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Black – Cleveland, Rutherford, Old Tryon
The Black surname has been present in the piedmont and foothills of North Carolina as well as in the upstate of South Carolina since the days of Colonial America. My own direct ancestors evidently migrated from the British Isles (most probably southwestern Scotland) to the American colonies prior to 1730, initially arriving in the southeastern Pennsylvania region.
They appear to have secured property in old Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in 1738, then migrated again down the “Great Wagon Road,” filtering through the Shenandoah Valley, settling in the Harrisonburg, Virginia (old Augusta County) area by about 1750. Uprooting once more, they resettled in the Carolinas in the emerging Charlotte, North Carolina region by 1765, a full decade prior to the Declaration of Independence.
As early as the mid-1760s, settlers named Black lived on homesteads in what is modern day eastern Rutherford County and upper Cleveland County, North Carolina, as well as in modern day York County in the upstate region of South Carolina. The land originally was considered part of Anson County 1750-1762, Mecklenburg County 1762-1769, and Tryon County 1769-1779. Mecklenburg and Tryon encompassed segments of both North Carolina and South Carolina prior to the settlement of a state border dispute.
It should be noted that prior to the arrival of the first European settlers (circa 1740) the land in question west of the Catawba River was originally considered to be Cherokee territory as noted by Charles C. Royce, a 19th century cartographer with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, who extensively mapped Cherokee lands. ( https://www.loc.gov/item/99446145/ ) The land east of the Catawba River was considered to be Catawba tribe territory.
Although a few white traders strayed early into the region, there are no records of actual white European settlement in the Charlotte region until after 1740. The bulk of white settlement in what became the counties around Charlotte took place from 1750-1775 and was comprised primarily of English, Scots-Irish/Ulster-Scots, and German settlers.
In 1764, when the area immediately west of the Catawba River was still part of Mecklenburg County, a Mecklenburg schoolmaster, Peter Duncan, was granted some 640 acres of land on both sides of First Broad River at the mouth of Duncans Creek, north of Polkville in present-day Cleveland County, North Carolina. According to “Rutherford County 1979: A People’s Bicentennial History” (Library Press Inc., Rutherfordton NC, 1980), Duncan sold his property in two tracts in 1765. The northern portion was sold to Richard Ward (Wards Creek). The southern portion of the land on Duncans Creek was sold to Thomas Black, a Mecklenburg farmer, who had the land re-surveyed and officially defined as a 563-acre tract which included the site where Wards Creek and Duncans Creek empty into the First Broad River.
Also by 1765, as noted in J. Houston Harrison’s “Settlers by the Long Grey Trail,” (J.K. Ruebush Publishing Co., Dayton VA, 1935, pg. 262), Robert Black and his wife Majey Cravens had left Harrisonburg, Virginia, selling a 230-acre tract along Blacks Run of Cooks Creek to Martin Archenbright. Robert and Majey headed southward and purchased a 250 acre tract of land via a Mecklenburg County, North Carolina deed. The land was on Clarks Fork of Bullocks Creek (a tributary of Broad River). Following the resolution of a state boundary dispute in 1772, the acreage subsequently was deemed part of the “New Acquisition” from North Carolina which was incorporated into the old Camden District of South Carolina. From that, present-day York County, South Carolina, was officially created in 1785. This tract of land originally purchased through Mecklenburg County by Robert and Majey was supposedly situated not far from present-day Lake Crawford in the modern-day South Carolina state park commemorating the 1780 Battle of Kings Mountain. The monument for the actual battle site is in the adjacent Kings Mountain National Military Park. The monument and battle site is located about two miles westward of the Clarks Fork acreage originally settled by the Blacks and other families with surnames such as Patterson, Harrison, Cravens, McElwee, Ponder, Love, and Wilson.
Similar Mecklenburg land deeds for property along Clarks Fork of Bullocks Creek were entered in 1765 for Matthew Black, 1766 for Joseph Black, and 1767 for Gowin (Gavin) Black. These three men appear to be brothers of Robert Black. Two of Majey’s brothers, Robert Cravens Jr. and William Cravens also purchased land in that same area in 1767 though William sold his property and returned to Harrisonburg by 1773.
Other early settlers in the area with the Black surname included a John Black, who purchased land in 1765 on the west bank of the Catawba River adjoining some property owned by Frederick Hambright. Yet another was George Black who married Rachel Withrow in Rowan County and then purchased land in 1767 on Cane Creek in present-day Rutherford County. George, unrelated to my direct line of Blacks, would become a justice of the peace and an appointed member of the court of pleas and quarter sessions (an early form of a combined county commission and district court system in North Carolina) in old Tryon County. In 1775, this same George Black was a signer of the Tryon Resolves, citing American colonial citizens’ grievances with the British crown.
With the 1779 creation of Rutherford and Lincoln counties (carved out of old Tryon County) families with the Black surname were residing in the Morgan District-Golden Valley-Moriah area near the First Broad River at its intersection with the present-day Rutherford-Cleveland county boundary in North Carolina. This area was considered to be in eastern Rutherford County until 1841 when Cleveland County was formed out of old Rutherford and old Lincoln counties. At that point, the Moriah community became part of Cleveland County’s Township 11.
Lineage
Here is a brief listing of one line of the Blacks who have inhabited the western piedmont and foothills of the Carolinas since the colonial days of America:
1. – Amos Thomas Black – b. April 29, 1921, Shelby, N.C.; d. May 19, 1984, Gastonia, N.C. Married Libby Brooks (1926-2015) on Dec. 23, 1950 in York, S.C. Amos was a WWII Army private who served as a motorcycle messenger with HQ Company, 12th Armored Division (“Hellcats”), in Europe. He grew up in the Swainsville-Sandy Run area of Cleveland County, but lived as an adult in Gaston County where he was a textile worker.
Libby was a “Rosie the Riveter” type in WWII at the Hercules Motor Corp. in Canton, Ohio where they produced engines for jeeps, landing craft, etc. Libby was a descendant of the Calhoun and Brooks families of the western Carolinas and a first cousin 5x removed of the notorious Southern politico John C. Calhoun.
2. – Columbus Marion Black – b. April 8, 1888, “Head of the Rivers” (Somey Creek at First Broad River) in Golden Valley, Rutherford County, N.C.; d. March 24, 1955, following a three-month illness, at the Gardner-Webb Clinic in Boiling Springs, N.C. “Lum,” as he was called by his friends, was a farmer. He married Bertha Irene Ledford (1893-1990) on Sept. 28, 1913. Bertha was also from Rutherford County NC and was the daughter of Amos Emerson Ledford and Eliza Catherine Walker.
Lum and Bertha were buried at Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church, in Swainsville (west of Shelby NC). Children: Doras Columbus, Clingman Roosevelt, Alfie Eugenia, and Amos Thomas. (In addition to Amos’ serving in Europe, eldest son, “Dee,” served in the Pacific Theatre during WWII with the U.S. Army; middle son, Sgt. Clingman Roosevelt Black, U.S. Army 27th Infantry Division, was killed in the 1944 battle for Saipan in the Mariana Islands.)
3. – Thomas Marion Black – b. Oct. 15, 1859, Moriah Community of Upper Cleveland; d. Oct. 5, 1934, Shelby NC. Married Rebecca (Beckie) Waters (1861-1937) of the Moriah community in 1881 in Rutherford County. Rebecca was the daughter of James Waters and Sarah Mooney.
