Genealogy, Loyalists, and the Power of Shared Research

About 15 minutes after telling a genealogy colleague that I didn't have any known Loyalist ancestors, one(or likely more) unexpectedly emerged. I finally took a closer look at my Combs line beyond my 4th great-grandmother—a branch I had largely ignored while focusing on other ancestors over the years. Though I knew of a detailed Combs family webpage from the late 1990s, I had never fully explored it. Fortunately, that page still exists.

I’ve traced my matrilineal line back to my 4th great-grandmother, Nancy Combs Fleming(1797-1881). I don't have her parents proven but I believe they were Mason Combs (1747–180?) and his wife, Dorothy. While I don’t know much about Dorothy’s identity, I do know that all her matrilineal descendants share an mtDNA haplogroup with a unique backward mutation. A recent update to Mitotree prompted me to dig deeper into her history. Since women from that era are best researched by studying the men in their lives, I turned to FamilySearch’s full-text search and looked up Mason Combs. The results were surprising—I found multiple records mentioning Mason, along with other Combs and Cody men, labeling them as Tories and murderers. Maybe this explained him removing from NC to Hawkins Co. TN. 

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GPGL-9B27

When I couldn’t get back to sleep last night, I decided to browse the Combs site for any information on Combs Loyalists, specifically Mason Combs' family. I found a few interesting details. Court records related to the settlement of William Ridge’s estate—he was the husband of Winnifred Combs, Mason’s sister—revealed that he was a British Loyalist. This was the case that FS's Full-Text Search had returned the previous day.

The Combs site also referenced the work of George Baumbach. Fortunately, I was able to retrieve his page using the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

William Ridge Estate Records: Tory Combs &  Allied Families of Surry and Wilkes Co., NC  

Even with 35 years of genealogical research, I still learn something new every day. I'm a lifelong learner and I never want that to change. I’m especially grateful for the dedicated researchers who have shared their findings online, helping to connect family groups and point the way to valuable records. When those resources disappear from the web, the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine often comes to the rescue, preserving crucial information that might otherwise be lost.

Mitochondrial Riddle

Never say never.  I guess that somewhat applies here.  I've always said that I didn't have a question that mitochondrial dna(mtDNA--mother line DNA) could answer but as I was sending a Hitchcock researcher additional info, I realized that is not the case.

Since I began researching in 1990 other Hitchcock researchers always listed George Hitchcock's wife as Milly Combs.  I had it written in my notes but had never seen a source and still haven't for that matter. Fast forward about 15 years and I received an email from Agnes Jones about records for a George Hitchcox and Milly Riddle in Roane Co TN marriage records in 1806. In addition to that marriage I was also able to find a Riddle land owner whose land bordered the widowed Millie Hitchcock in Warren Co TN where George and Milly had raised their family.  The land had been granted to Basil Riddle around the time of George and Milly's marriage.  Now he was selling it to William Edde. William Edde's son would later marry Milly Hitchcock's daughter.  There are not many records that I've found so far which I can identify as this Basil Riddle.  The name gets reused for several generations in various areas.  I did find a statement in a wills sales, inventory book in Warren Co TN which mentioned Basil Riddle dying intestate, his meager estate and the fact that he has five heirs--none of whose names are mentioned.(see Bazell Riddle post)

A little backstory into what I feel probably brought about the story that Milly's maiden name was Combs.  While I am a descendant of George Hitchcock and Milly Riddle, I am also a descendant of John Fleming and Nancy Combs.  Two of George and Milly's children(James P and Nancy) married two of John and Nancy's children(Charlotta and Alfred P.)   This may have added to the confusion.  So while I may not be able to tell if Milly was a Combs...I can see if she and Nancy had the same mother.  I carry Nancy Combs Fleming's  mtDNA.  Milly has a lot of female descendants so I could probably find a straight line female line and I'd like for that to be thru a different line than that of her daughter Nancy Hitchcock Fleming's line(Not to be confused with Nancy Combs Fleming)  Of course the thing holding me back now would be to find the finances to pay for the mtDNA test.

Examining a Maternal DNA Circle--Mason Combs(1746-1802)

Mason Combs, while not proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, is most likely my 5th Gr Grandfather and the father of Nancy Combs Fleming.

Examining the Mason Combs AncestryDNA Circle
Members:   124
Groups:    39

Mom matches 50 members which represent 18 groups.

I match 26 members also within the 18 groups.

My sister matches 18 members also within the 18 groups.




Members of the 18 Groups represent the following connections:

• Descends from John Fleming and Nancy Combs thru their daughter Charlotta Fleming(This is the source of my Combs line)
• Descends from John Fleming and Nancy Combs thru their daughter Martha Fleming. Walling.
• Descends from John Fleming and Nancy Combs  thru their son Samuel Logan Fleming
• Descends from John Fleming and Nancy Combs thru their son William Logue Fleming.
• Descends from Martin Johnson and Sarah Combs thru their son John Clark Johnson.
• Descends from Martin Johnson and Sarah Combs thru their son Martin Johnson
• Descends from Martin Johnson and Sarah Combs thru their daughter Nancy Johnson.
• Descends from Martin Johnson and Sarah Combs thru their son Pleasant Miller Johnson.
• Descends from Simon Combs & Martha Murrell thru their daughter Ellender Combs Hammer.
• Descends from Jeremiah Combs and Charity Rhodes thru their daughter Nancy Combs Clark.
• Descends from Jeremiah Combs and Charity Rhodes thru their daughter Sarah Combs Lane
• Descends from Daniel Paine and Silvia Combs thru their son Herbert Murrell Paine.

