Trying to find information about the Ownby/Ownbey family from Union County, Georgia
Hello,
I hit a brick wall trying to figure out who my husband's 2X great grandfather was. My husband's great grandfather was born in 1870 in Union County, GA. The surname is Ownby but here is the wrinkle. His 2X great grandmother's maiden name was Owenby/Ownby, so don't know if she was married to a cousin or her two sons were illegitimate.
Answers
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@kristinOwnby Can you give me the name of husband's great grandfather, birth and death and PID (personal idendtification number) next to his name, if you have them. I would like to look him up and see what I can find as well.
Regards,
Shannon
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Hi Shannon,
Thank you for the offer! If you don't mind, I will share some background and what I have done to find out who is my husband's 2X great grandfather. I thought researching my husband's family was going to be easy. The Ownby's were in Virginia, moved to NC, then part of the family went to East TN and part went to Union County GA. His great grandfather was born in Union Co, GA. But I quickly found out the research was not going to be easy (actually it has been fun). First I had to figure our who his mother was - most of her records have her name Mary Ann Ballew. Ballew was a second husband. Mary Ann was born in 1855 in Habersham Co to William Powell Ownby and Elizabeth Dean. William died in 1864 probably from an illness related to serving in the CSA. Elizabeth remarried and again, it took me a while to figure out where she had disappeared! She remarried in 1865 to William Elliott. My husband's great grandfather was James Monroe Ownby. His mother was 15 or 16 when he was born. James had a brother William A. Ownby born around 1873.
I was advised to access social security information but Mary Ann and William died in 1936 and James was self employed as a farmer and never sought a social security number. He died in 1954.
I was advised to send in a sample for ancestry DNA and it did help. It confirmed who Mary Ann's parents were and my husband shares common ancestors with other Ownby's in Union Co. He matches to Porter William Ownby and Martha Ann Morgan. My husband matches with over 60 other people who are descendants of Martha's parents. They had many children and I assume the second great grandfather probably is one of their sons - he has some matches to Porter Ownbey Jr (son) who was married twice. This is where is get's kind of touchy in that the son's from the first wife were older and married. Their mother was Sarah Miriah Taylor. There was a son - John Marion Ownbey who married later in 1870 so maybe he is the father. I was told divorce was not uncommon after wars although I can't imagine there was a lot of divorce in rural Georgia during the time period. The second wife was Elvira Sampson and their sons were too young.
Porter and Martha had another son named Joseph Ownbey who was married to a Polly Erwin. They had a son named Columbus (born 1852) and died in 1876. I keep thinking he is a better possibility. There are not many records for Columbus; he appeared to not be married to someone else. though. My husband's DNA matches with a few Erwin's but not definitive. John Erwin was married to a Sarah Nicholson and my husband does match with people sharing common ancestors within the Nicholson family. I have found the "neighborhood" (Union Co) wasn't large and lots of marriages between a handful of families, so I find a lot of overlap with ancestors within families.
There was a James Nelson Ownbey in the area who was married to Miriah Erwin. On the 1870 census, it shows they had a son named James. He doesn't reappear again on their census data. Some of the ancestors say the child died, but I spoke with Union County GA historical association and their records say he didn't die as a child. I don't know. But of course - if this is the same James - then James Nelson (born 1830) committed adultery and Mary Ann had an illegitimate child. I think he is probably not the father.
I am giving you the brother's information also.
James Monroe Ownby William A. Ownby
August 8, 1870. - August 5, 1954. Nov. 1873- July 19, 1936
GS1X-ZZN LLSN- J38
I appreciate your help.
Kristin Ownby
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@kristinOwnby You have a lot of information. I looked in FamilySearch and Ancestry and I can see why you have hit a brick wall. You have searched all the places I would have searched as well. The wrinkle does get confusing if they indeed married into the same line. I have that in a couple of my lines. I wish I could've helped you more, but I am afraid I am at a loss too. I hope you are able to get this figured out sooner than later.
Regards,
Shannon
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Hi Shannon,
I appreciate you taking the time to look. A genealogist told me to submit a sample for DNA analysis to Ancestry which was very helpful. She also suggested he submit a sample to FTDNA - the 111 DNA analysis. I probably need to find someone experienced with ancestry DNA interpretation to help me.
Kristin
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@kristinOwnby The following group might be able to help you find an answer to DNA interpretation. GENETIC GENEALOGY RESEARCH I do hope you are able to find answers. I wish I could have been more helpful.
Shannon
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Thanks. I will reach out to the group.
Kristin
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@kristinOwnby In the genetic research group there are research links at the top of the page that also may aide you in finding out about interpretation of DNA. Good luck to you
Shannon
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