Tom’s obituary was a front-page item in The Cleveland Star newspaper. The article stated, “Mr. Black was born and reared in Upper Cleveland County but had lived in Shelby for 34 years where he had a host of friends.” At the time of his death he lived on Hamrick Street in Shelby and was a member of Missionary Methodist Church. He and Beckie were buried at Mt. Moriah Methodist near Casar NC. Children: John Hambright, Addis Alector, Columbus Marion, Joseph Thomas, Jamie Georganna, Katie, Bassie (Tom’s obit suggest this son’s formal name may have been “Blanton”), and Vernie Estelle.
Regarding Tom’s spouse, Beckie, her great grandmother was Sarah Black who married fellow Pennsylvanian Aron Deviney and then relocated to Rutherford County NC. Deviney was a Patriot lieutenant and was eventually captured by Col. Patrick Ferguson. Sarah reportedly tearfully appeared before Ferguson successfully pleading for Aron’s life in return for a promise that Aron would no longer take up arms against the crown.
4. – James Black – b. Nov. 18, 1812 in old Rutherford County NC; d. July 2, 1897 in Cleveland County NC. He, too, is buried at Mt. Moriah Methodist along with his wife, Jemima Ledford (1818-1901). They were married about 1840 and apparently farmed and lived in the Moriah area for much of their lives (though they were listed in the adjacent Knob Creek Township of Cleveland County NC for a time as well). Children: John Frank. (CSA veteran, Company I, 48th N.C. Infantry; wounded at Fredericksburg and on parole list at Appomattox), Solomon Hambright, Rebecca Melvina, Eliza J., Rachel A., Elizabeth Dulcina, William Chauncy, Samuel, Thomas Marion, and Martha Henrietta.
In the 1880 Census, James indicated his parents were born in North Carolina whereas Jemima indicated her father, Thomas Ledford, was born in NC but her mother, Rebecca Crowder, was born in Virginia.
Jemima lost two brothers during the Civil War: Samuel, in 1863 at Gettysburg; and John, in 1864, at Petersburg.
Kyzer’s 1886 map of Cleveland County property owners places “J. Black” at upper First Broad River in the Moriah Community on the Cleveland-Rutherford county line.
5. – Moses Black – b. abt. 1777 in old Tryon County NC; d. abt. 1850 in Rutherford County, North Carolina. Oral tradition and secondary sources identify James Black’s father as Moses Black of Rutherford County NC. Those sources indicate the name of Moses’ wife was Patience Condrey (1785-1836) whose family was from the Chesterfield County, Virginia area.
After the death of Patience, Moses remarried (in 1838) to Nancy Grigg, widow of Joseph Willis, purchasing land on Mountain Creek just north of James and Rachel Black; however, Moses and Nancy had no children of their own. After the death of Moses, and prior to the Civil War, Nancy moved to Bond County, Illinois, to be with family. She died there in 1867. (As noted, Nancy had previously been married to a Willis. One of Moses’ daughters from his first marriage to Patience Condrey as well as his lone sister had also married Willis men.)
Moses and his first wife, Patience, seem to have lived in the Duncans Creek area of old Rutherford County a short distance away from the First Broad River. The children of Moses and Patience included: James (m. Jemima Ledford), Rachel Jane (m. Joseph Parker), Rhoda Elizabeth (m. John Randall Willis), Mary Polly (m. John Henry London), and possibly, though not proven, John C Black (m. Eliza Wallace). According to the Census data, there were two other daughters, both of whom were born between 1816-1820. Their identities remain unconfirmed.
The exact date and place of death/burial as well as date of marriage for Moses and Patience are unknown though I personally suspect both Moses and Patience lie in unmarked graves at Mt. Harmony Methodist. Moses died sometime between 1848 and 1851, most probably in 1850. Moses is listed as a witness for the creation of a will on September 4, 1848 for Daniel Sisk, who had been a neighbor to both Moses and James Black. In an accompanying note to the will for Rutherford probate court during the spring of 1851 it was reported that “Moses Black is dead.” (Source: Rutherford County NC Will Abstracts, 1779-1910; Grace Turner and Miles Philbeck, 1982. G929.375TUR)
Moses is listed as head of household in the Rutherford County census for 1810, 1820, and 1830. (An analysis of the age categories for the three census reports suggest Moses was born no earlier than 1775 and no later than 1780.) He is also listed under the command of Capt. Abraham Irvine in a Rutherford militia unit for the War of 1812.
While Moses remained in North Carolina, it appears that all his siblings moved to the Arkansas territory by the early 1800s. Brothers William S. Black and Jesse Richardson Black moved to Carroll County. Sister Lydia Black Willis moved to Boone County. Brother Laban Black also supposedly moved to Arkansas but his county of residence remains unknown. Moses’ assumed son, John C. Black subsequently moved to Faulkner County, Arkansas in the latter part of his life.
6.- James Black – b. 1755, Harrisonburg, VA; d. Sept. 27, 1827, Moriah Community, old Rutherford County NC (present-day Cleveland County, NC). James is buried, along with his wife Rachel Booth (1758-1844), at Mt. Harmony Methodist Church off Hwy 226 just north of present-day Polkville NC, and very near Duncans Creek. A historical marker for the church is posted on Hwy 226 at the turn onto a winding gravel road leading up to the church and graveyard.
James Black, while living near Kings Mountain in 1775, signed an oath of neutrality indicating he would do nothing to oppose the Patriot efforts. Seven years later, in 1782, James appears on a tax list in Captain Whitesides’ Company in the Morgan District of Rutherford County, some 30 miles west of the original Clarks Fork settlement.. In 1791, Thomas and Prudence Stockton conveyed the land specifically for creation of a Methodist Episcopal church (Mt. Harmony) to a group of a dozen men including James Black. The 1800, 1810, and 1820 Census reports James Black as living in the Morgan district along First Broad River with the 1820 report indicating sons William and Moses living close by.
Dates for Rachel do not appear on the badly deteriorated tombstone at Mt. Harmony but it does indicate she lived 86 years. I personally recorded the tombstone information for James and Rachel during one of my early visits to Mt. Harmony, which is just minutes from my current home. Bill Floyd, who surveyed and transcribed tombstones in western North Carolina long before the existence of “Find a Grave,” also recorded the same information I have noted for James and Rachel: “In Memory of James Black, aged 72, died Sept. 27, 1827, also his wife, Rachel, aged 86.”
Some genealogists contend that Rachel’s maiden name was Booth, others that her name was Julian prior to marriage to James Black. That is based in part upon some 1906 Cleveland County court depositions in which three of Rachel’s granddaughters indicated her maiden name was Booth and that she had been born in Pennsylvania (Bulletin of the Genealogical Society of Old Tryon, Forest City NC, Summer 2019). One of the granddaughters, in those 1906 depositions, stated that Rachel had been married to a Julian prior to marrying James Black. However, the other two granddaughters did not corroborate that statement. I personally believe the granddaughter, herself elderly at the time and some 130 years after the fact, merely confused Rachel Booth and another ancestor, Martha Denton, who was first married to a Julian, then to a Black.
Based upon the aforementioned court depositions and the birth of her first son, Moses, circa 1777, we can surmise that Rachel Booth was born about 1758 in Pennsylvania and died 86 years later in about 1844 in Cleveland County, NC. The 1840 Rutherford County Census index, compiled by Paul Sarrett for use in the US GenWeb Archives, notes that “R. Black,” presumably Rachel Booth Black, in 1840 was living adjacent to her sons William Black and J.R. (Jesse Richardson) Black, who was named after Rev. Jesse Richardson, one of the prominent Methodist circuit riders serving Mt. Harmony Methodist as pastor. One year later, 1841, the portion of Rutherford County where Rachel and James Black’s land was situated was deemed part of the newly created Cleveland County, North Carolina.
