The Father of William T. Poore 1857-1925

on

 


DNA backed research into who the father of William Thomas Poore is.

BY DR. ROSS POORE & RYAN POORE


Latest update: 7/29/2022


DOWNLOAD PDF (Free) 1.9 MB



INTRODUCTION: William Thomas Poore (Evans) B: 27 Jul 1857 Claiborne County, TN D: 21 Oct 1925 Claiborne County, TN William Thomas Poore was born in 1857 to single mother, Elizabeth Jean Poore 1841-1893. Elizabeth is the daughter of Jesse Poore 1770-1860. In 2012 Ross Poore did his first DNA test, a Y-DNA test through familytreedna.com. The initial match was with a descendant of Pleasant Holt born in 1817 in Grainger, Claiborne, Tennessee. The family told Ross the descendants of Pleasant didn't match the DNA of descendants of his brother Preston Holt. Pleasant and Preston were assumed to be the children of John Henry Holt and Elizabeth Bowman. The burning question was why did Preston and Pleasant have different Y-DNA? Shortly before the first match, Ross received another match with a descendant of George Abner Evans born in 1859 in Georgia. Why the new match? The DNA of Pleasant Holt's descendant also matched with the descendant of George Abner Evans. In 1980 Ross had discovered that his great grandfather did not descend from a Poore father. Ross' aunt Dorthy Poore Carwile said her aunt Ruth had told her that William's father was alleged to be an Evans. Why did the Y-DNA match Holt and Evans? Ross discovered that Elijah Evans in Grainger County, Tennessee was related to the Holts. His wife was Ruth Holt, the sister of Pleasant Holt and Preston Holt, his brother in-laws. Elijah was prominent in the community, owned a hotel and a ferry on the Clinch River, the boundary between Grainger and Claiborne County, a short distance from Tazewell, Tennessee. Elijah and his wife lived close to the Holt family, a connection with William T. Poore was emerging. Elizabeth Jean Poore (William's mother) was born in 1841 and raised in Lonesome Valley adjacent to Tazewell, Tennessee. It's logical that William's father was a member of the larger Elijah Evans family, a cousin, brother, nephew, or uncle. The 1840 census listed many Evans families near Jesse Poor and his family. The 1850 census was reviewed for Claiborne County and boys close in age to Eliza Poore were identified. A number of candidates were listed based on Evans name, age and geographic proximity to Jesse Poore's family. Extensive records were examined, and DNA matches were reviewed. The results are discussed in detail below. More information about William Poore’s family can be found here: http://www.PooreFamilyHistory.com




HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW:


William Thomas Poore was born in 1857 to Elizabeth Jean Poore 1841-1893. Elizabeth is the daughter of Jesse Poore 1770-1860. William was born out of wedlock and the information passed down through the family is that his father was an Evans. With the DNA evidence from the DNA Source matches listed below, we believe this to be correct.


Based on DNA evidence (Autosomal & Y-DNA) of the sources listed below, we believe two options are possible:


Option 1:

    • Nathan Peyton Evans Jr. 1836-1930 is the father of William T. Poore 1857-1925.

Option 2:

    • Another male from the Nathan Peyton Evans Jr. family line is the father of William T. Poore.


Information about Nathan Peyton Evans Jr.’s line


George Edward Evans 1760–1838

BIRTH 1760 • Halifax, Halifax, Virginia, United States

DEATH 8 MAR 1838 • Jefferson City, Jefferson, Tennessee, USA


Nathan Peyton Evans Sr. 1789–1862

BIRTH 1789 • Bedford, Tennessee, United States

DEATH 28 FEB 1862 • Bedford, Tennessee, USA


Nathan Peyton Evans Jr. 1836–1930

BIRTH 31 MAY 1836 • Bedford, Tennessee, USA

DEATH 24 MAR 1930 • Shelbyville, Bedford, Tennessee


 

Nathan Peyton Evans Jr’s uncle, Elijah Evans 1786–1842, lived in Claiborne, Tennessee just miles away from Jesse Poore 1770-1860 and his daughter Elizabeth Jean Poore 1841-1893. Elijah’s family ran the Evans Inn on the Clinch River. Although Nathan Peyton Evans Jr’s family lived over 200 miles away in Bedford, Tennessee, it’s not out of the question that he visited Claiborne, Tennessee multiple times over the years to see his extended family. During this time, he could have met Jesse Poore’s daughter Elizabeth Jean Poore.


The book “And this is our heritage” by Esther Moreland Leithold has many stories about this Evans family in Tennessee.


View the book:

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89062850458&view=1up&seq=1&skin=2021&q1



Information about William Thomas Poore’s line


Jesse Poore 1770-1860

BIRTH 1770 • Sullivan, North Carolina, USA

DEATH 1860 • Tazewell, Claiborne, Tennessee


Wife:

Mary E Morris 1804–1880

BIRTH ABT 1804 • North Carolina

DEATH JAN 1880 • Claiborne, Tennessee


Daughter:

Elizabeth Jean Poore 1841–1893

BIRTH 18 OCT 1841 • Claiborne, Tennessee

DEATH 11 DEC 1893 • Claiborne, Tennessee


Son of Elizabeth:

William Thomas Poore (Evans) 1857–1925

BIRTH 27 JUL 1857 • Claiborne County, TN

DEATH 21 OCT 1925 • Claiborne County, TN



William Thomas Poore was born on July 27, 1857 when Elizabeth Jean Poore was 15 years old. On March 11, 1858 she married Robert Hicks. Along with Elizabeth, Robert raised William T. Poore as his own. 




