I know some of you are interested in the Youngblood DNA project and since the project coordinator, Larry Youngblood of Houston, TX, has not yet publicly posted the chart showing all of the participant’s test results, (citing privacy issues), I thought I’d give you a brief rundown on the results of that.

So far, about 32 male Youngbloods from across the country have contributed their DNA for comparison, along with the "paper trail" to their earliest known, (or supposed), ancestor. Some of these are not very well documented, but that is one object of the study ~ to learn which branch they are related to for sure and thus give them a direction to continue their research. A great many of the lineages posted on the internet show a line going back to John Miles Youngblood, one of the earliest and most visible of the name found in this country. However, comparison to the DNA from a documented descendant literally blew their tree down and they are now trying to rebuild it with the necessary paper work.

Most of the participants fall into four main groups, which have been designated as the "Thomas & Amy (Hopkins) Youngblood Line"; the "Peter Youngblood, Sr. Line"; our "James/Jeremiah Line", and the "John Miles Youngblood Line". Since the DNA results do not distinguish between brothers or other close male family members, there may be several individual lines in each group, all showing the same numbers in their DNA. It gets rather complicated, (and confusing), as there are what they call "fast mutating" markers that can be a digit off from the others, but still doesn’t change the relationship. For instance, Larry’s test did not exactly match a known relative, so he had his son tested for confirmation ~ and it was one marker off from his, too! There are, I think, three in these 32, who do not match each other or any of the others, yet they "originated" in the same locations and followed the same migration patterns. (Completely illogical to me!)

Family Tree Maker has a website that explains all about the DNA testing if you’re interested, but be prepared for some technical jargon!

There are four individual lines in our James/Jeremiah Group. Ignoring the "fast mutating" markers, they all prove to be a 99% match. Besides our Jeremiah, there are:

1. Joseph Youngblood ~ believed to be a son of Jeremiah’s brother, Eli. Joseph was born about 1795 and first appeared on records in 1830 Cocke Co., TN. He moved to Dallas Co., MO by 1850 and died before the 1860 census. Three of his sons, James Leander, William and Francis Marion, left Dallas Co. and moved to Parker Co., TX after their father died. The other son, Joseph, Jr., remained in Dallas Co. until the late 1880’s, then he moved to Collin Co, TX. He is the one mentioned by our Doctor Franklin Youngblood’s son, John Wesley, as having taken him in and cared for him while he was ill and made the statement that Joseph was "a relative", so we had this "proof", already. William was killed and scalped by Indians in Parker Co., TX in 1861. We have not yet located his descendants, whose names are unknown. Various history books tell of William’s fate and give the name of his wife as Elmina Fondren, daughter of the Fondren who established the cemetery where William is buried. However, this has proved to be incorrect and it has been established that Elmina was actually the first wife of James Leander. He had children by her, as well as his second wife and Judy Sierra has done a lot of research on this line. Contact has also been made with descendants of Francis Marion. (Most of these ended up moving to Oklahoma.) Joseph also had daughters, but only one of these has been identified ~ Cinderella Lucinda, who married Jesse Richington Hefner in TN and died in Dallas Co., MO in 1863. Her husband and 5 children later moved to Wright Co., MO. Several of their descendants lived around Marshfield, but contact has not been made, yet.

2. William Youngblood ~ also thought to be a son of Jeremiah’s brother, Eli. William was born 1806 and first appeared in 1830 Greene Co., TN ~ and is also thought to be a son of Eli. He moved to the Cape Girardeau/Bollinger Co., MO area by 1850 and died in Bollinger Co. before 1860. He and wife, Elizabeth (Garrett), had 9 children ~ Alfred M.; (unknown son); John Garrett; James Mark; Martin V.; Barbary; Mary Magdelene; William O.B. and Sarah A. Some of these later moved to the Ellis/Jack/Parker Co., TX area. We have had contact with several descendants who have long been researching on this line ~ Pauline Crader, Beverly Rich, Debbie Squires, Ken Isom and others.

