Col William Claiborne

Col. William Claiborne was a wealthy and prominent early American Colonist. He served as the first Secretary of State of Virginia and was involved in the first naval battle in American waters (against Calvert Lord Baltimore).

A number of factors have confounded genealogists trying to prove his ancestry. One of these factors was that Col. William adopted a coat of the arms of the Westmorland family, suggesting a relationship. In the back of the book "Claiborne of Virginia: Descendants of Colonel William Claiborne: the first eight generations" by John Frederick Dorman there is a letter from the College of Arms in England which states, definitively, that the College of Arms never formally issued a grant of arms of Col. William. This casts doubt on the connection to Westmorland. The DNA evidence severs all ideas of a genetic connection to the Westmorland family, however it does not rule out the possibility that Col. William or his father was adopted by the Westmorland family.

To explain the DNA evidence in detail would take many paragraphs, so I will go in depth on that topic on a separate page. For the purpose of this page, I will summarize: Col. William's family is of haplogroup I-M170 and the Westmorland group is haplogroup R-M269. The important thing to know right now is that the Most Recent Common Ancestor for these two families lived appximately 50,000 years ago. Given a 25 year generation span, that's 2,000 generations ago. Col. William may be family to the Westmorland group, but he is not a direct genetic descendant.

Col. William Claiborne Family

1. Col. William Claiborne (1DPNHY) (b. 1600, Crayford. Kent, England.)

   m. Elizabeth Butler (b.1615. daughter of John Butler and Jane Elliott). William is descended from the King's Lynn Family.

   1. William Claiborne (BBBXP9) (b. 1645)
   2. Thomas Claiborne (Y87U5T) (b. 1647)
   3. Leonard Claiborne (JYTDKK) (b. 1650)
   4. John Claiborne (4T0X1M) (b. 1653)
   5. Jane Claibonre (BZQG28) (b. 1655)