Group 5

Lineages

• Thomas Vance of Gallia Co, OH (b.c.1790 – d.1872) m.Sarah Caldwell/Colwell

Members

• 83432 – Thomas Vance of Gallia Co, OH (b.c.1790) (son George)
  95164 – Thomas Vance of Gallia Co, OH (b.c.1790) (son Thos)

DNA Analysis

DNA Results

The two members of Group 5 are a genetic distance of 2 from each other, with two single-step mutations separating them on markers 459b and 464d. This genetic distance is fully consistent with their shared descent from Thomas Vance of Gallia County in six generations, as documented by traditional evidence.

Group 5 does not share a common genetic descent in the direct male line with other Vances in the project within a genealogically meaningful time frame. The closest match with this group in the project is a genetic distance of 13 from 83432 and a genetic distance of 15 from 95164 on 37 markers.

Matches with Other Surnames:
A handful of men in Ysearch are a genetic distance of 6 from this group on 37 markers:

Matches of this genetic distance with other surnames are generally not worth investigating unless there is some other evidence to indicate a connection.

Observations on Marker Values:
This group is characterized by several marker values that are unusual for R1b. Those values that are present in less than 20% of R1b males are listed here in order of rarity:

Marker rarity was assessed using the late Leo Little’s survey of marker value frequency.

Haplogroup:
No one in Group 5 has had a SNP test. They certainly belong to the R1b haplogroup, and very likely to the R1b1b2 haplogroup as defined by the M269 SNP. Several subclades of M269 have been identified, but more specific SNP predictions are not possible for this group based on STR values alone.

The International Society of Genetic Genealogy maintains an up-to-date phylogenetic tree of the R haplogroup here: http://www.isogg.org/tree/ISOGG_HapgrpR09.html.

Notable Findings:
This lineage is not genetically related to that of 48374, a descendant of a different Thomas Vance of Gallia County.

Genealogical Overview:
The earliest confirmed ancestor of Group 5 is Thomas Vance of Gallia County, Ohio, who was born around 1790 in Virginia, judging from his age and birthplace as listed on the 1850 census. He probably moved to Ohio some time between 1815 and 1827, judging from the ages and birthplaces of his children as listed on the 1850 census.

On the 1850 census, Thomas and his two sons, Thomas (95164) and George (83432), appear in Morgan Township, Gallia County. They are just four households away from Jacob Vance and James Vance, both also identified as sons of Thomas.

1850 Census, Morgan Township, Gallia County, OH

Thomas Vance may be traced back through the census in Gallia County . . .

1840 Census - Gallia County, Ohio – List of Vances
Alexander Vance Gallipolis City
William Vance Addison Twp
Thomas Vance Morgan Twp 0011001 00021001
Thomas Vance Jr Morgan Twp 00001 10001
Jacob Vance Morgan Twp 00001 210010001

In Morgan Township Thomas Vance Sr., age 40-50, is listed adjacent to his two sons Jacob and Thomas, both aged 20-30 and starting their own families. The two other males in the household of Thomas Sr. are likely George and James.

1830 Census - Gallia County, Ohio
On the 1830 census, only one Vance appears in Gallia County - Thomas Vance of Morgan Township, the ancestor of Group 5. At Ancestry.com he is indexed as Vann, although the census image does appear to read Vance:

Note the presence of Jacob Colwell, possibly a relative of Thomas Vance’s wife.

