Are you descended from the Rose family of Surry & Brunswick Co., Virginia in the 1600s-1700s?

+14 votes
2.1k views
I am looking for people that descend from William Rose (c 1617-c 1672) and his wife Ann.  It can be through any of his children, of which five are known:  Jane (m. Richard Avery), William Sr. (m. Lucy Corker), Ann (m. Thomas Flood Jr), Mary, Richard (m. Elizabeth Sowerby).  This Rose family lived in Surry co. and Brunswick co. Virginia, arriving circa 1653 to Virginia.

Specifically I am looking for descendants that have taken an autosomal DNA test to compare to my autosomal results (and those of some of my cousins) in an attempt to prove or disprove a Rose connection.  My ancestor, William Stroud Jr. (c 1700-c 1783), married a woman named Margaret, whom many believe to be a Rose.  They lived in Surry and Brunswick, Virginia through the mid-1700s, at which point they moved to Edgecombe, NC.  I have located land and court records for the Strouds in which various Rose men are named.

If you've taken an autosomal DNA test and descend from this Rose family, please contact me so we can compare our DNA.  You would need to upload your results to Gedmatch (unless you tested with FTDNA) in order to compare.  Thanks very much!
WikiTree profile: William Rose
in Genealogy Help by Darlene Athey-Hill G2G6 Pilot (535k points)

I added some children of Elizabeth (Rose) Sykes from the 1850 census for you, but I'm not related.

Check out our county pages for these two counties (perhaps you can add more sources to them):

16 Answers

+7 votes
Hello yes I am great.........granddaughter of william rose of surry va through son Richard rose and Elizabeth sowerby. I have done a dna test throught ancestery and have a ged.com number of A125363
by Nancy Rose G2G1 (1.2k points)

Hi Nancy, thanks for responding.  I just did a one to one comparison between you and my dad.  You share 9.4cM on chromosome 14!  So you have a common ancestor...

In order to determine if our shared ancestry is through William Rose of Surry, VA, we need to find another person that descends from him and matches both you and my dad on that segment.  I'll see if I can talk more people into posting their results on Gedmatch.  For some of my lines, I match different people on different segments, due to the fact that the segment you're sharing with my dad might be from the Rose side or it might be from the Sowerby side...

Meanwhile, this is exciting!  I'll contact you privately, and thanks so much for responding.  smiley

I know from research most migrated to Canada, Kentucky, Carolinas and Tennessee. My line comes from my dad who is from tn. If you give me her Dob I'll see what I can find. But most I have seen share william berry rose as my common ancestor but I'll look further into it for you
Nancy, I saw that you tested also through FTDNA. I've located a large triangulated group on the segment of chromosome 14 that you're sharing with my dad. I've sent out an email (including you) to the people that are all matching one another on this segment. We've got over a dozen people, so hopefully amongst ourselves we'll be able to figure out our common ancestor. As to my possible Rose connection, the information I provided in the original post (above) is what I know of her. She married into the Stroud family and I have tracked them all the way down to myself. They stayed in VA for awhile and then moved to NC.
Richard Rose is my 7th great grandfather.  Elizabeth Sowerby is my 7th great grandmother.  The line to me is:  Thomas Rose (Elizabeth Seward); Thomas Rose (Lyddia Sizemore); Henry Rose (Jemima Crenshaw); Edmund Rose (Elizabeth Hobbs); John H Rose (Matilda McDaniel); Thomas V Rose (Virginia Wright); John Franklin Rose (Amilie Dean Walker); Franklin Dean Rose-Father (Alice B White).  I have added my DNA to the site.
Stuart, I can't get to your profile.  Can you provide a link? (Or list your Gedmatch ID # on this post?)  Thanks.
Stuart, have you had a Y-DNA test done? The reason I ask is that it has been determined based on Y-DNA testing that even though Thomas Rose (married Elizabeth Seward) was raised as a son by Richard(1) Rose (married Elizabeth Sowerby), that he was not a biological son of Richard and therefore not descended from William of Surry. Descendants of Thomas who have been tested are in a different family group "designated as group F by the Rose family association DNA project" which is now part of FTDNA Rose surname project. The biological father of Thomas has not been identified and may not even be a Rose.
+7 votes
I descend from William Rose & Lucy Corker through their son John who married Abigail Hicks.  John and Abigail's daughter Martha married Thomas Sadler, Jr.   My Gedmatch # is A799292 and my 2 sisters #'s are A253822 and A356175.  I hope out tests help you and I would love to hear if it does.
by
+6 votes
Yes, I have a male cousin who tested through Family Tree DNA at the 111 level and I oversee his account. Not sure how to get his results to you, but there is a Rose project on that site where he is grouped with a "Carlton".  We are certain because of the DNA that we are decended from William of Surry, but have a gap in relationships.  We know our family goes back to John H. (Jack) Rose 1800 of South Carolina. We believe it to be through William and his wife Anne.
by

