WHO WAS JOHN BOONE’S REBECCA?

John Boone, Sr. was born Dec. 6, 1727 (just 7 years short of 300 years before this was written).  His Mother, Ann Farmer Boone died shortly after his birth.  His father, Benjamin M. Boone would not remarry for almost 9 years, and during that period young John spent much time in the home of his Uncle and Aunt, Squire and Sarah Morgan Boone.  John moved with his Uncle Squire’s family from Pennsylvania to Rowan, North Carolina when he was a very young man.  He took land there and began farming around 1750.

Almost all sources are in agreement that he married his Rebecca on Aug. 14, 1753.  Some of these records indicate that Rebecca Boone was born between 1730 and 1735 (an appropriate age for her husband, born in 1727).  There is general agreement that John died in 1803 (year of the Louisiana Purchase), but the exact date  is disputed, and given as Aug. 6 or Nov. 12 of that year.  He died in his home in Hunting Creek, Rowan, North Carolina, near Mocksville. While some sources say Rebecca Boon died in 1813, others report that she lived until 1820.  Most give her place of death as the Boone home in N.C.; one places her death in Lincoln, TN.  However this may result from confusion with her daughter, also named Rebecca Boone, who died in Lincoln, TN on March 29, 1816.  All identified sources place her burial in Mocksville, N.C.

THE MYSTERY IS:

WHAT WAS REBECCA BOONE’S MAIDEN NAME, 

AND WHO WERE HER PARENTS?

ANSWERS FROM TRADITIONAL GENEALOGY

Everything statement I make herein is based on the information I currently have.  I am describing these findings in hopes that you can guide me to new information.  I am ready to revise any and all of the following statements on the basis of new findings.  I gratefully look forward to your response.

There are three viable candidates for consideration.  The most widely cited and accepted is REBECCA BRYAN, daughter of MORGAN BRYAN and his wife MARTHA STROUD.  This identification has been repeated so frequently in family histories, that the other two candidates are often confused with her, and information related to Rebecca BRYAN is copied into the files of the other two Rebecca’s.  

The second candidate is REBECCA DAVIS (or DAVIES), the daughter of MYRICK (also spelled MIRICK or MERRICK) DAVIS and his wife MARGARET “MARGOT” LYNN (it is unclear whether Lynn is a middle name or a Surname).  

The third candidate is REBECCA POTTS.  Little is known about Rebecca Potts.  She is a candidate because of a single record, showing her  marrying “JOHN BONE” on Oct. 24, 1787 in Rowan, North Carolina.  Our JOHN BOONE (b, 1727) would have been 60 on this marriage date, if he is indeed the groom. 

 

Interestingly, this record is often cited as evidence of the marriage of REBECCA DAVIS and JOHN BOONE.  It has even been suggested that REBECCA DAVIS first married an Unknown POTTS, thus changing her name to Potts before she married JOHN BOONE.  While this is clearly possible, evidence supporting the theory is missing.  Until we can find additional information about REBECCA POTTS, it is impossible to further evaluate her potential for being our John’s Rebecca.  We will therefore focus the remainder of this discussion on the other two Rebecca’s.

If the evaluation of REBECCA POTTS suffers from a paucity of information, evaluation of REBECCA BRYAN suffers from an excess.  The same contemporary evidence, and later assertions of knowledge are repeated, often with different references, so a single source may multiply over time.  The difficulties lie in tracing original sources, and evaluating each, and thanks to overabundance, this is a gargantuan task.  Many researchers have repeated false information or made unsupported assertions.  These “false” statements have the effect of casting doubt on all of the evidence.

I am not attempting in this report to cite and evaluate each source or each piece of evidence relating to REBECCA BRYAN.  Rather I summarize by saying that the weight of evidence is such that under most circumstances, REBECCA BRYAN would be accepted as "more-likely-than-not" to be the wife of JOHN BOONE.  The “hearsay” evidence and obviously “false” assertions tend to cast doubt, and create controversy.

In evaluating whether REBECCA BRYAN is REBECCA BOONE, it is essential to differentiate between the two REBECCA BRYANS, who married Boone men.  One of the reasons Boone Family Researchers have been quick to assume that John Boone married REBECCA BRYAN is because a number of Boone family members married Bryans.  There were at least three (and if John Boone married Rebecca BRYAN) possibly four marriages between Boones and Bryans in Rowen N.C. in a 15 year period in the mid 1700’s.  

