Y me???
With a second great grandfather like George Washington Cottrell, DNA testing was an obvious choice for The Legal Genealogist.
George — my favorite ancestor — is my rogue. My rascal. My family scoundrel.1
And he’s undoubtedly my nemesis. He said in a Mexican War pension application that he was born in Madison County, Kentucky, in 1821.2 But there are really good records for that time period in Madison County — deeds, wills, tax records — and George’s family (if it was there at all) didn’t even leave footprints in Madison County.
And once I saw his criminal record history — starting with an indictment for bigamy3 and ending with an indictment for murder4 — one thing that occurred to me is that his name — my family name — might have been something he thought to change.
Nope. The one crime George didn’t commit was the genealogical crime of changing his name. My family member with the Cottrell surname who directly descends from George shares the same YDNA with tons of other Cottrell-surnamed men. YDNA, remember, is the type of DNA that is passed from father to son to son with few changes over the generations.5
And while we have that annoying break in our paper trail, some of the other Cottrell-surnamed men have excellent paper trails back to one Richard Cottrell who died in Virginia in 1715.6 And given those paper trails, the most recent common ancestor for many of these men is this earliest Richard or one of his sons, Richard or Thomas.
In other words, very early 18th century.
Excellent.
So why am I annoyed with my Cottrells today?
Because of another set of YDNA results that just came in.
A perfect 67-for-67 match with my Cottrell and several other Cottrell-surnamed men.
Except he’s not a Cottrell. Well, not by surname, at any rate.
And he’s a close autosomal cousin in an entirely different line. My grandmother’s Battles line, instead of my grandfather’s Cottrell line.
This other line begins its paper trail with a Revolutionary War soldier who went by the name William Battles or Noel Battles or William Noel Battles or Noel Battlesby or… He was born most likely in Albemarle County, Virginia, around 1757.7
He named a son Archibald in his will and one of Archibald’s descendants with a perfect paper trail down to today has YDNA tested and is a 36-for-37 match with another Battles man who descends from an ancestor of mine on my grandmother’s side.
And they both — both of these Battles men, whose most recent common ancestor to each other is William Noel Battles, born in 1757, and whose families split up and went to different parts of the country by the mid-1800s — match the Cottrells.
All of the Cottrells.
Including the folks with the perfect paper trail back to the early 18th century.
Now there’s no break in the overall Cottrell paper trail starting with Richard (looking, of course, at the other Cottrell men’s records). There’s no data on William Noel Battles before his own birth, but a lot of speculation that he was illegitimate and possibly of mixed blood — part Indian, perhaps, part mulatto more likely.
In other words, we likely have a Cottrell man fathering an illegitimate Battles child somewhere between 1735 (if William Noel’s father) and 1757 (if William Noel himself).
And their descendants — my grandmother (from the Battles side) and my grandfather (from the Cottrell side) meeting and marrying in the early 20th century.
Could my ancestry get any more complicated?
SOURCES
- See generally Judy G. Russell, “Darn it all, George!,” The Legal Genealogist, posted 18 May 2012, and “Oh George… you stinker!,” The Legal Genealogist, posted 9 Jun 2012 (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : accessed 8 Nov 2014). ↩
- Survivor’s Brief, 17 February 1890, pension application no. 7890 (Rejected), for service of George W. Cotrell of Texas; Mexican War Pension Files; Records of the Bureau of Pensions and its Predecessors 1805-1935; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C. ↩
- Colorado County, Texas, Criminal Court Minutes Book A&B, p. 217, Republic of Texas v. G.W. Cottrell, Criminal Cause File No. 251 (1843); District Court, Columbus. ↩
- Wharton County, Texas, District Court Minute Book A: 9, State of Texas v. G.W. Cottrell, Criminal Cause No. 9 (13 October 1848); FHL microfilm 1012537. ↩
- ISOGG Wiki (http://www.isogg.org/wiki), “Y chromosome DNA tests,” rev. 5 Mar 2014. ↩
- See generally Richard J. Cottrell, “Richard and Mary (Anderson) Cottrell of New Kent Co., VA” (http://www.richardcottrell.org/ : accessed 8 Nov 2014). ↩
- Noel Battles, no. S.12960 (Pvt., Capt. Shelton’s Company, 10th Va. Reg.); Revolutionary War Pensions and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, microfilm publication M804, 2670 rolls (Washington, D.C. : National Archives and Records Service, 1974); digital images, Fold3 (http://www.Fold3.com : accessed 22 Mar 2014). ↩
1790 Census – Cottrell, mainly RI, with a NY and MA
http://www.mocavo.com/search?start=0&limit=10&dataset%5B%5D=126200&nc%5Bname_last%5D=cottrell
1800 census – Cottrell, still mainly RI, but MD, NY, CT
http://www.mocavo.com/search?start=0&limit=10&dataset%5B%5D=126201&nc%5Bname_last%5D=cottrell
1810 census – Cottrell, added 2 NC and one KY to above list of states:
http://www.mocavo.com/search?start=0&limit=10&dataset%5B%5D=126202&nc%5Bname_last%5D=cottrell
Samuel Cottrell, Mason Co., KY 1810 census
http://www.mocavo.com/search?start=10&limit=10&dataset%5B%5D=126202&nc%5Bname_last%5D=cottrell
1820 census – Cottrell, MI, VA, OH, PA, IL added to above states, but KY gone
http://www.mocavo.com/search?start=0&limit=10&dataset%5B%5D=126203&nc%5Bname_last%5D=cottrell
Hi
I am searching for more information on this couple.
