Group 8

Lineages

• James Alexander Vance (b.c.1755 – d.1821, Chester Co, SC)

Members

• N3804 – James Alexander Vance (d.1821, Chester Co, SC) (James)
• 105272 – James Alexander Vance (d.1821, Chester Co, SC) (John, William)
• 128853 – James Alexander Vance (d.1821, Chester Co, SC) (John, George)

DNA Analysis

DNA Results

Group 8 consists of 3 descendants of James Alexander Vance of Chester County, SC (hereafter JAV), one descended from his son James and two from his son John. On 67 markers, the genetic distance between any of the three men is never more than 3, a result fully consistent with their shared descent from JAV in 8 generations as documented by traditional evidence.

It is not likely that they share a common genetic descent in the direct male line with other Vances in the project within a genealogically meaningful time frame. Members of this group are a genetic distance of 7 on 37 markers from some members of Group 1, but this genetic distance increases to about 15 when compared on 67 markers. SNP results for members of the two groups also indicate that they belong to different haplogroups entirely and haven’t shared a common genetic ancestor in the direct male line for thousands of years.

Since N3804 is descended from JAV’s son James and 105272 and 128853 are descended from his son John, it is possible to deduce the ancestral haplotype of JAV himself on 67 markers. It was identical to the haplotype of N3804.

Matches with Other Surnames:
This group is a very close match on 67 markers with a descendant of a George Hay who married Janet Watson in Nairn, Scotland in 1777. There is a genetic distance of 1 separating George Hay's descendant and N3804 on 67 markers and they also share a handful of rare repeat values, indicating a high probability of a relatively recent common descent. The Hay descendant has allowed his results to be incorporated in the Vance project; they are listed on the results page of the website as H1.

Since JAV was probably born in the 1750s (his oldest known son was born in 1781) and since George Hay was married around 1777 (indicating a probable birth for him in the 1740s or 1750s), they appear to have been roughly in the same generation and neither should be considered an ancestor of the other. Given that George Hay was born in Scotland, their common ancestor likely also lived in Scotland at some point prior to the mid-18th century, possibly in the area around Nairn. H1 has no matches with any other Hay men, so it should not be automatically assumed that James Alexander Vance was the genetic descendant of a Hay male.

Observations on Marker Values:
This group is characterized by a some unusual repeat values, listed here in order of rarity:

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

Haplogroup:
H1 has tested positive for the L2 SNP, which defines a subclade of the U152 haplogroup, itself a subclade of the P312 subclade of R1b. He has not tested positive for the L20 SNP, which defines a further subclade of L2. H1’s SNP results may serve as a proxy for Group 8, given their extremely close match on 67 markers and the high probability of a relatively recent shared descent.

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

Additional resources:

• P312 project: http://www.familytreedna.com/public/atlantic-r1b1c/default.aspx
• U152 project: http://www.familytreedna.com/public/r1b1c10/default.aspx
• David Faux database of U152 haplotypes, including L2: http://www.davidkfaux.org/R1b1c10_Data.htm

Notable Findings:
It has long been considered a given that JAV was a cousin of Patrick and John Vance of Chambersburg, PA, and David Vance of Mecklenberg Co, NC. This theory was based on a letter written by Patrick’s grandson, P. A. Vance, in 1873, in which he noted, “Grandfather had some cousins, the most of them settled in South Carolina and some of their descendants lived in Carroll Co, Miss.” This sentence was assumed to refer to the family of JAV’s son John P. Vance, whose family appears to have been the only Vance family in Carroll County, MS, during that time period.

Since we have Y-DNA from multiple descendants of Patrick Vance, David Vance, and JAV, through different sons of theirs, it is possible for us to deduce the ancestral haplotypes of all three men on 67 markers and to compare the men directly with each other. The genetic distance between Patrick and David was 1 on 67 markers, indicating a close relationship. However, the genetic distance between them and JAV was 15/16, indicating that it is impossible that Patrick and David were close genetic cousins of JAV.

Given that the DNA evidence contradicts the traditional evidence suggesting a recent common ancestry for JAV and Patrick/David, there are three possible interpretations:

1) In his letter of 1873, P. A. Vance may have been referring to some other Vances who settled in Carroll Co, MS, not to the family of John P. Vance. He did not mention any Vances by name, only that they came from South Carolina and went to Carroll Co, MS. For that matter, he did not specifically write that Patrick Vance’s cousins were Vances. It is conceivable, though improbable, that he was referring to cousins from a female line.