Gallia County pre-1830
For the period prior to 1830, I searched for men with the surname Vance or variants thereof in Dennis Jones’ Gallia County, Ohio Residents, 1800-1825, which contains census transcriptions for 1810 and 1820 as well as land and chattels tax lists covering the period up to 1825. No Vances are listed from 1800 to 1814 on any census, land tax list, or chattels tax list in Gallia. However, by 1819, three Vance families had moved into the area and these families appear to have remained resident there:

1818 Chattels Tax List
Thomas Vance Gallipolis Township 2 horses, 1 cattle
Henry Wantz Raccoon Township 1 horse, 2 cow

1819 Chattels Tax list
Thomas Vance Morgan Township 1 horse, 2 cow
William Vance Addison Township 2 horse, 1 cow
Henry Vantz Raccoon Township 1 horse, 2 cow

1820 Census
Wm. Vance 200010 – 00010 – 0100 Addison Township
Henry Wantz 520010 – 00010 – 0100 Raccoon Township
Thomas Wantz 300010 – 30010 – 0100 Raccoon Township

1821 Chattels Tax List
Henry Vance Perry Township 1 horse, 1 cattle
William Vance Addison Township 2 horse, 1 cattle
no Thomas Vance listed

1822 Chattels Tax List
Henry Vance Perry Township 2 horse, 3 cattle
Thomas Vance Morgan Township 1 horse, 2 cattle
William Vance Addison Township 2 horse, 1 cattle

1824 Chattels Tax List
Henry Vance Perry Township 1 horse, 2 cattle
Thomas Vance Jr. Morgan Township 1 horse, 3 cattle
Thomas Vance Sr. Morgan Township 1 horse, 2 cattle
William Vance Addison Township 2 horse, 3 cattle

1825 Chattels Tax List
Henry Vance Perry Township 1 horse, 2 cattle
Philip Vance Perry Township 1 horse, 1 cattle
Thomas Vance Jr. Morgan Township 1 horse, 3 cattle
Thomas Vance Sr. Morgan Township 1 horse, 1 cattle
William Vance Addison Township 2 horse, 4 cattle

Based on the above information, Thomas Vance appears to have moved to Gallia County some time between 1814 and 1818 and to have settled in Morgan Township by 1822. Notably, on the 1820 census his name is spelled “Wantz.” This is actually a German surname that ended up becoming Anglicized to Vance in several American families. Ancestry.com has him transcribed as “Wanta” in its index to the 1820 census, but a look at the census image reveals that the name is actually spelled Wantz:

Rockbridge County Origins
According to a biographical sketch of James Edgar Harrison that appeared in the Gallipolis Tribune in 1909, Thomas Vance’s family came to Gallia County specifically from Rockbridge County, Virginia. Independent of this, we know from census and tax records that Thomas moved to Ohio from Virginia sometime after 1814. Therefore, we might expect to find Thomas listed on the census in 1810 in Virginia. A search of the entire 1810 census as indexed at Ancestry.com reveals just 5 men named Thomas Vance, none of them in Virginia:

Thomas Vance Erie, PA
Thomas Vance Fayette, PA
Thos Vance Chester, PA
Thos Vance Botetourt, PA
Thomas Vance Henderson, KY

However, if the search is widened to include the surname Wentz, the following additional results are provided:

Thos Wentz Rockbridge, VA
Thomas Wentz Lancaster, PA

Here we find a Thomas Wentz in Rockbridge County in 1810, exactly where we might expect to find Thomas Vance of Gallia based on the account in the Gallipolis Tribune.

Two individuals were in Thomas Wentz’s household, a male and female, both aged 16 through 25. These ages accord with the ages of Thomas and Sarah Vance of Gallia, who would have been about 20 and 18 at the time. Their eldest child, Jacob, was born around 1811, so it makes sense not to find any children in their household in 1810. Given the recurring Wentz/Wantz spelling of his surname, it is natural to wonder whether Thomas Vance ultimately descended from a German family, and whether his surname became Anglicized to Vance during his lifetime.

Wentz Families of Rockbridge
In the April 1997 issue of the VFA newsletter, Delilah Foster documented several Vances in Rockbridge County, VA:

Dr. Patrick Vance – the most notable early Vance of Rockbridge, Patrick served as a physician in the Revolution.
Thomas Vance – he was a settler in 1765 and appeared in records through 1780.
John Vance – his presence is indicated by the marriage records of his daughters Mary and Agnes.
Samuel Vance – his presence is indicated by the marriage records of his children Elizabeth, Margaret, and David.