Jane CRAIGHEAD & Samuel COTTRELL married on
April 21, 1801 in Mason County, Kentucky.
I believe Jane’s father is Robert CRAIGHEAD.
I am interested in this family also. Would like to get some idean where they may have moved to. I looked to see if you had other family and saw query on someone from Preble Co Ohio. I am wondering if this Samuel may be connected to a John Cottrell that lived in Preble Co at one time. We are pretty sure that this Samuel was from Harrison WV as he signes over a deed there. Would love to exchange ideas.
Craighead – Family History & Genealogy Message Board
http://boards.ancestry.com/thread.aspx?mv=flat&m=117&p=surnames.craighead
Sharon, there are very distinct Cottrell male lines, and if yours really did go through Harrison WV, then he’s not from my Cottrell line at all. Take a look at the groupings at the Cottrell surname project (https://www.familytreedna.com/public/Cottrell/default.aspx?section=yresults). Mine is Group 3; the West Virginia crowd is group 2.
1
Ancestors of Joyce Evelyn Hinman
Has Cottrells in Madison County, INDIANA and Union Co., IN. in the 1700s, early 1800s.
(I have ancestors who moved from Mercer Co., KY to Union Co., IN, and Madison Co., Ky is close to Mercer Co. There def. was migration from that area of Ky to Indiana in the early 1800s.)
Family Tree Maker – Genealogy.com
familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/m/o/n/Phyllis…/PDFGENE3.pdf
Samuel Cottrell, born August 09, 1821; died Unknown. … Joseph M. Hancock III, born Abt. 1786 in Mason County, Kentucky; died 1820 in Hagerstown, Wayne.
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/m/o/n/Phyllis-J-Montour-IA/PDFGENE3.pdf
There was also migration from Indiana to Iowa in the early 1800s, and is there anyway that George Cottrell was b. in Madison Co, IOWA in 1821? This group of Cottrells from the “Ancestors of Joyce Evelyn Hinman” site went from VA to IN to IA.
46.
John Cottrell IV,
born February 07, 1771 in Northumberland Co., VA; died Unknown in Madison Co.,
IN. He was the son of
92. John Cottrell III
. He married
47. Elizabeth Downing
February 24, 1790.
47.
Elizabeth Downing,
born November 06, 1771 in Northumberland Co., VA; died Unknown in Madison
Co., IN. She was the daughter of
94. William Downing II
and
95. Sarah Cockrill
.
Children of John Cottrell and Elizabeth Downing are:
i.
Margaret Cottrell, born November 22, 1797; died Unknown.
ii.
Mary Cottrell, born November 04, 1800; died Unknown.
iii.
Abraham Cottrell, born June 11, 1803 in Virginia; died April 23, 1889 in Madison Co., IN; married
Susan Hilderbrand October 12, 1823 in Union County, Indiana; born June 29, 1803 in Virginia; died
November 22, 1882 in Indiana.
23
iv.
Anne Cottrell, born February 22, 1806 in Pendleton, Union Co., IN; died Aft. 1884; married Isaac
Ridenour February 12, 1825 in Union County, Indiana.
v.