3. Ransom Youngblood ~ A completely unexpected match! Ransom’s birthdate is estimated as 1786 and he died before 1840, locations unknown. His widow, Letticia (Lusk) appears on the 1840 census of Macon Co., NC, with 3 sons and 4 daughters. As of this time, the daughters have not been identified, but three of the sons are assumed to be those who married in Macon Co. ~ George Youngblood to Sarah Green 18 Oct. 1836; Ransom D. Youngblood & Rachel Jones, 31 Aug. 1840; and James T. Youngblood & Rachel Youngblood, 8 May 1847. (Ransom D. died and Rachel married his brother). The 4th son was Bryant G. Youngblood, (b/. Burke Co., NC); found living with George and Sarah in 1850 Union Co., GA and married in Pope Co., IL to Elizabeth Smith on 10 June 1852. George and Sarah had been in Habersham Co., GA in 1840, Union Co., GA in 1850, White Co., GA in 1860 and Blount Co., TN in 1870, where George died before 1880. James T. and Rachel were still in Macon Co., NC in 1850, where his birthplace is listed as Burke, NC. They evidently moved to Polk Co., TN soon after this, as their next two children have a TN b.place. However, James has died by 1860 and only Rachel appears there on the census, with four children. (The oldest of these, called John in this census, was her son by first husband, Ransom D.) By 1870, Rachel and the kids are in Union Co., GA, and still there in 1880. The kids have married and "John" is now listed as Jackson, or Jack. He and his family moved to Roane Co., TN, later. Rachel was still living with son, Thomas, in 1900 Rabun Co., GA, her date of birth listed as 1813; NC (age 87), but this does not correspond with earlier census records, which vary greatly for all of them.

Further information on these families is known and research is still being done. Letticia is not found after 1840 Macon Co., NC, unless she’s the same of that name listed in a church membership in Cade’s Cove, Blount Co., TN in the 1870’s. Lusk records give her date of birth as 15 Sept. 1790 in Union Co., SC, daughter of Capt. James Vance Lusk and Letticia Thomas. Her mother was killed by her black slave servant when Letticia was 3 and she moved to KY in 1797 with her father, stepmother and the rest of the family. Capt. Lusk established a ferry across the Ohio River to what is now Pope Co., IL. He died in 1803, but her stepmother, Sarah, continued the ferry, established a town she named Sarahville and is commemorated today with a statue in front of the Pope Co. courthouse at Golconda, IL, (formerly Sarahville). This was evidently the tie that took Letticia’s son back there in early 1850. Where and exactly when Letticia married Ransom Youngblood has not been established, however. Their first child, George, was born ca. 1818 in either SC or NC.

Ransom’s age would indicate that he was probably a cousin of Jeremiah, but at this time, we still don’t know who the siblings of our old James were.

There are others we suspect belong in this group whose descendants have not yet been tested. They are:

The William Youngblood in 1820 Jackson Co., TN, who moved to AR with the Fanning relatives and whose granddaughter married a granddaughter of Jeremiah, Jr. Bill Robbins, (and several of the new cousins who attended the last Youngblood reunion), descend from this line and Bill thinks he has located a DNA donor to participate in the confirmation project.

James and Alfred Youngblood, who came from Grainger Co., TN to Livingston and Ray Co., MO before 1840. They are thought to be brothers of the above Joseph and William. We need contact with their descendants to pursue this.

Reuben Youngblood, who appeared on the 1850 census in Buncombe Co., NC and moved to Henderson Co, NC, where he died before 1860, leaving widow, Elizabeth, and 7 children - William b. 1834, Joseph b. 1838, Jasper Newton b. 1842, Sarah Ann b. 1844, Mary Elizabeth b. 1847, Jane S. b. 1850 and Reubin Pinckney b. 1852. He is also thought to be a son of Eli. We have recently made contact with descendants of this line and the research continues. (These Youngbloods are the subject of a great book recently published by Terrell T. Garren, entitled "The Secret of War" and relates their tragic story stemming from the Civil War in NC. (Highly recommended ~ write for more details if you’re interested.)

This book mentions a Hiram Youngblood, who is depicted as being a son of Reuben in the book, but Terry Garren says he is believed to actually have been a nephew. and that his military record lists his place of enrollment (conscription) in the war as Rutherford Co., NC. This is where one Mary Youngblood appears on the 1850 census (age 40) with a son, Hamilton (10) and daughter, Evaline (7) all born in NC. In 1860, Mary is 70 (?), and Emaline is 20. Hamilton is not listed, but not far away is a Harvey Youngblood (35) with wife Lucinda (25) and (step?)daughter, Francis (4). Rutherford Co. marriage records say he married Lucinda Right (Wright) 14 May 1859. Also in the Rutherford Co. jail in 1860 is one "H." Youngblood (30), which is the right age for Hiram of the Garren book. Mary Youngblood is believed to be the "Polly" Younglood named in the will of William Crain, written in 1818 and probated in 1837. He also names a son, Hiram ~ and one of the witnesses was a John Lusk. A lot of intriguing possible clues here to be pursued! (This Mary is Candice Holifield’s ancestor).

PS

February 16, 2006: Update to this ~ we now have a descendant of Reuben Youngblood who has just taken the DNA test.