William ‘Old Bill’ Blevins - Disputed existence

Well, read the research notes. I’ve seen 1,000 wrong sources. :)

Unique Signature Mark

A key piece of evidence demonstrating that the James Blevin Junior in Westerly, Rhode Island, in 1714-18 is the same man as the James Blevin who appears in Goochland County, Virginia, beginning in 1737, is his use of a unique signature mark to sign official legal documents. For a detailed discussion of this evidence, see "The Unique Signature Marks of Two James Blevins: A Key Clue to the Origin of the Southern Blevins Family."

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Unique_Blevins_Signature_Marks

Special thanks are due to the excellent research published by Robert Blevins in his papers collected at Robert P. Blevins: Blevins Genealogical Research Publications, and to Alton Blevins of Austin, Texas, upon whose original research Robert Blevins heavily relies.

https://www.rpblevins.com/

The Blevins Men of Monocacy and Goochland
The Southern Migration of the James Bliven Family
Robert P. Blevins - June 1, 2020
Sometime between 1718 and 1732, James Bliven Jr., the proven son of James Bliven the "Sayler", removed his family from Westerly, Rhode Island. By 1733, he had settled in the Monocacy Hundred of western Maryland and by 1736, he had settled in Goochland County, Virginia. This James Bliven (Blevins) would go on to become the primary Patriarch of the Blevins family's Southern Branch.
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This 38-page paper documents this migration and the family structure of James Blevins the Patriarch.

https://www.rpblevins.com/_files/ugd/6a46b1_e64bb2d68cce450dbe600ee...

The Blevins Men of
Monocacy and Goochland The Southern Migration of the James Bliven Family
Robert P. Blevins June 1, 2020

So actually, this is “breaking news.” (2020 is the day before yesterday in on line genealogy).

When was the FamilySearch profile last updated?

Disputed Origins

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Blevins-111

Many published sources and online family trees incorrectly identify the father of the 5 siblings:

1. James Blevins
2. Mary Walling
3. Daniel 'Longhunter' Blevins
4. John ‘Jack’ Blevins
5. William ‘the Elder’ Blevins

as William ‘Old Bill’ Blevins The earliest researcher known to have made this claim is Bill Dwayne Blevins, in his book < Blevins Ancestry>, self-published in 1972. Blevins does not identify his source.[17] Other researchers have repeated this claim, but all appear to ultimately be relying upon Bill Dwayne Blevins.[18]

This claim has been disproven. For details, see the profile of < William Blevins >, the profile of < James Blevin >, and <"The Unique Signature Marks of Two James Blevins: A Key Clue to the Origin of the Southern Blevins Family" >.

Some have also identified their mother as Ann Blevins or as Mary Bean These claims are disproven for the same reasons.

Also see an extract I just uploaded. “The Blevins Men of Monocacy and Goochland: The Southern Migration of the James Bliven Family.” Robert P. Blevins (June 1, 2020) < [https://www.rpblevins.com/_files/ugd/6a46b1_e64bb2d68cce450dbe600ee... PDF] > Page 23.

https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000184217060867

Without dispute, these two profiles do not belong in this Blevins tree, as currently understood, and have been detached:

Margaret Womack

Sarah Blevins

So, some questions:

A) Do we yet have the correct James on Geni?

B) After the children of "Old Bill" are moved or disconnected, should we keep "Old Bill's" profile around -- Isolated as fictional & Relationship locked -- so it can be used a parking spot for this & other documentation about this "new" information? (Along with fictional spouses, ...)

... once we have this sorted out on Geni, I'll take a stab at retro-fitting FamilySearch (albeit no mechanism to "lock" such changes other than accompanying documentation).

Re: So, some questions:
A) Do we yet have the correct James on Geni?

Good next step to build him, as we likely have his origin family in Rhode Island. So will do that and post it for review. And, also, double check I got the 5 kids families correct. I think I got stuck at Wallens / Walling, and a Catherine Blevins parent controversy.

B) After the children of "Old Bill" are moved or disconnected, should we keep "Old Bill's" profile around -- Isolated as fictional & Relationship locked -- so it can be used a parking spot for this & other documentation about this "new" information? (Along with fictional spouses, ...)

Absolutely. And the “three Bill Blevins” analysis is a really valiant effort, I’d hate to lose it, even if it needs some updating. Plus, this is complex work. Let everyone take the time to think it through.

... once we have this sorted out on Geni, I'll take a stab at retro-fitting FamilySearch (albeit no mechanism to "lock" such changes other than accompanying documentation).

And FindAGrave also. One can leave “flowers” and point to the Wikitree.

Yes, Mary Walling has too many Geni children. Pretty sure the list in her profile “about” is “best we know.”

Is this the correct Margery Tosh? Margery Blevin as the mother of "Longhunter"?

... to answer my own question, guided by WikiTree, I'm presuming it is (parents & siblings are consistent), so I created her spouse as James Blevin, of NY, RI, MD, & VA.

I have replaced "Old Bill" & his spouse as the 5 children's parents.

I've begun ripping that Blevins branch apart; I suspect many will see some different paths! I haven't yet checked all 5 of the children Erica listed earlier ...

Dan Cornett - this is great.

It’s a fascinating story, really. Look at the migration!

... and possibly some of the children of this "migrating James" going from VA to NC, alongside with some different Blevins born in NC moving up to the same region of VA where the "migrating James" ended up ... which undoubtably contributed to the genealogical intermixing.

While all the 'supposed' children of that disputed 'Old Bill" have been removed, the one profile still to deal with is Mary Bean (his wife): was she "real" or not? Does she belong elsewhere?

... I removed her as Old Bill's wife, but have left her attached to her parents...