For several decades family genealogists have been stopped in the year 1790 when Keziah Burgess was bonded to Jno Nichols, in Bedford County Kentucky. The mystery continues with another two bondings of a James Burgess, and James McDaniel’s, son of Mary Burgess within a few years of Keziah’s bonding. Researchers have made a connection with Keziah and her three sons again in 1840 in the Kentucky Census, revealing yet another relationship who was also bonded; her son Armstead Burgess in 1817, who was 7 or 8 at the time. Bonding in the early days was similar to slavery; by 1790 it was used to pay a debt or to raise an orphan. Freedom did come after a period of several years, or when the child reached adulthood. Naturally it can be a devastating experience; one that would surely stay with a person for life. This website is dedicated to the discovery of Keziah Burgess. Who was she, how did she live and provide for her three sons? Why was she bonded out and who was her family? This site will take you through the odyssey of that discovery, and in a strange way, remember someone who otherwise was unknown, someone who was undoubtedly at the bottom of the social strata. Yet she and her boys did win their freedom and her family did eventually have a chance at American prosperity.
One of the additional features of genetic DNA testing is an ancient journey into the past. This is called the Haplotype Group. The Haplotype Group is measured in the thousands of years. While the Armstead branch paternal line came through England in the recent past (500 to 100) years. In pre-historical times even before the last ice age 12,000 years ago we had other roots. This is an interesting quote from the
http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/GENEALOGY-DNA/2004-05/1085960546 site by Dennis Garvy. Our Haplotype Group is I1b. “I1b is the most frequent “I” sub-clade in eastern Europe and the Balkans. Its highest incidence was seen in Croatia (31%) and Bosnia (40%). While I1b is seen at low frequencies in western Europe, it is about the only sub-group of “I” seen east of the Adriatic. I1b is virtually absent among Italians, Germans, French, and Swiss. This may mean that I1b also expanded out from a LGM refugium - but this one located in eastern Europe or the Balkans. The highest diversity of I1b STRs was seen among Bosnians, Croats, Czechs, and Slovaks, and the lowest diversity was seen among the Turks and Moldavians. The sub-clade I1b2 (M26) is usually seen at very low frequency in western Europe, but occurs at higher frequencies in several isolated spots: Sardinia (41%), Castile (19%), Bearnais (8%) and Basques (6%). The differing distributions of I1b2 and I1b indicate that those two groups probably separated before the LGM. The authors feel that the high concentration of I1b2 in Sardinia may not necessarily mean that the haplogroup originated there. The unusually high Sardinian frequency could also be explained by I1b2 being present among the first humans who colonized that island about 9000 years ago, which was subsequently amplified by genetic drift. The study did not test for P41b, or M161, the mutations that define, respectively, I1b1 and I1b2a.” More about the complete “I” group is available at Mr. Garvey’s site. This photo was taken the day of Dory’s funeral on the front porch of their home. Photo was taken by Fae Burgess while I watched at age 5. I remember everyone lining up by height (with some discussion about who was taller at each increment). Left to Right; Maude, Mary, Ruby, Grova, Lillian, Bonnie, Helen, Marvin, Mitch, Earnest and Morris. Even with the closeness of this family, it may have been the last time all were together. |
Ron BurgessA marketer, writer, and small business consultant. This blog was inspired during my genealogy work and the story of Kehiah Burgess of Kentucky. Archives
January 2017
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