There are several different subgroups within 3 of these groups.  Also, a group shows as descending from  Amelia Millie Combs Hitchcock thru her daughter Nancy Hitchcock Fleming.  This group is totally misnamed and attributed because of a long-standing belief that the Millie who married George Hitchcock was a Combs.  She was not. She was a Riddle.  The marriage record was found by Agnes Jones over 15 years ago in the  Roane County Tennessee marriage records.  Given that Millie was fairly young when she married George it is highly unlikely that this could have been a second marriage for her.  Nancy Hitchcock(sister to James P.) mentioned above married Alfred Patton Fleming a brother of Charlotta(and child of Nancy Combs Fleming)  and that is the source of the Combs DNA thru the Combs Fleming Connection and not thru a Hitchcock/Combs(which is actually a Combs/Riddle connection.)

I should mention that I descend from George Hitchcock and Amelia Riddle as well as John Fleming and Nancy Combs so those who descend thru Alfred Patton Fleming and Nancy Hitchcock would be Double Cousins with me as Alfred is the brother of Charlotta and Nancy is the sister of James P. Hitchcock my 3rd Gr Grandparents.

Of course just being in the circle doesn't prove kinship to everyone in the circle.  We could just have common matches or lines on our trees could be attributed to the wrong ancestors and we could share DNA thru another ancestor.   The will of Mason Combs who dies in 1802 only mentions 2 sons Simeon and Jeremiah who apparently are not yet of age.  More research is necessary in order to draw solid conclusions.

Inventory--AncestryDNA circles- reinforcement of the importance of uploading to GEDmatch

When I worked in Retail, February was our Inventory time so it felt like a good time to take inventory of my Ancestry DNA Circles.

Ancestry DNA Circle Inventory  57 Circles:
Maternal:  29
Paternal:  23
Non-Direct: 5(Shipman/McMurry, Acuff/Harmon/Pharris. Nathaniel Haynes)

Largest Membership is Mason Combs(maternal) circle containing 112 members
Yep! No Television back then and the Combs are known for testing.  I do think that some
of these are attributed to the wrong group and should be in a Riddle circle. If they
claim to descend thru Amelia "Milly" Combs who was thought to be a COMBS for many years.  Many people still have her as a Combs.  She was a Riddle

The next largest is that of Jabel Putman with 62 Members.

Honorable mentions
Paternal:  Ann Knox(39 members)
Paternal:  Mark Lambert Jackson(36 members)
Maternal:  James Hatfield(50 members)
Maternal:  Peter Luna/Looney (55 members)

My sister(full sibling) has 58 Circles  She loses two of the Non-Directs but gains 3 Non-Directs.  Felix Grundy Crick, Susan Frances Putman and Wade Henry Carlton.  These are from our Paternal Grandfather's side who is a descendant of Cook, King, Putman, Manire, Harris, Ogilvie, Jackson.

Mom has 33 circles 4 non-direct(Includes the one maternal sis & I share and 3 ones which come and go on mine)
2 of the Non-Directs on Mom's can be attributed to Double Cousins testing--Two Hitchcock siblings marrying two Fleming siblings.  The other two are Acuff/Campbell cousins

My daughter has 62 AncestryDNA circles

Maternal:  52

Paternal:  7

Non-Direct:  3

She has all 52 of my Circles.  I have done a good bit of research on her Paternal lines and she would probably have more circles but the majority of those families had  less children than most of mine did which may account for the lower amount of circles--less descendants available to test.  The Hogland and Demonia lines are the exception.

Also while all three of the Non-Directs she has are from my lines she has only one of them in common with me(the Acuff cousin)  The other are the Hitchcock/Fleming ones that my Mom has from the Double cousins.  I should also note that my daughter, my Mom and my sister all have New Ancestry Discoveries.  I have none at this time.  I have had several appear in the past but they didn't stay long.

To me this reinforces the importance of working your circles and asking if the members will upload to GEDmatch.

My November Blog Post on How To Upload to GEDmatch

Why I have not tested my mtDNA path

After reading Roberta Estes' blog post about mtDNA The Forgotten Test, I thought about the reasons why I haven't mtDNA tested.  Let's face it....I'm cheap.  I repurpose many fabrics and mend clothes til they are thread bare.  I save seeds and divide plants and bulbs every chance I get.  So my reason would be a financial one in that I can't justify the amount of money spent on a mtDNA test because it doesn't answer as many questions for me as an autosomal test.  If I did do the mtDNA testing I would want to do more than the minimal test and I don't have that kind of extra money available. The atDNA testing is all I have had and all I have bought for several others while they were on sale.  Thinking about this also made me want to recognize the ancestors who are responsible for passing me my mtDNA

Until then I remain a mtDNA carrying descendant of:
Beatrice Luna Cooke
Minnie Acuff Luna
Emma Frances Hale Acuff
Nancy Arminda Hitchcock Hale
Charlotta "Lottie" Fleming Hitchcock
Nancy Combs Fleming
Wife of Mason Combs Jr.