2) P. A. Vance may have simply been mistaken when he said that the Carroll County Vances were “cousins” of Patrick. P. A. Vance’s letter contains other errors which indicate that he may not have been a reliable source for information on some of his more distant relations. He wrote that Governor Joseph Vance of Ohio was a grandson of Patrick’s brother John and that Governor Zeb Vance of North Carolina was a descendant of David Vance of Mecklenberg, and both of these attributions are known to be inaccurate. Perhaps there were other inaccuracies.

3) James Alexander Vance may have been a genealogical cousin of Patrick and David Vance, but not a Y chromosome cousin. Two of the most common causes of a surname/DNA mismatch are adoption or an out-of-wedlock birth in which the child takes the mother’s name.

Genealogical Overview
The earliest known ancestor of Vance Group 8 is James Alexander Vance, whose first confirmed appearance in the documentary record is on the 1790 census in Camden District, York County, SC. (By 1800, he was in Chester County, SC, where he remained until his death.) JAV is thought to have moved to South Carolina from Pennsylvania some time between 1781 and 1786; this is gleaned from the 1850 census, in which his son Adam listed his birthplace as PA and his age as 60 and his son William listed his birthplace as SC and his age as 64. Based on the birth years of his eldest children, JAV himself may have been born some time during the 1750s.

Adam Vance of York County, PA
Given that JAV named his eldest son Adam, many researchers have been attracted to any instances of the given name Adam among Vances. For the period prior to 1800 in America, the Vance Family Association has documented only a few. Adam Vance of York County, PA, has attracted the most attention. The trail of evidence relating to Adam eventually leads to evidence that suggests a relationship between him and JAV.

The July 1994 issue of the VFA newsletter contains a few abstracts relating to Adam Vance’s estate:

6 Dec 1777 – John Vance & Benjamin Armstrong made admrs. of Adam Vance late of Cumberland Twp., Pennsylvania. On special plea of Robt. Galbreath, Esq, for children Mary aged 10 yrs, Wm aged 8 yrs, Margaret Myers, & Sophia 2 yrs, Hans Morrison & Samuel Getty are made their guardians

19 Oct 1790 – daughter, Sophia Vance over 14 yrs of age chose William Gilliland Esq. for her guardian

13 Dec 1795 – Petition by William Vance eldest son of Adam Vance who died over 15 yrs ago, followed a few days later by death of wife. Their issue: William (petitioner), Mary married Benjamin Hutchinson, whose daughter is Mary Vance Hutchinson & Sophia married John Agnew. Father died owner of 600 acres which petitioner wants appraised. Alexander Cobean is guardian of Mary Vance Hutchinson aged 5 years.

The 600 acres mentioned in his estate account were purchased by Adam in York County in 1772. Adam is presumed to have lived elsewhere prior to that time and another item from his estate file provides a clue as to the location. There is a letter in the estate file from William Clarke, dated 17 November 1777 at Backcreek, in which Clarke notes, “Mr. Armstrong and his brother-in-law has a mind to Administr on Mr. Vance Estate.” The brother-in-law is presumably John Vance, who would be named as the other administrator of Adam Vance’s estate a month after Mr. Clarke’s letter. The letter was sent from Back Creek. Though there are numerous creeks of that name in different regions, the Back Creek in question has been identified as being in Cecil County, MD. This conclusion has been deduced from several Cecil County inventory records that serve to tie specific families from Back Creek to York County, PA. Foremost among these items of evidence is the 1760/1761 inventory of the estate of William Calwell/Caldwell; James Vance acted as an appraiser of Caldwell’s estate and William Clark Sr. & Jr. were listed as next of kin.

James Vance and Adam Vance of Cecil County
Inventory records from Cecil County, MD, confirm the presence of a James Vance and an Adam Vance there in the 1760s and 1770s. A large number of connections are suggested by these records and these basically indicate that Adam Vance of York and Adam Vance of Cecil were one and the same.

• William Calwell/Caldwell, Cecil County. £62.6.0; 9 December 1760; 18 February 1761. Appraisers: Samuel Bayard, James Vance. Creditors: William Clark Jr. Next of kin: William Clark Jr. & Sr. Adminsitrator: William Clark. (Liber 71, Folio 107).
  
• John Awl, Cecil County. £203.5.8; 13 March 1762; 1 September 1762. Appraisers: David Clark, William Clark. Creditors: Henry Lancaster, Samuel Stuart. Next of kin: James Awle, Sinclair Lancaster. Executors: James Vance, Mary Awle. (Liber 79, Folio 25)
  
• James Black, Cecil County. £66.7.1; 2 December 1762; 30 March 1763. Appraisers: William Clark, James Vance. Creditors: John James, John McCay. Next of kin: John Smith, Mary Lesly. Administrator: William Smith. (Liber 80, Folio 175).
  