James and Rachel appear to have had sons named Moses, Laban, William S. (possibly named after Rachel’s father), and Jesse Richardson Black. They also had one daughter, Lydia. Lydia married Jacob Willis and named one son Jacob Cravens Willis, apparently in honor of Lydia’s grandmother, Majey Cravens. The 1790 and 1800 Rutherford County NC Census data suggests James and Rachel also had two other daughters and one other son who died in childhood and did not survive into adulthood.
While primary source documentation is somewhat lacking, there is considerable circumstantial evidence, i.e., the time frame of James and Rachel’s lives, their geographic proximity to where Moses and his son, also named James, lived as adults, and the naming of Moses and Patience’s son and daughter, James and Rachel, that indicate this James and Rachel were indeed the parents of Moses Black.
At this point, the traditional genealogical trail for the family lineage essentially ends; reasoned speculation follows regarding the next generations some of which I have labeled in my Ancestry.com tree as “hypothesis” and “actively researching.” The inclusion of these additional generations is based in part upon multiple family trees, personal research, the research of other family historians, as well as personal autosomal and Y-DNA test results.
7. – Robert Black – b. abt. 1731, probably in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; d. 1788 in York County, South Carolina. Robert was married to Margery “Majey” Cravens (1733-1810). Some genealogists suggest Robert had an earlier marriage and that all of his children came from that supposed earlier marriage, but there are no records to support that theory. I personally suspect that Robert and Majey were married at Linville Creek west of Harrisonburg VA about 1749 (Harrison, in “Settlers by the Long Grey Trail,” notes Majey was “early married”) with their first son, Matthew, being born in 1750.
Majey, sometimes referred to as Maggie, was one of the younger daughters of Capt. Robert Cravens of Kent County, Delaware and Mary Harrison of Long Island, New York. Majey (the name that actually appears for her in the 1790 York County SC Census after the death of her husband Robert) has sometimes been confused by genealogists with her twice married older sister, Margaret who was also sometimes referred to as Maggie.
Some trees purport Robert to have the middle name of Franklin, though I have found no documentation to support that assertion. First of all, middle names were not common in America until after 1830. Benjamin Franklin did not attain popular notice with his Gazette and his Poor Richard’s Almanack until several years after Robert was born so it is unlikely that the middle name Franklin would have been a nod toward Ben. On the other hand, “franklin” was a late medieval English term used for a freeman, a holder of a limited amount of land. A franklin was above a vassal but below the landed gentry in the medieval pecking order and the term or title eventually became a surname.
The aforementioned “Settlers by the Long Grey Trail” makes several references to Robert and Majey and specifically notes they departed Harrisonburg VA for Mecklenburg NC in 1764. Robert’s sons presumably included Matthew, Robert, John, and James; there apparently was also a daughter, Mary. Some researchers indicate Robert was Presbyterian and was buried at one of the Presbyterian churches in York County, SC, though a formal gravesite has not been identified.
Having followed the typical lowland Scots/Ulster-Scots/Scots-Irish migration pattern southward out of Virginia into the Carolinas, Robert and Majey originally settled along Clarks Fork of Bullock Creek based upon a 1765 Mecklenburg County NC deed. Following resolution of a state boundary dispute between the Carolinas, the land was deemed to be in the old Camden District and still later in York County SC.
Robert and his son, Robert Jr., also appear to have engaged in some land purchases/land speculation in what was to become Cleveland County NC. At least some of those purchases were made from Col. Frederick Hambright who also served as assessor of the estate for Majey during the 1788 probate proceedings for Robert Black. (Hambright, one of the heroes of the Battle of Kings Mountain, had two children who in turn married two children of Gavin Black, Robert Black’s brother.
Also, one of Robert’s brothers, named Matthew Black, married Margaret Ponder. A few, but not all, of Margaret’s family were apparently Loyalists during the American Revolution. Matthew and Margaret’s descendants migrated to the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee with some ultimately residing in Cocke County, Tennessee.
Robert’s eldest son, also named Matthew Black, was born in Virginia abt. 1750 and apparently died prematurely in his late 40s in York County SC in 1797. James McElwee, Robert’s nephew, was administrator per the probate records. There are no records or sources indicating this Matthew was ever married or had any children.
Robert’s middle sons, Robert (b. 1751 in VA; d. 1895 in KY; married Sarah Lattimore) and John (b. 1753 in VA; d. 1830 KY; married first to Lydia Patterson then to Jain Newell), left Carolina and moved to Kentucky sometime before 1790.
Robert’s youngest son, James (b. 1755 in VA; d. 1827 in NC; married Rachel Booth) chose to remain in Carolina and lived most of his adult life along the First Broad River in old Rutherford County NC. This James Black, and at least six consecutive generations that followed, remained within about 25 miles of the Kings Mountain battlefield and the family’s original Clarks Fork acreage.
(In regards to the American Revolution, Robert, as well as his sons John and James, signed an oath of neutrality in October of 1775 as noted in a 1901 edition of the South Carolina Historical and Genealogical magazine which included an article on “Papers of the First Council of Safety.” Patriot Capt. Ezekiel Polk reported that Robert Black, Joseph Black, William Wilson, Daniel Ponder, Nathaniel Harrison, John Black, Jacob Gardner, and James Black, all of whom lived in the vicinity of Kings Mountain, “Came before me and voluntarily made oath that they will not, [unless compelled in self defense] lift arms against the Americans in their present contest with Great Britain nor do any thing by word or action which they shall know to be against the American Cause.” Being neutral was not the same as being a loyalist. In fact, Robert M. Calhoon, in a piece for “A Companion to the American Revolution,” published by James Wiley & Sons, 2008, estimates that only 40 to 45 percent of the colonists were actually Patriots; only 15 to 20 percent were Loyalists; the remaining colonists – between 35 and 45 percent – were neutral, keeping a low profile, merely wanting to raise families and work their farms or ply their trades without being drawn into bloody political squabbles.)
Robert apparently died relatively young and intestate suggesting an unexpected death. Probate proceeding through York County SC courts began in fall of 1788. Judge James Wilson assigned several appraisers to the estate including Col. Frederick Hambright, William Jenkins, George Wilson, and Nicholas Whisenhunt. The resulting inventory of assets and liabilities includes listings for Robert’s son James Black and for Robert’s nephew George Black (son of Joseph Black) as holding small “notes” with the estate. The finalized inventory and probate agreement was co-signed by Majey/Margery Black, Robert Black’s widow, and by James McElwee, the son of Janet Black and William McElwee II, and therefore Robert Black’s nephew.
Majey appears in the 1800 Census in York County, South Carolina but disappears from official records afterwards. At least one Virginia genealogical group suggested Majey left Carolina after 1800, returned to Virginia to be with her family, died and was buried about 1810 at Linville Creek just west of Harrisonburg, Virginia though, again, no official gravesite or documentation has surfaced during my personal research efforts to support that claim.
There is virtually universal agreement among extended family, DNA matches, and researchers that the next name in the family tree is that of Matthew (frequently spelled as Mathew) Black but there has been considerable disagreement about the particulars of Matthew. This is my personal construct of my direct paternal ancestor, Matthew Black, based upon best currently available information:
Hypothesis/Actively Researching 8. – Matthew Black, b. 1701 in Ayrshire, Scotland; d. abt. 1764 Augusta County, Virginia colony, British America. Some sources indicate Matthew’s wife was named Mary, others indicate Elizabeth. Most sources acknowledge they had sons named Gavin, Robert, Matthew, Joseph, and Thomas, as well as a daughter, Janet. (One possible clue as to the name of Matthew’s wife may lie with the naming of some of his granddaughters. Three of Matthew’s children – Robert, Gavin, and Janet – had daughters named “Mary.”) Based upon the births of the children, Matthew and Mary likely were married in Pennsylvania colony circa 1730. She apparently died by the mid -1760s in Virginia.
