Theodore Stone (1842 – 1914)

Today is the 100th anniversary of my second great grandfather’s death. I thought it was fitting to visit his grave today, and write this narrative of him containing the research I’ve compiled to date:

Pendleton County Stone DNA Test

Thanks to tips from two people who saw my call for a tester from the Stone family of early 1800s Pendleton County, Virginia (now West Virginia), I have now located someone who has agreed to proceed with testing. This particular Stone line is one I’ve considered to be a possible ancestral family for my own Stone line for several months now. There are several bits and pieces of circumstantial evidence that look to perhaps link the two family lines, but I have yet to come across any documentation which shows a conclusive connection. It will be nice to be able to, at long last, hopefully make a firm conclusion as to whether or not there is a close relationship between the two paternal lines using DNA evidence. Results of this pending test are expected to be back by the middle of September.

Besides the Pendleton County family, I have also had similar interest in the Stone family of early 1800s Greene County, Pennsylvania, due to the close proximity to Monongalia County, Virginia (now West Virginia), and there having been at least one intermarriage between the two family lines. There is a contact I’m working with right now in regards to her nephew possibly being willing to test. Should he decide to proceed, I’ll post that a test candidate has been found. In the meantime, if anyone else knows of a direct paternal line descendant of the Stone family of early 1800s Greene County, Pennsylvania, who has taken a Y-DNA test, or may be interested in taking a Y-DNA test, please contact me.

A Second Theodore and Julia Ann (Wade) Stone Family Photo

Up until now, my branch of the family of Theodore and Julia Ann (Wade) Stone has only had this one photo of them with their eight children who survived to adulthood:

This photo has been a cherished heirloom in our family, and is believed to have been found among the photo albums of my grandfather’s sister, Juanita, who passed away in 1982. From what I recall, the original photo was damaged, so a local photo studio took a photo of the print, did restoration work on the copy negative, and then made new prints which were given to family members. It was extremely helpful to have the individuals labeled on the mat board which housed the print, as we might not have correctly known who was who among the girls, and it was a great help to know their married names and the first names of the husbands of all of the girls except Mary. My grandfather, Larry, had a very striking resemblance to how his father, Arthur (Pearl), appears in this photo. I believe the original photo to have been taken about 1900, based on the apparent ago of Alta, who was born February 18, 1887. For all of the people other than Pearl, this family photo was the only photo we had of them.

Several years ago, Diane, a descendant of Mary, made contact with me, and we began exchanging information. It turned out Diane’s family had several old photos that have turned out to be of the Stone family, although several of them were not known to be members of the Stone family as the photos were not labeled. Among the photos was one which looks to have been taken at the same time as the family photo above, considering that Alta is wearing the exact same dress and hairstyle:

The white area in the lower left is some damage that has occurred to the print. I made the mistake initially of thinking that it was a little girl in the photo with Alta, but have since learned that it was fairly common for young boys to be dressed in such outfits. Diane confirmed with her mother that it is Mary’s son, Charles Porter, in the photo with his cousin, Alta. He was born October 2, 1896, which provides an additional estimate of the group photo having been taken about 1900.

This afternoon, I received another photo from Diane, and it is an absolute gem. It is another Theodore and Julia Ann (Wade) Stone family photo, taken a few years after the previous photo:

Almost everyone is in the same place as the previous photo, with the exception of three of the daughters. My guess as to why they are positioned differently is to balance the black dresses with the lighter, patterned dresses among the daughters (two black dresses and one patterned dress in the front row, and two patterned dresses and one black dress in the back row). Among the three who are in different positions, I believe Anna is in the front row at far right, Kitty/Kittie is in the middle of the back row, and Mary is in the back row at far right. Dating this photo is a bit more of a challenge, although it is known to be before October 29, 1914, as that’s when Theodore passed away.

It’s very exciting to come across this photo, and I can’t thank Diane enough for sending it to me. It’s a wonderful example of the power of collaborative genealogy. She has also sent me additional photos of some of the Stone daughters later in life, and I plan to make these photos part of my upcoming posts.