The most famous Boone-Bryan union was the marriage of Daniel Boone and Rebecca Bryan.  Rebecca BRYAN who married Daniel Boone was the daughter of the eldest son of MORGAN BRYAN and MARTHA STROUD — JOSEPH BRYAN.  Daniel’s Rebecca was the daughter of Joseph Bryan and the granddaughter of  Morgan Bryan.  REBECCA BRYAN, possible wife of JOHN BOONE, was the daughter of Morgan Bryan, and the younger sister of Joseph Bryan.  Thus, REBECCA BRYAN, possible wife of JOHN BOONE, was the Aunt of Rebecca BRYAN, wife of Daniel Boone.  

    Since Daniel Boone and John Boone were first cousins, who were raised in the same household, and had homes only miles apart, this created multiple confusions in records.  It is small wonder that many mistakes have compounded related to two REBECCA BRYAN BOONEs.   Many of the false assertions, and obviously false evidence related to REBECCA BRYAN, Sr., are rooted in confusions between these two women.  For convenience, when there is potential for confusion, I refer to the Aunt as Rebecca BRYAN, Sr.

The weight of evidence places REBECCA BRYAN, Sr.’s birth in Opequon, Winchester, Frederick, VA in 1735.  However, she may have been born as early as 1730 or as late as 1739 (this later date is unlikely if she is the wife of JOHN BOONE, Sr, because she would have been only 14 at their marriage).  Rebecca, Sr., was the youngest daughter, and possibly the youngest child born to Capt. Bryan and his wife Martha.  If she is not the Rebecca who married JOHN BOONE in 1753, then there is no further record of her.  No other marriage or death record that has been located for this REBECCA BRYAN. 

 

REBECCA DAVIS (or DAVIES) has, in recent years become a prime candidate for REBECCA BOONE.  The reports that support REBECCA DAVIS give her birth year as 1730 and the location as Rowan (now Davidson) County, N.C.  This is entirely appropriate and in keeping with the marriage date of 1753 and the age of JOHN BOON, Sr.  These records also give her as the daughter of Capt. Myrick (Mirick or Merrick) Davis (or Davies) a well-known resident of Rowen County.  The name of REBECCA’S mother, wife of Capt. Davies, is somewhat controversial, but may have been Margaret “Margot” Lynn. 

Other than the exact identity of his wife, the life of Capt. Myrick Davis is very well-documented.  There is, however, a major problem with the identification of REBECCA DAVIS as the daughter of Capt. Myrick Davis — he didn’t have a daughter named Rebecca.  In his will, Capt. Myrick carefully names his children and grandchildren, and there is no Rebecca an no Boone grandchildren.  

Further, Myrick Davis wasn’t born until 1735, five years after the stated birth of REBECCA DAVIS.  I have attempted to determine if there was a generational error.  I have searched for a Myrick Davis who might have been the parent of both REBECCA DAVIS and Capt. Myrick.  However, Myrick was the son of Hugh Davis, and Hugh Davis did not have a daughter named Rebecca. Hugh was he son of John Shion Zion Dafydd (Welsh spelling of David ) Davis.  I have not found other children of this John, who might be parents of REBECCA DAVIS.

There were at least one and quite possibly two Rebecca Davis’s in Rowan County, N.C. during this time period, but neither seems likely to have been born in 1730.  Both are identified by marriage records that would indicate a later birth date.  The first of these REBECCA DAVIS’S married JOHN VARNER on May 4, 1784.  John was born in 1765, so we can assume that this Rebecca was born later than 1730.  Their marriage is well-documented, as is John Varner’s life.  Their oldest child, Lucy Varner is reported to have been born on Dec. 8, 1788; and their last child, Nancy Catherine Varner was born Sept 10, 1822.

The second marriage record for a REBECCA DAVIS in that area of North Carolina is dated 1824.  On that date, a Rebecca Davis married a Benjamin Boone.  I have 3 possible Benjamin Boones, ranging in age from 18 to 70, but I cannot identify any of these as the spouse of a Rebecca Davis.

In a couple of family tree’s, I have found a cited record for REBECCA DAVIS marrying John Boone on Oct. 24, 1787.  However, when I examine a copy of this record, the name of the bride is REBECCA POTTS, not REBECCA DAVIS.  As stated above, Rebecca Davis could have become Rebeca Potts through marriage, but I haven’t found records for this marriage.