Various trees have suggested the name of Matthew’s wife to have been Mary Hachlein. There is existing Daughters/Sons of the American Revolution documentation indicating Mary Hachlein/Kachlein was married to a James Black who was not related to my line. Mary Hachlein apparently was not the wife of Matthew Black of Aryshire. The maiden name of Matthew’s wife remains unknown.
Matthew Black of the village of Dundonald in Ayrshire, Scotland was born 20 April 1701. Based upon his time of presumed emigration to America and the supposed birth years of his children, the Matthew Black for my direct line was most likely born between 1695 and 1710. Matthew Black of Dundonald, son of Ephraim Black, is the only Matthew Black appearing among the old parish birth and baptism records for the Church of Scotland during that time frame per the ScotlandsPeople official records website.
Hypothesis/Actively Researching – 9. ScotlandsPeople old parish records indicate Ephraim Black 1650-1723 was the father of Matthew of Ayrshire. Ephraim’s wife was said to be Lillian Lamb 1655-1720. Ephraim was born at the village of Symington, Ayrshire and Lillian at nearby Dundonald, Ayrshire. They lived as a couple in Dundonald throughout their adult lives. Thus, based upon their area of residence, Matthew Black and his parents would be considered “lowland Scots.”
Per ScotlandsPeople, Ephraim and Lillian’s other children included John, Barbara, Mary, Elizabeth, and Samuel. There was also a son named William who lived only to age 6; a year after his death, the couple apparently had another son, and also named him William, but he died in infancy. The children were all born in Ayrshire between 1691 and 1709.
Also per ScotlandsPeople and Wikitree, Ephraim’s father was a man named John Black who was born about 1625 in Ayrshire. John’s wife, and presumably Ephraim’s mother, was Elizabeth Hendry of Ayrshire.
Although no passenger/boat charter list specifically including Matthew Black of Ayrshire (the son of Ephraim and grandson of John) has ever been identified on either side of the Atlantic, he is the presumed original immigrant to America for this paternal line and likely first settled in Pennsylvania. Matthew’s parents died by 1723 and son Robert was born in 1731 in Pennsylvania suggesting Matthew emigrated from Scotland to America circa 1725-1730 corresponding with the second great wave of Scots/Ulster Scots migration to America. He may, or may not, have used the indentured contract route to pay for his passage, a common barter system method in which a young immigrant would contractually agree to work about five years in return for someone paying passage costs to America.
(Some have suggested Matthew emigrated directly from Ulster. However, if Matthew of Ayrshire is indeed the immigrant ancestor for this line, and if he took part in the plantation settlements in the north of Ireland, he could have only been there for a few years, if at all, as both Matthew Black of Ayrshire and his father were born in Scotland. As an associate member of the North of Ireland Family History Society I utilized recommended online resources, purchased research booklets and pamphlets, reviewed journal and JSTOR articles, posted queries, etc. My own personal research into Ulster found no readily available documentary evidence specifically supporting the “Matthew in Ireland” theory. Furthermore, Martin McDowell of the NIFHS and Family Tree DNA’s North of Ireland project has posted that most individuals with direct ancestral ties to Ulster would typically have 8-10 pages of FTDNA Family Finder autosomal matches within the North of Ireland Project [about 250 individual matches]. “If you have considerably less than this then it is a rough indication that your ancestors came from elsewhere,” stated McDowell. By comparison, within the North of Ireland Project, I have only about 85 autosomal matches (as of September 2022) among the project’s 7,000 members, roughly one-third as many individual “remote cousin” matches as compared to McDowell’s stated norm. Historically, however, there were individuals with the surname Black living in counties Antrim and Derry in particular during the plantation years, though I personally have yet to find a genealogical link to any of them.)
Matthew Black appears to be listed in some Pennsylvania Land Warrants and Applications (Ancestry.com, 2012) as securing a land warrant for 200 acres in Hopewell, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in October of 1738. Adhering to the typical migratory pattern of the lowland Scots/Ulster-Scots settlers in America, Matthew moved his family into Virginia by about 1750. There are numerous references to Matthew/Mathew and Robert regarding property and militia affiliation during their time around Harrisonburg. Those references appear in publications such as Lyman Chalkley’s “Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia,” J. Houston Harrison’s “Settlers by the Long Grey Trail,” and “Virginia’s Colonial Soldiers,” by Lloyd D. Bockstruck.
Several of these references regarding Matthew are about “processioning lists,” periodic reviews of settlers’ land boundaries which also identified neighbors. Many of the settlers in these lists had not formally purchased the land; they were on land they claimed by “tomahawk or cabin rights.” Since there are no formal land acquisition records for Matthew in old Augusta County, he may have been among the settlers using such property claims.
One reference to Matthew Black in Chalkley’s “Chronicles” lists him as late as the 1763 Augusta County, Virginia probate records for Robert Cravens. Cravens was the father of Margery/Majey Cravens who married Robert Black, presumed son of this Matthew Black. Robert and his brothers (Matthew, Joseph, and Gavin) as well as two of Majey’s brothers, all purchased Carolina land at Clarks Fork between 1765-1767. It has been assumed the senior Matthew never moved to the Carolinas and probably died between 1763 and 1765 in Virginia.
There are numerous trees (more than 2,000 of them) on Ancestry.com regarding Matthew. A significant number of the trees have these commonalities: (1) Born in Scotland; (2) Wife’s name is Mary; (3) Parents are Ephraim Black and Lillian Lamb; (4) Migrated to America and was in Virginia in the 1750s; (5) List of children typically includes my direct ancestor Robert Black as one of Matthew’s sons; (6) A number of the trees indicate Matthew had a middle name of “Jouett.” I have conferred with any number of tree owners and have never found any documentation for the middle name other than another tree; however, the surname Jouett was contemporaneous with Matthew in Virginia as Jack Jouett made a Paul Revere-like ride to successfully warn Gov. Thomas Jefferson and key legislators about an approaching British cavalry unit intent upon capturing the politicians, though that event was long after Matthew Black’s birth. Also, middle names did not become common until about the 1830s and there simply is no documentary evidence that Matthew Black, b. 1701 in Ayrshire, had a middle name.
Although his birth year fits the time frame and his birthplace fits Dr. Rob Spencer’s map for haplogroup point of origin, efforts to formally connect the dots from colonial America back to Matthew of Ayrshire have not been successful. At present, he remains an unproven – though currently most probable – hypothetical possibility as the father of Robert Black.
– Alternatively, another hypothesis as to Matthew’s particulars had followed a long-standing family tree, centered around Edinburgh-Inveresk, at FamilySearch.org which is under the auspices of the Family History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The tree, developed over a number of years by multiple contributors, indicated my personal Family Search profile LYVJ-4KQ and the profile of my father LR2R-DJP, led back to a Mathew (spelled with a single “t” in the official birth records) Black born 1714 in Midlothian, Scotland. The tree, as it then existed, indicated this Mathew was the father of my Robert Black and was the original immigrant to America in my paternal line.
That collaborative tree further indicated, based on ScotlandsPeople parish records, that Mathew’s parents were Robert Black (G4RG-BGT) 1679-1756 and Margaret Kerr (9QL2-X9W) 1680-1760. In turn, Mathew’s grandparents were listed as John Black (LZLJ-TB3) 1635-1679 and Janet Swyntoun (LCYJ-J5G) 1636-1679. All of these individuals lived in the Lothian-Edinburgh-Inveresk region. The earliest named ancestor as that tree was then configured was the aforementioned John Black’s 3rd-great grandfather, Thomas Black, b. 1490, Glendaruel, Argyll, Scotland. (This Thomas Black is referred to in Hector McKechnie’s 1938 publication “The Lamont Clan 1235-1935,” the official history of Clan Lamont.)