Hi Carole, that's great about the Y-DNA test.  What I need, however, are descendants that have done an autosomal DNA test.  Since I don't have a direct line male descendancy, the autosomal test is the only one that, if I can locate a triangulated group that traces back to the Rose family of Surry & Brunswick counties, can help me validate the connection.  Thanks!  smiley

+6 votes
Yes Darlene,

According to relationship finder William Rose is my 9th great grandfather.  I think you may have already made a comparison of my auDNA ?  I also share William Stroud with you as a common ancestor.

David Douglass  (Douglass-990)
by David Douglass G2G6 Pilot (126k points)

David, unless you have another 'route' up your tree to Wm. Rose, though, it doesn't do us any good.  We need a couple people that have a paper trail down from Wm. Rose to triangulate . . .  Otherwise, all you and I know is that our shared DNA is up the Stroud or spouse line . . .  wink

Yep I should have thought about that.  Our MRCA is William Stroud Jr and not William Rose.
+5 votes
Hi,  I have no idea if I connect or not.  My Great great grandmother was an Elizabeth Rose. Probably born early 1800's.  I have no idea where though. She was married to an Arthur Henry Lee. I have no idea either about him. My ancestry DNA # is A159746.    Thought it worth a try to respond. :)

Jen
by Jennifer Titcombe G2G Crew (780 points)
Hi Jennifer, and thank you for your response.  Unfortunately, for what I am trying to do, which is use autosomal DNA to prove a connection, your unknown Rose line doesn't do me any good.  I need two people with a solid line of descent from William Rose.

Hi Jennifer! I’m related to you somehow! I’m not descended from the line Jennifer is inquiring about to my knowledge, but we share some! I’m A033699 and descended from John and Rebekah Rose from Wolfe Co., KY. 

Hi Jillian,  Do you know what we share so we can see if we can track back to a common ancestor.  Maybe of course that it is from another line and not Rose.  Would be interested to look into this.  Please private message me if you want to do this.

Cheers

Jen
+5 votes
My mother was a Rose (Geneva B Rose) and I believe she and I descended from William Rose and his son Richard.  I took the Ancestry.com DNA and MyHeritage DNA.  I also uploaded to Gedmatch.

The only problem in my line is there seems to be missing documentation on whether Robert Rose abt 1737 was the son of Richard Rose II.

