The Skaggs Y-DNA project has been working diligently testing male volunteers who descend along different Skaggs family lines. Volunteers have been tested from the branch of the Skaggs family that consists of descendants of "Hunting" Henry Skaggs and Aaron Skaggs who married Sarah Lyon. This branch traces back to southern Maryland in the early 1700s and we've decided to call it the Aaron Skaggs branch because of the number of men named Aaron in the family lines.
The Aaron Skaggs branch descends from Aaron Skaggs Sr. who shows up in the historical record in a 1755 tax list in Orange County, North Carolina. This area of North Carolina was known as a hotbed of the Regulator Movement, a pre-Revolutionary War insurrection against the colonial officials of North Carolina whom the Regulators viewed as corrupt. The genealogical origin of this family is currently unknown, although DNA testing shows that this family descends from R-FT6584, same as the Safeway Skaggs family. Descendants of Richard Skaggs who married Catherine Brockman, son of Aaron Skaggs and Sarah Lyon, tested with the Y-DNA haplogroup R-FT48276.
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| Wiley "Little" Harpe |
The Aaron Skaggs line has a spotty genealogy prior to 1800 but some interesting Skaggs come from this line. "Hunting" Henry Skaggs is believed to be the Henry Skaggs who pursued the Harpe Brothers, America's first serial killers, through western Kentucky.
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| Micajah "Big" Harpe |
Loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolution the Harpes after the war robbed and killed settlers in the Appalachian region of the American wilderness. They are believed to have killed at least 39 people but the total could be more than 50. As their crimes gained notoriety, vigilante groups formed to avenge their victims. Henry Skaggs formed a posse in Kentucky after the brutal murder of the son of famous pioneer and Revolutionary War soldier Daniel Trabue by the Harpes, however the Harpes were able to elude capture by Skaggs. Micajah Harpe was later killed by another posse in Webster County, Kentucky and his head chopped off and put on the end of a stick. Harpe's Head Road is a modern-day highway and a state historic landmark in Webster County. Wiley Harpe was captured and executed by hanging a few years later.
Another famous Skaggs from the Aaron Skaggs line was the notorious bushwhacker Larkin Skaggs. During the American Civil War he rode with the William Quantrill raiders in Missouri and was killed during the burning of Lawrence, Kansas in 1863. |
| Larkin Skaggs |
Another famous Skaggs from this line was the blues bass player Geno Skaggs. Geno played bass with the great bluesman John Lee Hooker, his cousin Earl Hooker and also Steve Miller of Steve Miller Band fame.
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| Geno Skaggs |
Here is what we have for their genealogical line:
1 Aaron Skaggs Sr. R-FT65842 Aaron Skaggs Jr.
+ Sarah Lyon
3 Richard Skaggs (1781-1854) R-FT48276
Great post! -DS
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