I want to relate some information regarding how my research on my Tyler line and yDNA testing to attempt bridging a gap caused by the destruction of records, while simultaneously attempting to see if a seemingly improbable family group was or was not correct. My line seems to originate in Hanover County, Virginia with John Tyler (Tyler-420), son of Henry Tyler (Tyler-414).
In the early 2000’s Rebecca Tyler Allen published a genealogy compilation on the Tyler family, in which she stated John Tyler left Virginia for Chowan, North Carolina. She listed children for John and Mary having birth dates and locations intermixed between Virginia and North Carolina. Her publication caused concern with the Hanover researchers, because it went against extant records of St. Paul’s Parish, Hanover County, which show John Tyler residing in Hanover at least to 1619. His son Henry is residing in the same location after a gap of 21 years in the processioning records.
When I decided to test through FTDNA, there were two test results listed in the Tyler Surname Project which linked to Henry Tyler “the immigrant”. One test result linked to Henry Tyler of Middle Plantation/Williamsburg (Tyler-414) through his son Henry (Tyler-217) and the other line used Rebecca Tyler Allen’s connection of Absalom Tyler (Tyler-426) to Henry’s (Tyler-414) son John Tyler who she listed as leaving Virginia for North Carolina. These two results were of two different haplotypes, one was “I” and the other “R” which to me indicated there was some problem the published lineages.
My results returned an “I” haplotype, and ultimately, a 66/67 match for the descendant of Henry’s (Tyler-414) son Henry (Tyler-217). Another researcher indicated the results (“R” haplotype) of the descendant of Absolom (Tyler-426) more closely matched the family of Tyler’s from the eastern shore of Maryland. Unfortunately, there are other recent lineages posted on the Tyler Surname Project page which use the disproved John Tyler link.
Unfortunately, Rebecca Tyler Allen’s genealogy was published in the dawn of “electronic” genealogy, and at least a decade before yDNA testing was used on this line. This period of time saw many family lineages spring forth from her “research” with no apparent recognition of the brothers and sisters being born in two different colonies simultaneously. My theory is that the two localities having “St. Paul’s Parish” for the body of the Church of England may have contributed to the mistake.
Now this family group for John Tyler is incorporated into the “source” files and indexes for both Ancestry.com and Familysearch.org. This is a major reason I look at the “source” of any information from Ancestry, Familysearch, or any of the other online genealogy repositories to try and determine if an “official” or “user-submitted” source is being cited.
There are more instances of confused names in the line of Henry Tyler (Tyler-414). Another work published on the Tyler family of Orangeburg, South Carolina appears to have an error with William Tyler. The researcher was in Williamsburg, Virginia in the early part of the 1900’s and seems to have confused her ancestor with William Tyler (Tyler-1506). She indicates this William Tyler received a land bounty in South Carolina for service in the Revolutionary War. Research from a descendant of William’s brother Henry (Tyler-1457) and also by myself, shows two different William Tyler men involved in Revolutionary war claims from Virginia, as applying for pensions in the 1830’s. One William Tyler, from Arlington County, was deceased at the time of pension application and his widow was the actual pension applicant. The other William Tyler was still living, but he was apparently was born in Berkley County, Virginia, and received a land bounty of 200 acres in Virginia near what would later become Jefferson County, Kentucky.
DNA testing of a descendant of the Orangeburg William Tyler resulted in an “R” haplotype which is a 36/37 match for probable descendants of Absolom Tyler’s father John Tyler.
There is currently a profile for William Tyler (Tyler-1345) of Orangeburg which is partially linked back to the Williamsburg descendants. I have reached out to the PM, but received a reply indicating reluctance to take faith in the DNA testing.
From my research, there are more conflicting family connections in the repository of Ancestry.com, Familysearch.org, and others, involving other descendants of Henry Tyler (Tyler-414). The most recent compilation involves John Tyler (Tyler-294) being wed to Eleanor Strother and residing in Barnwell County, South Carolina when his personal history clearly shows he is in Virginia. I attribute these errors to earlier “research” being copied without any concern, and because the “Tyler” name is more common than some believe, coupled with a desire to be related to a “President.”