However, the birth year for Matthew Black of Midlothian – 1714 – would be somewhat problematic, conflicting with an immigration time frame of about 1725 and with presumed son Robert’s birth year of 1731. The birth year of Matthew Black of Dundonald – 1701 – is far more probable in regards to the assumed immigration year and to the birth years of his assumed children.
– Finally, another option for this spot in the family tree was proffered by J. Houston Harrison in his tome “Settlers by the Long Grey Trail.” On pg. 262 he notes Robert Black and his wife Majey Cravens were moving to Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Harrison then speculates on the origins of Majey’s/Maggie’s husband: “Several Blacks were early in Augusta. Rev. William Black, a Presbyterian minister, on 22nd May, 1747, appeared before the court and took the prescribed oaths. He lived in Pennsylvania, and in 1758 was a member of Donegal Presbytery (Waddell, p. 62.) Maggie’s husband likely came in from this direction also. His father was probably Robert Black, Sr.” (Harrison, who was quite familiar with both Matthew and Robert Black, apparently did not believe Matthew to be the father of Robert. Instead, he apparently theorized – and seems to be the solitary advocate of this line of thought – that Robert’s father was the Robert Black involved with the Ulster-Scots Beverly Manor settlement near present-day Staunton, Virginia.)
Immigration to Carolina
There were several waves of Ulster-Scots/Scots-Irish immigration to the colonies including 1717-1718, 1725-1729, 1740-41, 1754-1755. These waves of Scots, along with other primarily Protestant groups such as the English, Germans, Quakers, Moravians, etc. populated the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and eventually the piedmont of the Carolinas. (“Native” or “real” Irish, most of whom were of the Catholic faith, did not begin arriving in the Charlotte region until after the potato famine in the 1840s.)
A public school history lesson plan created by the National Parks Service in regards to the Revolutionary War battles at Cowpens and Kings Mountain states: “In America, the Ulster Scots were known at first as Irish, so-named for their last homeland. (They intermarried little with the Native Irish.) Ulster Scots later took the name Scotch-Irish (today, often referred to as Scots-Irish) to distinguish themselves from the Native Irish, who migrated to America in great numbers, beginning in 1840. The Scots-Irish, along with the Germans, made up much of the population of the southern backcountry.”
“The first European settlers in the Carolina Piedmont were Ulster-Scots Presbyterians and therefore ultimately of Scottish Lowland origin predominately,” stated Dr. Bruce Durie, a Scottish genealogist who was a Fulbright lecturer at St. Andrews University in Laurinburg (Scotland County) NC during the 2016 academic year. “Rising rent and land prices in Pennsylvania had driven them southward during the 1740s, down the Great Wagon Road to the Upcountry west of the Catawba River.”
Estimates vary somewhat but most sources generally acknowledge at least 200,000 Ulster-Scots/Scots-Irish made their way to America prior to the American Revolution; it’s also generally estimated that another 150,000 Scots who were not affiliated in any way with the plantation settlements also migrated directly to the American colonies prior to the Revolutionary War. To put those numbers into some perspective, the population of America circa 1776 was about 2.5 million people, 500,000 of whom were slaves. English settlers, the largest ethnic group, comprised roughly half of the white population of America at that time, or about 1 million individuals.
Immigrants to America generally arrived in the Carolinas by one of four primary migration routes: (1) English initially ventured out of Virginia and settled in the Albemarle and Pamlico sections spreading into the Coastal Plain and Piedmont of the North Carolina colony. (2) Germans, lowland Scots and Ulster-Scots/Scots-Irish arrived at Philadelphia, traveling down the Great Wagon Road through the Appalachian Valley, often settling for a time in the Virginia colony before moving on into the Piedmont and Foothills of the Carolinas; (3) Highland Scots arrived primarily, though not exclusively, at Wilmington and moved up the Cape Fear River to present-day Fayetteville NC; and (4) English, Scots and some Ulster-Scots/Scots-Irish arrived at Charleston SC, migrating inland into central and upstate South Carolina and on into the Charlotte region of NC, following the fresh water supplies along the Ashley-Cooper, Santee, Congaree, Wateree, Broad, Saluda, and Catawba river systems.
Surname Origins
Surnames are a rather modern contrivance within human history. Much of the world did not adopt generalized use of surnames until the late Medieval period. Their evolution and development has varied widely on the continents depending upon many factors such as regional culture and customs.
The Black surname does not have a single country of origin but is found most often in the United States, Scotland, England, Australia, Canada, and Northern Ireland. Most Blacks trace their origins back to Britain where Black is relatively common as a surname. According to 2010 Census data, here in the States the Black surname ranked 177th on a list of the most common surnames in America; it is the 44th most common surname in Scotland and 59th most common in Northern Ireland.
– In Scotland, surnames became quite common by the 12th century. The Black surname – occasionally noted in early Scottish records as “Blak” – was sometimes a sept associated with clans Lamont (Argyll-Bute), MacGregor (Argyll-Perthshire), and MacLean (Argyll-Inner Hebrides) as indicated by Dr. George Fraser Black, former director of the New York Public Library, in his 1946 tome “Surnames of Scotland.”
The Black surname has often been associated as a sept of Clan Lamont in particular. That clan was said to have originated in ancient Ulster (Tyrone, Antrim, Derry region). They migrated in the early medieval period to the Cowal peninsula (Dunoon, Argyll region) of western Scotland.
However, most of those bearing the Black surname in Scotland were lowlanders and were never associated with any clan. Some were of Brythonic rather than Gaelic origins. The Council of Scottish Clans and Associations estimates “fewer than 30 percent of all Scottish surnames carry a history of clan association.”
Dr. Black noted the Black surname became common in particular around St. Andrews in the 1500s and was quite common in the Edinburgh region in the 1600s. Census and other sources from the 1800s indicate the Black surname was primarily concentrated in a swath across the “central belt” and lowlands of Scotland. In the latest available compilation, National Records of Scotland noted Black was still among the 50 most common surnames in Scotland.
– In England, while a smattering of the Black surname was present across England, it was primarily focused in the northern England counties of Cumbria, Northumberland and Durham near the border region with Scotland. Some suggest the Black surname originally was used as a descriptive of a person’s dark or swarthy hair and appearance; others contend it was occupational in nature and a derivative of blacksmith.
A few of the surname websites contend Black as a surname in England originated around the Lincolnshire region before moving northward into the Scottish lowlands. Some have suggested in its English origins, the surname may originally have been “Blake” but evolved into “Black.”
– In Ireland, Edward MacLysaght, former Keeper of Manuscripts at the National Library of Ireland, authored “The Surnames of Ireland.” He, too, indicated the Black surname in Ireland was primarily Scottish with connections to Lamont, MacGregor, and MacLean. These Scots descendants, MacLysaght stated, were “very numerous in Ulster.”
MacLysaght indicated that Black was less frequently a “translation or synonym” of Duff and Kilduff. (One contingent I have encountered notes the Irish surname Duffy is a derivative of “O’Dubhthaigh.” According to that contingent, the surname Black is merely an Anglicized corruption of Duffy and is “native Irish” and represents a family line that “has never been in Scotland.”)
Pender’s census/Petty’s survey in 1659, Griffiths Valuations of 1847-1864, Matheson’s Birth Index of 1890, and two heads of households surveys in the early 1900s, typically found the Black surname primarily in counties Antrim, Derry, and Down with somewhat smaller concentrations in Tyrone, Armagh, and Donegal. In particular, Griffiths identified only about 840 households bearing the Black surname across the entire island. Of those 840 households, about 730 of them were in Ulster, primarily clustered in the old plantation settlement counties. (The Black surname in Ireland, in the vast majority of cases, appears to be of Scottish or English origins rather than “native” Irish.)