In short, I haven’t found evidence for a REBECCA DAVIS marrying JOHN BOONE.  REBECCA DAVIS (b.1730) could not have been a daughter of Capt. Myrick Davis (b.1735), and Myrick did not have a daughter named Rebecca of any age.  There was a REBECCA DAVIS who was the wife of JOHN VARNER, and apparently a REBECCA POTTS who married a “JOHN BONE.”

ANSWERS FROM GENETIC GENEALOGY

Since we are investigating the female lines, Y-DNA does not offer answers to this problem.  Mitochondrial DNA would be valuable if we could identify a daughter of a daughter of a daughter, etc. of REBECCA BOONE.  However, at this time autosomal DNA is the only evidence available that might shed light on the identity of REBECCA BOONE wife of JOHN BOONE.

Charles Freeman is a 4th great grandson of JOHN. Sr. and REBECCA BOONE, and a 5th great grandson their parents (i.e. Benjamin Boone and Ann Farmer; and Morgan Bryan and Martha Stroud). He has done Y-DNA testing with FTDNA and Autosomal testing with 2 companies, including Ancestry. 

Ancestry’s Thrulines suffers from a number of problems, but can be used to offer insights into the identity of REBECCA BOONE.  First, it is important to keep in mind that while DNA doesn’t lie, people do — or at least people make mistakes.  If several people make the same mistake in their family trees, Thrulines will reflect this agreement between trees and produce false matches deriving from the common mistake.

For this reason, reporting the results of Thrulines for JOHN BOONE, and each of the potential REBECCA BOONES will not prove that any one of the potential Rebecca’s is the right one.  All it shows is how many of those who have been tested, believe that a particular Rebecca was the wife of JOHN BOONE. 

 

Charles shows 132 matches to living people who trace their ancestry to JOHN BOONE, Sr.  Of these 25 are descended through John Boone, Jr. (Charles' direct Ancestor).  The remaining 107 are descended through JOHN BOONE’S other children.  This is strong evidence of Charles’ relationship with JOHN BOONE, but does not offer proof of the identity of REBECCA BOONE.

In contrast, Charles has only 109 matches with living individuals who believe they are descended from REBECCA BRYAN.  These include 26 who are descended through John Boone, Jr., and 83 who are descended through the other children of JOHN and REBECCA BOONE.    Again, this is almost like a vote, and only proves that a lot of John Boone, Sr.’s descendants believe his wife was REBECCA BRYAN.

A far more revealing test, is to consider the parents of JOHN BOONE and REBECCA BRYAN.  Charles shows autosomal DNA matches to 56 living individuals who believe they are descended from Capt. MORGAN BRYAN (REBECCA BRYAN’S father).  Twenty-seven of these matches are through REBECCA BRYAN, and could thus be subject to error in identification.  However, the remaining 29 matches are descended from siblings of REBECCA BRYAN, and not subject to a simple misidentification of JOHN BOONE’S wife.  These 29 matches support the identification of REBECCA BOONE as Rebecca BRYAN.  

The distribution of these matches demonstrates a pattern that also conveys support for this identification.  The largest number of matches to Rebecca BRYAN (10) are descendants of JOHN BRYAN.  JOHN BRYAN is a brother of REBECCA BRYAN.  John married SARAH HOBBS, and as it turns out, Charles is a Hobbs descendant, distantly related to Sarah.  This twist demonstrates one reason why caution must always be taken in interpreting autosomal DNA results. 

In contrast to the robust 56 matches to Morgan Bryan, Charles shows only 8 matches to living individuals who identify themselves as descendants of Martha Strode.  My only hypothesis regarding this discrepancy is that many of those who identify themselves as descendants of Morgan Bryan do not list Martha Strode as his wife.  We continue to explore this difference.

Similar to his matches with Morgan Bryan, Charles has 53 matches to living individuals who claim descent from Benjamin M. Boone.  Of these, 36 are through JOHN BOONE, Sr., only son of ANN FARMER.  The remaining 17 are descended from John’s half siblings, the children of Benjamin M. Boone and his second wife, Susannah Likins.   As would be expected, Charles shows 36 matches to ANN FARMER, are all through her only son, John.

I experimented with setting up an Ancestry Tree in which Charles was descended from REBECCA DAVIS and did not find any matches with descendants of Rebecca or with descendants of MYRICK DAVIS.  I did not experiment with REBECCA POTTS because I have no parents for this candidate.

CONCLUSION

While far from conclusive, the evidence I have accumulated to date would support the identity of REBECCA BOON (wife of JOHN BOONE) as being REBECCA BRYAN, daughter of Morgan Bryan.  I eagerly await new information whether that information supports or refutes this conclusion.