Stone Autosomal DNA Match

Back in March of 2012, I was contacted via the Ancestry.com messaging system by someone who saw my Ancestry Member Tree and noticed that our second great grandfathers were brothers. Since that time, this fourth cousin and I have exchanged many emails and lots of Stone family information. Most importantly, she was able to make me aware of research that her great grand aunt did when she applied to the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1942. Unfortunately, despite our solid paper trails, this fourth cousin and I were not able to verify our relationship with DNA testing since we did not come up as matches to each other’s test, as can be the nature of autosomal DNA testing. As it turns out, though, her great grand aunt’s research provided the foundation for new research this fourth cousin and I have done which has lead to many new discoveries regarding the Stone line.

One item of much interest in the DAR application was the listing of the names of two spouses of children of Henry Stone. Using this information, it became possible to find census records and other documentation which lead to locating someone about a year ago who was likely a mutual fifth cousin to me and my fourth cousin. I say likely, because while there were many pieces of circumstantial evidence to support the connection, there was nothing which confirmed the maiden name of this fifth cousin’s third great grandmother. We concluded the connection was quite probable, but vowed to keep researching to see if additional information could be found to better substantiate our relationship.

About a month ago, Ancestry added a new record collection of Pennsylvania Death Certificates. Within this new record collection were two death certificates for sons of this fifth cousin’s third great grandmother, and the maiden name of their mother in both cases was Sarah Stone. Finally, we had the paper trail link we had been searching for.

As part of her ongoing genealogy research, this fifth cousin recently took the Ancestry DNA autosomal test. Just yesterday, she sent me a couple emails letting me know she had received her results back, and later, that she had found my test result among her matches. At long last, I now have the first match (outside my immediate family) that I can say is most likely a mutual descendant of my fourth great grandparents, Henry Stone and Margaret Murphy. I still need at least one more match, however, so that the proper triangulation of the matching chromosomes and segments can be done in order to confirm we are matching on the same ancestors.

All in all, this is a very exciting discovery and first step!

More Stone DNA Test Results

DNA test results (kit 328319) from the descendant of George and Rheuhama (maiden surname unknown) Stone (http://www.danstone.info/g0/p303.htm) have come back and are now posted on the Stone Y-DNA Test Results page (http://www.danstone.info/stonedna.htm). Although the test results are just at the twelve marker level, the only two matches to this test in the Family Tree DNA database are the two Henry Stone descendants. They have already tested and matched at thirty-seven markers, making it extremely likely the George Stone who married Rheuhama is the son of my fourth great grandfather, Henry Stone (http://www.danstone.info/g0/p298.htm), who lived in Maidsville, Monongalia County, Virginia (now West Virginia). This is very helpful on a couple counts:

1) It shows the Henry Stone who is shown in Monongalia County deed book records as being conveyed land from Elizabeth Scott is indeed my ancestor, Henry Stone. This is demonstrated by the record on page 271 in Deed Book #19 Old Series, which lists an “indenture made February 3, 1849 between John Stone, Henry Stone [Jr.], George Stone and Rheuhama his wife, of the one part, and Joseph H. Scott of the other part, all of Monongalia County Va……….. Three sevenths of a tract of land……… being the same that was conveyed to Henry Stone by Elizabeth Scott………. being the interest or shares of said John Stone, Henry Scott [should be Stone rather than Scott] (Jr.), George Stone and Rheuhama his wife, in said tract of land as children and heirs of Henry Stone deceased.” There are three additional and similar transactions in the same deed book between the remainder of Henry Stone’s children (except Joseph Stone, who is said to have died in the War of 1812) and Joseph H. Scott. This information came from the supplemental documentation supplied with the Daughters of the American Revolution application of Sarah Love (Stone) Conn (http://www.danstone.info/g0/p329.htm).

2) It shows the derived thirty-seven marker Y-DNA signature of Henry Stone obtained from the two previous testers is very likely accurate, and is also fairly unique since there are so very few matches at even the twelve marker level. This is extremely helpful going forward in trying to discover the correct ancestral family of Henry Stone. There should not be a large number of false matches to have to sort through, and the family tree of anyone who does match should be investigate quite thoroughly as it very likely points to a common ancestor between our lines.