DNA SOURCES USED FOR DETERMINATION:


All DNA sources have a direct connection to William Thomas Poore 1857-1925. Sources will be listed as Name (DNA Source) when presenting the DNA evidence.


  • Y-DNA matches are only passed down through male family members.
  • Autosomal DNA matches using cM (centimorgan) are a mix of DNA from the father’s side as well as the mother’s side.
  • A haplogroup is a genetic population group consisting of people who share a common ancestor on either the paternal or maternal line.


Ross Poore (1947-Living) (Haplogroup R-M269)

A direct descendant of William Thomas Poore (Evans) 1857-1925.


His line to William T. Poore:

  • William Thomas Poore (Evans) 1857-1925
  • Robert Benjamin Poore 1889-1966
  • Ross Poore Sr. 1925-1994
  • Ross Poore 1947-Living


Ryan Poore (1974-Living) (Haplogroup R-M269)

A direct descendant of William Thomas Poore (Evans) 1857-1925.


His line to William T. Poore:

  • William Thomas Poore (Evans) 1857-1925
  • Robert Benjamin Poore 1889-1966
  • Ross Poore Sr. 1925-1994
  • Ross Poore 1947-Living
  • Ryan Poore 1974-Living



THE DNA EVIDENCE:


Y-DNA connection to this Evans family


Ross Poore (DNA Source) (Haplogroup R-M269) and Ryan Poore (DNA Source) (Haplogroup R-M269) have a Y-DNA 37 marker DNA match (2 genetic steps) with Jerry Blaine Evans 1938-Living (Haplogroup R-M269) who is a direct descendant of Edward P Evans 1758-1838, brother of George Edward Evans 1760-1838 who is the father of Nathan Peyton Evans Sr. 1789-1862.


See the screenshot of this FamilyTreeDNA.com match:
  • George Henry Evans 1730-1788
  • Edward P. Evans 1758-1838
  • Elbert Howard Evans 1804-1867
  • John G. Evans 1835-1911
  • James Howard Evans 1882-1956
  • Jerome Melvin Evans 1917-1971
  • Jerry Blaine Evans 1938-Living


 


DNA Tree


 Another factor in leading us to choose Nathan Peyton Evans Jr. as the father of William T. Poore was the strong DNA match to Ancestry.com user ggoelitz1950 at 51 cM to Ross Poore (DNA Source) and 34 cM to Ryan Poore (DNA Source). Although not having a direct male Evans line, ggoelitz1950’s DNA match is very strong and would be much higher if all male members in his line were Evans.

 

The family line of ggoelitz1950:

  • George Henry Evans 1730-1788
  • George Edward Evans 1760-1838
  • Nathan Peyton Evans Sr. 1789-1862
  • Nathan Peyton Evans Jr. 1836-1930
  • Winston Gill Evans 1867-1914
  • Mary Frierson Evans 1895-1992
  • Harry G. Goelitz 1922-1952
  • ggoelitz1950


We were able to track down a photo of ggoelitz1950 and compared it to Ross Poore (DNA Source) and there are definite similarities between them. We aren’t posting the public photo we located for privacy reasons, but we do have the documentation.


Another Ancestry.com user, ThomasCarter40 has a 39 cM DNA match with Ross Poore (DNA Source) and 25 cM to Ryan Poore (DNA Source). Again, having even fewer male Evans family in his line, his DNA match is very strong and would be much higher if all members in his line were Evans.


The family line of ThomasCarter40:

  • George Henry Evans 1730-1788
  • George Edward Evans 1760-1838
  • Nathan Peyton Evans Sr. 1789-1862
  • Elizabeth O. Evans 1844-1905
  • Katherine B. Gaston 1884-1968
  • Katherine Denison 1917-2007
  • ThomasCarter40

 


The tree below shows some of the higher matches with Ross Poore (DNA Source) from the George Henry Evans 1730-1788 family line. Jerry Blaine Evans’ 37 Marker Y-DNA match to Ross Poore (DNA Source) is listed in the red box in the tree.


View a larger version of this tree at this URL:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NOyH3E_ame6IyY1fzBy-hIFsx0V6m8C5/view?usp=sharing



DNA Segment Matches

The spreadsheet below shows the autosomal DNA matches to direct descendants of George Henry Evans 1730-1788 to the DNA Sources tested.

  • You will notice the relatively higher number of segments matched under Nathan Peyton Evans Sr. 1789-1862 in this chart.

View a larger version of this chart at this URL:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MJoTrCDIv8iFMKQwpHo_phH-XpCu4ofO/view?usp=sharing





More DNA Matches

This PDF lists matches to our DNA sources and descendants of George Henry Evans 1730-1788.

View the full PDF file:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WFHalE8nXheoQzu_1ChTBJnWJrem2lYA/view?usp=sharing






CONCLUSION:

The DNA, location and circumstantial evidence is far too great for William T. Poore not to be part of this Evans family (Nathan Peyton Evans Jr, Elijah Evans etc.). The DNA matches through Nathan Peyton Evans’ line to William T. Poore’s line are very high even when other non-Evans men are part of the line.

If you have more information about William T. Poore please contact us at contact@poorefamilyhistory.com.

The most updated information (Including a downloadable version)

will always be available at www.PooreFamilyHistory.com


Copyright 2023 Dr. Ross Poore, Ryan Poore



Comments

Post a Comment