Martha (Buchanan) Vann - Maiden Name and Lineage

This Martha is my mtDNA brick wall. I know I get DNA matches to cousins who share common ancestors beyond this brick wall but that hasn't been really helpful since I can't connect the dots. But I think I finally have a clue in the right direction.

My son has a paternal Bohannon line and in working on his Bohannon DNA matches on Ancestry, I noticed some branches changed their spelling from Bohannon to Buchanan. So I searched among my Buchanan matches and for Bohannon matches on Ancestry for myself and found that my son's Bohannon lines keep showing up in my matches. In fact when they do, I usually can't find any other way I might be related to the DNA matching cousin whose tree I'm working with.

This has led me to believe that Martha Buchanan's family descended from the same line of Bohannons and they're just one of those branches who changed the spelling at some point. I must be matching DNA with them for this reason. So far this hasn't helped me identify Martha's parents or beyond, but it's at least something to work with.

I thought having my mtDNA test done would help me break through my brick wall, but so far other than finding this DNA connection it really hasn't helped me connect the dots. I'm just sharing this Bohannon info with everyone since it's my first real clue.

This Henry Bohannon I is the first of my son's paternal line that I noticed the name change on. Notice in his will on his Find-a-Grave page that he used the Buchanan surname:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/29856848/henry-bohannonYou

You'll notice that his father John was born in Barbados, West Indies. John was my son's 8th great uncle, my son being from the line of John's brother Duncan Bohannon II. My son actually shows 13% Caribe DNA, which is pretty high given how far back his Barbados ancestors are. It would make more sense of that high percentage if he got a double dose of it, coming from his dad's side and mine as well.

The Bohannons from Barbados who migrated to America settled in Virginia, where this Martha was also born. I have DNA matches on Ancestry from these lines who aren't matches for my son since my matches go back an additional generation than his. So both of us sharing Bohannon ancestry is the only answer to why I have these matches.

Henry's brother James also changed from Bohannon to Buchanan. There may be others but those are the two branches I'm currently aware of who made the name change. I don't have any information on why they made the name change.

But I'm fairly well convinced, based on the DNA matches on Ancestry, that Martha Buchanan's family was most likely from the West Indies Bohannon line.

Others who descend from Martha may want to check their DNA matches for the Bohannon surname. It would be interesting if others made the same discovery I have.