Personal DNA and Ethnicity
In regards to my personal overall ethnicity, I am an “American mutt,” a native Carolinian, the 6th consecutive generation of my direct paternal line to have been born in Carolina. A considerable portion of my personal DNA does appear to indicate my more recent pre-America ancestors were primarily Scottish and English.
My overall autosomal DNA (that’s the 22 non-sex chromosomes inherited through a recombination process from both father and mother) is decidedly “British” in nature. Ancestry.com’s autosomal DNA ethnicity estimates (Sept. 2023 update) for me: 46 percent Scotland; 27 percent England and northwestern Europe; 13 percent Ireland; 6 percent Wales; 4 percent Sweden/Denmark; 2 percent Norway; and 2 percent Germanic Europe.
In the autosomal recombination scenario, one inherits roughly 50 percent of their autosomal DNA from their biological father and 50 percent from their biological mother. Ancestry previously indicated the Scottish ethnicity inheritance came to me primarily through my paternal line; the English and Irish inheritance came to me primarily through my mother.
Some suggest such autosomal ethnicity estimates should be taken “with a grain of salt” in regards to their accuracy. I personally regard the estimates as useful indicators that at least have some basis in science and fact as opposed to mere self-reported or “family tradition” based origins. In the case of Ancestry, they use reference panels of thousands of genetic samplings and an advanced algorithm to compare one’s personal DNA with genetic signatures from around the world. It is a method that is more objective than having individual testers report their “family tradition” as to ancestral locations. In my own case, my personal research has repeatedly indicated my more recent ancestors several hundred years back up my father’s family tree likely came from Scotland. Via testing through Ancestry’s lab, the estimated single largest ethnic concentration of autosomal DNA in my body was inherited from my father and aligns with one of the Ancestry reference panels for Scotland. While that is not absolutely conclusive, it is more scientific and and more objective than mere self-reported or “family tradition” origins.
By comparison, my Family Tree DNA Family Finder autosomal ethnicity estimates (version 3, updated September 2020) are also very “British” in nature: 77 percent England, Wales, and Scotland; 18 percent Central Europe; 4 percent Ireland; and 1 percent traces of East European. My brother’s FTDNA My Origins results were even more “British:” 91 percent England, Wales, and Scotland; 2 percent Central Europe; 5 percent Ireland; and 2 percent Scandinavian.
MyHeritage’s autosomal analysis (2024) reported my ethnicity estimate to be: 66 percent Irish, Scottish, and Welsh; 22 percent English; 6 percent East European; and 6 percent Scandinavian.
(Ancestry.com is an American firm based in Utah; Family Tree DNA [FTDNA] is owned by an Australian firm but has a U.S. base and lab in Houston, Texas; MyHeritage is headquartered in Israel with offices in Utah and California.)
Tyrone Bowes, Ph.D., is an Irish biotechnologist consulting in the area of genetic genealogy. The Dublin native offered one analysis and interpretation of my autosomal DNA. Dr. Bowes, creator of the Irish Origenes and Scottish Origenes websites, utilizes a theory of identifying an individual’s “genetic homeland” relying upon historical geographic clustering of the surnames of one’s DNA matches. His methodology examined thousands of my Ancestry autosomal DNA matches. The results of his analysis, as it pertains to my more recent paternal line ancestors, suggested a point of origin in the Lanarkshire (Glasgow) area for my line of Blacks.
Mitochondrial DNA is the genetic material handed down from a mother to her offspring. It mutates less often but may still be somewhat useful in identifying maternal origins and/or connections. LivingDNA (Somerset, England) assessed my DNA and indicated my mother’s maternal lineage mitochondrial haplogroup to be H1a1 which supposedly emerged in southern Europe several thousand years ago. The parent H haplogroup is one of the most common in European with some estimating that one-third of all European women fall into one of the descendant subclades of the very large H haplogroup.
The Y-DNA, which is handed down only within the male line from father to son, involves markers known as short tandem repeats (STRs) as well as specific mutations that occur within a male line known as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs or “snips”). Testing for STRs and SNPs can, therefore, identify a male’s specific biological “haplogroup” and its branches/subclades.
Per Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) BigY700 testing results, my ancient Y-DNA paternal ancestors were part of the large R1b haplogroup branch of the human family tree. Based upon current theory, after emerging from Africa, those ancient ancestors migrated out of the Pontic steppe of Eurasia (the Black Sea-Caspian Sea region) into western Europe and ultimately into the British Isles.
Some of my deep ancestry indicated by my R1b “downstream” SNPs, and arranged here from oldest to most recent, includes:
R-M269 – Associated with R1b1a2 haplogroup, eventually the most common in Europe, with roots associated with the Yamnaya culture. Considered by some experts as dating back to the late Stone Age. (Mike “Tiger” Walsh is coordinator of FTDNA’s largest project which is the R1b haplogroup. According to Walsh, the original R-M269 male individual, who lived circa 4500 BCE/BC in southeastern Europe in the region of modern Bulgaria, is the progenitor for roughly half of all males of European descent.)
R-L151 – Considered to be part of the Corded Ware culture (circa 3000 BCE/BC) with its great migration from the Eurasian steppes to northern Europe. Ornamental pottery (i.e. “corded ware”), the battle axe, and single graves were attributes of that culture.
R-P312 – Large branch of the phylogenetic tree that was part of the Bell Beaker culture of central and western Europe in the early Bronze Age. The beaker culture included not only their unique pottery but early metal working and the development of long distance trading.
R-L21 (also known as R-S145) – A branch of the tree that probably originated about 2500 BCE/BC. Especially significant as a parental lineage in Ireland, Great Britain, and northwestern France. Sometimes referenced as a “Celtic” marker. R-S552, R-DF13 and R-Z39589 are deemed to be subsequent subclades of L21.
R-DF41 – Branched off from R-Z39589 about 1850 BCE/BC possibly around Devon, England but has been prevalent in Scotland, England and Ireland. R-CTS2501 has been deemed a separate but coincident SNP with R-DF41.
(Another of R-Z39589’s “children” or subbranches is R-M222, referred to by FTDNA as the “Irish Mystery Ancestor” as FTDNA estimates that one-sixth of all males in Ireland descend from the R-M222 SNP branch. I personally tested negative for the R-M222 SNP; FTDNA Big Y 700 testing also indicated I was either negative or presumed negative for the other major SNPs identified as being specifically “Irish” including R-Z253, R-L226, R-L270, and R-DF21.)
R-A98 (formed off of R-DF41 by about 990 BCE/BC and also sometimes labeled as R-Y3515), R-A100 (formed about 400 CE/AD), and R-Z9204 (formed about 1120 CE/AD) are more recent subclades under R-DF41. They have been found in only a very small group of test subjects and appear primarily confined to the northern half of the British Isles. The timelines feature of Dr. Rob Spencer’s Britain and Ireland SNP and Surname Mapper suggests R-A98’s formation may have been in the region of northwestern England that came to be known as Westmorland.
Family Tree DNA’s Big Y 700 testing refined my confirmed Y-DNA haplogroup to be R-BY3103 with two private variant SNPS yet to be identified. The Full Genomes Corporation (Maryland) and YFull analysis (Russia) label my confirmed haplogroup with the designation of R-FGC40253. The YFull analysis age estimation for R-FGC40253 (i.e. R-BY3103) is about 350 years ago or roughly 1670 AD. FTDNA’s Discover tool, beta version, estimates R-BY3103 represents a man estimated to have been born circa 1691-1700. (The 1691 date is a mean of the FTDNA probability plot which, at the 95 percent confidence level, is actually a range of possible birth years from 1544 to 1800 CE/AD.)
