William Norris - Conflicting Parents and Y-DNA

Debbie Gambrell

11/1/2022 at 9:46 PM

William has conflicting fathers connected, which is resulting also in conflicting Y-DNA connected to him. . So I'm not certain if he's a cousin line for me or not.

Thanks in advance for anyone who can assist with fixing his parental connections so the Geni pathways are correct,

Debbie Gambrell

11/1/2022 at 9:53 PM

I saw the Rigdon info in bold print in the profile notes but the wife Sara Rigdon that s attached to this William Norris on Ancestry isn't connected here in spite of th enotes.

I'm wondering if two William Norrises haven't gotten mingled here on Geni. The one who was married to Sara Rigdon doesn't 'seem' to be the same one who married Elizabeth Patrick.

Ancestry is showing:

Father
Joseph Josiah Norris (1725–1838)

Mother
Phillis Ann Barton (1732–1795)

Spouse
Sara Rigdon (1773–1853)
Married 1788

Spouse
Nancy Watkins (1767–1852)
Married 1792

Erica Howton C

11/2/2022 at 3:05 AM

Did the best I could figure. It’s not a merge issue, it’s conflicting genealogies.

William Norris & Nancy Norris

Debbie Gambrell

11/2/2022 at 9:34 AM

Thanks, Erica. I'm sure I'm related to the family of the Sara Rigdon William was also married to. I added her as a wife on Ancestry and got Hints on her parents. They're from Maryland, same place my Rigdons originated. I've never found any other Rigdon family. Anyway, I checked though and her parents don't have profiles on Geni, so I don't know 'how' she connects to me. For now I was working on the Norris lines, having come across a DNA matching cousin on Ancestry who has Norris lines entangled on several branches of her tree. Unfortunately, she has Elizabeth Patrick in her tree, maybe copied it from here on Geni. So thanks for helping sort all that out so people don't keep mixing those lines up in their trees.

Erica Howton C

11/2/2022 at 1:08 PM

Notes

https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/norris/4535/

According to Davis, there were two William NORRISes in Harris Co, GA, at the same time. Jones contradicts Davis, saying that there was only one William NORRIS (wife Nancy WATKINS) in Harris County. Davis has in Harris Co—in addition to William & Nancy WATKINS NORRIS—the so-called Revolutionary War soldier William NORRIS of MD who was supposed to have married Sarah RIGDON; there is no documentation for such a William NORRIS marrying a Sarah RIGDON or being in Harris Co, according to Jones.

(1)On p248, Floyds District #4, is W. NORRIS, aged 80-90, and a female aged 60-70. This W. NORRIS seems identifiable as William NORRIS. William NORRIS & his wife, Nancy WATKINS (daughter of Reese WATKINS and Sarah BARBER), appear to be a line not documented in Davis. …

Here’s an Alexander Rigdon of the right age and location to have been the father of Sarah Rigdon. Wrong wife, though.

Debbie Gambrell

11/2/2022 at 1:15 PM

Aaagh, this is why we get so frustrated when the research hits same-name people, especially in the same area, and no one can agree on their connections. lol

The Alexander Rigdon you posted is my first cousin 7 times removed on the Rigdon lines. I wonder if he was married more than once. That would answer how Sara Rigdon Norris fits into the lines and would explain how that DNA match and I are related, perhaps. I think I'll add that into my Ancestry tree as a hypothesis and see what comes up for matches and/or Hints.

Thanks so much.

Debbie Gambrell

11/2/2022 at 1:34 PM

The most compelling 'evidence' for William to have been married to Sara Rigdon is the son named Rigdon Norris;

3 ii. Rigdon (628) Norris, was born in 1791 in , Franklin, Georgia. Served as 3d Lieut. Wooten's Detachment of Jasper co., Ga. Militia commissioned 6 Sep. 1814 War of 1812. (Rec Adj. Gen Office Wash. D.C.) Stated her maiden name possibly Peques or Regen. Was in Dallas co., Al bef 1830 & had a grant of land there & was there til abt. 1857/8 moving to Clarke co., Al. Both living 1860, not listed in county 1870. Believed to have been deceased. Rigdon (628) Norris and Martha were married before 1828. Martha was born in 1800 in , , Georgia.

It's not as likely that the non-Rigdon wife would have named a son Rigdon.

Erica Howton C

11/2/2022 at 9:36 PM

Locations don’t match.

I’m with your first thought, that there were two different William Norris families.

Maybe they were related and the Rigdon name came into the GA Family that way. Or maybe Rigdon is misplaced. But the source info is certain there was only one Willam Norris family in Harris County GA, and that was the Nancy Watkins family.

Erica Howton C

11/2/2022 at 9:37 PM

Fact: From Will Book A, page 73, Harris County Georgia, signed on 7 September 1841, William Norris appointed Benjamin F. Cleveland "my son at law" as sole executor and left his entire estate for the use, benefit and support of "my wife, Nancy Norris." That will was filed on 6 May 1844 by William Griggs and further states that "William Norris is buried at Rehoboth Cemetery, Cataula, GA. His grave was marked with a government marker by Button Gwinnett D.A.R. Chapter, Columbus, GA." The inscription reads " William Norris, 31 March 1757 Johnston County NC, 5 April 1844, Harris County GA."

Debbie Gambrell

11/3/2022 at 10:44 AM

It wouldn't surprise me for them to be related, given all the entangled lines in my tree. lol

William Norris - Conflicting Parents and Y-DNA

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