The Skaggs Y-DNA project has tested multiple descendants of Old Peter Skaggs and the Long Hunters. These testers all descend from a single common ancestor with the R-BY44771 haplogroup. The genealogies of the test participants indicate that this common ancestor lived in the late 1600s to early 1700s.
I don't know much about William Brock Skaggs and that's unfortunate because he was the common ancestor for two testers in the Skaggs Y-DNA project. He was a grandson of the Rev. James "Longman" Skaggs of the Long Hunter group of Skaggs, born about 1796. He married Nancy Warren about 1815 and lived out his life in Green County, Kentucky dying sometime after the 1860 census. William Brock Skaggs had the R-BY114454 haplogroup in the Skaggs genetic lineage, shown below:
William Skaggs, the eldest son of James "The Long Hunter" Skaggs applied for a military pension in 1832 for service during the American Revolution. In that pension application William stated that he was born in North Carolina. "...the said Skaggs further states that he was born in the state of North Carolina the County he does not remember; it was near a place called the horse pasture as he learned from his mother..." Where was Horse Pasture?
The Skaggs Y-DNA project has been working diligently testing male volunteers who descend along different Skaggs family lines. They've been aligning the DNA test results with the ongoing genealogical research effort to identify distinct, yet related, Skaggs families. The results follow below the fold.
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 descends from the children of James and Rachel Skaggs, known as the Long Hunters.
Knowledge of colonial roads can help with understanding Skaggs family migrations prior to 1800. Below is a map of the system of roads in colonial America.
If you are interested in how Maryland Skaggs might have ended up in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina just check out the analysis below the fold.
The Maryland frontier militia during the French and Indian War was commanded by Capt. John Dagworthy. Richard, James and Isaac were three Marylander Scaggs who enlisted in the militia on 9 October 1757. They participated in the Forbes Expedition to capture Fort Duquesne, a French fortress on the site of present-day downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This was the same fort that Gen. Edward Braddock failed to capture in 1755 when his command was annihilated by the French and Indians.
In a recent post regarding the Long Hunters I referenced two deeds from 1769 where James Skaggs Sr. deeded land to two sons, Henry and James Skaggs Jr. I think it's worth looking at one of these two deeds in detail since Skaggs ancestors were involved with several important historical figures from the New River area of Virginia when these deeds were signed.
During the American Revolution the Virginia legislature passed laws that required an oath of allegiance to the State. Free men of age of majority were required to make the following oath:
"We whose names are hereunto subscribed do swear or affirm that we renounce and refuse all allegiance to George third King of Great Britain, his heirs successors and that, I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Commonwealth of Virginia as a free and independent State and that I will not at any time do or Cause to be done any matter or thing that will be make known to some one Justice of the Peace for the said State all treasons or traitorous Conspiracies which I now or hereafter shall known to be formed against this or any of the United States of America."In 1777 Montgomery County mustered the militia and required the oath. The result is an interesting list of declared revolutionaries that is useful to family historians.
There's been a recent flurry of research activity for the Skaggs family in 17th century America. I think it might be a good time to recap what has been discovered about the Skaggs family in the new world prior to 1750. Below the fold is a chronological timeline for the Skaggs family in the new world.
I was recently made aware of three 17th century records involving Skaggs in Old Rappahannock County, Virginia. To my knowledge the only Skaggs records found to date in Virginia from the 17th century are the Cavaliers and Pioneers records for Richard Scaggs and Thomas Scaggs immigration. These new records below may be a clue to bridge Skaggs genealogy from the Richard and Thomas Scaggs immigration in the 1650s to various Skaggs genealogies traced back to the early 1700s.
Here's a bit of a mystery that requires some research...where were the Long Hunter Skaggs from 1755 to 1768? We have deeds, land surveys and road construction orders involving James Skaggs Sr., the father of the Long Hunters, from the late 1740s to 1754 in Augusta County, Virginia. Then a gap of silence until 1769 when James Sr. appears on two deeds with sons Henry and James Jr. Why the information gap from 1755 to 1768?
A while back I posted a question about a James Skaggs who was referred to in the minutes of the Big Blaine Baptist Church in Lawrence County, Kentucky back in 1825.
There is an excellent website for persons interested in the Skaggs family history called Manx Family History. It has a lot of great information about the various Skaggs family lines based on DNA testing. For example, the Old Peter Skaggs line is described here. Other Skaggs lines are shown below the fold.
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