Barnes Family of Virginia

Oh, I should mention that this is my earliest in the U.S., which is as far back as I'm working: Thomas Barnes, of Isle of Wight

I'm pretty sure that he was actually born in England, but in any event, that's my guy.

I can offer a couple of resources

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=cluca...

http://www.woodardfamilytree.com/html/oliverwoodwardsr.html

I "connect" to this family

John Barnes, of Chowan, NC

Pretty sure UN related but with the repeating names, a caution.

I also connected the Flowers family mentioned here:

Elizabeth Jones Flowers

Have you uploaded to GEDMatch?

Hey, Geni just told me that Thomas B. Barnes is my 7th great-grandfather! And it's the same line as Erica's too: I descend directly from Thomas Barnes of Isle of Wight Co, VA (born ca 1645) and his wife Diana Bragg. My Barnes family ended up in Robeson Co, NC, just over the SC state line.

I think I have a collateral line into the Robeson NC Barnes but my direct Barnes line is from John "Deaf John" Barnes of Estill, KY, son of Brinsley Barnes.

My GEDmatch report is so full of Barnes it's scary. :)

I've been going through the Barnes DNA project at FTDNA and checking on the trees here and will do infrequent posts on these. Luckily, Ashley started one on the first branch I was looking at:

A couple of my Y12 markers (but nothing higher) are descended from a Thomas Barnes who died in 1683 (one giving Isle of Wight, Virginia as his home - kit numbers H2032 and 349058. There is also kit 76056 with an ancestor Edward Barnes born around 1625):

https://www.familytreedna.com/public/barnes?iframe=ycolorized

He appears to be this Thomas Barnes, son of an Edward who was born in London:

Thomas Barnes, of Isle of Wight

It caught my eye as I'd already added a James Barnes from IoW, Virginia as a line starter on the projects front page and he is a similar age to Thomas. So could Edward be both their fathers?

I've also added some details of what seems a good match for Edward's family in Enfield London:

Edward Barnes

Does anyone know if these two branches connect? Are there any other Barneses knocking around the area? Anyone on these branches got male Barnes descendants would be interested in getting their Y DNA tested? The FTDNA sale is currently on and I'm putting on a push to get more Barnses to take SNP tests (a topic for another thread).

Hmm, the link to the discussion on Edward Barnes' page isn't preserved, just click the tab.

Also I forgot the James Barnes profile:

James Bragg Barnes

This suggests that Edward died in England but he had a large family, one of whom (Jacob) went to IoW, VA and Thomas may be one of 4 children for which records are missing:

http://www.williambarnesgenealogy.com

It might make sense that James is another.

Bill I found this on internet home it helps. Thought I share as extra.

https://archive.org/stream/barnesfamilyyear00barn/barnesfamilyyear0...

Thanks Billie, I'd come across it in connection to the Hartford Barneses but it does cover others and, beyond some unfounded early suggestions (like all the Barneses are linked in the past and the name derives from "bjorn", even though he actually mentions the Berners family, admittedly as Bernier) the research based on actual evidence is pretty solid. I'll have a proper look this time and see what I can find.

https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/528138?availability=Fam...

Barnes families of Isle of Wight County Virginia and Edgecombe/ Nash Counties North Carolina
Statement of Responsibility:
compiled by Ann Williamson Berryman
Authors:
Berryman, Ann Williamson (Main Author)
Format:
Manuscript
Language:
English
Publication:
1992
Physical:
[12] leaves : geneal. tables.
Subject Class:
929.273 A1
Add to Print List
Notes
Photocopy of original manuscript.
Edward Barnes of London, England was the probable father of Thomas Barnes (1645-1683) who died in Isle of Wight County, Virginia. Thomas was the ancestor of both Chrisitan Barnes (1755-1797), who married Isaac Farmer, Jr., and Mary barnes (1724-1789), who married Robert Simms II. Includes the associated families of Bragg, Jones, Pope and Powell.
Contains two genealogical tables and eight family group sheets.

Debbie Gambrell See these resources and discussion.

So far I “would not” disconnect Thomas from Edward as there seem to be reasonable & published genealogies. Of course better records & documentation needed, as always; but this is not a “howler.”

Here’s the skeptic view:

https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/barnes/14664/

Mr. Johnston established that the earliest ancestor of most of the Barnes families for those eastern NC counties was Thomas Barnes, who devised a will in Isle of Wight County, NC on January 28, 1682 (Proven June 9, 1683).Thomas Barnes' wife was Diana, whom he had evidently married prior to June 9, 1666 when a "Diana Barnes" served as a witness to a deed between George and Ann Dewey to Anthony Fulgham on that date.It has been construed by researchers that Diana was the daughter of James Bragg, based on the fact that Bragg's will left a bequest to "James Barnes, son of Thomas Barnes" (no specific relationship stated).James Bragg's will was devised in Isle of Wight County, VA on April 29, 1670 (Proven September 9, 1670), but only refers to three children named James, Elizabeth, and Ann. Some have speculated that Diana was called Ann in her father's will, though this is mere assumption and probably not correct. James Bragg's three children mentioned in his will were probably minors in 1670.Daughter Elizabeth Bragg was still an orphaned minor on May 1, 1677, when she was placed under Thomas Roberts, who had married James Bragg's widow.Thus, it is questionable whether Diana, the wife of Thomas Barnes, was really a daughter of James Bragg or not.The fact that she had a son named James mentioned in Bragg's will might support the connection, but it is inconclusive.Diana Barnes, widow of Thomas Barnes, subsequently married John Champion before October 4, 1683 when they contracted in marriage.

The late genealogist Hugh B. Johnston in his writings speculated that Thomas Barnes was the son of an Edward Barnes, a merchant of London, and assigned to Edward Barnes sons named Humphrey, Thomas, Jacob, John, and Joshua Barnes. Various researchers have speculated widely on the identity of this alleged Edward Barnes alluded to by Mr. Johnston.In actuality, Mr. Johnston provided no proof at all that Thomas Barnes was the son of any Edward Barnes, nor is there any definitive documentary proof showing that any particular Edward Barnes in London or early Virginia had the specific sons named by Mr. Johnston.A Humphrey Barnes does indeed appear in Isle of Wight County, VA records in the 1660s, and could have been a brother or relative of Thomas Barnes (d. 1683), but there is no explicit documentary proof of this. There are a number of wills for the name Edward Barnes in London during the 17th century, but again none specifically match the Edward Barnes to whom Mr. Johnston alluded.The parish register of St. Botolph Bishopgate in London does contain a baptism for a Thomas Barnes, son of Edward and Margaret Barnes, on March 7, 1647, but whether that entry has any relevance whatsoever to Thomas Barnes of Isle of Wight County, Virginia is completely unknown.Curiously, an Edward Barnes of Wedmore, Somerset, England married a Margaret Morris in 1634, and they did have a son named Humphrey Barnes born in Wedmore in 1642.Whether they could possibly be identical with the couple of that name who had a son Thomas in 1647 in London is anyone's guess. In short, nothing has really been proven conclusively regarding the parentage of Thomas Barnes (d. 1683) of Isle of Wight County, Virginia beyond the speculations and opinions of various genealogical researchers. Most have merely followed Mr. Johnston's suggestion.DNA evidence might possibly one day provide some factual insight.