I was always told our family was- however with DNA and further research- I have found we are descended from a different "Boon"- he claimed kinship with Daniel Boone- however- I have not found any evidence of this and actually found this explanation. This could be something for others who are researching- to be aware of this
John Boon
Birth:
1755
York
York County
Pennsylvania, USADeath: Jul. 17, 1835
Virginia, USA
John Boon is the progenitor of the Boone family of Greenbrier County, West Virginia. He is the earliest known person in our family with this last name. The earliest mention of John comes from the records of colonial York, Pennsylvania, which note that in 1777, John Boon was fined "three pounds and ten shillings" for failing to sign the Articles of Association. John was then a resident of Newberry Township, located several miles from York (in his pension statement, John claimed he was born "within about eight miles" of the town of York). He enlisted in the Continental army or militia that very year, probably as a result of the fine, or as a way of getting out of paying it. We have no records indicating who John's parents might be, or who raised him in the event he was orphaned. There was no one named Boon (or Boone) living in York or its environs during this time frame, according to colonial era records. However, there were several local families bearing the name BOHN. While by no means proven, it is at least plausible that John could be related to one of these families and simply changed the spelling of the last name for reasons unknown to us.
The often-repeated tale that John Boon was the son of Israel Boone, older brother of the famous explorer Daniel Boone, is without merit, and despite its resilience across many generations, no one has ever furnished even a shred of evidence proving such a connection. John himself made reference to his "uncle Daniel Boon" in his pension application to the Monroe County court; while there are many theories about this, there is little substantive information that anyone can point to indicating this was an actual familial relationship. We are left to speculate about the meaning of this reference. Incidentally, Daniel Boone's family always spelled their surname as BOONE.
John Boon's family never spelled the surname as BOONE during the 18th and 19th centuries. Although most members of the family started adding the final "e" to the surname around the turn of the 20th century, John always spelled the name as BOON. On most of the early documents referencing John, we see the name spelled in this manner, including the marriage bonds of his two oldest children, several of John's property transactions, and his application to the Court of Monroe County to obtain a military pension. Throughout the 19th century, John's many children and grandchildren appear on the Federal census, in wills, on marriage documents, and in county registers with the last name BOON, and there is no reason to believe that any of the early members of this family used the contemporary spelling BOONE.
After the American War of Independence, John found himself in southern Virginia with probably no prospects, no social standing, and little formal education. He obtained employment at the Washington Iron Works in Henry County, and after a few years, relocated north to Rockingham County, where he met and married Elizabeth Alford in about 1788. He and his wife moved to Greenbrier County, Virginia (later West Virginia) in the mid-1790s, where John was able to acquire several parcels of land over time. John and Elizabeth eventually settled on property near Hillsdale in present day Monroe County. To this union were born two sons and three daughters:
John, Jr. (born c. 1790); he married Nancy Carr.
John Boon died, probably of old age, in 1835. His wife Elizabeth resided in the residence of their son Henry for several years before she followed him in death in 1841. Both are buried at the Boon-Robinson Cemetery in Greenbrier County, WV. Jerry Boone, another 3rd generation grandson has done significant research on John Boon and has made contributions to the writing of this biography.
JOHN IS RECORDED BY THE DAR AS A PROVEN REVOLUTIONARY WAR VET.
IN 1926 JAMES DOUGLAS BOONE, A GREAT GRANDSON OF JOHN BOON STATED THAT IT WAS TRADITION WITHIN HIS FAMILY THAT JOHN BOON WAS THE SON OF ISRAEL BOONE. SINCE JAMES BOONE LIVED ALMOST THE FIRST 20 YEARS OF HIS LIFE IN THE VICINITY OF HIS GRAND FATHER, HENRY BOONE, WHO WAS THE SON OF JOHN BOON HE WOULD HAVE AMPLE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEND TIME WITH HENRY AND TO LEARN WHO HENRY'S FATHER AND GRAND FATHER WERE.
SINCE THE DISCOVERY OF THE STRUCTURE OF DNA IN 1952 THE TECHNOLOGY OF TRACING FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS HAS ALLOWED SIGNIFICANT NEW FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS TO BE REACHED.
ALL OF THIS FAMILY ORAL TRADITIONS AND SPECULATIONS NOTWITHSTANDING, THE BOONE FAMILY DNA PROJECT BEING CONDUCTED BY FAMILY TREE DNA HAS PROVEN THAT JOHN BOON(E) WHO MARRIED ELIZABETH ALFORD WAS NOT RELATED TO THE GEORGE BOONE/DANIEL BOONE LINE. TWO DOCUMENTED MALE DESCENDANTS OF JOHN BOON AND ELIZABETH ALFORD HAVE SUBMITTED THEIR DNA FOR TESTING AS HAVE 16 DESCENDANTS OF GEORGE/DANIEL BOONE. WHILE
THE DNA FROM THE 16 DESCENDANTS OF GEORGE/DANIEL BOONE ARE A MATCH AMONG THEMSELVES, THERE IS NOT A MATCH BETWEEN THE DNA OF THE TWO GROUPS. THE JOHN BOON DESCENDANTS ARE IN HAPLOGROUP I WHILE THE DESCENDANTS OF GEORGE/DANIEL BOONE ARE IN HAPLOGROUP R1b1.THUS THERE IS NO GENETIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THIS JOHN BOOON AND THE FAMILY OF DANIEL BOONE. PREFERENCE FOR THE ABOVE INFORMATON REGARDING THE DNA FINDING IS AS FOLLOWS: THE BURDETT FAMILY OF VIRGINIA AND WEST VIRGINIA,BY HENRY JAMES YOUNG, YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, VOL. II(1935). PAGE 202.
Family links:
Spouse:
Elizabeth Alford Boon (1765 - 1841)*
Children:
John Boon (1790 - 1860)*
Nancy Boone Burdette (1791 - 1885)*
Henry A. Boon (1800 - 1881)*
Sarah Boon Humphreys (1803 - 1865)*
Frances Boon Myers (1806 - __)*
