Every now and then, I will check my DNA matches at Ancestry to see who's new. This morning I noticed a match from north Mississippi. It's always exciting to get a "local" match. My match is an 88 year old gentleman with an associated family tree of only 2 individuals. We match 24cM across one chromosome segment and have over 100 shared cousin matches. Thirteen of our shared cousin matches have a known (per ancestry.com) common ancestor with me. Every one of those are McBride matches. This is extremely good evidence that the most recent common ancestor shared by me and my 88 year old cousin is a McBride ancestor. Unfortunately, his less than developed tree wasn't going to tell me exactly how we connect.
As I was up pretty early and had some time to kill, I created my own tree for this new match. I wanted to find out how he ties into my McBride family. He has a relatively unusual name so I was quickly able to determine his parents. From there, I was able to knit together his tree to a great great grandmother on his father's side, Mary "Polly" McBride, born around 1815. She married a William Hartsfield in Lauderdale County, Alabama in 1834. There is our McBride match!
Everyone at ancestry who has Mary and William Hartsfield in their tree show Mary's father as Thomas McBride born in Tennessee in 1790. Most then show Thomas' father as Hugh McBride (1770) of Bedford County, Tennessee. I am familiar with Hugh and have pretty much determined his McBride's do not jive with mine except maybe way way back in Ireland or Scotland. Previous DNA research has pretty much concluded that on this side of the pond, Hugh's family is not my family. So, it is logical to me that my new match's great great grandmother's father is not the McBride who people are saying.
I looked at my own tree to see if I had a Mary "Polly" McBride born about 1815. I did! The last child of my 4th great grandfather, James McBride, was Mary "Polly" McBride, born about 1815. My tree showed she did not live through infancy. So does every other tree that has her. But, now that I look in earnest, I can't find any record evidence that she died in infancy. The only real evidence I have that she existed was a letter by 2x great uncle, James Louis McBride (1820-1905). He names all of his grandfather's children...
...James was my granfather. His first wife was a Brock. She had 4 children before she died, 3 sons and 1 daughter, John was the oldest, was my father, next Sharword then William next Kisey (Kesiah).
My granfather second wife was a Jackson. She had 4 children 3 boys and 1 girl, Daniel, Jefferson and Solomon and Polly (Mary).
There was Polly- right at the tail end. The letter doesn't say she died in infancy. Nothing I can find says she died in infancy. I think she is the Polly McBride that married William Hartsfield and here's why...
1. I have this DNA cousin match who is a descendent of Polly McBride Hartsfield (1814-1901). He is certainly a McBride family match. We share 24cM of McBride DNA. Assuming Polly is who I think she is, my cousin match is a fourth cousin once removed. Record evidence proves he is a great great grandson of Mary Polly McBride and William Hartsfield.
2. My evidence for Polly's existence is a letter written by her nephew. How many nephews would know the name of an Aunt that died in infancy years before he was born? It's more likely that he knew his Aunt Polly.
3. Polly married in Lauderdale County, Alabama at the same time (1834) my McBride's were living in Lauderdale County. Specifically, they were living 10 miles east of Florence, Alabama on the Tennessee River. Sherwood McBride (mentioned in letter above), who I believe is Polly's half brother, patented property in Lauderdale County. That property is now underneath Wilson lake. Sherwood and Polly's father, James and James' second wife Sarah Jackson, were living on that same property with Sherwood from the 1810's to the 1830's.
4. Shortly after 1834, the McBride family moved to various locations in Mississippi from Lauderdale County, Alabama. The father, James and a daughter moved to Ripley, in Tippah County, Mississippi. A brother, John, moved to what became Holmes County, Mississippi. At the same time, Polly and her new husband, William Hartsfield, moved to Itawamba County, Mississippi (just across the State line). By 1839, Sherwood McBride and his family were also living in Itawamba County.
5. Polly who married Wm. Hartsfield was born at the right time to be the last child of James McBride and Sarah Jackson.
6. Polly was in the right location to have been born to James and Sarah. Polly's census records from 1850 to 1900 say she was born in Alabama. Her marriage record is from Lauderdale County. It is possible she was actually born in Lincoln County, Tennessee where James and Sarah were living before the move to Lauderdale County, Alabama. But the move was right around 1814. So conceivably, she could have been born at either location, but she would only have remembered Alabama, given her age at the time of the move.
7. None of the trees online that show Mary's father as Thomas McBride have any evidence of that relationship. Thomas did live in Lauderdale County, but so did my McBride's.
8. Update: Since posting this blog entry, I've found 3 other DNA matches who descend from Polly McBride & William Hartsfield and whose shared matches support the supposition that our connection is along the James McBride line.
So as a result of this foray into the trees of some DNA cousins, I have edited my tree to show Polly did not die in infancy but married William Hartsfield, had ten children and outlived her husband by 30 years. She passed in 1901 while living with her youngest daughter in Johnson County, Texas.
Here is a link to Polly in my tree...
https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/47397879/person/24016321904/facts
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