• James Vance, Cecil County. £315.18.6; 23 June 1767; 25 November 1767. Appraisers: Bennet/Barnet Vanhorn, David Clark. Creditors: William McFarland, Archibald Douglas. Next of kin: John Vance, Sarah Vance, Gracy Vance. Administrator: Adam Vance. (Liber 95, Folio 91)
  
• Eleanor McCoy (wife of James McCoy), Cecil County. £524.9.7; 5 August 1774; 6 August 1774. Appraisers: Alexander Clark, Barnet Vanhorn. Creditors: Benjamin All, Richard Boulden Ford. Next of kin: Sarah McCoy, Grace Vanes (?Vance). Executors: Adam Vance, Benjamin Armstrong. (Liber 116, Folio 331)
  
• James Vance, Cecil County. £94.17.1; . . . . . ; 22 November 1775. List of debts. Administrator: Adam Vance. (Liber 122, Folio 324-5) [Note: this entry is a continuation of the probate records of James Vance whose inventory was recorded in 1767. It was common for lists of debts to be filed separately.]

Along with Adam Vance, Benjamin Armstrong was named an executor of the estate of Eleanor McCoy in Cecil County. This is likely the same Benjamin Armstrong who was later a co-administrator of Adam Vance’s estate in York County and who was named a brother-in-law of John Vance by William Clarke. James Vance was an executor of John Awl’s estate and James Awle is listed as next of kin. This James Awle is probably the Jas. Aul named among the Notes and Bonds in the estate record of Adam Vance of York. One of John Awl’s creditors, Samuel Stuart, may be the Samuel Stourt listed among the accounts receivable in Adam Vance’s estate. All of this serves to indicate that Adam Vance of York was most likely also Adam Vance of Cecil, and that he was tied to James Vance of Cecil County. Henry Peden’s Inhabitants of Cecil County, 1649-1774 reveals that James Vance was on the tax list in 1759, which is also the date of the earliest inventory in which he appears. He was a resident of Middle Neck Hundred, which was just south of Back Creek. Another resident of Middle Neck hundred, according to Peden’s book, was Abraham Gonce; this is the name of the man who married Margaret Vance, a daughter of Adam Vance of York. Adam Vance appears first in the estate record of James Vance in 1767 and thereafter in records through 1774. His disappearance from these records around this time roughly coincides with Adam Vance’s purchase of land in York County in 1772.

It is pretty clear based on all the evidence above that Adam Vance of York and Adam Vance of Cecil were one and the same. It is unclear how Adam Vance, James Vance of Cecil, and the John Vance who administered Adam’s estate were related. A John Vance was listed as a taxable resident of North Susquahannah Hundred in Cecil County in 1761, but I am not aware of further evidence of a John Vance in that county.

Cobean Connection
There is more than just the given name Adam to suggest a connection between Adam Vance of Cecil/York and James Alexander Vance. Alexander Cobean was named a guardian of Adam Vance’s granddaughter Mary Vance Hutchinson. Given the rarity of the surname, he is assumed to be related to a Thomas Cobean who owned property adjacent to JAV in Chester County, SC. (This Thomas had a son, Alexander, who engaged in some land transactions with JAV’s son Adam in Chester County.) If the relationship between Alexander Cobean of York and Thomas Cobean of Chester were to be definitively established, it would provide good circumstantial evidence for a relationship between JAV and Adam Vance of York County, PA.

Sidebar: Gilliland-Ezekiel Vance
In 1790, Adam Vance’s daughter Sophia chose William Gilliland as her guardian. In Early Families of Frederick County, Maryland, and Adams County, Pennsylvania, there is an entry for the family of John and Jane Gilliland. It notes that John and Jane settled in that part of Lancaster County from which York County, and later Adams County, were carved. This is precisely the area where Adam Vance lived. [VFA, Oct 2001] One of their sons was William Gilliland (1753-1831), possibly the man who was guardian to Sophia Vance. William’s brother, Samuel Gilliland, married an Eleanor Vance, a name that has some resonance with the family of Ezekiel Vance of York County, PA:

Ezekiel Vance Will Book B, p. 156-157. Written 1 Jan 1768, probated 24 Mar 1768. Signed with his mark. Wife, Elenor, son, William, not 21 years of age, daughter, Ann, son, John, and if wife with child it should receive a proper share. Exec: Elenor Vance and Alexander Brown of Tyrone Twp. Witness: John Vance and Joseph Lawrence. Several sheets of inventory.

The tentative connection of the Gillilands with Ezekiel’s family is strengthened by a deed from York County in 1795 in which William Vance (of Ezekiel), his wife Sarah (Moore) Vance, and brother-in-law James Moore, sell property that was adjacent to the property of John Gilliland, most likely either the original Gilliland immigrant or his son.

