Meanwhile.....Back At The Ranch.....

12/7/2012 Note: Welcome to the 12th post of this blog.  If you would like to see the earlier posts leading up to this point, please scroll backwards. The first post is entitled, "The Beginning....He Did What????  You will need to hit the "older posts" icon located between posts 4 and 5 mark. ...or, you can start here and work your way back....I welcome all comments or information you may have. If you have any problems navigating or have any questions, please contact me at mitchsutton@att.net  I welcome all who are interested in this search for John Sutton.

Merry Christmas to you all!  It's been a long time since my last post but I wanted to update you all as to what has happened over the last months.  In early August, I went to Dillsboro for a long weekend to visit with my first cousin and her family. It was way past time for a visit and we had a terrific time!  Jackson County has grown so much over the years.  I hardly recognized the ride through Sylva.  On Saturday, my new-found cousin (who I met last fall on Ancestry.com) and her husband drove up from Atlanta and joined my Dillsboro cousins and me for lunch.  We spent the afternoon walking through the Old Savannah Church Cemetery where most of the early Sutton settlers are buried. We found the grave marker for John Sutton (our original ancestor) and  the marker of my great grandfather Mitchell Sutton and his second wife Cordelia Cagle.  Mitchell's first wife was Mary Messer who died at the age of 32. We did not find her marker. Anyway, my new-found cousin is the descendent of Cordelia while I am descended from Mary. 

Later that afternoon, we all went to visit my new-found cousin's mom.  She is the last of my Dad's generation and it was a pleasure meeting her.  When we arrived, my new cousin said ,  "Mom, this is Mitchell Sutton".  Her mom took my hands and said Oh! I know he is! He looks just like Dallas!'  Now that was a moment! I never knew my grandfather, Dallas, and there are only a few pictures of him.  

A few weeks back, I saw an advertisement promoting new improvements in the DNA analysis product offered by Ancestry.com.  The improvements included a breakdown of ethnic origin as well as matches to other Ancestry.com clients.  To date, the closest match is a third or fourth cousin.  We both are descended from William Sutton, the first born of John Sutton.  I have not yet initiated contact but may do so a little later. Anyway, my DNA profile shows my genetic ethnicity stacks up as follows:

48% British Isles
37% Scandinavian

10% Southern European
5% Unknown (haven't found the definition of "unknown")

The big surprise is there is no Native American blood there which was always part of the stories told to us growing up. Funny, I posted about the DNA evidence eliminating our having any Cherokee blood....a friend offered the following.

You mean the "We have a Cherokee princess in our family tree" story? I grew up hearing that. One of my cousins took several genealogy classes and for one the instructor started the first day by asking how many had been told that or something similar. Everybody but one person raised their hand. The instructor said, "That's the widest-spread genealogical rumour in the South."

True as that may be, this journey continues to surprise and to this point it has basically disproved most of the written and oral history of the Sutton side of the family.  That  is a dissapointment because there continues to be more questions than answers.  In time, I may pony up again  for a different investigation but for now, we'll have to deal with what we have.  If this is the first time you've stumbled across this blog and are interested in the John Sutton family, there are 11 previous posts of this blog.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!