William Cottrell, born November 12, 1808 in Green Co., Ohio; died January 14, 1909 in Benton Co., IA;
married Ann Parcels; born 1809; died March 12, 1882.
Notes for William Cottrell:
William was one of the early settlers in Benton County, Iowa. He had 9 children, 3 of his sons fought in
the Civil War, 2 dying during the war. After his wife died (before 1882), William lived with a much
younger women and there were supposely more children. William was in his seventies by this time.
vi.
Sarah Cottrell, born November 12, 1812; died Unknown; married Joseph Ridenour II; born December
15, 1808; died Unknown.
vii.
Thomas Cottrell, born November 09, 1815; died Unknown.
viii.
Elizabeth Jane Cottrell, born June 18, 1818; died Unknown.
ix.
Samuel Cottrell, born August 09, 1821; died Unknown.
This my line and I am not sure about your Elizabeth Downing. Could be but just not sure. Also, if you check the census records, the birth states for Abraham and his wife are Ohio not Va, so that John/Elizabeth Downing could be a different John. This John was in Greene Co Ohio in 1803 and migrated to Preble Co Ohio before going to Indiana.
“Could my ancestry get any more complicated?”
Well, yes. For a start, you could have been Jewish.
I haven’t yet ruled that out, Israel! I have a rather large dollop of Middle Eastern ancestry and one male line with a J2 haplogroup!
Hi All:
Yes, Israel you have hit it right on the head. I’v been tested, and I’m J2a2.I’m descended from the Cottrell’s (Roswell F.) whose family originated in Rhode Island and came down into New York state. Roswell was a famous Sabbatarian minister, and his father John preached to the Seneca Indians. I have no native American blood. They settled at what is now Erie, New York. They traveled far and wide while preaching in Pennsylvania, Ohio, etc.
So yes, J2a2 is a Middle Eastern/Arabian Peninsula/Georgian origin (about 15,000 years ago and it’s a rare DNA from people from Scotland/Wales. However, in southern France and Spain it starts popping. I read somewhere (still trying to find the article) that the Cottrells believed they were French Jews. That would certainly explain a lot.
At least you were able to trace the scoundrel in your family and find out that along the way, there was some mischief going on. I have had 4 scoundrels to date and have found info on 3 of them, but not without a lot of help along the way.
Black sheep do tend to get written up fairly regularly… mostly in criminal court records!
Reminds me of the old song, “I’m my own grandpa.”
Looks like I am my own cousin at least!
You may want to check out Richard Cottrell/Ann Waddell of New Kent. Richard descends from Richard/Mary Anderson which should be your Ydna group and Ann Waddell’s parents were William Waddell/Susannah Noel. I am group2 while Richard/Anderson is Group 3. There are some mutations between the two groups. Group 3 appears to be a match to the Northumberland Cockrells. The other “Noel” connections might be Daniel Neale 1620/Eleanor Noel whose grandaughter Lucretia Neale married John Cottrell and this one is group 2. I do not know if there is a connection between the two Noel women nor do I have an idea if the Noel would be the surname source for your Battles use of Noel as a given name.
We’re already in the Cottrell surname project, in Group 3, thanks. But I’m puzzled when you say that “Group 3 appears to be a match to the Northumberland Cockrells.” The Northumberland (and Nash) Cockerells in the Cockerell DNA surname project are haplogroup I. Group 3 in the Cottrell project is haplogroup R.
I am sorry, I mistyped; it is my group 3 that appears to be a match to the Northumberland Cockrells. That is the WV group. I atdna match some of the group 2 also, but at segments over 5cM they always come back to “Pearson” which has a big footprint in all of my Quakers. Online researchers have assigned my Thomas Cottrell to this Group 2 and I know that is not my Haplo group. My mother was the Cottrell and a male first cousin did the test for me, so I should have large segments matches. Sharon Ellis’s “John” above is either a brother to my Thomas, both came to Greene Co Ohio and my mother remembered the table talk about the Ridenours and Hildebrands, but the man who took the Ydna test (perfect match) won’t take an atdna test and believes John wife was a Rice. The only thing that I know to do at this point is to continue to hunt for matches of prospective wives that will eventually give me a group of 10 matches. Since I have added in Cockrells, I am beginning to find larger matches. I will have to explore the Downing and see if I can verify her. I do have a match to a Cockrell that descends from Neale/Holland but wife 2 was a Downing and they are Northumbreland so maybe I can find a migration trail for his descendants that stayed close to the Downings. This is a gap of only two generations so that might be possible.