My 32 Great Great Great Grandparents( 30 known, 2 unknown)

This is a follow-up to a previous post on my 16 GG Grandparents.

Paternal Lines(1-16)
Maternal Lines(17-32)


1. Cook(unknown to me)
2. Cook spouse(unknown to me)

3. Jabel Putman, b. 1772 in Culpepper Co., VA, USA; d. 1835 in Williamson Co., TN, USA. Son of James Putman and Joice Prince.
4. Nancy [?????], b. in SC USA.

5. John King, b. Mar. 04, 1799; d. Sept. 18, 1876. Son of John King and Nancy Brandon. .
6. Rebecca Upshaw, b. Aug. 08, 1800 in Elbert Co. GA; d. Apr. 23, 1877 in Bedford Co. TN. Daughter of Adkins Upshaw and Charity Ann Patton.

7. David Lemuel Manire, b. Jan. 18, 1792; d. Jan. 29, 1837 in Williamson Co., TN,USA. Son of John William Manire and Patty Ogilvie.
8. Susan Ann Elizabeth Jackson, b. Aug. 14, 1798; d. Feb. 19, 1862. Daughter of Mark Lambert Jackson and Durcilla Sarah Rainey.

9. James Jakes, b. Feb. 10, 1788 in Franklin Co., VA, USA; d. Sept. 05, 1847 in Bedford Co., TN, USA. Son of John Jakes.
10. Nancy Harger, b. 1790 in Franklin Co., VA, USA; d. Aft. 1850 in Bedford Co., TN, USA.

11. James Morrow, b. Bet. 1780 - 1790; d. June 1839.
12. Margaret [?????], b. Bet. 1790 - 1800; d. Bet. 1835 - 1839.

13. James M. Frizzell, b. Sept.r 21, 1787 in Anson Co., NC, USA; d. Jan. 30, 1862 in Calloway Co., KY, USA. Son of Nathan Frizzell & Ruahama Weaver.
14. Mary Kennedy, b. Jul. 02, 1790 in , , NC, USA; d. Jan. 19, 1875 in TN, USA. Daughter of Hugh Henry Kennedy and Ann [?????].

15. Reuben Manley, b. Oct. 14, 1782; d. Oct. 07, 1854.
16. Margaret Elizabeth Frizzell, b. Jan. 17, 1783; d. Jul. 25, 1827. Daughter of Nathan Frizzell and Ruahama Weaver.

17. Elisha Luna, b. 1784; d. 1842 in Dekalb Co., TN, USA. Son of Peter Luna and Mary Pitman.
18. Mary Ann Lennox, b. 1785; d. Aft. 1860.

19. Canada Rigsby, b. Abt. 1788; d. Bef. 1850. Son of Thomas Rigsby.
20. Mary Lewis, b. Abt. 1790; d. Bet. 1850 - 1860.

21. Daniel Pitman b. 1803 in NC, USA; d. Bet. 1860 - 1870. Believed to be son of John Pitman(Marion Co TN)
22. Comfort Hatfield, b. 1808 in KY, USA; d. Aft. 1870. Daughter of James Hatfield and Annie Rice(of the Ross Indians).

23. Thomas Adcock, b. Apr. 09, 1817 in Jefferson, Dekalb Co. TN, USA; d. August 30, 1905 in Dekalb Co., TN, USA.
24. Frances Bowles, b. March 11, 1819; d. Bet. July 1906 - 1910. Daughter of John M. Bowles and Frances Bolling.

25. Jonathan Acuff, b. Abt. 1809; d. Bet. 1880 - 1900. Son of William Acuff and Magdaline Hall.
26. Eleanor Curvin, b. 1817; d. Bet. 1870 - 1880.

27. Andrew Jackson McElroy, b. Apr. 24, 1820 in Warren Co., TN, USA; d. Aft. 1900 in Van Buren Co., TN, USA. Son of Andrew McElroy and Martha Shropshire.
28. Jane Webb, b. 1825 in White Co. TN; d. 1867. Daughter of Jeremiah Webb and Sarah Copeland.

29. William Taylor Hale b. 1820; d. 1861 in Collins River, Warren Co., TN, USA. Son of John Nathanel Hale and Catherine [?????].
30. Eliza Adeline Elzie b. Apr. 15, 1820 in , AL, USA; d. Apr. 20, 1906. Daughter of William Elzie.

31. James P. Hitchcock, b. Mar. 08, 1810 in Warren Co., TN, USA; d. 1897 in Bledsoe Co., TN, USA. Son of George Hitchcock and Millie Riddle.
32. Charlotta Fleming, b. Sept. 23, 1819 in Warren Co., TN, USA; d. Apr. 24, 1909 in Bledsoe Co., TN, USA. Daughter of John Fleming and Nancy Combs.