This leads me to start looking more closely at two families I find quite likely to be the ancestral families of Henry Stone. One being the Stone family of early Pendleton County, Virginia (now West Virginia). The other being the line of Philipp Stein of Udenkappeln, Palatine, Germany, who’s descendant, John Sebastian Stein (http://www.danstone.info/g3/p3453.htm), came to Berks County, Pennsylvania, in 1748. In both of these families, some branches are believed to have eventually evolved the surname from Stein to Stone. Many previous researchers have believed these two lines are related to each other, or are part of the same line, but comparison of the signature/mark of Henry Stein (aka Henrich Stein) who accompanied Sebastian Stein on the Edinburgh in 1748 to the signature of Johann Henrich Stein who arrived on the Edinburgh in 1751 (http://boards.ancestry.com/thread.aspx?mv=flat&m=1870&p=localities.northam.usa.states.westvirginia.counties.pendleton), seems to show that at least two men named Henry/Henrich Stein arrived in early Pennsylvania at somewhat similar timeframes. Hopefully, DNA comparisons will help sort this out, so I’m searching for descendants of both lines for testing. A previous test of a descendant of the Philipp Stein line (kit UG8HR) seems to show my Stone line is not closely related, but a comparison with a second descendant should be done to confirm the result. If any direct paternal line descendants of either of these lines have tested, or are interested in testing, please contact me.

Stone DNA Testing Tentative Match

As I posted about back on December 17th (http://wp.me/p3HOBY-aV), a descendant of Jacob Stone (http://danstone.info/g0/p302.htm) submitted a DNA sample for testing. The results of the first panel of twelve markers came back today, and the markers match exactly with the first panel of twelve markers of the DNA test I took. While a twelve marker match by itself is not very definitive, this is the first match I have had to my test even at just the basic twelve marker level. When the uniqueness of the match is taken into consideration with the three pieces of evidence I outlined in my December 17th post, I believe it is extremely likely the results of the comparison with the remaining twenty-five markers will support the conclusion that the Jacob Stone who moved to Iowa in 1854 is indeed almost certainly the son of my fourth great grandparents, Henry Stone (http://danstone.info/g0/p298.htm) and Margaret Murphy (http://danstone.info/g0/p299.htm), of Monongalia County, Virginia (now West Virginia). Results of the remaining markers are due back in the middle of March.

Ancestor Surnames And Locations

A fellow researcher suggested I create a list of ancestor surnames and their associated geographic locations which can be sent to DNA matches to review for possible shared connections. This is something I have actually been meaning to do for awhile now, and this latest suggestion prompted me to finally go ahead and get the list created. I’ve added it to my website (http://danstone.info/charts.htm), and am also including it here:

Paternal Grandfather’s Line (http://danstone.info/stoneancestors-0.htm)

Stone (possibly Stein or Stine originally): Virginia [now West Virginia] (Monongalia County, possibly Loudoun County, possibly Pendleton County), Iowa (Adair County, Clarke County, Jefferson County), Pennsylvania (Fayette County, possibly Greene County), possibly Germany, possibly Maryland (Frederick County)

Childs: Pennsylvania (Fayette County)

Wade: Virginia [now West Virginia] (Monongalia County)

Lewark/Luark (possibly Ruark/Rheuark): Virginia (Washington County), Indiana (Madison County, Rush County, Wabash County), Washington (Chehalis [now Grays Harbor] County), Delaware, North Carolina, possibly Maryland (Dorchester County)

Phillips: Kentucky (Anderson County), Missouri (Clark County, Pike County), possibly Virginia (Amherst County)

Sneed/Snead: Missouri (Clark County)

Evers: Germany (Hanover), Indiana (Jefferson County), Missouri (Pike County)

Sinkler (possibly Sinclair or St. Clair): Pennsylvania

Paternal Grandmother’s Line (http://danstone.info/dromenskancestors-0.htm)

Dromensk/Dromenski/Dromenske: Germany/Prussia, Michagan (Mecosta County)

Schmidt: Germany

Leissa: Germany/Prussia

Delainey/Delaney: Ireland, Canada (Ontario), Michigan (Huron County), Canada (Saskatchewan)

Brodbeck: Germany, Michigan (Huron County)

Schmitt: Germany, Canada, Michigan (Huron County)

Maurer: France, Canada, Michigan (Huron County)

Maternal Grandfather’s Line (http://danstone.info/wrightancestors-0.htm)

Wright: Ohio (Clinton County, Ross County), New Jersey, possibly Scotland, Missouri (Mercer County), Oklahoma (Beaver County), Iowa (Monroe County), Indiana (Putnam County)

Myers: Kentucky, Indiana (Putnam County)