You’re still a bit confused here, I think. Your WV Cottrell group is Group 2 in the Cottrell Surname DNA Project, and they are still YDNA haplogroup R. Since the Cockrell men of Northumberland County are haplogroup I, that means the Cottrell men in your line are not descended from a common male ancestor as the Cockrells.
I know this is an old post but I may be able to help you solve your mystery. I descend from Thomas Jefferson Cottrell, who had a son named Louis Napoleon Cottrell, so unusual names are not uncommon with this family. What you may still not have learned is the reason. Someone mentioned the possibility of Jewish and or French ancestry, and they’re not entirely wrong, although all that is ancient. (My mtdna is J1c2, which is semitic at its core, mixed with Basque and is now mostly found in northern England and Ireland, and those who migrated to the US.) The Cottrells (as far as my family research goes) were British Roma (gypsies) who migrated to the US pre- Revolutionary War. Some of them did settle down, even join some of the religious movements like the United Brethren, and later even Mormonism (so the polygamy charge for your ancestor might make a lot of sense). But there were also many Cottrells who continued to live a nomadic life, and they traveled from VA to TN, KY, OH, IN, etc. My particular line seemed to primarily go back and forth between northern IN, MI and OH, where they intermarried with other Roma families. I recommend looking at census records and seeing what their and their neighbors’ professions were. Likely you will find a few farmers or farm laborers, but also many who are blacksmiths, wheelwrights, carpenters, innkeepers, a very good indication they were living in a Roma community. I don’t know about KY as much because my family didn’t stay there, but areas like Wabash, IN, Greene Co, OH, Dayton, OH, Van Buren, MI were all Roma hot spots and you will find historical books written about the traveling gypsy communities who would descend on those areas as well as current businesses promoting “gypsy” items. All of them are also places where my Cottrells lived. As for your William Noel Battles, you may be correct that he was mulatto, as Roma who settled in southern regions did sometimes intermarry with the natives. Look up melungeons, who were a mixture of European, native and african, and found throughout VA, TN and the Carolinas. Why he didn’t share the Cottrell name could be that he was illegitimate, or perhaps his Cottrell father moved on and so he took the name of his mother’s clan. Btw, a quick search told me that Battles is also an English Traveller surname, so that may be something else for you to research. Another possibility is that his mother’s maiden name is Noel. Some Roma groups (Dutch and German in my family) seemed to have a custom of using the mother’s maiden name as a middle name for the first born son. I recently uncovered an ancestor whose first name was Prettyman thanks to this tradition. Can you imagine being a frontier man in the late 1800’s with that kind of name? ha! Anyway, hope this helps!
Nicole Nash, this is a great summary on the Roma and their movements. I think too often, even with veteran/certified genealogists, they are not in tune with how people of yesteryear traveled and got around or how frequently they did. I have some indicators of my Cottrell ancestors an allied families traveling back and forth between Carolinas/Virginia and Ohio between 1800 and the 1830s. Some of their occupations are key to note regarding this as some were what we’d all “tradesmen” working in the construction industry of those times. Indeed, I can the Cottrell men and Wysong men listed as bricklayers, brick masons, brickmakers, carpenters, plasterers, and teamsters. There’s further evidence shown when some of these were builders of mills used in those activities.
These examples are little clearer within the records of the Jacob Wysong (m. Jemimah Cottrell) and Daniel McCann (m. Elizabeth Cottrell) families. Jacob and Jemimah Wysong are listed on records as being of Montgomery, Ohio (NOTE: the estate record was issued from Randolph County, Indiana) in 1808 but Jacob Wysong was listed on the 1810 census in Bedford County, Virginia.
In 1846, Daniel McCann passed away in Pike County, Ohio where his grave registration indicates he served in the War of 1812 from Ohio. In 1807, he married Elizabeth Cottrell in Bedford County, Virginia where their sons and daughters married in the 1820s and 1830s. At least one daughter, Elizabeth McCann, married Issac Foster in Pike County, Ohio and at least some of their sons were tradesmen listed above.
I have additional documentation showing the McCann and Wysong families in the paragraphs above were indeed the same from Bedford/Franklin County, Virginia area. Throw in Stephen Cottrell who married Rhoda Wright (1812) in Amherst County, Virginia but lived in neighboring Bedford County, Virginia until 1817 before migrating to Highland County, Ohio then Montgomery County, Ohio then Henry County, Indiana where he died in 1849. The 1850 mortality index listed his occupation as a bricklayer.
