Elemuel B. Cliburn

As of 4 Aug 2023 there has been a major breakthrough in the research for this line in our efforts to uncover the Genetic Ancestor of Elemuel B. Cliburn of Giles County, VA. The data presented herein is still a work in progress and every effort will be made to clearly identify what information is fact, and what information may be speculation.

Background

In 2005, Dr. Alex Waldrop III approached Johnathan Clayborn via email about participating in the Y-DNA Surname Study to attempt to answer, once and for all, the question of whether or not all Clayborns, regardless of spelling were related. Johnathan agreed and the sample was sent in. The results revealed that Johnathan was an anomaly. Not only did he not match anyone else in the group, the differences in the DNA sequence put his most recent common ancestor (MRCA) back several thousand years, thus precluding him as a Clayborn by genetics.

There is no doubt of Johnathan's descent from his father, grandfather, great-grandfather, or 2nd great-grandfather as there is a very strong family resemblance. We meticulously checked and rechecked the records, and eventually uncovered our error in Elemuel, Johnathan's 5th Great-Grandfather. Elemuel served in the Civil War and his death records and tombstone list him as Elemuel B. Cliburn, so we had the assumption that he was always a Cliburn. However, on the 1850 US Census Elemuel is clearly listed as a Croy.

The above image is the excerpt from the 1850 Giles County, VA Census. "W. Clyburn" is listed on the first line, age 57. Underneath him is "Christian Croy", aged 50. This is Christina Croy. Directly under her is listed "Samuel B.", aged 16, working as a Farmer on William's farm. Now, we were working backwards and later in life Elemuel's last name is Clyburn, just like William. However, on the census records it is understood that any children listed without a surname have the same surname as the preceding adult. Hence, it really says "Samuel B. Croy". Likewise, his sister, Sarah, is also a Croy.

Johnathan checked his Y-DNA results against Croy, and they were also not a match. Since 2005 we have been stuck there, knowing that genetically, our ancestor was not originally a Clayborn, but not knowing which family held the answers. It is useful to uncover the identity of the Genetic Ancestor because that information can help their descendants know if they are potentially at risk for rare health conditions that may be passed on genetically.

Hypothesis 1

This family's genetic ancestor remains a mystery at this point. On paper, Elemuel - or Lemuel as he is listed in about half the records - initially appears to be the son of William Clyburn and Christina Croy of Giles County, VA. However, DNA analysis reveals this to be appatently incorrect. Based on the one data point we have. Descendants of Elemuel B. Cliburn appear to have 13 genetic deviations within the first 37 Y-DNA markers when compared to the Westmorland Family Modal sample. This places their Most Recent Common Ancestor between 50 and 52 generations ago.

By the 1860 census Lemuel is listed as Lemuel Clybern. What had since been discovered is that on the 1850 Giles County Census everyone is living in the house of William Clyburn. The census records show Christina Croy, Lemuel Croy, and Sarah Croy. In the 1840 Giles County Census, Christina Croy is living as the head of her own household with her two kids.

Initially I had thought that Christina was a widow, but I cannot find any marriages in any of the surrounding area that fit this idea. Furthermore, I compared the Y-DNA sample against known Croy samples and they do not match either. This effectively eliminates any possibility that Lemuel was the son of an unknowm Croy.

I have also not been able to locate any birth records for Lemuel or his sister Sarah, so there's no birth certificate to reference with the father's name on it.

I am currently attempting some more advanced researching using genetic testing results in conjunction with other types of research, but the results are ongoing. If you would like to assist with this research, please let me know. If you are a descendant of Elemuel, I implore you to take DNA tests and share that data so that we can prove or disprove the above hypothesis.

Hypothesis 2

An alternate hypothesis is the William is the the Genetic Ancestor for Elemuel. There is some paper evidence to support this: William has a brother named Elemuel, whom it appears that his son Elemuel is named after. If other descendants of Elemeul all match each other, then the next step is to go one generation back and check descendants of Thomas & Louisa to see if they match. If they do match, we repeat that process until they don't.

I have also recently learned that William's first son, Addision, whom he had with his first wife, had descendants that ended up in Missouri. I recently found some of these Missouri Clayborns online and they bear some physical resemblance to the descendants of William. If these Missouri Clayborns are descended from Addison, who's parents are William and Polly, and Elemuel's descendants are from Elemuel, who's parents are an unknown male and Christina Croy, then they would have no genetic ancestors in common and shouldn't bear any physical resemblance to each other at all. The fact that there is resemblance suggests that William is the common ancestor both of these groups and that William may be the one who was adopted. We need a descendant of Addison to do a Y-DNA test to confirm this.

Family

1. Christina G. Croy (1804-1875)

   She did eventually marry William Clyborn, but he is not known if he is the father.

   1. Elemuel B. Clyborn (1834-1902) m. Eliza Taylor
      1. James William Clayborn (1854-1924) m. A. J. Mollie Pruitt.
         1. William Franklin Clayborn (1878-1954) m. Mary Ollie Cordell
         2. John Harvey Clayborn (1880-1962) m. Lealer Mae Cordell - DNA sample obtained from descendant of this line.
         3. Henry Clayborn (1886- )
         4. Lou Clayborn (1888- )
         5. Gratton Clayborn (1890-1959)
         6. Sarah Clayborn (1893- )
         7. Lois Clayborn (1893- )
         8. Abbigail "Abbie" Clayborn (1896-1995) m. Looney
         9. Marion Clayborn (1898-)
         10. Viney Clayborn (1899- )
      2. Elizabeth Clayborn (1859-)
      3. Eva Clayborn (1860-)
      4. Addison L. Clayborn (1856-) m Dixie
      5. Jospeh Clayborn (1862-)
      6. Henley C. Clayborn (1867-) m. Nancy
      7. Jonas Clayborn (1871-) m. Elizabeth
   2. Sarah E. J. Croy-Clyborn m. James Taylor