Moore/Moor: Iowa (Decatur County), Indiana (Brown County), Virginia

Hashman: Ohio

Egbert: Nebraska (Blaine County) and most surrounding midwest states, Indiana (Boone County, Franklin County), Pennsylvania (Beaver County), New York

Schott: Ohio

Seaver: Massachusetts (Hampden County, Middlesex County, Worcester County)

Burlingame: Pennsylvania

Maternal Grandmother’s Line (http://danstone.info/hillancestors-0.htm)

Hill: Ohio (Mahoning County, Trumbull County), Delaware (Sussex County)

Martin: Ohio

Mapes: Kansas (Republic County), Ohio, New York

Vining: Pennsylvania

Boyer: Canada (Quebec)

Flanders: New Hampshire (Franklin County, Grafton County, Merrimack County, Rockingham County), Massachusetts (Essex County)

Brock: New Hampshire (Grafton County, Merrimack County)

Yet Another Stone DNA Testing Update

I received word back today from a direct paternal descendant of Emanuel Stone (http://www.danstone.info/g0/p622.htm) who has agreed to participate in the Stone DNA testing. Emanuel is the brother of my second great grandfather, Theodore Stone. The results of this DNA test should allow me to genetically verify both of our lines of descent back to our mutual third great grandfather, James Stone. I do not expect any surprises with this test, but having test results from two different lines tracing back to James should prove very helpful for future comparisons with potential test candidates going back even further in the Stone line. Results of this new test should be back in late March 2014.

Another Stone DNA Testing Update

I’ve had more success in my search for testing candidates. After much looking, I managed to find a direct paternal descendant of Jacob Stone (http://www.danstone.info/g0/p302.htm), who was recorded in the Iowa state census of 1856 in Round Prairie Township, Jefferson County. I’ve long believed this is the same Jacob Stone who is the son of my fourth great grandfather, Henry Stone, although I have not yet linked Jacob (of the Iowa census) with Henry in my family tree [February 19, 2014 note: I have since linked them now that the DNA results are in]. There are three key reasons for my thinking they are the same Jacob Stone:

1) Jacob Stone’s birth of circa 1794 is consistent with the projected birth year range of Henry Stone’s children, and is also consistent with him later fighting in the War of 1812, which Henry Stone’s son, Jacob, is reported to have done.

2) Jacob Stone is recorded in the Iowa state census of 1856 in the household of George Stone (who I’m assuming is very likely his son). By matching up the children, it can be seen that this same George Stone and his family are recorded in the U.S. census of 1850 in Monongalia County, Virginia. Monongalia County is where James Stone (my third great grandfather) and Henry Stone are known to have lived.

3) James Stone is also recorded in the Iowa state census of 1856 in Round Prairie Township, Jefferson County. James, Jacob, and George are all recorded as having lived in Iowa for two years.

The results of this DNA test should finally allow me to prove or disprove whether this Jacob Stone is indeed Henry Stone’s son. Results are expected back in March 2014. In the meantime, I mailed off letters yesterday to a couple more potential test candidates, both direct paternal descendants of Henry Stone’s son, George Stone, who moved to Greene County, Pennsylvania.

Stone DNA Testing Update

I managed to locate someone who is believed to be a descendant of Philipp Stein and has already taken a Y-DNA test. The Philipp Stein line (http://www.crewfamily.com/descendants_of_philipp_stein.htm) is one I have researched for about a year now in the belief that my Stone line may be closely related to them based on lots of circumstantial evidence I have come across. It turns out the haplogroups between us are not the same and the DNA signatures are dramatically different. As the other person rightly pointed out, while this test result certainly puts a damper on a likely connection, a final determination cannot be made until at least one more descendant can be found for comparison.

Until an additional comparison is done, we must allow for the possibility of an undocumented adoption or non paternal event in either of our lines. Another possibility, as I discovered by reading a posting on the Ancestry.com message boards (http://boards.ancestrylibrary.com/localities.northam.usa.states.westvirginia.counties.pendleton/1870.2/mb.ashx), is that there were at least two different men named Henry Stone/Johann Heinrich Stein who lived in a similar area during roughly the same timeframe. One married Juliana Andre while the other married Susannah Zorn/Zornes (possible maiden name of Ruhlman).

Therefore, I’m continuing to seek DNA test candidates from either of the Stein lines as well as from my Stone line.