Analysis. Wigton Walker YDNA

YDNA analysis has shown that lineages given in White, 1902 merge two separate family lines. One line of YDNA evidence, YDNA Group 33, is obtained from descendants of William of the Wyandotte from Orange/Caswell County, NC.

Another line of YDNA evidence, YDNA Group 8, has been obtained from descendants of Samuel Walker and Jane Patterson, who settled near Natural Bridge, south of Borden's Grant. Some relations of Samuel may also have settled on Walkers Creek. In any case, the two family lines intermarried at an early date. The distinction between the two families appears to have been lost by about 1840, when the intermarriages began to be described by family members as "cousin marriages". By the time White presented the family history, the two lines were so thoroughly entangled that she could make no distinction between them, or even recognize that there were in fact two separate lines. It is only through YDNA analysis that we now see that there are, in fact, two separate lineages combined in White 1902.

At this time it can not be said which YDNA group descends from John Walker I of Wigton Scotland. John III can be traced back to the Nottingham Lots where the Wigton Walker family is thought to have settled initially, but no other family member has been so traced. This may indicate that the Walkers Creek line is the one descended from John I, since White tells us that his son John II settled in Old Chester County, PA (ie, on the Nottingham Lots). On the otherhand White based much of the early history of the family on a work known as the "Joel Walker record", written about 1840, by a son of Samuel Walker and Jane Patterson. This may indicate that the Natural Bridge line is the true descendant of John I. Alternatively, it may simply mean that by the time Joel Walker wrote his family record, the two lineages had already been merged beyond recognition.

The answer largely depends on verifying the lineage of William Walker the Wyandotte of YDNA Group 33. Most other descendants of the Wigton Walkers match to Group 8. Given that most members of Group 33 can be traced to three men in Cumberland, Pennsylvania (William Walker, James Walker, Robert Walker), the question remains how John Walker III would fit into this tree. If John III is indeed the grandfather as described in White's book, then he likely represents a fourth patriarch in addition to these three. However, there is a second, more complex possibility: John III is actually the maternal grandfather of William.

Phil Rhoton writes ^[1]

White did not know what family William of the Wyandotte belonged to based on the query she published in the Jan 1900 issue of the Va. Mag. Hist. Bio. asking for his ancestors. I think it would be safe to say he wasn't included in the Joel Walker record but she does have quite a bit of information on John III's immediate family and my suspicion is the Joel Walker record's account ends with John III's children and their spouses. She also makes it clear that her information concerning William of the Wyandotte came from William Connelly and not from his family so it's unlikely they identified his father as John IV. She probably made the identification that he belonged to John's family based on Connelly's account of William's abduction and early years which in turn was the same account his son gave Lyman Draper in 1860 and was later published in the early 1870's in The Wyandotte Gazette. She was aware Samuel had been KBI and John IV was the only male left who William could belong to. What if he didn't belong to John IV but rather was a child of one of his sisters and she made the wrong assumption because of his surname?

Mrs. Scott says in reference to Anne (Walker) Cowan: "Her and her sister's son, William Walker, were taken. (Her sisters son: her sister married a Walker.)." Granted Mrs. Scott recalled some things incorrectly in her account of Williams abduction but the parenthetical comment about her sister marrying a Walker was Shane clarifying this with her because he found it unusual the son carried the same surname as the mother's maiden name. Mrs. Scott states that she married a Walker but doesn't say when she married this Walker or if she married again. John III settled on Moon Creek in Orange County and multiple members of Group 33 settled fairly nearby on Hogan Creek. Is it possible one of Johns daughters married a member of the nearby Group 33 Walkers, had William, and was widowed and subsequently married someone else or perhaps they both died young and William was raised by his mother's family. This scenario would explain how William came to belong to Group 33 if John III was a brother of those in Group 8 but it needs more work. I haven't even looked at all the Walker's on Hogan Creek.

Land grants may hint of an additional John Walker on Moon's and Hogan's Creek. There are actually two land grants to a John Walker on Moon's Creek in Orange, NC. It was thought that both of these belonged to John Walker III of the Wigton Walkers. Undoubtedly at least one of them did, given the presence of Patrick Porter, Cowans, and Houstons in the immediate area. It is possible, however, that these two land grants are actually two distinct John Walkers. There is a grant for the "North Fork" of Moon's Creek (clearly close to the Samuel Walker of the area) and "Both Sides" of Moon Creek. The "Both Sides" grant was almost entirely sold in 1772, consistent with John III's move to the Virginia Panhandle, but the North Fork grant was not. Parts of the North Fork land grant later were in the hands of the Porter family (From Linn Van Buren):

Of the 1762 577-acre land grant (I ASSUME; the abstract of this 1779 deed stops short of giving the date of the original land grant), 146 acres was conveyed from Joseph PORTER and James PORTER to Reuben Estes on 1 January 1779 (Caswell Co NC Deed Book A page 126) for £535. Only two months later, Reuben Estes sold this 146 acres to William Rice on 27 February 1779 for £250. Estes, then, took a £285 loss on the deal in just two months.