William Pulver Jr.
by Bill Pulver G2G Crew (470 points)
I haven't seen the original of the will of Richard Rose Jr., but the summary I read didn't mention a son Robert . . .  What are your sources for showing Robert as his son?
Both Ancestry.com and Geni.com list Robert Rose as a son of Richard Rose II.  The California Rose family web site is the place that alerted me to the lack of documentation for Robert Rose's father.
Well, we all know that Geni and Ancestry are full of lineages with not one iota of documentation to support them.  What we do know is that Robert isn't mentioned in Richard's will, and the areas where Robert lived aren't where his purported father lived.  As such, until/unless documentation is located that can connect Robert to Richard, I believe he should be disconnected . . .
The Robert Rose you are referring to is my 5X great grandfather. I have been Y-DNA tested and am a match to the William (1) Rose family of Surry VA. The paper trail from Robert to his father is a weak link in our tree. Based on other Rose researchers and documentation it seems the connection from Robert to William (1) is most likely through William (2), and Richard (3) and not through William (1), Richard (2). I know assumptions are a bad thing but with the Y-DNA connection of several Robert Rose descendants to William (1) and the finite amount of lines to William (1) the connection has to be made based on the most likely line which again is William (1), William (2), Richard (3).
The first record of Robert Rose in Edgecombe county NC that I am aware of is in 1758. The Richard Rose I believe may be his father (William(1), William(2), Richard(3) created his will in 1765 in VA. By that time Robert and his older brother had relocated to NC and may have been intentionally left out of the will. The children in the will were still in VA from what I could tell. I agree that without the paper record connection, the relationship cannot be proven but I don't believe that not being named in a will rules out the relationship.
+5 votes
I descend from Martha Rose Rose-4859 who m. Burgess White. The DNA participants on her profile are descendants of her daughter Mary Ann White Holmes and Thomas Jester.  In 1850 Randolph County GA, Mary Ann is reported to have been b. in VA.
by Lynette Jester G2G6 Mach 8 (83.2k points)
You don't show that your Rose family connects to the one in question . . .
Because I haven't found her parents yet. But if you are looking for Rose descendants to compare, you also need some who may not be part of that family. Also, autosoma is iffy. You can match one but not another in the same family. Or siblings will match a known cousin at different generations and cM levels.
Thanks, Lynette.  As to my potential Rose connection, I am specifically seeking people that descend from the Rose family that was in Surry, Virginia.  This is where my Stroud family (that supposedly married a Rose daughter) lived.  Otherwise, it's just a shot in the dark as to who the ancestor will be.  Family lore is that it was a Rose.  The Rose family mentioned both lived nearby and had dealings with my Stroud family.  Since I don't know for a fact that my ancestor was a Rose, I am not going to start comparing with every Rose that lived anywhere in the U.S.  If I knew for certain she was a Rose, it might be a different story.

I've been working with DNA for over a dozen years, beginning with mtDNA and then moving on to Y-DNA and ultimately auDNA when testing became available.  I locate triangulated groups and map chromosomes using both GenomeMate Pro and DNAPainter.  I am fortunate to be able to use my parents DNA to get me that 'extra' generation.

Wishing you all the best in breaking down your Rose brick wall . . .
+6 votes
My mothers side of family has the Richard Rose married to Elizabeth Sowerby you mention in your email - their daughter Jane married  Edward Norton from her line comes. This little bit of Rose has been a problem for me researching my Dad whose surname is Rose (family from Switzerland) but the DNA matches I get trails back to my Mom's Roses.  My DNA kit number is A069133
by Ann Collett G2G Crew (380 points)
Hi Ann, thanks for commenting.  I did a one to one comparison between you and my dad, and you don't share any DNA.  That doesn't mean you don't necessarily share a common ancestor, since it's going back several generations to the person that would be the common ancestor.  Any chance your mom did a DNA test?  Every generation closer to the MRCA helps . . .
No my Mom passed before I started looking at DNA. The admin of Rose-Reddock in Family Tree confirmed a relationship to his line through Jane Rose. He maintains his tree in Ancestry.
+7 votes
I realize this is an older post, but if you are still looking...I have taken both the Y-111 and autosomal (family finder) tests with FTDNA (also some specific SNP tests). I also joined the Rose surname project and they placed me in the family group associated with William(1) Rose of Surry VA. This confirmed my suspected tree on ancestry.com. If you think my results can help, please let me know.
by
I am indeed still looking for descendants in hopes of proving a connection. If you've uploaded to Gedmatch, we can do a one to one comparison. My dad's ID is T673925.
Since I tested with FTDNA, do I need to upload to Gedmatch? My FTDNA # is 733838. If I need to, I can look into how to do it.
That's up to you. It's free to do so.  Many people that use DNA to confirm ancestry upload there, since you can then triangulate as well as locate people that tested with the other companies (such as AncestryDNA and 23andMe).  I'm not sure how to search by kit # on FTDNA (I tested my dad there also). I did a search for the Rose surname in his matches and didn't locate you (unless you have your name as something else, which many people do to anonymize their test)...
I will look into uploading to Gedmatch. I am listed as Steven Rose on FTDNA. I have many Rose matches on the Y-DNA test and also a few Carltons. On the Family finder however there are only a couple of Rose matches which I thought kind of strange. I assume that just means that not many Roses did that test with FTDNA.
Darlene,  I just uploaded my raw DNA to Gedmatch. My assigned number is T138175. It said it may take up to 2 days to be able to do some multiple comparison functions.  I am new to all of this so pls let me know if there is a match to your father.
Darlene, I just uploaded my raw DNA file to Gedmatch. T138175.  When I did a one to one comparison to your father's T673925 I believe it was not a match. Please look and let me know as I am new to this.  I could find no mention or documentation of a Margaret Rose in any of the children's or grandchildren's families of William(1) Rose of Surry Va.
Thanks, Steven. I also did the one to one, and you are correct that you and my dad shared no DNA.

