Where are We From?

The Wellons and Wyant ancestors described in this blog live in the following states:

Indiana
Pennsylvania
Maryland
Ohio
North Carolina
South Carolina
Virginia
Kentucky
Illinois
Oklahoma
Missouri
Iowa
Tennessee
Kansas

This does not include states that Ralph and Bess Wellons siblings lived in other than Indiana (Aunt Jessie in California, for example). This also does not include moves by their kids (Mary Alice Dixon moving to NC or FL) or grandkids (Lee in FL, Todd in NC, etc.)

There is a most typical route and a couple of alternatives that led to Ralph and Bess and most of their siblings arriving in Anderson, Indiana in the early to mid 1900’s. From the Virginia and North Carolina area to Kentucky and then to Indiana is most common. Kentucky, like Tennessee, was once part of Virginia. Another, less common route is from Pennsylvania to Ohio to Indiana. And then some  get to Indiana and go west (for example, the Wyants end up in Kansas, Oklahoma and finally Missouri where Bess is born...then head back east to Indiana). There is also an Indiana to Illinois connection, with some rebounds back to Indiana.

What we don’t see is anyone coming from New York or the New England states. Nor do we see anyone from the Deep South other than the Carolinas. Nobody came from the west in the early years for obvious reasons. Ditto Florida.  Nobody came from or lived in the upper Midwest (north of Illinois and Iowa).

Also, although there are many early connections to what eventually become Confederate states, our family moved north prior to the civil war and supplied soldiers exclusively to the Union side.

After identifying the great great grandparents of Ralph and Bess, there are still no European born individuals. This covers the time frame starting in about 1750 or 1760. I have not examined individuals further back, although I have preliminary information and we would see some immigration from Europe in the years prior to American Independence.

And it is very possible that there is one branch of the family that is Native American in origin, although we really don’t have any specific information and may never be able to get that information to prove this connection. A DNA test might tell the story.