It may be the case that this land did not belong to John III at all, but another John Walker, brother of Samuel and James, who died and later passed the land on through probate. He may have married one of the daughters of John III, creating a union between two Walker lines (Group 33 and Group 8) and fathering William. The resulting identical names of two relatives of John III (a son-in-law in addition to a biological son John Walker) would also explain the mistake made in White's book. Further research is needed to verify this.

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Relevant Land Grants

Issued 6 March 1762, Book 12, pg 53, Grant Number 4. 577 Acres to John Walker in Orange County on North Fork of Moon's Creek.

1762, 6 March, JOHN WALKER, ten shillings, on North Fork of Moons Cr., begin at a hicory, E crossing creek 30 ch. to a red oak, N 52 ch. to a red oak, E 20 ch. to a dogwood, N 22 ch. crossing creek to an ash, W 61 ch. to a black oak, S 15 ch. to a red oak, W 39 ch. to a post oak, S to first station, 577 acres, twenty three shillings one penny rent per year, suveyed 3 February 1762, CHRISTO. HOWSTIN & PARICK PORTER, SCC. (SSLG 102-A) (Ed. note: see also NC Patent Book 12:53). Signatures of Jas Watson, W. Churton and John Walker SOURCE: Shields Page 72 640 [???].

Issued 30 Jan 1761, Book 12, pg 56, Grant Number 30. 497 acres of land to John Walker, both sides of Moon's Creek.

1761, 30 January. JOHN WALKER, planter, ten shillings, both sides of Moons Creek., begin at a white oak the NW side of creek, N 90 ch. 50 lk. to a black oak saplin, E 35 ch. to creek cross creek & extended 55 ch. in all to a pine, 90 ch. 50 lk. to center between 2 white oaks, W crossing creek to first station, 497 acres, nineteen shillings eleven pence rent per year, surveyed for HENRY RUNELLS 1 August 1754, THOMAS BARTON & VENERIAS TURNER, SCC (SSLG 102-B) (Ed. note: see also N. D. Patent Book 12:56) Signatures of Jas Watson, John ?, & John Walker. Source: Shields Page 11 459[???].

This particular grant was later sold in 1772, consistent with John's move to Virginia:

1772 10 September, JOHN WALKER SENR. of Orange to SAMUEL WALKER of same, one hundred pounds, 220 acres, on both sides of Moons Cr., begin at a white oak, E 220 p. to center of 2 white oaks, N 148 p. to 2 white oaks, W 110 p. to a maple, N 40 p. to a beach, W 110 p. to a white oak saplin, S to beginning, part of land from Granville to Walker: signed: JOHN WALKER; witness: SAMUEL BRANCKIN, JOHN WALKER, SAM. COWAN: proved October Term 1772 by BRACKIN. (Ed. note: see also Granville Deed & Surveys #459)

Most of the rest was sold to a John Graves the same year:

1772. John WALKER Senr of Orange to John GRAVES of same, fifty pounds , 260 acres, on Moon's Cr. including plantation whereon PATRICK PORTER now lives, begin at a pine in Wm ROBINSON's line, 202 p. to a cor. of 2 box oaks, W 110 p. to a maple, N 40 p. to a beach & w oak, W 110 p. to 2 w oaks, N to ROBINSON's cor, 182 p. on ROBINSON's line to beginning: signed: John WALKER; witness: Thomas RICE, John WALKER Junr; proved July Term 1772 by RICE.

(Abstracts of the minutes of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions of Orange County in the Province of North Carolina, September 1752 through August 1766)

Samuel and James Walker of Hopewell (Now Newton) PA also received grants:

Issued 13 October 1783, Book 54, pg 338. Grant Number 54. 600 Acres to James Walker in Caswell County on Moon's and Hosley Creek, adjoining John Dill, John Johnson, Triplett

Issued 3 March 1779, Book 35, Page 69. Grant Number 69. Land to Samuel Walker on both sides of the North Fork of Moon's Creek. Land adjoining John Johnson, Henry Dixon.

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