Those Places Thursday ~ Old Somerset Maryland, Hyde County North Carolina and my cousin Danny's DNA

                 Ann Ffrowan, Edward Sermon, Alexander Mitchell in Old Somerset Maryland


1653, Mar 4 - William Coulborne issued 350 acre patent in Northampton County at head of Nassawadox Creek bounded on west by land of Nich: Waddelow for transporting Edward Sermoner

1662  "The Deposicon of Edward Shearman aged 24 yeares or thereabouts Sworne and sayth that when Mr Randall Revell had taken the Sloope Shallop and small Boate that was with Capt John Savage att Marie Creeke and Tradeing with the Indians the sd Mr Revell Comitted the Charge and Care of the Sloope vnto me with what was in her and the Charge of the Shallop vnto John Markeham with order that nothing should be imbezelled or disposed of without his order"

Sometime after these legal documents were taken, Ann Frowin or Frewin met Edward Sermoner or Sirmon in  Virginia or Maryland. Ann and two siblings, Merrian and Andrew are in Accomac records around this time and Andrew dies in 1669.

Edward Sirmon and Ann Frewin  were married in 1664 by the same Randall Revell who was probably his employer. Their oldest son Thomas was born in 1663 and also Edward and Peter before Edward's death . His will was proved 10 January 1676.

Alexander Mitchell immigrates into Maryland  in 1673 and  as Alexander Mitchellor is entitled to 50 acres in 1677. Ann Frewin Sirmon marries Alexander Mitchell(er) 14 November 1676. They have at least 4 children.

How my second cousin Danny come into this discussion is the interesting part. Danny and I  have Grandmothers, who were the lovely Swanson sisters of Beverly NJ, so that is how we are related. We always knew that, no DNA needed there as we played together when younger. Danny' s mother, however, is a Mitchell and a direct descendant of Ann Frewin Mitchell.

I was therefore quite surprised when  Danny 's DNA came up as a 5th cousin match to my most distant known Carrow cousin, whose roots are in North Carolina. Scratching my head, Dan and I came up with a few shared surnames that we shared on his maternal and my paternal side. Yes, that does sort of make us double cousins but that was not the whole story.

In my incessant search for ancestors I stumbled upon a largish DNA match shared between some people from Hyde County NC and Danny and my distant, but equally beloved, Carrow cousin. These surnames are there: Berry,Cuttrell,Rose,Gibbs,Murray and Sermon. All of these names are cousins to one another both in Somerset County Maryland and both Hyde and Beaufort County Maryland.

 This fact narrows the number of ancestors  or make many of us whose roots are in Colonial America have what is called  " pedigree collapse". Less great grandparents means that, unseen by many of us as we do not have everyone's maiden names, the same couples appear more than once in our lineage. This keeps the segments of DNA from recombining or changing as rapidly over time as it normally would. Ann Frewin Sermon Mitchell 's DNA is apparently still capable of drawing folks together as cousins.