I have conferred with several subject matter experts regarding my Y-DNA and what might be surmised regarding my paternal ancestors:
– David Vance, author of “The Genealogist’s Guide to Y-DNA for Genetic Genealogy,” and a volunteer project co-administrator with Family Tree DNA, kindly reviewed my Y-DNA STR and SNP data. In a Facebook posting with the R1b-RL21 group, he confirmed that my line has a very old British Isles origin: “…looking at these branches even back to the R-A98 level does strongly suggest that this patrilineal line has lived in the British Isles for several thousand years.” (My Y-DNA and associated mapping programs indeed indicate my patrilineal ancestors likely crossed over from the European continent into Britain circa 2500 BCE/BC probably in the vicinity of Kent.)
– Scottish genealogist Bruce Durie has authored more than 30 books, and hosted a long running BBC radio program on genealogy. He also holds a doctoral degree in history and is a volunteer project co-administrator with Family Tree DNA.
After reviewing my personal Y-DNA data/matches and related genealogy information, Dr. Durie concluded, “there is no doubt your Black ancestors were Scots, albeit possibly cycled through Ulster at some point (or not – you may just be genetically related to some who were”).
Dr. Durie, founder of the Professional Postgraduate Programme in Genealogical Studies at the University of Strathclyde, also concluded that based upon the time frame, migratory track from Pennsylvania to Virginia to the Carolinas, and other evident historical factors, my more recent patrilineal lineage were most likely lowland Scots who had followed the historical path of the Ulster-Scots migration in colonial America
– American researcher Rob Spencer, PhD, is an alum of MIT, former scientist with pharmacology and biotechnology giant Pfizer, and is currently a volunteer project co-administrator with Family Tree DNA. He created the Britain and Ireland SNP and Surname Mapper and other genealogical tools.
Spencer’s SNP mapper estimates the likely origins of my R-BY3103 haplogroup to be in Scotland’s Argyll-Bute, although the primary circle of probable point of origin created by the tool for R-BY3103 also includes Stirlingshire, Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire, Lanarkshire, and Ayrshire. At times in the past portions of the circle would have been considered Dal Riata and still later the kingdom of Strathclyde. The tool created by Dr. Spencer appears to estimate that my direct paternal line was likely in the Argyll-Bute region of Scotland circa 1400 AD/CE. It further appears to suggest that about 900 AD/CE, prior to being in Scotland, my more distant paternal ancestors may have been residents of the old Ulster province of Ireland.
The mapper’s details for my particular SNP indicate an error rate of less than 100 km. The results of the estimating-averaging tool are not “genealogical fact” but serve as a science-based probability indicator. The tool uses DNA data, census type data, known surname prevalence, and other verifiable information to reduce reliance upon self-reported origins. (Graphic updated Sept 2022)
By contrast, my ostensible paper trail genealogy suggests my paternal line came to America from Dundonald in Ayrshire. I would note that Dundonald in Ayrshire (my paper trail genealogy), Bute (Spencer’s Y-DNA SNP mapper), Cowal peninsula in Argyll (“Black” sept tradition associated with Clan Lamont), and Lanarkshire (Bowe’s autosomal projected point of origin) are all within about a 50 mile area. Thus, multiple methods and approaches of analysis by multiple subject matter experts appear to vector in on a relatively small area of southwestern Scotland as the most likely ancestral and genetic homeland for my more recent paternal ancestors.
(Tim Clarkson, PhD., British author and independent scholar with graduate work specializing in archaeology and medieval history, has suggested the town name of “Dundonald” – the village from which my paper trail seems to eminate – likely has Cumbric origins. Clarkson suggests rather than arising from the Gaelic “Donal,” it more likely came from “Din Dyfnwal” as Britons speaking Cumbric occupied the region at the time the village came into being. As Gaelic and English were later imposed on the region, the town name went through various permutations before arriving at today’s Anglicized name of Dundonald, i.e., “Donald’s fort.”)
Dr. Durie, in his review of my personal Y-DNA data, matches, and family tree pedigree/genealogy, suggested my paternal ancestors were likely at one point part of the kingdom of Strathclyde, a post-Roman to early medieval entity encompassing part of northern England and southern Scotland including what became Argyll-Bute, Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Stirling, and Dunbartonshire. (Previously, during the Roman era, the Glasgow-Lanarkshire-Ayrshire region was home to the Damnonni, a tribe of Celtic Britons.)
Durie proposed an alternative perspective that my paternal line had likely never been a part of a clan or Highland culture. His interpretation of the available genealogical information was that my paternal line came from the European continent initially arriving in southeastern England. The family line later ventured into northern England, and finally into southern Scotland. He theorized my paternal line likely had been residents of the kingdom of Strathclyde and of Hen Ogledd (“the Old North”) who spoke Cumbric. In other words, Durie’s theory/interpretation suggests my paternal ancestors were of Brythonic (Ancient Briton) origins rather than being of Anglo-Saxon or Gaelic origins.
Summary
When I began formally researching my family around 1980, I initially theorized my paternal line initially had ties to ancient Ulster and ultimately ventured from somewhere in the Renfrew-Lanark region of Scotland to colonial America circa 1725.
Current methods and approaches point to southwestern Scotland – Ayrshire, Argyll-Bute, Lanarkshire – as potential points of origin for my more recent late-medieval to early-modern era paternal ancestors before they migrated to America. Prior to Scotland, my more distant paternal ancestors were likely in Ireland’s old Ulster region.
My paternal family surnames are Black (southwestern Scotland) and Ledford (per WikiTree originally from Lancaster, England). My primary maternal surnames are Brooks (southern England) and Calhoun (per WikiTree originally Colquhoun from Dumbarton, Scotland). Other surnames found among my great or great-great grandparents include Stewart, McFarland, Philbeck, Herren, Moore, Sawyer, Waters, Walker, Mooney and Welch. That’s a mixture of English, Scots, Irish, Welsh, and German surnames.
The surname website “named.publicprofiler.org” indicates the Black surname in the United Kingdom has been concentrated along a line from Londonderry to Belfast in the north of Ireland through Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, and Aberbeen in Scotland’s central belt.
The Britain and Ireland SNP and Surname Mapper created by research scientist Dr. Rob Spencer suggests the Black surname was concentrated in the central belt of Scotland. Spencer’s SNP and Surname mapper estimates my Y-DNA haplogroup, R-BY3103, likely originated within a 100 kilometers radius of Bute.
Annotation
Autosomal DNA matches are currently deemed valid and reliable only up to about the fifth or sixth generation. Personally, I focus on matches of 50 centimorgans or more; I consider autosomal DNA matches of less than 20 shared centimograms to be less pertinent. Ancestry.com refers to those with 20 cm or more as “close matches,” being no more distant than 4th cousins, of which I have more than 6,300 such matches, with a multiplicity of surnames, on Ancestry.
Some want to totally dismiss autosomal ethnicity estimates as unreliable. I personally think such estimates have their place as indicators/predictors but should be weighed and considered along with other data and information regarding a family’s genealogical and genetic history.
The more expensive Y-DNA testing certainly does help with “deep” ancestry/human origins research but the very limited number of Y-DNA test subjects and limited number of resulting matches – frequently involving only a very distant unidentified common ancestor – is disappointingly less helpful to a typical family historian who is attempting to identify a specific named individual in order to further advance a family tree back into time. Also, in the interest of truth and transparency, it should be noted that Y-DNA test data as it is currently being packaged and publicly presented regarding a given paternal line’s “country of origin” is still primarily based upon subjective self-reported origins from a limited pool of test takers, many of whom have little or no supporting paper trail or other actual evidence or sourced indicators to support their family tradition or family lore. To their credit, the vendors involved with these tests and testing results do readily acknowledge in their fine print that these country of origin reports are self reported observations and are not yet all hard science/evidence.
