685 Will proves that Margaret was the daughter of Honoria and a 1ST husband BEFORE 2nd husband John Weir and 3rd husband George Jones. ''To wife Honoria, dower rights. 'To daughter-in-law [meaning STEP-daughter] MARGARET, wife of John WATTS of Potomac R., and hrs., part of a tract of land, 1,108 A., bought of Henry RANDOLPH of Jamestown (½ of sd. tract ... sold to Robert Payne.)'''

(3) GEORGE JONES
He was the Power of Attorney in a land patent with Honorius POWELL Sr. -- proven son of Thomas and Mary (PLACE) Powell.

Mary (PLACE) Powell's sister Margaret PLACE married:
(1) John WATTS and
(2) Abraham BLAGG
Francis PLACE had a daughter named MARGARET PLACE whom he names in a Deed of Gift -- witnessed by his friend and adjacent neighbor Maj. JOHN WEIR/WARE -- to his daughter Mary PLACE: '''in case of ye sd Mary's decease before she arrive [at the age of majority] or marry then ye sd land and cattle aforesd, to devolve to MARGARET PLACE, my youngest Daughter....'; Witnesses: JOHN WARE/WEIR, Vin[cent] Stanford, John Phillips.''; Margaret is named in the Will of her stepfather Col. John WEIR as his stepdaughter Margaret Watts, wife of John WATTS Sr. (She was named as daughter-in-law -- a term commonly used back then to mean either daughter-in-law OR step-daughter; and her husband John WATTS Sr. was named as son-in-law.) In Honoria Place Weir Jones's Will, Margaret is named as daughter Margaret Blagg, wife of Abraham BLAGG. Margaret's son John WATTS Jr. by her first husband John WATTS Sr. is named in Honoria's will as her grandson.

I have proven my POWELL line through both traditional and genetic genealogy research back to my 6th great-grandparents William POWELL (ca. 1725 - 1791) and his wife Ruth (MNU).

William names 10 children in his 1789 Will in Warren County, NC. They are:
1. Honorius (m. Annie Brown)
2. John (m. Mary Whitehurst) -- My 5th g-grandparents
3. James (m. Sarah Myrick)
4. Benjamin (m. Nancy Blount)
5. Edmond (died unmarried)
6. Thomas (m. Sarah Gardner)
7. Amy (m. John Sensing)
8. Elizabeth (m. Giles Davis)
9. Tabitha (m. *Samuel Person -- son of Joseph Person and Ann Jones)
10. Ruth (m. John Shearin III)
(*NOTE: Samuel Person -- son of Joseph and Ann -- had an uncle named Samuel Person whose grand-daughter Priscilla SLEDGE (daughter of James SLEDGE and Rebecca PERSON) married Tabitha (POWELL) Person's nephew James P. POWELL -- my 4th g-gf.)

WILLIAM POWELL SR. also names in his Will his grandson William Willee (or Willis) Powell who is likely the son of a deceased son named William Powell Jr. (d. 1780 Warren Co., NC). A William Wesley Powell is listed as the son of William Powell Jr. in the 1780 estate records of William Powell Jr. in Warren County, NC along with Wm Jr.'s wife Susannah who is listed as William Wesley Powell's mother. William Powell Sr. is listed as providing security for Susannah in Probate Court in the settlement of William Jr.'s estate. Land patents in Bute County (which became Warren and Franklin Counties) show a William Powell and a William Powell Jr. witnessing a land patent together. ''Orasha CAPPS to Jesse PERSONS, both of Bute, for 100 acres in Bute. Wit. WILLIAM POWELL, WILLIAM POWELL, JR. Pro. by WILLIAM POWELL May Ct. 1778. Reg. Jan. 5, 1780.'' [Source: Warren County, NC Records, Vol. I. Abstracted from Deed Book 6, p. 418.]

My father, siblings, and I descend from William Powell Sr.'s son Cpl. John Powell (b. ca.1750/51 - d. 1801) and his wife Mary WHITEHURST (b. ca.1759 - d. 1841). My full sister has an atDNA match on Ancestry.com named Mr. A. WHITEHURST. I have an atDNA match named Mr. M. WHITEHURST on 23andme.com who matches two other DNA matches of mine on 23andme who have a WHITEHURST ancestor in their trees. The DNA of all four of us triangulates in the same location on Chromosome 12. These DNA matches also match other DNA matches of mine who have their DNA on both 23andme and FamilyTreeDNA.com. The DNA of these matches also triangulates on Chromosome 12 with our DNA and the DNA of multiple other matches of mine, my brother's and our Dad's paternal 1st cousin on FamilyTreeDNA.com. My Dad's paternal 1st cousin is the daughter of my paternal grandfather Thomas L. Powell Jr.'s sister.

My brother has a Y-DNA match Mr. S. T. Powell in the Powell Y-DNA Surname Project who, like us, descends from Cpl. John POWELL and Mary WHITEHURST. He descends from them via their son William (Billy) POWELL and his wife Virginia Jane (Jennie) DAVIS. I also have an atDNA match who descends from William and Ruth's daughter Amy Powell Sensing -- wife of John Sensing — as well as several atDNA matches who descend from their daughter Elizabeth "Betsy" Powell who was the wife of Giles Davis. Additionally, I have an atDNA match on Ancestry.com who descends from William and Ruth's daughter Ruth Powell who was the first wife of John Shearin III.

My direct Powell line proven thus far is:

Thomas III (father) / Thomas Jr. (gf) / Thomas Sr. (g-gf) / John Thomas (Thomas J.) (2nd g-gf) / John J. (3rd g-gf) / James P. (4th g-gf) / Cpl. John (5th g-gf) / William Sr. (6th g-gf)