Ms. Foster also lists a Vance marriage record that appears noticeably German given the other surnames mentioned in the record:

9 Dec 1793 Henry Spitzer m.Catherine Vance
Bond posted by Henry Spitzer, Jacob Dederick, and Michael Wilhelm

It may be that Catherine Vance was from a Wentz family and that her surname was Anglicized in the record. There were definitely Wentz families in the area. We have already noted Thomas Wentz on the 1810 census. There was also a man named George who was listed in Rockbridge in 1820 as Vance, but in 1830 as George Wintz. In Kirkpatrick’s Rockbridge County, Marriages 1778-1850 several marriages are noted involving people with the surname Wentz or variants:

Note Catharine Wence and Sophia Wentz, daughters of a man named Thomas. Both were married within 2 years of each other to men named Anderson, suggesting that they may have been sisters who married Anderson brothers. Their father Thomas is clearly not Thomas Vance of Gallia, since the latter was only just starting his own family close to the time of their marriages, but they may be related in some other way, perhaps as siblings. It is notable that on the 1850 census in Gallia County, a David Anderson (age 75) and Catherine Anderson (age 70) are listed in Morgan Township, the same township where Thomas Vance of Gallia lived. Their birthplaces are given as Virginia.

Could this be David Anderson and Catherine Wence of Rockbridge? Tying Catharine (Wence) Anderson to Gallia County would strengthen the conclusion that Thomas Vance of Gallia was also Thomas Wentz of Rockbridge and that he and Catherine may have been siblings. Gallia County marriage records also show that Thomas Vance Jr. (ancestor of Group 5 member 95164) married a Polly Anderson (12 March 1737). It is not yet known whether Polly Anderson is related to the Andersons of Rockbridge who intermarried with the Wentz family, but it merits investigation.

George Wintz of Frederick County, MD:
Thomas Wantz/Vance of Rockbridge may be a descendant of George Wintz of Frederick County, MD. While conducting research for this group, I found a transcription on the Web of a Chancery Court abstract from Frederick County relating to George Wintz’s estate:

George WINTZ - Estate - 19 May 1796
[MSA S512- 1002; 1/36/1/15-964]
John CRONICE and William MILLER vs George WINTZ Estate

George WINTZ d/ abt 1791 intestate, leaving 6 children

- George WINTZ - VA
- Thomas WINTZ - VA
- Jacob WINTZ - VA
- Konnot w/o George MON - VA
- Catharine w/o Jacob DERR - VA
- Mary w/o Jacob WALTER - VA

Administrator was Catharine WINTZ (widow?). All the children are said to have moved to the “back parts” of Virginia.

Land - Lot #8 near Frederick Town, 8+ acres, (part was confiscated from Daniel DULANEY of Daniel and purchased by Wintz Oct 1781); mortgaged to John CRONICE and William MILLER for 250 pounds gold or silver which was not paid off before Wintz‘ death.

Creditors: Adam CREAGER in 1791 for Tobacco; Henry LEATHERMAN for monies; Conrad DOLL for a coffin.

Trustee was Joshua DORSEY. Testimony confirming Wintz’ descendants was heard from Jacob HEINER Sr. of Frederick Town.

Note that George Wintz of Frederick County, MD, had a son named Thomas and that all his children had moved to the “back parts” of Virginia by 1796. Where were these back parts? In The Derr Family it is noted that Jacob Derr (who was married to George Wintz’s daughter Catharine) “bought land in Rockbridge Co, in 1794 and sold it in 1813.” Thus it is clear that at least one of George Wintz’s children moved to Rockbridge and it is reasonable to suppose that the others may have moved there as well. Given his age, Thomas Vance of Gallia could thus be the son of one of George Wintz’s sons, possibly the Thomas Wintz whose daughters are known to have married Anderson men and at least one of whom may have also moved to Gallia County.