Jeffrey Robertson I help

Question

I am trying to sort out a common error I have found in my research of Jeffrey Robertson who was married to Elizabeth Bowman and hope one of you genealogy geniuses can help me.

Common lore has Jeffrey born in 1654 and Elizabeth in 1655, but their first child didn't come until 1700 when she would have been 45.  All the trees I've found has her bearing children into her 60s.

I believe there is a skipped generation between Jeffrey I and Jeffrey II, can anyone help me find it?

p.s.  this is just one error I've found while researching Scottish Robertsons who migrated to Virgnia, but I'm trying to work backward.  Funny how one person inputs it in wrong and years later there are hundreds of trees with bad information.

Answer 1

A lot of misinformation is generated by J. Montgomery Seaver's 1928 "Robertson Family History" (online at HathiTrust.com). The Post Office sued Seaver for mail fraud- I'm not sure of the outcome.

The Clan Donnachaidh DNA appears to be promising in sorting out these "bad merges" done 100 years ago.

Comments

Thank you, Allan.  That would explain a lot.  I am the 5th G Granddaughter of Mary Nancy Robertson (1760-1859?) I feel like that is pretty solid, but when I started exploring her line, the dates were very wonky for everyone.

I have had my DNA tested (FTDNA, 23andMe and Ancestry).  Would that be helpful anywhere?

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This is related to https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/411651/questionable-source-american-historical-genealogical-society (a recent question).

Is there documentation of how the J. Montgomery Seaver Fraud has affected this family?

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Has anyone tried to follow up on this dilemma?  The most confounding part seems to be the 1655 birth date for Elizabeth Bowman, because she would then have had 8 children when she was at least age 45 to 68.  Without more substantial documentation / sources, what should be done to clean up this mess?  Change her impossible birth date to unknown?  Detach her from all those children?  And where does that leave Jeffrey Robertson, Sr. as the ostensible father?  A different unknown wife?  There is a copy of a will attached to his profile, but his  then wife Elizabeth _?_  gets the leftovers, which may or may not have been substantial.

Answer 2

Most likely the researchers who posted on Elizabeth Bowman, wife of Jefferey Robertson confused her with her mother. Robert Bowman Sr (abt 1610-1671) settled in Roxdale Hundred near Bermuda Hundred, Henrico after 1650. His son (Dr?) John Bowman, Sr (abt 1640-bef 1718) so referred to so as to distinguish him from his namesake nephew John Bowman Jr (abt 1659-1725). John Sr  married Elizabeth [Elam?] Nunnally, widow of Daniel Nunnally, about 1685. They had a daughter, Elizabeth Bowman (abt 1688-abt 1730) who married Jeffery Robertson about 1705. John Bowman owned land in Roxdale and acquired Bull's Hill in Charles City County through Elizabeth Nunnally and purchased Flinton's nearby Bull's Hill. Bull's Hill was sold to Elizabeth Nunnally Bowman's son, Walter Nunnally about 1695. Elizabeth Bowman may have been born at Bull's Hill or Flinton's in Charles City County, or at John Bowman's Roxdale property in Henrico. She would have been in her teens or twenties when she was bearing her Robertson children. Her aunt Mary Bowman (abt 1640-abt 1700) married Richard Hudson about 1655, and that couple resided on land in Roxdale Hundred they received from Robert Bowman Sr. By his marriage to Elizabeth Bowman, Jefferey Robertson acquired kinship connections to the Bowmans, Elams, Hudsons, Knibbs and Royalls, and business connections to the Bollings. (John Bolling made a land purchase jointly with the brothers, Edward Bowman SR and John Bowman JR, the sons of Robert Bowman, Jr, his wife Elizabeth Bowman's first cousins)