Vanover Name Study

Profile managers: Eric Weddington [send private message] and One Name Studies WikiTree [send private message]

Vanover One Name Study

Scope

The scope of this study is to research the Vanover last name within the United States, and any immigration to the United States.

How to Join

Please contact the project leader Eric Weddington or post a comment. If you have any questions, just ask. Thanks!

Members:

• Eric Weddington
• Alice Thomsen

Goals

1. Source any unsourced family member
2. Connect any unconnected family member to one of the oldest Vanover lineages in the United States
3. Discover the relationship between the oldest Vanover individuals within the United States and any immigration to the United States
4. Discover and document any DNA relationships in and between Weddington families

Adding a Profile to this Study

Please avoid adding every Vanover profile to this Study. See List of Vanover Profiles below, to get a sorted list of every Vanover profile on WikiTree.

The criteria for adding a Vanover profile to the study are:

1. Add a Vanover profile to this study if their Vanover ancestor is currently unknown.
2. Add a Vanover profile to this study if they are Adopted. See the "Adopted" section below for more information.
3. The top level progenitors of the main Vanover families have already been added to the study.

To add your ancestor to this study, simply copy the following template to the Biography section of his or her profile:

Once the profile is connected to the main Vanover family line, then remove the template from the profile.

Process

1. Take existing Vanover profiles on WikiTree, and use records found on FamilySearch.org, and Find A Grave, to reconstruct pedigree as much as possible
2. Find other Vanovers on FamilySearch.org and Find A Grave, add them to WikiTree, reconstruct pedigree or find where they fit in existing families
3. Find any historical newspaper references to any Vanover in the United States
4. Find any histories of the Vanover family, whether books, previous personal research, or other written materials. Use these to compare against primary records.

Vanover Genealogy

History

Cornelius Vanover I, his wife and son, Cornelius Vanover II, migrated from Netherlands to New Amsterdam (now New York) sometime before 1693, when we have records of Cornelius II in America. Cornelius Vanover III was the first in the Vanover line to be born in America and all Vanover descendants, we think, can be traced back to him.

This makes the Vanover family part of the New Netherland Settlers. See more at the New Netherland Settlers Project.

Sticker

The New Netherland Descendant sticker can be placed on any Vanover descendant (born after 1776). Place the following after the == Biography == section in their profile:

List of Vanover Profiles

List of Vanover Profiles on WikiTree, sorted in birth order, including current last name

Oldest in the United States

See Cornelius Vanover I, his son, Cornelius Vanover II, and his son, Cornelius Vanover III. There are 6 Cornelius Vanover's in a row. Cornelius III is where other children start to branch out.

Additional Research

• Descendants of Stephen Osborn and Mary Vanover
  • The data in this page needs reformatting, and much of the data needs to be added directly to WikiTree.

Vanover DNA

There seems to a dormant Vanover DNA project at FamilyTreeDNA, with very little tests and inconclusive results. Two paternal haplogroups are shown: R-M269 and R-L21. But we have no idea who submitted these tests, or what their paper trail genealogy is to Vanover to confirm any lineage with any type of confidence.

One male Vanover profile on 23andMe shows a paternal haplogroup of R-L21. However, there is no paper trail genealogy to confirm his lineage.

More DNA test results need to be found to determine if this is the main paternal haplogroup for Vanover.

Other R-L21 DNA resources:

• https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/r-l21/about/background
• https://www.geni.com/projects/R-L21-Y-DNA/3837
• https://www.yfull.com/tree/R-L21/
• https://www.academia.edu/24686284/The_phylogenealogy_of_R_L21_four_and_a_half_millennia_of_expansion_and_redistribution

There is also a blog post about Vanover DNA, referencing some tests that have been done. It indicates haplogroup R-L21. But again, nothing conclusive.

Melungeon Connection

See the Melungeon Roots Project. There are some sources say that Vanover was one of the names that is found in Melungeon families. The academic paper, Melungeons, A Multi-Ethnic Population, outlines that Collins was a Melungeon family that was found in North Carolina, and specifically Ashe County, North Carolina (see p. 21 of that paper). The paper also stated that some of the Melungeon families then migrated into Kentucky.

Ashe County, North Carolina is where a branch of the Vanover family was located. Here we have a Nancy Collins marrying into the Vanover family. She was born in North Carolina, although we don't know exactly where, but it was likely in Ashe County. Her and her husband, Daniel Vanover, moved to Kentucky sometime, as she died in Letcher County, Kentucky. DNA testing will likely be required to test this theory.

A more modern, or recent, connection is Effie (Vanover) Goins (1929-2008), who married Raymond Goins, who may be a Melungeon descendant. See his ancestor, Isham Goins. More research on this line is needed.

The notable military pilot, Francis Gary Powers, is said to have Melungeon roots. His great-great-grandparents are Mary Rebecca Vanover and Marhsall Solomon Mullins. Marshall's grandmother is Nancy Dameron. Dameron is one of the surnames as potentially identified with the Melungeon families. However, Mary Rebecca Vanover's parents are uncertain. On the Find A Grave profile for her is this note:

"In the book "The Vanover Family" by Gregory Lynn Vanover, P O Box 1192, Culpeper, VA 22701, on page 80, he has her listed 2 ways. He has her listed as the daughter of Cornelius VI and Sarah Hill AND as the daughter of Daniel Vanover and Nancy Collins. (Cornelius VI and Daniel were brothers, sons of Cornelius V). I am not sure who her parents were but currently have her listed as the daughter of Cornelius VI." (Emphasis mine.)

If it is correct that Francis Gary Powers has Melungeon ancestry, then it makes more sense if Mary Rebecca Vanover's parents are Daniel Vanover and Nancy Collins. Collins is another Melungeon family name, even though we currently do not have her parents identified yet. That way it makes sense that Melungeon families are coming through both Mary Rebecca Vanover and her husband, Marshall Solomon Mullins, and their descendants.

More research is needed to confirm.

Sources

One of the major genealogical sources for the Vanover family is a privately printed book by Gregory Lynn Vanover:

• The Vanover Family: Descendants of Cornelys Van Hovgem of Flatbush, Kings County, Long Island, New York, by Gregory Lynn Vanover <revonav@citizen.infi.net>, First Edition, Privately Printed, 1989, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Rte 4, Box 508C, Wilmington NC 28405.

• https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS79-2HD3-J?i=368&cat=695249
  • 1832 Russell County, Virginia Personal Property Tax List, William Vanover

• https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS79-295G-Z?i=32&cat=695249
  • 1834 Russell County, Virginia Personal Property Tax List, William Vanover, Samuel Vanover

• https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS79-295V-N?i=54&cat=695249
  • 1838 Russell County, Virginia Personal Property Tax List, William Vanover