Two Skaggs Mysteries: Are They Related?

 We have uncovered two Skaggs mysteries from the 1790s that seem to lead to brick walls:

• What ever happened to Piner Skaggs of Queen Anne's County, Maryland?
• How is the Sullivan family related to Old Peter Skaggs and the Long Hunters?

I'll try describing these two mysteries and let you reach your own conclusions below the fold.

Mystery 1: What ever happened to Piner Skaggs of Queen Anne's County, Maryland?

Piner Skaggs was born December 2, 1786 in Shrewsbury Parish, Kent County, Maryland to Edmund (a.k.a. Edward) and Mary Skaggs. 

Below is our current model regarding the ancestry of Piner Skaggs:

1 Richard Scaggs

    2 Richard Scaggs (?-1725)

    + Grace

        3 William Scaggs (1708-1742)

        + Mary (This was the mythical Mary Thear, 2nd wife of William)

            4 John Scaggs (1742-?)

            + Sarah

                5 Edmund Skaggs (?-1796)

                + Mary

                    6 Piner Skaggs (1786-?)

                    6 Ann Mariah Skaggs

Where would Edmund Skaggs get an unusual name like Piner?  Well, right next to the birth record for Piner Skaggs in the Shrewsbury Parish register might be the answer.

Yes, Bartis Piner Jr. was born the son of Bartis and Rebecca Piner.  What do you bet Edmund Skaggs' wife Mary was Mary Piner, sister to Bartis?  Or perhaps Bartis Piner was someone famous in the community, like a minister?  A little research here might provide the answer.

Edmund Skaggs wrote his will in 1796 and left his estate, including a 1/4 acre portion of a property named "Chesterfield" in Centreville, Queen Anne's County, Maryland to his son Piner. He also bequeathed his slave Bob and a negro boy named Perry to Piner.

Edmund Skaggs also bequeaths a female slave named Clarriet to his daughter Ann Mariah and divides the remainder of the estate between both children. The will was dated March 1, 1796 and proven March 5, 1796.  So Edmund Skaggs died between March 1 and March 5 1796.

That's it for Piner Skaggs. He disappears from the record.

There might be more evidence in the deeds for Queen Anne's County, Maryland.  We might be able to find a deed with Piner Skaggs as assignor of the "Chesterfield" property in Centreville to an assignee, however, I can't check because FamilySearch has locked Queen Anne's County deeds.  You have to be in a library to get access and our local libraries are closed due to COVID-19.  If someone can find Piner Skaggs deed selling "Chesterfield" please let me know.  There might also be deeds for Piner selling those two slaves.  Piner doesn't show up in the U.S. census for 1800 or later.

Mystery 2: How is the Sullivan family related to Old Peter Skaggs and the Long Hunters?

The Skaggs Y-DNA project identified a testing participant named Sullivan who took the Big-Y test and matched the Skaggs.  He matched closest with the Long Hunter group of testers.  The Skaggs Y-DNA project is beginning to think that the Long Hunter group (R-BY44771) may go back in time to Richard Scaggs, the Early Colonist.

We know descendants of the Long Hunters test as R-BY44771 and descendants of James (Longman) Skaggs' son Henry test as R-BY114454.  Descendants of Old Peter Skaggs test as R-BY99605.  So how do the Sullivan descendants fit?  Well, here's their genealogy below (omitting living Sullivans):

1 Thomas Sullivan (1765-1830)

+ Sarah Wood

    2 Daniel Sullivan (1786-1815)

    + Esther Lytle

        3 Alfred Sullivan (1811-1899)

        + Sarah Fountain

            4 Solomon Sullivan (1849-1912)

            + Ella Dorr

                5 Alfred Sullivan (1878-1956)

                + Eva Wilson

                    6 Delbert Sullivan (1908-1983)

                    + Ruth Nihart

We know Thomas Sullivan was married in 1783 in St. James Parish, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, which is in the village of Tracys Landing about 18 miles south of Annapolis. In the 1790 census a Thomas Sullivan was enumerated in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

Thomas Sullivan is recorded as the joint administrator of the estate of William Wood (his father-in-law) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland in 1807.

1807: Mr. Henry Wood + Mr. Thomas Sullivan Sr., ADMINISTRATORS of WILLIAM WOOD DECEASED. 15 Oct 1807. Sureties: James P. Wood + Leonard Gary. Elevenths of the remaining balance to: John Wood (son), Henry Wood (son), Samuel Wood (son), Robert Wood (son), Sarah Sullivan (daughter), Mary Whittington (daughter), Dorothy Sunderland (daughter), the heirs of Wm Wood, the heirs of Susanna Whittington, the heirs of Ann Parrott + the heirs of James Wood. Walter E. Arps, Jr. Heirs & Orphans: AA Co., MD Distributions, 1788-1838, page 34, source JG#2/117 (at Md.State Archives).

In the 1810 census Thomas Sullivan was enumerated in Barren County, Kentucky.  Daniel is not listed in his household so he must have had his own household.  Daniel's son Alfred was born in Kentucky on September 9, 1811.

In 1815 Daniel Sullivan is sued by Thomas Jones in Knox County, Indiana.  So Daniel was living in Vincennes, Knox County, Indiana in 1815.

There is a rumor online (for what that's worth) that Sarah Wood had Daniel Sullivan out of marriage.  That might explain how the Sullivan line could have Skaggs Y-DNA, however I am proposing a different theory.  Perhaps Daniel Sullivan was Piner Skaggs.  Thomas Sullivan and Sarah Wood adopted him.

• Piner Skaggs does not show up in the Maryland census for 1800 or later (the census is intact for Maryland)
• Daniel Sullivan and his father, Thomas Sullivan disappeared from Maryland after the 1807 settlement of William Wood's estate.
• Queen Anne's County and Anne Arundel County are across Chesapeake Bay from each other.  To leave Queen Anne's in the 1790s one would likely have ferried from Centreville across the Chesapeake to Annapolis
• If the Sullivans were descendants of Piner Skaggs, they would descend from William, son of Richard and Grace
• Old Peter Skaggs descendants would also descend from Richard and Grace Skaggs with a R-BY99605 mutation at either Old Peter's or his father's generation

I realize this theory is a bit out there in left field, however, it does fit our current data.

It would be helpful if someone could try to find Piner Skaggs' deed for that "Chesterfield" property his father left him in Centreville, Queen Anne's County, Maryland in 1796.  Perhaps there was a subsequent sale by a guardian for Piner prior to 1807?  Or a sale by Piner sometime after 1806 that would prove he couldn't have transformed into Daniel Sullivan?

UPDATE: Recent DNA testing has disproven the theory that Daniel Sullivan was Piner Skaggs.  The descendant of Daniel Sullivan does not closely match the descendant of the Maryland Eastern Shore Scaggs family.