I too have failed to find mention of a Margaret Rose in that family.  But Wikitree has her attached.  There also are rumors of William Stroud's mother being Hannah Rose, although she isn't attached to the Surry, VA Rose family.  My Strouds had numerous interactions with the Surry Rose line, but I haven't located proof of a marital connection.
+6 votes
I am from the Rose family of Surry Co. Va. And have DNA matches to the Shroud and Flood families.and Sowerby in my tree.

I am Nancy Hall Anderson have Ancestry and 23andme DNA test.

Am on gedmatch. A053805
by Nancy Hall G2G2 (2.0k points)
edited by Nancy Hall
Thanks, Nancy. You don't share any DNA with my dad either.  With regard to your Stroud connections, have you located a triangulated group with at least two having solid paper trails back to your Rose ancestor that include anyone that descends from my Stroud family?
+6 votes
I am a descendent of this family and have my dna on Gedmatch as well as my cousin John's. He has his on there too. We have done autosomal as well.
by

Hi Elizabeth, if you want to PM me to provide Gedmatch ID for a comparison with my dad, that would be great.

+5 votes
Darlene I am a descendent of William Rose. My name is Jeff.
by
Hi Jeff, have you taken an autosomal DNA test (or your parent or grandparent that's the direct descendant of William Rose)?  If so, which site are you on?
+5 votes
Sorry, but I am just seeing this. I recently found that I am descended from William Rose thru Richard Rose 1669-1736, Thomas Rose 1692-1754, Thomas Rose 1731-1816, Drury Rose 1755-1850, Thomas Rose 1788-1848, Bluford Rose 1824-1890 and Rev James Rose 1858-1921.

I have a kit on GEDMatch as well, #WJ7293346. I compared myself to a couple of you I saw your kit# posted. I match A799292 @9.5cm on the 9th and 10 chrom and I match A253822 @4.4cm on the 10th chrom as well.

I just recently broke thru a brick wall on my grandmothers biological father and found she was the daughter of Milas Rose, the son of Rev James Rose, she was born in St Louis in 1906 from my ancestry DNA testing.

There is a Rose group on FTDNA I found, but I am very interested in learning more here and if there is any new developments I missed.
by Rick Elgin G2G Crew (350 points)
Congratulations on breaking down that brick wall, Rick!! How exciting.
+3 votes
My Great Grandpa was A John Patrick Rose  from Surrey and vancouver Canada and he married Clara Mae Blackman, I am unable to see the Rose lineage so i am unsure of the parents of my Great granddad is I dunno if that info is even useful to you or not.
by Melissa Rauh G2G Crew (410 points)
No, but I appreciate the thought!
+2 votes
Good luck!  My ancestors are from those counties, but I do not share those ancestor names.
by Kathryn Morse G2G6 Mach 6 (62.3k points)
+2 votes
I don't know why this just showed up since it is from 8 years ago. I think  Richard is my 6th great grandfather.
by Anna Margaret Skinner G2G Crew (500 points)

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