This doesn’t mean, members of these families weren’t listed as farmers on records, they were. Daniel McCann and his father-in-law James Cottrell (Stephen Cottrell’s father) were tenant farmers of tobacco and wheat back in Bedford County, Virginia.
Understanding the history of the times is just as important as tracing the family. What drove the migrations is as important, especially as the west opened and members of these families did what their parents did, migrated to areas to help open them buy building towns, roads, and cultivating the lands.
One final note on the DNA project we started in 2003, my Y-DNA matches up with the Hatcher and Burton families of the same areas where my Cottrell family was supposed to be from, which was descended through Thomas Cotterell who married Martha Hacher (Hatcher) in 1709. I do have a Cottrell family out of Tennessee who matches but we haven’t been able to clearly line up the paper trail. Although they look to possibly descend from Edward Cottrell/Cotterell, who is mentioned/referenced on land records of Albemarle and Amherst County, Virginia between 1751 and 1781 (again the same areas as above) who had descendants building mills such as Edward Cottrell (Gallia County, Ohio) and Joseph Dillard Cottrell (Dillard, Missouri). The 1781 deed in Amherst County, Virginia referencing the lands of Edward Cottrell was a patent for James Dillard and a James Dillard married Edith McCann, a daughter of Elizabeth Cottrell and Daniel McCann mentioned above.
Some or even a lot of anecdotal evidence but still those Cottrell families!
Also, some additional anecdotal information we should understand historically is the surname Cottrell is occupationally derived so expecting to trace it back to a single person such as “Cottrell the Norman” is not reasonable either. Early old Norman (French) and Anglish (English) meanings for a Coterel was a mercenary bandit hired to pillage, plunder, and harass the nemesis (enemies) of the nobility. In more recent times of England Cottrell was a tenant farmer usually residing in a small cottage rented from the Lord of the lands.
So, a Coterel (Cottrell) being mercenaries in ancient times, and a Hatcher (meaning Little Battle Axe) and someone using the surname Battles might have initially stuck together for entirely different reasons, right? Roaming the lands looking for work of another sort prior to becoming “tradesmen” we see on more recent records. Mercenaries, who pillaged and plundered, may very well have their DNA scattered all over within various surnames.
Scoundrels? I am almost certain of it but a lot of the records either don’t exist or they are lost to the natural inclinations of time.
Yes, I know this is an old post, but first I wanted to say, the info provided in the subsequent comments are amazing! Second, I have a Cottrell that is my brick wall! Is there a dna that I should take that might help me break that down and find info about her before she became my 3g grandmother? Such, what test would I find her “whatever” group by taking? Sorry, I don’t know the terminology vs specific testing.
My Cottrell is
Christena “Teeny” Cottrell born circa 1842 and died before 1910
(married Sylvester Coleman. I don’t of her kids, etc. But nothing of her family before she married. Or WHERE she came from.
For a female ancestor, you’re going to want to do autosomal testing and to try to test the oldest living relative of hers (by generation), then be prepared to have to work hard to distinguish maternal and paternal matches and more. It’s doable with a 3rd great grandparent but not a walk in the park.
One theory worth vetting is:
Northumberland Co. VA had two different families living there in 1670.
John Cockrell (an I-M253 haplogroup line) was born about 1640) and married Hannah (possible maiden name of Coles) in about 1668. John and Hannah had a son John in 1669 who married Elizabeth (Presley) Saunders in about 1695-1700.
Andrew Cottrell (an R-M269 haplogroup line) was born about 1630) and married Angel Corbel after her arrival in the colonies after 1653. John and Angel had a son John in about 1665 who married a Lucretia Neale.
Thanks, but we’ve tested out to the BigY level and know which Cottrell line it is. It’s the interplay with the Battles line that has me annoyed! 🙂
Judy,
Thank you for responding same day.
I see two Cottrells in FTDNA’s group 3 with a Big Y haplogroup of R-BY75993.
Can you point me to an Ancestry tree for kit 395618 with Earliest Known Ancestor Richard b 1660?
I would like to learn more about the Cottrell ascent for the living Cottrell person who has this ascent back to 1660 Richard?
Thank you