Skaggs DNA Testing: Zachariah Skaggs

I've written a lot about Zachariah Skaggs, about how he was not the father of Old Peter, about how he is frequently confused with a much younger Zachariah, etc.  Skaggs family Y-DNA testing has determined that Zachariah was closely related to the William Scaggs of the New River Valley of Virginia who married Esther.

Montgomery County, Virginia

Skaggs DNA Testing: The Maryland Eastern Shore Skaggs

The Skaggs Y-DNA project has been hard at work testing male volunteers who descend along different Skaggs family lines.  Two volunteers have both tested as having the R-FT14580 haplogroup.  One of the testers is a documented descendant of the Scaggs who settled the Maryland Eastern Shore in Talbot and Kent Counties.  The second tester is a descendant of the Ohio pioneer Skaggs family with known roots in Maryland.  These results show that the Ohio pioneer Skaggs are related to the Maryland Eastern Shore Scaggs, with details below the fold.

Name That Skaggs: What was Old Peter's wife's maiden name?

Old Peter Skaggs had a wife, Martha, whose last name has been described as Cothron, Catherine, Cohun, etc. Below the fold is a photocopy of Rev. Richard Whitt's minister return for Montgomery County, Virginia in 1788 that shows Peter Skaggs married to Martha C____?

The Longhunters: An Historically Important Deed in 1769

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.

The 1777 Loyalty Oath for Montgomery County, Virginia

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.