Then there is the fact that only a small percentage of the adult American male population has submitted to such testing; the percentage becomes even smaller among males in those alleged countries of origin. Also, a number of Y-DNA test takers have tested only for STRs with a portion not having tested for SNPs at all.
Much of the interpretations of Y-DNA testing results, including projected geographic paths of SNPs, are hints, theories, postulates, leaps of extrapolation, educated guesses – but not yet hard fact. Y-DNA is a fantastic and helpful tool but it is not yet the magical silver bullet or panacea providing all answers of an individual’s genealogy. Many of those family history answers still require hard work and perseverance through the techniques of traditional paper trail genealogy and through the use of autosomal DNA testing, mitochondrial DNA testing and Y-DNA testing.
When I first engaged in Y-DNA testing with FTDNA, I was advised – with absolute certitude – that R-L21 and R-DF41 were indicators of my paternal ancestors being “native Irish.” More recent findings have indicated both of those SNPs are far more complex and that neither is an exclusive indicator of being “Irish.” My point, obviously, is that many things initially posited by experts as “fact,” later prove not to be so certain after all. Genetic genealogy remains a field in flux. As I noted, there are numerous issues with Y-DNA testing interpretation just as there are issues with interpretations of autosomal DNA ethnicity estimates.
As an example, one online SNP mapping program relies exclusively upon Y-DNA testing results (coupled with those self-reported countries of origin) and uses the most recent age estimates for SNPs. That particular program, relying upon a very small sampling/data pool, places my personal confirmed haplogroup of R-BY3103 in the middle of Ireland in 1800 CE/AD. That is a bit problematic since it appears, based upon traditional genealogy paper trails, that my direct paternal line had already been living on American soil for at least three generations by 1800. While my paternal line may have some ancient connections to Ireland they most certainly were not in Ireland in 1800 CE/AD as evidence clearly indicates they had already been in the Carolinas for several generations by that point in time. That is a clear example of how over reliance upon the self reported origins of a very small data pool can lead to skewed results.
In regards to my own Big-Y 700 testing, I have about ten matches at that level of testing with the closest being roughly a 6th cousin at a genetic distance of three. That means, according to FTDNA’s Y-DNA matches Time Predictor calculator, that we have approximately a 95 percent chance of sharing a common ancestor eight generations ago (the time of the Matthew Black, b. 1701, as discussed above). Most of my Big Y 700 “matches” actually do not share a common ancestor with me any more recently than about 900 CE/AD, and that common ancestor is an unknown, unidentified, unspecified individual.
From my own perspective and experience, I have found the autosomal testing results seem to most closely track my traditional paper trail genealogy research. The Ancestry database in particular, which is much larger than the FTDNA database, appears to be fairly accurate and has been more helpful, and far less expensive as to testing costs, in regards to the effort to specifically identify my more recent ancestors, and to legitimately document their cultural backgrounds and origins.
Finally, I would stress that primary source genealogical documentation is often lacking after a certain point in time, especially for commoners. I feel very confident about the validity of the first seven generations listed above as my own direct paternal line of ancestors, but am somewhat less confident about subsequent generations hence my attempt to clearly label the latter portion of my personal family tree as speculation.
Conclusion
I surmise my more ancient paternal ancestors were among the R1b haplogroup leaving the Eurasian steppe and venturing into western Europe. They then became part of the Beaker and Celt cultures that swept into Britain and Ireland. My more recent direct paternal line of Black apparently left the lowlands of Scotland, probably the Ayrshire-Bute-Lanarkshire (greater Glasgow) region, ultimately seeking better opportunities across the Atlantic by migrating to the American colonies – Pennsylvania to Virginia to Carolina.
This is the current version of “Black – Cleveland, Rutherford, Old Tryon” as indicated by the date below. Due to updates on available information, please disregard and/or discard any previous versions.
I am a hobbyist, an amateur genealogist and family historian, who uses this good faith endeavor primarily to honor those who have gone before us lest they be totally forgotten. I attempt to attribute information/sources wherever possible. I label my personal speculations, opinions or conclusions as such rather than present them as “fact.” I remain open to new information, new data, new theories, and the need for revising the narrative of my personal family history as new information presents itself.
Thomas Black – blackathom@gmail.com – updated January 2024
Relevant Links
NC GenWeb Project https://www.ncgenweb.us/
NCpedia Early Settlement of North Carolina, by History Prof. David Goldfield of UNCC https://www.ncpedia.org/printpdf/532
NC Land Grant Images https://nclandgrants.com/
NC Online Genealogy – Family Search https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/North_Carolina_Online_Genealogy_Records
Rob Spencer’s Tracking Back – Britain & Ireland Mapper http://scaledinnovation.com/gg/biMapper.html
MyHeritage tree https://www.myheritage.com/pedigree-tree-457573881-48000001/black-carolina
WikiTree family tree https://www.wikitree.com/treewidget/Black-14985/4
Scots-Irish in the Southern States https://www.archives.com/experts/garstka-katharine/the-scots-irish-in-the-southern-united-states-an-overview.html
Scotch-Irish in Virginia https://www.libraryireland.com/articles/ScotchIrishVirginiaFiske/index.php
Scots-Irish Settlers During the Royal Period – J.D. Lewis’ “Carolana” https://www.carolana.com/NC/Royal_Colony/nc_royal_colony_scots_irish.html
Settlers by the Long Grey Trail, J. Houston Harrison https://wvancestry.com/Files/Settlers_by_the_Long_Grey_Trail_some_Pioneers_of_Old_Augusta_County_Virginia.pdf
Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish in Virginia http://usgwarchives.net/special/chalkley/
Wes Patterson’s genealogy blog http://www.wespatterson.com/p/black.html
Black surname – FamilySearch https://www.familysearch.org/en/surname?surname=Black
Black Surname meaning, history https://selectsurnames.com/black/
Bruce Durie – DNA Demystified https://www.scotclans.com/pages/dna-demystified?_pos=1&_sid=4741c6386&_ss=r
Roberta Estes – DNAexplained blog https://dna-explained.com/
International Society of Genetic Genealogy https://isogg.org/wiki/Wiki_Welcome_Page
Eupedia Haplogroup R-1b https://www.eupedia.com/europe/Haplogroup_R1b_Y-DNA.shtml
FTDNA Facebook R1b Y DNA page https://www.facebook.com/groups/R1b.YDNA
Genetic Landscape of Scotland and the Isles https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1904761116
The Road to Scotland is Paved with DNA (youtube presentation) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxWkM0e9-7s
Irish DNA Atlas https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-17124-4
Irish and Scottish DNA compared – Tyrone Bowes https://www.irishorigenes.com/content/irish-and-scottish-dna-compared
Ayrshire – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayrshire
Dal Riata https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A1l_Riata
Kingdom of Strathclyde https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Strathclyde
Hen Ogledd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hen_Ogledd
Tim Clarkson’s Senchus Blog – Dundonald https://senchus.wordpress.com/2010/05/16/dundonald/
Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) https://www.familytreedna.com/
Ancestry https://www.ancestry.com/
FindMyPast https://www.findmypast.com/
FamilySearch https://www.familysearch.org/en/
ScotlandsPeople https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/
Living DNA https://livingdna.com/
GEDmatch https://www.gedmatch.com/
Black - Cleveland, Rutherford, Old Tryon 