Ezekiel’s relationship to Adam Vance or any of the other Vances in York County is unknown.

McAnulty-McCullough-Egger Connection
An article by Janet Francis in the October 2003 VFA newsletter contains the following:

On 11 October 1777 William McAnulty of Chanceford Township, York County, PA and James Vance of Cecil County, MD, were bonded for 100 lbs; and letters of administration on the estate of Ann Savage, late of York County, were issued to Vance. William McAnulty, who later removed to Cabarrus County, NC, was a brother to Michael McAnulty, father of the Vance wives [Mary G. McAnulty and Isabella McAnulty, who married, respectively, William Vance and John P. Vance, the sons of James Alexander Vance].

The McAnulty connection strengthens the link between JAV and York County, PA. The James Vance of Cecil who shared administration of Ann Savage’s estate with William McAnulty may even have been JAV himself, who is known to have been in Pennsylvania prior to 1781. The only other James Vance known of in Cecil County prior to this time had passed away around 1767.

Jan Francis discussed further connections between the McAnulty, McCullough, Egger, and Vance families in an article that appeared in the April 2001 issue of the VFA newsletter:

The will of Hugh McCullough of Reading Township, York County, PA, reveals that his daughter Mary was married to Michael McAnulty . . . Also named were Thomas Eager, another son-in-law. . . Michael’s family were residents of Antrim Township of what is now Franklin County, PA, [Note: this is the county where Patrick and John Vance of Chambersburg were located] . . .

. . .Of additional interest is the 1806 will of George McCullough of Little Britain Township, Lancaster County, PA, . . . among those listed with specific notations were George McCullough Jr., who married Mary Vance. . . and Mary McCullough, who married John Vance Jr. [this Mary and John Vance were children of John Vance of Chambersburg.]

By the 1780s, both James Alexander Vance and the younger namesake Michael McAnulty (son of John) had relocated to York County, SC. They became neighbors to each other and to numerous other families from the original York and Cumberland Counties, PA, including Robert and Samuel McCullough.

Adam Vance in Balbirnie
Since there is so much circumstantial evidence tying JAV to Adam Vance of York County, PA, it seems worth pointing out that several Adam Vances are found in William Balbirnie’s work on the Irish Vances. They are all among the descendants of William Vance of Aughavea. It is worth quoting Balbirnie in full:

The next of the family we find proceeding out of Donegal, is named William, who was located at Aughavea, Ballyclug, Tyrone, whose will is dated 19 April 1713; we expect he was George Vance of Raneel’s third son; he left four sons, John, William, Adam and James. His second son, William, succeeded his father, who was succeeded by his son John Vance, of Aughavea. This last had two brothers, David, who went to America, and was said to have carried the colours at a battle under Washington, and William, who married Elizabeth Vance, daughter of Oliver Vance, senr., of Drumhirk, near Dungannon.

The eldest son, John, of Aughavea, had a son, David who emigrated to America; his wife bore him a son, born after his father’s death, and named David. John’s second son, William, and third, Adam, both went to America and had families; there were other two sons, John and James, who had no children, and four daughters, one of whom, Margaret, married Mr. William Brown, of Stewartstown, Tyrone, farmer and hotel keeper. He is dead many years ago, but his widow and their son, Samuel, carry on the business.. . .

The next record we have of the name is that of James Vance, Ballymacombs, County Derry, but near County Tyrone, granting a lease to one Winton; this James we take to have been the youngest son of the first William Vance, of Aughavea. Ballycombs is said to have been a fine freehold property, but James the son the Successor of the aforesaid James, giving himself up to habits of dissipation, squandered his patrimony; James had three brothers, Adam, William, and Joseph. He had a son James, who in consequence of his father’s improvidence, and his own reduced circumstances, removed to a place, called Ballyforlea, Parish of Derrylorn, County Derry, near Cookstown, Tyrone; he had also a brother, William, who lived at Suffolk, near Belfast, who had a large family – they are nearly all dead. This James had a son Robert, who bitterly experienced the effects of his grandfather’s folly, having been brought up in poverty, if not privation, who in search of better fortune, went to Scotland about the year 1839.

The following tree can be constructed based on Balbirnie’s account (those who went to America are in boldface):

Note: an article in the Kitochtinny Magazine [VFA newsletter, July 1994] claims that Patrick and John Vance of Chambersburg were the sons of William and Elizabeth Vance (of Oliver); however, no evidence is adduced for this assertion. There are also large inconsistencies between the Kitochtinny account and Balbirnie’s account that call the former into question.

There is no evidence to suggest that Adam Vance of York/Cecil may be identified with any of the Adam Vances in the above chart, though the coincidence of the name is suggestive.